"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
"Christ also loved the Church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water by the word; that he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." (Eph. 5:25-27)
Tampa, Fla., Feb. 20 – Pastor C. T. Russell of Brooklyn Tabernacle preached twice here today in our largest auditorium to the "Bible Students' Convention."
The large audience seemed deeply interested. He said: Some apply the first text only and think of the Divine Program as being merely an endeavor to rescue mankind from sin and death to righteousness and eternal life in the present time. Such as hold this view are much confused, because it must be acknowledged that comparatively little has been done, or is now being done, for man's uplift. After six thousand years it is still true that "The whole world lieth in the Wicked One;" "Darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the heathen."
In order to have any confidence at all in this theory those who hold it are obliged to greatly lower their standards. They are forced to hope that God will admit millions of unfit people, crude, rude, ignorant and wicked to eternal life and happiness, or perchance provide for them Purgatorial experiences, to make them fit, righteous and acceptable for life eternal.
As a whole, Christian people are greatly bewildered. The tendency of their bewilderment is toward doubt, skepticism, atheism. The other view briefly stated is that God never intended the salvation of the world, but merely the salvation of the Church, "elect according to the foreknowledge of God through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the Truth."
Those who hold this theory have great confusion also, because it seems incomprehensible that God would make no provision for "thousands of millions" of Adam's race, but arrange for them to be born in sin, shapen in iniquity, and to go down to the tomb (or worse) without a clear knowledge of God and his purposes and will respecting them. As we have already frequently set forth, both of the described theories are erroneous. The Scriptures set forth two salvations, entirely separate and distinct.
They are different as respects time, in that the one "salvation began to be spoken by our Lord" at his First Advent, and began to be applicable to his Church at Pentecost, and will wholly cease at his Second Coming in the end of this Age. The other salvation neither applied before our Lord's First Advent nor during this Gospel Age, but will apply to all mankind, except the Church, during the Millennium – the thousand years of the reign of Christ and the Church, specially designed for the blessing of the world and its uplifting out of sin and death conditions.
These two salvations are distinctly different as to kind, as well as respects their plan of operation. The salvation of the Church during this Gospel Age – since Pentecost – means not only a deliverance from sin and death conditions to eternal life, but provides that the eternal life will be on the heavenly or spiritual plane and not on the earthly or human plane of existence. Thus the Apostle declares that our "inheritance is incorruptible and undefiled and fadeth not away and is reserved in heaven for us, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation" (1 Pet. 1:4, 5).
Our Lord also told that in the resurrection we shall be like unto the angels. The Apostle also declares that ultimately we shall be partakers of the divine nature and like our Lord and Redeemer. Hence, all who participate in this salvation of this Gospel Age are Scripturally spoken of as New Creatures in Christ Jesus, whose "citizenship is in heaven."
These are assured that at the Lord's Second Coming they will constitute the First Resurrection class. They are guaranteed that only the blessed and holy will have part therein, and that all participating in that First Resurrection will be Royal Priests unto God and unto Christ, and reign with him a thousand years (Rev. 20:6).
They are assured that the transformation of minds which they now experience through the begetting of the holy Spirit will, in their yesurrection, result in a complete transformation, providing them with spirit bodies. Thus it is written of their resurrection, "It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory; It is sown an animal body; it is raised a spiritual body" (1 Cor. 15:42-44).
Of those who will share in the Church's salvation the Apostle says, "We shall not all sleep, but must all be changed," because "flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God" (1 Cor. 15:50, 51).
The world's salvation which will follow will be [NS769] wholly different from this. It will not include a change of nature from earthiy to spirit nature. It will mean a rescue from sin and death to the earthly perfection of the original man, in the image and likeness of his Creator, and surrounded by every necessary blessing for his comfort. Human perfection and the Eden home were lost through disobedience to God.
The Divine arrangement is that the merit of our Lord's obedience unto death, when ultimately applied for mankind, shall fully cancel the death sentence upon him. More and better than this, God has promised that the same Sin-Offering shall seal a New Covenant between himself and mankind. The blessings of that New Covenant arrangement will then immediately begin. The great Redeemer will thenceforth be the great Mediator of that New Covenant. The whole world of mankind will be fully under his supervision and government for their blessing, their correction in righteousness, their uplifting out of sin and death conditions – back, back, back, to all that was lost in Eden.
All of this was the original design of the Great Creator. All of this will be outworked through the Great Redeemer. All of this was secured or sureties by his death, finished at Calvary (Heb. 7:22)
St. Peter, pointing down to that glorious time of the world's blessing, calls it "times of refreshing and times of restitution."
He tells us that all the holy prophets described the blessings of those restitution times – the thousand years, the Millennium (Acts 3:19-21).
When once we get the eyes of our understanding opened, we find the Apostle's words thoroughly corroborated by the Divine records, which describe the wonderful blessings that are to come when the earth shall yield her increase. Then Paradise Lost shall be Paradise Regained. Then God will make his earthly footstool glorious. Then the blessing of the Lord shall make rich and he will add no sorrow therewith.
Then streams shall break forth in the desert and the wilderness and solitary places shall be glad. But most glorious will be the change in humanity. The Lord promises to turn to the people a "pure message" – instead of the contradiction of creeds of heathenism and Churchianity. He promises that Satan shall be bound for that thousand years, that he may deceive the nations no more. He promises that then all the "blinded eyes shall be opened and all the deaf ears shall be unstopped" (Isa. 35:5; 2 Cor. 4:4)
Both of these salvations, according to the Bible, result from the death of Jesus our Redeemer, who died in obedience to the Divine will, "Died, the Just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God" (1 Pet. 3:18).
The Scriptures clearly show not only the two salvations, but also two parts ot tne Kecleemers work, distinctly separating his work for the Church from his work for the world. In his death there was a Divine general provision for the sins of the whole world and a special provision for the sins of the Church. The two thoughts are frequently brought out in the Scriptures. One text distinctly declares, "He is the propitiation [satisfaction] for our sins [the Church's sins], and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."
His death constituted the satisfaction price. The Redeemer applied that merit for the Church's sins, "for us," long ago, eighteen centuries before we were born. Only when we became believers and entered into a Covenant of sacrifice did we obtain our share in the merit of that great sacrifice. The world has not yet received its share of that promised blessing, but the operation of the Divine Plan is sure and will bring it to them "in due time," as St. Paul declares (1 Tim. 2:6).
The drawing and calling of the Church has not been along the lines of human perfection, for all are sinners and none righteous or perfect. And many of those drawn of the Lord were by nature much more fallen and depraved than some who give no evidence of the work of grace in their hearts. The Lord's calling and drawing seem to be along the lines of justice, love of righteousness, faith, humility and obedience.
These qualities will all belong to the perfect man. But all have lost them in varying degrees. Such as respond to the Lord's call now are accepted as being in the right heart attitude which, if they had perfect bodies, would constitute them perfect men. In other words, they have qualities of heart which, if brought to a knowledge of the Truth, would prove some of them to be pure in heart and such as the Lord would desire should have eternal life and all of his favors.
But more are called and drawn by God's providences and the preaching of his message than he designs to save in the present salvation. He is choosing a very select class for a very special purpose and therefore makes the terms and conditions of their salvation extremely difficult. As a consequence we read, "Many are called, but few chosen" – under this "high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
Of course, these different salvations imply different terms or conditions. God's requirement of Adam, that he might continue to live forever and everlastingly enjoy Divine favor, his Eden Home, etc., was obedience to reasonable, just requirements. It was his violation of the Divine Law that brought upon him the sentence of death – "Dying thou shalt die" – with all that this has implied . to him and his posterity of [NS770] mental, moral and physical decline, weakness, death. The requirement of God for the world of mankind during the Millennial Age will similarly be – obedience to God's just, reasonable regulations, laws. Whoever then will render obedience may with proportionate rapidity go up on the highway of holiness toward perfection at its end. Whoever refuses obedience to the extent of his ability will fail to make progress and ultimately die the Second Death, from which there will be no redemption and no resurrection.
Such obedience as will be required of mankind in the great Mediator's Kingdom will include their cooperation in the resistance of their own fallen weaknesses. It will include the exercise of patience and kindness towards their fellow-creatures, fellow-sufferers. The Divine Law of love to God with all the heart, mind, soul, strength and for the neighbor as for one's self they must learn fully. As they will realize their own blemishes and strive to overcome them and ask, not the Father, but the Mediator for forgiveness, they will be obliged to follow the Divine rule of exercising towards others similar mercy and forgiveness to that which they desire for themselves.
But they will not be required to enter into the covenant of self-sacrifice, self-denial, etc. All the blessings of God on the earthly plane will be for them fully and freely to use and enjoy, in harmony with the Divine regulation. The conditions governing the salvation of the Church are wholly different from those which will appertain to the world. The Church is called out of the world under a Divine invitation to suffer with Christ in the present life and during this Gospel Age and then to reign with Christ during the Millennial Age, participating in his Mediatorial Kingdom for the blessing, uplifting, salvation of the world.
It is not in vain, therefore, that our Lord and the apostles, in setting forth the call of the Church during this Age, specified particularly and frequently the necessity for all who w)uld share in this salvation to participate with the Redeemer in his sacrificing, in "his death," and consequently participate in "his resurrection" and in his reign of glory. Hark to the words, "Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life;" "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne;" "And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:27).
Let us remember our Lord's words to the disciples James and John, respecting a place in His Millennial Throne. He intimated that the getting to the Throne at all, in any place, would imply great humility and self-sacrifice. He asked the disciples, "Are ye able (willing) to drink of the cup that I shall drink of and to be baptized with the baptism (into death) that I am baptized with?" (Mark 10:38)
Hearken again; This cup of which he tells us we must drink, if we would sit in his Throne, is his communion cup. It is offered, not to the world, but to his consecrated followers. It is not another cup, but "My Cup."
The invitation was, "This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Drink ye all of it" (Matt. 26:28, 27)
It must all be drunk before the many, the world, can get their share of the intended blessing through the New Covenant, which this blood seals. And only the disciples of Christ, only those who desire to walk in his steps, are invited to drink of that cup. All of them are so invited and they will drink all of it. None of it will be left for the world during the Millennial Age to drink.
It is a special privilege to drink of this cup. With the drinking of it goes the special blessing of the special salvation of this Gospel Age. Except we eat of his flesh (appropriate the merit of his sacrifice), and unless we drink his blood (join in sacrifice with him), we have no life in us – inherent life, immortality. So far as our hearts and minds are concerned at the time of our consecration they must be fully given up to the Lord ere he will accept them. We could be no more fully consecrated if we had absolutely perfect bodies and were absolutely free from all the entailment of Adam's condemnation. But God's requirement is that no sacrifice may come upon his altar, except such as is without spot or blemish. Hence he could not accept our offering, our consecration, even though it were as completely and fully made as was our dear Redeemer's. Hence his first provision was that the righteousness of Christ should be imputed to us on account of our faith and obedicne, in order to permit us to offer sacrifices holy and acceptable to God (Mal. 3:3; Rom. 12:1).
This view of our participation in the Redeemer s merit separately and apart from the world's participation in it – by faith and imputation of merit and not actually – the Bible declares to be a "mystery," which not many are able to discern – only the spiritually-minded – only the spirit-begotten. Those who can see and hear and understand the terms and conditions of this great salvation of this Gospel Age are specially blessed – "Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear" (Matt. 13:16).
To see, to hear, to understand, that glory, honor, immortality, eternal life on the spirit plane, are the rewards of a few years of self-denial and self-sacrifice, is to hear of a pearl of great price, of which few know. And to know of that pearl and not to be willing to sell all that we have to obtain it would demonstrate to the Father our unworthiness of life on this high plane. We exhort so many as see and hear and appreciate, in the words of the Apostle, "Let us make our calling and [NS771] election sure" by a full and hearty compliance with the gracious high calling of which we have learned and which our hearts have accepted. (2 Pet. 1:10)
With the exception of the three end paragraphs printed below, this discourse has been republished in the Overland Monthly, pages 259-262, entitled, "A Famine in the Land."
With shame of face we must all acknowledge that "we have done those things which we ought not to have done, and have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and there is no health in us."
The proper thing for us to do, dear Christian friends, is to get down upon our knees before the Lord and in contrition of heart acknowledge that we have wrought no deliverance in the earth (Isa. 26:18); that our sectarian differences are our shame; that the ignorance in which we have all been respecting the word of God is humiliating. "When once the eyes of our understanding are opened we can comprehend as never before the harmony of God's message from Genesis to the Revelation.
Daily the word of God becomes more precious to us. More and more we realize that it is our duty to fly to the assistance of our dear brethren in Christ and to call upon them to join us in a determined stand for God and His word of truth. We must show them that our God has been dishonored by misrepresentations of His character and of the real teachings of His word.
We must point them to the fact that the Bible does not teach that all mankind except the elect will be consigned to an eternity of torture at the hands of demons. "We must also show them that the election of the church during this gospel age does not mean injury to the non-elect; but that on the contrary it is the divine purpose that the elect saints with the greater Redeemer shall constitute God's kingdom, which will bind Satan, put down sin, banish ignorance, error and superstition, and uplift mankind by resurrection processes to all that was lost in Eden by Adam s disobedience, but secured for him and all his race through the great transaction accomplished on Calvary.
All mankind shall see that the divine purpose shall be accomplished; that the word which has gone forth out of Jehovah's mouth shall prosper in the thing whereunto He sent it."
Whosoever will do the will of My Father which is in heaven shall know of My doctrine. Ye do make void the law of God through your traditions – the traditions of the ancients (John 7:17; Mark 7:13; 1 Pet. 1:18).
Brooklyn Tabernacle, March 6 – Pastor Russell preached twice here today. His discourse on "Inferno" was delivered in Brooklyn's largest Auditorium, the Academy of Music, which was overcrowded. It was estimated in advance that this subject would draw a larger crowd than the Tabernacle would accommodate. The other meetings of the day were held in the Tabernacle. We report Pastor Russell's discourse from the text foregoing, as follows: It is difficult to please everybody. The duty of a Christian minister is to seek chiefly to please the Lord. "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer" (Psa. 19:14).
Our ministerial friends seem to be annoyed because we preach the "doctrines" of Christ. In substance, their sentiment is: Brother Russell, Do you not know that in the fashionable topics of our day doctrines are tabooed by the great ministers of all denominations? Instead, as you perceive from the newspaper announcements, it is now quite the thing to discuss political, scientific and sociological doctrines. You should give the public lectures on subjects. like these: Social Democracy; Rapid Transit in Brooklyn, from the text, "Many shall run to and fro;" Female Suffrage; The Boys' Brigade; [NS772] Bicycle Rider; Will the Comet Sweep the Earth With Its Tail; Can Footbal Survive, etc.; or occasionally, for effect, gently rake the rich on better housing for the poor, or belabor the Trusts for soaring prices of food. Such topics as these, Brother Russell, interest the Christian public in our day. And the public constitute our principal congregations when we lift our largest collections. The only people who will be interested in the doctrines you are preaching are the old fogy, out-of-date folk, and you will find the majority of them poor in this world's riches.
For pity's sake stop teaching the "doctrines of Christ!" Doctrines were good enough in the days of Jesus and Paul and Calvin and Luther and Wesley, but the people are not accustomed to them nowadays. I have no fault to find with my Christian brethren in the ministry of the various denominations. It is not to me, but to the Lord, that they must give an account of their stewardship – of their grand opportunities for declaring the Gospel of Christ. To their own Master they must stand or fall.
It is not for me to forbid them because they follow not with us. It is for each one who stands as an ambassador of Christ and of God to follow his own convictions faithfully. Besides, I am assured that many of them are loyal to the core. It is my understanding that, as a minister of the Gospel, I should take for my guide in this matter the instructions of my ordination. Like St. Paul my ordination to preach the Gospel was from the Lord. I must preach the message which I believe he has given me (1 Tim. 2:7).
As his ambassador I must preach the Word, following the example of the Lord and the Apostles. As they avoided politics, so must I. As they avoided vain philosophy and "science falsely so called," so must I. As they preached the doctrines of Christ, so must I – whether men hear or forbear to hear. I remember the words of St. Paul to Timothy: "Preach the Word, .. . with all long-suffering and doctrine, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own preferences they shall gather teachers to themselves; having itching ears they shall turn away their ears from the Truth and shall be turned unto fables." (2 Tim. 4:2-4)
There must be a reason why Christian preachers and their hearers haveabandoned the study of the "Doctrines of Christ" set forth by the Apostles and Prophets. Is it not because they no longer believe those doctrines? Is it not true that the College and Seminary Professors have led the majority of the ministry afar into unbelief in the Bible, and that these ministers are gradually leading their confiding flocks into other "pastures green" than those which the Great Shepherd and his appointed mouthpieces, the Apostles, approved?
Is not the Higher-Criticism infidelity of the colleges gradually penetrating even into the Sunday School Lessons and even into the High Schools of our land – undermining all faith in God's Book? But what led to this departure from the Word of God – into Higher-Criticism infidelity and into the Evolution theory; which makes void the Word of God; and into Christian Science, which puts a premium on falsehood; and into Theosophy and Spiritism, the deceptions of the fallen angels – demonism?
How comes it that all these unscriptural theories now flourish, whereas only a century ago God's Word was respected and its doctrines were studied by Christian people of various and conflicting creeds? The answer is that with the increasing light of our day the creeds of the past are seen to be fallacious, irrational, by all who use their thinking apparatus. The leaders in the various Churches discovered this in advance of their flocks.
They promptly and reverently set their creeds on a high shelf where the people might not so particularly notice their flaws, but might continue their reverence for them, until gradually their attention would be drawn aside and their hope and faith transplanted to Evolutionary soil or Theosophistic and Spiritualistic child's play. With the decline of Christian doctrines, including heart union with Christ and an understanding of its terms and conditions, Churchianity came in, to take the place of Christianity. Today the pride of all denominations centers, not in their doctrines, but in their institutions. The people are no longer exhorted to hold fast to the doctrines of Methodism, Calvinism, etc., but to hold fast to the System.
They are no longer encouraged to think of their system as being the only one, outside of which there would be no salvation, but they are encouraged to cultivate a partisan spirit, which takes pride in their organization, its wealth, the value of its church property, the largeness of its collections, the grandeur of its music, the wisdom, learning and ability of its preachers, and the fashion and wealth of its constituency. It is not our wish to offer a single unkind or unb'rotherly criticism. It is our duty and privilege, however, to point out that the creed doctrines of the various denominations, now set on the shelf as too frail and imperfect to stand handling and investigation, are not and never were the doctrines of Christ and the Apostles. It is our duty and pleasure to show forth to Christian people to the extent of our ability that the teachings of the Bible, the doctrines of Christ, are grand, noble, reasonable, "worthy of all acceptation."
To the extent that we succeed in doing this we are [NS773] bringing back straying Chnstians trom the deceptive bogs of Evolution and Higher-Criticism to the firm foundation, the solid rock of Truth – God's Word.
"Faithful are the wounds of a friend" is the Divine assurance. We cannot, therefore, better show our friendship and Christian love to our brethren than by pulling down from the shelf their reverenced creeds and allowing them to fall in pieces beyond repair.
If every church could be thus induced to pull down its creed-idol, the present Laodicean stage of the Church would speedily come to its senses, as suggested by our Lord. Then, instead of feeling themselves rich and increased in goods and having need of nothing, our dear Christian brethren of all denominations would realize the meaning of our Lord's words – that Churchianity as a whole today is poor and naked and miserable and wretched and blind (Rev. 3:14-22).
As Christians of all denominations we have cause of rejoicing that we have outgrown the trundie-bed creeds of the past and that we can no longer wrap ourselves comfortably in the narrow bigotry of error. The Lord caused this to be written in the long-ago through the prophets, saying, "For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it; and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it" (Isa. 28:10).
If in connection with this growth which has come to us and by which we have nobler conceptions than had our forefathers of the rights of man under the Golden Rule, it is a cause for rejoicing. Even though the transition has been accompanied by a great falling away into Higher-Criticism, Infidelity, Evolution, etc., nevertheless even these errors are in many respects preferable to the blindness and bigotry.
Happy are we, dear friends, if, the eyes of our understanding being opened, our hearts are led to a closer walk with God, a more careful and prayerful study of his Word, and to a subsequent growth in grace and in the fruits of the holy Spirit. Do some inquire for clearer specification respecting the features of the creeds put upon the shelf, which we think should be no longer cared for, but allowed to fall? We answer that of course there are good features in all of our creeds – truths which will never fail. But with these truths are mixed the errors which are, as the Proverb says, "Dead flies [that] cause the ointment to stink" (Eccl. 10:1).
There is plenty more of the ointment in God's Word. It is indeed the "balm of Gilead" and pure – without the corroding fly of error. This is what we all want, whatsoever our denominational name, and the sooner we get it the better for us, for the Cause and for "the brethren," whom we love to serve. I give an illustration: Those of us who are Calvinistic may well hold fast to some of the precious Scripture teachings so long revered, but we want to cast out quickly and effectively the gross error which teaches that all the non-elect, instead of having hope for a blessing through "the elect," are to be everlastingly tormented. Those of us who are Arminian in doctrine have much that is precious, but need also to cast away from us the thought that our heavenly Father is merely good-intentioned and lacks the power, the ability, to make his benevolent desires effective towards any except a small handful of humanity.
Our Disciple friends should cast aside the thought contained in their teachings that only the water-immersed experience forgiveness of sins and reconciliation to God and salvation from eternal torment. Similarly those of us who are Baptists, while holding to the precious truths which so long have comforted and strengthened us, should insist now on casting away as unscriptural and irrational the thought that has long perplexed us, namely, that no others than the water-immersed could be members of the Church of Christ, heirs of glory, and be saved from damnation. Once we get these absurdities removed, not only from our professions, we shall be ready and anxious to have the doctrines of Christ on these subjects. Then we will search the Word and have God's blessing in finding its harmonies. "He that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened" (Matt. 7:8).
But so long as we hold to the fallacies how can we seek or pray for or find the Truth?
The word doctrine signifies teaching. The doctrines of Christ, therefore, are the teachings of Christ; the doctrines of men, the teachings of men. What the Church needs today is, to receive into good and honest hearts afresh the doctrines of Jesus and the Apostles – allowing these to displace the doctrines which Christendom now holds but disesteems, and which were formulated in a time of less light than the present.
Instead, therefore, of discouraging each other in respect to the study of the doctrines of Christ, we should, as Christians, become more earnest in the study every day, hoping and expecting that in the wonderful light of our time God would be able to make clear to our understanding the harmonious interpretations of his Word. We should study to find the relationship between Election and Free Grace. We should clearly understand what is meant by baptism and what kind of baptism is necessary for our induction into the Body of Christ as members. On every line we should be looking for the harmonies, instead of rejoicing in the errors which have long divided us into [NS774] hundreds of sects and parties. However, in some respects sectarian energy is better than federated death. Might we not even say that if all the creeds were dashed to pieces and each Christian stood forth unshackled as respects denominational bonds, the result would be a great improvement so far as individual thought, study, and relationship to God would be concerned? In a word, each Christian should have his own creed, his individual faith; and none should do more or less than to assist his mind to a full understanding of the Word of the Lord in respect to every subject.
All doctrines which cannot show a foundation and full authority in the teaching of Jesus and the Apostles and Prophets, are doctrines of men. The teachings from above come to us through heaven-appointed channels. The jargon which prevails in Christendom in respect to Christian doctrines proves that they are of human origin. The Scriptures alone furnish to us
Briefly stated they declare, "To us there is one God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 8:6).
To us there is one Holy Spirit; to us there is "one Church of the Living God, whose names are written in heaven;" to us there is one Lord and one faith and one baptism; one God and Father of all" (Eph. 4:4-6).
However impossible these statements may have appeared during the "dark ages," they are no longer so. The light of Divine Truth is now shining. God has not only put into our possession wonderful Bibles, and wonderful helps for Bible-study, but has also given us the ability to read, to study the Word critically. And he is pleased now to assure us through the prophet that we are living in the time when "the wise shall understand" the "mystery hidden from past ages and dispensations," which could not be understood previously without working an interference with God's eternal purposes.
What, then, dear friends, shall we do? Shall we float on ingloriously, daily, hourly coming closer and closer to the great cataclysm which is swallowing up so many now in infidelity, called Higher-Criticism? Or shall we accept God's Helping Hand, the doctrines of Christ, and know the Truth and be made free from the error and be brought into fellowship with our Redeemer on the highest plane? Let us, as the "wise virgins" of our Lord's parable, wake from sleep and trim our lamps, and, in the light thereof, see God's wonderful riches of glory as they stand revealed on the threshold of the New Dispensation – the Millennial reign of Christ!
In conclusion: Our Lord admonishes us along the lines of this discourse as follows: "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see. (Rev. 3:18)
Whilst Catholics are returning to the Bible, and the present Pope has directed that their people be encouraged in Bible study, Protestants are drifting rapidly into Infidelity under the modern designations of Higher Criticism and Evolution. Our fathers during the Dark Ages got away from the Bible by supposing an apostolic succession."
Gradually the Creeds usurped the Bible's place under the supposition that they agreed. Now having outgrown those Creeds, in rejecting them many are rejecting the Bible also. This is a mistake! The Bible is the most wonderful book in the world when allowed to interpret itself. It furnishes the only rallying ground for human brotherhood and Christian brotherhood. The world otherwise is facing anarchy. A lost religion will soon mean a lost God, and a lost future hope, and a selfish strife for the present life only. The hell-torture theory is nauseating people. They are rejecting the Bible because they erroneously [NS775] think that it teaches it.
Let us not mourn our errors of the past unduly, but at once, now, get right with God and His Book! Its presentation is logical from Genesis to Revelation. It tells of the perfection of our first parents, of the test of their loyalty, of their failure, and its penalty, death – not eternal torture. (Gen. 2:17; Rom. 5:12)
It tells that all of present imperfections, mental, moral and physical, are incidental to the death penalty. 20,000,000,000 have been born dying and soon toppled over into the tomb. They are not being tortured in hell or purgatory, but, according to the Bible, are unconscious until their resurrection.
God's mercy cannot allow sinners to live in sinful pleasure to injure themselves and others and to mar creation; nor could it permit sinners to live in torture to blaspheme the Holy Name. But one thing could be done under the plan arranged. Man could be redeemed by a Savior – dying "the just for the unjust" (1 Pet. 3:18)
to square the demands of Justice against the race through Adam's disobedience. God purposed this remedy for all the race "before the foundation of the world."
"In due time Christ died for the ungodly" – "He tasted death for every man" – not eternal torture. Rom. 5:6; Heb. 2:9
The Bible also teaches that men die when they seem to die; yet it calls this a "sleep" because there is to be "an awakening, a resurrection of the dead, both just and unjust." (Acts 24:15)
The Prophets and Aposties all "fell asleep," as well as all others of Adam's race. They are sleeping in a great prisonhouse, the tomb, unconscious until it shall be opened and they shall be called forth. (Isa. 49:9; John 5:28, 29 Revised Version) This is shown by many other Scriptures also. The Bible hell is the tomb.
It is not sufficient that Jesus came and died for man's sin. Such satisfaction of Justice is preliminary to their recovery from the prison and from the hereditary weaknesses which led them to the prisonhouse, the tomb. Hence the Redeemer is also to be the Restorer and Lifegiver. The time for that deliverance or "restitution" is still future, though near. It will begin at Jesus' second advent, says St. Peter. Acts 3:19-23
So say some good people; but they err. It was Jesus himself who told of His future reign of a thousand years when His Bride-Church, the "elect," will be associated with Him in His Kingdom and work; and when Satan shall be bound. Rev. 20:1-5
The loss of this hope by our forefathers led onto all the grievous errors from which we are now seeking to escape. Do we not still pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth even as it is done in heaven?" The coming Messiah's Kingdom is the key to human perfection in a world-wide Eden.
While waiting for His "due time" to come for the blessing of mankind God is not idle. He made one election during the Jewish Age from amongst that people of a saintly few, for his future work. And during this Christian Age God has been making another election – the Church, "the Bride, the Lamb's Wife."
These elections do not spell torture to the non-elect masses of mankind, but the reverse, blessing. Through these "elect" saints God's favors and mercies will be poured upon Adam's race for a thousand years – for their full uplift to all that was lost in Eden and redeemed at Calvary.
This does not mean that there is to be no punishment for sin. Quite to the contrary – every wrong act, word or thought has its degrading influence and will bring its "stripes." (Luke 12:47)
It does mean that none are now in torture. All are "asleep" in "sheol," "hades," the tomb, and all will be blest and reasonably dealt with by their Redeemer. Therefore every good endeavor now will bring proportionate uplife of character and fall on the future favorably – even in those not of the saintly elect class. The parabies and dark sayings of Jesus and the Prophecies and Revelations are now, in "due time, being understood, and are in full harmony with Divine Justice and Love.
"Choose you this day whom ye will serve. .. If Jehovah be God, serve Him." (Josh. 24:15).
Washington, D. C., March 13 – Pastor Russell of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, New York, preached here twice today to splendid audiences. One of his discourses was entitled, "The Overthrow of Satan's Empire."
We report the other one from the text above quoted. Pastor Russell said: As Christians in the light of this wonderful Twentieth Century we stand at the parting of the ways and must decide for right or for wrong, for truth or for falsehood, in respect to our religious convictions. Without questioning the sincerity of our forefathers, we all object to their theology. It is in vain that ministers and Bible class teachers no longer deny the facts of the case.
Nor will intelligent and honest people agree that it is right that through their creeds they should profess one thing, and in their lives and general conversation they should ignore or absolutely deny the teachings of those creeds. Yet this is the position of practically all the thinking people of Christendom. Their consciences will not stand for this much longer. If they refrain from telling the Truth and taking their stand for it, they will not only sear their consciences (1 Tim. 4:2) and correspondingly separate themselves from God's favor, but additionally their course will sooner or later bring upon them the disapproval and contempt of all honest people. For although the masses are not yet aroused on the subject, they are rapidly getting awake.
Do you wish me to illustrate what I mean? Do you wish me to show in what respect all denominations are ashamed of their creeds and anxious to hide the fact that they ever professed them or were anxious to give them some new interpretation more consistent with the broader thought and more generous sentiment common to civilized man in this Twentieth Century? I will do it.
Our Methodist friends are ashamed of that feature of their creed which declares that the Almighty is now doing everything that Divine Wisdom and Power can accomplish on behalf of our poor race to bring all to a full knowledge of Christ and to opportunity of faith and obedience. They realize that there is a weakness in this argument. And when they protest that God must work through men, and hence that the responsibility lies at the door of Christian believers to carry the Gospel to the heathen, they realize that this is an illogical argument too. For why should our Great Creator send to eternal torment millions of his creatures, because of an insufficiency of zeal on the part of some of their more enlightened fellow-creatures?
Acknowledging the inconsistency of such a theory our good Methodist brethren tell us that they hope that God has some other way of saving the ignorant of heathen lands and, perhaps, of civilized lands. We appreciate the loving heart which prompts this answer and we agree that it is true – that God has another way for these. But when we attempt to point out what that other way is, some of these dear friends inquire, Is it Methodism? Did John Wesley preach it? Our answer is, No. Brother Wesley did not preach it and did not know of it. Not because it is new, but because it is so very old and was lost sight of during the "dark ages" for fifteen centuries before Brother Wesley was born. He was feeling after it, yearning for it, hungering and thirsting for it, but the "due time" for it to be made known to God's people had not yet come' in Brother Wesley's day. He preached the eternal torture of all mankind, except the sanctified believers in Jesus the Savior.
But in his preaching of the love of God he was used of the Almighty to wondrously prepare the hearts of Christendom for the broader message of the Bible now due to be seen and understood. Wesley's Gospel of the love of God has mellowed the heart of Christendom, which once was frigid under the cold teachings of Foreordination, Predestination, etc., of the Westminster Confession of Faith – once the basis of nearly all Protestant Coinmunions. If we and our Methodist brethren could maintain the same degree of spiritual warmth that Wesley and their forefathers enjoyed we might do without further instruction. But we cannot do this! None can stand still! Christians today are losing their holiness, their. sanctification – their zeal for God is giving place to zeal for a sect. The light of the Millennial morning which for a [NS777] century has been gradually breaking upon the world, stimulating thought in every direction, makes it necessary for our Methodist brethren, as well as for us all, to awaken to the wonderful privileges of our day for Bible study: to ascertain the real teachings of God's Word, which, in the dark past we all seemingly misunderstood and misrepresented.
Already the most intelligent one-fourth of Methodism not only rejects Brother Wesley's theory, but alas, repudiates the Bible also! It accepts instead of Salvation that most dangerous form of infidelity known as Higher Criticism and that most un-Scriptural proposition of human Evolution, which denies the fall of our race and makes void Christ's redemptive work and the glorious result thereof – human restitution. (Acts 3:19-23)
God forbid that we should bury any of the doctrines of Christ and his twelve apostles! On the contrary let us strive to resurrect these from the rubbish of human traditions which eighteen centuries have piled upon them. Let us instead bury our man-made creeds, of which we are all ashamed. Our Presbyterian friends some years ago set a noble example to all Christendom in the burial of their Confession of Faith and their substitution instead of a much simpler and much more rational statement.
But, No, I must correct myself here. This is what they should have done but did not do. Instead of burying the old creed, not only from sight, but also from odor, they have merely covered the corpse which is admitted to be dead and placed the briefer and better Confession atop the winding-sheet. They assuredly declare that it is not a substitute but merely a representative statement.
Hence every time we read the re-statement, we must hold our noses to avoid contamination from the odors of the carcass beneath. Not all must do this, for, as the Apostle suggests, all have not their senses excercised to discern. But all intelligent Presbyterians are being rapidly driven not only away from Calvinism, but, alas, away from the Bible also, because of their erroneous supposition that the teaching of Calvin and the teachings of the Bible are one and the same.
These bright minds are not merely lost to the Christian forces. They become active agents in the promulgation of anti-Biblical teachings. They are engaged in pulling down the Bible and substituting for its teachings Darwin's Evolution theory. These sincere men are to be found in the faculties of all of the Colleges, in the highest pulpits throughout the land and in the most prominent positions in business and social life. Their loss of faith in the Bible has not made them murderers or thieves.
Their noble inheritance from the past preserves in them an uprightness of character which the loss of a fear of hell-torment has not undermined. While they are no longer Christians from the Bible standpoint – no longer believers in Jesus as a Redeemer – they are still believers in Jesus as a great Teacher and a noble Leader of men. They fail to discern the fact that if he posed as the Son of God and the Redeemer of men, and was not such, instead of being a noble example, his life and teachings were most stupendous frauds and deceptions.
When we say that this awakening is also reaching our Baptist and our Disciple brethren, let it not be understood to mean that all of these have been asleep until now. Perhaps it would have been better for them if some who have gotten awake during the past thirty years had slumbered longer. Those long awake have principally gone off into Darwinism and Higher Criticism. Baptist and Disciple schools and Colleges and Theological Seminaries, like those of other denominations, are manned with the brightest minds of the denominations, and all with one accord teaching Higher Criticism, Infidelity and Darwinian Evolution. With one accord all are engaged in overthrowing the Christian Faith of the rising generation.
They are doing this intelligently, wisely, cunningly, but not with evil motive. Having gotten awake to the inconsistencies of their creeds these scholarly men, concluding that the creeds truthfully represented the Bible, abandoned faith in the Scriptures to the same degree that they have abandoned faith in the creeds which their intellects have repudiated. Now they are seeking to gradually help Christian people of all denominations to what they consider the higher plane of Truth. What they have almost anything in fact – is better than the "creeds" they have repudiated.
They are working hard and succeeding well in introducing their faith-destroying theory into the minds of the rising generation through the school books. From these they not only have eliminated everything sympathetic with Bible faith, but in the stead have introduced the subversive doctrine of Evolution. As for the rank and file of Baptists and Disciples, probably three-fourths of them still hold vaguely and indefinitely to the Bible and their Confessions of Faith though both of these denominations in their innocency of mind think that they have no creeds – that they take [NS778] the Bible only. As these dear friends awaken to the inconsistencies of their Confession and teachings they are in great danger of following their leaders into a repudiation of everything pertaining to the past – into Higher Criticism – Infidelity and Darwinism.
Joshua's words to the Israelites, after they had come into Canaan, constitute our text. Joshua perceived that the Israelites were in a trying position and that it was their duty to decide promptly and thoroughly which course they would take. So we may see today that Christians of all denominations are in a trying position and that a prompt decision to stand by God and the Bible is the necessary thing for those who would be delivered from the darkness of the past and avoid falling into the Adversary's great deception of the present – into which their leaders are guiding them.
Unless they heed speedily, the blind leading the blind will fall into the ditch of Darwinism and the mire of Higher Criticism. There are not many ways to escape this threatening calamity! There is only one way – the Bible way. Many Baptist and Disciple ministers are becoming awake to the inconsistencies of their positions and drifting without foreknowledge of where their course will end. For instance,
I have before me the words of the Rev. Dr. MacDonald of my own city, Brooklyn, on February 27th. This gentleman speaks of the Baptist Confession of Faith as "these swaddling clothes of an ancient dogmatism."
And respecting the Baptist doctrine which recognizes only immersed persons as members of the Church of Christ and heirs of salvation, he says, "Henceforth it can be regarded to be as dead as the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and as worthily buried."
The gentleman rejoiced that recently a Baptist minister had been ordained to the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church of Brooklyn who affirmed in advance that he would invite all to communion and Church membership who loved the Lord Jesus. He urged that "associate members" should be received into Baptist communions "without imposing baptism upon them."
This courageous brother fails to see wflerein the course he advocates is illogical. What he needs to see is the real teaching of the Bible on the subject of Baptism – that it is baptism into Christ's death, and thus into the real Church of Christ – not the Baptist Church, nor any other human organization, but the Church of God – "The Church of the firstborns, whose names are written in heaven."
That roll contains the names of all the saintly, faithful, consecrated believers in the Redeemer – of all denominations and outside of all denominations.
It is not sufficient that we get rid of the errors and superstitions of the past. We must supplant those with the Truth, that "We may be able to withstand in this evil day" (Eph. 6:13).
It alone will constitute the armor of God. Christian people hold much precious Truth, but hold it in so illogical and confused a manner that it fails to give them the needed strength. God permitted us to come to this very hour and has permitted the present tests for the purpose of developing the characters of the "Israelites indeed, in whom is no guile," and for the purpose of gathering out from them all the tares, all the chaff, and all not at heart copies of his dear Son. Let me now briefly summarize the errors of our creeds and briefly indicate the Bible remedy.
None of our Creeds were too strict in defining the saintliness of the Church class, invited to become the Bride of Christ and his Joint-heirs in his Kingdom. On the contrary, in many respects they were too loose – they were not nearly up to the standard of the Master's word, "If any man will be my disciple, let him take up his cross and follow me."
"Strait is the gate and narrow the way which leadeth unto life; and few there be that find it." (Matt. 7:14)
Jesus taught that his followers must drink of his cup of suffering and be baptized into his death – and not merely into water. Our too-low standards have admitted to membership in all denominations millions who are far below the Master's standards. Our error and deception was the supposition that all who are not saintly, all who would not become the Bride of Christ, all who are not baptized into his death, all who do not drink of his cup of ignominy will be eternally tortured.
This great mistake common to all Protestants (and in the much modified form of Purgatory shared also by Catholics) must be displaced by the Bible teaching that as soon as the elect Church shall be completed and glorified the antitypical Year of Jubilee will begin; that then for the thousand years of the reign of Christ and the Church as the spiritual Seed of Abraham, the non-elect, of all the families of the earth will be blest by the elect. (Gal. 3:16, 29; Acts 3:19-23).
Let us, dear brethren, choose this day to stand by the Word of God, to reject all human traditions contrary to it and to hold fast the things that are true, just, loving, good. If occasionally a thoughtless friend asks, Why do you believe in a Millennium? answer that it is one of the oldest doctrines of Christendom and, above all, the Bible doctrine. Answer that he who does not believe in the Millennium and the resurrection then of the world of mankind – "All that are in their graves" – must account for the dead in some other way – must claim [NS779] that they have been experiencing pain or pleasure for thousands of years, or must claim that they are extinct as the brute beast and will have no resurrection or must believe in universal salvation regardless of a knowledge of Christ or obedience to him. On next Lord's Day, we will discuss the Millennium and snow its absolute necessity, not only from a Bible standpoint but also from a scientific standpoint. "Choose ye this day" – to stand for the Bible and reason and to oppose the creeds of the dark ages and their unreason!
"If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes." (Luke 19:42)
Little did the Jews understand the momentous importance to them of the event which Christians commemorate on Palm Sunday. It will be remembered that the incident occurred at the close of our Lord's ministry – three and a half years after his baptism at Jordan and five days before his crucifixion. The Jewish Sabbath had been spent in rest at Bethany.
Lazarus, whom Jesus awakened from the sleep of death, with his sisters Mary and Martha, prepared for Jesus a banquet, and when the Sabbath closed the supper was eaten. It was at that time that Mary brought forth the box of perfume, spikenard very valuable, and therewith anointed our Lord's head and feet. It was the same occasion on which Judas, in a wrong spirit, had murmured against this expression of her loving devotion; that it was a waste; that perferably the money should have been given to the poor. It was then that the Master defended Mary and announced that the anointing was for his burial (which occurred later the same week), and suggested to the disciples, 'The poor ye have always with you; but me ye have not always." (Matt. 26:11-12)
The next morning, the first day of the week, corresponding to our Sunday, Jesus made ready for his triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem as the Jewish King, according to the custom of the Jewish kings riding upon an ass and hailed and acclaimed by the populace. The incident had been foretold by the Prophet Zechariah in great detail, saying, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass. (Zech. 9:9)
When the apostles had brought the ass and Jesus sat thereon, the large concourse of people (which had come from Jerusalem to see Jesus because of his awakening of Lazarus) shouted aloud. They were filled with enthusiasm and, after the manner of the time, some broke off palm branches for the ass to step upon; others laid their garments in the way and thus formed, as it were, a carpet in the road leading to Jerusalem near by.
The shout of the people was just as the prophet had declared. They hailed Jesus as the promised Son of David, the Messiah long waited for. On previous occasions, when they sought to make Jesus a king, after witnessing his marvelous works, he withdrew himself from them, to wait for their ardor to cool, knowing that the Father's time was not yet due. But now he knew that his hour was come and hence, instead of hindering, he helped on with the enthusiasm by sending for the ass, etc. Prominent sectarian Jews present, although unable to account for the miracle, were unprepared to think of Jesus as the true Messiah, or anything short of an impostor in that role.
When these heard the multitude shouting and addressingJesus as the Messiah they were offended and sent word to Jesus that he should restrain the ignorant people who were thus acclaiming him. But instead of forbidding the ovation Jesus intimated that it was the proper thing, that because the Prophet Zechariah (9:9) said, "Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!" therefore there must be a shout. If the people had not shouted, rather than have the prophecy go unfilfilled, Jesus said the very stones would have cried out.
Enroute to Jerusalem Jesus halted the ass and the procession at the top of the Mount of Olives and, overlooking the Holy City, wept while he pronounced his sentence upon it – Unworthy! Unappreciative! As the evangelist declares, "Israel knew not the time of her visitation."
The time for Israel to receive the King had come and they were not only ignorant of the matter collectively, but they were not in the heart condition to understand or appreciate. Jesus cried, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a [NS780] hen gathereth her chicken under her wings, and ye would not!" (Matt. 23:37)
For three and a half years he and his faithful apostles had been declaring that the Kingdom of God was at hand; that the people should repent and believe the good message. And even six months in advance of this John the Baptist and his disciples had similarly preached.
After those four years of faithful preaching throughout the length and breadth of Palestine, the nation was apparently as unprepared forJesus as at the first. Hence our Lord's following words, "Therefore I say unto you, Your house is left unto you desolate! Ye shall see me no more until that day when ye shall say – Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord!" That day has not yet come. Meantime the Jewish nation was there cast off from fellowship with God, as the prophet declares, "Because they knew not the time of their visitation."
Israel has been outcast from national favor for more than eighteen centuries. Thank God the day is near at hand, when, at the second coming of Messiah, his Kingdom shall be turned over to them. And then, as he declares, they will be glad to say, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."
The long centuries of persecution and separation from God's favor will have brought that people to a humbler condition of heart, where they will be glad to receive of Divine grace upon Divine terms. To this great event St. Paul refers us in Rom. 11:27-34.
Although God foreknew all that had happened the offer of the Kingdom to Israel was just as bona-fide, just as genuine, as though he had not known it. God always does his part! Whatever failure there is in any matter of contract belongs to humanity. If thus we have before our minds the origin of Palm Sunday and what it signified as the climax of the test of natural Israel in respect to Messiah, we are prepared to go further and to note that in God's providence there is a similar test for us Christians.
St. John emphasized particularly the fact that the rejection of the Jewish nation, because of their rejection of Messiah, did not apply to all the individuals of that nation. As the Prophet Isaiah had foretold (Rom. 9:27-33) there was a small, faithful section or "remnant."
This remnant accepted Christ and were by him accepted and became the nucleus or foundation of Spiritual Israel on the Day of Pentecost. Thus we read, "He came unto his own (nation) and his own received him not (as a nation); but to as many as received him, to them gave he liberty (privilege) to become sons of God, even to them that believed on his name; which were begotten not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" – at Pentecost (John 1:11-13)
Thus so far as the spiritual part of God's great promise to Abraham is concerned it has passed from the Jewish nation; but there still remains for them a glorious earthly portion, to which they will be introduced at our Lord's second coming. Then their sins will be cancelled, and as a people the Hebrews will return to Divine favor and will inherit the earthly features of the promise made to their fathers.
Then, through them, God's blessing will be extended to all nations and peoples under Israel's New Covenant, which will then become operative at the hands of their great Mediator – the Christ, the Messiah in glory. But by that time the election of the saints of this Gospel Age will be complete and the Messiah in glory will include Jesus the Head and the Church his Body – joint-heirs with him in his Kingdom – joint-heirs with him in the spiritual features of the great Abrahamic promise (Gal. 3:29).
All this is clearly stated by the Apostle in Rom. 11:25-32. But somehow our eyes of understanding as Christians have been holden so that, until of late, we have not seen these lengths and breadths, these heights and depths, of Divine Love and Wisdom and arrangement. The fact that we now see these things is a corroborative evidence that they are nigh at hand. Just so it was at our Lord's first advent. Many things pertaining to that time were completely hidden until the time of their fulfillment came, and then only the "Wise Virgins" were so blessed, so assisted, that they trimmed their lamps effectively and were enabled to see these beauties in the Divine Plan.
Apparently very few of God's people, until recently, have noted the fact that Spiritual Israel has had a parallel history to that of Natural Israel. Few have seen that these are dealt with all through the Scriptures as type and antitype. Few have noticed that from the death of Jacob to the death of Jesus finds its exact parallel of 18451/2 years between the death of Jesus and our day. Few have noticed that in both cases there is a nominal and a real Israel. The nominal Jewish system was tried and all but the "Israelites indeed" failed. Likewise will be the experience of Spiritual Israel.
The nominal Christian systems will be tried, and all will fail except the spirit-begotten and faithful. As only a remnant or small number were found in the proper condition at the first advent, so the Scriptures clearly intimate that only a small number will be found sufficiently saintly and zealous and loyal to the Lord and the principles of his Truth in the end of this age, to graduate with first honors. As there was a special period of testing and trying at the close of the Jewish Age, lasting for forty years, so, the Scriptures clearly indicate, there is a special sifting and testing due to come to Christendom during the [NS781] closing forty years of this Gospel Age before the inauguration of the glorious Millennial blessings. As the trials and tests came upon the Jews in a subtle manner, to test their faith and obedience, so even more subtlety must we expect will be connected with the trials and testings in the harvest time of this Gospel Age. Of this time the Lord through the prophet said, "Who may abide the day of his presence, and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord acceptable sacrifices" (Mal. 3:2, 3)
Natural and Spiritual Israel are contrasted. The Lord through the Prophet foretold that Messiah would be "for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel" – to Natural Israel and to Spiritual Israel. We have seen how the first house stumbled on that Palm Sunday – celebrated today. They stumbled "because they knew not the time of their visitation" – they did not know that the time had come for the establishment of the Kingdom; hence they were not alert to their privileges and failed to be in the proper condition of heart to receive the blessings.
Or, we might state the matter reversely and say that those who did not know and did not accept Messiah, were those whose hearts were not in the right condition, else they would not have been left in darkness (1 Thess. 5:4).
Many things indicate to us, now, that we are living in a time corresponding to that Palm Sunday! Many things imply that Christendom is now undergoing its great test and that only the fully consecrated of heart and life will be accepted of the Lord as his 'jewels" and be granted a share with Christ in his Kingdom. Many things imply that we are now in the time when the true people of God are being divided into two classes, as pictured for us by our Lord in the parable of the Wise and the Foolish Virgins.
As only the Wise Virgins were prepared to enter into the marriage, so only the consecrated ones, the polished jewels of the Lord, will be accepted as fit for the Kingdom and be granted a share in the glorious resurrection change which will precede the great time of trouble, in which the Foolish Virgin class, although not of the world, will participate with the world. True, that great time of trouble will usher in the glorious Millennial dispensation, in which the Church in glory with the Great Redeemer will pour out upon all mankind the wonderful restitution blessings which God has promised by the mouth of all the holy prophets (Acts 3:19-23).
True, the Foolish Virgins may subsequently get the oil and subsequently have a glorious tuture, but they will lose the choice place ot Divine favor and blessing. They cannot be of the "Bride" class, but will receive their blessing under the figure of "the virgins her companions that follow her" (Psalm 45:14).
It is in order for all of God's people who now get awake from the slumber of worldliness which has long stupefied them, to join hearts and voices in a great shout – the shout that the Kingdom is at hand! The shout of Hosanna to the Son of David! And that the time is at hand for the fulfillment of the passage, "Gather together my saints unto me, saith the Lord! those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. They shall be mine, saith the Lord, in that day when I come to make up my jewels"(individually) (Mal. 3:17)
As the Jewish nation was not ready to receive Jesus as its King, on that first Palm Sunday, neither is Christendom now ready to receive him at his second advent. As it was, only the "Israelites indeed," in whom was no guile, that then knew the voice of the Shepherd, so it will be here an individual matter. The Laodicean period of the Church's history is upon us (Rev. 3:17).
The Nominalism of our day is fully portrayed by our Lord's words. Christendom boasts that she is rich and increased in goods and has need of nothing; and knows not that she is poor and miserable and blifid and naked. The Lord now stands at the door and knocks. He offers himself to the "Israelites indeed."
Ours is Palm Sunday in the highest sense of all. How are we receiving the great blessings which betoken the parousia of the Master? Do we hear his knock? Have we opened our hearts? Are we searching his Word and listening for his voice and seeking to know and to do his will in all things?
To all such very shortly, we believe, will come the greater and fuller Pentecostal blessing – the resurrection "change," from the glory of character merely, to the glory of person as themselves to him and his service; ; not waiting for the share his glory. As St. Paul says, "See that ye reject not him that speaketh from heaven!" Greater light, greater privilege, greater blessing everyway are ours than were those enjoyed by the Jews at our Lord's first advent. These privileges and blessings are our tests. Let us be faithful. Let us present our bodies living sacrifices and with renewed zeal seek to glorify our Lord in our bodies and our spirits, which are his (1 Cor. 6:20).
Those who have the eyes to see and the ears to appreciate the voice now speaking from heaven should be alert to hail him Lord of all – to accept him as their Redeemer and King and voluntarily to present themselves to him and his service – not waiting for the time when he shall reveal himself in power and great [NS782] glory to the world in general. The Lord is now looking for saints, for overcomers, valiant, faithful, persevering, and thoroughly devoted to him, to his Cause of Righteousness, and thoroughly opposed to sin and especially active in overcoming its domination in their own hearts, in their own minds, in their own bodies. Such the Master pictures as his joint-heirs, priestly kings, sitting with himself in his Throne of glory and world dominion.