Pastor C T Russell was with his home congregation in Bible House chapel, Allegheny, yesterday and spoke to a packed audience from the text, "The blessing of the Lord; it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow therewith." Prov. 10:22. He said:

The rush and push and scramble for riches was never before so great as at the present time, and the reasons for this are quite apparent. The increase of knowledge which has reached the masses during the last half-century has awakened generally thoughts and aspirations which never before moved any except the extremely few. Added to these has come the examples of Vanderbilts, Astors, Carnegies and Schwabs, rising from the humbler positions in life to pinnacles of fame, affluence, luxury, in an incredibly short time. The fact that a ferryman, with a little boat which he propelled by hand, became a multi-millionaire and the head of one of the largest railway systems in the world, could not be without its influence on all who heard of his success. The fact that a peddler of coon and bear skins became a multi-millionaire, and that his representatives in the world today are the largest owners of real estate in the largest city of the United States, could not fail to impress a lesson upon the rising generation. The fact that a telegraph messenger boy rose from that position to be the [HGL266] controller of hundreds of millions, and a broad dispenser of public benefactions in his laudable endeavor not to die extremely rich, necessarily made an impression wherever known throughout the world. The fact that a country boy driving a stage coach should in a few years leap into world-wide prominence as a millionaire caused breathless astonishment. Naturally enough all these exhibitions of prosperity, or, as some would say, luck, have tended to stir the ambitions not only of the rich to be richer, but also of the poor to become rich. And so we see the millions of civilized lands eagerly straining every nerve and watching every opportunity peradventure some such good fortune should come to them, meantime encouraged by many examples less notable than those we have cited.

Is it any wonder that the world is seemingly gone mad in its pursuit of wealth? that mammon is worshiped or served in every conceivable manner and place in the hope of receiving name, place, honor and ease? And is it any wonder that those worshiping daily at the shrine of mammon, as they look about them and see the more favored ones on the social tiers above them, should come to feel that the attainment of wealth would mean the attainment of every blessing, comfort and joy that heart could wish? It is no wonder! It would be remarkable if it were otherwise! It would be strange if human reasoning were not to reach just such a conclusion!

From the standpoint of some, all this would be set down as greed and selfishness. But this is not the proper viewpoint. We are to remember that acquisitiveness is an organ to be found in every cranium, and that so surely as we hold to the scriptural declaration that man was created in the moral image and likeness of God, so surely must we contend that acquisitiveness as originally possessed was an element of this mental likeness to the Deity. The desire to acquire is not an evil of itself, but a blessing; without its influence mankind would be ambitionless, drones, savages.

What then is the difficulty if acquisitiveness is of itself a good quality, a proper organ of our nature? Why are some of the fruits of its exercise evil some of them diabolical? We reply that this organ in the majority of people today is too active; but, on the other hands, the quality of activity as compared with its opposite, lethargy, indolence, is an admirable quality. Our highest conception of the perfect man, Adam, sees him full of activity, energy- "not slothful in business, but fervent in spirit." So then we can neither blame the organ of acquisitiveness nor the quality of activity, for both are good qualities under proper regulations and restraints. We must look further for the seat of trouble.

The secret of our inquiry lies in the fact that as human beings we are not controlled by one or two of the organs of our constitution, but are influenced by all of them more or less. For instance, acquisitiveness as a quality of the human mind is surrounded by other qualities and influenced by them. To illustrate: Alimentativeness, or the love of eating and drinking, bears upon acquisitiveness and supports it, saying, I must acquire money, otherwise I cannot have the food I crave. The organs of music and mirthfulness have their bearing also, and urge: We cannot be gratified unless we have money for entertainment, etc. Ideality, or the love of the beautiful, calls loudly to acquisitiveness, saying: Whatever you have, dress or home, house or lawn, must be in good taste, and this requires money. Conjugal love love for a mate and appreciation of the family circle calls to acquisitiveness, saying: Bestir yourself, for without money and its products we will be deprived of our enjoyments. Acquisitiveness, pressed thus from every side, more under present conditions than in the primitive state, casts about for assistance, and finds the organs of combativeness and destructiveness ready to assist it in meeting the claims mentioned.

Combativeness and destructiveness are the artillery and cavalry of the human character, diverting every resource of human energy into their service, and waging life's battle against their service, and waging life's battle against everybody and everything out of harmony with their master, acquisitiveness, and the various co-related qualities associated with acquisitiveness. This is particularly the mental attitude of the whole world of mankind and the strife is growing day by day. The scriptures inform us that ultimately the greatest time of trouble which the world has ever known will result; and that this time of trouble will be brought about by just such selfish strife, in which, as the Lord through the prophet declares, "every man's hand shall be against his neighbor." The worldly expression on the subject, which is becoming more and more the world's rule of life, is expressed in the adage, "Every man for himself, and the devil gets the hindmost." The hindmost who fall in life's battle sometimes breathe their last in almshouses or in hospitals or as suicides. The clear intimations of scripture teach us to expect more radical things in the future than have ever been known in the past, except in the great period of anarchy which swallowed up the Jewish nation in A D 69, and in the great French revolution at the close of the eighteenth century.

Phrenologically considered, the part of the cranium representing acquisitiveness lies just above the ear, and, as we have just seen, all the other qualities of mind seem more or less to pay tribute to acquisitiveness to depend upon it for their sustenance and pleasure and all more or less serve it and obey its mandates through a kind of necessity. Thus seen the human head is very much like the side-wheel steamer, the wheel which propels it being represented by the organ of acquisitiveness. Every person who has made his mark in the world financially or socially we may surely know possessed this organ of acquisitiveness in large measure proportionately larger than the organs surrounding it. In some respects this is a good arrangement. If, for instance, the organ of ideality were the largest and dominating one and acquisitiveness were small, the result would be a lover of the beautiful without the energy and ambition to produce or acquire the beautiful. We see then that the difficulty with our race as a whole is not that we have the organ of acquisitiveness, nor that it is too large, but that our other qualities are deficient, too small, out of proportion, out of balance. [HGL267]

Lying farthest from acquisitiveness are the higher reflective organs, benevolence, veneration and spirituality, conscientious-ness, firmness. These latter are located in the fore-front and along the top of the head. As might be surmised from their location, they are more independent of acquisitiveness, than are the other organs; nevertheless they often pay tribute also. For instance, benevolence exercising itself along the line of charities, may appeal to acquisitiveness, saying, I cannot dispense wealth which I do not possess; I therefore need your assistance.

Veneration may also to some extent bow to acquisitiveness, saying, my reverence for God leads me to desire to place some trophy at his feet, and this means that I must have money. Spirituality may also turn to acquisitiveness for assistance, and conscientiousness may support the claims of both of these and call loudly to acquisitiveness, claiming it to be its duty to acquire in order to give in harmony with benevolence, veneration and spirituality. Wherever we see the qualities represented by these higher organs strongly manifested in character, we speak of the person as being noble-minded as desiring wealth and using it on a higher plane than those who are comparatively deficient along these lines.

All that we have here described belongs to the natural man. Even the noblest characters under such an organization of mind are not what the scriptures class as spiritual. This brings us to another feature of the subject, one of the most important factors of human affairs the office of the will.

Those who have followed the argument understandingly will have no difficulty in appreciating my meaning when I liken these various organs or qualities of the mind to the various members of a legislative body, such as congress or parliament. In every such gathering of men there are some who dominate and to a large degree control the others, who, while having functions of their own, practically become satellites of their leader. There are generally two leaders or parties, sometimes more, seeking control of such a legislative body, and the strongest party dominates the others, and places its leader in control as the speaker of the house, and passes the rules and by-laws governing the conduct of affairs under its regime. Thus, for instance, the late Thomas B Reed not only belonged to the dominating party in congress, but by that party was made its leader, and in co-operation they made the celebrated "rules for the house" respecting the order of business and the rights and liberties of the members.

Applying all this to the human mind, we note that in some minds on some questions there would be full agreement of all the organs; as, for instance, they generally agree to follow the lead of and to support acquisitiveness, and acquisitiveness in turn recognizes the claims of the various members, watching after their interests. Where, however, conscientiousness or veneration or benevolence, for instance, are reasonably large and influential in the mind, there is apt to be more or less of conflict. Conscientiousness may refuse its consent to the methods which acquisitiveness and combativeness might be disposed to employ.

Or it might be such a question as would enlist in the support of conscientiousness the organs of veneration, spirituality, the more religious elements of the mind. These would oppose, and often quite a mental dispute arises over certain questions, with long debatings and powerful arguments on both sides. Indeed, fortunately, this is the attitude of the large proportion of people in civilized lands. Otherwise if conscientiousness, etc., offered no opposition, and acquisitiveness, urged on by the various pleas of the surrounding faculties, had no opposition or restraint, the results in the world would be terrible indeed; murder and robbery would be everywhere prevalent. We are glad, therefore, that the "fall," which has so unsettled the mental balance of the race, has not in the majority crushed out or eliminated conscientiousness and its supporting organs of the higher realms of thought.

This attitude of mind, this continual conflict, makes the life of the average man more or less miserable, for he not only desires many things which he cannot obtain, but he is in continual conflict with his conscience and higher organism in respect to the methods employed in securing what he does obtain. The result in the majority is an agreement to disagree, an agreement to do neither the one thing nor the other, to neither satisfy conscience and the higher organs, nor to give full rein to acquisitiveness and the lower organs. This condition we might well term an armed truce between two opposing factions, neither one conceding fully the rights of the other. The apostle, speaking of such a mind, declares it to be a double mind, and says, "A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways" he lacks full satisfaction, he lacks mental rest and peace; consequently the majority of the world of mankind, whether rich or poor, are dissatisfied, discontented, unhappy.

If we are convinced of the truth of what we have just considered, we come properly to the questions: Is there a remedy? and what is it? We answer that there is a remedy, but comparatively few realize this even partially, and many of them hold back and never obtain the blessing. The first step in any reformation, social or individual, mental or physical, is to grasp the situation and realize the need of a change. Hence our endeavor to portray this need by a review of the conditions as they exist in the natural mind. Those who are satisfied with such a warring condition, those who do not seek peace and rest, we do not address, for the effort would be useless. To those who are seeking we quote the words of the great Redeemer, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." The whole world is laboring and is heavy laden. To such who have sought rest in other directions and have found none, we have a message the divine word speaks peace by the blood of Christ.

Our mental unbalance, no less than our physical blemishes and mental and moral weaknesses, all corroborate the scriptural narrative of the fall the fall out of divine favor with all that this signifies of disease and physical blemish culminating in the tomb the fall into sin and its penalty, death. Recovery is impossible except by divine aid, and this aid has been extended to us as a race in the great sacrifice finished at Calvary. Knowledge of that [HGL268] fact and an appreciation of our own needs are the strands of the cable of hope which draw us toward the Almighty, the Creator, for forgiveness, that we may obtain mercy and in His appointed way find grace to help in every time of need.

The gracious message of God to us is that if we are ready to forsake sin to the best of our ability, and will exercise faith in Christ as our Redeemer, the Lord will begin a work of reformation in our hearts and lives. He will do this through the instructions of His word, which extends "exceeding great and precious promises" to those who come unto Him in "the only name given under heaven and among men whereby we must be saved." This reformation enjoined upon us we naturally strive to accomplish for ourselves, saying if our past sins are forgiven we will see to it that we sin no more for the future. Good resolution! Noble endeavor!

However, before we have gone very far in the new way, in the way of righteousness, in the way of obedience to the Lord, we find ourselves woefully entangled, and at first are wholly unable to understand the matter. We find our will to be to do the Lord's will, which we recognize as absolutely right and proper; but we find in our members, we find in the different organs of our minds various combinations arrayed against our good intentions. Acquisitiveness insists that whatever be our change of intention, nothing must be done to the curtailment of its influence in our lives. Others of our members join in the same protest, and insist that the new resolutions are certainly extreme if they bring upon us any disadvantages of an earthly kind. With united voice almost every organ of our minds cries out that we must not be extremists, for this would make us in the eyes of the world fools and rob us of all the pleasures of life.

It requires a little time for the reformed will to right itself from the shock received from such assault as this from every quarter; it is a new experience and rather a surprise. The expectation perhaps was that as soon as reform became the watchword of life, the Lord would overrule matters so that everything would run smoothly, and joy and peace of heart would prevail. Not so, however. The Lord desires a still deeper work of grace than this, and hence the natural battle of the selfish organs preponderates against the will of God, if permitted. Of these the apostle says: "The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:7.

It cannot be in harmony because of its derangement through the fall. If all the organs of the mind still maintained their original proportionate weight and influence matters would be different, and the reformed attitude of mind would be approved as the course of wisdom by the consensus of judgment of all the mem-bers or faculties of the mind. It is this loss of mental balance or equilibrium through the fall, and the many centuries of hereditary degeneration that constitutes the "worldly mind," or, what the scriptures designate the "carnal" or "fleshly" mind that is, overbalance toward the interests of the flesh, unbalance as respects the higher interests.

What steps shall be taken to get rid of this conflict between the reformed will and the natural mind? What is the road to the peace our Lord referred to, saying: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest?" The step which the Lord directs as necessary to the attainment of full peace with Him is a very radical one, but one which once taken is never to be regretted. It is the step of full consecration the full submission of the mind or will to the will of the Lord. It means what in congress would be called the radical division of the house. The members are lined up, sworn to fidelity to the new will faithfulness to the Lord.

This is still more radically presented to us in the scriptures, namely, that every sentiment, emotion and principle of our hearts and minds are delivered over to obedience to the Lord, with a full enthronement of Him as an autocrat controlling our every interest and affair. It pledges to the Lord that ever talent and quality of mind and body shall be to the extent of our ability brought into subjection to His will, and that any other disposition shall be "mortified," that is, deadened. The apostle expresses this thought to the consecrated ones, saying, "Mortify therefore your members which are on the earth." That is to say, your earthly members or those organs of your mind which are abnormally interested in the earthly affairs, and not willing to be subject to the heavenly will or to be disowned and ignored and destroyed. From them is to be taken all power to vote or to exercise any influence whatever in the councils of our minds; because they are recognized as being rebellious against the Creator, against the Redeemer, and against all the laws of righteousness and truth which these represent.

The full renouncement of the old man, the old nature, the old mind, is the culminating step in the conversion which properly begins with acceptance of Christ as our Redeemer, and resolutions of reformation and righteousness of life. Such a consecration or giving up of the will to the Lord the apostle denominates a "sacrifice." He explains to us that the will represents the whole person, and that the sacrifice of the will, or the determination to follow not our own will, but follow completely the Lord's way, is accounted of the Lord as a sacrifice even unto death the death of the will, to last even to the death of the body. He tells us that this is pleasing in the Lord's sight, that we are no longer to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings, but, says he, "I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God (in the forgiveness of your sins) that ye present your bodies living sacrifices, holy, acceptable to God, your reasonable service." Rom. 12:1.

This is all that any one can do. We have nothing worthy of the Lord's acceptance. The merit of Christ, ours by faith, has made us worthy and approved. The Lord's acceptance signifies the adoption of such into the family of sons of God, that we might be "heirs of God, joint heirs with Jesus Christ our Lord, if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." (Rom. 8:17.) The next step of progress is the giving to such of the Holy Spirit not a miraculous matter, not attested and followed by "gifts" and "signs," as at the beginning, for these are no longer necessary, but a development in the accepted ones of the mind of Christ, His disposition, His character likeness a development in such of the fruits and graces of the spirit meekness, gentleness, patience, long suffering, [HGL269] brotherly kindness, love. This begetting of the spirit to newness of nature as sons of God we are told is the first fruits of our inheritance the earnest or hand-payment of the blessings which the Lord proposes to give to such. The remainder of this blessing is to come to us in the first resurrection, when, if faithful, we shall be raised from the dead, "changed," made like our Redeemer, spirit beings, sharers of His glory, His honor, His immortality. Rom. 2:7; 1 Cor. 15:51

What is the philosophy of this change or renewing of the mind? How is it that with the same brain, and the same arrangement of organs, and the same disproportion of balance amongst them, and the same preponderance of the lower or fleshly elements of the mind how is it, with all these, that the new mind makes possible, which loves those things that once it hated, and despises those things that once it loved?

We answer that the secret of the matter lies in the will. The will, the general sentiment of the mind, having once committed itself intelligently, reasonably, on the side of the Lord and of righteousness, and having these characteristics of selfishness, acquisitiveness, combativeness, etc., and having deprived those organs of the power to vote (because they were found to be rebellious and not subject to the law of God), the way is comparatively easy, because only the higher organs are permitted to vote in the councils of the mind. Even they are not permitted to vote their own sentiments, but are merely permitted to say what thoughts and words and conduct from their standpoint would be consistent with a full devotion and loyalty to the Lord and His principles of righteousness. Now peace reigns in that mind because the obstreperous inclinations are cast out of privilege not permitted a voice in the guidance of the affairs of life. The divine will alone is the rule of life, and the divine promises feed, strengthen and support that mind.

For instance, spirituality finds its satisfaction in thinking of the heavenly things; conscientiousness approves, and declares it to be but our reasonable service to do the divine will; veneration reverences the Lord and takes pleasure in His worship, such as it could not derive from the worship of Mammon; benevolence also rejoices in endeavoring to copy after the pattern of divine love, of which itself has been the recipient. Gradually all the organs more and more come into accord with this new ruler, the new will, the mind of the Lord, the will of the Lord. Ideality takes pleasure in thinking of the heavenly ideals and the glorious things promised in the future, and, while still appreciating earthly things, appreciates the heavenly things as beyond all compare. Family love and love of home lose their merely selfish features and take on a new meaning as related to the family of God and the heavenly home.

Acquisitiveness, too, being restrained as respects earthly things, except as these are necessary and helpful in the spiritual way, takes pleasure in aspiring to acquire the heavenly things which God has promised to them that love Him. Even combativeness and destructiveness, once servants of avarice, being killed off as respects the earthly things in the same proportion, become alive to all the heavenly aspirations and love to fight avarice, to fight sin in every form, and enable the new creature to war a good warfare against the world, the flesh and the adversary.

From this standpoint all the organs of the mind can come into full harmony as they could not all come into harmony from the opposite standpoint. When selfishness was in control, and sought to bring every talent into subordination to itself, there was continually the warfare with conscience and the higher powers; but now, since conscience and the higher powers have acknowledged the headship of the Lord, have enthroned Him as the ruler of the heart, and the lower elements of the nature at first barely restrained from sin are gradually enlisted in the active service of righteousness, the peace and joy and rest and spiritual comfort of that person proportionately increases.

Here we find the full application of our text. We see a heart into which has come the blessing of the Lord not the full blessing, indeed, for that will not be attained until the perfection of the first resurrection, but a great blessing. Do we need to point out in what manner this blessing of the Lord maketh rich the hearts of His consecrated people? This is not necessary, yet it may be expedient to stir up our pure minds by way of remembrance. What greater riches could anyone have in this life than the love and joy and peace of the Holy Spirit, which is the portion of those who have fully and heartily taken the steps we have indicated.

No wonder the apostle said, "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy." 1 Tim. 6:17. Such as have passed through the experiences we have delineated can understand the apostle's words rich toward God. Rich in their appreciation of his favor toward them; rich in the appreciation that He is now their Father, because they have heard His voice and have accepted the privilege of adoption into His family; rich in that they have already received the first fruits of His Spirit; rich in that they have already the peace of God which passeth all understanding; rich in that to them pertain the exceeding great and precious promises of the divine word, both for this life and for the future; rich in the sense that the apostle referred to when he said, "All things are yours, for ye are Christ's and Christ is God's."

"He addeth no sorrow with it." There is a hidden suggestion in these words of our text, a suggestion that all other riches than those which come from the Lord have hidden in them a sting of sorrow, of disappointment. And is this not true? Is it not a fact that those who set their hearts on earthly riches, as so many at the present time are doing, are apt, as the apostle says, to be pierced through with many sorrows, whether they gain the riches or fail to gain them. He who thinks that riches can purchase peace and joy and relief from aches of heart and head has not correctly studied the object lessons all about us in the world. "The poor rich," as someone has termed the wealthy, deserve much of our sympathy, for, as the Scriptures declare, proportionately fewer of these are found amongst the saints- "not many great, not many wise, not many learned, not many rich, hath God chosen, but chiefly the poor of this world, rich in faith, to be heirs of the kingdom." God has not chosen the rich generally, because the rich, [HGL270] mastered more by their ambitions, and feeling less their needs, have to a lesser degree responded to the glorious opportunities of faith and obedience, to the extent of a full consecration of heart and head, mind and body, to the Lord, His will, His service.

But on the other hand, the blessing of the Lord which makes rich the heart of His consecrated ones, as we have just observed, adds no sorrow it is unalloyed. This does not imply that the Lord's consecrated ones have no trials or difficulties in life, that all things go smoothly for them. No! Quite to the contrary of this. As our Master's words indicate, "In the world ye shall have tribulation, in Me ye shall have peace." It is this peace of God, this rest in His care, this satisfaction with His plan, this realization of our riches in Christ Jesus that is our satisfying portion, and that protects us as "new creatures" from the sorrows, pains, troubles and difficulties of others. To us, in view of our spiritual relationships and blessings and promises and hopes, all these are "light afflictions but for a moment, working out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."