| VOL. XXXI | SEPTEMBER 1 | No. 17 |
'I will stand upon my watch, and set my foot upon the Tower, and will watch to see what He shall say unto me, and what answer I shall make to them that oppose me.' Hab. 2:1
Upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity: the sea and the waves (the restless, discontented) roaring: men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking forward to the things coming upon the earth (society): for the powers of the heavens (ecclestiasticism) shall be shaken. . . .When ye see these things come to pass, then know that the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Look up, lift up your heads, rejoice, for your redemption draweth nigh. – Luke 21:25-28, 32.
Our "Berean Lessons" are topical rehearsals or reviews of our Society's published "Studies," most entertainingly arranged, and very helpful to all who would merit the only honorary degree which the Society accords, viz., Verbi Dei Minister (V.D.M.), which translated into English is, Minister of the Divine Word. Our treatment of the International S.S. Lessons is specially for the older Bible Students and Teachers. By some this feature is considered indispensable.
This Journal stands firmly for the defence of the only true foundation of the Christian's hope now being so generally repudiated, – Redemption through the precious blood of "the man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom [a corresponding price, a substitute] for all." (I Pet. 1:19; I Tim. 2:6.) Building up on this sure foundation the gold, silver and precious stones (I Cor. 3:11-15; 2 Pet. 1:5-11) of the Word of God, its further mission is to – "Make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery which...has been hid in God,...to the intent that now might be made known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God" – "which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed." – Eph. 3:5-9,10.
It stands free from all parties, sects and creeds of men, while it seeks more and more to bring its every utterance into fullest subjection to the will of God in Christ, as expressed in the Holy Scriptures. It is thus free to declare boldly whatsoever the Lord hath spoken; – according to the divine wisdom granted unto us, to understand. Its attitude is not dogmatical, but confident; for we know whereof we affirm, treading with implicit faith upon the sure promises of God. It is held as a trust, to be used only in his service; hence our decisions relative to what may and what may not appear in its columns must be according to our judgment of his good pleasure, the teaching of his Word, for the upbuilding of his people in grace and knowledge. And we not only invite but urge our readers to prove all its utterances by the infallible Word to which reference is constantly made, to facilitate such testing.
Foreign Agencies: – British Branch: 24 Eversholt St., London, N.W. German Branch: Unterdorner Str., 76, Barmen. Australasian Branch: Equitable Building, Collins St., Melbourne.
Terms to the Lord's Poor as Follows: – All Bible Students who, by reason of old age, or other infirmity or adversity, are unable to pay for this Journal, will be supplied Free if they send a Postal Card each May stating their case and requesting its continuance. We are not only willing, but anxious, that all such be on our list continually and in touch with the Studies, etc.
INTERNATIONAL BIBLE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION MEETINGS
It is considered desirable that the general public be not invited to these meetings – except to the public one, addressed by Brother Russell.
Portland has been substituted for "Old Orchard." Brother Russell's address on "WHERE ARE THE DEAD?" will be delivered in Jefferson Theatre, Sunday, Sept. 11, at 3 p.m.
Other meetings have been arranged for in Hoegg's Hall, Deering Centre, Portland. There will be three services daily and six or eight speakers. Opportunity for Baptism will be afforded. Quite reasonably priced accommodations will be obtainable.
The Maine Central Railroad Company announces a rate of one fare and one-third for the round trip. Tickets will be on sale Sept. 10, 11 and 12, return limit, Sept. 14.
Morning Rally for Praise, Prayer and Testimony at 10 o'clock in Historical Hall, Penn St. and Public Square. Discourse for the public at 2.30 o'clock by Brother Russell in Grand Opera House, Main St., above De Kalb St. Topic, "Hereafter." Visiting friends heartily welcomed.
Morning Rally for Praise and Testimony at 10:30 o'clock, in the Brooklyn Tabernacle, 13-17 Hicks St. The evening meeting at 7:30 o'clock will also be in the Tabernacle. Discourse for the Public at 3 p.m. in the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lafayette Ave. and St. Felix St. Topic, "Messiah's Coming Kingdom."
Morning Rally, 9:30 o'clock at Vermont Hall, Grand River and Trumbull avenues. Discourse for the Public by Brother Russell at Light Guard Armory 2:30 p.m. Topic "Hereafter."
Railroads have granted the very low rate of one cent per mile during the Appalachian Exposition now being held in Knoxville. This rate is open to all and good for the dates of the convention.
Many of the friends throughout the South who could not go to Jamestown because of the great distance, will rejoice to know of a convention so much nearer home. For particulars as to lodging, meals, etc., address Brother R. A. Parham, 5 Maloney avenue, S. Knoxville, Tenn.
Brother Russell's topic for the Public discourse will be "Hereafter." It is expected that Brothers Stevens, Bohnet, Raymond and Rutherford will also be speakers.
SERIES I., The Plan of the Ages, gives an outline of the Divine plan revealed in the Bible, relating to man's redemption and restitution: 386 pages, in embossed cloth, 35c. (1s. 6d.) India paper edition, 75c. (3s. 1½d.).
This volume has been published as a special issue of our journal – at the extremely low price of 5c. a copy, in any quantity, postage included. (To foreign countries, 9c.) This enables people of slender purse to herald far and wide the good tidings in a most helpful form.
SERIES II., The Time is at Hand, treats of the manner and time of the Lord's second coming, considering the Bible Testimony on this subject: 370 pages, in embossed cloth, 35c. (1s. 6d.) India paper edition, 75c. (3s. 1½d.)
SERIES III., Thy Kingdom Come, considers prophecies which mark events connected with the "Time of the End," the glorification of the Church and the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom; it also contains a chapter of the Great Pyramid, showing its corroboration of the dates and other teachings of the Bible: 384 pages, in embossed cloth, 35c. (1s. 6d.) India paper edition, 75c. (3s. 1½d.)
SERIES IV., The Day of Vengeance, shows that the dissolution of the present order of things is in progress, and that all the panaceas offered are valueless to avert the predicted end. It marks in these events the fulfilment of prophecy, noting specially our Lord's great prophecy of Matt. 24 and Zech. 14:1-9: 660 pages, in embossed cloth, 35c. (1s. 6d.) India paper edition 85c. (3s. 6½d.)
SERIES V., The Atonement Between God and Man, treats an all-important subject – the hub, the center around which all the features of Divine grace revolve. Its topic deserves the most careful and prayerful consideration on the part of all true Christians: 507 pages, in embossed cloth, 35c. (1s. 6d.) India paper edition, 85c. (3s. 6½.)
SERIES VI., The New Creation, deals with the Creative Week (Genesis 1 and 2), and with the Church, God's "New Creation." It examines the personnel, organization, rites, ceremonies, obligations and hopes appertaining to those called and accepted as members of the Body under the Head: 740 pages, in embossed cloth, 35c. (1s. 6d.) India paper edition, 85c. (3s. 6½d.)
The above prices include postage.
A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE sugar manufacturer of California, Mr. Rudolph Spreckels, recently returned from a European trip. In New York City he was interviewed by a newspaper reporter and is quoted as having made the statements below. Without endorsing his conclusions, we state them. His large wealth gives him opportunity for information respecting monetary affairs, which would not be open to ordinary men of small capital and lesser influence. We quote the interview from the Springfield Union of July 31st, as follows: –
TERRIBLE TIMES BEFORE US"The financial control of the country is today centered in the hands of two great interests. When the two men in control of these interests engage in battle with each other for the supremacy a revolution, the most destructive the world has ever seen, will follow – a revolution that will not only paralyze or wreck many of our great industries and overthrow unnumbered financial institutions, but will imperil the safety of the Government itself. The only force that can prevent such a disaster is the people themselves, whose good sense and patriotism on many occasions heretofore have rescued the country from threatened destruction.
"I have been engaged in business since I was 17, and have noticed year by year a gradual reduction in the number of firms handling large industries or engaged in banking, until today the reduction must excite alarm. It is a significant commentary on business conditions that two men have it in their power to embarrass the United States Government. The concentration of wealth is the great evil of modern times, for it places in a few hands the power to precipitate panics and control legislation.
"Each time one of these panics has occurred certain interests have come forward to relieve the situation by the releasing of large amounts of money. If men can break a panic by bringing forward their hoarded millions, it is evident they can cause a panic by withdrawing from circulation a few hundred millions of dollars. From observations made in the last few months I am convinced that certain great financial interests now are perfecting plans for the precipitation of one of these business upheavals this fall.
"The panic of 1907 was 'organized,' if I may use the term, for the purpose of discrediting Theodore Roosevelt and his administration. The panic of 1910 is being hatched to furnish material for the approaching political campaigns. Those who are engineering it do not care how many enterprises may be wrecked, how many men may be thrown out of employment, or how many suicides may follow, so long as they succeed in their purposes. If stocks are hammered down to the bottom, they stand ready to make millions out of the necessities of those who are driven to sacrifice their holdings."
Spreckels announced that he proposed to devote the rest of his life to the reform of "conditions that already are intolerable," in order to head off, if possible, the impending revolution. Asked as to the remedy for the evils complained of, he said: –
"The elimination of dishonesty in corporate matters, the quickening of business conscience, the banishment of graft, the readjustment of capitalization by the squeezing out of water and the adoption of the Golden Rule as a fundamental principle of business. How these reforms can be effected is the important question of the times. What is needed today is a quickening of the conscience of the great wealth holders. One trouble with the trusts is that the men whose capital is invested in them are not sufficiently concerned to take an active interest in their management. So long as they continue to receive large dividends they wink at practises in a corporation that they would not countenance in their own personal business."
Without endorsing Mr. Spreckels' prophecy we can say that it is well-known amongst financial institutions of the country that all our banking interests are practically in the hands of a very few wealthy men. It is not, however, generally believed that the interests of these men would be better served by panics. On the contrary, the general estimation of business people is that these capitalists are conservative and that in seeking to guard their own interests against catastrophe they are really protecting others from financial disaster. Some of these very people have boasted of late that their hold upon the financial situation is so strong that panics will henceforth be impossible. [R4671 : page 276]
Nevertheless selfishness and ambition are the foundation of the present structure of society. And Mr. Spreckels may be right in his assumption of a great financial duel between our financial potentates. It was just such a duel that produced our last panic. One combination of capitalists attempted to take by the throat another combination, but failed and was crushed. The public was not made to suffer more than was necessary in the matter; but, so powerful were the antagonists, that the entire financial world received a shock which brought loss to many far removed from the principals and the scene of their conflict.
But aside from Mr. Spreckels' prophecy respecting a panic this year our readers know from the STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES to expect ere long the fulfillment of the great Redeemer's words, "There shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation – no, nor ever shall be after." (Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21.) That awful trouble, however, we do not expect before October, 1914. Whatever may come in the interim will be but the rumblings preceding the great climacteric shock, before which will fall all earthly institutions; as St. Paul declares, Everything that can be shaken will be shaken. And the only thing that cannot be shaken will be the Kingdom which God's faithful ones will receive about that time. – Heb. 12:27,28.
Meantime we advise that no attempt be made by any of our readers to alarm the world. Humanity will be alarmed enough in due time. Rather it should be our aim to console, to comfort, to bind up the broken-hearted, to pour in the oil and the wine, to show the good things which God has in reservation for the saints and the restitution blessings which then will begin to be dispensed to Israel and to all the families of the earth through Israel.
Mr. Spreckels is to be admired for his courage. He fully demonstrated it some years ago in his attack upon financial corruption and graft in the politics of San Francisco. The above interview shows the man's fearless courage as he looks into the future. He hopes to be able to stem the tide of political and financial corruption. He hopes for the establishment of the Golden Rule in business and in politics. We admire his courage and hopefulness, even while we know that his expectations will all fail. The world is not getting nearer to the Golden Rule. Our great institutions of learning are turning out infidels by the thousands – turning them into influential and predominant strata and currents of life – financial, political and religious. They fear neither God nor the devil. They scorn the Bible and its precepts as "old wives' fables." They have a standing of honor and a business integrity, but it is not of the Golden Rule kind. It is of the kind that merely keeps within the lines of legal requirement, and not always that, as was evidenced by the court exposures of illegalities in connection with some of the great insurance companies a few years ago and railroad mismanagement and land frauds and bribery by bankers, etc.
Nor should we be harsh in our judgment of millionaires as a whole, nor even of those who have been convicted of financial briberies. Rather our moderation should be known to all men. As peacemakers we should sympathetically point out on proper occasions that much of the difficulty arises from the fact that individual responsibility is overwhelmed by corporation associations – by the seeming necessity of an unlawful act to accomplish an end believed to be wise, benevolent or just. In other words, we are living in the day controlled by systems, of which individuals are merely atoms, even when they occupy influential positions in the systems.
How glad we are that, as Bible Students, we are obtaining from the Divine Word "meat in due season," which not only nourishes us, but makes us strong in the Lord to know and to do his will and to be assistful to all with whom we are in contact. Let us not forget that if we belong to the Lord we are of the "royal priesthood" and that now is the time, in the dawning of the great antitypical Jubilee, when all the priests are to blow upon the silver trumpets, making known to the world the riches of God's grace about to be revealed in Messiah's Kingdom, for which still we pray, "Thy Kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven."
P. C. Knox, Secretary of State in President Taft's Cabinet, in concluding a stirring address before the graduating students of the University of Pennsylvania, speaks as follows:
"We have reached a point where it is evident that the future holds in store a time when wars shall cease; when the nations of the world shall realize a federation as real and vital as that now subsisting between the component parts of a single state; when by deliberate international conjunction the strong shall universally help the weak, and when the corporate righteousness of the world shall compel unrighteousness to disappear and shall destroy the habitations of cruelty still lingering in the dark places of [R4672 : page 276] the earth. This is 'the spirit of the wide world brooding on things to come.' That day will be the Millennium, of course; but in some sense and degree it will surely be realized in this dispensation of mortal time."
JEWISH PERSECUTIONShocking reports are coming from Russia about the expulsion of the Jews in masses. As lightning out of a clear sky, thousands of Jewish families are being turned unexpectedly out of their homes, and as often brought to the beggar's staff. From a suburb of Kiev there have been banished Jews who have lived there for decades. This, however, does not hinder a part of the Jewish "upper-crust" from holding its hand over Russian bonds with a view of protecting themselves. If all the rich Jewish financiers in Germany and France possessed enough feeling of honor to oppose this Jewish persecution in Russia by a campaign against Russian stocks, then the Barbaric vassals of the Czar would soon be brought to fear in this, their "religious fervor." By this it is not intended to be said that every respectable person has not a duty to boycott Russian bonds, until Russia has adapted herself to the ways of civilization. But we do mean to say that Jewish capitalists should be in the lead with their good example. They are certainly, in the end, the closest to the situation.
– From the German Press.
NEED FOR THE KINGDOMDoctor MacGillvary, Professor of Etymology in Cornell University, lecturing recently, said, "Insects at the moment have an enormous influence on the life and health of mankind. The number of species of insects which are known to science at the present time is estimated at one hundred millions. Knowledge of the place of insects in disease is of recent acquisition. Not until 1880 was it known that malaria was produced by a parasite. Not until fifteen years later was the part which mosquitos play in its spread discovered. Not until 1890 was yellow fever known to be an insect-carried disease."
The friends in general preached an appreciated sermon in their deportment, tone of voice, kindness, patience, helpfulness. The people took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus and learned of him. We have friends all around that lake now. Before our arrival some ministers, in disregard of the Word and Spirit of the Master, slandered us – falsified in their endeavor to awaken opposition amongst their people. Things resulted, however, to the contrary. One lady who had contracted to entertain six of our friends was visited by her minister and told that she should have nothing to do with these Bible Students, etc. In perplexity she counseled with her husband how she could get rid of them, seeing she had accepted in advance payment on account of their entertainment. He replied, "Wait a little while; I will run up to the Auditorium and mingle with the people and let you know." He returned shortly, saying that he had heard our opening address of welcome and mingled some with those attending, and wished his wife could get forty into the house, instead of six.
The Chief of Police of Celoron remarked to one of the brethren that if everyone in the world were like the people who were attending the convention there would be no need of a police department, and that saloonmen would have to look for another job. He remarked that he had not noticed even one of the conventioners using tobacco. The policeman stationed at the front of the Auditorium said that his wife was a Christian, but that he had never taken much interest in religion, thinking it mostly a profession. He said, "I am forcibly impressed that the people attending this convention live their Christianity. My wife is away on a vacation, to be back in about two weeks, but I have sent her word to come immediately, as I am sure she will want to get acquainted with these people."
Celoron, where the Auditorium is located, is a worldly place, of course, a small "White City." Its inhabitants are composed chiefly of those who purvey to worldly tastes and appetites. They were disappointed that so large a throng of people should bring so little patronage to their merry-go-rounds, shooting galleries, etc. They all acknowledged, however, that the conventioners were kind, considerate, and minded their own business, and that that business evidently was to hear the speakers of the Convention. One of the showmen, never before interested in religion, attended services on the first Sunday. He was deeply impressed, and said that the message appealed to him as reasonable. He is reading the books. The principal owner of the place was very considerate of our interests and quieted the music in the vicinity of the Auditorium while our services were in progress. Altogether we had a glorious season of spiritual refreshment and have reason to believe that the Truth, through its representatives, made an indelible impression along the shores of Lake Chautauqua. We are most earnestly urged to come again next year, and the suggestion was made that, if we would do so, an auditorium away from the amusement section would be erected for our use.
The Jamestown newspapers devoted much of their space to the Convention, declaring it the largest that had ever visited them. On the Saturday before the Convention closed, one journal gave about two columns of space and another nearly three pages. Those attending the Convention bought many copies of the newspapers and mailed them to their friends in every direction. We understand that one paper sold more than 25,000 extra copies. Those papers in turn will carry considerable of the good tidings to people all over the United States and Canada.
Our arrangements for baptismal services were not all that could have been desired; nevertheless we had much to be thankful for. Doubtless the accommodations were much better than those of our Lord's day. We had two baptism discourses and two opportunities for symbolical immersion, at which, according to official account, 354 adults were immersed.
In our petitions the dear ones at home were earnestly remembered – that they might have an equal share in the blessing. And we believe that many will get the blessing: (1) Those who submissively bowed to the Divine Providence which hindered their attending the Convention, are sure to learn the lesson of patience and faith. (2) Those who attended the Convention will surely carry back to the stay-at-homes a share of our rich feast, which will overflow in all directions.
Many "poor" attended; some assisted in part or in whole by "better-off" brethren and sisters. Some stayed at home and earned money to permit others to come to the Convention and get a spiritual feast. Surely all thus earnest were richly blessed by the great Shepherd.
We have already remarked that some of the dear friends, on arrival, were not kindly received by those who had contracted to entertain them, and to whom money on account had been paid. This was vexatious and quite a test of patience, and faith in Divine Providence, and brotherly love. Yet we believe that the friends conquered through the Spirit of the Lord. Should we ever return to Chautauqua Lake we would have the very best and kindest of attention from every quarter. Here is one case as an illustration: The man of the house met the visitors at the door, and, in a challenging manner, said, "We are United Brethren," intimating that he did not want any conversation on religious subjects, and that it was questionable if he would receive the friends, even with this assurance. They accepted the situation graciously, determined not to talk religion where it was not wanted. However, in the house a little boy lay dying and unable to eat. One of the friends told the child about the glorious restitution, how he would come back from death in the resurrection, and how the entire world would then be Edenic. Next the child was presented with a copy of the Heavenly Manna, with the suggestion that [R4673 : page 278] that kind of food he could always take with a relish. Before we left all were fast friends, and the guests were urged to come again.
Although we tried to make the matter plain, some of the dear friends, we fear, did not fully grasp the financial part of the arrangement for their comfort. The committee on arrangements undertook to furnish all in attendance at uniform prices, although the cost of entertainment would necessarily vary a great deal. To illustrate: The friends lodged at the upper part would have been obliged to pay $1.00 a day on the electric car or fifty cents on the boat to reach the Convention and return. Those lodged in the Chautauqua grounds would have had the same boat fare and eighty cents on the street car, and the boats do not stop there on Sunday. Additionally the Chautauqua Association charges 40 cents per day admission fee to their grounds, which for the ten days amounts to $4. We secured a concession, but paid $2 a head for all who lodged within their gates. Those lodged at Jamestown, of course, had less expense – 5 cents each way daily. Our committee averaged the matter and charged all alike, including a noon luncheon.
It was our intention to serve the friends without profit, and our accounts show a shortage of $3,000. This, however, includes the transportation and entertainment of the Bethel family of more than 76. A little idea of the cost of the noon luncheon may be had from a statement of the daily food supply – fresh milk, 1,000 quarts; lemonade, 600 quarts; sandwiches, 4,000; buns, 4,000; sweet cakes and crackers, 6,000; ice, 2,000 pounds; bananas, 3,300; cheese, 135 pounds. This was our daily provision. It was served by 120 volunteer brethren at each meal. Fourteen dear friends spent nearly three weeks in securing the accommodations, while others labored day and night in making the assignments.
While we paid a uniform rate for all rooms, they were not all alike. They were graded A, B, C and D by those who examined and engaged them. Then those who made the assignments gave the A grade to the $14 orders, the B grade to the $11, and the C and D grades to the $9 orders. They may not all have been correctly graded, but we feel sure that all got excellent value for their money; for those who paid $14 for nine days, paid only about $1.50 per day for food, lodging and transportation.
We assure all who attended that whatever was lacking of perfection came short through imperfection of judgment or matters beyond the control of those looking after their interests. We can certainly say that had 4,000 people arrived there without previous arrangements for their comfort they would have been a sorry lot, and would have paid all kinds of prices for entertainment or would have wandered around the streets tired and hungry. Nevertheless, should we return to the same place another time we could do much better for all, because open opposition has disappeared. As several gentlemen of Jamestown remarked, "The only people here who do not seem to have enjoyed your Convention are the preachers and saloonkeepers."
The Convention was every way an interesting one. The presence of Brother Hemery of the British Branch, Brother Lundborg of the Swedish Branch, Brother Luttichau of the Danish Branch, and Brother Lindqvist of the Norwegian Branch, added materially to the interest of the occasion. The list of speakers, as shown on the programme, which many of you have, numbered twenty-four, besides about twelve who took part in the symposium at the last session. On account of the large crowds it seemed unadvisable to attempt to have a Love Feast of the usual type. We therefore arranged that twelve of the Pilgrim brethren should be stationed at the outlets of the various aisles, both on the lower floor and in the gallery of the Auditorium. The friends greeted these as they passed from the Convention Hall on the last Sunday night. At the conclusion all declared, "It has been our very best Convention."
We knew that, on account of the Convention, the letters and orders coming to the Brooklyn office would be fewer than usual. We therefore took practically the entire office force to the Convention, there to continue the necessary features of the work in all departments. The Editor, as President of the I.B.S.A., felt it proper that he should be in attendance throughout the entire Convention.
Nevertheless, as it was necessary for him to keep up his literary duties, it was advisable to isolate himself to some extent from the glad hands and loving hearts of the 4,000 plus, each of whom desired a few minutes' conversation and to shake hands every time they came within reach. Isolation seemed cruel, but necessary, in the interest of the King's Business. Accordingly we rented the Mayville Inn, which was vacant but furnished. There about fifty of the friends were entertained, with the understanding that Brother Russell must not be intruded upon, and could be visited only at meal times and at the evening Receptions. We spoke at the Auditorium five times: –
(2) On Sunday morning, July 31.
(3) A special address to the Pilgrim brethren and to Elders and Deacons from everywhere on Thursday evening, Aug. 4.
(4) To Colporteurs on Saturday morning, Aug. 6.
(5) To the Convention and to the public on Sunday, Aug. 7.
On the latter occasion the house was crowded and an overflow meeting of about 700 was held in the adjoining theater, addressed by Brother John Kuehn.
In view of the impossibility of personal contact with any but a very few at the Auditorium, we arranged for six Receptions at the Mayville Inn, with admission only by cards. We had 3,600 of these cards printed, and additional permits were granted for the last Reception on Saturday evening, Aug. 6. The tickets were good only for the date they bore, so that the chartered steamer which took the friends twenty miles to the Inn and back might not be overcrowded. We desired that all should have a view of the beautiful lake and the opportunity for fellowship enroute. We are assured that the arrangements were enjoyed to the full and were seasons of refreshing fellowship and praise.
At the Inn the crowds each evening were received in the large parlors and halls and verandas and spacious lawns. We used a corner of one veranda for a pulpit, and, after greeting the dear friends, spoke a few words along spiritual lines to assist in making the occasion one to be remembered from the standpoint of spiritual refreshment. Then, while hundreds sang some of our sweet hymns, other hundreds were invited into the large dining room, where with zeal they were served by loving brethren and sisters (recruits chiefly from the Colporteur ranks) with a little ice cream, cake, etc., soon exchanging places with the singers. We feel sure that these six receptions added to the comfort and joy and spiritual refreshment of all who participated. The numbers attending furnished [R4673 : page 279] a good gauge of the total number attending the Convention. Yet there were probably nearly 1,000 who, for one reason or another, did not get to the receptions – some of them refrained from attending, fearing that there would not be room, and that they would crowd out others. There was, however, room for all, and more could have been entertained.
Reports of the Receptions were published in the Jamestown papers. Thinking that they may be of interest we include them in this report: –
August 3. – Last evening the second installment from the Bible Students Convention, numbering nearly six hundred, visited Pastor Russell and were addressed by him on the lawn and porches of Peacock Inn. The twenty miles' ride on our beautiful Lake Chautauqua feasted their eyes. Their hymns of praise wafted to the cottages on the shores led many to surname these International Bible Students – "The Happy People." Pastor Russell spoke briefly and informally. Referring to the beautiful scenery of the lake, he remarked: –
"It turned my mind back to the Garden of Eden, reminding me of the Divine provision for our first parents before sin came to mar the Divine likeness in which Adam and Eve were created. Then my mind went forward into the future, guided by the Divine lamp – the Word of God. In its light there arose before my mental vision Paradise restored – not a garden merely, but the entire earth made beautiful, gorgeous, fruitful, sinless, happy.
"I called to mind the inspired promise so familiar to us all – There shall be no more sighing, no more crying, no more dying – for the former things of sin and death will have passed away, and the great King of Glory shall announce, 'Behold, I renew all things.' (Rev. 21:5.) I recalled also St. Peter's words of assurance respecting these glorious 'times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began.' (Acts 3:20,21.) St. Peter adds that this restitution of earth to its designed perfection – typed in Eden – and of man's restitution to God's likeness, delays until the second advent of the Redeemer. And other Scriptures, dear Brethren, assure us that the coming of our Master as the King of Glory is timed by God to take place as soon as the elect Church shall have been called and chosen and tested and found faithful.
"The Divine purpose will not be thwarted by the permission of sin to mar the original. The sacrificial death of Jesus is the complete offset to the penalty pronounced on Adam and his race. Restitution to perfection and Divine favor will result in God's 'due time.' And we believe that time near at hand.
"Do we not see the promised blessing coming? What are our vast irrigation schemes by artesian wells and by aqueducts but fulfillments of the prophecies pertaining to the reign of Messiah and the blessing of the earth? Hark to the message: Streams shall break forth in the [R4674 : page 279] desert; and the wilderness shall bloom as the rose. – Isaiah 35.
"Burbank and others are under Divine guidance working miracles in horticulture, just as Edison and others have been the instruments of Providence to give us electrical devices. What beautiful fruits and flowers are the result! It is difficult to imagine greater perfection either in Eden of old or in the world-wide Eden to be restored!
"Referring to the 'times of restitution' of Messiah's reign the Prophet declares, 'The earth shall yield her increase.' (Ezek. 34:27.) Behold preparations for the fulfillment of this promise: About three years ago a Virginia farmer found one abnormal bunch of 120 stalks of wheat from one root – the offspring of one grain of wheat. Under the name of 'miracle wheat' it is now being developed slowly in various parts – the average yield appears to be about 1,200 grains from one kernel. And this very year the same peculiarity in oats has been found – a bunch growing wild by the roadside.
"Additionally the same Divine providence is guiding our chemists to economical methods of extracting nitrogen from the atmosphere for the feeding of the soil and thus to the 'increase' of earth's blessings and in fulfillment of God's promise that he will make the earth (his footstool) glorious.
"But, my friends, the most important piece of restitution work relates to man. The hard, stony selfishness of heart which is world-wide is not God's likeness nor to God's glory.
"Nineteen centuries of preaching shows that the cure of this malady is not in our power, and that only the few even desire or seek for the Lord's spirit of gentleness and tender-heartedness. The great King of Glory is also the Good Physician. He only can cure the disease of sin and its results. Through him God's promise to Israel will be fulfilled: 'I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.' (Jeremiah 31:31.) And this work will proceed from Israel to all the families of the earth – uplifting all the willing and obedient out of sin and death to all that was lost in Adam and redeemed at Calvary. And, thank God, the unwilling and disobedient will not be consigned to endless torture, but to 'the Second Death' – 'everlasting destruction.'
"After some light refreshments the 'happy people' departed on the boat for their lodgings along the Lake and at Jamestown, singing enroute."
A third detachment of Bible Students, after the day's services, took steamer for the upper end of the Lake to attend Pastor Russell's reception. The Lake journey was an enjoyable one along spiritual lines. The students, rendering various well-known hymns effectively, discussed the Convention topics of the day. They were as happy a crowd as ever passed over our beautiful Lake.
At Peacock Inn the visitors crowded the lower floor of the house and the extensive lawn. Pastor Russell, after greeting each visitor, addressed them as a whole. He welcomed those already well known to him, as well as others whom he had not met previously. He congratulated them upon the wonderful day in which we are living; upon the wonderful Bibles from which we may study concerning [R4674 : page 280] the great Divine Plan of the Ages. With an Oxford Bible in his extended hand he remarked, "I fear that even we fail to appreciate the value of this great Book which has exerted more influence in the world than all other books combined." He remarked that few preachers realize that the Bible has been in the hands of the public for only about one century. "Our oldest Bible societies are this very year celebrating their centennial. When they were organized Bibles were possessed only by the rich. Now they are to be found in the homes of all – obtainable free by the destitute. Many are learning the value of Bible references and the usefulness of Bible Concordances in Scripture studies.
"Furthermore, we are too apt to forget that general education has only now reached the masses. It is not yet thirty years since free schools were established in Great Britain. It is only about ten years since education has been made compulsory in all the most civilized lands. Thus God has favored our day in a two-fold manner, not only by giving us the Bible, but by giving the masses the intelligence necessary to its study.
"But, alas, just as these precious opportunities are in the hands of the masses; just as these blessings were given to humanity; just as Christendom was prepared for Bible study, the Lord allowed the Adversary to bring forward a most subtle influence in opposition to it. The foul-mouthed infidelity of the past has been supplanted by a far more dangerous enemy to Christian faith – the infidelity known as Higher Criticism. It is dangerous because of its insidious character. It has entrenched itself in all the colleges and in all the theological seminaries. While all of our churches of all denominations ostensibly stand as defenders of the Bible, the citadel of faith is being captured by the great Adversary of God and the Truth – Satan – who is deceiving, estranging and misleading the hosts of Christendom through the very theological professors and D.D.'s to whom they have been led to look for spiritual light and direction and whom they had supposed to be staunch defenders of the Bible as the inspired Word of God. This is a severe arraignment, but it is a generally truthful one, as each may demonstrate to himself. Most regretfully I am persuaded that four out of every five of all the ministers and Sunday-School superintendents of Christendom have ceased to believe in the Bible as the Divinely inspired revelation of the Will and Purposes of the Almighty. Some of these, nevertheless, claim to be earnest followers of Jesus as the Son of God, and of Divine origin. Yet how weak is their position! If Moses did not write the Law and if it was not inspired, nor the prophecies inspired, what could we think of Jesus and his Apostles accepting those prophecies as inspired and founding all of their teachings thereupon? Most evidently, Higher Critics who still believe in Jesus as the Divine Son of God have not thought logically on the proposition, and will reject everything pertaining to the Scriptures upon further reflection.
"I congratulate you, my friends, that while sorrowfully we behold the fulfilling of the Scriptures in the falling away of these, our friends, we are not compelled by anything in reason nor in the Scriptures to suppose that their fate for such infidelity will be eternal torment. I congratulate you that, as Bible Students, we are growing stronger in our faith day by day while, in fulfillment of the Scriptures, a thousand fall at our side and ten thousand at our right hand. (Psa. 91:7.) I congratulate you that the study of the Bible, with the assistance which God is now providing, is clearing up the mysteries which have perplexed us all our lives and is bringing to us greater appreciation of his glorious purposes and greater loyalty to him and more earnest desire to serve his Cause of Righteousness and to lift up the standard of the Cross of Christ.
"Truly, as the Lord through the Prophet expressed it, 'Our feet have been kept from stumbling,' and instead the stumbling-stone of greater intelligence of our day has lifted us to a higher plane of devotion and appreciation of 'the heights and depths and lengths and breadths of the Love of God which passeth all understanding.'
"Do not misunderstand me to be speaking harshly or unkindly of our dear friends who are stumbling over the educational opportunities of our day. On the contrary, I sympathize with them. Once I stood exactly where they stand. Once I, too, repudiated the Bible as the Word of God. I was as honest then as I am today, and feel bound to give credit for equal honesty. They are blinded by the dazzling glare of the earthly science of our day. If they ever knew, they have forgotten and dropped the light, the science which comes only from above. Some of them may be recovered from the snare of the Adversary, as I was. There is this difference, however: The majority of them seem to exult in their unbelief and to pride themselves and plume themselves on their opposition to the Bible; but my position was the very contrary of this. I deplored the necessity for abandoning the Bible. I considered it the rational thing to expect from the Supreme Creator some Revelation of his purposes respecting mankind – the object of our creation; the purpose to be attained; and how and why.
"I have no doubt that many of you have had experiences similar to my own. Many of you have told me so. Let us hope that, as we have been recovered from the snare of the Fowler, so also may others be. Let us be prompt to lend the helping hand and an encouraging word. Let us realize that to the honest-hearted the loss of the Bible must be a disaster to faith and hope, as it was in our own cases. Let us trust that there are many others honest as ourselves who will yet be recovered. Let us be encouraged to help them by a remembrance of how great a blessing came to us through the proper understanding of the Word of God."
The Mayville Inn and its spacious lawns, with Pastor Russell of Brooklyn Tabernacle as host, entertained the fourth contingent of Bible Students, about six hundred, last night. The numbers each night are regulated by cards of invitation. Like its predecessors, the occasion was an enjoyable one long to be remembered with pleasure and profit. Again the songs of "The Happy People" of the International Bible Students, coming and going, gladdened and cheered the dwellers at the Lake-side [R4675 : page 280] homes, who will not soon forget this Convention. In connection with his greetings Pastor Russell said: –
"To the gathering of Bible Students who visited me here last evening I remarked the increasing beauties of nature as foregleams of the great 'restitution' promised in the Bible and which we believe is now nigh at hand. We then considered the world's hope, based on the great sacrifice at Calvary and the Bible's testimony respecting its far-reaching results. Tonight let us consider briefly the future of the Church's hope.
"Like many of our Christian friends, for a long time we did not understand how to 'rightly divide the Word of Truth.' (2 Tim. 2:15.) We did not comprehend that God's Plan provides first a heavenly salvation for [R4675 : page 281] the Church and then an earthly salvation for mankind in general. The study of our Bibles along dispensational lines clears away all of our difficulties. It shows us that the promise that the redeemed shall sit every man under his own vine and fig tree and long enjoy the work of their hands (Isa. 36:16) is God's provision for Israel restored to Divine favor, and for all the families of the earth; but not for the Church. Of the true Church, the Bride of Christ, it is declared that her members shall in the resurrection be like unto the angels – heavenly or spiritual beings.
"St. Paul distinctly says of these, 'Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.' (I Cor. 15:50.) Jesus tells these that he has gone to prepare them a place in the Father's house on high. But the place for man, the earth, already provided from the foundation of the world, is a very different one from ours, of which we read, 'Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath in reservation for them that love him.' – Isa. 64:4.
"Now we understand why it is that from Genesis to Malachi there is not one suggestion of a heavenly or spiritual hope for anyone. Every promise is earthly. In Abraham's case, for instance, we read, 'Lift up now thine eyes and look to the East, West, North, and South; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy Seed after thee.'
"St. Paul refers to this difference between the hopes of the spirit-begotten Church founded at Pentecost and the hopes of all others. Pointing to the faithful of the past he declares that although they had God's testimony to their faithfulness, nevertheless they received not the promises, 'God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.' – Hebrews 11:38-40.
"As soon as we get our 'better thing,' our higher reward of 'glory, honor and immortality' in joint-heirship with our Lord as figuratively his Bride, then the worthy ones of ancient times will get their reward of resurrection to human perfection. Then, under Messiah's Kingdom, those perfect men will be the 'princes in all the earth.' Then from the spiritual to the perfected earthly ones, the blessings and instructions for the world will descend to the poor, ignorant, selfish and superstitious world – to help them; to uplift the obedient to the perfections illustrated by the perfected worthies.
"We have all heard of the Sunday-School teacher who told her class about heaven – about its pianos, harps, organs, horses and carriages, fruits and flowers, etc. We see that she was merely thinking of the blessings God has provided for the faithful and obedient of the world, 'in due time.' She had no conception of the heaven of heavens promised to the faithful followers of Jesus in the narrow way.
"The great Teacher explains that it is impossible to describe heaven and its beauties and charms. He said to Nicodemus, 'If I have told you of earthly things and ye believed not, how would you believe if I should tell you of heavenly things?' – John 3:12.
"In line with this the Bible makes no attempt to describe heaven itself, nor its inhabitants. We are merely told that God is a Spirit 'dwelling in light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can ever see' personally. Man must discern God in his works, the noblest of which is the perfect man, made in Jehovah's moral likeness on the earthly plane – a little lower than the angels on the spirit plane. The most that the Word declares of our heavenly inheritance is that 'Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath in reservation for them that love him.' – I Cor. 2:9.
"But while refusing to inform us of the heavenly conditions, God does give us a soul-satisfying portion. Through the Apostle he declares, 'It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he (the glorified Jesus) shall be revealed (at his Second Advent, in power and great glory) we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is,' while others not thus 'changed' from human to spirit nature by the 'First Resurrection' power will not see him as he is, but only as he shall be revealed in his providences and judgments, which every eye shall recognize.
"How satisfactory! How far beyond all that we could have asked or thought! 'Like Him.' What more could we ask? 'Like him,' whom 'God hath highly exalted, far above angels, principalities and powers'! We stand amazed at such grace! Moreover, we can realize that he who called us to become 'partakers of the divine nature' and joint-heirs with the Redeemer in his Mediatorial Kingdom has provided for our every comfort and joy in that heavenly state, the details of which we may not now grasp. Prophetically of these it is written, 'I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness.' – Psa. 17:15."
"One of old was declared to be a burning and shining light. There is force in this expression. Some lights are cold, austere, unsympathetic; but the kind approved by the Master was the burning kind – warm, glowing, sympathetic, helpful, intensive. The Master himself furnishes the best of all illustrations of the principle enunciated. He was the light which came down from heaven – undimmed, resplendent, shining forth to the utmost the light of Divine Truth. Not a cold, forbidding recluse was he, holding himself aloof from the people with a haughty and disdainful spirit, telling coldly 'wonderful words of life.'
"On the contrary, his entire life was sympathetic, whole-souled. One of the charges brought against him by the cold Pharisees was, He receiveth sinners and eateth with them. Even his disciples were shocked that he should converse with a woman of Samaria. But the common people heard him gladly. While recognizing that he was far above their plane – while beholding in him the glories of an only-begotten of the Father, they nevertheless were drawn to him because he was the burning as well as the shining light. And they declared of him, 'Never man spake like this man.' – John 7:46. [R4675 : page 282]
"Bible Students are all Christians, though, alas, all Christians are not Bible Students. True, God's Book may even be read through by some who are unbelievers. And it may be scanned critically by opponents who seek to find fault with it and to entrap it, as they sought to find fault with the Master. But these are not Bible Students in the proper sense of the word. Only those who have made a consecration of their lives to the Lord and who are anxious to know the Divine will, that they may conform their lives to it, and who, to attain this end, have entered the School of Christ to be taught of him – only these are Bible Students from our standpoint – searchers after the secrets of the Lord, because they love him and are appreciative of his glorious plans and desirous of understanding them fully. Such Bible Students – including you, dear friends, and myself, I trust – should be burning and shining lights in the world and amongst our fellow-Christians of all denominations, many of whom, alas, have much of the spirit of the world and are lacking in the spirit of the Truth because of insufficient knowledge of the Truth itself – because they are not sufficiently Bible Students.
"'Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.' We are not enjoined to make a show of carrying our Bibles everywhere in an ostentatious manner. We are exhorted to show forth in our daily lives the lessons we learn from its precious pages. As the Bible is our lamp provided by the Lord to all those who walk in his footsteps, so each of these in turn is a lamp which should shed forth upon others the light, the knowledge, the spirit of Truth for their edification. In other words, the holy Spirit is not poured out upon the world of mankind, but merely upon the Lord's servants and handmaidens. It is an anointing for these and upon these, evidencing to them that they have been begotten again to the new nature and making of them light-bearers for the benefit of others – burning and shining lights, sympathetic and helpful lights, 'that they might show forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.'
"While keeping the lamp trimmed and burning, while seeking to glorify God as burning and shining lights in the world, we must not forget that the Bible assures us that we will be no more successful in converting the [R4677 : page 282] world than was our Master. His great light shone in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. And the religionists of his day instigated his crucifixion. The Master's prophecy respecting his followers will prove true to the end of the Age: 'The darkness hateth the light'; 'Marvel not if the world hate you. Ye know that it hated me before it hated you.' (I John 3:13.) It is altogether a mistake, therefore, to suppose that you or I or any other person or all of the Lord's consecrated people, letting their lights shine faithfully before men, could convert the world. Such was not God's intention. It is the Church, and not the world, that is being tested at the present time. The opposition of the world and all the powers of darkness serve to test us as New Creatures – to test our loyalty to God and to his Truth. Whosoever receives the light of Truth intelligently must rejoice in it, and, rejoicing in it, he must let it shine out upon others, or, by covering his light with a bushel, he will demonstrate his lack of courage, lack of appreciation, lack of zeal, which the Lord is now specially seeking for amongst those whom he has invited to be sharers with Jesus in the glories of the Mediatorial Kingdom about to be established amongst men. It is important, therefore, that we let our light shine before men. It is important that we be willing, nay, glad if need be, to suffer for our loyalty to the Lord and to his message. And we have his word for it that he that is ashamed of him or of his Word now, of such he will be ashamed by and by and not own them as members of his Bride class, not accept them as assistants with him in his glorious Throne.
"'This is the light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.' (John 1:9.) Thus far Jesus has not been dealing with the world, but merely with the blessed ones who have the eye of faith and ear of faith. 'Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears for they hear.' (Matt. 13:16.) The time for the enlightenment of the world will be after the special call of the elect. Then the Church, as the Bride, will be with the heavenly Bridegroom in his Throne. Then all now found faithful in the matter of letting their light shine will be associated with the great Light, Jesus, as members of his Body. Altogether they will constitute the great Sun of Righteousness which will then arise with healing in its beams for the blessing of all the families of the earth. 'Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear.' (Matt. 13:43.) He that hath a desire of heart, let him be obedient, and thus make his calling and election sure to this glorious chief salvation."
In order not to crowd the chartered boat, no more than six hundred were permitted to attend Pastor Russell's reception on any one evening. The restriction was effected by means of visitation cards, not more than six hundred of which were issued for any one of the six evenings. Last evening marked the conclusion of the receptions. The steamer was crowded, but "The Happy People" maintained their equilibrium of spirit and let their songs abound, giving good evidence that they were singing and making melody in their hearts unto the Lord. They evidently enjoyed the scenery of the Lake, but the eyes of their understanding seemed to take in still more beautiful Elysian fields. It was the same on the return journey.
The Mayville Inn was illuminated throughout, as were also its verandas and lawns, the Chinese lanterns giving a gala effect.
The crowd was welcomed by Pastor Russell, who greeted each one personally. He subsequently addressed them from the veranda, following which a light collation was partaken of. The address in part was as follows: –
"My dear friends, our Convention nears its close. To me it has been a very enjoyable one. So far as I can discern, it has been the same to all in attendance. It is a delightful and blessed experience that so many of the Lord's people, by his Providence, have been permitted to turn aside from the busy cares of life to spend ten days in Bible study and in fellowship with each other in spiritual things. We have thus been remembering the inspired [R4677 : page 283] exhortation, 'Forget not the assembling of yourselves together,...and so much the more as ye see The Day draw nigh.' The nearer we come to the great Day of the Lord, in which the Church will be glorified with the Bridegroom, and in which the great work of blessing the world at large will begin, the more precious are our opportunities for Christian fellowship. And more than this; they daily become more important to us for our strengthening and upbuilding in the faith once delivered to the saints.
"As we think of the closing of this Convention, let our minds go out toward the Great Convention promised in God's Word. At it will be gathered all of God's people – all 'Israelites indeed, in whom is no guile.' That Convention, like this one, will be unsectarian, interdenominational. Presbyterians, Methodists, Congregationalists, Baptists – the holy, the saintly out of each and all of these will be at that Great Convention. St. Paul styles it the 'General Assembly of the Church of the First-born ones.' How grand to think of such a reunion, without a creedal fence between any of the participants and all of them surrounded and safeguarded by the
'Love Divine, all Love excelling,' and the Wisdom and Power Divine! Do you desire to be present at that Convention? The question is an unnecessary one. It is the hope, the desire, the aim of every one of us to be there – to make our calling and our election sure; to so run that we may obtain that great prize of participation in the 'First Resurrection.' Of that resurrection we read, 'Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the First (chief) Resurrection; on such the Second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years'! (Rev. 20:6.) Let us have this in mind, dear friends, that our participation with our Lord in the glories of his Kingdom is dependent upon our faithfulness here in following him through evil report and through good report, through honor and through dishonor in the bearing of the cross along the narrow way of self-denial.
"I remind you that when God brought typical Israel out of Egypt, the first-borns had a peculiar salvation or preservation first. The night before the deliverance all the first-borns were in danger of death, and were saved only when under the blood of the Passover Lamb. We see, dear friends, the significance of this beautiful type. St. Paul tells us that Christ is our Passover Lamb, slain for us. We each have appropriated his flesh, his human nature, which he sacrificed on our behalf. We recognize his sacrifice, the blood of atonement. We see that this entire Gospel Age is the antitype of that night. We are hoping to belong to the first-borns begotten of the holy Spirit who, during this night time of sin and death, will be passed over and, on account of the blood without and the Lamb within, be accounted worthy of being passed over – accounted worthy of eternal life on the spirit plane as members of the 'Church of the First-born' – participants in the 'First Resurrection' to glory, honor and immortality with our Lord – like him.
"I remind you that all of these first-borns, passed over, typified all of the Lord's people of all denominations and outside of all denominations who are now passing from death unto life. I remind you, however, that in the type, the first-borns of every tribe were exchanged for the one tribe of Levi – the priestly tribe, which thereafter typified the 'Church of the First-borns' – the 'household of faith.' But I remind you further that the Lord divided that tribe into two classes. A little handful were made priests and occupied a special position of favor and relationship and nearness to God, and the remainder of that tribe were honored in being used as the assistants or servants of the priests. This is an allegory or type. 'The Church of the First-borns' will consist of two classes, a 'little flock' of priests and a 'great company' of the 'household of faith' and typical Levites who will serve. I remind you that the 'little flock' of priests do their sacrificing now and, if faithful, will shortly be made a Royal Priesthood, a reigning priesthood, joint-heirs with the great King of Glory and High Priest of our profession – Jesus. I remind you that the 'great company,' typed in the ordinary Levites, will not be in the Throne, but serve before the Throne. They will not be living stones of the Temple, but serve God in the Temple. They will not wear crowns of glory, though they will be granted palms of victory.
"What places will you and I occupy in the resurrection, in the General Assembly of the Church of the First-borns? Will we be of the Royal Priesthood, or of the less honorable, but still blessed, servants? Will we be of the Bride class or of the less honored virgins, her companions that follow her? It is for us, dear friends, now to make our calling and our election sure by our zeal, our earnestness, our devotion to the great King and his Cause. He has called us to the highest place. It rests with us, under his wonderful and gracious arrangements, to determine whether we will be passed over or not passed over, and, if passed over, to determine whether we will accept the place to which we are all called or the inferior place which will be granted to those who do not keep their garments unspotted from the world and who, therefore, [R4678 : page 283] must come through great tribulation to enter into the Kingdom at all.
"I exhort you, dear friends, that we strive to be present at the Great Convention, 'the General Assembly of the Church of the First-borns,' and that we strive to make our calling and election sure, that we may be of the Bride class, the Royal Priesthood class, the members of the Body of the great Prophet, Priest and King of Glory! It is to this end that we have come to this Convention – that we might encourage each other and be encouraged to maintain the good fight of faith and to gain the victory, so far as our hearts are concerned, over the world, the flesh and the Adversary. I trust that we shall all go away from this Convention strengthened by Divine might in the inner man. I trust that we shall leave behind us a sweet fragrance of the Spirit of the Lord in every cottage and hotel in which we have been lodged. I trust that we shall go to our homes so filled with the Spirit of the Truth, the spirit of meekness, gentleness, patience, long-suffering, brotherly kindness and love that we shall carry a blessing to those of our homes, that they may take knowledge that we have been with Jesus and have learned of him and that the blessing may thus overflow and abound to many hearts. I doubt not that such will be the blessed results and that this Celoron Convention of Bible Students will be a marked epoch in the Christian careers of many, marked with blessings from on high and mutual refreshment of spirit amongst all those who have participated."
[R4676 : page 284] [There is a full page picture here with the following title and caption:]
To get the force of the Lord's teachings here and everywhere it is necessary to remember that the Jewish people had been promised the Kingdom of God, of which David's Kingdom was a type on a small scale. For centuries they had been expecting a great King, Messiah, whose coming would exalt them and bring them into prominence as God's Kingdom. John the Baptist, when he came to introduce Messiah, told the Jews that unless they would repent and come back, to the extent of their ability, into harmony with God and the Law they need not expect to share in the Messianic Kingdom. Jesus told the people that unless their righteousness should exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, they should in no wise enter into or become members of the long-waited-for Kingdom. (Matthew 5:20.) The two parables of this Study illustrate what stood in the way of the majority.
The Jewish people professed to be God's people, willing to do him service. They were treated, not as mere slaves, but, rather, like sons. All were told to go and work in God's vineyard; but they divided into two classes, represented by the two sons, in our first parable. One of these sons represented the outwardly religious, pious, who said, Yes, we will serve God. However, they did not really seek the Divine service, but rather the service of their sects and parties and their own personal aims, honor, influence and preferment. The other class of Israelites, represented by the other son of the parable, made no pretense of serving God, and were branded as publicans, sinners, harlots. Nevertheless, when Jesus appeared, when John's message went forth, and afterwards the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles, these same publicans, sinners, harlots, were the ones ready to receive him, while the religious, finding that his message was in conflict with their teachings, repudiated him. Thus one of the charges against Jesus was, "He receiveth publicans and sinners and eateth with them."
The second parable represents God as the owner of a great Vineyard, in all respects well appointed and furnished for his purpose. This Vineyard represents the Jewish nation and the Divine promises made to that people – the Law and all the arrangements of the Law Covenant, for their development. This Vineyard the owner let out to husbandmen, whose duty it was to care for the vines and the fruitage and to render to the owner the results, except a portion which they might keep for themselves. These husbandmen were the prominent religionists, of whom Jesus said, "The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. All, therefore, whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do." (Matt. 23:2,3.) The owner properly required returns on his property and sent servants to receive his share of the fruitage. But the husbandmen, instead of giving them what was due their Master, abused them by beating, killing and stoning them.
These servants were the prophets of old, sent to Israel. They should have received the kindest treatment and an abundance of fruits of meekness, gentleness, patience, etc., but, instead, they were treated as intruders by the leaders of Israel. Some of them were stoned, some beaten, some murdered, some sawn asunder. Some wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins and dwelt in dens and caves of the earth, because not appreciated. They were not treated as representatives of the owner of the vineyard. Finally the owner sent his Son, saying, "They will reverence my Son." But these same husbandmen, the religionists of our Lord's day, took counsel to kill him and to seize his inheritance. They somehow got the impression that they could lord it over God's heritage and that anybody reproving them or showing up their hypocrisies or liberating the people from subservience to them, whoever he might be – even the heir – they were at liberty to kill. They crucified him.
What may we presume the owner of that Vineyard would do to those wicked husbandmen who, forgetting the ownership of the vineyard, were using it as their own, mistreating his servants and crucifying his Son? The Great Teacher put the question to his hearers, and the answer promptly came that the owner would destroy those wicked men and let out his Vineyard to others who would render him its fruitage.
This is just what happened. The scribes and Pharisees and Doctors of the Law who were using God's promises and blessings and their opportunities selfishly and in disregard of the Almighty – these were dispossessed. Their government was destroyed and Divine favor and privileges as God's mouthpieces, which they once enjoyed, were taken from them and given to others – to the Apostles and their associates, during this Gospel Age.
However, as fleshly Israel was a type or picture of nominal Spiritual Israel, we may not have to look far to find a very similar condition of things today. Today also we see some high in official position as representatives of God and his Word using their positions to entrench themselves, to hold power over the people, to carry out their own schemes. These are inclined to speak harshly, yea, to "murder" any who come amongst them meekly, humbly, in the name of the Lord. They do not literally kill them nor "shoot them full of arrows," but they do behead them in the sense of ostracism. And they do shoot out at them the arrows of bitter words, slanders, etc.
What will the Husbandman do with such servants? The answer is again that the opportunities which they have enjoyed will be taken away from them. Thank God that the next step in the programme will be that the King's Son and all of the misused servants associated with him will constitute the new "Kingdom of God's dear Son" "under the whole heavens." Matters will be no longer entrusted to any but the tried, proven, faithful.
Jesus, the rejected, "is become the chief corner-stone" of the great Temple of God, which is the Church. As the privilege of being God's embryotic Kingdom was taken from the Jews and given to Christ and the Church, so presently his embryotic Kingdom will be taken from earth entirely – his faithful will be received to the heavenly plane and power and great glory.
Whoever stumbled over Jesus suffered loss in the sense of being broken, but not beyond possibility of repair. "But upon whomsoever this stone (Messiah) shall fall, it will grind him to powder" in the Second Death. – Matt. 21:44.
In today's Study we have another beautiful parabolic lesson respecting the Kingdom. We might inquire why the Bible is so full of these lessons concerning the Kingdom? Is it not because the Kingdom of God is the only hope of the world? Are we not learning this more and more? Faith in the coming Kingdom of God under the whole heavens began to grow dim within less than two centuries after the death of the Apostles. Instead of longing, hoping, to become the Bride of Christ, to be associated with him in his glorious Kingdom for the overthrow of Sin and Satan and Death, and for the uplifting of mankind during a reign of a thousand years, a new faith and a new hope came in, contrary to the Scriptures. This unscriptural hope instructed Christians that they should expect an earthly Kingdom of their own establishment, in which the popes would reign as representatives of Jesus and the cardinals and bishops as representatives of the apostles and the "little flock," to whom the approaching Kingdom is promised.
Thenceforth the work of the Church, to "build one another up in the most holy faith," gave place to the unscriptural course of neglecting the Church and laboring for the world, under the unwarranted assumption that it is the duty of the Church to convert the world. As to how much injury has thus been done it is difficult to estimate. For the sake of numbers standards have been lowered and worldliness has been recognized, until today Christendom is in a sad plight as respects true doctrines and high moral standards.
As Messiah is to be the Great King of earth during the period of his Mediatorial reign, it is the Father's good pleasure that he should have a "Bride." And this Gospel Age is set apart for the finding and development of this Bride class of many members. The Kingdom is the great prize which the Father is to bestow upon his Son – to be shared by the Church, the Bride of Christ. The parable of today's Study outlines the call of this Bride class or Kingdom class from Jesus' day down to the completion and glorification of this company. Nowhere is Jesus represented as calling his own Bride. This is foreshown in Abraham, who typified the Father, and Isaac, who typified Jesus; and Abraham's servant, sent to call Rebecca to be the Bride of Isaac, typified the holy Spirit, whose work during this Gospel Age is bringing to Christ the Bride class – "the very elect."
So this parable shows that the King sent forth the call to the Marriage. The Jewish people, the children of Abraham, according to the flesh, had been invited to this high honor from the time of the giving of the Law Covenant at Sinai. Century after century they waited for the announcement to be made to them, that the nuptial feast was ready. Finally, when Jesus came, the announcement went to them, All things are now ready! Come to the feast! Meantime, they had become overcharged with the cares of this life – business, politics and religious schemes of their own concocting. They manifested no interest in the announcement and even beat some of the servants, the Apostles and others, who sought to help them, and to draw their attention to the Great Feast, which was their special privilege.
The Almighty was wroth and sent the Roman armies and "destroyed those murderers and burned up their City," Jerusalem, in A.D. 70. Then the King said to his servants, The wedding must take place even though those who were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways and as many as ye find bring to the marriage feast. As the city represented the Jewish nation, so the highways represented the world in general – the Gentiles – to whom the message of the Kingdom was sent after fleshly Israel had first enjoyed the offer and but partially improved it. Another statement of the parable shows three different classes: –
(1) The Jewish rulers who rejected him.
(2) Those called from among the streets and lanes of their city and gathered to the spirit plane by Jesus and the Apostles.
(3) Then the report was given, "We have done as thou hast commanded and yet there is room." Then the message went forth to go everywhere among the Gentiles and urge them to come in, until the house should be filled – until the elect number for whom the feast was provided should be found. Our Study states that the wedding was furnished with guests – good and bad. In other words, the offer of a share with Christ in his Kingdom has attracted some naturally very fallen, as well as some better favored by nature. But the arrangements of the Great King are such that the "wedding garment" covers all the blemishes of the most imperfect as well as those of the least imperfect.
The latter part of our Study shows a discrimination and judgment ultimately to take place amongst those invited to the wedding and accepted. As none were permitted to enter in without a wedding garment – without an acknowledgment of the merit of Christ's sacrifice – so none will be permitted to remain and participate in the wedding festival except those who maintain their standing of confidence in Christ.
Any who take off the "wedding garment" will be sure to be expelled from the privileges enjoyed and will go out from the light and blessings afforded to this favored class, into the "outer darkness" of the world and of nominal Christianity, in which shortly there will be a great time of trouble, symbolically represented by the "weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Are we not even now in the time of this inspection of the guests? And are not all Christian people who cast away their confidence in the sacrifice of Christ and who accept Evolutionary theories and Higher Criticism taking off "the wedding garment," and will they not all eventually find themselves in outer darkness, in confusion, in bewilderment? And will they not be sadly distressed in the great time of trouble which the Scriptures declare to be near? – Daniel 12:1.
(31) When the Lord comes in the close of this age, who only will be accepted as his Bride? P. 75, par. 1.
(32) Quote several comforting and encouraging Scriptures which declare the Divine supervision over even the humblest member of the New Creation. P. 75, par. 2.
(33) Explain in detail the illustration of natural birth in its relation to the spiritual birth of the New Creation. P. 76, par. 1.
(34) Show briefly how the Scriptures clearly distinguish between the New Creatures and the human family in general, especially with respect to (1) the Atonement Sacrifice, and (2) to the trials and difficulties of life. P. 77, par. 1.
(35) What will be the test of membership in the New Creation? P. 78, par. 1.
(36) In order to abide in Christ, what more than the mere making of a consecration is necessary? Explain fully. P. 78, par. 2.
(37) Why are the five senses of humanity in general not sufficient for the New Creation in matters of judgment? P. 79, par. 1.
(38) Explain the so-called "sixth sense," or complete set of additional spiritual senses, granted these New Creatures. P. 80, par. 1.
(39) By what name should the New Creation be known? P. 80, par. 2.
(40) What manner of spirit has prompted Christians to take sectarian names in the past, and when did it first manifest itself? P. 81, par. 1.
(41) To whom especially belong the chief praise and honor for the blessings that have come to us through the Apostles and other servants of the Lord? P. 82, top.
(42) What should be our attitude toward the present division into various denominations? Pp. 82, 83.
(43) In conclusion, what names should we avoid, and why? P. 83, par. 2, first part.
(44) What names should we recognize and answer to, as consecrated Christians? P. 83, par. 2, last part.
(1) Was the opportunity to become members of the New Creation offered to mankind in general? P. 85.
(2) Was the "calling" of the natural Israelites a "high" or "heavenly calling"? If not, to what were they called? P. 85.
(3) Where are the terms of the High Calling set forth? P. 86, top.
(4) Why could the Ancient Worthies have no part or lot in this New Creation? P. 86, par. 1.
(5) Give another reason why this High Calling could not begin before the death of our Lord Jesus. P. 86, par. 2, first part.
(6) What was the standing of the Apostles before the death and resurrection of Christ? P. 87, top.
(7) Explain the difference between calling men to repentance and inviting them to the High Calling. P. 87, top.
(8) Do the introductions to the various Epistles emphasize the exclusiveness of the Heavenly Call? P. 87.
(9) Upon what conditions shall we be made joint-heirs with Christ? P. 87, par. 2.
(10) Why are not many great, wise or learned called? P. 88.
(11) Why are the conditions of acceptance more attractive to the more fallen members of the human family? P. 89, par. 1.
(12) Upon what two graces of character is God especially placing a premium in connection with the New Creation? P. 90, par. 1.
(13) To what high standard of character are the New Creatures called? P. 90, par. 2.
(14) Is the Lord dealing with the imperfect flesh or with the new minds of these New Creatures? P. 91, top.
(15) What should we expect the new mind to accomplish in controlling our mortal bodies? P. 91, par. 1.
(16) What are some of the specifications and limitations as respects character in the New Creation? P. 91, par. 2.
(17) Explain the difference between the "law of liberty" of the New Creation and the bondage of Israel to specific laws. P. 92, par. 1.
(18) Is it an easy path that leads the New Creation to "glory, honor and immortality"? P. 92, par. 2.
(19) Are there several different calls during the Gospel Age? Quote Scripture to prove position taken. P. 92, par. 3.
(20) Will there be a call to the World in the next age? P. 93, top.
(21) Are any called to be of the Great Company referred to in Rev. 7:9-14? P. 93, par. 1.
(22) Will these be members of the New Creation? If not, why? P. 93, par. 1.
(23) Is this special call of the New Creation limited in time? and when did it begin? P. 94, par. 1.
(24) When will this "acceptable time" come to an end? P. 94, par. 2, first part.
A contemplation of the Lord's providences respecting the Vow, as they have been exemplified repeatedly in the past year, in the cases of individuals, and of various congregations of the Lord's people, have gradually softened the antagonism I felt against it, and I took it some days ago, as unto the Lord, believing it to be his will.
I wish to say that I have taken the Vow, not as an oath, not as a guarantee that I will keep it perfectly (apart from the Lord's merit) and not as a protection, in any sense, except that it will help to keep certain parts of my original consecration vow prominently before my mind. I am sure I do not keep my consecration vow perfectly, and will doubtless fail occasionally in some items of this statement or a portion of it, but I shall do my best to keep it perfectly, and I am sure that is all the Lord expects.
I have always fully assented to every principle contained in the Vow, and the true explanation of the extreme prejudice I have had against it is that the Adversary was undoubtedly trying to get me to fight against it and thus draw me away from the Truth and its service.
Your Brother in Christ,
As I think over the blessed season we had at the Jamestown Convention, my heart goes out in joy and thanksgiving to our dear Lord and Heavenly Father for the abundance of love they have showered on us all in these last days. The love of our Elder Brother was manifest in all the arrangements and the love shining from the faces of the dear friends showed plainly that they had been with Jesus and learned of him.
I wish to express my thanks and appreciation to you, dear Brother, for your loving zeal and untiring endeavor to serve the Lord, the Truth, and the Brethren. All the arrangements at the Convention spoke of that great love, the carefully planned accommodations for all. I can say that for the little sum ($14) I received accommodation far above my expectation. The Lord surely was in our midst, working all things for the good of his people. It was more than I anticipated, and I want to thank you, and all those who labored with you, for the love thus shown for the Brethren, and especially for the reception at The Mayville Inn. It was good to be there. It made me think of the Lord's words when he said, "I go to prepare a place for you." Yes, everything was prepared for us to come and receive a blessing, and we surely did receive one.
Your brother in our Redeemer,
page 289
September 1st
| VOL. XXXI | SEPTEMBER 15 | No. 18 |
'I will stand upon my watch, and set my foot upon the Tower, and will watch to see what He shall say unto me, and what answer I shall make to them that oppose me.' Hab. 2:1
Upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity: the sea and the waves (the restless, discontented) roaring: men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking forward to the things coming upon the earth (society): for the powers of the heavens (ecclestiasticism) shall be shaken. . . .When ye see these things come to pass, then know that the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Look up, lift up your heads, rejoice, for your redemption draweth nigh. – Luke 21:25-28, 32.
Our "Berean Lessons" are topical rehearsals or reviews of our Society's published "Studies," most entertainingly arranged, and very helpful to all who would merit the only honorary degree which the Society accords, viz., Verbi Dei Minister (V.D.M.), which translated into English is, Minister of the Divine Word. Our treatment of the International S.S. Lessons is specially for the older Bible Students and Teachers. By some this feature is considered indispensable.
This Journal stands firmly for the defence of the only true foundation of the Christian's hope now being so generally repudiated, – Redemption through the precious blood of "the man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom [a corresponding price, a substitute] for all." (I Pet. 1:19; I Tim. 2:6.) Building up on this sure foundation the gold, silver and precious stones (I Cor. 3:11-15; 2 Pet. 1:5-11) of the Word of God, its further mission is to – "Make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery which...has been hid in God,...to the intent that now might be made known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God" – "which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed." – Eph. 3:5-9,10.
It stands free from all parties, sects and creeds of men, while it seeks more and more to bring its every utterance into fullest subjection to the will of God in Christ, as expressed in the Holy Scriptures. It is thus free to declare boldly whatsoever the Lord hath spoken; – according to the divine wisdom granted unto us, to understand. Its attitude is not dogmatical, but confident; for we know whereof we affirm, treading with implicit faith upon the sure promises of God. It is held as a trust, to be used only in his service; hence our decisions relative to what may and what may not appear in its columns must be according to our judgment of his good pleasure, the teaching of his Word, for the upbuilding of his people in grace and knowledge. And we not only invite but urge our readers to prove all its utterances by the infallible Word to which reference is constantly made, to facilitate such testing.
Foreign Agencies: – British Branch: 24 Eversholt St., London, N.W. German Branch: Unterdorner Str., 76, Barmen. Australasian Branch: Equitable Building, Collins St., Melbourne.
Terms to the Lord's Poor as Follows: – All Bible Students who, by reason of old age, or other infirmity or adversity, are unable to pay for this Journal, will be supplied Free if they send a Postal Card each May stating their case and requesting its continuance. We are not only willing, but anxious, that all such be on our list continually and in touch with the Studies, etc.
INTERNATIONAL BIBLE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION MEETINGS
Morning Rally, 9:30 o'clock at Vermont Hall, Grand River and Trumbull avenues. Discourse for the Public by Brother Russell at Light Guard Armory 2:30 p.m. Topic "Hereafter."
Railroads have granted the very low rate of one cent per mile during the Appalachian Exposition now being held in Knoxville. This rate is open to all and good for the dates of the convention.
Many of the friends throughout the South who could not go to Jamestown because of the great distance, will rejoice to know of a convention so much nearer home. For particulars as to lodging, meals, etc., address Brother R. A. Parham, 5 Maloney avenue, S. Knoxville, Tenn.
Brother Russell's topic for the Public discourse will be "Hereafter." This Sunday meeting will be held at Staub's Theatre, corner Gay and Cumberland Sts., at 3 p.m.; other meetings will be held at Market Hall. It is expected that Brothers Stevens, Bohnet, Raymond and Rutherford will also be speakers.
The Rally for Praise, Prayer and Testimony, at 10:30 a.m. and the Discourse for the interested at 7:30 p.m., will be in the Dearborn Memorial Hall, corner Lake avenue and Hall street. Discourse for the Public at Keith's Theater, Hanover street, near Elm, at 3 p.m. Topic, "Overthrow of Satan's Empire."
Morning Rally for Praise and Testimony at 10:30 o'clock, in the Brooklyn Tabernacle, 13-17 Hicks St. The evening Praise service, 7 p.m., and Question Meeting at 7:30 o'clock, will also be in the Tabernacle. Discourse for the Public at 3:00 p.m., by Brother Russell, will be in the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lafayette Ave. and St. Felix St.
| BROOKLYN BETHEL HYMNS FOR OCTOBER |
|---|
After the close of the hymn the Bethel Family listens to the reading of "My Vow Unto the Lord," then joins in prayer. At the breakfast table the MANNA text is considered: (1) 138; (2) 165; (3) 135; (4) 145; (5) 170; (6) 283; (7) 60; (8) 208; (9) 179; (10) 172; (11) 301; (12) 229; (13) 50; (14) 22; (15) 30; (16) 32; (17) 12; (18) Vow; (19) 324; (20) 103; (21) 46; (22) 286; (23) 325; (24) 105; (25) 127; (26) 130; (27) 93; (28) 281; (29) 164; (30) 95; (31) 7. |
SERIES I., The Plan of the Ages, gives an outline of the Divine plan revealed in the Bible, relating to man's redemption and restitution: 386 pages, in embossed cloth, 35c. (1s. 6d.) India paper edition, 75c. (3s. 1½d.).
This volume has been published as a special issue of our journal – at the extremely low price of 5c. a copy, in any quantity, postage included. (To foreign countries, 9c.) This enables people of slender purse to herald far and wide the good tidings in a most helpful form.
SERIES II., The Time is at Hand, treats of the manner and time of the Lord's second coming, considering the Bible Testimony on this subject: 370 pages, in embossed cloth, 35c. (1s. 6d.) India paper edition, 75c. (3s. 1½d.)
SERIES III., Thy Kingdom Come, considers prophecies which mark events connected with the "Time of the End," the glorification of the Church and the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom; it also contains a chapter of the Great Pyramid, showing its corroboration of the dates and other teachings of the Bible: 384 pages, in embossed cloth, 35c. (1s. 6d.) India paper edition, 75c. (3s. 1½d.)
SERIES IV., The Day of Vengeance, shows that the dissolution of the present order of things is in progress, and that all the panaceas offered are valueless to avert the predicted end. It marks in these events the fulfilment of prophecy, noting specially our Lord's great prophecy of Matt. 24 and Zech. 14:1-9: 660 pages, in embossed cloth, 35c. (1s. 6d.) India paper edition 85c. (3s. 6½d.)
SERIES V., The Atonement Between God and Man, treats an all-important subject – the hub, the center around which all the features of Divine grace revolve. Its topic deserves the most careful and prayerful consideration on the part of all true Christians: 507 pages, in embossed cloth, 35c. (1s. 6d.) India paper edition, 85c. (3s. 6½.)
SERIES VI., The New Creation, deals with the Creative Week (Genesis 1 and 2), and with the Church, God's "New Creation." It examines the personnel, organization, rites, ceremonies, obligations and hopes appertaining to those called and accepted as members of the Body under the Head: 740 pages, in embossed cloth, 35c. (1s. 6d.) India paper edition, 85c. (3s. 6½d.)
The above prices include postage.
We reply, No, the Editor of THE WATCH TOWER did not leave the Present Truth. He kept all the Truth that he then had and has added to it. The light has scattered some more of the darkness, so that, with the very same thought that he had four years ago, he now sees that he used the wrong word in expressing that thought. He now sees that he should have used the Scriptural term Advocate instead of the word Mediator. He now sees that himself and others in the past have used language too carelessly, because of the general confusion and mix-up handed down from the dark ages.
He now sees that the Scriptures nowhere say that the Church has a Mediator or ever will have a Mediator, and that they nowhere say that the Covenant of sacrifice, under which the Church is developed, has a Mediator. The Editor of THE WATCH TOWER is learning day by day more clearly to rightly divide the Word of Truth and to use Scriptural terms only. The Scriptures do say, "We have an Advocate with the Father." (I John 2:1.) They do not say anywhere, We have a Mediator between God and us. The Editor of THE WATCH TOWER is trying to assist God's people to think and speak correctly respecting the great work of Atonement for sin, the merit of which lies in the sacrifice of Jesus and the privilege to share in which is granted to the elect during this Gospel Age.
The same critic innocently asks for any Bible text to show that the Church, the Bride of Christ, does not need a Mediator. How foolish! Does the Bible undertake to say all the things that are not so? One would think that no special ability would be necessary to discern that there is no need of a Mediator between friends. We never had this thought! When we used the word as respects the Church we used it thoughtlessly, just as our opponents are using it now; we used it without noticing that the Bible nowhere intimates a Mediator between the Father and the Church. It is because Present Truth is progressive that we have clearer light on the same facts than we had four years ago, even as we then had clearer light than we enjoyed years before that. The Editor of THE WATCH TOWER has believed in Jesus as his Redeemer from childhood. He did not understand the philosophy of The Divine Plan of the Ages then, but nevertheless, his simple faith was a sufficient basis for a consecration of his all to the Lord, and a sufficient basis for the Divine acceptance of the sacrifice and the begetting of the holy Spirit. Since then the light of this harvest time has been shining more and more clearly as the years go by. The light of Present Truth does not contradict the light of past Truth, but confirms it and further clarifies our vision and increases our hope and our joy. And is not this true of all of God's people now walking in the narrow way? Those who are now "waking up" to a realization of the fact that for seventeen years they have been in darkness are acknowledging that they have not been walking for those seventeen years in the "path of the just, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day." For the past seventeen years of their lives, the seventeen years of their best Christian experience, they believed that the Vine and the branches are one – that the Head and his Members are one; that the sufferings of The Christ are one – that the Church fills up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ – that the death of Christ is one – that the Church becomes dead with him sacrificially, after having been justified through faith in his blood, his sacrifice. For seventeen years they believed that the Prophet spake of the sufferings of Christ (Head and Body) and the glory that shall follow; that to be dead with him signifies to be baptized into his sacrificial death as in contrast with Adam's penalty – death. And to drink of his cup signifies a share of his sufferings and that the hope before all such is, that "if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him"; and "if we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him." For seventeen years these friends told us that they believed and rejoiced in St. Paul's sentiments of Phil. 3:9-11, the hope to be found in Christ (members of his Body), not having their own righteousness, which is of the Law (Covenant), but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which [R4680 : page 292] is of God by faith (not by the New (Law) Covenant), that we might know him and the power of his resurrection (sharing his resurrection as his members) and the fellowship of his sufferings (being partakers of the sufferings of Christ), being made conformable unto his death (not a different death from his, but a similar one – not a death as a sinner, but a sacrificial one), if by any means I might attain unto The resurrection of The dead.
We are not murmuring nor complaining against these friends because of the great loss which they have sustained – the loss of spiritual sight into the deep things of God – into "the mystery, which is Christ in you the hope of glory." We compassionate their loss and remember the Master's words, "If the light that is in thee become darkness, how great is that darkness!" While not attempting to judge the hearts of any who have gone out from us, we may be confident that the Lord did not allow them to go out without a sufficient reason. We regard their loss of spiritual sight as a Divine judgment upon them, just as truly as we regard the opening of the eyes of their understanding as a mark of Divine favor. Remembering that the Lord is not dealing arbitrarily either in receiving his people into the light nor in casting some out of the light, we are bound to suppose that there were conditions of heart in these, our friends, with which the Lord was not well pleased. The lesson to us is that we must walk in the light and that we must put away from our hearts and, as far as possible from our flesh, everything contrary to the Divine standards of meekness, gentleness, purity, justice, love, "if by any means we would attain unto The resurrection of The dead."
Before dismissing this subject we must answer another foolish question, namely, What answer do we make to the following: –
A certain sister owning property in her own name found that her husband had taken possession of it, rents, monies, all, and that he ignored her entirely in the matter. Upon her request to have some of her own money and property given her by her father, the husband became angry and sought out some of our opponents. The latter, after the usual course, partially misrepresented our teachings respecting the atonement for sin. The husband replied, That's what my wife says. She says, "Jesus didn't die for you; he died for me – but not for you; I will die for you." What will we answer to this? We answer that we would not believe a man on oath who was trying to cheat his wife out of her own money. We do not believe that the wife said anything of the kind, nor that she has any such idea. We believe that the husband misrepresented his wife's statement, just as our opponents uniformly misrepresent THE WATCH TOWER statements. A half-truth may be an untruth, if it gives a misconception and is intended so to do. A truthful statement would not serve the purpose of our opponents, for the Truth is logical as nothing else is. St. Paul remarked, "We be slanderously reported." The same is true today. The self-contradictions of our opponents are remarkable. In one breath they tell us that they have been deceived by us for seventeen years. In the next they say that we have changed within the last three years. In the next they affirm that they are in accord with everything in the SCRIPTURE STUDIES, and yet they are opposing them as best they are able. Oh, inconsistency, thou art not a jewel; nor dost thou reflect beauty or credit upon anybody!
In all of our writings for the past thirty years we have pointed out the New Covenant as coming fully into operation at the close of this Gospel Age. We have pointed out that it is the Covenant under which restitution blessings are to come to the world of mankind. We pointed it out as the Keturah Covenant – separate and distinct from the Hagar Covenant, under which natural Israel was developed, typified by Ishmael and separate and distinct also from the original Abrahamic Covenant, typified by Sarah, whose seed Isaac typified The Christ, Head and Body. We saw and pointed out to others, so that they saw, that the antitypical Isaac – The Christ, Head and Body – is the Melchisedec Priest, of which Jesus is the Head and the Church his Body – the great Priest under whom the New Covenant is to be made effective to Israel and to the world of mankind through Israel. We pointed out also that the elect Church of this Gospel Age, a "Royal Priesthood," must all offer sacrifice; as the Apostle declares, "Every priest is ordained of God to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sin." We pointed out that our Lord Jesus is the great High Priest of our profession and that he offered himself in sacrifice and that he required that all [R4681 : page 292] who would be with him in his Throne must walk in his steps – after being justified through faith in his blood. We pointed out that this is what is referred to in the Scriptures as the Covenant by sacrifice, "Gather my saints unto me, those who have made a Covenant with me by sacrifice." (Psa. 50:5.) We associated this sacrificing of the earthly nature by all those who would be partakers of the divine nature with the Apostle's exhortation of Hebrews 9:23. We called attention to the fact that the word sacrifices is in the plural and refers not only to the most important sacrifice made by our Lord and Redeemer, but that it applies also to the sacrifices of all those whom he accepts as his members of the Royal Priesthood. These are the "better sacrifices," which were typified by the bulls and goats of the typical Atonement Day.
We saw and mentioned that the Church as priests, while under the Covenant of Grace, the primary Covenant, the Sarah Covenant, have a work to do in connection with the New Covenant. As the Apostle says, "We are able (or qualified) ministers (or servants) of the New Covenant." But we see more clearly now than we did ten years ago just how we serve the New Covenant – that as members of the Body of the Mediator of that Covenant, we are associated with him in making preparation for its inauguration. We are serving it in the sense that he served it, only in an inferior degree and not individually, but in him, as "members of the Body," members of the "Royal Priesthood," to whom "old things have passed away and all things have become new." We see now more clearly than ever the meaning of our precious relationship to God in Christ as members of the antitypical Isaac, through whose mercy Israel and the world shall obtain mercy, under the provision of the New Covenant put into operation as soon as the Royal Priesthood shall have completed the appointed work of sacrifice. – Romans 11:27-30.
Our opponents can all agree that they disagree with THE WATCH TOWER, but they cannot agree amongst themselves on anything doctrinal. Nor do they see, seemingly, that fault-finding is not proof. Let them try to set forth The Divine Plan of the Ages from their own standpoint. They cannot do it. Their theories are illogical and inconsistent. They take our logical presentation as a basis and make a few turns and twists to suit themselves, failing to see that whatever they add or subtract is so much confusion. That is the reason why so many who leave the Truth take a few paces after the claimed "new light" and then drop out forever into the blackness of outer darkness of unbelief and uncertainty about everything. [R4681 : page 293]
Let such of our opponents as are honest sit down calmly and figure out the Covenants and their mediators. Thus only will they see the weakness of their present attitude.
(1) Which was the original Covenant to which the Law was added four hundred and thirty years after. – (Gal. 3:17)?
(2) Would it be proper to speak of that original Covenant as the same that God promised he would make "after those days" and which he styles the "New Covenant"?
(3) If so, of what use is language, except to mislead and confuse?
(4) It is admitted that St. Paul declares that the original Covenant had no Mediator; that it was a uni-lateral or one-sided Covenant which needed no Mediator.
(5) On the contrary, it is admitted that the Mosaic or Law Covenant was a type of the New Covenant – that it could not be a type of a Covenant which preceded it.
It is conceded that the Law Covenant and its priests and their services typified the New Covenant with its higher or "royal priesthood" and antitypical Atonement Day and "better sacrifices," whose blood is brought into the antitypical Most Holy to make sin-atonement and whose bodies were burned outside the antitypical camp – Heb. 13:11.
If a type cannot follow its antitype, surely, then, it could not be "added" to its antitype. Surely no great wisdom is necessary to see this. "We, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise" – the children of the original Sarah Covenant – barren for nearly two thousand years.
The Redeemer is our Advocate, through whose imputed merit we, with him, are admitted to membership in the Spiritual Seed under his "Covenant by sacrifice" – symbolized by the offering of Isaac. Sacrificing with him and accepted as his members we shall soon with him constitute the great antitypical Moses (Acts 3:22,23), the Mediator of the New (Law) Covenant – between God and men – through Israel after the flesh.
We answer that there is no direct statement in those words, nor is it necessary. What is not stated is not to be understood. That is a rule of all reason and logic. It is what is stated that is to be taken into consideration. There was no mediator mentioned. It is for those who claim that the Abrahamic Covenant had a Mediator to prove it.
The Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Hebrews (6th chapter) tried to show the strength and power of the Abrahamic Covenant; but he does not tell us of or point to any Mediator as having had charge of it. On the other hand, he does point to God's Word and God's oath as the foundation of that Covenant. He says that it was approved to us by two immutable things – that God could neither lie nor break his oath. The Apostle very particularly shows that the Law Covenant was added to the Abrahamic Covenant and that, added 430 years afterward, it had a Mediator.
So St. Paul proceeds to explain that in the case of that original Covenant, because there was but one party, there was no need of a Mediator. A Mediator stands between two parties to see that each does his part. Moses was the Mediator of the Law Covenant. He stood between God and Israel. (Deut. 5:5.) On the one hand he represented God and on the other, Israel. But as respects the Abrahamic Covenant there was only one party. God is that One. Therefore there was no need of a Mediator. Why not? Because God did not make any condition with which the Seed of Abraham would have to comply. He gave his oath to this Covenant, instead of a Mediator. God said I will do it; therefore there was no place for a Mediator. And there was no Mediator. The original Covenant did not say how many additional or subordinate Covenants would be made.
As to the promised Seed of Abraham, God did not explain how he would secure to Abraham such a wonderful Seed as would bless all the families of the earth. Abraham did not know how this was to be done. We know how God secures to Abraham this wonderful Seed. He set before his Son the promise of a great reward. And he, for the sake of the glory set before him, humbled himself to become a man. When he left the heavenly glory he was merely preparing to fulfil the Covenant. He was not yet the Seed of Abraham. Jesus the babe was of Abraham's seed according to the flesh, but not the Seed of Abraham mentioned in the Covenant. Even when Jesus was thirty years of age he was not the Seed of Abraham referred to in that Covenant. It was not until he voluntarily offered himself in consecration at Jordan that he became the Seed of Abraham. At that very moment the Seed of Abraham began to be represented in him – when he received the begetting of the holy Spirit. He reached completion as the Head of that Seed when on the third day he arose from the dead to the spirit condition. In other words, the Seed of Abraham was not yet in existence when God made that promise or Covenant to Abraham.
Then Jesus set before his followers that same joy; and when we consecrate similarly we enter into a Covenant with God by sacrifice, as "members" of the Anointed One. We thus agree to present our bodies, to lay down our lives. And we have the promise that God will raise us up as the Body to the same exalted condition of heavenly glory to which he raised our Redeemer and Master. "If ye be Christ's (if ye comply with the conditions), then are ye Abraham's Seed and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3:29.) In a certain sense we are already the Seed of Abraham, but not until we share "his (Jesus') resurrection" will we be the Seed in the complete sense. The first work which that Seed will do will be to extend this great promise that God has made world-wide. Its utmost breadth will be attained by instituting a New Covenant with Israel by which Israel may attain eternal life on the human plane, and all nations through Israel.
A Covenant between two parties, both contracting, requires a Mediator. As, for instance, in the ordinary affairs of life, the general law of the State steps in and serves as mediator between all contracting parties. And so in contracts between God and men, it is necessary to have a Mediator. But suppose you said to me, I intend to give you tomorrow this diamond ring. Should I ask, Where is the Mediator? Who will guarantee to me that you will give me the ring? You would probably [R4682 : page 294] answer, There is no need of a Mediator; it is a voluntary gift. And so in our Covenant of sacrifice. It is a voluntary act. God has made a certain provision: "Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear." We agree to enter into our sacrifice voluntarily and our Advocate agrees to help us. If we do these things that we have agreed to do, we get the reward – glory, honor and immortality.
In the Abrahamic Covenant God's oath, attesting his Word, served to ratify the Covenant, to make it binding, to hold it sure. It thus took the place which might have been occupied by a Mediator, had there been conditions mutually binding upon the Almighty and upon some of his people. There was no Mediator, because, as already stated, the promise was an unconditional one: God proffered to do certain things – to provide through Abraham's posterity a Seed capable of blessing the world. Hence no Mediator was necessary.
But notice that St. Paul, in speaking of this Abrahamic Covenant (Heb. 6:17), declares that God "confirmed it by an oath." The word here rendered confirmed is defined by Strong's lexicon, to interpose (as, arbiter). Young defines the Greek word mesiteuo, rendered confirmed in our text, "to be or act as a Mediator."
Thus the angels were tested by contact with sin for centuries – so that all of those who desired had opportunity to transgress the Divine Laws. The disobedient ones are referred to in the New Testament as those angels who kept not their first estate or spirit condition, but who preferred to live on the earthly, animal plane. These were restrained in chains of darkness until the great Millennial morning – cut off from fellowship with God and the holy angels and no longer permitted to materialize and thus to commingle with humanity. – 2 Peter 2:4.
When God's due time came he called Abraham to make of him a type of himself, and to give him a son, Isaac, to be a type of Christ, and to call for Isaac a Bride, Rebecca, who would be a type of the elect Church of this Gospel Age. And as with Rebecca came maids, so with the elect Church comes the "great company" class. As Abraham offered Isaac on the altar in a figure and he was recovered from death in a figure, so God really offered his Son in death and recovered him out of death actually by resurrection from the dead. As all that Abraham had he gave to Isaac, so it is that all the blessings that God has to give to all others of the human family who will become his people will come through the antitypical Isaac. And when Rebecca became Isaac's bride and joint-heir, she became sharer with him in all the joys and privileges which were his. Thus was represented the future glory of the Church with Christ in blessing all the families of the earth.
Moreover a double figure is used to represent The Christ, namely, Jesus the Head and the Church his Body. In the fulfilling of this figure the Apostle tells us that all of the consecrated overcomers are members of the Isaac class, saying, "Ye, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise." The Church as the Bride is pictured in St. Paul's statement, "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's Seed and heirs according to the promise" – the promise that through us the world shall be blessed. – Gal. 3:29.
While the foregoing is a brief synoptical picture of the whole, the details of Abraham's life represent the details of the Divine Plan of the Ages. As Abraham had the promise that he should be the Father of many nations, it implies that, eventually, many peoples of the world will become God's children – but only through Isaac and through the promise made respecting Isaac's work. Furthermore, the Seed of Abraham, it was foretold, would be as the stars of heaven and as the sand of the seashore. The stars of heaven represent the spiritual Seed of Abraham. The sand of the seashore represent the multitudinous earthly seed, the human family brought back to life during the Millennium, the result of the redemptive plan.
St. Paul gives us the key to the entire situation in the suggestion that Abraham's wives were typical of Covenants and this explains to us the seemingly harsh treatment of Hagar. Abraham was obeying Divine instructions, and the Divine instructions were so shaped as to constitute the matter in type a picture and lesson for our instruction. Abraham's first wife was Sarah. St. Paul explains that Sarah typified a fundamental promise, and her name, Sarah, signifies princess or chief one. This princess Covenant, the one upon which all the others depended for their fulfillment, is the one which fulfills its mission or purpose in the development of the spiritual Seed – Isaac – "We as Isaac was are children of the promise." This Covenant has nothing whatever to do with the development of any other children of God except through the Isaac class, the Mediator class, the great Prophet, Priest and King class, through which all of God's blessings are to descend to humanity.
Because Sarah was to serve as a type of spiritual things she was barren for long years, to teach that God's primary Covenant with Abraham would be barren (unfruitful) for long centuries. Meantime, in order to make another type, Sarah's bondmaid, Hagar, was given to Abraham for a wife, Sarah seeking to appropriate the child of Hagar as the Seed of promise – as her own. Hagar represented the Law Covenant made with Israel at Sinai, as St. Paul explains. The child or offspring of [R4682 : page 295] that Covenant was the Jewish nation, Israel in the flesh. The fact that Sarah sought to recognize Ishmael as her son and held Hagar in her arms at the time of his birth, implied that the Law Covenant with Moses as its Mediator would, for a time, seem to constitute Israel the heir of the original Covenant – which included the blessing of all the families of the earth. But this was not the Divine will.
And so, in God's due time, Sarah brought forth Isaac, who typed the true heir of the Covenant or Promise. This birth of Isaac was represented primarily by the begetting of our Lord Jesus Christ by the holy Spirit to the spirit nature; and, later on, by his resurrection to the perfection of spirit nature; and in a larger sense, as St. Paul explains (Ye, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise), the birth of Isaac represented the begetting by the holy Spirit of the entire Church, which is the Body of Christ. Then came the persecution, the mocking of Isaac by Ishmael and the subsequent casting out from Divine favor of the Hagar or Law Covenant and her child, the Jewish people. They have been outcast for centuries and were about to die – about to lose their national identity, about to be absorbed by other nations, just as Hagar and Ishmael, after being cast out, wandered through the desert until they had eaten their loaf and had drank the water they had with them and Ishmael was ready to die. Then the angel of the Lord drew their attention to a spring of water in the desert and, after their refreshment, counseled their return and submission to the Divine arrangement – their recognition of the Sarah Covenant and spiritual Israel. We have come close to this very point of time now. The poor Jews, losing hope, were about ready to die, to give up all faith in the promises. But, behold, at the opportune time, a well-spring of hope revives them and the message to them is that there is a spiritual Israel and also a natural Israel and that their blessings are along natural lines and must come to them through the recognition of the glorified Mediator of a New (Law) Covenant.
The Apostolic explanation of this wonderful system of types stops here. And we would be inclined to stop here also, were it not that other Scriptures clearly point out that later on, after the death of the Hagar Covenant and after the principal Covenant shall have accomplished its purposes in the bringing forth of spiritual Israel, the antitypical Isaac, a New Covenant is due to be introduced "after those days" – after the interim of this Gospel Age specially set apart for the development of the antitypical Isaac. That New Covenant is referred to by St. Paul. When discussing this very subject he says respecting natural Israel's restoration to Divine favor, "This is my Covenant with them when I shall take away their sins; as concerning the Gospel they are enemies for your sakes; but [R4683 : page 295] as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes,...for as ye in times past have not believed God, but have now obtained mercy through their unbelief; even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all." – Rom. 11:26-32.
The same great Covenant, future for Israel, is referred to by the Prophet Jeremiah. (31:31.) Israel is there told that after certain days God will make a New Covenant with them, not the Sinaitic Covenant – not the Hagar Covenant – and just as surely not the Sarah Covenant, which gives birth only to a spiritual Israel. The prophecies respecting that New Covenant are earthly, restitutionary. Under it, "after those days," God will take away the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh – he will make them tender-hearted human beings, loving, kind, etc. But he will not make of them spirit beings or New Creatures.
The Mediator of that New Covenant, Israel understood, will be a greater Mediator than Moses, though like unto him in the sense that Moses was the type or small fore-finger of him. Even so the Mt. Sinai Covenant, with Israel as the Ishmael class gendered thereunder, were typical of the greater blessings and upliftings to be accomplished by the New (Law) Covenant. For these reasons the Lord did not confuse the types by reinstating Hagar as Abraham's wife after the death of Sarah, as representing a renewal of Divine favor toward Israel and the use of natural Israel as the earthly channel of Divine favor and blessing to all the families of the earth. Instead, God permitted Hagar to cease as a type after showing her subserviency to Sarah and the recovery of her child, the Jew, from perishing. When Abraham, after the death of Sarah, took another wife, Keturah, we have every reason to believe that she, also, was a type and represented a third Covenant. And her many children represented typically the many people, kindreds and tongues of the world which will ultimately become, under the New Covenant arrangement, children of the Highest.
Nevertheless it should be continually borne in mind that in this series of types the Lord everywhere showed the superiority of the Sarah Covenant. In one sense of the word Sarah was Abraham's only wife, because Hagar and Keturah are mentioned merely as concubines. Thus the Divine Plan all centered in the promise, "In thy Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Nevertheless the Jew and his Law Covenant have been used of the Lord as a supplementary means of blessing and instruction to the Church and to the world. Likewise in the future the blessings that will go to Israel and through Israel to the world under the New Covenant will all depend upon the first Covenant, the Sarah Covenant, the spiritual one and its spiritual Seed – The Christ, Head and Body. The New Covenant can go into effect as a better Covenant than the Mosaic one only by reason of having a better Mediator than Moses, "The Mediator of the New Covenant" – The Christ. And he will become the Mediator of that Covenant and put it into effect for the blessing of all through or by means of his "better sacrifices." First, the sacrifice of Jesus, the foundation of all reconciliation with the Father – "and we through him." Secondly, the Father's acceptance of the Church as members of the Body of Christ, upon the condition mentioned by St. Paul, "I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies living sacrifices, holy, acceptable unto God." These are the better sacrifices which the great Mediator presents to Justice, all founded upon the merit of the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. His merit will be shared in, through God's arrangement, by the "little flock," the Royal Priesthood, who not only by faith accept the Redeemer's merit, but who, by grace, also lay down their lives. They become dead with him, that they may also live with him and share his glory, honor, immortality, Kingship, Priesthood, Mediatorship, etc.
We answer that we would not think that this fact would constitute a ground or warrant for concluding that such had made his calling and election sure. It might be considered, rather, as an indication to the contrary, yet we think we should not, under such circumstances, be discouraged, but conclude that if our hearts had continued loyal to the Lord we were now merely enduring a test of faith and that the proper course would be to stand firm in the faith, in the spirit of the words of Job, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." It seems that the Lord desires his people to abide in his love continually and has made the arrangement that our standing in him, our peace of heart, shall depend upon our faithfulness to conscience and to duty, or rather our faithfulness to duty, according to our conscience.
Evidently the condition which the Lord desires most is that we shall day by day keep close to him; that we shall see that no day passes by in which we have not striven to do the Lord's will, and that if we have failed to do the Divine will, according to our conception of that will, we should at once take the matter to the Throne of Grace in prayer and supplication until we have the realization of Divine forgiveness and reconciliation. Thus living day by day we may feel sure that we are abiding in the love of God and may feel each day that so far as that day is concerned we had made "our calling and election sure"; that we are abiding in that condition which would make sure to us the "prize" at the end of the way.
But if in any degree we should seem to be separated in a measure from the Lord and his love and lack the realization of his favor we should not conclude that we are not in the right condition of full acceptance with him, because we know that our Lord, as he neared the end, had considerable fear of this kind. He had a fear that he had not fully complied with all the conditions, and "with strong crying and tears" he made supplication "to him who was able to save him out of death, and was heard in respect to the thing which he feared." He feared that he had been unfaithful; he feared that in some way, unintentionally, he had failed to conform to the Divine requirements.
Again, we remember that in his dying hour, it was the Father's will that he should experience a full cutting off and hiding of the Father's face, so that he cried out in his anguish, "My God! My God! Why hast thou forsaken me?" What have I done that I should be denied fellowship with thee? And so, if this was true of him, it might be true of any of his disciples; our conscience, therefore, might not always be a safe guide as to what would constitute an acceptable condition with the Lord. So the Apostle Paul, after referring to the fact that others might misjudge us and that it was a small thing that he should be judged of his brethren or of any man, continued, "Yea, I judge not mine own self." I realize that I am not competent to judge even my own case. There is One that judgeth me, even God.
So it is in our experiences. We have found some with very sensitive consciences who are continually inclined to reprove themselves as always failing, as always doing something wrong. It seems to be their normal condition to feel so. Such persons might easily make a mistake respecting the diagnosis of their case. Others, the very reverse of this, continually feel well satisfied with themselves, even though they are not in full harmony with the Lord. So those who are overly conscientious and those who are lacking in conscientiousness in their judgment of themselves, should seek to make up these deficiencies of their own conscience so that they can arrive at a right judgment, can be in harmony with the Divine judgment.
At the same time we are to remember that all that we can do that will constitute us acceptable in coming to the Lord will be the exercise and cultivation of faith. Our faith should not be in ourselves, because such faith is merely self-confidence. We are to realize that we have nothing that would commend us to God. We are to realize that we come short continually; that it is not possible for any one to come up to the perfect standard; therefore we are to be continually in the attitude represented [R4684 : page 296] in the Lord's prayer, "Forgive us our trespasses," feeling sure that we have trespassed, and seeking meanwhile to minimize these trespasses, to be so faithful that these will become less and less daily in the Lord's sight.
But from our own experience we would consider the proper thought to be, "Have I lived today as best I knew how, and are the accounts right with the Lord, and is there anything that I can do better tomorrow than today, in the light of the experiences of today? Can I be wiser, can I be stronger, can I be more self-sacrificing?" When we are doing the best we can do, we are to know that the Lord does not expect more than that of us.
We remember a remark made by a brother at one of the conventions. He said, "I am doing the very best that I can, and I am trusting in the Lord." We remember our reply that we thought that a very wonderful testimony – for any one to be able to say, conscientiously, that he was doing the very best that was possible for him to do. Personally, we never know when we have done the very best possible. We always try the next day to see if we can do better; but if any one has reached the place where he has done the very best possible, he has surely done well. We feel at times that we have done the very best, yet we very rarely close a day in which we come to the conclusion that we have done the very best we could possibly do in every particular, in every item of the day; and so we try to mark those points in which we might have done better, that we may have the benefit of those experiences on the morrow.
But if our hearts have been loyal to the Lord and we have been serving him to the best of our ability, striving to bring every word and every action and every thought into full subjection to the will of God – if this has been our endeavor, then we may feel satisfied that God is pleased with us; that we are in the condition that he has declared is acceptable with him; that we are in the way to gain the great "Prize" he has to give. But we are not guaranteed this for the morrow, but only for that moment; and so the Lord wishes us to live moment by moment and to realize his blessing moment by moment, and not to think that our case is decided and ended. Our question, then, should not be, "Will we feel satisfied at some future time?" but rather, "What is my experience now, this moment?" Sufficient unto each day are its trials and difficulties. [R4684 : page 297]
The question is also asked, Should we assume that none will remain on this side of the vail long after the Harvest work is fully closed?
Our thought is that there will be privileges of service down quite close to the time of trouble; that there will not be a long period of waiting in which we would have no opportunities of service. Of course, this is purely conjecture; nothing that we think of in the Scriptures states so positively, but there are so many ways of service that we can hardly imagine that all opportunities of service would be cut off. If we were cut off from public service, there would still be a great deal of service, or opportunity for service, in a private way. We can hardly imagine such a condition arising in the world as would cut us off from all service, public and private, until the time of trouble would be so thoroughly upon the world as to stop business and all else. It is our expectation that nearly all the saints will be gone by the time the trouble is so intense that there will be no opportunity for service of any kind.
Suppose, however, for illustration, that for some reason the mails would close, or some other situation should arise that would practically separate us from the world in general, we would still have opportunities of serving one another, and many of the Lord's people have found that their severest trials come in the rendering of service to those closest to them. We have known of cases where husbands found it very much easier to render service to others than to their own families, their wives and children. We have known of instances in which it was the same with the wife, and with the children. Sometimes our severest trials, therefore, may lie very close at home, and our very best opportunities for service consequently may be very close at hand. So we think that when the time comes when all opportunities of service shall be cut off it will mean that the end is close and that the time of trouble is here; and if any of us were here under these conditions, we should fear that we were going to be of the "great company" and have our share in the "time of trouble."
But, on the other hand, we do not know to what extent this trouble that will prevail upon the "great company" may be in some measure also upon the "little flock." Many of the "little flock" may go into a great deal of trouble. We do know that all the Church, the "little flock" and the "great company" will suffer great tribulation. The Scriptures say of the "little flock," "Through much tribulation we must enter the Kingdom," and it will be through much tribulation that the "great company," though failing to get a place in the Kingdom class, will be fitted for their position; so there will be "much tribulation" for both classes. Perhaps this will be the outward tribulation. We are not competent to say at this time; we do not see clearly what the Lord meant when he said, "Watch, ye, therefore, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape those things coming upon the world and to stand before the Son of Man." We do not know whether he meant that we should be accounted worthy to escape all this outward trouble coming upon the world in general and to literally stand before the Son of Man, in the sense of being translated, perfected New Creatures beyond the vail, or whether, on the other hand, he may have meant, "Watch," in your course of life, and be so faithful to the Lord that you may be accounted worthy to stand and not fall in the day of the presence of the Son of Man, escaping those things which are coming upon the world in the sense of not having the anguish of mind that will be upon the world while being in some of the tribulation with them.
It is a great deal like hunting or fishing. Some people go hunting every year, and though they do a lot of hunting, it is no sure indication of how much they get. Some do a lot of fishing, but do not get many fish. Bible study is very much the same. It is not the amount of time we spend in poring over a passage, but the amount of information we secure from the Bible.
The six volumes of SCRIPTURE STUDIES are not intended to supplant the Bible. There are various methods to be pursued in the study of the Bible and these aids to Bible study are in such form that they, of themselves, contain the important elements of the Bible as well as the comments or elucidations of those Bible statements, on exactly the same principle that our Lord and the Apostles quoted from the Old Testament, and then gave elucidations of those Old Testament passages. Many of the elucidations were such that if we had not had them, had not had specific interpretations, we might never have been able to discern the proper application of them.
The applications of the SCRIPTURE STUDIES are, of course, based upon those of the Lord and the Apostles. We do not feel that it would be in our province to give any interpretation except that which would be either already given by our Lord and the Apostles or such as would so fit and dovetail with their interpretations as to leave, in our judgment, no doubt as to the proper application of the Scriptures referred to and explained.
Those parts of the Bible which once we thought we understood well, we find that we did not understand at all. Some of the very things relative to the Ransom, relative to Salvation, we did not understand. Looking back over our experiences, we fully believed that there was a God and that he would reward those who diligently sought him, and that he had sent Jesus his Son, but how and why, we did not comprehend. We had wrong ideas as to what was the penalty for sin; wrong ideas as to why a Savior should come; entirely wrong ideas as to what the Savior did; wrong ideas as to what he was to do in the future, and as to what would be our relationship to the Father and the Savior. We knew, in some sense of the word, that we were called to be a son, but how to become a son and what was meant by the begetting of the holy Spirit, and kindred terms, we did not comprehend; and in our experience we have found none who ever did comprehend these things. [R4685 : page 298]
So we believe that the thought for us to take in this connection is that it is because we are living in this particular time, in the ending of this Age, that we are favored with such a clear unfolding of spiritual things. It is also our thought that present blessings of a temporal kind, such as the electric light, are due for similar reasons. We believe that any other explanation would confer too great honor upon the individual connected with the production. The very ablest minds in the world have examined these subjects, but now, by God's grace, we have come to the place where the vail is taken away and where we can see the real meaning of God's Word – not merely one person can see it, but hundreds, thousands, see it.
We think that we get the right conception to thus view it rather than to think that we had some great power which enabled us to put together a great system of theology, more wonderful than all other systems of theology put together – a thousand times more wonderful. Therefore, the simplest way to explain the matter is to acknowledge that the Lord's due time has come and that he has guided to the right understanding.
If, then, the Lord has provided us with something in our day that other days than those of the Apostles knew nothing about, no matter how good nor how wise they were – for us to ignore the line of teaching which has been thus developed would be, in our judgment, to ignore the Lord's providences. It is for each one to think for himself, however, and to guide his conduct in every way accordingly.
If the six volumes of SCRIPTURE STUDIES are practically the Bible topically arranged, with Bible proof-texts given, we might not improperly name the volumes – the Bible in an arranged form. That is to say, they are not merely comments on the Bible, but they are practically the Bible itself, since there is no desire to build any doctrine or thought on any individual preference or on any individual wisdom, but to present the entire matter on the lines of the Word of God. We therefore think it safe to follow this kind of reading, this kind of instruction, this kind of Bible study.
Furthermore, not only do we find that people cannot see the Divine Plan in studying the Bible by itself, but we see, also, that if anyone lays the SCRIPTURE STUDIES aside, even after he has used them, after he has become familiar with them, after he has read them for ten years – if he then lays them aside and ignores them and goes to the Bible alone, though he has understood his Bible for ten years, our experience shows that within two years he goes into darkness. On the other hand, if he had merely read the SCRIPTURE STUDIES with their references, and had not read a page of the Bible, as such, he would be in the light at the end of the two years, because he would have the light of the Scriptures.
Our thought, therefore, is that these SCRIPTURE STUDIES are a great assistance, a very valuable help, in the understanding of God's Word. If these books are to be of any value to us it must be because we see in them loyalty to the Word of God, and as far as our judgment goes, see them to be in full harmony with the Word and not antagonistic to it. Therefore, in reading them the first time, and perhaps the second time, and before we would accept anything as being our own personal faith and conviction, we should say, "I will not take it because these studies say so; I wish to see what the Bible says." And so we would study the Scriptures in the light of these SCRIPTURE STUDIES; we would prove every point, or disprove it, as the case might be. We would be satisfied with nothing less than a thorough investigation of the Bible from this standpoint.
If, after doing that, we should find the books to be in accord with the Bible, then we would think we were logical in saying, "I will not need to go through that process now every time that I read the SCRIPTURE STUDIES, for I have looked up those texts of Scripture and know certainly that the New Testament proves all those points." If, at the same time, in any future reading, we should come to a place where something did not seem clear to us and we thought of some Scripture which seemed not as harmonious with it as we had previously thought, we would think it our duty to refer at once to the Scriptures, because the Scriptures are the standard, and in that reference to the Scripture it would be with a view to discerning whether or not we had been mistaken in our previous examinations.
We would conclude, practically, that we could not understand anything about the Bible except as it was revealed. We would, therefore, not waste a great deal of time doing what we know some people do, reading chapter after chapter, to no profit. We would not think of doing it. We would not think we were studying the Scriptures at all. We would think we were following the course that had been anything but profitable to ourselves and many others in the past – merely reading over the Scriptures. We would say that the same Heavenly Father who had guided us to this Truth, to this understanding of the Scriptures as his children, if he had some further information for us he would bring it to our attention in some manner; and therefore we would not see the necessity of reading the New Testament every day or every year; we would not consider that necessary. We would consider that the Scripture which says, "They shall be all taught of God," would imply that in his own appointed way God would bring to our attention whatever feature of Divine truth would be "meat in due season for the household of faith."
Further, we would say that now, having satisfied ourselves respecting what the Divine Plan is, we would understand that we had reached the place that the Apostle speaks of as being a qualified ambassador of God, a qualified minister of the New Covenant, and that, as a servant or minister of the New Covenant, we now had a responsibility in making known these things that we had learned; that we were not put here primarily to read the Bible, but primarily to serve the Lord and his Truth. It was quite proper, however, that before we came to a knowledge of the Truth, and when we were in measurable discontent of mind as to what was the Truth, that we should refrain from telling anybody else.
We remember very well in our own personal experience that after we had tried some street preaching, etc., we came to the conclusion that there was something wrong; that we did not understand what we were trying to tell to others; that we did not understand with sufficient clearness to properly present it and make sure that we were representing the Lord and his message aright, and we said to ourself, "I will stop any endeavor to teach others until I know what I believe."
We think that should be the attitude of every one of us. Why should we attempt to preach or teach anything that we do not understand? So, after God favors us in this time with an understanding of Present Truth, he has given us a knowledge of more truth than we could have gained in a thousand years if we had read and [R4685 : page 299] studied unaided; and now we can attempt to present it to others. Why has he given us a knowledge of this Truth? He wishes us to be "thoroughly furnished unto every good word and work." Therefore, we should study that we may be able to speak the word of the Lord freely and know that we are not misrepresenting the Divine purpose and plan and character; and we ought therefore to give the more earnest heed to the opportunities for service and consider that the information which has been given us has been given for the very purpose that we may impart it to others – to those brethren and sisters of the Lord's family, some of whom are in Babylon yet, honest at heart, perhaps, and very desirous of knowing the truth, though perhaps very much blinded as we once were.
This is not, therefore, putting the SCRIPTURE STUDIES as a substitute for the Bible, because so far as substituting for the Bible, the STUDIES, on the contrary, continually refer to the Bible; and if one has any doubt as to a reference or if one's recollection should lapse in any degree, one should refresh his memory, and, in fact, should see that his every thought is in harmony with the Bible – not merely in accord with the SCRIPTURE STUDIES, but in accord with the Bible.
We might remark that quite a number of the friends in the Truth are making it a rule to read twelve pages of the SCRIPTURE STUDIES a day, and that we do not know one who has been following this course and making use of the various means of grace the Lord has provided (Dawn and testimony meetings and Sunday meetings and Pilgrim meetings and the Berean lessons, Manna text, etc.), who has gone out of the Truth. We know a great many who, on the contrary, have been of the opinion that they knew these things long ago, while in fact they do not know half of what they did know – they have forgotten more than half of what they read and they are those who are now stumbling – going into outer darkness.
We are not wishing in this to say anything against one's poring over chapters that he does not understand and others do not understand, hoping that he might light on some truth. We have no objection to this. He has a perfect right to do so if he wishes. He has a right to spend weeks and years in this way if he chooses, but the chances even then are that when he does light on something he will have it all wrong.
Furthermore, we would suggest that merely reading twelve pages of the SCRIPTURE STUDIES would not be studying in the proper sense of the word – neither studying the Bible nor studying the SCRIPTURE STUDIES. A proper study would be to think of the meaning of every word and every sentence. The thought is, it is not to see how much one can read, but to make sure that one goes no further than he comprehends or understands, whether that means one page or twenty pages. We should not [R4686 : page 299] consider it a Scripture study in any sense of the word unless our thought has grasped the matter from the standpoint of seeking to know what the Scriptures teach and seeking to call to mind these Scriptures that are being explained and to call to mind other texts, perhaps, that are not cited, or of which only a small portion is cited.
If one will do all this it will not be merely a reading but a study; and from this standpoint, whoever reads two pages of SCRIPTURE STUDIES each day with the suggested passages connected with those two pages, would do more Scripture studying in that time than he could do by any other method. Whenever he reads these pages and calls the corresponding or connecting Scriptures to mind he is drawing from the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, with practically every page he reads. Now is it possible to find any other Bible study that would accomplish as much for us in the same time as this would do? If there is we ought to take it. If there is not, then we have our option.
It is also reasonable to suppose that the whole life of Esau was careless of religious matters and interests. He married into families of surrounding heathen people, entirely in disregard of the promise made to Abraham, getting several worthless wives, according to his mother's statement. This being true, it seems quite likely that he and Jacob had many talks about God's promise to their grandfather Abraham, and how the fulfillment of the promise would come about, and that Esau had all along been an unbeliever; and now, when the opportune time came and they were both hungry and the food was there, Jacob said, "You don't care for your birthright, Esau, and you do not appreciate this promise made to Abraham; it does not count for anything to you; I will tell you what we will do. You may have the supper and I the birthright. Is it a bargain?" Esau said, "It is a bargain, for I am more desirous of the supper than the birthright."
It was a fair transaction. If one buys a house at a bargain and both buyer and seller are satisfied with the transaction, we would not say that it was cheating or robbery; and so with Jacob. The Abrahamic promise, so far as Esau's expectation was concerned, was not worth anything. He had no confidence in the promise. The Apostle Paul calls our attention to the matter and says that Esau was profane; that is, he did not count the promise of God as worth anything; he was willing to sell it for a mess of pottage, as though he was getting the better of the bargain, probably saying to himself, "That poor brother of mine does not know what life is; if he would only take a few lessons from me he would begin to live. Here he is believing something that God said to grandfather Abraham, and he thinks he will get something wonderful out of it some day. I do not think it worth considering." And so Esau doubtless thought he was the gainer over Jacob in getting the supper. [R4686 : page 300]
It has also been asked, "Why did Jacob attempt to deceive his father?" Jacob was trying to obtain that which he had bought and which he saw the seller would not deliver. Jacob knew his brother was a dishonest man to start with. All the arrangements were made for Esau to receive the blessing that he had sold, and now he was about to steal it. Jacob must have reasoned, "I will try to prevent his stealing it; I have bought the birthright; I have a right to represent Esau in this matter; I shall merely try to have justice done, to get my father to do that which is right and proper, that which I know is God's will, because God told our mother about the matter at the time of our birth – that the blessing was to come to me; and here in God's providence it has come to me in a legitimate way by my brother's not caring for it and my caring a great deal for it. Now it is only a question as to how I shall get it. As a matter of fact, Esau does not value the birthright except from the earthly standpoint. I know he does not care a whit for the promise made to father; he has no confidence in it. All he thinks about is the property that will go to me if I am recognized as the elder son."
Jacob knew that he would be in trouble if he would try to get the blessing, and yet he was so in love with the promise that a great blessing would come out of it, that he was willing to forego everything. He was willing to become an outcast from his home if he might only have the spiritual part of the promise, and so he left his home with the distinct understanding that he was losing his father's earthly possessions and getting only the spiritual blessing which Esau did not desire. He did not attempt to take from Esau the portion that Esau wanted.
Some one might query, if Jacob knew that the Lord promised him this blessing through his mother, was it not a lack of faith for him not to recognize that the Lord would give it to him without any deceit or misrepresentation? We suppose that if Jacob had lived in our day and had all the advantages that we have, the instructions of the Old and New Testaments and the begetting of the holy Spirit, he might have learned to exercise his faith, which was already a strong faith as respects God's promise; he might have learned to wait on the Lord. We have many advantages over him in all these respects. He had very few examples before him respecting the waiting on the Lord or anything of that kind, and he did at least show his zeal and energy and confidence in God in the course that he took; and for a person not begotten of the holy Spirit we think he did wonderfully well.
We think it well for us to remember in this connection that we should measure all of our ideas according to the Divine standard, and if we do not do so we make a mistake. The Divine standard rules. Now, according to the record, there was not a word said by the Lord against Jacob in this whole procedure, and if God had nothing to say against him, who are we that we should have?
When Jacob fled to Padan-aram for fear of his brother, forsaking his home and all the property that was his according to his purchase, willing to let it remain permanently in the hands of Esau, as he had intended to do anyway – when he fled from home and had nothing but a stone for his pillow, that very night the Lord appeared to him in a dream; a vision or picture was given him of the blessing that was his. This indicated that God's favor was with him. Now to think that God could and would conspire with an evil person is not our way of reasoning on the matter. We do not object to others reasoning differently. We will reason according to the standard the Lord raised, and say, "Thus it is written."
It may be that there was something not written in the record that might give a different view of the matter, one more easy to comprehend. The Apostle Paul commends Jacob's faith, but counts Esau's selling the birthright as reprehensible, and tells us that we should not be like the "profane person who sold his birthright." (Heb. 12:16.) In this Paul seems to intimate that there may be some who wish to sell their birthright and others who may wish to buy the birthright.
The Jews in our Lord's day who failed to accept the invitation of the Lord and who were not Israelites indeed, these sold, for the "mess of pottage" of earthly blessings and earthly favor, their heavenly, their spiritual rights; and we who are Gentiles and to whom this right did not appertain by nature, have been invited in to see if we will appreciate the privileges and win the prize – and we will win the prize; we will get the birthright of Esau and the Esau class will not get it.
The Sadducees opposed Jesus because, from their standpoint of unbelief, he was a fraud. But even as a fraud they would not have bothered themselves to oppose him, only that they perceived that he was gaining an influence with the people – an influence which they feared might, sooner or later, lead to some disturbance of the peace and unfavorably influence the conduct of the Roman Empire towards the Jews. So while the Sadducees and Pharisees both opposed Jesus, their opposition was for different reasons.
The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, and the crying of the multitude, "Hosanna to the Son of David," the Messiah! awakened envy in the minds of the Pharisees. But in the Sadducees it produced a fear that the common people should become so aroused as to involve their nation in some strife with the Empire. The Pharisees strove to turn away the sympathy of the people from the Great Teacher, and, to this end, sought to catch him in his words by putting the question,
They reasoned that if Jesus would say, It is not lawful, they would have little difficulty in having him arrested as a leader of sedition and thus compel Pilate to put him to death. They reasoned further that if Jesus should answer that it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar he would thereby alienate the sympathy of the multitude, which cried "Hosanna!" after him; for the Jews held, almost superstitiously, the idea that they, as God's Kingdom, must not pay tithes to any earthly Kingdom – that it would be irreverent to do so, excepting under compulsion. We notice how artfully they endeavored to ensnare the Master by complimenting him upon his truthfulness, saying, "Master, we know that thou art true!" Not only so, but they sought to impress upon him their appreciation of him as a Teacher – that he would teach the light, the Truth, at any cost. And so they said, "Thou teachest the way of God in truth!" And further, they fortified their position by saying, "We know that thou regardest not the person of men!"
These treacherous compliments were intended to ensnare him, but he promptly answered, "Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?" Why do you veil your base designs under guise of speaking for the Truth? "Show me the tribute money." This was, literally, the census coin in which the tax was to be paid. They handed him a denarius, the usual wage for the day laborer, corresponding in value to about seventeen of our cents. Jesus asked, "Whose is this image and superscription?" They answered, "Caesar's." Jesus replied, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's." No wonder the wily Pharisees were troubled to know how to catch him in his words! On the contrary, they were caught; for all of their complimentary remarks stood to his credit in the minds of the common people.
Next, the Sadducees, the agnostics, tried to entrap the Great Teacher by asking one of their stock questions. Seven different brothers in turn married the same woman and all died before she did. To which of them will she be wife in the resurrection? They did not ask, To which will she be wife in heaven or Purgatory or eternal torture, for neither Jesus nor the Jews held any such teaching. The Pharisees and Jesus taught the resurrection of the dead, and it was against this teaching that the Sadducees aimed their sarcastic question.
Note the majesty of the Master's answer: "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, neither the power of God!" You do not understand the Scripture teaching respecting such questions, and you are ignoring in your question the great Divine power which, at that resurrection time, will be exercised and will straighten out all the difficulties of the situation. Then the Great Teacher proceeded to inform them that such as would (gradually) attain to the resurrection, such as would get a complete raising up out of sin and death conditions, would "neither marry nor be given in marriage," but would be sexless, as are the angels. Thus the supposed great and unanswerable question of the Sadducees fell flat and their ignorance was exposed.
Next, one of the Doctors of the Law endeavored to entrap the Lord on a question of the relative importance of the Divine commandments, asking which Jesus considered the great one of all. The Great Teacher promptly divided the ten commandments into two, according to the Law (Deut. 6:5), and answered, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." This is the first and great (chief) commandment. And the second is like unto it – "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." What could the Lawyer say to such a summarization of the Law? He had nothing left to say. He was answered as never before.
The Great Teacher asked the Pharisees, "What think ye of the Messiah? Whose Son is he?" They answered, "The Son of David." The Teacher then queried, "How then doth David in spirit (prophetically) call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then calleth him Lord, how is he his Son?"
Of course the question was too deep for the Pharisees. The Great Teacher could answer all of their questions, but they could not answer his. How beautifully clear we see it to be that the Messiah, according to the flesh, was born of the lineage of David, but that God's purposes were not fully accomplished in Messiah of the flesh – that he lay down his flesh, sacrificially, and was raised from the dead to the plane of glory, honor and immortality, "far above angels, principalities and powers." We perceive that in the days of his flesh he was the Son of David, but that in his glorification he is David's Lord in that David will receive through him, in due time, not only resurrection from [R4687 : page 302] the dead, but also the blessings of participation in the Messianic Kingdom. The father of Messiah in the flesh will thus become the son of the Messiah of glory, whose earthly life is to be the restitution price for the whole world, including David. Thus it is written, "Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes (rulers) in all the earth." – Psa. 45:16.
At a German function in Berlin the story goes that a Colonel met a young officer unknown to him whose only decoration was a large medallion set in brilliants. The Colonel inquired, "Lieutenant, what is that you have on?" The young man replied modestly, "An order, Colonel." The Colonel replied, "Not a Prussian Order; I know of none such." "An English Order, Colonel," said the young man. "And who in the world gave it to you?" asked the Colonel. The reply was, "My grandmother." The old Colonel began to think that the young man was making game of him and inquired, "And who may your grandmother be?" To his utter astonishment and dismay the answer was, "Queen Victoria, of England." Here was a Prince in disguise. And so Jesus was the great King of Glory in disguise. "He was in the world and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not." – John 1:10.
The Christian has, so to speak, stepped out of his old self and become a New Creature, a Spirit being, which merely resides in the flesh and has interests that are distinctly separate and often antagonistic thereto. The Apostle urges these to walk in the spirit; that is to say, to let their daily course of life be in accord with their new nature. So doing, they will resist and not fulfil the desires of the flesh. Why? Because they will realize that there is an antagonism of interests as between the desires of the flesh and their desires as New Creatures. The two are at warfare, the one desiring against the other. There may be a truce for a time, but there will never be peace [R4688 : page 302] between them. Our interests as New Creatures are along spiritual lines, while our depraved appetites and tastes go in the opposite direction. Hence the Apostle said, "Ye cannot do the things that ye would!" As New Creatures you would follow in the footsteps of your Master, perfectly, but having fallen flesh, you cannot do this! You can only hobble after him at very most. But if we take this position and become his followers, we will be no longer under judgment according to the flesh, but will be judged as New Creatures, perfect in will – rendering the best obedience to righteousness we are capable of, under our handicap of imperfect human organism.
In order that none might make a mistake as to what would constitute the desires of the flesh, the Apostle recites them and declares that they are manifest or openly discernible, namely: "fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, heresies, envyings, drunkenness, revelings and such like, of the which I forewarn you, that they which practise such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God." These are works of the fallen flesh and antagonistic to righteousness. All of God's people are to resist them, if they would not lose his favor. They have the seeds of all these iniquitous things in their flesh, received by heredity; but their minds, their wills, have been changed, converted, turned around, to righteousness – to the doing of the will of God. As New Creatures they must not practise the fleshly things, else they will not grow in the fruits and graces of the holy Spirit and will not be fit for the Kingdom.
The Apostle does not here say that if anyone were overtaken in a fault and lost his temper, for instance, and got into strife, that this would bar him forever from the Kingdom. He might, indeed, through tears and prayers and Divine forgiveness, come back into harmony with God and subsequently become a valued soldier of the Cross and follower of the Lamb. But if any practise such things they should know that they are developing and strengthening a character contrary to the one which God will approve – they are going backward and not forward. Let us note the difference between an accidental slip with a penitent recovery, and a wilful practising of a wrong course. Alas! how many Christians have the evidence in themselves that they will not inherit the Kingdom of God – unless they make a fresh start and reverse the order of their living!
If the Apostle led us into a tangled wildwood of human selfishness, thorns and thistles, as a specimen of the fruitage of the fallen flesh, he next leads us in the opposite direction, and shows us the fruits and flowers of sweet odor which belong to the Garden of the Lord. He tells us that these delightful fruits of the Spirit should more and more be cultivated, and should be developed to perfection in our hearts, and, as far as possible, should overrun and cover and choke out the imperfections of our flesh. The fruits of this garden are all the fruits of the Spirit of God – all such as he originally planted in man and which have become vitiated through sin – all such as he now has implanted afresh and would develop in the hearts of his sanctified ones. The fruits of the Spirit, which should be manifest in all of the followers of Jesus in more or less perfection are these: "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law."
The Apostle explains that those who have become Christ's followers have crucified the flesh with the passions and desires thereof. They have voluntarily agreed that they will live contrary to the emotions and desires of the fallen flesh. He urges, If we live by the Spirit, by the [R4688 : page 303] Spirit let us also walk! It is the Spirit of God which has quickened us and which ultimately is to perfect us. But it can perfect us only if we are led by it and walk in its ways. Otherwise we will not be fit for a place in the Kingdom, whatever other place in God's arrangements we may have. One of the most dangerous besetments of the Christian is vanity. It leads to more trouble, provokes more quarrels and envyings than is generally supposed. If we are walking after the Spirit of our Master, it will mean that instead of being vainglorious we will be meek, humble, teachable. And only such will eventually be ready for the glory, honor and immortality which God will bestow upon the faithful at the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We desire to express to you and your most efficient committee our thanks and appreciation for your untiring efforts for the comfort of the brethren, and also to congratulate you upon the success of the great Convention at Celoron. It was good to be there. How we enjoyed your generous and cordial hospitality at Peacock Inn and your talk on Monday evening, Aug. 1! Nothing cold about the reception but the cream; that was very cold and delicious. As long as memory lasts we shall revert to that happy evening and those six hundred friends, bound together by bands of Love and Truth, which will endure throughout eternity. Some months ago we took the Vow, and are glad that we did.
Your Sisters in Christ,
DEAR PASTOR: –
Thirty years ago at a meeting for children I saw Jesus as my Savior, and I was very happy. I had the desire to speak to everybody I met about my Savior, and oh, such a longing to go to China as a missionary overtook me; but when I came to be about sixteen years of age I read Calvin's Confession of Faith. I spoke about it to my father, who was a strict United Presbyterian, and very strong on election, as set forth in the Confession of Faith. Very soon I lost the joy I had and became sad and indifferent about trying to bring others to Jesus, as I felt they were powerless to make themselves of the Elect.
Thank God, two months ago he drew my attention to a notice in a barber shop window of your prospective lecture on "Hereafter." I went and heard you, and have since read the DAWN-STUDIES. I cannot express the blessings I have received through them.
I felt constrained to write you, as I thought you would also like to know that I have taken the Vow. I trust to pay it unto the Lord in his strength.
Yours in the love of God,
ALLEGHENY, PA., Sept. 4.
BELOVED BROTHER: –
The closer I get to the places where you have walked and labored the most, the more I am impressed with the closeness of your walk with God, and the more do I desire to follow in your footsteps.
As I have just viewed your old home, gone all through the old Bible House, stood in the pulpit occupied by you for so many years, and have now looked around over these beautiful hills over which you have gone, my heart goes down deep into my consecration vow, and I am renewedly determined to be found, by his grace, faithful unto death. With much fervent love I remain
Your brother in Christ,
DEAR BRETHREN: –
I take this opportunity of writing you in regard to a rather strange experience which I have had out in this western country.
A new Methodist minister was sent in here about six weeks ago and, after looking the field over, decided to organize a Sunday-school in this neighborhood. The school was organized two weeks ago, and I was unanimously chosen as Bible teacher for the whole school. On the following Tuesday this man visited at the house where I and my son have been working, and, after some conversation, started to catechise me, with the result that he decided to dispense with my services and appoint another in my place. The matter came up on Sunday last, and, after explaining to the congregation that I was not a safe man to have as teacher, requested them to appoint another.
The congregation, however, were not satisfied with this way of doing things, and suggested that I have a chance to defend myself, which was granted, with the result that I was reappointed by the people and the preacher set aside. We are to have our first study on Sunday next. I have been wondering just what course would be best to pursue, and would like to have the benefit of your counsel in this matter.
None of these people has ever heard about or read any of your literature, and are somewhat curious to know just what we teach. I have thought of starting with "Some things to remember when studying the Bible and the importance of sound doctrine," and then follow it up with Ransom and Restitution lessons, etc.
Yours in the Master's Service,
DEAR SIRS: –
I have read three volumes of your SCRIPTURE STUDIES and some of the pages many times. I am deeply interested in what I have learned and am trying hard to get others interested. My religious faith is Baptist. The members of my Church snub me sometimes, and my pastor snubs me all the time, because I believe what I have heard and read. My pastor has openly denounced me from his pulpit, which I feel badly about, but I can never give up that which I believe to be truth.
Any one of your tracts that is best suited to the needs of my pastor would you please send it to me or to him.
OUR DEAR BROTHER RUSSELL: –
We have just returned from San Francisco, where we enjoyed a feast at Brother McMillan's meetings. Since we are now alone here we sometimes attend the classes at San Francisco and Oakland, seventy-five miles distant. No! we are not alone; we always claim the promise.
We greatly enjoyed the privilege of distributing Peoples Pulpit announcements of the meetings. In this town we mail a good many Peoples Pulpits and on Saturdays we place them in the farmers' rigs as they are tied at the plaza.
While working among the flowers in my greenhouse I discovered a vegetable cure for eczema and inflammations of the skin. I know it is good, for I cured myself with it. I call it "Floral." It seems to be another evidence of the nearness of the establishment of the Kingdom.
We want to express to you in a few words that this great Truth is becoming more of a reality to us as the end of the course draws near, and we strive the more to make our calling and election sure. We do thank our Heavenly Father for the increasing light he is giving us through that willing servant to those who hunger and thirst for it.
DEAR BROTHER RUSSELL: –
Love and greetings in the one hope of our calling, to be joint-heirs with our Lord and Saviour.
It is my earnest desire to be more faithful daily in living my consecration vow – to scrutinize my every thought and word and act more closely, so that I may be the better enabled to serve the Lord and his dear Flock. I want to be more and more thankful for the wonderful way he is leading me. I raise my voice in thanksgiving to our dear heavenly Father for permitting me to read the STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES, which have answered the questions that I had been asking much of my life. Next to the Bible, they are the most excellent books ever written; they have helped to bring me much closer to our dear Redeemer. May the Lord's richest blessings be with you, dear Brother Russell, throughout your pilgrim journey.
Enclosed please find draft; may it help to carry on the good work in the Lord's service.
Yours in his service,