1915 Convention Report Supplement – Pastor Russell delivered a very interesting address. He spoke as follows:
My text is found in Rev. 2:26, 27: "He that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received of My Father."
The Bible tells us that our Heavenly Father purposed in Himself, from before the foundation of the world, all of the great Plan of Salvation which He has since been carrying out. He will make no changes in His Plan; He knew the end from the beginning. (Isa. 46:9, 10; 55:8-11.) Such a wise, gracious, Almighty God is ours. Although He had this purpose before the world was, the Scriptures show that he did not make it known, except very vaguely, until the time of Abraham. This, you remember, St. Paul points out to us, saying that God first made declaration of His Purpose to Abraham, He first preached the Gospel to him (Gal. 3:8), because he had proven faithful, loyal, obedient, trustful. He said, "Abraham, in thy Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." It is My purpose to bless the whole world of mankind, and all of that great blessing shall come through your posterity. Then God seemed to ignore His own promise, and century after century passed without anything apparently being done. In the meantime, the natural seed of Abraham through Isaac had gone into bondage in Egypt. Four hundred years after the Covenant with Abraham his seed were still in bondage, with that Covenant yet standing. Then God sent a message through Moses to this effect: "You are the natural seed of Abraham. Are you ready now to have fulfilled to you the promise which I made to your great-great-grandfather, Abraham? You can readily imagine how this people felt." Are we ready? "Does God think we are not? Have we not been waiting all this time, and thinking He was not ready?" They indicated that they were ready. God purposed that Moses should be their leader to bring them out of the land of Egypt, across the Red Sea, and onward into the land of Canaan, where they supposed they would accomplish great things, and become so great and mighty a people as to conquer the whole world and rule in righteousness to bless and uplift mankind in general.
When God had brought Israel to Mt. Sinai, He indicated to them that before they could as the seed of Abraham bless the world, they must demonstrate their faithfulness, their fitness. He would give them His Law in a great Covenant, and if they would keep that Law Covenant, then they would have the right and should receive the opportunity to become the blessers of the rest of the world. You remember that God gave them the Ten Commandments through Moses at Mt. Sinai. Then there was Mt. Gerazim and Mt. Ebal, with a valley between; and you remember that the blessings were read from Mt. Gerazim and the cursings from Mt. Ebal. The people were promised that if they were faithful to God all these blessings should be theirs instead. If they would keep the Law and remain loyal to the Lord He would make them a great power in the world to bless other nations. More than that, they should have everlasting life. "He that doeth these things shall live by them."
We remember that Israel said, "All these things will we do." We are ready, we appreciate the offer, and wish to be the blessers of mankind. Oh, the honor we shall have! I can imagine that they increased in stature as they thought about it, that they inflated their lungs as they dwelt upon the thought of how great they would be. It must necessarily be a great people who could conquer the whole world and bless it. They could see no other way to bless the world than to conquer it first. They were only a little nation among others older and stronger surrounding them. But they could not keep the Law of God, because the Law is the measure of a perfect man's ability. No fallen man could keep that law, which included so much; as the Savior said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy mind and heart and soul and strength, and thy neighbor as thyself." None but a perfect man could do all this. They did not realize how imperfect they were. But as the days and months and years went by, they learned that they were not able to bless the world.
You remember that God gave them an annual Atonement day. He said, so to speak, on this day, "I will wipe off the slate again, and you may try on a clean slate for the coming year." They tried year after year in this way. These yearly typical sacrifices were arranged for them which could never take away sin, but which in a typical way represented them as brought back into harmony with God for another opportunity for life through keeping the Law. Finally they became very much discouraged. They saw that they were not accomplishing anything along this line. They did not have ever lasting life any more than other people, or than they had before they entered into the Covenant. They were in no condition to bless the world. Their nation was not prospering very well, though they had struggled along century after century.
Then God sent Israel word through His prophets, saying, "The day is coming when I will make a New Covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah." Under that New Covenant, "I will remember your sins and your iniquities no more. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh." Oh, yet; will it ever be fulfilled? Yes, and soon. We see, in the light of St. Paul's testimony, that God has had an arrangement to get ready an antitypical Moses, an arrangement for the making of "better sacrifices" than those of bulls and goats, by reason of which He will effectually and finally take away sin.
God is getting ready to do this not only for fleshly Israel, but for all the families of the earth. He will not only remove the embargo of original sin which has stood against the race, but He will take away sin perpetually, under the New Covenant, [HGL731] during the thousand-year period at the beginning of which the New Covenant will be inaugurated. The Jews are still waiting for the New Covenant. "It shall come to pass after those days that I will make a New Covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah, not according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt," but, "I will make a New Covenant" with a better Mediator than Moses, and "better sacrifices" to cancel sin and bring the sinners back to the place where I can make satisfactory arrangements with them. The point we have in mind is not the difference between the Law Covenant and the New Covenant, between the Covenant made with the Jews in the past and the Covenant to be made with them and the world of mankind in the future, but the fact that God had made certain promises to that nation, and that they had hoped to have the promises fulfilled in them, but failed to get what they had hoped for. What were those things? They hoped to be a nation of overcomers, a victorious nation, and that God would bless them and exalt them very highly, so that they might subdue the world and bring all in subjection to Jehovah; that they might impress the Law given at Mt. Sinai upon all nations, and be judges, rulers, to do the work God purposed for the world. This is what they failed to do.
What did God do about the matter? Did He say, "Israel has failed, and no other nation will do better, and I may as well give the whole matter up?" No, He said nothing of the kind. We have not that kind of a God. We have a God who knows what He is about. He had His plan completely arranged from the beginning, and it has met with no reverses at any time. When there was any failure it was what God foreknew, and had foretold prophetically. It was no surprise to God that Israel failed. What did God do then? In due time, He sent His own Son into the world.
Was that a new thought? No; this was already purposed by the Father from before the foundation of the world that His Son should come to earth, become a man, and die as a Ransom for the sins of the whole world. In His case, the Law manifested the One, and the only One, who could and did keep the Law. Jesus was approved by the Law. He came as the natural seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Judah, born under the Law and obliged to keep all the terms of that Law. Unless He could keep the Law, He could never be the promised Seed of Abraham; He could never bless the world. But there was no fault found with Him, thank God! He was wholly obedient to the Law of God and fulfilled the requirements of the Law Covenant to the uttermost.
Did Jesus bless the world as the natural seed of Abraham? No. Why not? It was not the natural seed of Abraham, in the special sense, that was to bless the world. Suppose this perfect man, Christ Jesus, in whom was no sin, had attempted to bless mankind as a man. What kind of a blessing could He have given them without first redeeming them? You see, He could not have given men the blessing which God designed them to have. He might, indeed, have set up a kingdom, established upon wise principles. He might have been recognized as a great teacher and reformer. The world might have bowed down to Him, acknowledging their willingness to serve Him as their King. Still, they would have been under the death sentence.
Jesus as a man could not have set them free from that sentence, "Dying, thou shalt die." Millions had already gone down into the tomb. Although Jesus kept the Law perfectly, He could never have blessed all the families of earth as a man in any permanent way. He might have told them how to eat better, how to clothe themselves better, how to speak and act better, and how to do everything more wisely, but still that would not have brought the blessing of everlasting life which God designed man to attain. Jesus would have had everlasting life Himself by keeping the Law, but He could not have given everlasting life to a single individual. He might have awakened some of the sleeping ones out of death by the use of His power, but he could not have kept them awake, because He had not this right, since the sentence against Adam and his posterity was, "Dying, thou shalt die." Hence it was necessary that Jesus first attain relationship to God as the spiritual Seed of Abraham before He could be the one to save and bless the world.
What did He do? Ah, He gave His life as the Ransom price for the sins of the whole world, a Ransom-price for the sins of the whole world, a Ransom for Father Adam, in whom all the world were condemned. Inasmuch as all men died in Adam, the sacrifice of the one perfect man, Christ Jesus, was sufficient to accomplish the redemption of the whole human race, which was in Adam's loins when he sinned. What beautiful harmony we find in God's arrangements! As Bible students, we know that the word, "ransom," was used in the Bible, when speaking of our Lord's sacrificial death for man, signifies a corresponding price. It was the perfect Adam who sinned, and it was the perfect man Jesus who gave His life as Adam's Redemption-price.
It was not enough, however, that Jesus laid down His human life. There must be something more. Jesus must receive a spirit life. But why not receive back again the earthly life? Because, if He took back the earthly life which He had laid down, He would need it for Himself, and He would have no life to appropriate for Adam and his race. He would merely have died and been resurrected to human life again. His death would have been of no avail. But we see the beauty in God's plan. God arranged that in permitting Jesus' earthly life to be unjustly taken away, He would give Him a new life, on a new plane of being, as a New Creature. Then, as a New Creature, having received life as a divine being as a reward for His faithfulness, He would still have to His credit the earthly nature, the human life, which He had not forfeited by sin. Thus He had a right to two lives. He needed the one for Himself and the other to give for Adam and his race. He needed the two; nothing less would do, you see.
The Plan of God having carried out thus far, the next thing in order was that Jesus should start a new nation. A new nation? Yes. When God spoke to Abraham about his seed, He intimated that it would be a nation, and not merely an individual. The natural seed of Abraham as a nation were hoping for much, because a nation was mentioned. When the suggestion was made to them that they might not be fit to be God's special people, they said that [HGL732] that could not be. They supposed that they had the inside track; that since God's Word could not be broken, and they were the natural seed of Abraham, He would have to take them. But He would not have them if they were not in the right condition of heart. They were probably quite surprised when Jesus declared that God could raise up children from the stones rather than take the unworthy. God would fulfil His promise, but not through them as a nation.
We might not have understood the matter had it not been that God's providence revealed it through the apostles. The Apostle Peter states, writing to the Church of Christ, "Ye are a Royal Priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people [a people for a purpose], that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." This is God's arrangement, then. Where is He getting this nation? He is selecting its members individually, not taking a whole nation, as He did with the Jews. He said to them, Stand aside now; I will show you that I purpose to make a new nation. This is what God has been doing for 1900 years. It is to be a new creation as wen as a new nation – a new creation "created in Christ Jesus unto good works." That is why God gives us some good works to do. He is making us co-workers with Himself. "Ye are God's husbandry"; "Ye are God's workmanship," according to the teaching of Christ.
My hearers know what I mean by the teaching of Christ. I do not mean the teaching of any sectarian system. All who come into harmony with the Lord according to the terms of the Covenant made with Him come under Christ Jesus as their Head. His teachings are found in God's Word, the Bible. It is this one Church of Christ that is the New Creation. We do not know who the members are, but the apostle says, "The Lord knoweth them that are His." I will do my best to recognize the Lord's children wherever I find them, whether white or black, male or female, rich or poor, ignorant or learned. I will do my best to appreciate them. I might make mistakes, and you might make mistakes, but the Lord will not make a mistake. He knows all who are His. "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
It was this class that God referred to away back in Abraham's day, when He declared that the Seed of Abraham should bless all the families of the earth. And you and I are of that Seed, if we are in Christ. How beautiful and wonderful it is that God is thus founding the new nation. But, you may say, we are not Israelites, and the promise was to them. Yes, we are Israelites, if we are in Christ. According to the Law, the Jews could claim nothing, because they could not keep the Law. We as Gentiles could claim nothing because we could not keep the Law. But God did not place us under the terms of the law Covenant.
How, then, do we come in? The apostle explains that the Jews died to their hopes concerning their Covenant; all hope of accomplishing the desired end through that Covenant must be abandoned. God gave the Jews an opportunity to try for many centuries, and they failed. So there would be no use trying to bless the world under that Covenant. One who did keep that Covenant, and who therefore has all the rights coming from the keeping of it, is choosing us to be His Bride. It is God's proposition. No matter how poor a maiden may be, or how rich a king, if he accepts her as his wife she is his joint-heir in all his possessions. The honors that are his are shared by her as his queen. That is exactly the picture God gives us of Jesus and His Bride.
Those Jews who could get nothing through the Law, because they could not keep it, and who were living in Jesus' day, could become united to Him as members of The Christ-heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ Jesus. We who were Gentiles, and had no rights at all as Jews, have been invited by this great King to become fellow-heirs with the faithful of the Jews, to share with them all that they will receive through Christ. Good. Thank God for the door opened to the Gentiles also! So Jesus, for 1900 years, has been selecting this Bride class to inherit with Himself the Promise made to Abraham.
But has God given over all of the conditions made with Natural Israel and said, Never mind; I do not care for My Law any more? No, not at all. Are we, then, obligated to keep the law? Yes, we are thus obligated. We Gentiles, who were never under the Law? Yes. How? This way: God is still of the same mind as in the beginning. No one will be fit to bless others unless he himself is in harmony with God through His Law. But we are not under the Law Covenant. According to the flesh we could not keep God's Law, but we can keep it according to the spirit. Covered with the merit of Christ, "the righteousness of the Law – its just requirements – are fulfilled in us." Who? Those who "walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit."
God in His arrangement tells us that He has reckoned us dead to ourselves, to our fallen nature. He knows our blemished bodies could never keep that perfect law. He knows that you and I as human beings could not keep it. But if we are willing to give ourselves over entirely to Him, to use all our strength in seeking to live according to His will, we may be accepted through Christ as members of that wonderful new nation, which when developed in the School of Christ will be fully qualified and equipped for bringing in the grand blessings long ago promised to all the kindreds of earth, both the living and the dead.
We lay ourselves at His feet and say that we will be glad to do anything in our power. Then what does God say? "Come, and I will accept you though Jesus Christ. His merit will cover your imperfections. I will beget you with My Spirit and you shall be New Creatures in Christ, to whom 'old things have passed away and all things have become new." We rejoice to have such a precious relationship. The God of Heaven has received us into His family. He has raised over us the banner of love. Instead of being sinners, we are now justified freely by His grace from all things from which the Law could not justify us. There is naught against us on God's Record.
What else have we? As New Creatures we have entered into a Covenant that we will keep the Law of God. Is that true? Yes, my dear brother. What about our imperfect flesh? God says that He will judge us according to the spirit, [HGL733] the intention. If our hearts are loyal, if our endeavors are the best we can put forward, He will cover our defects with Christ's sacrificial merit. The blemishes are not ours willingly. If we do all in our power to overcome, these imperfections will not be counted against us.
God keeps us clean by continually applying the virtue of Jesus' blood as we ask for it. He recognizes us as His children, who have come into the schooling condition under our Elder Brother, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we receive the necessary lessons, experiences and assistances, to the end that we may be prepared to be the teachers and rulers of the world by and by. It is an individual work. It will be a collective nation when completed and we are changed in the First Resurrection, brought to perfection as New Creatures. It is to be a royal nation, a royal family on the spiritual plane then.
We have been aspiring to the same great work that Israel aspired to. They aspired to be God's people to break in pieces the Gentiles. The Lord declares in the 2nd Psalm that the heathen (the peoples) shall be broken with a rod of iron; that they shall be "dashed in pieces as a potter's vessel." God will overthrow present governments, institutions and arrangements and establish a New Order of things. He says, "To him that overcometh will I give power over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron," etc. The appeal to God's people to be "overcomers" is an individual one. We cannot get into the Kingdom by classes or nationalities, or by churches or sects, or by any other way than individually. That is the way the Lord puts it in our text, "To him that overcometh."
What have we to overcome? You have not to overcome your will, because you did that before you came into God's family at all. God would not accept you until your win, according to the flesh, was dead. So the Bible puts it. After giving up your will, He begat you by His Spirit to be a New Creature. This new mind, this new will, this new disposition, this new spirit, is the one that is now animating you. What have we to overcome, then? Many things. There is the spirit of the world about us, which is altogether different from the Lord's spirit. It is the spirit of selfishness, a spirit sometimes more noble and sometimes less noble, but always a selfish spirit. It is an ambitious spirit, ambitious in wanting to get pleasure and the good things of life, the world's approval, and everything of a worldly kind.
You find that spirit all around you, in the office, the factory, the stores, in the newspapers, and everywhere. The suggestion of selfishness comes from every side, "Serve the present system and the interests of the present life; live for present things." Then your own flesh has certain suggestions for you. It suggests, "You have a natural appetite in this direction, and in that; gratify it. God would not have given you the desire if it were not right." These tendencies have come down to us through 6000 years of sin and selfishness, and these things we are to overcome.
These tendencies toward pride, show, vanity, to vie with other people to see whether we can get as much money as they have, or more, or as good an automobile as theirs, or better, are of the spirit of the world. They are the motions of sin in the flesh, as the Apostle Paul expresses it. You have these in your flesh. You do not have them as New Creatures. The New Creature must operate through the flesh, but the flesh is not you. You must make a distinction between you and your flesh. The flesh suggests to you that these would be the things desirable, the things pleasurable. "Come now, don't be an extremist," it urges. It is in making such propositions as this, bringing such pressure to bear upon us, that the flesh tries to turn us away from the narrow way.
It says, "That way is too difficult; do not make such sacrifices; God does not expect it of you." Oh, the flesh knows a lot about what God doesn't expect of you. It is always telling you that God does not expect this or that, and that He wants you to enjoy this or that advantage. But never mind what your flesh says. What does God say? The flesh will try to deceive you, to get you to see things its way. The flesh is an enemy that you will have a great battle with. But this is not all. You have the Devil also. There am many evil impulses which the Devil has nothing to do with except indirectly from the fall, and the general evil influences which he has set in motion. They may come from our own minds, and from the world, with which we must also wage a warfare. But there are plenty of contrivances of the Devil. Many of these have come through the theological teachings of the various religious systems. They are some of the Devil's traps by which he seeks to ensnare us and keep us from walking in the narrow way, to keep us from becoming the Seed of Abraham.
Abraham's Seed are to be conquerors. We are to love God with all our hearts, to the best of our ability. Are you doing it? Are you trying with heart and soul to attain to what God wills for you, to use your beat powers in doing that which would be pleasing to God? Or are you giving your best to something else, and giving God the fag ends, just at about the close of your life? Are you giving Him just a minute or two of prayer, after spending the whole day seeking the things of this world and in making provision for the flesh? What kind of a way would that be to serve God, my dear brother? The Lord is expecting you and me to be overcomers. He says, "To him that overcometh win I grant to sit with Me in My Throne."
The Seed of Abraharn is to uplift mankind from degradation and sin and bring them back to God. The necessary preparation is this work in ourselves. We are not expected to perfect the flesh, but we are to so bring our minds into subjection to the will of God that we can truly say, "This is the best I can do." God will be very pleased with that, I think. When you have done the best you can as a New Creature, be sure that God will ask no more. You are to "overcome," to be "more than conqueror," if you would be a winner of the great "prize" of the High Calling.
We have many and varied besetments from the world, the flesh and the Adversary. The very first thing in seeking to do the will of God is that we be just. That is the basis of character. We not only want to love God with all our heart, but we also wish to love our neighbor as ourselves, to do [HGL734] unto others as we would have them do unto us. That is the Golden Rule, and Jesus sets it forth as a standard that God requires us to observe. God is looking to see to what extent you will observe the Golden Rule, to what extent it enters into your life. You owe every man justice. That comes in before love. Then, after you have rendered justice, have kept the Golden Rule, pile on love. But you must not give anything less than justice.
I would like you to notice that all these things begin at home. I have known people who would be just to a penny with the butcher and the baker, who would feel that they might take advantage of the members of their own family. You ask, "How could that be?" You must find the explanation. But it is surely a fact. Many husbands am less just to their wives than they are to others. Many wives are less just to their husbands than they are to other people. Many parents are less just toward their children than they would be in dealing with the children of others. Many children are less just to their brothers and sisters and parents than they would be other people. All this is wrong, and the sooner we see wherein it is wrong and correct ourselves the better. You say, Circumstances are different in different cases. My husband would take advantage of me if I treated him justly; or, my wife would take advantage of me if I treated her justly.
That is the way with the great nations. They do not trust each other. The British said, "The Germans are getting ready to swallow us up." The Germans said, "The English are jealous of our prosperity; they would like to grab more territory and make a greater British Empire." But you and I are responsible to God. Never mind about the other person. Leave others to Him. If you have acted in harmony with God's Law, and it has caused you great disadvantage, the apostle declares that "the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you," and you will have the victory in your heart. Let us keep this in mind.
The nation God is electing must have hearts that are just and reverential and loving, desirous of doing His will. I think all the overcomers will have the characteristic of justice. God says that justice is the foundation of His Throne. Do you think He would permit Messiah's Throne to have any other foundation? Do you think that you and I will be permitted to sit in the Lord's Throne if we do not have justice deeply imbedded in our whole being?
Is that the end, the keeping of the Golden Rule? No, dear brother, that is the beginning. You are to go on and have as much love as possible, a sacrificing love. Be sum that the Law of Justice is reigning in your heart, that you am doing according to the Golden Rule, then pile on love. The Spirit of the Lord is manifest in all who possess it. You can see it. How can we see the Spirit of God? We can see it in the life. God's Spirit is the spirit of meekness, gentleness, patience, long-suffering, brotherly-kindness, love. Ah, that is the spirit we are of. That is the overcoming spirit. It is to attain to this, dear brother, that the Lord has invited you; and to that end He is encouraging you.
Remember, the Lord knows your imperfections. If you are coming along slowly, He knows if them have been
impediments in the way. He knows all about your affairs. He wishes you to be a conqueror, that you may be granted to sit with Him in His Throne and rule the nations. Are you a conqueror, my dear brother? To what extent are you conquering? This represents an inward fight against the perversity of the natural mind. These selfish tendencies manifest themselves in the home and family relationships and more or less percolate into the Church of God. In these various experiences and testings we are to see that we manifest the spirit of love, in our words, our thoughts and our doings, that, as the apostle says, we may be copies of God's dear Son.
You remember the Apostle says that God has predestinated us. What a strong word! Yes, that is what he says. We did not know its meaning at one time, because we did not then search the Scriptures. We thought that certain individuals would surely get to glory, according to God's predestination. But the Bible says that all who will be of the predestinated class must become copies of His Son. That IS important for us to remember. We hope to be of that class, do we not? Ah, yes! If we have been following the Lord's way, if we have tasted His mercy in the forgiveness of our sins, if He has led us beside the still waters of His grace and truth and in the green pastures of His favor, if we have the Lord Jesus as our great Shepherd, shall we now make shipwreck, when we are so near the Kingdom? No, no' We will not think of turning back. We will go on, cultivating more and more of the Spirit of the Lord. If we make mistakes we will strive to correct them, and make apologies, always making sure that we are serving the Law of God in our hearts. We will see that in heart we daily cultivate the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
So shall we be God's dearly loved children. So shall our Father's blessing be with us. So shall He give us an abundant entrance into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So shall we have that great resurrection "change" that will make us like our dear Savior. So shall we attain to the condition of glory, honor and immortality. And so shall we attain the character and power that will enable us to rule the nations with kindness and love. Oh, it is a wonderful Kingdom that God is preparing. 'Me members of that Kingdom class will have God's Law of Love deeply engraved in their hearts. Thank God for it. You and I will be there, I hope. A little while, and we shall see His face!
Some request of me, "Brother Russell, please tell usHow long will it be before we shall see the Lord?" I cannot tell you, dear brethren. If God were pleased to tell us, we would be glad to know. We have gone, I understand, the full limit of time – so far as He has revealed. If He wishes to tell us further we will be glad to receive the further knowledge as soon as He gives it. In the meantime, we are not having anxious thoughts; we are not at all worried. We arc restful, peaceful. We are calmly sinking more and more into His will. And I think I see this disposition manifested more and mom also in all parts of the great Harvest field. [HGL735] Let us look at the type. We have pointed out in Volume 2 of SCRIPTURE STUDIES that Elijah was a picture of the True Church. At the close of Elijah's experience, when God would take him away, He said first, "Elijah, go here; then Go yonder; then, Go thither." Thus He sent him here and there, and Elijah went. He went from Gilgal to Bethel, and nothing occurred. Then he went to Jericho; then to Jordan. Still, nothing occurred. The two prophets, Elijah and Elisha, continued on. Where were they going now? There was no place designated for Elijah to go. They were simply walking on and talking. That is what we are doing now. We have passed the four points 1874, 1878, 1881, and 1914. We have come to the place where we are simply walking on.
What would you take to turn back? No one could induce you to go back. You would not take the whole world for what you have gained. You have the best thing there is. I think we are like the disciples of old, when they said to Jesus, "To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." That is it. There is no chance of eternal life anywhere else. "Hold fast that thou hast, that no man take thy crown."
Jesus pointed out that one of the features of overcoming that every child of God must contend with is a tendency to lose faith in Him. "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even your faith." It is not credulity, believing something that God has not said. It is faith in something He has said. He has told us about the Plan of salvation. He has told us about the Seed of Abraham, and the work this Seed has to do. Hold fast to your faith; walk humbly with God, and you shall gain the "prize."
Elijah and Elisha went on, and, behold, a fiery chariot approached, and parted them asunder. Elijah was taken up quickly into the heavens. What does this mean? We will know better by and by. I think, however, that it means something that we can approximate now. Fire nearly always indicates tribulation or trying experiences. St. Peter speaks of the fiery trial that is to try us. The fire there, to my understanding, means that the Eli ah class shall yet pass through fiery experiences. Will it hurt them? You cannot hurt those whose minds are stayed on God, and who are just waiting to pass beyond the veil. They are so anxious to go to the Lord that if they know that He has sent the chariot, they will not mind what kind of a chariot it is.
We do not read of Elijah's crying and wishing to get out of the chariot. The Elijah class will be glad to be in that chariot. It is the chariot of deliverance. I think it will be a severe trouble for the church. I am not trying to alarm you. God's saints are safe in His care, come what may. I do not know whether it will be this year or next year or just when it will be, but I think it is not far off. Elijah's going up into the heavens in a whirlwind also symbolizes trouble. First, the fire of separation; then the whirlwind and chariot experience. Ah, when it comes, His grace will be sufficient, it we arc being filled more and more with love, if our faith and obedience are daily increasing. According to our faith will it be unto us, by the Lord's grace.