| VOL. XXXIV | NOVEMBER 1 | No. 21 |
'I will stand upon my watch, and set my foot upon the Tower, and will watch to see what He shall say unto me, and what answer I shall make to them that oppose me.' Hab. 2:1
Upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity: the sea and the waves (the restless, discontented) roaring: men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking forward to the things coming upon the earth (society): for the powers of the heavens (ecclestiasticism) shall be shaken. . . .When ye see these things come to pass, then know that the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Look up, lift up your heads, rejoice, for your redemption draweth nigh. – Luke 21:25-28, 32.
Our "Berean Lessons" are topical rehearsals or reviews of our Society's published "Studies," most entertainingly arranged, and very helpful to all who would merit the only honorary degree which the Society accords, viz., Verbi Dei Minister (V.D.M.), which translated into English is, Minister of the Divine Word. Our treatment of the International S.S. Lessons is specially for the older Bible Students and Teachers. By some this feature is considered indispensable.
This Journal stands firmly for the defence of the only true foundation of the Christian's hope now being so generally repudiated, – Redemption through the precious blood of "the man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom [a corresponding price, a substitute] for all." (I Pet. 1:19; I Tim. 2:6.) Building up on this sure foundation the gold, silver and precious stones (I Cor. 3:11-15; 2 Pet. 1:5-11) of the Word of God, its further mission is to – "Make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery which...has been hid in God,...to the intent that now might be made known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God" – "which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed." – Eph. 3:5-9,10.
It stands free from all parties, sects and creeds of men, while it seeks more and more to bring its every utterance into fullest subjection to the will of God in Christ, as expressed in the Holy Scriptures. It is thus free to declare boldly whatsoever the Lord hath spoken; – according to the divine wisdom granted unto us, to understand. Its attitude is not dogmatical, but confident; for we know whereof we affirm, treading with implicit faith upon the sure promises of God. It is held as a trust, to be used only in his service; hence our decisions relative to what may and what may not appear in its columns must be according to our judgment of his good pleasure, the teaching of his Word, for the upbuilding of his people in grace and knowledge. And we not only invite but urge our readers to prove all its utterances by the infallible Word to which reference is constantly made, to facilitate such testing.
Foreign Agencies:-British Branch: LONDON TABERNACLE, Lancaster Gate, London, W. German Branch: Unterdorner Str., 76, Barmen. Australasian Branch: Flinders Building, Flinders St., Melbourne. Please address the SOCIETY in every case.
Terms to the Lord's Poor as Follows:-All Bible Students who, by reason of old age, or other infirmity or adversity, are unable to pay for this Journal, will be supplied Free if they send a Postal Card each May stating their case and requesting its continuance. We are not only willing, but anxious, that all such be on our list continually and in touch with the STUDIES, etc.
The Waco Cotton Palace Exposition will secure very special railway rates; and the brethren of that vicinity are anxious to take advantage of the cheap rates and hold a Convention November 14, 15, 16. Brother Russell had expected to be present; but, finding this impossible, he has delegated two of the Pilgrim Brethren to represent the Society. One of these will act as Chairman at the Convention.
We trust that this will be a very profitable Convention, full of spiritual power – the spirit of the Truth. It will be convenient for considerable numbers, we believe. We suggest that Brethren who are unable to attend give the Convention the support of their prayers at the Throne of Heavenly Grace.
The Young Men's Business League has granted us the use of their hall during the Convention. It is located at 711½ Austin Ave., convenient to all the railway stations.
Arrangements have been made for board and lodging at from $1 to $3 per day. Requests for accommodations should be sent promptly and must be explicit as to number, sex and color. Address A. B. Landrum, Secretary I.B.S.A., 1917 Grace St., Waco, Texas.
We are now following the usual custom of sending a subscription blank on the expiration of each subscription. The Post Office law is particular re the wording of these, and will not allow us to explain that any of the Lord's people desiring it, but too poor to pay, can be supplied free by us.
We again assure all such that a postcard stating their continued desire for THE WATCH TOWER and their continued inability to pay, will renew their subscription for another year. These subscriptions are paid for out of a fund specially provided for the purpose.
"The night is far spent, the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness." – Romans 13:12,13.
Satan is called the Prince of Darkness, and he is working in the children of disobedience. The children of disobedience being far more numerous than the children of obedience, it follows that the present is a dark time. The Bible tells us that God will not leave mankind always in this darkness; but that the curse shall be rolled away and all the darkness shall be dissipated, and instead, shall come His blessing, His light. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God shall cover the earth as the waters cover the great deep. (Isa. 11:9; Hab. 2:14.) Provision for this recovery was made in the Divine Purpose, before the foundation of the world.
About nineteen hundred years ago God began to take steps to bring to pass the things which He had promised. The first step was the sending of His Son, that He might be the Redeemer of man. Our Lord is spoken of as being a great Light, in the same sense that the Heavenly Father is called the Father of Lights. Jesus said, "I am the Light of the world." Mankind, under the influence of Satan and their own imperfect judgments, became twisted in their minds, and are in a state of darkness, so that they cannot reason correctly. The majority are not able to see the desirability of the Truth, and so they live in darkness – "darkness covers the earth."
However, we have every reason to believe that there are a choice few in the world, who love righteousness and hate iniquity. And this class God desires to take out first. The selection of this class has been going on throughout the Gospel Age. The majority of the world would doubtless prefer right rather than wrong if all the conditions were favorable. If they could be as comfortable financially, as popular socially, etc., by serving the right as by serving the wrong, they would much prefer to serve the right.
These are really good people. They have a preference for the right. They are very moral, very just. And yet their preference for the right is not so strong that they would be willing to lay down their lives for the right. It is one thing to say, I love the cause of God; and it is another thing to say, I will devote my time, strength, fortune, all, to it.
But it is only the latter kind that God is calling now – those who are willing to take up the cross in the interest of Truth and righteousness. And to these God gives encouragement, assuring them that He appreciates their love of righteousness: and that if they persist in the course of faithfulness they will be made associates with Christ in His Kingdom. He tells them that He is seeking just such a class. And these are encouraged and inspired to keep on, as God sets before them the glorious hope of the Gospel – the Divine nature and glory.
But all this is going on in the night time; for, although Jesus came into the world, and is to be the Light of the world, this Light has not yet illumined mankind, nor scattered the darkness. The Jewish people had the light of the moon, in the sense that the Law Covenant and its promises were like the moon, which shines with a light reflected from the sun, a light not its own. They had the light of the moon, if they wished to walk in its light. But they often went from the light of their Law and walked in the shadows. The Jews also had stars – Abraham, David and the Prophets. These were luminaries that shed more or less light upon their pathway.
But when Jesus came, He was the great Light of the world; i. e., He was the one chosen of God to be the Light of the world. But Jesus as a man was not this light to all. The Light that shone from Him while He was in the flesh was very local. And even to many of those upon whom it shone, His light was obscure, because of their ignorance, blindness. Jesus intimated that some could see the light and others could not: "Blessed are your eyes, for they see!" (Matt. 13:16.) He also intimated that some of the Jewish leaders saw to some extent, and were responsible for what they saw.
Our Lord presented to them the true light. They had been hoping to attain the blessing God promised in His Covenant with Abraham. They knew from the teachings [R5338 : page 324] of the Law that they must be holy. But they did not realize how high is the true standard. Consequently they thought they could keep up a certain standard of outward conduct, and thus become the Seed of Abraham. And when Jesus said to them. You are so careful to keep the letter of the Law that you would strain out a gnat from your drink, and swallow a camel, He intimated that they were very careful about the small things, and would let great matters, important things, pass by!
Jesus told them they would devour widows' houses; that is, that they would take advantage of this or that technicality of the Law to take possession of a widow's substance. And in thus doing, they were violating God's Law, which is a law of justice and love and mercy. It was only the few, therefore, who were Israelites indeed. And these would be the true Seed of Abraham – the select few of that nation. – Rom. 9:6; Gal. 3:16,29. [R5339 : page 324]
So the selection went on, and the faithful ones, having the right spirit, the same spirit that Christ had – love for justice, love for God and God's Law – these were selected – the Elect of that people. These not being a sufficiency, God continued to select others from different nations. To His disciples Jesus said, "Let your light shine before men"; and again, Put not your light under a bushel; but put it on a candlestick, that it may be seen of others. And so all of God's people have been lights. Those who have the Holy Spirit are the only true light-bearers in the world. Others may have various lights – science, geology, chemistry – but much of their light is darkness. Our Lord, however, was referring only to the light on God's Plan.
Some who have light on morality, say that they will not become intoxicated, will not use profanity, etc. They may have light in those directions, but this is not the true light. Much of the true light has been lost on the whole world, though they have still some of the original light remaining, as is evidenced in man's conscience and moral sense. Saul of Tarsus had some of this light, and yet persecuted the Church. Conscience is not a sufficient guide. We need the light of God's Word.
The Holy Spirit is the light of the Church, by which we are being specially guided into the Truth. St. Peter tells us that we have a more sure Word of prophecy, whereunto we do well that we take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place. (2 Peter 1:19.) The light on the path of the just "shineth more and more unto the perfect Day." We are still in the dark place, and shall be until the darkness gives way and the Day is here. And so, as St. Peter says, we have need of this Word of prophecy "until the Day dawn." Thus we find that one Scripture helps to elucidate another.
Apparently many of our Christian friends have the thought that the Apostle meant that the Lord might come at any hour, on any day. But when we come to understand the Scriptures, and know that God has fixed times and seasons, and when we learn more about God's Plan, we see what He has revealed respecting the length of the night and the time for the dawning of the morning. The Apostle had sufficient knowledge to realize that the morning was coming and that the night would then have an end. He knew that Christ at His Second Coming would be the Sun of Righteousness. We also know this. He knew that Christ would be the Light of the world. We likewise know this; and that the glorified Church will be, with Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, which will arise with healing in its beams, and will enlighten the world, and lift it up and bless it.
We know something of God's times and seasons. There is a great difference, however, between knowing the day and the hour and knowing the times and the seasons. You might know that your Pastor intended to go sometimes this season to Great Britain. When the season arrives you might say, Well, this is the season. Yes, but you would not know what steamer he would take. You say, We know the time he will reach London, but do not know just the day the boat sails. And thus the Lord has guaranteed that His people shall not be left in darkness – that we shall have light and knowledge sufficient – that we shall not be in darkness with the world.
Just so surely as we are of the Brethren, just so surely that Day will not come upon us as a thief. We shall know how to expect it. We shall know about the time. Those who think that the Apostles had no knowledge of the matter have, we think, taken a superficial view of some of the Scriptures. Take, for example, the text under discussion. "The night is far spent, the Day is at hand." They have thought this meant that this Day might dawn that very year, or the following year.
The Apostle evidently had no such idea; for he goes on to explain, in one of his Epistles, how that Day would come, and that there would be a time of trouble, and that the Lord would permit a strong delusion; that the man of Sin must first be revealed. He assured the Church that the Day would not come until first there was a great falling away. He reminded them: You have been told about an evil system arising. Know now that this Day of the Lord absolutely cannot come, until the Abomination of Desolation has been set up, as noted in the prophecy of Daniel. And he warned, "Let no man deceive you by any means." – 2 Thess. 2 – entire chapter.
In one of his Epistles to the Church at Corinth, St. Paul said, "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." (I Cor. 15:51,52.) The early Church thought that St. Paul meant that they would not sleep. But St. Paul was referring to the Church as a whole – instructing them that some of the Church would remain until the Day of Christ. St. Paul and St. Peter both intimated that they were not of those who would remain to be changed in a moment from the earthly body to the Heavenly.
So, coming back to our text, we are to recognize that the Apostle Paul had special information from the Lord. He tells us so. He says he had visions and revelations more than all the other Apostles. And he declares that the Lord revealed to him things not proper to be uttered at that time. He must not explain these visions; their meaning was a secret intrusted to him. (2 Cor. 12:4.) The Apostle's mind being thus illuminated, he was able to write with great intelligence, clearness and power, so that we, with the increasing light upon the Holy Scriptures now due, might be able to see a depth to his writings, and get a grasp on the Truth, not otherwise possible. And we do. Nearly all of our knowledge of the deep things comes from St. Paul's Epistles, because he had this light and it permeated all that he wrote. So we today are able to explore and to understand many things which were secrets, known only to the Apostle Paul in his day.
The Day spoken of in our text is the Last Day. Martha said of Lazarus, "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." (John 11:24.) Which is the Last Day? It is the great Seventh Day. This Day will not be a time of darkness, but a time of [R5339 : page 325] daylight. That being so, the other six Days represent the night of darkness and sin. In the morning of the new Day, the reign of the Prince of Darkness is to be overthrown by the Prince of Light; and thus the Day will be ushered in. From this standpoint of the six great Days of a thousand years each, we are to remember that the Apostles and the early Church were living in the Fifth Day – there was only one more Day to intervene before the Seventh Day, and then would be due the great shining forth of the glory of the Lord. From this standpoint the Apostle's words are clear.
During the Dark Ages God's people were permitted to have only a measure of light, a measure of knowledge. Yet they had certain great landmarks. And so when the Papacy was developed, God's people said, This is that Man of Sin – this is that falling away which was predicted. Thus they could locate themselves. We see that in the Dark Ages there was quite a clear understanding that the Papacy was the Man of Sin. Still it was not God's intention to guide the Church into the fulness of Truth until the due time. And we are not claiming now that we know the day (the day in the shorter sense) and the hour of the setting up of the Kingdom. But we are not ignorant of the times and seasons.
In view of this knowledge of the wonderful Day about to dawn, how shall we who are hoping to be of the Kingdom class of that Day deport ourselves now? How shall we live? Ah! says the Apostle, if we are "children of the Day," we are to show it. We are God's representatives and ambassadors. We are to tell the people about the light and knowledge and glory of God that is to come so soon, that will fill the whole earth, by and by. We are to help them to contrast the present with the glorious conditions that will then exist, so that all who love the light may take heed to the Word of God and get ready to be members of that Kingdom class.
What must we do? We must put off the works of darkness, everything that is selfish and sinful – for that which is selfish is sinful, and that which is sinful is selfish. We are to put these off because we belong to the new order of things. The works of darkness would be any works whatsoever that would not stand the fullest investigation; that would not stand approved in the light of the New Dispensation, if it were fully ushered in. Let us remember that we belong to the New Dispensation, and not to the old, and should, therefore, live in accordance with our citizenship and our responsibilities toward the Prince of Light and in opposition to the Prince of Darkness, his works and his ways.
We have enlisted with Christ, and we will fight against the enemies of our new nature. We will be worthy children of God and strive earnestly, that we may be associated with the Lord in His Kingdom of Righteousness. And when we have put off the darkness, what must we do? We must put on the armor of light. What is the armor of light? It is the armor which protects from the darts of the Adversary, and includes the helmet of salvation – the protection of our intellects through a knowledge of the Truth, from the attacks of our great foe.
As the Apostle urges, let us "Stand therefore, having our loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and our feet shod with the preparation [R5340 : page 325] of the Gospel of peace; above all taking the shield of faith, wherewith we shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." (Eph. 6:14-17.) This is the armor with which we are to withstand the attacks which appeal to the evil tendencies of the fallen nature, that we may come off "more than conquerors" through Christ, that we may be of that glorious band of overcomers who will be made kings and priests of God in that glorious Day – in the dawning of the Morning.
The Apostle continues the figure of speech which refers to the on-coming Day, in contrast with the night time of sorrow, sin and death, during which evil and sin have prevailed. The Scriptures declare that evil-doers prefer that it be dark, in order that their real aims and objects be not known; for they do that in secret which they would not wish to have known in the light and open to the public in general.
Then the Apostle discusses what should be the attitude of the Church. "Let us walk honestly, as in the Day" – honestly, in the sense of conscientiously, openly – having nothing that we would need to secrete from the whole world, if they were able to understand our motives. They would know we had no evil purposes, but only pure, honest, good intentions. Our Lord was the great Light of the world. But He was misunderstood and misrepresented. So all of His followers, in proportion as they are light-bearers, will be subject to attacks from Satan, who seeks to perpetuate his hold upon mankind.
Nevertheless, whether it cost us much or little, our whole course of life is to be honest, upright. Our lives are to be devoted to the cause of righteousness – we are to see to it that we do nothing contrary to the principles of righteousness. Sincerity, honesty of purpose, should make all our life as open as the Day when everything wicked is to be disclosed. By showing the right and exposing the wrong deeds, thus making known the character of these, the Lord will put men on test as to which they love.
For those who love evil, wickedness, after they see it in its true colors, after they see where it leads and all its consequences, and shall have had full opportunity to know and to choose between right and wrong, light and darkness – for such God's portion will be death – Second Death. The only final reward and punishment for evil is destruction. "All the wicked will God destroy."
So during the Millennial Day, the Day of Christ, the Day of the Lord in the largest sense, the light will prevail, and all the hidden things of darkness will be exposed. Those who love these things are the ones who will suffer disadvantage; while all who love the light will be blessed and will make progress toward human perfection.
Those of the Church – those who are hoping to be kings and priests and to reign with Christ and to be judges of the world – their conduct should be as far as possible in accord with God's standard. Everything should be open, honest, subject to the investigation of the Lord or of anybody. In thus living we shall be proving our faithfulness to the Lord. We must demonstrate our loyalty to Him by being willing to suffer rebuffs and adversity. We must strive most earnestly to overcome our human weaknesses and imperfections, and thus manifest our love for righteousness and for God. We see that our Lord Jesus is the embodiment of these glorious principles for which God stands; and we are to be like Him, our Pattern.
We are to be so in love with God's gracious character and God's methods that we shall greatly prefer to be on His side, under the banner of light, rather than to be children of darkness, whatever its present reward. So [R5340 : page 326] let us walk as the children of the light – the children of the Day, and thus we shall be laying up treasures above, and shall prepare ourselves for the glorious things which the Lord has in reservation for those that love Him – for those who are seeking to walk in the Master's footsteps.
The Apostle's use of the first person – we, our, us – in the verses preceding our text, would seem to indicate very clearly that he is speaking to the Church, including himself. Indeed, the introduction to the Epistle shows this to be the case. St. Paul is here showing what should be the course of the Church, as in contrast with the attitude of the world. When he says, "Let us walk," he means, Let us daily progress – walk not along the lines of rioting and drunkenness. He does not say that the Lord's people may not occasionally be overtaken in a fault. But if they are thus overtaken, they are to know that they are not then walking in the footsteps of Jesus, but are for the time being walking in the opposite direction.
We are to remember that the Church are at this time imperfect, in an embryotic state – not fully developed. The New Creature has as yet no body of its own, but is merely given possession of this earthly body, which is an enemy of God. The New Creature is obliged to use this instrumentality. As a New Creature, he will ultimately be judged, not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit, for the Lord will make up for unintentional blemishes. But these bodies which have been the instruments of sin, are to be put into the service of righteousness. All of our present experiences must be in the flesh, because we have no other instrument of service.
Now, the Apostle says, we are to beware of rioting and drunkenness, for all excesses are of the world. We are living in a time when the bacchanalian orgies of the past are disapproved by the community in general. Many may continue to practise some of these in secret, but they think that it is not wise to let it in any way be public. And those who sympathize with liquor interests, brewers, saloon-keepers, etc., realize that they can no longer do as formerly – they can no longer continue to sell liquor to a person until he has reached the condition of beastly intoxication. All of these evils will be banished when the new Kingdom shall have sway.
The true Christian has the mind of the Lord, and the Lord's mind is thoroughly in opposition to anything in the nature of drunkenness of any kind. The Spirit of the Lord gives a sober mind, a thoughtful mind, a reasonable mind. All rioting and drunkenness are the result of inebriation, befuddling the mind. We are not to suppose that any New Creature would have any sympathy with anything of the kind. The Apostle's suggestion is not that some New Creatures may think this the proper course, but that some New Creatures may become careless in their walk. As the New Creature grows and has more experience, he should learn that the only proper course is to avoid all places and conditions tending to excess and to worldliness. He should study to have new entertainments for his mind, study how to turn his mind in a new direction, toward Heavenly things.
While it is true that we have comparatively few of the orgies of olden times, it is also true that the world today has a more refined kind of rioting and drunkenness. There are social functions that might be called riotous, in the sense that they are unreasonable and disorderly. We might apply this criticism even to nominal Christianity. There is a certain kind of rioting mentioned in Revelation. We read that great Babylon made drunk the inhabitants of the earth with her wine. This might, in some cases, be a stupefaction of the mind; in other cases, a crazed condition.
We once believed many things without any real ground at all for believing. For example, we have believed in fire-proof devils, eternal flames, the roasting of humanity, etc. Now we find that we were merely having the hobgoblins of nightmare. God is not using His mighty power for the injury and useless torture of His creatures. We find that we were very seriously intoxicated with the wine of false doctrine. We are now becoming sober. The people are beginning to wink and blink, and to try to overcome the effects of the stupefying drafts of error.
Some have gotten out of these errors. But there are some who still have a kind of frenzy of mind, and some of these are attacking us. They launch forth as though they would demolish us, and they battle for the error as though it were the Truth. In their warfare they use the weapons of slander, malice, hatred, strife, and various other works of the flesh and of the Devil. Their choice of weapons is a proof that they are under a delusion, blinding them through false doctrine.
Sometimes there is rioting, even to the extent of hilarious conduct in meetings. We were once present at a religious meeting where there were all sorts of rioting, evil spirits and demonism. Yet the people were apparently sincere and honest. This occurred some years ago. The preacher hammered the pulpit, while two or three men tried to pray, etc. It was a regular pandemonium. The young people would go there and eat peanuts and snicker and giggle, seeming to consider the service a kind of circus. These people were evidently "drunk" – it was from a bad kind of "liquor," too. [R5341 : page 326]
This principle might apply to some of those who have gotten free from the errors of the past. There is a spirit of anarchy, a lack of orderly behavior with some who have come into the Truth. Sometimes it will manifest itself in one of a Bible-Class, who will try to have his own way and to override the rest. He is simply rioting; he has not gotten rid of the wrong spirit; he has not applied the principle of righteousness – the Lord's Spirit, the spirit of a sound mind – to his conduct.
Then sometimes it is the leader of the Class who shows a riotous spirit. The Scriptures very clearly set forth what would be proper in such a case. Each has a perfect right to his own opinion on any subject, but no one has a right to override others and try to force his opinions on them. To do so is contrary to the Lord's Spirit. We should not walk that way. We should walk prayerfully and carefully along the lines of the Golden Rule, doing unto others as we would that they should do unto us.
Let us walk as becometh saints, showing forth more and more "the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous Light."
"The cup of blessing, for which we bless God, is it not a participation of the blood of the Anointed One? The loaf which we break, is it not a participation of the Body of the Anointed One? Because there is one loaf, we, the many, are one Body." – 1 Cor. 10:16,17. – Diaglott.
The Church is represented as being a part of the great Vine which God has planted; as Jesus says, "I am the Vine, ye are the branches." (John 15:5.) Our Lord tells us of the precious fruit of this Vine, the development of which represents the sorrowful part of our experience. There is a sense in which the cup represents the joy which we shall have when we shall have passed beyond the sufferings of this present time and shall have entered into glory. (Matt. 26:29.) The expression, "for which we bless God," may be understood to mean, for which we give thanks and praise to the Lord. Whoever receives the cup without thankfulness of heart, without appreciation, will not get the great reward. In order to receive the blessing designed, we must receive the cup with thankfulness for this great privilege of suffering with Christ.
In considering this question of the Apostle, "is it not a participation [common union] in the blood of Christ?" we should have a double thought before our minds: first, of the literal cup to which he refers, the literal fruit of the vine, which represents the blood of Christ; and second, the fact that we have the privilege of partaking of His cup, the sacrificial cup. We have the privilege of sharing in His death, sharing in His sufferings. This thought is borne out in other Scriptures – that Jesus is the Head of the Church which is His Body, etc. He is to be the great Prophet, Priest, King, Judge and Blesser of the world.
According to the Scriptures, the great Head was glorified, after having endured the sufferings even unto death, after having laid down His life for the world. And He has adopted us as His members – members now in the flesh, to be His members shortly in glory. We use the word members in the sense that we speak of members of the House of Parliament. The body of Parliament has many members, and so the Body of Christ has many members. The terms on which they may make their calling and election sure are that they shall believe in Christ and shall give themselves to God. Then our Lord will adopt them as His members, members now on earth and afterwards members of Him in glory.
On condition, then, that we drink faithfully of this cup (Matt. 26:27), we shall make our "calling and election sure." (2 Peter 1:10.) The injunction, "Drink ye all of it," had a double signification: first, it must all be drunk before the end of the Gospel Age; and secondly, all who would be members of His Body must drink of it. St. Peter spoke of the sufferings of The Christ, Head and Body, which have now been going on for more than eighteen centuries, and of the glory that shall follow. (I Peter 1:8-12; 4:1; 5:1.) As soon as the last member shall have passed into the Heavenly condition, all the sufferings of The Christ will be over, and none others will have the privilege of sharing in the "sufferings of Christ," even as none others will have the privilege of sharing in His glory and becoming His "Bride, the Lamb's Wife."
It is one cup, though it contains the juice of many grapes; and it is one loaf, though made from many grains. The grains cannot retain their individuality and their life if they would become bread for the world. The grapes cannot maintain themselves as grapes if they would constitute the life-giving spirit. Thus we see the beauty of the Apostle's statement that the Lord's people are participants in the one loaf and the one cup. There is no other way by which we may attain the new nature than by accepting the Lord's invitation to drink His cup, and by being broken with Him as members of the one loaf; by being buried with Him in baptism into His death, and thus attaining with Him a resurrection to glory, honor and immortality, attaining unto the First Resurrection.
The loaf represents primarily the Lord Jesus' body, which is broken for us and for the world in general. In a larger sense it includes all the Body of Christ, all who become His members. Thus the breaking of the loaf, the breaking of the Body, has continued for more than eighteen centuries.
We read that in the institution of the Lord's Supper Jesus broke the loaf. As a matter of fact, He was the only one at that time who could break the loaf. All others of mankind were unjustified in God's sight until Jesus by His sacrifice and exaltation made good the deficiency of a certain class. So Jesus was the first to break the loaf. Today, as the unleavened bread at the Memorial season is passed to each of us, and as each takes a portion of it, he breaks it for himself.
The fact that our Lord first broke the bread does not mean that we should not have our individual part. We recall that the Heavenly Father had to do with the breaking of our Lord's body. As it is written, "It pleased Jehovah to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief." (Isa. 53:10.) This was not done against our Lord's will. While the Heavenly Father had to do with His breaking, so, in harmony with the Divine arrangement, the breaking of our share of the loaf.
The Apostle's statement in the succeeding chapter, "Ye do show forth the Lord's death," applies exclusively to the death of Jesus. The setting of the words indicates that it is the Lord Jesus personally who is mentioned: "As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show forth the Lord's death till He come." (V.26.) "He is thy Lord, and worship thou Him." (Psa. 45:11.) The Church is never spoken of as the Lord.
Furthermore, we are to remember that Jesus said, "This do in remembrance of Me." (Luke 22:19.) He did not say, This do in remembrance of yourselves – in remembrance of your own share in the sacrifice. We are to be dead with Him. We remember that we must share with Him in the sufferings of this present time if we would share in the glories to follow. The Father gave Him to be the Head – "God blessed forever." – Heb. 3:1; Rom. 8:17,18; 9:5.
The Scriptures say that the life is in the blood. (Lev. 17:11.) In harmony with that statement, the Jews were bidden to always refrain from eating the blood. The animals must be bled before they were permitted to eat the flesh. Nor was any stranger sojourning with them to eat any blood. (Lev. 17:10-14.) In this way, God would [R5342 : page 328] seem to say that life is a very sacred thing. This life principle that He gave to man, seems to reside in the blood. As long as the blood is passing through the organs of circulation, there is life; but when the blood is shed, the being dies.
When our Lord laid down His earthly life, He did not retain a right to that earthly life in the sense of using it for Himself. He tells us in the parable that all who would gain "the pearl of great price" (Matt. 13:45,46), must sell all that they have; that is, all that they enjoy of earthly life or privileges. Our Lord had a perfect earthly life. He gave up that life. "He poured out His soul [life] unto death." (Isa. 53:12.) On what basis? On exactly the same basis He has put before us; if we would live, we must die; if we would reign, we must suffer; we must be dead with Him. (2 Tim. 2:11,12.) So we who follow in His steps do the same that He did.
If we, as His disciples, lay down our life for the brethren, we are doing what Jesus did. This is all to be applied for the world. He took that earthly life, not to keep it, but to turn it over, eventually, to all mankind. The right to human life is still in His control. He is the One who, as the great Mediator, will give to the world of mankind the life He poured out.
He now imputes His merit to the Church, that we may share with him in His suffering and in His glorious Kingdom, on the spirit plane. This cup, then, represents the full renunciation of earthly life and of all claim thereto. Our Lord's earthly life was not forfeited, but merely laid down. (John 10:17,18.) The intention in laying it down was to abandon it, personally, forever, that humanity might get it. He has not yet accomplished this, in the sense of turning life over to them, but He gave up His life with that purpose in view.
Our Lord undertook to accomplish the Divine will in the redemption of the world, and He has proceeded in the accomplishment of it, but has not yet completed the purpose. He laid down His life, but did not forfeit it. When He was raised from the dead He still had a right to that earthly life, with the understanding, however, that He was not to use it for Himself, but that He would give that life to all the world who were willing to receive it, assigning it to them at the end of His Reign of a thousand years, during which His Church will Reign with Him.
So then, His life was not taken from Him; for His life could be taken from Him only by His disobedience. (Lev. 18:5; Ezek. 20:11; Luke 10:28; Rom. 10:5.) He laid it down voluntarily, in harmony with the Divine will. He laid it down that it might become an asset in the hands of Divine Justice, so that when the time should come He might use that asset for mankind. – John 6:51.
In the beginning it was the Divine purpose that our Lord's human life should be laid down forever, that He should not take it again. He consecrated His life at Jordan and finished the sacrifice at Calvary. Throughout the Gospel Age He has been sacrificing His Mystical Body. Just as soon as He shall have finished the sacrificing of all these Body members, then their life-right, which belongs to the great High Priest, will be used for the purchase, the redemption, of the world, by the sealing of the New Covenant. Immediately after this, His Kingdom will be established. This further application of His merit, His life-right, which will not be made until the whole Church has passed beyond the veil, is symbolized by the sprinkling of the Mercy Seat with the blood of the goat. The blood of our Lord and the blood of His Body, is all one blood. It is one Priest of many members. It is one Atonement for all – for the sins of the whole world. – I John 2:2.
The blood represents not only the death of Christ, but also the death of all the members of His Body, to whom merit is imputed. This the Apostle expresses in the same connection, saying, "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion [common union, or participation] of the blood of Christ? The bread [loaf] which we break, is it not the communion [common union, participation] of the Body of Christ?" that is to say, a union in common with Him, a partnership, as represented in the cup and in the bread [loaf]. The whole matter has its origin in Him. But we are celebrating also our own individual share as members of the Church in the sacrifice of the flesh, in our participation in the sufferings of Christ.
"Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." – John 6:53.
Our Lord's words imply, If you accept My proposition of the Gospel Age, you may have life, and have it more abundantly than man has ever had it or could have it. You may have inherent life – "life in you."
There is a difference, we believe, maintained in the Scriptures between the bread, which symbolizes the Lord's flesh, and the wine, which symbolizes His blood. The Church, in order to be accepted of the Lord as members of His glorified Body, must share in both of these by participation. The loaf, as the Apostle explains, not only represents to us our Lord, as the Bread of Life necessary for us, but it also represents us as His members to be broken as our Lord was broken; and the wine represents not only our Lord's blood, but also the blood of the Church – that we are sharers with him in His sacrificial sufferings. – I Cor. 10:16,17.
The privilege of sharing our Lord's Cup is not for the world. They will not share in the sufferings of Christ, because all opportunity to share in His sufferings and glory will have ended when the Church is glorified. The Lord said, "Drink ye all of it" – drink it all. There will be none for the world to drink. And we who are of the Church class "fill up that which is [left] behind of the afflictions of Christ." – Col. 1:24.
"The flesh of the Son of Man" represents Restitution to human privileges, i. e., the means to its attainment, and [R5342 : page 329] restores to man the life which he had forfeited – the life lost in Adam – human life, earthly life. It will be the gift of God through Christ. But the supplying of this Bread will not be sufficient. The world will need to eat of the Bread and to have the assistance the Lord will give them through His Kingdom. Jesus said (V.51), "I am the living Bread which came down from Heaven; if any man eat of this Bread, he shall live forever."
From one viewpoint the world may be spoken of as not dead. They have lost their right to life, but God has made arrangements through Jesus by which that life will be restored. It was lost in Adam, but will be restored through Christ, the second Adam. During these six thousand years the world has been in a starved and fallen condition. But God has provided this Bread and it will be for them in the Millennial Age.
It is not shown symbolically anywhere in the Scriptures that the world will partake of the blood, and thus participate in the sufferings of Christ. Only a few are represented as partaking of the blood. This is shown in Leviticus 16. The blood sprinkled the second time on the Mercy-Seat is for all the people, thus satisfying Justice. This represented the release of all humanity from the sentence of death, giving all an opportunity to eat of the Bread and not die.
In another picture, we find the blood used representing man's acceptance of the Divine arrangement. In the sealing of the Law Covenant, which is a type of the New Covenant, Moses first sprinkled the books of the Law, representing the satisfaction of Justice. Then with the same blood he afterwards sprinkled all the people. (Heb. 9:19; Exod. 24:8.) The sprinkling of the books of the books of the Law required only a few seconds; but the sprinkling of the people required a long time.
At the beginning of the Millennial Age – as soon as the Church is joined to her Head beyond the veil – the blood will be sprinkled to satisfy Justice for the world. Then, as the Mediator, Christ will proceed to do a work for all who will receive it. And that work is symbolically represented as sprinkling the people with the blood. In other words, every member of the race will be privileged to come into Covenant relationship with God through the Mediator, by accepting the terms which He will hold forth during the Millennial Reign.
If they meet the requirements during Messiah's Reign, by the close of that period they will be perfect; and He will present them before the Father, and all will be received into full covenant relationship with Him, who endure faithfully the test then applied.
In our context (V.54), we read, "Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life." Our [R5343 : page 329] Lord's statements in many instances are made so broad that they cover, not only the Little Flock, but the Great Company as well, and therein show great wisdom. In this verse the Lord does not say, "hath eternal life" in him; for of those who now make a Covenant of sacrifice, and become sharers of the Cup as well as of the Bread, there are some who will not attain to inherence of life – immortality – but who will come through great tribulations and attain life on a lower spirit plane. They will not have inherent life, though it will be everlasting life. Those who attain immortality will have eternal life, on the highest plane. Those of the Great Company will have eternal life, but not immortality – not life in themselves.
When our Lord said, "For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed" (V.55), we understand Him to mean that this is the most valuable food and drink ever known. No other bread has such value, and no other drink could be so precious as this, by the partaking of which one may attain to glory, honor and immortality – the Divine nature, life in itself.
The Bread from Heaven was our Lord's flesh, which He was to give for the life of the world. And Jesus explains this to be what was typified by the manna that fell in the wilderness. He said, "Your fathers did eat manna [in the wilderness], and are dead. He that eateth of this Bread shall live forever." He also said (John 12:24), "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." And He did fall into the earth and die. And we become sharers with Him in His death. We participate in His sufferings and death, which the world will never do. They share in its outcome.
All the work of this Gospel Age, is the getting ready of the food for the world, and of the blood which will be sprinkled upon them. But the Message of our Lord in our text was not intended for the world. As He tells us, "Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven."
It is only a special class who could know anything about the Mystery of God all through these nineteen hundred years – the two millenniums. These things have been hidden from the world in general. But now we believe that the time is here when they are to be given to the world, making the world conscious of the blessing that God has in store for them soon. The Scriptures tell us that the Mystery will be unfolded during the sounding of the seventh trumpet – which is now sounding. This making of these truths known, therefore, would seem to be the showering of the manna.
"Fear thou not; for I am with thee." – Isaiah 41:10.
The Canaanites in general and the people of Jericho in particular, although expecting an invasion, would not expect it at a time when the river was impassable and when bridges were little known. The Israelites, too, must have had various opportunities for exercising faith or doubt in respect to soon entering Canaan. The fact that nothing is mentioned respecting doubts or fears or murmurings implies that their experiences in the wilderness had taught them valuable lessons of faith in God and trust in Divine appointments.
The crossing day came, and Joshua, by Divine instruction, directed the priests to bear the Ark and to go before the people, proceeding to the brink of the river until their feet were in the water. As their feet touched the water, it began to recede and they to advance, until finally they [R5345 : page 330] stood in the middle of the stony bed of the Jordan, still bearing the Ark of the Covenant, which represented the Divine promise under which they had left Egypt and were hoping for grand results.
The hosts of Israel, lining the banks of the Jordan for miles, crossed over from Moab to Canaan. Thus the crossing was entirely accomplished. Twelve large stones, representing the twelve tribes, were taken from the bed of the Jordan and piled on the shore as a monument or memorial of God's aid, while twelve stones from the shore were placed in the bed of the river as a similar memorial. Finally the priests followed the people to the Canaan shore, and shortly thereafter the waters began to return to the river bed, as before.
The fact that we may now know with considerable certainty just how this miracle was performed should not in the least detract from its value. With God nothing would be a miracle, since He of His own power is able to accomplish His will in every respect. Many things are miracles simply because we do not understand the Divine processes. We are miracles ourselves, fearfully and wonderfully made. The growth of the plant, the flower, or even a blade of grass, is a miracle to us – something wholly beyond our power, and in a general way considerably beyond our comprehension as a process.
The account tells plainly that the heaping up of the waters was in the direction of Adam. This place has been located with considerable certainty by Prof. Wright as situated seventeen miles above Jericho, on the Jordan. The waters became in a heap, a lake, the Professor assures us, by reason of a land-slide which choked the narrow passage in the river, where there were steep banks. The character of the soil in that vicinity would be favorable to the blocking of the narrow channel of the Jordan there by the slipping of the hillsides. Indeed, history tells us that a similar slide took place in the same vicinity in A.D. 1267, damming up the Jordan for several hours and leaving the bed of the river below quite dry, the waters draining off to the Dead Sea.
Prof. Wright says, "So striking is this conformity of the facts to the conditions indicated by the Biblical account, that geologists can find but little difficulty in believing the written record. At the same time the written record is so precise itself, and so free from fantastic elements that the literary critic cannot well consider it as anything but the original, unvarnished tale of an eyewitness."
The marvel of the story is that the Divine marching orders were so timed as to suit the circumstances and conditions exactly.
The memorial stones were to bear witness to future generations of this great act of Divine providence on behalf of Israel. Joshua admonished, "When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up from before us, until we were gone over: that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty; that ye might fear the Lord forever." – Joshua 4:21-24.
St. Paul, in Hebrews 4:5-8, gives us the suggestion that Israel's entrance of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua typified the entrance of the Church into the rest of faith and special privilege under the leadership of the antitypical Joshua, Jesus. The Israelites had rest from their wilderness journeyings. It was a wonderful change for them, a blessed change, yet it was not the full realization of all that God had promised them. That full realization will be attained only in Eden itself, and as a result of Messiah's glorious work of Restitution. Following the Apostle's lead, we perceive that the experiences of Israel up to the time when Moses died represented the Law Dispensation, which ended at the Cross. The Gospel Dispensation, beginning at Pentecost, is typified by the crossing of Jordan and the taking possession of the land, Canaan signifying rest.
"We who believe do enter into rest" – in proportion to our exercise of faith. He who exercises much faith may have much rest, and may conquer, and possess quietude. He who has less faith will have less rest and will be able only partially to enter upon his privileges. The storming of Jericho and the other cities of Canaan typified the warfare of the New Creature, begotten of the Holy Spirit, against the things of the flesh, the desires of the flesh, the weaknesses and depravities of the flesh. The Lord's word to those who would enter into His rest is, "Be strong and of good courage. Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed. The Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest."
Those lacking faith entered not at all into Canaan, but died in the wilderness. So we read, "Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the Election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded." Only the faithful will constitute God's Elect. Only these can pass from the old to the new conditions. Only these pass from death unto life without actually dying. Throughout this Gospel Age, God has been making up Israel's deficit by calling a similar class from all nations, peoples, kindreds and tongues. Each one is called upon to exercise faith and cross over Jordan, in the sense of beginning a new life – a life of devotion to God, a life of warfare against sin and the entrenched weaknesses of his own flesh.
We agree with the Apostle's words that "We who believe do enter into rest." All of God's consecrated people can testify that they have a rest, a peace, a joy, a blessing, which the world can neither give nor take away – and this in proportion to their loyalty and faithfulness. Yet even all this is not sufficient. God has in reservation something far better. Respecting this the Apostle declares, "There remaineth, therefore, a rest for the people of God." – Hebrews 4:9.
That Heavenly rest will be entered by the perfecting of the New Creatures in the First Resurrection. Their loyalty and faithfulness having been demonstrated in fighting the good fight of faith against the world, the flesh and the Adversary, the Lord promises them a glorious change, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" – a share in His own resurrection to the perfection of the Divine nature, "far above angels, principalities and powers" and in association with Himself in the glorious Messianic Kingdom, by which the world of mankind is also to be blessed. – Luke 12:32.
St. Paul intimates that the seventh day of the Law Sabbath typified the present condition of the Lord's people enjoying rest, peace and Divine favor even under imperfect conditions; but the true Sabbath will come for us when we shall have experienced our resurrection change. Then we shall have rest from sin. We shall also have rest from our own weaknesses and imperfections; [R5346 : page 331] for all of these will be gone. The New Creatures will be beings without flaw, blameless and irreprovable. "It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body."
The weaknesses of others will no longer cause us unrest. The rest of the glorified condition of the Church will be perfect. But before we can enter into that rest, we must here show our worthiness by fighting the good fight of faith and by laying hold on eternal life, upon the conditions which are offered us, walking faithfully in the Master's footsteps.
"All things are possible to him that believeth." – Mark 9:23.
The Lord's decree in respect to Jericho and all the other cities of Canaan was that they were devoted – cherem. The Israelites were not led into Canaan to do a pillaging work. They were to be the executioners of the Divine decree against the people of Canaan, who were divided up into little principalities, each city constituting the center of a principality. According to history, they were continually at war with each other, and atrociously corrupt, after the manner of the Sodomites. They were to be destroyed as no longer advantageous in the conditions in which they were living, either to themselves or others. God took them away as He saw good.
In the great prison-house of Sheol, the tomb, they would wait for the more favorable time of Messiah's Kingdom and the release and assistance out of degradation and death promised to all mankind through Abraham's seed: "In thy Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed."
The Israelites, as executioners of the Divine decrees, were to destroy the cities of Canaan and all their inhabitants, their animals and all their property. The exceptions were the things of metal; and these were not to be appropriated by the Israelites to their own use, but were consecrated in advance to the Lord for the furnishment and adornment of the Tabernacle and the Temple.
After crossing Jordan, the Israelites encamped about midway between the river and Jericho, the latter city having shut up its gates tightly, expecting to endure a long siege. Joshua was aware that the first place of attack was Jericho, but evidently was not aware of the character of the siege and of the way in which it would be overthrown. While reconnoitering in the vicinity of Jericho, he came upon an armed soldier, and at once inquired whether he was a friend or a foe to Israel. The answer was that he was the Captain of the Lord's host. One of the angels had been commissioned to materialize – to appear as a human being and to wear human garments and armor – for the purpose of communicating the Divine plans to Joshua.
We are to remember that the Bible relates frequent manifestations of this kind – spirit beings hiding their personality while assuming human bodies, human clothing, etc., in which they ate, talked, etc., as men. We remember that it was after this same manner that the Lord Jesus after His resurrection appeared to His disciples in various forms, sometimes similar to His crucified body, but more often otherwise – as the gardener, a way-farer, etc. Similarly, three spirit beings appeared to Abraham on one occasion – not only in human bodies, but wearing human apparel. And they ate and talked with Abraham (Genesis 18:8,9), and he knew not that they were angels until subsequently they revealed their identity.
Through this Heavenly messenger the Divine plan for the capture of Jericho was revealed to Joshua. He immediately put it into execution. Every day there was a solemn procession around the doomed city. First went a military escort from the various tribes. Next followed a company of priests blowing rams' horns, making shrill noises. Then came a further procession – a rear guard – presumably warriors. In harmony with explicit directions not a voice was raised, not a threat nor a shout. Everything connected with the matter was most solemn and funeral, except the blowing on the rams' horns, which were the same as were used in announcing each new year, but especially and peculiarly used in the Jubilee year.
These solemn funeral processions encompassed Jericho once every day for six days. Then on the seventh day they went about the city seven times, the last time vociferously shouting – the seven priests blowing upon the rams' horns. When they had made the seventh circle of the city they stopped in front of it, still blowing; and forthwith the wall of the city crumbled and fell. The translation of our Common Version, "down flat," seems too strong a statement to represent properly the original. The walls of the city crumbled and fell immediately in front of the Ark. But not all the wall fell; for the account tells that the portion of the wall where Rahab's house was built did not fall. (Cf. Joshua 2:15-19.) The wall fell to such a degree that Israel's soldiers were able easily and quickly to surmount it and accomplish the work of destruction which the Lord had commanded.
Is it suggested that such an event would be preposterous? If so, we reply that everything in the Divine purpose can easily enough be accomplished under the Divine supervision. Quite probably the tremor of an earthquake, under Divine direction, caused the fall of Jericho's wall in front of the Israelites. When we consider all the circumstances as related in the Bible, it does not seem at all impossible that God thus intervened for the carrying out of His own purposes.
Prof. Wright declares, "The 'mediate' cause of the fall of the wall was some subterranean earthquake, which shook down the walls of the part of the city where the men were standing, or undermined them so that they sank. This is easily possible in that region of earthquakes." Prof. Lawson describes similar results from earthquakes near San Francisco, saying, "The earth waves which passed through the highly elastic rocks swiftly with a small amplitude seem in this material to have been transformed into slow undulations of great amplitude, which were excessively destructive."
Prof. Wright adds, "All the chimneys of the place [Oakland] were thrown down, and the bricks were scattered [R5344 : page 332] around over the yard as grains of wheat would be when falling from the hands of the sower. The record is that at the appointed time the walls [of Jericho] fell; and we are free to believe that the catastrophe was connected with an earthquake, which was made to synchronize with the final blasts of the rams' horns. In the light of history and geological conditions of this region, the story bears every mark of being a genuine and authentic account of an event so remarkable that it could not have been modified by tradition without rendering it fantastic and incredible. To the geologist who believes in God, it is perfectly reasonable. To the textual critic, the freedom from fantastic comment marks it as having been unadorned by tradition."
There seems to be a typical significance connected with the capture of Jericho. In a sense it is made to represent all the cities of Canaan as their capital. The six days of the quiet marching around the city, with nothing accomplished except the witnessing, represents the six great Days of the larger Week – each Day a thousand years long. During the world's history, Sin has been entrenched and impregnable. The Lord's people have merely given witness against it – blowing the trumpets – giving forth the Bible Message that ultimately Sin shall be destroyed – "All the wicked will God destroy." They shall perish "like natural brute beasts." "They shall be punished with everlasting destruction" – "the Second Death." – Psalm 145:20; 2 Peter 2:12; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 20:14.
But little has resulted from all the witnessing. We are waiting for the great Seventh Day – the thousand years of Messiah's Reign. In it the citadel of evil will be surrounded seven times, or completely. The shout of victory will go up; and the strong walls of sin and error, of Satan's falsehood, of human deception, will fall. Satan shall be bound a thousand years, to deceive the world no more, and every evil thing and principle and all who love sin will be forever destroyed in the Second Death. Thus will be ushered in the glorious epoch for which we so long have waited and prayed, in which there shall be no more curse, no more sighing, crying or dying.
That victory will be under the guidance and direction of Immanuel, the Captain of the Lord's host, the Captain of our salvation. Christ and the Church will then be beyond the veil in the glory of the Kingdom on the spirit plane; but there will be representatives of the Kingdom on the earthly plane, though their rule and direction will be under the guidance and instruction of the spiritual ones – of the glorified. The Scriptures are very clear in their indication that none will belong to the Heavenly company in the resurrection except such as have been begotten of the Holy Spirit during this Gospel Age – beginning with Pentecost.
The glorious characters who preceded Jesus and the Church, like John the Baptist, may be friends of the Bridegroom and friends of the Bride class, but themselves belong to another class. Since no one was begotten of the Holy Spirit before the Sacrifice of Calvary, none could possibly be born of the Spirit previously. St. Paul declares that glorious blessings are coming for all those noble characters of the past, such as Moses and others whom he enumerates in Hebrews 11. He concludes the story of their life and blessing by assuring the Church that these Ancient Worthies apart from us (the Church) shall not be made perfect. God has provided some better thing for us (the Church). Our better portion is the attainment of the spirit nature, like unto the angels, but far above angels, sharers with our Redeemer in His glory and immortality.
The reward of the Ancient Worthies, however, will be glorious. Brought back from the tomb perfect as human beings, they will be grand ensamples to the world of what Restitution will mean to all who will come into harmony with Messiah's Kingdom. And their portion and honor will be to represent that Kingdom as Princes or Rulers in all the earth. – Psalm 45:16.
How munificent are the Divine arrangements! Our great Creator is the Fountain of blessings, pouring out His mercies and favors on every hand. Our Lord Jesus, the great Captain of our salvation, who manifested His loyalty to the Father even unto the death of the cross, has already attained the highest position, next to Jehovah. The faithful Church, walking in the footsteps of the Redeemer in the narrow way of self-sacrifice, will be next to Him in His glory and Kingdom. Then, on every man in his own order, the Divine blessings will shower for a thousand years, to the uplifting of all out of sin and degradation back to the perfection of Adam in his Edenic home. The result will be "glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will amongst men"; for all contrary-minded shall be destroyed from amongst the people in the Second Death. – Acts 3:23.
"No man can serve two masters." – Matt. 6:24.
As a matter of fact, we are born in slavery to Sin. The Scriptures inform us that we were sold into this slavery by the disobedience of our first parents. Sin, therefore, has a hold upon the entire world of mankind. They are all slaves. It is impossible for them to deliver themselves from the thraldom of this slavery; for it is everywhere – the world around.
Some are loyal to the interests of evil; but the great majority are at heart disloyal to Mammon, realizing that in serving self they are opposing God. But at the same time, those who serve Mammon, selfishness, get the best in the political sphere, the best in the ecclesiastical sphere, the best in the social sphere, and the best in the financial sphere. Selfishness succeeds at the present time. All human arrangements are along the lines of selfishness. Whoever, then, works along these lines serves himself better than if he were not selfish. Otherwise he would have his fellow-creatures in opposition to him, misunderstanding him, etc.
But Jesus inaugurated a new order of things. He declared that God is ready to receive back to Himself those who forsake sin and believe on Him. He tells them that He will redeem them; and that as many as will [R5344 : page 333] accept His gracious arrangement will be set free. "If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."
Most people have selfishness so ingrained in their own natures and so mixed up in all with which they have to do, socially and otherwise, that to the majority of those who heard our Lord the Message seemed foolish. It was foolishness to them that our Lord should lose His life, that He should waste His life, and accomplish nothing. Consequently they thought it a waste of energy for any to become His companions, and they continued to serve Mammon, not knowing that they were serving the Devil.
The Mammon principle, the selfish principle, is of Satan. But he carefully hides his cloven foot, and makes himself to appear as an angel of light. When he is inviting people to take his way, the way of selfishness, he is at the same time misrepresenting God. And all those who take our Lord's way are held up to ridicule; for the Prince of this world has much power. Those who serve him cannot see that any other way would be reasonable or proper. Hence the difference between the children of light and the children of darkness.
Satan sets himself up as an angel of light; but his servants cannot see this, and thus he has them continually at a disadvantage. He says, "You need not serve Mammon; but be moderate in your course. Serve the present things. Do a little on this side and a little on that." And they say, "We will really in our hearts serve God; but outwardly we must serve Mammon. Otherwise we shall have trouble in continuing to be worldly-wise – if the world sees that we are serving God." Many have attempted this double course. This principle has been manifested all through the Gospel Age. If there had been no cause for Jesus to use these words, we may be sure He would not have used them. Jesus is here telling us that we cannot be faithful and acceptable servants to the world if we would be loyal to God; and we cannot be satisfactory to God if we give our hearts to Mammon.
The majority of Christian people are in this attitude today. They try to serve God; and yet they try to be worldly-wise, and to shape their conduct and their affairs of the present life in harmony with the present order of Mammon. The Lord would have them know that it is impossible to serve God and Mammon. He has promised to pay wages to those who serve Him. They must know that there can be no middle course, so far as God is concerned. Mammon might be willing to give a partial reward for partial service. But so far as Jesus is concerned, our service must be undivided.
Whomsoever the Son makes free will be free indeed. In the world they will have tribulation. But they will have the peace which passes all understanding. Others cannot appreciate their blessings, their real condition. If any one should try to serve two masters, his heart would go [R5345 : page 333] out to the one or to the other; for he would more and more detest his condition. If he were liberated by the Son, and fully enlisted in His service, he would come more and more into sympathy with the Divine arrangement, with the Justice, Wisdom and Love exercised by the Heavenly Father in His gracious Plan; and the appreciation of this would more and more fill him, so that he would have no time for worldly things.
"Studies in the Scriptures." India paper edition, fine leather binding, gold edges, light, small, beautiful, $4.80 (1L), postpaid.
"Studies in the Scriptures." Morocco, over boards, gold edges, but on paper the same as the ordinary cloth edition, suitable for book-shelf, $3.60 (15s) per set of six volumes, postpaid.
"Studies," Volume I., with Pyramid Chapter added. This special edition is very suitable for presentation to uninterested friends. Many have had their interest awakened by the reading of the Pyramid Chapter. We recommend this Volume for gift purposes. Postpaid 50c. (2s 1d), but, to stimulate its wide circulation, we offer ten copies for $3.50 (14s 7d), postpaid.
"Poems of Dawn." Nearly three hundred very choice poems topically divided, the very thing each should have near him for a leisure moment. The value of these as spiritual stimulants is inestimable. They can be appreciated by all Christians, though of course especially by those possessing a knowledge of Present Truth. Postpaid in cloth binding 25c. (1s); leather-bound 50c. (2s 1d).
"In the Garden of the Lord." This little booklet is a choice poem from the pen of Sister Seibert. It contains sixteen colored illustrations, twenty-four pages. Postpaid 6c. (3d) each; per dozen 65c. (2s 8d).
"The Sweet Briar Rose." A poem by Sister Seibert, with a commendation of "The Divine Plan of the Ages." Postpaid 2c. (1d) each; per hundred 50c. (2s 1d).
Choice Motto Cards for home embellishment and spiritual refreshment.
Packet Mz, containing fifteen small cards with different texts, postpaid 50c. (2s 1d).
Number Mv, containing eight small and three large-sized cards, 50c. (2s 1d).
Number Ma, containing fifteen small and six a little larger sized cards, $1 (4s 2d).
Number Mb, containing six small, six a little larger and three medium-sized motto cards, $1 (4s 2d).
Number Mc, containing six small and six medium-sized cards, $1 (4s 2d).
Number Md, containing six small, six a little larger and three large cards, $1 (4s 2d).
Number Me, containing four large cards, $1 (4s 2d).
Where $5 (£1 10d) worth of these are sent to one address the saving in package and expressage would be 50c., making the price $4.50 (18s 9d). Order by number only.
Postcards. Assorted mottoes and designs, 15c. (7½d) per dozen; $1.15 (4s 10d) per hundred.
Memory Cards. We have two different sets of these – No. 1 and No. 2. Colors of the cards indicate the topic. As for instance, purple represents royalty and the Kingdom, garnet represents the redeeming blood, etc. On one side of the cards are texts appropriate to the color. On the reverse side of the card is the citation of where it is found. Fifty cards to the pack, 25c. (1s 1d) per pack, postpaid. These can be used personally or with a company of friends. The design is to commit the text to memory and its citation. Many have found these very useful.
Jerusalem Remembrancers of Olivewood. Brother Russell purchased a quantity of these on the occasion of his last visit to Jerusalem. We still have some remaining – paper knives and paper weights made of olivewood highly polished. Postpaid 10c. (5d) each. In quantities, 80c. (3s 4d) per dozen.
Write your letters and your full address very plainly.
Write your orders on a separate sheet of paper.
If answering a letter marked File A, File R, or otherwise, refer to it in the opening paragraph of your letter.
The Editor thanks you for clippings received from time to time, but requests that in every case the articles be marked to indicate the name of the paper in which they appeared, and the date.
Hereafter to distinguish our own special edition from other Bibles, we will refer to it as the "I.B.S.A." Bible. This Bible is becoming more and more indispensable to all readers as they learn how to use it. The translation, of course, is not at all different from that of other Bibles of the Common Version. We specially recommend it for its smallness of size, lightness of weight, and good-sized print, and above all for the helps to Bible students and teachers bound with it; printed on India paper; excellent press work. Its special feature, distinguishing this Bible from all others, is
Biblical Comments from Genesis to Revelation, with references to the STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES and others of our publications showing the page where the text is more fully discussed and elaborated. We can scarcely imagine anything more helpful than these for Bible study. It is so easy to turn to the reference and ascertain if the matter has been treated and where and how. It represents four hundred and eighty-one pages of matter.
This is a topical arrangement of Bible subjects specially convenient for those who have opportunity for teaching others the Divine Plan of the Ages. Its various Topics are arranged under distinct headings and the various texts bearing upon the subjects are collated. With this help a novice has at his command, well-furnished, "the Sword of the Spirit." It is in condensed form, very convenient, and consists of eighteen pages solid matter.
The Berean Topical Index, alphabetically arranged, presents a large variety of subjects showing references to the STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES and others of our publications treating the same. This feature covers twenty-eight pages.
In this, specially difficult texts are brought to the attention and references given showing where they are treated in our publications. Following this is a full list of various interpolations and spurious passages of the Scriptures not in the original MSS., as proven by the oldest Greek MSS. – fifteen pages.
These four features, representing five hundred and forty-two pages, are not to be found in any other Bibles on earth and, in our opinion, they are of almost priceless value. One of our interested readers if he could not procure another would not sell his copy for a hundred dollars – many of them surely would not take thousands for it.
All of our "I.B.S.A." Bibles contain the above, and some of them, the numbers of which end with a nine, contain additionally Bagster's Bible Study Helps, including an alphabetical index of proper names and Bagster's Bible Concordance and Maps – a total of one hundred and eighty-six pages.
We not only supply these Bibles at cost price, but, because of the large quantities ordered at a time, we are enabled to secure a cost price which is really phenomenal. The very low prices must not lead you to think that these are manufactured in any slipshod manner. They are first class in every particular. The prices are, many of them, less than one-half of what you pay for such books almost anywhere else.
So great is the demand for these "I.B.S.A." Bibles that hereafter we purpose carrying no others in stock except pocket Bibles and large type Bibles for the aged. We will still, however, be pleased to serve anyone who desires other Bibles. We can procure for these wholesale rates, usually twenty-five per cent. off, plus postage.
1918, price $1.65, postage prepaid, is a beautiful book. It is small and light. Size 4¾ x 6¾ inches. It has minion type, red under gold edges, divinity circuit, French Seal. Looks like the genuine sealskin, but it is in reality good sheepskin.
Number 1919, price $1.75, postage prepaid; the same book, the same Bible; the same every way except the addition of Bagster Helps, Concordances, etc., making this size a trifle larger.
Number 1928, price $2.65, postage prepaid. This is the same book exactly as number 1918, except that it has genuine morocco binding; leather-lined.
Number 1939, price $1.95, postage prepaid. This is the same book as 1919, the same binding and contents, but it has a coarser print and is a little larger book. Size, 5½ x 7½ inches.
Number 1959, price $3.65, postage prepaid. This is the same book as 1939 except that it has splendid morocco binding, is calf-lined and silk-sewed. Bibles similar in quality and finish are listed in many catalogues at $8.
The sale of these books is not restricted to WATCH TOWER readers. They are valuable aids in Bible study, and open to the public.
Remit with order. We can secure such prices only by paying spot cash and must sell on the same terms. Registry, 10c. additional.
Anyone ordering patent index on any of these Bibles should so state and should add twenty-five cents to the price. Should any desire other Bibles we will be pleased to supply publisher's catalogue, giving full description and prices. We are usually able to secure a discount of 25 per cent. on the publishers' list prices.
These are the same as in the latest "I.B.S.A." Bibles, described above. Leather, $1; postage prepaid.
The demand for this publication increases year by year.
Our present edition of the "Manna" contains the same texts and comments as all former editions. Every alternate leaf is blank-ruled, for use as an autograph and birthday record. Its value increases as additional autographs of friends are secured. It is printed on fine bond paper. We now have it in three different grades of binding, at very reasonable prices, considering the class of workmanship.
The following wholesale rates postpaid are granted to all WATCH TOWER subscribers:
Purple cloth, silver embossed....................................$0.35
Dark blue cloth, silver embossed, German......................... .35
Leatherette, gold edges.......................................... .50
" blue edges, Swedish................................. .35
" gold edges, " ................................. .65
Genuine Morocco, gold edges...................................... 1.10
We hope this little book will find a place at every breakfast table; that spiritual refreshment may thus be enjoyed with the natural food.
This very valuable work, published under the author's copyright by Fowler & Wells Co., New York City, has been sold by them at $4 in cloth and $5 in half leather binding. For several years a friend, an earnest Bible student, desirous of assisting the readers of our Society's publications, has supplied them through us at a greatly reduced price; now he has purchased the copyright and plates from the Fowler & Wells Co., and presented the same to our Society as a gift that the poor of the Lord's flock may have this help in the study of the Word.
REDUCED PRICES. – These will be sold with THE WATCH TOWER only. In cloth binding $1.50 (6s. 3d.) – includes postage and, as a Premium, one year's subscription new or renewal, to THE WATCH TOWER. On thin paper, in full morocco leather, divinity circuit, red under gold edges, silk sewed, leather lined, $2.50 (10s. 6d.) – includes postage and one year's subscription to THE WATCH TOWER.
This is the ordinary Common Version in cloth binding. As footnotes it gives the reading of the three oldest Greek MSS., Sinaiticus, Vaticanus and Alexandrine, wherever these differ from the Common Version. This is a very valuable little work, published in Europe, which we specially import. Price, 50c., including postage.
This is the standard translation amongst English reading Hebrews, by one of their own rabbis. It is not perfect, but is a valuable aid in critical study of the Old Testament. Our special price, in leather binding, including postage, is $1.10.
In English, Hebrew and Greek, by Prof. Young (Presbyterian). A valuable work for all critical students. We are not permitted by the publishers to cut their price, but we may and do give in addition, postage free, any four volumes of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES, cloth binding, with each Concordance, or six volumes if purchaser pays expressage. Postpaid, cloth binding, $6.
In English, Hebrew and Greek, by Prof. Strong (Methodist). This is also an able work and useful in critical study. It has some advantages over Young's; after getting used to it we prefer it. Special reduced prices – in cloth binding, $3; half leather, $5. Carriage prepaid, 96c extra.
A valuable work, but scarcely necessary to those who have either of the above mentioned. English only. Cloth binding, $1, delivered.
This is one of the most desirable editions of Prof. Smith's work. It is a large volume of 1,020 pages. Cloth binding, $1.30, including postage.
This is the best book of its kind we have ever seen. It presents the Bible stories in simple, but not childish language, and seems remarkably free from the bad theology so common in this class of books. All Christian parents should have a Sunday Bible lesson with their children, and this book furnishes interesting topics, to which may be added as much concordant "Present Truth" as the age of the children will justify. Parents are responsible for their children's training in theology as well as in morals.
624 pages, 250 illustrations; cloth sides, leather back and corners, gilt edges. A subscription book at $3. Our special price, 75 cents, plus 25 cents postage.
Hymns of Dawn, with music (cloth)................................$0.35 Hymns of Dawn, without music (flexible).......................... .06 Poems of Dawn (leather) 50c.; cloth.............................. .25 Memorizing Text-Cards (100 in pkg. – two assortments, Nos. 1 and 2), per pkg..................................................... .25 Scriptural Post Cards (assorted) per doz......................... .15 CHARTS (Blue Prints, soft cloth): Plan of the Ages, 5 ft., $1.00; 8 ft............................ 1.50 Chronology of the Bible, 8 ft................................... 1.50 Tabernacle of the Wilderness, 8 ft.............................. 1.50 BINDERS for THE WATCH TOWER: Spring Back (holds 1 yr.)....................................... .50 String " (holds 2 yrs.)...................................... .50 CROSS & CROWN PINS (Gold, with red enamel): ½" and ⅝" (ladies' or gents' style) each..................$1 and 1.15 ⅝" celluloid, per doz. 25c.; each............................... .03 Missionary Envelopes, per hundred, 25c.; per M................... 2.00 Vow Bookmarks (paper) 25c. per 100; (silk) each.................. .05 Booklets (on Hell, Spiritism, Evolution, Tabernacle Shadows, Our Lord's Return, Jewish Hopes); also Berean Question Booklets on each Vol. of SCRIPTURE STUDIES; each 5c.; per doz............... .50 Report on Foreign Missions, each................................. .05 THE BIBLE STUDENTS' MONTHLY, per year............................ .12 Tracts in all languages.......................................... FREE
I wish to send you an expression of our appreciation of the helpful visit of Brothers J. F. Rutherford and A. N. Pierson, as your representatives, granted us recently. I will also use this opportunity to thank you most heartily for your kindness to me in London, during your own physical weakness, and for your recent letter.
Perhaps it will interest you to have a report from me concerning the meeting for which you put the responsibility in my care.
From August 13 to September 3, Brother Rutherford held eighteen splendid meetings in Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish cities, with a total attendance of 25,800 adults and other thousands turned away for lack of room.
He also gave twenty-four encouraging talks to the Truth friends in these places, and in connection we had a good convention in Helsingfors, Finland, visited by about 250 friends, and another convention in Stockholm, attended by about 400 friends.
As one proof of the interest in Brother Rutherford's public lectures here, not fewer than 1,818 volumes of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES were sold in Sweden and Norway – 672 of these being sold at a single Sunday morning meeting in Stockholm, at which the attendance was 3,300, with 700 turned away for lack of room, first receiving free literature. Besides this, we received thousands of addresses requesting further information re subjects discussed. At the Orebro meeting alone, attended by 2,200 adults, with many outside who could not gain entrance to the hall, 586 address-cards were received. Notwithstanding the fact that in every city we had rented the largest halls obtainable, no one of them was large enough to hold the crowds.
For advertisement of Brother Rutherford's meetings in Sweden and Norway we distributed 217,500 copies of BIBLE STUDENTS MONTHLY. Many papers published very good reports of his lectures, reaching other thousands of Swedish people. We earnestly desire that you send him to Sweden again, as soon and for as long a time as possible. We promise you that we will have the largest halls all over the land, crowded every night to hear him.
Meanwhile we are striving to do the best we can, by the Lord's grace, to carry on the good work in which we have received so many blessings and which every day becomes more dear to our hearts. The Colporteur work and all other branches make good progress continually. During about five weeks before us we have arranged for twenty mass-meetings in the largest cities and towns of Northern Sweden, which Brother Rutherford could not visit. In these I shall be the speaker, D.V.
We pray that the Master of the Harvest may guide us and give wisdom and strength to do all in harmony with His will and to the Glory of His name. We shall highly appreciate the privilege of being continually included in your prayers to this end; we never forget you in our petitions before the Throne of Grace.
With most sincere Christian love and greeting to you, our beloved Pastor and brother, in which all the dear helpers at this office join, I remain, as ever,
Your humble co-laborer in the Lord's Harvest,
The __________ Ecclesia extend to you their Christian love and greetings, and we always delight to bear your name up to the "Throne of Grace" that you may find help in every time of need, so that through your loving ministry we also may be enabled to "make our calling and election sure."
At a recent business meeting it was unanimously voted "That Brother Charles T. Russell be officially recognized as 'That Servant,' to whom the Lord promised He would give all His storehouse of 'Present Truth,' if faithful, and that he serve as Pastor to the Ecclesia at __________, until the completion of the Age." We are pleased to accept the sermons and WATCH TOWER as your personal service to us.
Remember us all when at the "Throne of Grace," that we also may make our calling and election sure, especially remembering the writer, who is the least of the Lord's dear brethren, that I may gain the victory over the things that especially beset me.
Yours in the love and service of our dear Redeemer,
(47) What more could we ask respecting the Lord's provision for the future glories and present joys of the New Creation? P. 686, par. 1.
(48) What more could we think of or ask for on behalf of the world than God has already arranged? P. 686, par. 2.
(49) Do any of the varying conditions which surround us limit our privileges of access to God in prayer? P. 686, par. 3.
(50) What is our privilege of prayer for personal use? P. 687, par. 1.
(51) What are the privileges and blessings of family prayer? P. 687, par. 2.
(52) What are the blessings of prayer in the Church? P. 687, par. 3.
(53) Why is it essential that every meeting of the Lord's people for study and up-building should be opened and closed with prayer? P. 688, par. 1.
(54) Is that faith, which is a fruit of the Spirit, the same faith which was ours before we were justified? If not, explain the nature and source of the faith which justified us? P. 688, par. 2.
(55) What is the difference between faith and credulity? P. 689, par. 1.
(56) Describe the logical and progressive steps of the growing faith that leads to our begetting of the Holy Spirit? P. 689, par. 2.
(57) Describe the further results as respects the faith-development of the spiritually enlightened ones. P. 690, par. 1, 2.
(58) Explain how this Spirit-begotten faith is in reality the basis of all the New Creation's present joys and hopes. P. 691, par. 1.
(59) What does the Apostle James say about the necessity for faith? And how shall we increase our faith? P. 691, par. 2.
(1) What pre-requisites are necessary to any appreciation of the New Creation's future inheritance? P. 693, par. 1.
(2) Even with the fullest attainment of faith and spiritual sight, will the New Creation be able perfectly to comprehend the things of the future? P. 693, par. 2.
(3) To what extent did our Lord lift the veil and give us a brief glance at the future conditions, as recorded in 1 Cor. 15:41-44, and why is this entire chapter specially interesting to the Church? P. 694, par. 1.
"AS ALL IN ADAM DIE, EVEN SO ALL IN CHRIST SHALL BE MADE ALIVE." – 1 COR. 15:22.
(4) What is the Apostle Paul's argument, of which the above text is the conclusion? P. 695, par. 1, 2.
(5) What is clearly the Apostle's argument in 1 Cor. 15:21? P. 695, par. 3.
(6) Why is the Common Version translation of 1 Cor. 15:22 manifestly erroneous? P. 696, par. 1.
(7) What is the full significance of the phrase, "Be made alive," in this text? P. 697, par. 1.
(8) What is the proper rendering of 1 Cor. 15:22? P. 698, par. 1.
(9) What is the distinction between being "in Adam" and "in Christ"? And why will not all who were in Adam be fully "made alive" through Adam's redemption? P. 698, par. 2.
(10) What is the Apostle Paul's declaration as respects the order of the Church's resurrection? P. 699, par. 1.
(11) Briefly, to what class does the "after resurrection" apply, and what one exception is there to this order? P. 699, par. 2.
page 337
November 1st
| VOL. XXXIV | NOVEMBER 15 | No. 22 |
'I will stand upon my watch, and set my foot upon the Tower, and will watch to see what He shall say unto me, and what answer I shall make to them that oppose me.' Hab. 2:1
Upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity: the sea and the waves (the restless, discontented) roaring: men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking forward to the things coming upon the earth (society): for the powers of the heavens (ecclestiasticism) shall be shaken. . . .When ye see these things come to pass, then know that the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Look up, lift up your heads, rejoice, for your redemption draweth nigh. – Luke 21:25-28, 32.
Our "Berean Lessons" are topical rehearsals or reviews of our Society's published "Studies," most entertainingly arranged, and very helpful to all who would merit the only honorary degree which the Society accords, viz., Verbi Dei Minister (V.D.M.), which translated into English is, Minister of the Divine Word. Our treatment of the International S.S. Lessons is specially for the older Bible Students and Teachers. By some this feature is considered indispensable.
This Journal stands firmly for the defence of the only true foundation of the Christian's hope now being so generally repudiated, – Redemption through the precious blood of "the man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom [a corresponding price, a substitute] for all." (I Pet. 1:19; I Tim. 2:6.) Building up on this sure foundation the gold, silver and precious stones (I Cor. 3:11-15; 2 Pet. 1:5-11) of the Word of God, its further mission is to – "Make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery which...has been hid in God,...to the intent that now might be made known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God" – "which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed." – Eph. 3:5-9,10.
It stands free from all parties, sects and creeds of men, while it seeks more and more to bring its every utterance into fullest subjection to the will of God in Christ, as expressed in the Holy Scriptures. It is thus free to declare boldly whatsoever the Lord hath spoken; – according to the divine wisdom granted unto us, to understand. Its attitude is not dogmatical, but confident; for we know whereof we affirm, treading with implicit faith upon the sure promises of God. It is held as a trust, to be used only in his service; hence our decisions relative to what may and what may not appear in its columns must be according to our judgment of his good pleasure, the teaching of his Word, for the upbuilding of his people in grace and knowledge. And we not only invite but urge our readers to prove all its utterances by the infallible Word to which reference is constantly made, to facilitate such testing.
Foreign Agencies:-British Branch: LONDON TABERNACLE, Lancaster Gate, London, W. German Branch: Unterdorner Str., 76, Barmen. Australasian Branch: Flinders Building, Flinders St., Melbourne. Please address the SOCIETY in every case.
Terms to the Lord's Poor as Follows:-All Bible Students who, by reason of old age, or other infirmity or adversity, are unable to pay for this Journal, will be supplied Free if they send a Postal Card each May stating their case and requesting its continuance. We are not only willing, but anxious, that all such be on our list continually and in touch with the STUDIES, etc.
We have on hand a large quantity of the BIBLE STUDENTS MONTHLY, the foremost article of which is entitled, "The Handwriting on the Wall." It is very opportune literature, we believe. We printed more than we needed apparently and have more than a million on hand. Undoubtedly there are many places where they have not been distributed. Here is an opportunity for some to preach the Gospel. The papers will be sent free, charges prepaid, in whatever quantities you can use. In estimating quantities, remember that census reports include children; hence the census figures should be divided by six to allow one paper for each family. Order accordingly.
We also have a considerable quantity of the "Creed Smashing" and "Fire and Brimstone" issues. These we also offer free, prepaid.
We can supply literature on Present Truth in any of the following languages: English, German, French, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Welsh, Polish, Hungarian, Hollandish, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, Russian, Armenian, Arabic, Tamil, Malayalam, Zulu, Esperanto, Maori, Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, Urdu, Chinese (Wenli and Mandarin), Korean and Japanese.
Also literature for the English-reading blind in American Braille, English Braille and New York Point; likewise literature for German, French, Swedish and Danish-reading blind people.
We do not always have all of these in stock at Brooklyn, but usually have the main supply nearest the point of demand. However, communicate with us if you are in the vicinity of any of the above mentioned peoples and we shall be pleased to co-operate with you by supplying the desired literature as quickly as possible. page 338
BETHEL HYMNS FOR DECEMBER |
|---|
After the close of the hymn the Bethel Family listens to the reading of "My Vow Unto the Lord," then joins in prayer. At the breakfast table the MANNA text is considered. Hymns for December follow: (1) 165; (2) 18; (3) 160; (4) 145; (5) 303; (6) 44; (7) 14; (8) 229; (9) 186; (10) 315; (11) 168; (12) 235; (13) 230; (14) 327; (15) 119; (16) 233; (17) 60; (18) 12; (19) 53; (20) 7; (21) 166; (22) 197; (23) 54; (24) 163; (25) 180; (26) 221; (27) 103; (28) 273; (29) 26; (30) 38; (31) 307. |
"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." – 1 John 3:14.
Not only is this manifested in activities in the service of the Truth, but also in broader sympathies one for another and for all Christians – and, indeed, for the entire groaning creation. This is just what it should be every year; every week, indeed, should mark progress in Christ-likeness, as we remember that, "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His," and therefore will have no part in the Kingdom – whatever inferior blessing he may obtain under stripes and disciplines necessary to the development of the proper character.
We remember further the Apostle's statement that the Divine predestination respecting the Church is that we must each individually in character become copies of our Lord. (Romans 8:29.) Surely such clear statements of the Divine will and of the terms upon which we may make our calling and election sure should be stimulating.
Nevertheless, notwithstanding all the progress noted, many of the little classes are experiencing friction, which causes more or less concern and unhappiness. As the Truth makes us free and opens the eyes of our understanding, it enables us to see our own imperfections and the imperfections of the brethren and of the world more clearly than ever. Unless there be a large amount of love, this will mean a disposition to find fault, to criticize.
We may safely give ourselves considerable liberty along these lines in dealing with our own character. We may find fault with ourselves and criticize ourselves often to advantage. Yet even this should not be carried so far that we forget the Lord's gracious promise that He will judge us according to our heart intentions and not according to our imperfect attainments. We are, perhaps, better able to appreciate our own shortcomings, and how they were unintentional; but when the shortcomings are those of others, it tests our love, patience, brotherly-kindness, meekness, gentleness, etc. Yet such testings are very profitable. We pray that the Lord will assist us in growing in the graces of the Holy Spirit. Let us remember that the only way to assist us would be by giving us testings along these very lines. Our strength of character, our development in these graces, will be in proportion as we receive these testings in the proper spirit.
Our text seems to imply that the love of the brethren is one of the most beautiful experiences of the Christian. Whoever finds that he has full love for all the brethren, full sympathy for them, therein has a specially strong Scriptural proof that he himself is a New Creature – that he has passed from death unto life. And whoever has any other sentiment than love to any of the brethren surely lacks proof, or demonstration, along this line of his relationship to God as a New Creature.
If we keep this always in mind, how valuable an assistance it will be to us! Do we not frequently desire to reassure ourselves of the Lord's favor and of our continued relationship to Him as New Creatures, passed from death unto life? If we do, here is the text, the application of which, if we are in the right condition, should bring peace and joy. And if we are in the wrong condition, it should bring alarm for our personal safety as New Creatures.
One of the points of friction in many of the classes is the relationship between the class and its servants. So far as we can judge, the fault is sometimes with the one and sometimes with the other. We are frequently asked in respect to the duties of the Elders, the responsibility of the classes, etc. In general, we prefer to refer all such inquiries to our very full discussion of the subject in the sixth volume of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES. We know not how to improve on the suggestions there made. We believe that if what we have written were thoroughly studied, the recommendations there given would be found ample for every case.
On doctrinal matters we prefer not to write personal letters; for in a few cases we have found that the persons receiving the letters have either misunderstood them, or only partially communicated their contents to others when discussing the matter. Again, some have said, "Brother Russell wrote thus and so in STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES, but we have a later letter which intimates [R5347 : page 340] that he has changed his mind." We wish the dear friends to feel assured that if our judgment changes respecting any important truths we will put the change before all THE WATCH TOWER readers as speedily as possible. Until you see such changes mentioned in THE WATCH TOWER give no credit to them; esteem the statements of the STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES just as though they were written yesterday and direct to yourself.
Briefly summarizing the principles governing the Church of Christ, let us say: There are two views prevalent amongst Christians respecting Church government:
(1) The Episcopal view, which holds that the Church is to be ruled and governed by bishops, because of the claim that these are Apostolic bishops; that is, that they are successors to the Apostles, and invested with Apostolic wisdom and inspiration and authority for the regulation of the Church and its affairs. This view is held by Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics and Episcopalians.
(2) The other view is the Congregationalist, and holds that each congregation of the Lord's people is a unit, and has the right to govern itself and to make its own regulations for its own welfare, subject to Divine guidance. Congregationalists, Baptists and some others claim to be governed by this view. Other denominations, with more or less confusion and indecision, divide authority between the ministers and the laity.
We hold that the Bible arrangement combines the Episcopal and the Congregational views. Thus the Scriptures teach that the twelve Apostles were and still are the Episcopate – the only inspired and authoritative Apostolic Bishops. Whatsoever these declared to be binding on earth is binding amongst the Lord's people. Whatsoever they declared loosed, or not binding, would not be obligatory upon the Church in the sight of Heaven. From this viewpoint, the words of Jesus respecting all other so-called apostolic bishops are quite pointed. He declares that they are "false apostles and do lie" – they are not apostles in any sense of the word. (Revelation 2:2; 2 Corinthians 11:13.) Hence we are not to give heed nor to in any manner recognize the claims of these bishops, whom Satan has deluded into thinking that they have Apostolic power – Apostolic succession.
As the people of God have the original Episcopacy, the twelve Apostles of the Lamb, for authority and direction, they are thus organized under an Episcopal government, or government of the Apostolic Bishops – nevertheless their organization is properly congregational. Each company of the Lord's consecrated people is entirely free, and should have its own faith in the Bible and all the precious truths of the Bible. No congregation and no individual can properly be bound by the vows of other congregations or other individuals.
The Congregation, Ecclesia, Church, coming together to act as one, to worship together, to serve God's Cause together, should do so because of their mutual appreciation of the Divine character and Plan. They are not under anybody's government, or rule, except that of the Bible Episcopate – the Apostolic teachings. As for the Elders and Deacons of each Congregation, they are to be chosen by the Congregation from their own number, in accordance with the instructions of the Bible. No earthly power has a right to intervene between the instructions of the Divinely-appointed twelve Apostles and the companies of the Lord's people who choose to assemble themselves in harmony with the Apostolic instructions. This at one stroke wipes out all papal authority and the authority of all apostolic bishops falsely so-called.
Since the Deacons and Elders, Pastors and Teachers, are lifted to their places of service and honor by the votes of the brethren, it places the Congregation in greater authority than its servants. But the Congregation, in turn, is bound not to force its preferences, but merely to act loyally in harmony with the Divine direction given by the Apostles in the Bible. Thus we see that the truth on the subject from the Divine standpoint has been measurably lost sight of for centuries, to the disadvantage of the Church – some taking one part of the Truth and some another – few, if any, recognizing the whole. Indeed, this is what we find to have been the case in respect to nearly every doctrine.
While particulars have been set forth in STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES, Volume VI, yet in what we have above stated lie the principles involved. Whoever thoroughly grasps the principles should be able to appreciate the details. And it would be only a question of thought and patient deliberation to settle all the details of the affairs of any little Class, in accordance with the Scriptures. Thus while the Class gives certain authority and service into the hands of those chosen to be its Elders, and appoints others to assist them in the work as Deacons, or servants, nevertheless, both Elders and Deacons are answerable to the Congregation, to the ecclesia.
In case of any dispute, the judgment, or decision, of the Congregation should stand as the right thing for the time being. If it prove later to have been unwise, the Lord is able to overrule the error of judgment for good – for instruction. To illustrate: Should the judgment of the Class at any time differ from the judgment of the Elder or Elders, the proper course would be for the Elders to submit to the higher authority, which is the Class, the Church, the Ecclesia; for he who appoints is superior to him who is appointed. Our Lord's arrangement for the Classes, or Ecclesias, is, "Wherever two or three of you are met in My name, there am I." The Lord has promised to be with the Class. He has not said, Wherever there is an Elder, there am I, and to him shall the Class gather; but, Wherever there is a Class there am I; and it may appoint an Elder, whom I will recognize and bless as its representative and for its good, in proportion as he shall strive to be a suitable vessel to be My servant in blessing that Class.
This appreciation of the true relationship between the Elder and the Class should help the Elders to cultivate those fruits and graces of the Holy Spirit described by St. Paul as meekness, gentleness, patience, brotherly kindness, long-suffering, love. But, on the other hand, the Congregation, Ecclesia, having chosen one of its number to serve it as an Elder Brother and to look out for its interests, should hope that they had wisely chosen in harmony with the Lord's Word and providences. So hoping, they should be prepared to give support and encouragement to the Elder, in proportion as they see him striving to know and to do the Lord's will and faithfully to lay down his time and talents in the service of the Class. Should they subsequently find that apparently they had not fully discerned and followed the Apostolic instructions respecting the selection of the Elder, they should still be kind and gentle toward him, remembering that the fault was theirs in electing him – a fault to be rectified at the next election – and trusting and praying [R5347 : page 341] that they may know the will of the Lord more perfectly and be wiser in their selection.
From this viewpoint the Congregation has everything to say in respect to the number of meetings to be held, where they are to be held, by whom they are to be conducted, the character of the lessons or studies, etc. Nothing of this kind is for the Elder to decide, though as a member of the Congregation he has the same right to be heard that the others have. In proportion as he is esteemed highly, his opinion will have weight with the Ecclesia, Class, or Congregation. Nevertheless, the Class should never forget the thought that however highly the Elder may be esteemed, he is not their guide. The Elders and all others are to be heeded in proportion as they are seen to wisely interpret the teachings of the Holy Scriptures.
We believe that with these principles seen, approved and looked up to, there will be less and less friction in the Classes. The Elders, in just their proper sphere and conscientiously seeking to serve in harmony therewith, will be restrained from doing and saying many things out of their province and likely to stir up difficulties among the members of the Classes.
It will generally be found, we believe, that pride is a potent factor in all Church disputes. Sometimes the Elder undertakes to do for the Class more than it wishes him to do and more than it has authorized him to do. Or, misguided by the sentiments prevalent among all denominations of Christendom, he thinks of his Eldership as an office of authority over the Church, and not as an honorable service, the authority being vested in the Class. Sometimes the difficulty is with some member of the Class, who, seeking to preserve the rights and authority of the Class, goes to an extreme, and unnecessarily harries the Elder, criticizing him for doing the right thing, but not doing it exactly the way this well-intentioned brother thinks he should do.
Love should apply the Golden Rule. We should be willing to give the Elder as much reasonable liberty of action as we would like to enjoy if we were in his place – provided, of course, that this liberty should be in full harmony with the Word of God. Furthermore, we should remember that the Elder is the servant of the whole Class, and not the servant specially of any one member of it. Any criticism, therefore, of his conduct should come from the Class and not merely from an [R5348 : page 341] individual member of it. If an individual member has an important thought which the Elder ignores he should be at liberty to ask the judgment of the Class on the subject for his own instruction and for the instruction of the Elder; but no individual member should undertake to criticize the Elder or to find fault with his procedure.
If the Class approves of the Elder, the individuals thinking differently are at liberty still to think as they please, but should yield to the majority. In other words, peace and order in a class are items of great value in respect to all progress in Bible study. Nothing should be done to disturb the peace and order unless there be something positively wrong, unscriptural, connected with the matter. Then the brother or the sister calling attention to the matters which he considers unscriptural, should say little about his own opinion and deal chiefly with the Scriptural injunctions which he believes are being violated.
These suggestions are intended to increase and promote peace and unity amongst the Lord's brethren wherever this journal goes. We have confidence that all who are begotten of the one Spirit, the Holy Spirit, are desirous of knowing and doing that which is right – that which is pleasing and acceptable to God and for the best interests of His Cause. "By one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body." "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." Our thought is that all being one with the Lord – of one heart, of one will – our difficulties lie almost entirely in our heads, in our misapprehension of some of the principles governing the Divine arrangement. And these principles, we may be sure, are perfect, right. In proportion as we can come into harmony with these principles, we shall be at peace one with another, joyfully assisting each other toward the Kingdom, in which we shall have a share with our Lord.
Let us continually remember that love for all the brethren is a sure indication that we love as New Creatures. And love for the brethren means that we will do them no injury, that we will speak no evil respecting them unless of absolute necessity; and, finally, that we will not even surmise evil in respect to their words and deeds. "Love is the fulfilling of the Law." "He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God (by His Spirit dwelleth) in him." For though we should give all our goods to feed the poor, and though we should even sacrifice our bodies to be burned in the interests of righteousness, yet if we have not love – the Spirit of love – we are nothing in God's sight. – Romans 13:10; I John 4:16; I Cor. 13:3.
The Brother who wrote us suggested that he is a farmer, and that if sure that the Church would be gathered before October, 1914, or that the great Time of Trouble would there begin, he would in either case be inclined to quit farming and to spend the year in the Colporteur work, as he would have sufficient money to do this if he were to mortgage his farm or sell it.
In our reply we advised the Brother that if he had a wife or family dependent upon him for support, we thought that this suggestion would not be a wise one at all, but that if he were unincumbered, we would consider the thought a very good one. He would be merely giving a year to the Lord's work, and at the close of the year might hope in any event to be in reasonable health and as capable as ever of earning a living.
We believe that a year spent in the Colporteur work would prove an excellent schooling in perseverance and self-denial, in service of others, and in thinking upon and handling holy things. Yet even in this case we believe that some allowance should be made for temperament and capability for Colporteur service. While few, if any, have no talent whatever for such work, there are some who have so little talent that they might merely discourage themselves without accomplishing much in the interest of others. We must use all wisdom in respect to what we [R5348 : page 342] attempt to do, that our time and strength – mental and physical – shall render us as good results as possible to the Lord's praise. Each should seek wisdom from on High to guide him in such matters.
Another letter received inquired respecting the proper treatment to be given to a member of the Class who insisted on opposing the chronology and denouncing all faith in October, 1914, either as respects the gathering of the Church or the inauguration of the world's great Time of Trouble. Our reply may be applicable in other cases. It is to the effect that nobody should be specially encouraged in such an opposition; for a bad spirit is always objectionable, injurious. However, we should not denounce those who in a proper spirit express their dissent in respect to the date mentioned and what may be there expected; nor should we feel aggrieved toward them. We should recognize the individual rights of all, and treat everybody according to the Golden Rule. Nor should we feel at liberty to express our views more dogmatically than we would think right for others to do in expressing their views.
The fact is that, notwithstanding the strength of our position and our hope that it may be true, it is nevertheless of faith and not of knowledge. To some, faith in the matter may become almost as strong and convincing as knowledge. Nevertheless, it is not knowledge, it is faith. We must admit that there are possibilities of our having made a mistake in respect to the chronology, even though we do not see where any mistake has been made in calculating the Seven Times of the Gentiles as expiring about October 1, 1914.
If others feel equally convinced respecting some other date which does not appeal to us, we should not on that account reject them as members of the Body of Christ. Rather, we should say, Whether you or we have the date correct, we must all agree that the signs of the times as we read them indicate clearly that the Master is nigh, even at the door; and that His Kingdom is soon due to begin to take control. This means that, whether within one year or within ten or twenty years, the things which we are expecting will surely be accomplished. The Church will be gathered, the Messianic Reign of Righteousness will begin, preceded, as foretold, by the great Time of Trouble.
The general facts are much more valuable and important than merely the day or the year respecting these facts. "Let brotherly love continue!" Suffer not any dispute over a day or a year to break the most precious bond of love which binds us to the Lord and to all who are truly His. Be specially careful on this point when the subject of discussion is one respecting which we have no positive knowledge. The rupture of fellowship may sometimes be necessary, when we "contend earnestly for the faith once delivered unto the saints" – faith in the Divine Plan, in the Redeemer, in the efficacy of His death, etc. These matters are positively stated in the Bible – not left to deduction, as in the case of chronology and all matters based upon chronology.
From time to time the Editor has assured the friends that as features of the Truth become more and more distinct to him he would surely give THE WATCH TOWER readers the benefit of this clearer view; in other words, he would keep nothing back.
We have presented in THE WATCH TOWER, for thirty-three years past, the fact that great Babylon will receive her judgment before the nations receive theirs. The statement, "Judgment must begin at the House of God," while applying especially to the real, or consecrated Church, we believe has also a bearing upon the nominal systems. It will be after the fall of Babylon, her casting as a great millstone into the sea, that the great distress of nations will come, apparently.
Nevertheless, we have all probably been inclined to think more particularly of the world's Time of Trouble – to look for it, to expect it daily, or by October, 1914, as one result of the closing of the Gentile Times, or years. Perhaps we have neglected to some extent the fact that great Babylon apparently is dealt with before that world-trouble comes. The thought has been borne in upon the Editor very forcefully during the past two weeks that to expect the world's great trouble to begin on or before October 1, 1914, would be to expect astounding things during the intervening months.
St. Peter describes the great Day of Wrath, intimating that it will begin with the nominal church class – the heavens. "The Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up." (2 Peter 3:10.) Understanding the earth here to represent the present social order, and the heavens to represent the ecclesiastical order of affairs, we find that the ecclesiastical heavens are to pass away with [R5349 : page 342] a great noise, a great commotion, a great confusion, and their elements or component parts will be melted in the fervency of the heat and strife of that time; and that then the earth, or social order, will follow it in the combustion or consumption of the trouble of that Day – destroying the present social fabric – overthrowing all law and order in anarchy. If, then, we should expect that the trouble would reach society in general within a year, this would seem to mean that before that time the present religious institutions would collapse. Will they?
Revelation, 13th Chapter, we interpreted in THE WATCH TOWER as far back as 1880. We there suggested that in symbolic language a beast represents a government – that the ten-horned beast represented the Papal government, which for a time ruled over all Europe, then the Roman Empire. Although Papacy has no such political influence now, it still claims that it has the right, or authority, to rule all nations, as the representative or vicegerent of Messiah.
We pointed out the two-horned beast as represented in the Church-nation of Great Britain and Ireland; for it also is a government which combines Christianity and civil power. The Bishops sit in Parliament and the King is officially the head of the Church of England. The symbol tells us that as an ecclesiastical power this is a harmless one, "its two horns being like those of a lamb" – not intended to do injury. "But it spake as a dragon." The dragon represents purely civil power and the Government of Great Britain, though nominally religious, speaks, or governs as a dragon, or purely civil power.
We also called attention to the fact that "the Image of the (Papal) Beast" was formed in 1846 A.D. In that year the Protestant denominations, especially in the United States, allied themselves as the "Evangelical Alliance." Their alliance ostensibly was for peace and harmony and noble objects of co-operation; but really the organization would appear to have been intended as an attempt to give dignity and authority to all of the various Protestant sects, and as far as possible to hinder the formation of any new sects by excluding them as unorthodox.
The Alliance endeavored to establish a standard of orthodoxy and to give a mutual support and backing to all the different creeds identified with it – Baptists, Methodists, [R5349 : page 343] Lutherans, Presbyterians, etc. This attempted authority, or power, constituted it an Image of the Papal Beast, or Government. They saw the power of the Papal argument, that it is the Church, and that all others are heretical. So the Evangelical Alliance undertakes to say for its constituent members of all denominations: "All these are orthodox; all others are heretical." In this sense it was a copy, or image, of the Papal institution. It has been merely an Image without life or power for now more than sixty years.
However, the Lord's symbolic prophecy, which we are now considering (Revelation 13), tells us that in the close of this Age the Image will receive life, vitality, energy, power. No longer will it stand as a mere Image. It will become as active as the Beast. Moreover, it will not be antagonistic to the Beast, but sympathetic, and cause that all shall either worship the Beast or the Image – all must be in harmony either with Catholicism, or with the Protestant system, of which the Evangelical Alliance was the primary organization or Image. The Protestant Church Federation will be the outcome as soon as it receives the vitalizing breath.
The vitality of the Image is to come from the two-horned Beast; that is, the Church of England. We have been waiting for this consummation more than thirty years, and have seen it draw nearer and nearer. A few years ago the Episcopal Church took an important step toward vitalizing the Church Federation movement, which it is favoring and backing. That important step was the recognition of the ministers of the denominations represented in the Evangelical Alliance. Previously no minister not ordained by the laying on of hands of a Catholic or an Episcopalian bishop was allowed to preach from an Episcopalian pulpit.
Perhaps this recognition of the Image is all the vitalization the Image needs, but we are inclined to expect more. For years the Episcopalians have proffered reordination to the ministers of the different denominations represented in the Evangelical Alliance. And they still proffer it. We have been inclined to expect that the ministers would finally concede the point and accept a reordination at the hands of an Episcopal bishop. But we are not sure of this. It is possible that, to meet the requirements of the case, some other way will be found by which the Episcopal Church will recognize the Church Federation without obligating the ministers to be reordained. We are waiting for this.
As, we understand this Chapter of Revelation, the Image, as soon as vitalized, will very promptly use its influence, prestige, power, in every way to "make fire come down from heaven" (Rev. 13:13); that is, to punish in the name of the Lord those who in any sense of the word it shall consider to be its opponents. Speedily none will be allowed to buy or sell, in the spiritual marts, except those who have either the mark or the number of the Beast, or of the Image, either in the right hand of co-operation or in the forehead of public confession.
This will mean that the INTERNATIONAL BIBLE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION and all others not in affiliation with the Alliance will be subjected to radically coercive measures. Truth shall fall in the streets. Righteousness will be unable to enter under the stress of the new order of things. For a time it will appear as though a great Christian victory had been won, shared equally by Papacy and federated – Protestantism – no longer protesting. Already we see these two divisions of the heavens rolling together, approaching one another, sympathizing with each other – rolling together for mutual protection.
But the triumph of that new order of things will be short. The masses of the people, no longer ignorantly stupid as during the Dark Ages, will awaken to the true situation, and will execute upon Babylon the Great – already repudiated by the Lord – the judgment foretold. She shall be cast like a great millstone into the sea, never to rise again. The sea represents the masses of the people, especially a restless opposition class. The two-horned Beast apparently loses its personality when it gives life to the Image by becoming a member of the Federation.
Now the question arises: Can all these things take place within a year? We answer, Yes; it would be possible. A second question is, Is it likely? Is it probable? And the answer is, No; it seems scarcely probable that so much would be accomplished in one year. Now, there we have the question – each must exercise his own judgment in respect to the matter. We certainly see a very rank spirit of anger, malice, hatred and strife developing in many quarters, amongst the very ones who constitute the members of the federation. And these slanderous oppositions come usually from the ministers of these denominations.
If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? (Luke 23:31.) If such bigotry and bitter falsification are practised and such hatred is manifested before the Evangelical Alliance has any life, how arrogant might we suppose the same persons to become after the Image would receive life? And how quickly might the spirit of rancorous persecution be developed?
Let us make the matter clear. According to the old, but erroneous, thought handed down for centuries, the bishops of the Church of England and of the Church of Rome are "apostolic bishops," or successors to the Apostles, according to the old theory of apostolic succession. According to that same theory, no one on earth has one particle of right to teach and to preach, except as those "apostolic bishops" shall grant their permission by laying on their hands.
According to this rule, then, Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians and all such are preaching without authority. When they talk about ordination, they merely mean that each sect ordains its own ministers. The Alliance is attempting to get around this difficulty and to have the sects recognize each other's ordination. The Federation is building upon this general recognition of orthodoxy, and is about, in some manner, to be given life, virility, power, dignity, by something which the Church of England will do for them which will recognize their ordination as ministers.
We may be sure that they will make the road to the preaching and teaching of the Gospel a very narrow one to all attempting to preach without their recognition and ordination. These will be trying times upon us and upon all who will refuse to worship the Beast and his Image, or to receive the mark of the Beast upon the forehead or upon the hand. – Revelation 13:15-17.
The special point we are now emphasizing is that if we find it difficult, though not impossible, to see that these things could be accomplished within a year, we should feel and act most kindly and tolerantly toward others of the brethren who feel positive that these things will not take place within a year, or who think that they see flaws in our chronological views. "Let brotherly love continue." "Abhor that which is evil. Cleave to that which is good." Thus will the grace of God be with us, to guide us, to bless [R5350 : page 344] us, to cause all of our experiences to work for good, even though some of those experiences should be disappointments in respect to fulfilments of prophecy within the next few months.
The Episcopal Church Conference has just passed an amendment to the Church constitution, providing for the choice of one of their number to be Presiding Bishop – much the same as the Archbishop's office in the Church of England. After some sharp discussion they also authorized their Mission Board to co-operate with mission boards of other Christian bodies. Some bishops objected that this would violate their "priestly vows," but they were outvoted. This co-operation with other Protestants, in conjunction with the action previously taken, permitting other Protestant ministers to participate on invitation in Episcopal Church services, is practically a recognition of the Evangelical Alliance or Church Federation. How much more may be necessary to give LIFE and POWER to the Image we must wait and see.
Our statement in October 15th issue that we have never mentioned October, 1914, as an infallibly sure date, either for the ending of the "Times of the Gentiles" or for any particular occurrence, has been called in question by one of our readers. We are cited to the following words of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES, Vol. II.: "Now bear in mind the date already found for the beginning of these Gentile Times, viz., 606 B.C., while we proceed to examine the evidence proving their length to be 2520 years – ending A.D. 1914....In view of this strong Bible evidence concerning the Times of the Gentiles, we consider it an established truth that the final end of the kingdoms of this world and the full establishment of the Kingdom of God will be accomplished at the end of 1914."
We hold that nothing in these quotations declares the infallibility of the theories we suggested respecting 1914. In these statements, and in all of our statements, we have merely informed our readers respecting our views and the processes of our reasoning on the Scriptures which we have brought to their attention. Thus we have asked each reader to think and judge for himself, and to agree or disagree with us according to his own judgment of the facts.
Notice that in the above quotations no dogmatic statement is made, but that the reader is requested to use his own intellect. For instance, note the words, "bear in mind"; again, "while we proceed to examine the evidence"; again the reference to "Bible evidence." In the last sentence the author sums up his own views, declaring what he considers to be the truth established by the evidences which he sets before his readers.
In this respect we believe that THE WATCH TOWER presentations differ considerably from others. We state with positiveness the opinions of the writer and the reasons therefor, but leave the final decision with each head and heart in all matters, without attempting more.
But what we meant to emphasize is that any brother who had not as yet accepted the Bible teachings respecting the proper symbolization of his consecration would not be far enough advanced to be properly appointed to be either a Deacon or an Elder in the Church. It was altogether by an inadvertence that we included with this the thought that such should not vote.
Difficulty has been experienced by some classes in respect to nominations. When a call for nomination is made, a brother is nominated as an Elder or as a Deacon, without proper consideration of his qualifications. His nomination is seconded; and the whole class, loving the brother, feels disinclined to vote against him lest they should be misunderstood.
There should always be a reason for the choice of anybody to any service in the Church. An elder should be an able teacher, of a broad mind, able to give assistful advice to those who need it, of deep insight into the Word of God, of good influence in the Church, and a wise counselor. No one, probably, could have all of these good qualifications in equal measure. Some might possess more of one, and some more of another qualification; but all should possess some of them or there would be no excuse for his election. Likewise a Deacon should have time at his disposal and some aptitude as a prospective Elder, and also an inclination to serve the Church.
What seems to us a very good plan of nominating Elders, Deacons, etc., is by ballot, particularly if there has been any difficulty or if to a majority such a nomination might seem desirable. To put this plan into operation pieces of paper and pencils would be required. Each one entitled to a vote should write, "I nominate the following to be Elders of the __________ Class for the ensuing __________ months." Then should follow as many names as there are Elders at the time the election was taken. If the Class desire to either increase or decrease the number it can be done after the nomination at election time.
After the ballots have been collected the results should be tabulated and announced publicly to the Ecclesia. The Class should then decide how many Elders it would properly need. If it decided that the number should be three, then the six brethren receiving the largest number of nominating ballots should be voted for. The three receiving the largest number of votes with outstretched hands should be considered the choice of the Class. Or another way would be to accept all the nominated ones who received ballots equal to one-third of the entire number of voters and to elect all such by, as nearly as possible, a unanimous vote, this arrangement being intended to give minorities a representation amongst the Elders.
The thought always to be borne in mind is that, so far as possible, the judgment of all the Class should have recognition. While a majority might rule, it is always preferable that they yield something to the minority, so that the eldership of a Class might reflect the sentiment of the entire membership. No matter how this result be reached, we are doing wisely; and no matter how any other result be reached it would be unwise, as endangering the peace and harmony of the Class. Brotherly love always represents sympathy, kindness, love and a desire to yield something wherever no vital principle is involved.
"Be sure your sin will find you out." – Numbers 32:23.
Joshua and his associates, the Elders of Israel, were bewildered at this. They prostrated themselves before the Ark of the Covenant, bewailing the trouble and especially fearful of the influence which the defeat would have upon their enemies – encouraging them and discouraging Israel, who were God's typical people.
In our Common Version, accursed has been used where devoted would have been preferable. The Lord informed Joshua that Divine favor was not with Israel because of their unfaithfulness. When Jericho was captured, a portion of the spoils had been appropriated by one of the soldiers. But according to the Lord's arrangement all the spoils were devoted in advance; hence this was a breach of their agreement, and Israel's armies could have no blessing until the matter was rectified.
In order that the lesson might be learned by the entire people, the Lord directed that the representatives of all the tribes should appear before Him and lots be cast, and that thus would be indicated the tribe to which the guilty one belonged. In like manner the different families of that tribe were tested, and the family found. Thus step by step the matter came down to Achan, who was the [R5351 : page 345] one indicated as guilty – the cause of the trouble.
"And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto Him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent."
The penalty upon Achan was death by stoning, and after the stoning the corpse was burned – the burning indicating symbolically that there was no hope of a future life for him. It is our thought, however, that this was a part of the general allegory, and that really Achan, as a member of Adam's family, must ultimately have a share with all the remainder of the race in the redemption provided through Jesus' death. Thus also the Sodomites were destroyed by fire from heaven – in a figure representing the class which will die the Second Death. But none can die the Second Death without being first released in some manner from the condemnation of the first death – Adamic death. These were merely types, or foreshadows, of the wilfully wicked class and of the everlasting destruction, as brute beasts, which will come upon them.
As the Sodomites experienced no knowledge nor blessing through Jesus, so Achan had none. As the Sodomites, redeemed by the merit of Jesus' sacrifice, will be awakened from the sleep of death during the Messianic Age, and their experiences will be more tolerable than those of the people of Chorazin and Bethsaida, so it will surely be with Achan. As the Apostles declare, these typical experiences of the past were set forth as an ensample of the destruction which will be the ultimate punishment of all who wilfully, knowingly and intelligently reject the Lord's ways. – I Corinthians 10:11; Jude 7.
Perhaps at no time in the world's history was there ever so much covetousness as in our day. How few comparatively in any city, in any nation, would do very differently from what Achan did! If all such were to be stoned to death and to be burned, the world would be one vast funeral pyre. True, they are not deterred by fear of any such punishment. Nevertheless, a large proportion of them profess to believe that for all such sins the penalty is eternal torture. Yea, many who are ready to condemn the curse of Joshua and the Israelites in the stoning of Achan, are ready to believe that the God of Love, the God of all Grace, the Father of all Mercies, would do ten times worse by Achan and by practically the entire human family – all except saintly ones who have come into vital relationship with the Redeemer.
Alas, how twisted our minds have become! How glad we are that the true light is now shining, and chasing away to some extent our hobgoblins of error and false doctrine handed down to us from the Dark Ages, and wrongly supposed to be teachings of the Bible!
When we remember that Jordan represents consecration, and that those who crossed Jordan typically represented those Christians who have entered into a Covenant with God and who have been begotten of the Spirit; and when we remember that the conquests of Canaan represented the spiritual battles of the consecrated and the subjugation and possession of the citadel of the heart, the sin of Achan has a new force and meaning. It corresponded closely to the sin of Ananias and Sapphira. They had devoted, or consecrated, their property to the Lord's service, and then attempted to take back a portion of the devoted wealth. They would rob God. They would steal back that which they had given to Him. This class seems to be especially represented in Achan. He stole, not from his brethren, but from the Lord, things which had been devoted to the Lord.
The name Christian today has a very wide application, and in general signifies a civilized person. But the term Christian really belongs only to a comparatively small class of humanity – to those who, believing the Message of Jesus, have made consecration of their lives to be His disciples, His footstep followers. These have accepted His terms – "If any man will be My disciple, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me." This is the class, typified by Israel, who have entered the antitypical Canaan, who are fighting the good fight and who would recognize all the spoils of their warfare as consecrated to the Lord.
It is for these to inquire respecting their own faithfulness, loyalty. Each of them should inquire, Am I keeping and holding as my own any portion of what was consecrated to God? If they are keeping back as their own any portion of that which was devoted to the Lord, they are in danger of being part of the antitypical Achan. They are in danger of exercising an injurious influence on others of the Church; and not only so, but they are in danger of that fate which was typically illustrated in Achan's case – in danger of the utter destruction of the Second Death – everlasting destruction. [R5351 : page 346]
The Apostle declares that "Covetousness is idolatry." It puts first and most prominently the thing which is coveted; and when this coveted thing is contrary to the Divine will, it signifies that the coveted thing is esteemed more than God – is desired more than the Divine favor. From this viewpoint the whole world is full of idolatry today. The idols most worshiped are wealth and pleasure. These occupy the time and the attention of nearly everybody. Time and strength, honor and manhood and womanhood, are poured out lavishly for these "idols." On the contrary, the true God, from whom comes every perfect gift, receives but slight attention from the masses of His creatures. His laws and His will, His pleasure and His favor are scarcely thought of.
What is the result? Has the worship of mammon been real joy or peace and satisfaction to the hearts of humanity? Has the pursuit of pleasure and the devoting to it of time, talents and money brought real pleasure of soul to the masses? This question must be answered in the negative. Wealth is being pursued and bowed down to on every hand, yet grants its favor to only a comparatively small number, and even the favored ones find bitterness mingled with their sweets. The possession of wealth brings not the joy and peace which they had hoped and believed. It has brought care, perplexity and still greater hunger, which they know not how to satisfy.
So it is with the worship and pursuit of pleasure. It is an ever-continuing chase and seeking for pleasure. The grasping of it seems to bring, not joy, but discontent and heart-hunger. As a result the worshipers of mammon and pleasure are unhappy. The world is discontented, and apparently growing more so as the days pass by.
Man is so constituted by nature that his finest and noblest sentiments, which bring him the most satisfaction, joy and peace, rest and happiness, are the exercise of his mind and talents God-ward. According to St. Paul, all men by nature should be feeling after God, desiring to find Him. But, alas, many of the noblest of God's people, who have found rest and peace through a knowledge of the length and breadth and height and depth of
"Love Divine, all love excelling," are not only not helping the world to find the true God, but, on the contrary, actually misdirecting them!
The monstrous misrepresentations received by us from the Dark Ages we have heartily repudiated. And yet we are holding up these misrepresentations of the Divine Character and Plan before the world, and in so doing are turning them away from God and from the Bible – to seek rest of soul and peace and joy in the worship of mammon and the pursuit of pleasure, which can bring only disappointments. Alas, how long will it be before we openly acknowledge to the world that we have repudiated the monstrous teachings of our creeds and have accepted the teachings of the Bible that God is Love, and that He has a gracious Plan whereby through Jesus all who will may be recovered and enter into rest!
"And the Logos became flesh, and dwelt among us." – V.14.
Logos signifies mouthpiece, or special messenger. Not only so – not only was the Logos the beginning, or Alpha – but He was also the last, the Omega, of Divine creation, as He Himself informs us. (Revelation 1:11; 21:6.) The first and only begotten Son of Jehovah was given an exclusive place, so that "all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made." (V.3.) Thus highly did the Father honor Him as His Agent in all the creative work, both as respects angels, cherubim and men.
The Greek text is not fully represented in our Common [R5352 : page 346] Version. Accurately translated it reads, "The Logos was with the God and the Logos was a god; the same was in the beginning with the God." Here the majesty of our Redeemer in His prehuman condition is fully set forth, and yet He is distinctly shown to be the Son and not the Father – to be a god and not the God.
The word god signifies mighty one; but there is only one God whose name is the Almighty. St. Paul affirms this great truth, saying, "To us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him." (I Corinthians 8:6.) Again, the Apostle writes, "The head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the Head of Christ is God." (1 Corinthians 11:3.) This is the claim that Jesus made for Himself – not that He was the Father, or Jehovah, but that He was the Son of God, who came to do the will of His Father in Heaven.
The so-called doctrine of the Trinity, put into the Nicene Creed by Emperor Constantine, A.D. 325, has been the cause of much of our confusion when studying the Bible, which contains neither the word trinity nor any suggestion of it, except in the one passage acknowledged by all scholars to be spurious, namely, I John 5:7. This passage is not found in any of the old Greek manuscripts.
The Redeemer was not deceitful when He prayed to the Father with strong cryings and tears, "My God! My God!" Neither was He deceitful when He declared to Mary after His resurrection, "I have not yet ascended to My Father and to your Father, to My God and to your God." He declared His oneness with the Father, and desired that a similar oneness should prevail amongst His followers – oneness of spirit, of purpose. Therefore He prayed for His Church, "That they all may be one, even as I, Father, and Thou, are one." – John 17:21-23.
St. Paul tells us of how He who was rich on the spirit plane for our sakes became poor, leaving the Heavenly comforts for the scenes of this world, darkened by sin and death. (2 Corinthians 8:9.) And so our lesson tells us also. (V.14.) "The Logos became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." St. Paul also corroborates this, declaring that our Lord stooped from His high position, took the bondman's form and was found in fashion as a man, of the seed of Abraham. (Philippians 2:7,8; Hebrews 2:16.) But lest we should get the wrong thought, that He had become a sinful man, we are guarded by the assurance that He was "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners." (Hebrews 7:26.) We are also assured that His body was especially prepared, separate and different from [R5352 : page 347] others of our race, all of whom were of Adamic stock and all tainted with sin and the seeds of death. – Hebrews 10:5-9.
But, on the other hand, we are to guard ourselves against the thought that the Logos remained a spirit being and merely materialized, or appeared in human form. This unscriptural thought is the one held by many, and styled incarnation. The angels incarnated, or got into flesh, when they materialized from time to time, as described in the Old Testament Scriptures. Our Lord Himself incarnated, or appeared in the flesh, to Abraham in company with others; and He talked with Abraham, who knew not that he was entertaining Heavenly beings, mistaking them for human travelers.
Similarly Jesus after His resurrection appeared in various forms of flesh. That is to say, He materialized, or incarnated, for the purpose of teaching certain lessons to His disciples, because after His resurrection He was a spirit being, as He was before He was made flesh. As a spirit being, He appeared and disappeared, the doors being shut. Thus He taught His disciples a double lesson:
(1) That He was no longer dead, but risen;
(2) That He was no longer a human, but a spirit being – "put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit." – I Peter 3:18 – Emphatic Diaglott.
As Bible students we are learning that we must strive more earnestly than we have done to keep close to the Word of God. It was the perfect man Adam who sinned and was sentenced to death, and under the Divine Law he could be redeemed only by the sacrifice of a perfect man. The Law declares, "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a man's life for a man's life." Hence the blood of bulls and goats could never make atonement for Adam's sin; for they did not correspond. It was not a bullock nor a goat that had sinned and was to be redeemed, but a perfect man.
Because all of the human family were children of Adam and sharers in his death sentence, therefore, "no man could give to God a ransom for his brother." (Psalm 49:7.) God so shut up the matter that Adam and his race could not have been redeemed except by the finding of a perfect man who would be willing voluntarily to die on their behalf. It was because there was no such man that God arranged with the Logos, His only begotten, that he should become a man and be the Redeemer of the race – Adam and all his children.
But even this might not be demanded of the Logos. The Heavenly Father, therefore, as St. Paul points out, set before His Son, the Logos, a great proposition; namely, that if He would demonstrate His faith and loyalty to the extent of becoming man's Redeemer, the Father would still more highly exalt Him and make Him partaker of the Divine nature, far above angels and every name that is named. (Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 2:5-11.) The Logos, full of faith and obedience, heartily entered into the proposition, was made flesh, consecrated His life, kept nothing back, finished the work at Calvary, and was raised from the dead by the Father to the Heavenly nature and glory and honor.
The Logos was made Jesus. The work of Jesus in the flesh, however, is not the completion of the Divine Plan, but merely the beginning of it. His death constitutes the basis of all future blessings to the Church and to the world. According to the Father's Plan, an elect class was to be gathered out of Israel and out of every nation to be the Church of Christ, His Bride, associates with Him in His Throne, glory and work.
With the completion of the Elect, the Kingdom for which we pray, "Thy Kingdom come," is to be established. Satan is to be bound; all evil is to be brought to an end; every good influence and enlightenment is to be shed; and He who died for the world is thus to become the Light of the world. He has not yet been the Light of the world, but merely a light to His people. As St. John declared, His light shined in darkness, and was not appreciated. Similarly the light of Truth upheld by His consecrated Church will not be appreciated, so strong are the powers of the Prince of Darkness influencing the minds of the world, which, as yet, lies in the Wicked One. – I John 5:19. – Diaglott.
But the Prince of Life and His Kingdom will cause the light of the knowledge of the glory of God to fill the whole earth, as the waters cover the great deep (Habakkuk 2:14), so that none shall need to say to his brother, Know thou the Lord, for all shall know Him, from the least to the greatest. (Jeremiah 31:34.) Thus according to His promise Jesus eventually will be "the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." (V.9.) The great mass of humanity have never seen nor even heard of this true Light – not merely the heathen millions, but the masses in civilized lands.
The resurrection of the just will be necessary to bring the Church to glory and joint-heirship with her Lord. But the resurrection of the unjustified, which includes practically all humanity, will be for the very purpose of permitting them to see the true Light, which God has provided in His Son and which will be shed abroad during His Millennial Kingdom. Only those who refuse the light, preferring the darkness, will die the Second Death.
John the Baptist was a messenger sent to call attention to the Light, but he was not the Light. He was not even one of the Church class, of whom Jesus said, "Ye are the light of the world"; for John the Baptist did not continue to live to the time of the begetting of the Spirit, after our Lord's sacrifice.
The world recognized not the great One who was in it, the Logos, by whom it was made. His own nation recognized Him not, but crucified Him. Yet some then and some since have received Him, and to such He has given the power, the right, the liberty, the privilege, to become children of God. No such privilege was given to the Jews, nor to any of the fallen race, until Pentecost – after Jesus had appeared in the presence of God to make atonement for our sins.
These sons are all begotten of the Holy Spirit. Theirs is not a fleshly sonship. Their birth of the Spirit will be the resurrection change, when they shall be made like their Master, see Him as He is and share His glory.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Today's Study is full of helpful instructions. The very first lesson that all need to learn is that "God so loved the world." No other message than that has any attraction for thinking people. The difficulty with the world and with the Church in the past has been that we have not emphasized the Love of God. How could we do so when our eyes of understanding were misdirected by our creeds away from the God of the Bible to a creedal image which pictured the Heavenly Father in most Satanic colors – more loveless, more unjust, more diabolical than any human being we have ever known and than any demon we can possibly imagine! It is well for us as Christians that we have tried to forget those horrible pictures and instead to fill our minds with precious Scripture texts such as the one of today's lesson.
But while we have thus gotten away from the "doctrines of devils," as St. Paul calls them (I Timothy 4:1), we forget that Christendom is still holding up those terribly slanderous creeds before the world, hindering them from getting even a glimpse of the length, breadth, height and depth of the "Love of God which passeth all understanding," and giving them, instead, awful misrepresentations – of the height and depth and length and breadth of Divine injustice. We have thus been unintentionally driving the world away from God, instead of helping them in their endeavor to feel after a Friend, the true God.
But the people of God are awakening to the Truth, and gradually gaining courage to assert it and to "show forth the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light." We are now met with the difficulty that the world has so thoroughly believed our blasphemy of the Divine character that they can scarcely believe the gracious Message of the Bible when we bring it to them – the message of great joy.
The very text we are considering illustrates our bondage, our blindness of the past, and tells us of God's righteousness. It does not say, as we once supposed, that God gave His only begotten Son to save us from eternal torture. Quite to the contrary, it declares that His mission was and is to save from perishing. We know what perishing signifies. The brute beasts, when they die, perish, because God has made no provision for their resurrection. And mankind under the death sentence, "Dying, thou shalt die," would have perished like the brute beast, without hope, had it not been for God's mercy and provision in Christ. "Christ died for our sins" – "tasted death for every man" – to the intent that, the sentence of death having been thus satisfied, all men might have a resurrection.
Without the death of Jesus our race would perish like the brute beast. Because of His death there is to be a resurrection, not only of the just who now come into harmony with God through faith, but also of the unjust – the unjustified, who have not yet come to a knowledge of God, whose eyes of understanding have not yet been opened to see the grace of God and its length and breadth and height and depth. Thus we read that "as all in Adam [R5354 : page 348] die, so all in Christ shall be made alive." Even "as by a man came death, by a man also [Christ Jesus] comes the resurrection of the dead" – "every man in his own order."
It is St. Paul himself who particularly points out to us that, unless there be a resurrection of the dead, there is no hope of a future life, but all who have fallen asleep are perished. It is he who points out that, because Jesus died for our sins and has been raised from the dead by the Father, we have an assurance that all who sleep in Jesus – all who were purchased by the redeeming blood – the whole world of mankind – will God bring from the dead with Him. Therefore we need not sorrow as those who have no hope – even in respect to our friends and relatives who are not in Christ and have not the hope of the Church. – See I Corinthians 15.
The chief resurrection to glory, honor and immortality is only for those who are called during this Gospel Age, who receive the call into honest hearts, and who lay aside every weight and run the race for the prize with patience. These saintly ones Jesus declares will constitute the Royal Priesthood, who, in association with Himself as the Royal Chief Priest, will be engaged in blessing the world, restoring the world, resurrecting the world from sin and death, during the thousand years of his Messianic Reign.
The resurrection of the Church begins in the present life with believers, who in their minds rise in newness of life into Christ. (Colossians 3:1.) These will be perfected by the instantaneous change mentioned by the Apostle, "When this mortal shall put on immortality," they "shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye"; for "flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God." – I Corinthians 15:50.
The Divine Plan is purposely arranged so that none can obtain everlasting life except through a personal relationship to Christ, the Redeemer, and the exercise of faith in His redeeming blood and obedience to His counsels. This being true, none of the heathen are saved yet. None of those who lived before Jesus came into the world are saved. And the great mass of our friends and neighbors, yea, of our own families, are still unsaved, because they have not come into vital relationship with the Savior. "He that hath the Son hath life"; "he that hath not the Son shall not see life." – I John 5:12; John 3:36.
St. Paul, commenting upon the fact that Jesus died for all – a Ransom-price for all – declares that this is to be testified in due time. (I Timothy 2:5,6.) God's due time for the testimony to reach the world evidently has not yet come. The testimony began when Jesus "brought life and immortality to light through His Gospel." As we read, "So great salvation began to be spoken by our Lord." – Hebrews 2:3.
Since then, a few here and there have had the hearing [R5354 : page 349] ear, have heard of the grace of God and have seen something of His Divine providences. Jesus congratulated this class, saying, "Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear." The great mass of mankind see not and hear not, because, as St. Paul explained, the God of this world hath blinded the minds of those that believe not, that thus he might hinder them from seeing the true light of the grace of God, as it shines in the face of our Lord Jesus. – 2 Corinthians 4:4-6.
God has permitted this blindness, but declares that it will soon end; that under the blessed influences of Messiah's Kingdom the true light shall shine everywhere; and not only so, but He also assures us that "all the blind eyes shall be opened, and all the deaf ears shall be unstopped." What a blessed vista this opens before us on behalf of the poor world! We see that God has special grace and blessing for His faithful Church, the Little Flock, the saints; but now we perceive that He has a blessing also for the world, although a different blessing from that which He has provided for the Church.
Our text tells us of this, assuring us that God not only loved the Church, but also loved the world – not only redeemed the Church, but also redeemed the world. All will have an opportunity that, by believing, they may attain everlasting life. The life provided for the world, however, according to the Bible, will be very different from that provided for the Church. The latter are to have life on the Divine plane, being made partakers of the Divine nature; and they are to be sharers of the glory, honor and immortality of the Master. The world, by faith and obedience during the Messianic Kingdom, will be privileged to re-attain the earthly life and perfection which Adam lost, and which Jesus redeemed for the world at Calvary.
All the willing and obedient may thus come into relationship with the Life-giver and obtain the everlasting life, the eternal life, which was given to Father Adam conditionally and lost by disobedience. Nevertheless, all who will refuse this grace of God in Christ and fail to come into vital union with Him will perish. But they will not perish in the first, or Adamic death, from which all were redeemed and will be rescued by the Master. Their perishing will be in the Second Death, for their own wilful sins, and there will be no hope of recovery; "for Christ dieth no more." None will be redeemed from the Second Death.
Thus, to be in the married condition would more or less take away from the singleness of purpose with which the individual would be able to serve God in body and in spirit. (1 Cor. 7:32-35.) St. Paul reminds the Church that he had found the single, or celibate, condition advantageous – that he was able to accomplish greater service than if he had been more or less mortgaged by the care of a companion and the necessary duties toward that one.
But St. Paul points out distinctly that there is no law of God to prohibit brothers and sisters in the Lord from marrying if they find, in their judgment, that this is the necessary or preferable thing in their cases – if they believe that thereby they can carry out their consecration vows the more acceptably.
We mention this because in some instances brethren and sisters, in counseling the unmarried, have been going beyond what is written – laying upon them burdens which the Lord has never declared – telling them that to marry means to lose the prize of our High Calling. Good intentions cannot justify one in such a course.
Additionally, we heard recently of a dear couple who have an infant child, which properly they very dearly love. The mother was shocked by some sisters intimating to her that it should be considered a disgrace to be a mother, in view of our expectation of great changes shortly.
We believe that those dear sisters made a mistake. They, of course, have a right to think for themselves and to shape their own courses in life according to their best judgment of the Lord's will. But they have no right to censure others for having a different opinion on the subject. To his own Master each servant stands or falls. Nothing in the Bible speaks disrespectfully of either fatherhood or motherhood – quite to the contrary.
If, as the Apostle suggests, some of the Lord's people mutually agree to live celibate lives, it is a matter of their own concern. If they thus make themselves eunuchs in the interests of the Lord's cause, that they may have the more opportunity, energy and means to invest in the service of God, it is their sacrifice at their own option, and they are to look to the Lord for such reward as He sees best. But if it is their option and they are to be rewarded, we should remember that others have an equal option and may, if they think proper, take an opposite course without condemnation from us, and, indeed, without our feeling that we have even the least right to interfere with their social rights and privileges.
The Golden Rule is very helpful to us in our dealing with the brethren as well as in our dealings with the world. We should do toward others as we would that they should do toward us. We should grant them the same liberties that we think proper for ourselves.
We fear that some of our readers have not given sufficient attention to Chapter xii. of Vol. VI. of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES, which examines this subject in detail.
Greetings in the name of our dear Redeemer and King. I take this opportunity of reporting to you what, to my mind, is a most remarkable manifestation of the fallen angels.
Some six weeks ago I started to do some Extension work in a private way, there being no class here.
Much interest was aroused, and four symbolized their consecration. Among these was a young man, Brother J. He grew rapidly, and gave all the evidences of begetting of the Holy Spirit.
One day he asked Brother B. if he had ever been bothered by the fallen angels. Brother B. said no; he never gave them an occasion, and asked Brother J. if he had ever been troubled. [R5354 : page 350] He said no; but thought he had seen something at his window, remarking that he had not been to the Lord with the matter.
That evening the friends were to have a testimony meeting at Brother B.'s house. Brother B. invited Brother J. to have supper with him. He did so. In the meantime they went out to do some chores, and while they were out Brother J.'s father came in and told those in the house that his son was going crazy. Brother J. went in and soon after was told what his father had said. He went back to Brother B. and told him about it. Then he stepped away out of sight to pray. When he came back he said it was all right.
The two then returned to the house, and Brother J. asked them if they thought they had ever had a trial. They said, Yes. He told them they had had no trial. He stepped away and lifted his hand as if to pray and said, "Listen!" Then he came back to them and said that they should not worry, everything was all right.
They then went to supper and Brother J. was asked to invoke the blessing. He had no more than finished when he jumped from the table and began to bounce over the room and scatter the furniture and to talk in an unknown tongue. This lasted about two minutes and then it left him. He said, "Isn't this awful? they are trying to break down the Truth." All suggested that they pray, and did so, Brother J. joining in. But he broke right out again.
When he is rational he says that it is the fallen angels; but his people think him crazy. He warned his wife against the evil spirits and said that they were very cunning, and he could not resist doing the things they told him to do. He remembers all he has done, but is in a stupor much of the time.
The whole country is worked up, and people have suddenly become very bitter against the Truth. Do you think this might be permitted more extensively, thus bringing reproach upon the Truth and the Lord's people?
Should you have any suggestions to make, we would be very pleased to hear from you.
Your brother by His grace,
Your letter is before me. The case you relate is a sad one. I fully agree with you that Satan and all the fallen angels would be specially desirous of gaining an influence over those who espouse the cause of Present Truth. In proportion as we have the Truth and present it, we are their enemies, even as they are the enemies of the Lord and of the Truth. The only safe course for anybody, and especially anybody accepting Present Truth, is to follow the suggestions of the Vow. Whoever recognizes that there are only two masters – Christ and Satan – should resolve to have nothing whatever to do with anything that is of Satan.
Such should be as speedily as possible informed respecting the fallen angels and their constant endeavor to misrepresent the Truth and to injure humanity – especially the "children of [R5355 : page 350] the light." They should be shown that all occult, spiritual influences are evil; that the holy angels indeed have a charge concerning the saints, but not to give them instruction of any kind. The Bible most explicitly declares that the Word of God is sufficient that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished. (2 Tim. 3:16,17.) We are not therefore to expect visions or revelations or any kind of communications from the Lord or the holy angels. We are to conclude that all such attempts to communicate with us are of the Adversary and to shun them accordingly.
In the instance you mention, Brother J. evidently yielded his will to some extent; else he would not have been entrapped. While obedient to the Lord, we are entirely safe – then the evil spirits cannot do us injury. "The wicked one toucheth him not." But the slightest yielding of the will, as through curiosity, is dangerous, as those in insane asylums demonstrate. It is estimated that fully one-half of all those in insane asylums have no functional brain disorder, but are merely possessed of evil spirits.
In a case like that of Brother J. no time should be lost in doing everything possible for him. A brother who is in close fellowship with the Lord should be for a time his constant companion, continually stimulating him to courage in the exercise of his will in resisting the evil angels and in joining with him in prayer. If in spite of all these assistances the evil spirits still get him under their control, we advise that said companion exorcise the evil spirit in the name of the Lord – saying, "In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I command the evil spirit to depart from him and to enter him no more."
Please read this letter to the brother and assure him of my sympathy.
The July 15th issue of THE WATCH TOWER has come to hand, and as usual it is full of helpfulness. I am unceasingly and increasingly thankful to the dear Father in heaven for the wonderful manner in which He has put His blessing upon you as you have sought to serve His flock through the pages of that precious journal. I count it a privilege to confess both privately and publicly that if I am one of those so favored as to be a sharer in the glory of the Kingdom, as I hope to be, the grace of God will have brought me there in large measure through the edifying influence of the articles in THE TOWER.
THE TOWER grows grander and its messages deeper and sweeter. As the Lord makes me to grow in grace in spite of all those infirmities in my flesh which would hold me back, the uplift each succeeding number of THE TOWER gives me becomes more and more apparent, and my prayers are multiplied for you in your labor of love. We appreciate it, dear Brother, and better still the Lord appreciates it, too.
In the current number of THE WATCH TOWER you quote some views which Prof. Flinders Petrie has given expression to, and I feared that some might infer that you wished to give emphatic endorsement to the Professor's ideas. My first impression was that this was a wonderful truth, but when I went to compare it with the Bible the erroneousness of it was readily apparent. However, I know that you are too busily engaged to find time to look thoroughly into the many matters of secondary importance brought to your attention, and in addition it would be natural that in a thing of this kind we would suppose that Prof. Petrie would have gone carefully over it before putting forth such a theory. But I fear that he gave his views without sufficient study.
The extract from the July TOWER, page 216, is as follows:
"Prof. Flinders Petrie calls attention to the fact that the Hebrew word alaf is used in the Scriptures sometimes to mean a thousand, and at other times to signify a group, families, or tents, very much in the same way that we use the word regiment, as signifying a group of a thousand men, yet often far less in number, especially after a battle. Thus understood, the record, 'Judah 74,600,' would read, 'Judah, seventy-four families, or tents, with six hundred men in all'; 'so they set forward, every one after their families, according to the house of their fathers.' – Num. 2:34."
Now it is true that the Hebrew word for a thousand is also sometimes used to signify a family or tribe, but it would be impossible to give it that application in the Pentateuch for the following reasons:
In the second chapter of Numbers we have the number of each of the twelve tribes given, but there is also given the sum of the numbers of the three tribes on each side of the tabernacle. If you figure up these statements it will be found that they are figured on the basis of thousands. The following table will illustrate it:
Tribe. Thousands. Hundreds. Numbers 2:18,19. Ephraim.................. 40 500 Numbers 2:20,21. Manasseh................. 32 200 Numbers 2:22,23. Benjamin................. 35 400 ------- Numbers 2:24. Total........................108,100
But according to Professor Petrie the total ought to be 107 families of 1,100 persons.
Another passage will serve to further illustrate it, viz., Num. 3:42-51. Here we are told that the number of the first-born are twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three. Now it seems incredible that all the first-born were gathered together into twenty-two families; they must have been scattered all through the host of Israel. Then verses 46-50 indicate that there were 273 more first-born than Levites, but according to the interpretation of Prof. Flinders Petrie, 273 would be the whole number of the Israelites.
Other examples of this inconsistency are plentiful in the book of Numbers, but I believe these will suffice.
Please consider this not in the nature of an attempt at criticism, but merely as an humble effort to present facts which your busy life may have prevented you from following up.
The Lord continues very good to me in assisting me each day to glorify Him in the Pilgrim service. I realize that my efforts are very imperfect, but they are nothing like what they would be if I attempted this work in my own strength. Every day He is proving to me the faithfulness with which He keeps the promise that all things will be supervised by Him to our good, and that His grace will be sufficient.
With much Christian love, and wishing you many spiritual joys even in the midst of your earthly trials, I remain,
Yours by His favor,
On my arrival here last evening, THE WATCH TOWER for October 15, was received. A little later I read, with much interest, the leading article: "Resume of the Ending of the Times of the Gentiles."
The writer is very much interested in this matter: (1) Because we are sure that we are right at the end of that period; and (2) because so many of the friends are now, more than ever, discussing that wonderful event – the termination of the "Times of the Gentiles."
It is only natural and reasonable that the brethren should now be particularly interested in this question; for we are very close to the fulfilment of the prophecies which relate to the ending of that period and to the winding up of the present order of things.
Dear Brother, I wish to state here that your advice to WATCH TOWER readers in WATCH TOWER articles during the past two or three years, not to lay too much stress on any particular date, but to give special attention to character building, has had an excellent effect. Evidently the friends are coming to realize more and more that to cultivate the fruits of the Spirit is the principal thing; and that we need all the time remaining for that purpose – whether it shall prove to be one year, or two years, or less, or more.
And in the event of the Lord's having permitted a slight mistake to be made, relative to the ending of the Gentile Times, or even the time when the last member of the Church shall be glorified, I do not think it would prove a stumbling-block to very many, if any, of the dear friends who are in Present Truth; for like you and myself, they are laying stress on their consecration to God for all Eternity – not to 1914 or to 1915.
Yours in His love,
We have some of the beginnings of Restitution on our farm; and I thought that you might like to know about them.
We have a bug which destroys the potato bug, which has been such a pest of late years. This bug is called the soldier bug, and is really a kind of beetle. I am sending you in this same mail a specimen in a small box.
This "soldier bug" has red markings about the head, and a red shield-shaped mark on its back. It has a sword-like proboscis which it runs out, spears the potato bugs with, and sucks the juice out of them. It comes to the house to winter. There were several of these bugs on our potatoes this year. We had only a small patch, and we did not have to put a bit of Paris-green on them.
We overheard, when traveling one day, a conversation between two commercial travelers concerning this bug. The one said that the other day he was in a store and a farmer came in. The store-keeper asked him how many pounds of Paris-green he should need this year. "Oh, not a pound," replied the farmer, "I have the soldier bugs at my place." This same farmer, so the store-keeper said, had other years taken several pounds of Paris-green. Surely, this is Restitution!
This soldier bug is found here and there all through the country. It attacks the potato bug in both the larvae and the full-grown state.
Your sister in Christ,
Last spring a brother in the West sent me a supply of pea-beans, assuring me "they are very good." I planted them in rows similar to pea-planting and find they bloom and bear continuously from early summer until cut by frost in the fall. We are still picking them for table use at this date, October 14.
We have more seed than we need. Am sending you a supply for such of THE TOWER readers as have garden space and may desire some to plant next spring. Should they wish to pay the postage on as many as you could apportion, that would, of course, be their privilege; I donate them.
I might state, the stalk resembles a bean stalk, but within the long pods are peas, and suitable for cooking in the pods green, or, after ripening, shelled. They are tender and taste unlike beans or peas. We all like them. Until nearly ripe the pods are stringless or nearly so.
In Christian love, your brother and servant in the Lord,
(12) After the resurrection of the Ancient Worthies, how may we expect the gradual resurrection of the world to proceed? P. 699, par. 3; P. 700, par. 1.
(13) Will it not be necessary for every member of the human race to go down into actual death before experiencing the resurrection? P. 700, par. 2; P. 701, par. 1.
(14) What reasonable suggestion has been made respecting the manner in which those of the world who have gone down into the tomb will be brought forth? P. 701, par. 2.
(15) Explain why the real meaning of the word resurrection has been lost sight of. P. 702, par. 1.
(16) From what Greek word is our English word resurrection derived, and what is its significance in the original? P. 703, par. 1.
(17) Who were the only two human beings that ever possessed life? And how are all the rest of mankind regarded from the Divine standpoint? P. 703, par. 2.
(18) What two conditions must be clearly kept in mind in order to fully appreciate the significance of the word anastasis? P. 704, par. 1.
(19) Is this word anastasis ever used in connection with the mere awakening of the dead? P. 704, par. 2, first seven lines.
(20) What is the popular but erroneous explanation of Hebrews 11:35, and what is the proper interpretation? P. 704, par. 2, 3; P. 705, par. 1.
(21) Does the word anastasis limit the resurrection process, to make it either instantaneous or gradual? Or does anastasis change the nature of the being resurrected? P. 706, par. 1.
(22) What was the experience of our Lord Jesus previous and subsequent to His anastasis, and what is the hope of the Church in this respect? P. 706, par. 2.
(23) What will anastasis signify in the case of the natural man? and how will the resurrection of the Ancient Worthies differ from that of the rest of mankind? P. 707.
(24) What will be the process of anastasis as respects the Great Company? P. 707, foot note.
(25) Upon what will the anastasis or re-standing of the world as individuals depend? P. 708, par. 1.
(26) What Scripture clearly indicates how this passing from death to life will be accomplished? P. 708, par. 2; P. 709, par. 1.
(27) To whom does the expression, "They that have done good," apply? And what will be the nature of their resurrection? P. 709, par. 2.
(28) Who are "They that have done evil"? And what kind of resurrection will they experience? P. 710, par. 1 to 3.
(29) Will the world's trial correspond with the present methods of trying criminals in court? If not, how will it be conducted? P. 711, par. 1, 2.
(30) At what time during the world's trial will obedience be required, and what will be the experience of those who positively refuse to make progress toward righteousness? P. 712, par. 1.
(31) What is the significance of the Scripture, "They that shall be counted worthy to attain that world and the resurrection"? (Luke 20:35.) P. 712, par. 2.
(32) What would be the disadvantages of an instantaneous resurrection to perfection for the world of mankind? P. 713, par. 1, 2.
(33) Explain the reasonableness, beauty and harmony of the Divine Plan for the world's resurrection. P. 714, par. 1.
(34) Would it be reasonable to expect the awakened ones to come forth in exactly the same physical condition as when they went into death? P. 714, par. 2.