(c) Copyright 2000 Research Applications International. All Rights Reserved.

ATd,E(:HII:NY,

PA.,

JA I\UARY

1, 1000

No. 1

VIEWS FROM THE WATCH

FALLEN FROM GRACE VERSUS COLLAPSED

TOWER

More evident does it become, daily, that our 1,ords drrlaration, Babylon is fallen! does not signify the outward colha* laps(I of Churchianity ; but that nominal Christendom fallen from divine favor;-just as the fall of national .Jutlaism from divine favor, at the rejection and crucifixion of Mehsiah at his first presence, meant not the collapse at the moment of that religio-political system. The collapse of dudaism came after it had been fallen from divine favor for 37 years, CIZ.. in A. D. 69-70: and during that interim Gods true people, Israelites indeed, were called nut by the voice of the Gospel And just so now, the collapse of gloj~i~l I)lspensation. Christendom or Babylon, ih not to 11~1 exCliriatianitv, peetcatl until A. D. lQl4. though fallen from favor sinc2cb187% The collapse will be sudden and awful when it does come: and Hliilr 0nl.y the few realize the fallen-from-grnce condition of I3abylon In the present, none will be ignorant of her collapse whcu it comes. Rut to know then will be too late ho far a4 the little flock of overcomers 1s concerned;-they arc all called now, during the interim, Come out of her, my people, tll;tt ye he not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues-punishment.-Rev. 18 : Z-4. The collapse of Babylon is graphi~*allv described by the Revelator as like the casting of a great millstone into the sea. saying, Thus [suddenly], with violence shall that great city, 13;11)) inn. be thrown down and 1)r found no mole at all. Her sutltl~~n destruction is described as a great conflagration, and the declaration is made that it is because the hour of her will have come, that yhe will thus suffer judgment [krisis] Therefore shall her plagues come in overthrow or plaguee. one day [prophetic time is a day for a year], death and mourning and famine, and she shall be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. Whoever are worthy the name, <m-y people, will hear anif obey thc3 Lords voice and come out of Babylon and rereire not of her plagues ; because their obedience III fleeing out as soon as they see Babylons real condition will prove that they were nexer in real accord with her sins. Those who wmaia ;\fter seeing Babylon and her hlasphcmous doctrines in the light now shining are reckoned an endorsing the blasphemies and mod, thoroughly-as much or more deserving the plagues than the tare class of Babylonmnr. bec*allse they have greater light. Many err in not fleeing promptly when first they rcalizc Some say,-I will use my nffiw thcb true condition of affairs. or influence in Babylon, and then obey the Lord after I have Thcv forget that obedienvc is gathered some of the wheat. better than all else in divim e&nation---bet& even than sacrifice. Are they wiser than God that they may even for a month advantageously or safely iguorc hi* \vord? J,;lter on they find that e&n the tare claMx consider them as liarinK for a time at least diqsembled and misrcpre~ented their own faith as well a8 misrepresented the faith of the denomination which they had agreed to uphold. Their ~/rj/tte,,cu which at first might have been powerful fnr t,he truth becomes vitiated hy reason of their neglect to olwy Gods voice-by tli(bir attempt to guide thcmselve* ant1 to lean to their own understanding. Others say. I am free from Babylon in spirit, God knows!

Although my name is still on the deuominatlonal rolls, I take no interest in her affairs-my sympathies are all with the truth, and I rarely attend other meetings. But is this rightIF this the obedienccl to 11e half out and half in Babylon? rcquirrd of an overcomer and pleasin:: and accseptable to God? Surely not. He publicly entered Into a covenant with the tlcuomination when he joined it, and he should faithfully live up to all the conditions of that covenant until hc as p~/~lrc.l!/ renounces cr cancels his membership. Others say, I merely retain my membership in the church And 4ng in the choir, etc., for the sakr of peace ill my farnilS . But is this ocercomotherwise I would speedily withdraw. ing, or being overcome ? The latter, surely: it is a balancing of regard for God and his Word, with regard for husband OI wife or cdlrildren or friends and their wishes. Thus the Lord tcbts us, whether we love houses. lands, reputation, friend*. hushand. wife or children, more thaw him! We should be prompt to obey and thus to show that to us Gods will iy snpn 1or to every other consideration. -4dditionally. we once said to a drar brother who madr such a, remark as the above: Brother, excuse the illustration. but it ma.y help you to see your position on thip question in Its true light if I tell you of a matter xliicli, it heems to me. aptly illustrates your position in a way you have not thus far thought of it. Tt is this: In Chicnpn. at one of the great butc*hering establishments (perhaps at all) they have a trained bullock whose duty it is to decoy the cattle that are ready for slaughter. The bewildered cattle are naturally fearful of harm and would be difficult to drive to the butchering spot, but with the decoy bull they are easily led. He gallops up to the herd tossing his head and tail as a friendly greeting and then. wheeling around, he becomes their leader and gallops olF r~lnn~ the narrow passage where they can go only single file. He knows well his business, and when near the killing place he *tep aside into a little space provided for him alone, while the herd push one another along to their slaughter. Now, dear brother (we remarked), you and others in the nominal churches, who know better and who merely sing, or preach, nr hold some petty office, or merely help to count another one on the reports of Babylons prosperity or to give another dollar to her millions, are like the decoy bull-using your knowledge and influence to the injury and bondage of others who, seeking the right way of true liberty and life, are looking to you for counsel and being misled by your example. The brother in question at once thankfully acknowledged the force of the illustration, and requested that some of the free Withdrawal Letters and tracts to accompany them be sent him for his use in getting free and setting a worthy example to others. THE FEDERATION OF BABYLON Christendom was united in the dark ages, and the rcsuits were terrible, every way. The more truth and reformation came in, the more did Christendom split up. Had the reform continued, and had the light of truth shined still more clearly, the result would have been that split after split would have occurred, until each individual Christian would have stood free, and all denominationalism would have perished. This would be the ideal condition; for all the zcnicms of the past and present are unscriptural and tend to impede the Christians progress, They are mechanicd unions, and not

c-1-5)

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

ALLEGHENY.

PA.

heart unions: thev are the work of Satan. and not Gods workmanship: the? tend to prevent heart-&ion and foster errors. which otherwise would auicklv die. Not until enliehtened hy the spirit of Gods w;rd are any prepared to ekerrise the liberty wherewith Christ makes free indeed, and to come out from all false Christian unions or sectarian communions, into that broad place which recognizes one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one church, whose vlwmes are written In henoen. And onlv such are prepared for proper union on thr same basis as tl;nt of the churdb of Apo9iolic times. When. therefore. we from time to time in these columns allude to tlrn growing evidcnrc3 of a federntivc union among ~11 the great denominations of Christendom, and when we 11oi11tcent t!~ li the> S(~riptIlre3 inllicntc such a union, let no one hupp09r tll,lt cithrr nr or the Scriptnrcs npprorc of such a union. or cr)rl\itltkr that its influence T.vill be fnvor7ble to eithrr Quite to the contrary, the illthe truth or the snlnt<. flucncn will br Ij:~nc~ful \thntcvcr is encournginq or helpful to Bahvlon i3 r)rnpnrtic>nntofv iniurious to the true churrh. The various 3cr15 oiChri~tc,nrlr,rn rc::liye that manv of the doctrinal Crrnrs, \\llirlt bnve hcrct:jfore hound their <ntariey helplessly ar,d ml~cL:lnic~:~llv, fill no lon!rcnr hold as firmlv a3 hefore, nnd thrsy aro rupl~l:~ntinp th~\~ nith new hontls cf later device: lijb., lovp of recpcctnhilitv and prirlc in drnnminntinnal nnmp nnd pro\pcbritv---n pnriy Ppirit. And inqtrld of thr disrreditcd doctrincy (rvlrirh can no longer he nnfnrlcd RS 3tnndnrds. hut whicsh mnst he carried along ti?htlg clnqrd) they are raising the 3tan&rd of morel and politiral reform, the banner of a new crnqndr. No 071~ran R,IV that their ctu~nd~ in an evi! of itaelf: and onlv the frw whoarc spiritually mind& (the trl(r church) in and out of thrir 3cc+q con so much a3 sre that moral nnd Dnliticnl rrfnrm iq a w-rrrldly work ?nrl nnt thr ~ommissina of thr rhnrrh mhic~b is 8nointt~d to proncah. not snrb rrfnrms, but tha cross of Christ and complctc v-cgcncmtion of hrnrt. Tlrnqe nhn nrc Ionkinr for a ~~lio~l in Christendom in which denominational nnme3 and d.rnominntinnnl lines will hp obliterated, are looking for what they will nrrrr sre until the rrrat cnll?n~e rernp3, and the entire Cbriqtendnm system, ~ori;~l. rrli;$onq. pnlitiral and financial gnrs down in the great annrc~hnns trnuble with whirh t,hc nrrqent scr will rIn=e. The ~qqjo:? svhirh will bp crmrntrd will he l?rr?rly one of common pcBl>tirrcant Ned co-operation in mnrgl nnd pnlitiral reforms. And tlris fcdcrntire union. 33 alrrndv nointrd nut. brpan in IS-16 in tllc organization of thl- l?vanpelirnl Allian&: We are l,lokinlr vcnrlv for its final kmnt to hr tied in some manner tll:lt, will include with othrr Protestant denominations the Episcopal rhurch, and a working np-cemevlt with Papgcv. Thus the Zvnnoe of the r(rRqt (Rrv. 13) will rrreive life -vignr, enrrcy-he made active. And that nrtivitv which will s(xrm tq prnmiqp grrnt things for Bnhylnn. and whirh will artivrlv Fnrmrrs3 lihrrtv and br r\-crtcd nowerfullv REainst the Fprcnd of tile truth3 now nnblishrd hi 119, will bb hut the liftivy up of tbo crrnt millstone pr&nrnt,nrv to it,9 brin:! violclntlv nnd qnicklv d4rnvrrl. for it will 3nnnhe evident that r;urh a IJCW union of r~hnrrb aad statr (wbnllv different from that of the nnst\ will he a union of thr rlabqea again& the rnnq:<cL;: nndit will hr the ri\ing of the rn:lqpe9 in revolution that will, a3 Gods ngency, hurl the Babylon system to utter destruction. TI-IE TIME OF OPPORTUNITP IS SHORT TIC ,src prcscnt conditions and foresee Tltr nlc,rtx rlr:lrlv the mnrr it sbonld &muIate our zeal to tlinor npprnarhing, be nnd to do nllil,~ nc hatch the opportunity-for a dark night Wbocver desires to T.rI:c>rein no 21:1n ran work. nppr\llcs. lap up tr(>a+urrs in hcnvcln. l,p voluntarilv sarrificine time, inflll(lncar nnd ntluar c,nrthlv ronqfllerations for the TJlOIlPV. Ptir\ 1;~. of t!lr T,nrtl llv scrviee of thb h~rthren. should hestir lrinls:c If, l(xqt tllc> barr& pn<s, arid tlic> siimmcr of opportunity end. :111d11(, fin(I tbnt II,, h:lq foil(td to nircsr hi3 sncTiiire which IIC ;,I r~c~ntc~dto GoI1 ll~cnrc~tic~:~Ilv when hr was bnptizrd into Cbr;.tq tl~~ath. And wboc~rt~r. ha&g brrnmr nnminnlly a membcr of tllc rnv21 nrie4llnnd. h-3 nnt offer avzv/ sacrifice .. tlurinc tlli>i Gnspcl dav nf carrifice forfeit3 hi; plnre 23 a memI)csr of t~ it 1 ~c~-llr~~otl--l~i~ nanlp will surely hp blotted nut to him on thr strength of his and tllc (rnwn. nnnnrtioncd covcn:lnt to ~arrifi;~~. will br I;& orrr t,n another wile will appreciate and uye the pri&egc of self-denial, self-sacrifice, suffering with Christ. TIIE PROSPECTS FOR 1900 It is our opinion that the ypnr just beginning will be a Thiq is not merclv a very prosperous year for tbr truth. xvi&, father to the thought. nor is it hprnnqr thr %ood IIopes already nent in seem to give prnmiqr of fnndq for a wider spread of the truth; for, as an offset, we have noticed

that our paper (the chief item of cost in our publication) will cost us nearly double what it did last year-in other words. a dollar will do onlv about sixtv cents worth as comparedto last year. No; b&, we have felt for several months past that Churchianlty has reached and is at a crisis, where a clr,avnge is sure to take place,-which will separate from her some true saints who hitherto have been perplexed respecting the Lords will, but who will not gradually become convinced that Babylon is no longer hi3 mouthpiece, but already spewed out of his mouth (Rev. 3:16), and that her evohltionnry teachings are not of him but in radical opposition to his Word and plan. We have confidence that Gods time is ripe for present fruth to he more widely mnde known among hiq people n? a p:ilt of the Gnsprl which is either a savor of lifr IInto life or of death unto death. We have confidence, too, that all thr money and all the colaborers neressary will he forthcoming, 2nd we nre arranging plans accordingly. Tbnse wbn co-operate will sh:lrr> the sprvire and the h!rssings nttrndant; those who do not llsr their privileges will hut mar tb(iir own hlca~ings, hut shall not hinder tbr work that is (111~to 11r tlnnr T~I- J.~rrl wi!l provitlr 1 Imlertl, wr csrxzrt tlg:lt C:IP~I vciI IJOW will note ripid sprcnd of tllc truth lolt!l thr dnp;. i\ illlIt . -until the war!; is intcrfrrcd wit11 fnrcihlv l)\- orltsirlr influrnres. Then we shall nnderhtnncl that our ;\ror$ is dcnr -that the elert have all bren sra!cr?, arid thzt rlnnrht, Vmains hnt to stand 2nd assist others to stnnd. lnclcctl. tlriq. nq WC all know, is a mo9t important pnrt of the prcs;rnt: for, while others are being reachrd with the truth. tbos,? rlrratlv blessed nre brin,g ~33aultecl by the ndrersary, so thnt all rnnk he tritrd and only the faithful be ahlc to sta?l:l.-Sre lCp11 6:10-IS. TO HIM THAT HATI-I USED SHALL MORE BE GIVEN The Volunterr spirit is yron ln,: llltty nho 11:,\-r .,I-\ cd thus have been blessed and arc mnr r nnxiolls for tllil (*011:111~st ihnn thpv wrre for the first. Thixv look nllro::d art1 xc tllm~sands blinded hp the god of t?ris world enl;~ti~ig to kill nncl bc killed, and they read the reports of the Irillc~l. wnmdcd and prisoners, and the hardships endured, and the tnxes to he borne: and then they say: 110~ small is thr srrrire, how 3llght the hardship and 3ufferinc and self-deninl our c~rac~iirns King is willing td accept as r&nnahle service fr&nrus who have conserrated to him our nil--cren unto death-and to whom he has already given such rich rewards as well as promised IIR a share in his nlillennial kincrclom. We are resolved that neither cares of this life. nor nricle. I--~- srlf-el<e nor 1shnll hinder us from engaging in thi; battle against darkness and the influences of the prince of darkness. On the rnntrarv, \le will he yet more vigilant, pet more entbu&stic in plnntinz the truth, the standard of our Rinc, whrre it ran 1~ SCUM by many now ignorantly fighting against him and it. Lrt none think of the Volunteers as illiterntc hnntl-billdistrihutrrs. Quite to the contrary. these ministers of t7le tv-zcth who are reaching larger numbers and exerting a grrater influence than if they occupied the chief pulpit9 of the land, are far above the average of those whom tbrp serve--both in serulnr and in Biblical intrlligrnre. One i3 a stove-manufacturer and dealer: several are storekeepers. nnr owning nnd succes3fully managing five stores; some are college grad:mtes, nrchitccts and civil engineers; 3cnne Rre clerk3 holdin? remunerative positions of-trust-one of the latter, bcsidrs doing clilizent Volunteer work. economized ri?idlv his livinrr pxp&es and accumulated fivi hundred dolla& &ring last~;eji, which he sent to our Soci+ to assist in publishing more good-tiding:s-ammuniticm. Srvernl nre the chosen leaders of meetings in their various localities; several are stenographers (male and femnle) : at leaqt two are artists, one of these of distinction nS a protrnit painter ; others are house wires ; others are mechanics, who, after a werk of toil, find rerrration :Ind heartrefreshment hy 3pending part of each Sunday as messengers (anqpls) of the Lord to carry to their brethrpn yet in nahylon the true Gospel rnes~n~e,-good-tidings of great joy whlrh shall he unto all people through %im who loved us nnd bought us with his own precious blood. Plenty of worldlp businecs can rommand such servants herau3e of the pay nfferrd; hut no other religious work has rver callrcl for and gotten volunteer3 of this class. nor for a work of this kind, whose onlv pav in the present time is the divine hlesqine a hundred inldmore in this nrrsent time with persiecut&n.-and in thr world to rome etbrnal lifeglory. honor and immortalit,g. RTo other Gn3prl was ever worthy of so intelligent a class of servants: hut 39 resnects this Gospel its most honorable servants feel that all that they hnvc and are, are offerings far too insienifirant to trstify to Cnd their new-found appre&tion of hi3 plorinuq rhnrnrtnr and plan. They feel impelled to pay their vows unto the

[2554]

JANUARY 1. 1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOTVER

Lord, to keep their covenant of self-sacrifice even unto death, because thry have the qenuzne fairh in &he Lords promises, which works by Zoz?eand purifies the heart from pride and selfishness.
A FRESH CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

In the worlds warfare defeat leads to fresh calls for soldiers: with us success calls for more Volunteers and more success and more blessing, riches of grace (with possibly more persecution and slander) and by and by a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. There is more, much more work to be done, and we are desirous that many more of the Lords consecrated people should share the heart-cheer and character-strengthening which this service affords. Here is the very opportunity for which you have prayedan opportunity for serving the truth, and the Lord and the You wished and prayed for the needful talents hrt th rcn. to present these good tidings, and you hoped and prayed for opportnnltrfs and for mews: and now, behold 1 the Lord has provided you all these in this Volunteer work. Notice that semicp as no other is; becauseit is a rmsonable (1) It is not an unreasonable misrepresentation of Gods character and plan and methods with drum and tamhourine, and singing of hymns to concert-hall tunes, misnamed divine worship and service. (2) It is not the unreasonable misrepresentation of the divinechararter and plan as preached in one-half the 200.000 which blasnhemcs Gods character nulnits of Christendom ami misrepresents his plan by declaring that only the saants of the present time will everbe saved-far less than one out of everv thousand of the worlds population:* and that the great mass, both of the living and 2he dead; will spend an eternity in torment indescribable. (3 ) It is not the unreasonable misrepresentation of Gods character and plan presented in the other half of the pulpits of Christendom-%hich, ashamed of their hell fire and damnation creeds, hypocritically acknowledge them, while actnallv they deny them and preach another gospel of Evolution and Higher Criticism. which makes void the \Vord and plan of God,-and repudiates the cross of Christ and all necessity for his atoning sacrifice. (4) It is a reasonable seroice because it appeals only to reason and Scripture, as no other gospel message on earth or known among men appeals to these, and to no other authorities and standards. And it does, this, too, in a most reuson01le in a thousand of the worlds population would be l,GOO,OOO.
l

able mawner: not takrng vows in order to get into pulpits and into college-professorships, and under good salaries, to capture the sects (creeping into houses and leading captive silly women ) , but bv kindlr proffering without money and without price the priceless jewel of consistent truth which from our own experience we know mill bless every true recipient. Nor has the Lord given us cause for shame respecting the form in which our messages are delivered-thev are neat, creditable to the most refined-who engage in the service. And in turn the adornment of a meek and quzet spirit whirh the Lords faithful take to this humble service (laying down their lives for the brethren) is one of the strongest sermons or enistles of Christ-likeness that can he nresented to those we may hope to interest, and it already has spoken loudly to those who at first were too prejudired to read. (,5) Could there be a more blessed or a more reasonKay. verily! VVe can fancv, indeed, able srrvice than this? that the heavenly angels look down upon our privileges and and fondly desire that in divine providence it opportunities might have hcen their privilege to join with us in this most reasonable, most honorable and most hlesscd service.
THE PLAN OF CAMPAIGN FOR 1900

That

many

saints

would

be a flower

for

good.

Confident of the reenlistment of the veterans of 1899. we hare prepared for them a new campaign which we believe 11-e will get ready for Spring camthey will heartily enjoy. paign hundreds of thousands of pamphlets which we helieve Ue will call for Volunteers and re&nyou will enlop using. listments about Mar&, so please be ready. Meantime most of the volunteers have plenty of work for the suitable weather between now and spring: and the spirit of the Lord-the spirit of love for the Lord, love for the truth and love for the brethren-is constnntlv constraining fresh volunteers for plares not yet served with the bookand will conlet- Bzble 2s Erolntion and we are printing tinue to print. plentv of these to supplv the demand. The new bookletswill be supplied onlv for the fields where the other distribution has been made. This free offer for this special work will not affect the regular selling price of the booklets;-they are not free for any other kind of service, tho all are supplied at very low rates. We hope that we may have many and prompt responses to this call for Gideons Band armed with the .Juhllee trumpet to give the lovful sound, and with lights in their vessels,-ready and willing to break the vessels, to let the light shine out while they cause the joyful sound of the real good tidings to sound throughout the land.-See Judges Chap. VII.

A POSTOFFICE THIEF

IS STILL ROBBING OUR MAIL!

loss. If all would observe the proper rule, tire thief would be spared temptation, and he would soon cease to rifle letters addressed to us-finding no money therein. One dear Brother sent a donation in money, which went astray. He wrote subsequentlv that his thought was-This is the Lords money and for the Lords cause and he will protect it. He erred in this, failing to realize that his course was D Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy tempting of Providence. God Sor should we tempt orrr weak fallen frllow-~lcatilres.

We specially request that no money be sent by mail. Altho this is mentioned in every issue quite a number fail to heed it. They thus not only lose the money sent but cause themirlvts and us trouble and postage writing about their losses. Furthermore they trouble others who properly send Postal Orders, Drafts or Express Orders; for the marl-thief frequently by mistake takes tlrese (which he rannot use and must destroy lest they betray him). Hence the many who do right in this matter are put to trouble even tho they suffer no financial

THE

WORD WAS MADE

JAN. 7.-LUKE 2 : 1-16.

FLESH

Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall Jesus is the topic of the International Sunday School Lesson W~IIW for the entire year 1900. It should be a very profitable study, for the more intimately we know our dear Redeemer in the light of the Scriptures the more we shall appreciate him, love him and seek to copy him. Xo other lrfc than his could bear so continual and rlose a scrutiny, yet always be full of fresh revelations of moral dignity and chararter-anv other life similarlv studied and critirised would reveal its seamy side of weakness, sin and ignohility. Of the four records, only Johns attempts to trare our Lords genealogy to the heavenly source. and to show us that before he was made flesh he was a spirit helng with the Father and a sharer of his glory-a god with the God. But all of the Evangelists are clear in their statement that he was-l&as made &csh--not that he remained a spirit being, and assumed flesh as clothing in which to appear to men, but, however esplainahle. that the life power of the spirit being, the Logos, became the life power of the human being, horn of a woman and under the Law, subject to all the conditions and cirrumstances of the Jews. Matthew traces Josephs genealogy; for altho the statement is clear that Jesus was not the son of

save hzs people from their sins.--l\latt. 1:21. Joseph, nevertheless, being adopted by him as llis son. he might. without imnronrietv. inhtrit thrnnrrh him. Lllkc shows thz genealogv of i\la;y, h% which our Lord was ac3uallp related, according to the flesh, to our race and to the royal family of David through the linr of Nathan.* The time of our Lords birth was an auspicious one in several respects, and very evidently divine wisdom had exercised itself in respect to the worlds affairs hv wav of nreparation for this important event: (1 ) The spirit of worldronauering that beedn with Nebu~hadnezzars kinrrdom was fnvoral~leto it. in the sense that it brought the various families or nations of mankind into closer rontart with each other, broadening their ideas. (2) This policy had resulted in thcs tran-planting of peoples from one land to another, and thus had made them more cosmopolitan in their sentiments. Israel and Judah, thus transplanted in their raptrvitv (3) to Babylon, became so attached to the new condrtions that romparatively few of them availed themselves of the offer of Cyrus to return to their own land. only about fifty thousand of all the tribes, out of several millions. The Jews among the
S~MILLENNIAL DAWN, VOL. v, Chap 6.

[25551

GentlIt,-. neic bt 110 ltit-;1119 lo-1 :ir~tl Iii141 II\- no nledn9 ahanyea. the we reverence his flesh. and are deeply interested in all (ovenant nor all of doned ,111of theji IIO~W~ in illc .\t,lilllaulie that pertains thereto, especially in all it3 experiences, from their faithfuIrle~* to th(* ;\lnHHi(* T,a\\~-ilItll<> they were lax in the time of it9 consecration to death, at bapti3m: nevertheless, thc+cb rn,lttcbrz antI to0 iull of ii lo~r of gain ;t~~tl ease to cult)our still greater interest is 111 our risen Lord, the nrw rreavatr the clpirit of I.r;irlit~~?r i~~clrrcl. Sererthrlr~~s, thev had ture perfected, the 3piritual One, far alIn\-e manhood, far above their iuflurnc.cb :Intollg+t a11 the nations with whom thev ;lwelt. ilngels, principalities and powers and evrry name tllilt .i3 and were nitiic~~hc+ t0 tlw lwpf~s of larael iu this one i:otl and namc>cl-nest to the Fathrr, and exalted to hir right band In a coming .\Icssiah. the% SOJI of God, to be the worlds Deof no\\ rr 711r .\no<t]r ynlr(tll is sfdlmrnt wrll. saving. rho livercr 111(~ trlrimph for il time of the (+rcek Empire (41 Christ after tllr flesh, vet now lienc~cforth web have known had hrollght IO tll(s c.i\~i~z(sd world :I highly developed literaknow we him rsol no more-our knowl;dge of him as the ture-the (:repl\ lilll~llR~:(~ had rrac+hrd its zenith. and was risen and glorified Lord and Saviour tho~nuphly outshinr* the littarary Iaugu:~g!c~of tllch VI\ Ili/.ccl world. (5 1 The Roman .Antl (2 Cnr. .,:IB) all of our interest in his earthly life. Ernplrck 11atl ~~r,nclu(~r~~d \~orltl a~~1 was in the height of its tht~ vet his earthlv lifr is intcsrrsting illltl profitnblt~ to 11s. ilb \V( polvrr. arid a4 ,I rc7iilt tlirrr \\a~ a time of universal pracc, have seen ami shall see. and Irrrlc~c iI mor( fa\orahle time than any before for the Had the people a~scml,l~~d at Bethlchcm rcballzrtl who this ;lnnoi1il(.(ni(flt of tlica (:o\pel and for the safety of its reprrsenwas that had come to their ritv-that he wah from the hra\entativcs in pahhinp from nation to nation. (6) lsrael itself Iv c~nurts, that he was the 1,&w made flesh. that hr 11;ld ronic had reac~hetl 1)rohal,Iy it3 hIgIl& dta\ elopmcnt, irrtelle~tually. in save his peoples from their sins-1inw gladly tllry worlld morally :iiitl religioii?rly, aiid adtlitior~a1lr we are told in the liavr weh.nmrd him into thr inn and have given to Iii, llsic Scripture* that -411 JII~J~wtrc 111 ~spc~tnjio~ of the Messiahs and comfort its rhnicest apartments 1 Bitt thev knew lilm not. coming --T,iik~ 3.15. and henre lost this great privilege of miniktering to him It \\a+ iil>t .tt tills most appropr~atc~ tlmra. as dl\ inrly Similarly, in evrry city and town where, the Lords penplc arc arrangetl for. tllat Ca(axitr Augustus, the Roman Empelnr, (his true saints). there arc many who would make them 11 rl~ssncd 11 clot I((* rc+;)cBc+inp the tasinp of his worldwide empire. IS, come and give them the best at their disposal, did they 1,11t Ihr tlt~re wa, not nrrrcAl,v an asqcssment of taxes, but ma3 recognize them a3 the messrngrr3 of *Jesus and of the Healrll1iltlrc~l a crnsu.s, or c~iirnllnient for taxation. But instead of ly Father; but as the Apostle says, The world knoweth 114 +endiug a53e~sorh to theI people, according to the present cus(1 .Jnlln .?: 1 ) The disciple not, because it knew him not. tom. the ariangomcnt tlien was that cverv male citizen must must not expert to bc above ltib J,nrtl. ant1 henrr. corn when report himsrlf at the headquarter3 of h-is own familv linci. ant1 brnr\-0lrnc.r iintl RS nnigoing upon miq+inns of mcrq c*nmlng nf .Jo~ph a&d his T&i< mat t11r orrauinn for-the hassadors for Gntl. we sl~ould r-\pcrt that the J,o~tla plovirs~ousetl u i te. .\l:nV. thr mother of ,Jehus. to Ucthlehem. their dence would furnish for 11% not the most palatial ronditinno. n~tivc~ city. or f:~n~ily city, for they mere hot11 of the hnusr of but more prnbably v(brv hitmblr rnntlitinns. .4nd wlirn \vr fitltl David ( tlin t hi oufili different lines), and Jlethlehem was the It thus we should rejoice that to some e.\tcnt at lea-t wr II:I\( city of I)av~d. Thun in a providential manner :untl by n drcree IIIC rxperiences whirh harmonize with those of our Lord. over nhich tllq had 110 control whatever, Joreph and Mary were Lords people will obtain a blessing in proportion a3 thca\ brought to thr vrry c,itp in whirh most appropriately the great are prepared to receive all opportunities for God3 service a* heir of Da\ it1 ~hnuld be born, as had been foretold by the divine favors and to appreciate them, no matter how humblt~ prophet.--l\fic.lh. 5.2. the conditions, and it is noteworthy that neither Joseph, noI The noting of theac littlr incidentals hy which divine Mary, nor Jesus, nor the disciples. nor the Evangelist who nro\idencc prrnarrd for nur Sariours birth and for the sendrecorded the incident, offers the slightest complaint or suging forth oi the Gospel message, are strengthening to the faith gestion of dissatisfaction with the arrangement provided !)r Realizing Gods care in the past over of the Lordr people. divine providence. In proportion as they would hare felt dlbeven the little things, plres a foundation for confidence in his satisfied with the arrangements provided, in that proportion wisdom and prnrisinu for the features of his plan which are the divine plans would not have worked for their good. vet future-the falfilment of all the exceeding great and preThe vicinity of Bethlehem is a pastoral country, and to>ious promisr\ ~hiclk centered in him who was born in Bethleda.v is covered with flocks. Jt was the custom at that tirnp so alw a realization of the divine providence in the hem. hd for the shepherds to remain with their flocks by night as d larger affair+ of the divine plan stimulates faith also in the 1t \VilS guard against thieves as well as against wild beasts Lords providcnccs as rrspccts the personal and more private in this vicinity that David (afterward king). when a shrphrrdaffair3 of his people. Let us more and more realize that, as hov nrotertinb his flocks. slew on one occasion a lion ,lnd at rven the smallcht incidents rnnnected with the birth of our The shepherd3 as a Class mere not anotiler time*- a bear. Saviour were nrtlcrrd of the Lord. so also he is both able and narticularlv well educated people as respects sc*honls, and y-et willing to order all of the affair3 of his spiritual children. many of ihem were thou&f;1 and thu3 secured. in their Let us reason with the Apostle that, if God lo,-ed us while leisure time while watchin, n their flocks, hg reflertion and hv we were yet sinnrrs, co as to make such careful provision for conversation, considerable knowledge, so that they might lw our redemption, muc~h more J~OWthat we are no longer rebels, termed an intellectual and thinking class of people--tllcalr aliens, atrangrrs, foreigncr3. but have become his sons, fellowmind3 being turned more to reflection on large subiccts than heirs with Christ and all the saints, we map hare co@dence are the minds of some who are constantlp immersed in tr.ldr in his love and in hi3 providential care, that according to and of mechanics. The shepherd whom God honored in makill:: 111s promi+ca all things shall work together for good to them him king of his typical kingdom, was a great poet. and WIthat. love bin-to tllr called ones acrordinp to his purpose.dently much of his time while shepherding was gilen to thr RO~JI. 5.S.IO: S:O,R. muse, and one of his most beautiful poems (Psalm Zl J rq,Thr qamr tlrc~rc~t~ that brnllgllt .Jnscph and I\larv to Bethleresent3 Jehovah himself as the Shepherd of his penplr.-hiq hem brought JII~JI~ others of thr nllmernuh family of David, flock, for which he cares. It was to men of this thnughtful and a4 tile iuns or lintrls of that time were comparatively elas3, and no doubt men familiar mitb David3 Psalnr~. and limited in numheis and in rnpacaity, it is not surprising that with the Messianic hopes therein set forth, that the J,nrtl sent the inn proper wa3 full of guests when tJonepll and Mar! the first message respecting his Son made flesh. Tndrctl. it was rathrr thr cllhtnm for many traveler3 arl ivrtl. The description of the appearance of an angel, and of the to carrf with thrm their own lodging outfit, and to provide fear which the brightness of his countennnre engendered, is for their own conrcniencrs in the courtvard connected with both simple and natural. All mankind more nr less feels iu,4ntl hrncc the eyperienc*e< o? .Jnseph and Mary the inn-. stinrtivelv a fear of the supernatural, a trepidation at the wrre l,v no iiit~.inh r\c~c7,tionnl. \Vhen therrfnrr the Babe *Jesus very tho;ght of being in the presence of the holy angels. Alld was bdln. a manger l,&ame his most convenient rradle. thik is nroner as well a3 natural, for all realize their own The city of Brthlehem still exist<, and probably is not SO imperfe&ions through the fell, fearing more or less that the results to themselves would he unfavorable if divine justice dissimilar to what it was in that dav, for in that land customs hreln to lIa\P cl~aiipcd but littlr in crnturieh. A catrtain were laid to the line and to the plummet in respect to their All seem instinctively to realize their need of merc;y grotto ia rlaimed to be the one whit+ nineteen hundred years affairs. ago was the stable of the inn, and a certain stone maneer is at the hand3 of him with whom we have to do. And w It cho\\n. which it IS claimed. was the one in which the Babe was with these shepherds, they were affrightcd as they beheld the heavenly visitor in their midvt; but hi3 message way not Jesus was laid. Over thi3 l&s bren erected a Catholic rhurch, and various ceremonies are continually performed in and one of justice nor in any sense of condemnation, but of dlrme about and connected with the sacred manger. mercy. He soothed them with the words. Be not afraid: for With sucll behold I bring you good tiding4 of great joy whlrh shall be ceremonies we ran feel little sympathy, believing them to be Can we wonder that jov took the place of rather of the nature of idolatriea. To us the center of interest unto all people. fear in their hearts as they heard tbe gr&ous words? Surely iq not the help ground on which our Saviour trod, nor the not. And so it is with all who from that day to the present help manger in which he lay a< a bahc. nor his holy mother:
I
I

[2556]

JANUARY

1. 1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(m-11)

time have heard this true Gospel message, not merely with the outward ears, but truly, with the ears of their understanding-comprehending it. How false and how sad has been the understanding of this message by many of Gods people as it has echoed to <hem down the ages ! How few have heard it gladly, appreciatively! How remarkable that nearlv all of the different churches and their thousands of minis&s and hundreds of thousands of Snndav School teachers should unite in a comnlete contradictfon 0; thii message of the angels-a contradiction which not onlv wounds their own sentiments and grieves their own hra*rts. but which robs our dear Saviours mission of ninetcntbs of its mnjestv, and thoroughly dishonor3 and maligns the nnmc of our gradions Heavenly Father by its misrepresentation of the salvation which he has provided in Christ Jesus. Some perhaps may be surprised, and even shocked, at such an arraignment of the message which they and other wellmraningbut hlinded Christian3 are delivering in the name of tile Gospel-for the word Gospel is derived from the words good tidings. We are quite ready to believe that the vast mnjoritv of those who promulgate the had tidings of eternal mrsrrv.as being the divrnc message and sentence to the vast maroritv of mankind, are wholly unaware of how seriously thcv misrcprrscnt the divine character and government in the m&sa::e which they carry to men;-they misstate the Gospel, not of intrntion, hut of blindness, the very blindness mentioned bv the Anostle as originating with the great adversary -the blindness by whirh he-blinds-the minds of the vast majnrrty, to hinder them from realizing the glorious light of Gods goodness revealed in Jesus Christ our Lord.-2 @or. 4:4. Oh, if we could only get all true Christians to studv this tenth verse of onr lesson. and to see the denths of its s&n%CZlnW, qulcklv revolutionize the teachings of it would COIIiitcndom ! Rnt -as onr Lord declared some of the deep tllinrs of the divine nlan are hidden from manv of the wise and prudent according to the course of this wbrld, and are rrlealrd onlv to the humble-the babes. Nevertheless, the tc>.tlmnnv of God stand&h sure, and all whose understandings hnvr l&n opened and who have been enabled to comprebrnd some of the leneths and the breadths. and the heights sn(1 the dppths of Gods love, mav rejoice that the ignorance of the world in general on this subject and the opposition of the errat adrerqarv who is blinding them, cannot continue for<. ever, bnt muse soon give plnr< when the Lords due time shall canme:-when he who died on Calvarv for the worlds redemption shall begin llis glorious reign by binding that old scrprnt, the d(lvil, Satan, that he should deceive the nations no morr for the thon3antl vears of the Millennial reign. Then all shall see out of obscurity; then all shall discern what at prrscnt is the pnvilrge of only the favored few to see, resprrtlng the dixme character and plan-that the message of the angel was true, ererv word of it-that the grand results to flow from the birth of the Saviour in Bethlehem justified the message srnt by the great Jehovah,-a good message of great joy whirh cventnally shall be to all people-whose enlightenment and blessing shall have no hindrance, no restriction, and as a result all shall come to a knowledge of the truth and to an onnortnnitv of availing themselves of the grace, merry and p&&e prnrided for n7Z in the great salvation secnrcd by the ransom-sacrifice of our Lord Jesus. The angel further explained his great Gospel message, showing its basis, and declaring that all the -good things montionrd should rome to nass because the Saviour, Messiah, had been born-the one sb long looked for in Israel, the promised scrd of Abraham in whom not only Israel should be blessed and exalted to honor, dignity and co-operation, but in whom also all the families of the earth should be blessed. And let us here remark that the order of presentation used by the heavenly messenger, and evidently divinely ordered, 13 the proper presentation of this subject which should be adontcd bv all who seek to be used of the Lord as his ambassadors in the calling of the elect church. First, there is the erand pronouncement of divine favor and blessina. that it is-a cause for joy, and that ultimately it shall extend to every creature ; secondly, there is the specific explanation of how all this is to be accomplished-through a Saviour, a Deliverer, who, as stated in our Golden Text, in order to deliver his people from the wages of sin, death, into eternal life and blessing. mnst first of all save them from their sins. And we see from other Scriptures that thissalvation from our sins silrnities not onlv the navment on our behalf of the penalty for Adamic sin, but also, subsequently, man? instrurtron in righteousness and lifting out of sin; in which uplift each one is required to co-operate to the extent of his will and of his ability.

So all teaching of the grace that is to come to mankind should be coupled with the pluloaophv of the salvation---the---.____. Savlour made -flesh and the gesh detoted or sacrificed for our sins, and the Saviour glorified, that in due tlmc after the selection of his church he might, with her, according to the divine plan, establish his kingdom of righteousness for th,> uplifting of the world of mankind out of -ignorance. snprrstition and general degradation into which the < crrqf :~d~-~~~. sary had gotten them through the fall and thronph hih knl~seqncnt blinding and misleading. In this conncbction it i: well to remember that our Lords name, Jcscrs. qi(r?llfi~ ._. . Xa~iozlr, and that all who would be of the elect Churcl~ must have the spirit of the Bridegroom (as well as by faith b? covered with the garmrnt of his imputed nghtcou~ncss) : and that his spirit is one of opposition to sin to the rstmt of srlfsncl-i/ice. We also are to resist unto blood ldeathl I I"atrl ~llan 2 a$%it;.st sin.-Heb. 12 .4. Then the angel gave the shepherds an intimation of the humhlc conditions under which this great King of earth was born into the world-as a hahe, wrapped in swaddling hinds and Iving in a manger. This was nrcrqsarp, not onlv to thc>ir identificaation of Jesus, but nerrssnry also to bring down thrir thoughts from the great and grand results to its hnmble he~z)~u~II~s, lrst they should be mislrd in their expectations. And as it is with every part of the divine plan, so al\o it should hc in respect to all of our proclamations of the same. We are not only to tell of the future glory and grentnecs and grandeur, but we are to tell also of the present humiliation-not only of our Saviour who hnmhled himself to take n low rstnte amongst men, and to die for our sins, but also to point out that the elect, are called to walk in his footsteps. under similarly humiliating cirrumstanrrs-to suffer with him. if they would reign with him; to die with him, if they wonld live with him. And thus also the prophets spoke not only of the glory that should follow, but also of the suffrrincs of Christ (head and body) which must precede the glory. (1 Pet. 1.11) The lesson to every one who has ears to hrar it is. No cross. no crown. Let us, then, humble onr~lveu. .. . under the mighty hand of God, and rejoice in every step of the humiliation, that he may exalt us in due time to share the glories of his Son our Lord, and to share with him the grand work of blessing all the families of the earth. It was a fitting climax that, after the one angel had told the surprised shepherds of the good tidings of great iov for all people and was ready to depart, he should be joined hv our angelic host, singing, Glory to God in the high&, This wqa tmtand on earth peare, good ~111 toward men. . _ , a reiteration of the -Gospel messape already drlivrrrd. Tt declared that the work which should be accomnlisbed \L r>y~the -I .V l..l, babe just born, should redound to the highest glorv and hsmor of Jehovah God, his Father. It declared also that throngh this work to be accomplished by Jesus shonld romc to rarth divine good-will and ronseqnently peace-and all that thrsn would imply in the way of blessings of restitution and privilrrrr of attaining everlasting life. Rut how murh in conflict with all this are the erroneous theories which have gained rrcdcnre in Christendom, which teach that, notwith&nding the ransom which our Lord Jesus gave, and notwithstanding the tiirning aside of tnc original sfntenrr iinon ollr r,lrar 5~ t))ra . .. _ . result of the propitiationc for our sins accepted bv the Fnthcr, the vast majority of the human family will nevertheless. to all eternity, be in rebellion against God, and in tortnrr ~11 continually blaspheme his name:-and that wrthont cvrr having had a full, reasonable opportunity to know thr S:rvlour or to accept his salvation. How strange that any shoul~l think that such a plan would be glory to God in the higbrst! How strange that anv should r&se to SW the verv nlnin - I statement of the Scripture that God has provitl~~d tbronrh Christ that every memher of the human family shall bavc~ .-._ . full opportunitvof coming to a knowledge of the truth. and then of relinquishing sin and of acrepting new life of righttonsness under the New Covenant-and that then whorvrr strll refuses and will not suhmit himself to this rightmllq nrrangement shall be utterly destroyed from amongst the prople-in the second death.-that none will be suffered to live m sin and opposition to God to blemish any part of Gotls dominions, but that all the incorrigible shall he a3 the they had not been. In no other way can we possihlv imagine that the time will ever come when there will be full penre among men. There is no peare for the wicked, saith my God. The only solution whirh God offers .resperting the estab_ lishment of DeaCe is in connection with the estnhlishmen!. of his kingdom: for which our dear Redeemer taught us to pray, Thy kingdom come, thy will be dono on earth 3s it is done That will mean peace in its fullest and most in heaven. proposition does not include absolute sense. The Scriptural
I, IIL ,.~... .

c25571

(11-13)

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

ALLEGHENY,rA.

the violation of any mans will, but merely the offering through Christ of an opportunity for h1q everlasting blessing and peace. or his cutting off in the second death if he fails to appreciate the divine offer. The shepherds having heard of Gods grace manifested their interest by bislting and paying their homage to the Saviour: and so each one who has heard of the grace of God with an appreciative heart can do nothing iess than seelc the Lord and do him reverence and serve his cause by proclaiming the

gracious message with which he has been favored. Let US each do so, and thus more and more increase in our hearts the joy3 of the Lord and our appreciation of his grlnd gospel.Galatians 3 :8, 16, 20 Respecting the date of Jesus birth, we hold that It was about Sept. 25th to Oct. 1st B. c. 1, and that the annunciation (Luke 1:28) was nine months earlier, namely Dec. 25th n. C. 2. The evidences re this position are given in detail in hlrLLENNLAL DAWWN, VOL. II., pages 54-62.

JESUS INCREASED IN WISDOM AND STATURE

JAN, ~&-LUKE 2:41-52.

And

Jesus increased

in wisdom

and statwre,

and in

favor wth God and illan.

Jlu4 pcpulinr speculation has hccn indulged in respecting the childhood, boyhood and younE manhood of our Lord Jesus. with which WC hare no sympathv whatever. The Bible student should confine himself to the B~blc record, and not give loose rein to imagmation and speculation more hkely to be untrue than correct. Had the T,nrd forcsecn necessity for information respecting this period of our Savmurs career he undoubtcdlg would hnre provided for it in the inspired record. This Wdncqnot imply that thrrc wnq notlling n&worthy or commendat~lc in our Lortlq rarller Ilfr. bllt r:lther that bv u compnrativclly ignoring this the Lord would point us more particularly to tbc tlrrcc and a half years of pubhc ministry following 111ht):ll)tl~nl. in .lordan, alIt by the holy Spirit, In a word. the Lord thus ,)oints out that it was not the man Jesus whose wnrds and acts were valuable to us and lessons for our cumulation, but the words and arts of Ckrwt Jesus, the i1rro~lt.d ,J~us-,J~rus after he had heen anointed with tbc 111)1> ,Sl)il It 15It tlollt nlc;lsurr Scverthelesq keeping strictly within thr 11~s of thp little that is written in the Scriptures we may drnw \omc v:tluablc and hrlpful lessons from the boyhood nnd young manhood of our 1l:lster. Nothing ii known rc~pcctln~ the firit twelve years of our Lords lift, c\ccpt that llntler dl\ incl tllrcctlon his mother and foster-fathcbr took him don-n into Kovnt, out of the reach of Herod, whcsre thcp remained v ith hin; *for a few months until after IT~~rotls dc:lth. rrturning then to their home citv. Nazareth in Galilee. It will be Femcmbercd that the occ&ion of the flight into Egypt was Herods fear that a king should arise ill the familv of Dnvid, in hnrmonv with the Jewish traditions. and thai thus Her&ds own family would be ousted Herod was not of the familv of from thr kinelv nosition. David, nor a y&v kt all-he was of the family of Esau, .JaEobs The story of the wise men corn&g from the East hrotlier. seeking a new-born kine of the Jews will be remembered. and nn\v 1lcrotl. learning oi their mission, urged that whenthey had found the infnnt they sought they should inform him, Herod fclcmlnp that he also desired to do homage to the new ignored B;lt ihe wise men, under divine dire&on, king. Subscnuentlv. learning some of the narticuHerods renucst. lars rrhptcilng tbr birth at B,~~hlehern. kerod caused the death of tbr male-children of that city of two years old and underthus endenvnrine to insure the death of the newborn king. It is not at all crobable that the number of babes slaughtergd under this tlcc,rrc was erent: as the nonulation of Bethlehem was small the number Gf mile child&&of such an age would necessarily be few. The Golden Test informs us that Jesus grew like any other boy-that hi4 development wns gradual, both as respects physWe are not, therefore, to think ical and intellectual stature. of Jesus in hnvhoods days as a sage a teacher, a healer, etc., as we find him subsequent to his anointing with the holy Spirit. NCWI tbelcss, \<e may properly suppOse that the peifeet hop would in many respects be keener and brighter than the average boy who &herits sundry imperfections from the fall. The testimony respecting Mary and Joseph leaves no doubt that thev were iious ncnnplr, nnd this is confirmed bv the first verse of this lesson, which informs us that it was their custom to PO ererv venr to the Feast of the Passover: this reauire m&t of tl;c Law was obqervrd by the most devout Jews only. It is ns unnrcessnry as it is improper for us to go beyond the Scrinturnl declarations on this subirrt, and to assume, as some do, ihat Mary herself was mira&lo&ly conceived nnd born free from sin. Indeed. if XV had no record testifvinc to Marvs pirty the f:lrt that she was honored by the cor$ above ill other women, in that she was chosen to be the motht-r of Jesus according to the flesh, would prove her nobilitv of character and purity of heart ;-for it iu not even supposable that the Lord would so specially honor, bless and use any other than a
Y ,,

See MILLENNIAL

DAWN,

VOL. v, Chap

4.

noble character. Whom the Lord uses we may safely esteem honornble. Although the Jewish Law does not so stlpulntc, tradition informs ub that it was the custom to consider every boy who had fulfilled his twelfth pear as a Son of the Law. and to a certain extent from thnt age amenable to the requirements of the Law: and the narrative of our lesson scrmq to confirm this tradition, telling uq thnt when .Jcsur was tnc IXC years of age (m his tbirteentb year) he accompanied tbr family to the Is there not a lesson here for Passover Feast at Jerusalem. all godly parents, suggesting that the training of the infancy period should be of such a character as to prepare the child for the consideration of sober and religious mnitrrs at the We think there is. And we vrrv threshold of borhood? think it a serious &stake made by some well-intentlonrd parents when they conclude that their children of twelve yeala have sufficient mind to have grasped the elementary prmclples of a secular education and to be prepared for higbt*r studies of a serulnr character, but unfit for higher rcbliglous studle5. The children who are ready at tnnt sac for hiphrr SWalar studies have nlreadv been cnrefullv Instrlifted :~lon;~ elemcntarv lines: and if any aie unnrrpared ior higher studleg in rellol&s matters it is at least possible that their elementary rell&us training may have been neglected bg their divinely appointed No ChristIan parent cnn avoid instructors-their parents. this his natural responsibility toward his children--ln moral and religious training as well as in the secular nntl nhy>lrnl. The i;east of the ?nssover continued seven days, bl;t it was the custom for many of the pilgrims from distant parts to remain over only two days, until after the principal ceremonies. It is probable that Joseph and Mary, In company with their kinsfolk, started on the return lnurney on the third day of the feast. It was customary for the women oi a rarnvan to move on ahead, the men coming nfter, and a boy of Jesus age might be with either of the parents and not be missed until nightfall; and so it seems to hnvr been in this case. As one day had been spent in the journey. so another day was spent returning, and a third day in searching throughout the city; finally they found Jesus in the Temple, sitting with the teachers of the Law, the Doctors. This was not so unusual as might at first appear; for at that time information was gained less from books and more from oral teaching, and the Doctors of the Law were supposed to 1)~ ready to instruct all who desired information, especially during the holy Passover week. Many young men availed themselves of such opportunities, and the custom seems to have been for the Doctors to sit on a special semi-circle of seats, while before them were low benches for the older students: the younger boys sat on the ground, literally at their feet. Thus Paul, ns a youth, was a pupil to Gamaliel, or, as the record reads, sat at the feet of Gamaliel, to learn of him. G:tmaliel was one of the chief Doctors of the Law in his day. We are not to understand that the boy Jesus was bold, and that he went before the learned men of his duv to denounce them as ignorant and as incapable teachers, and to show himself off, as some precocious but ill-trained youth of todnv might attemnt to do. On the contrarv, we are to SUPposelthe key Jesus-to have a well-balanced r&d, which probably recognized the fact that he had lived but few years in the world and had comparatively small experience in lifr, and that he by no means knew all, but recognized many questions unon which he would like to have further information, and t&at he asked his questions honestly, with a desire and hope of obtaining satisfactory answers from the teachers who sat in Moses seat. The nature of the questions is not stated, but the time and surroundings would seem to indicate that they were of a religious character, and that the mind of Jesus was already grappling with the. great questions which properly belonged tb him as a member of the Jewish race to which God had made

[2558]

JANUARY1, 1900

ZIONS

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TOWER

(13-15)

and ignore Joseph, and subsequently imply that Joseph was certain great and precious promises as the Seed of Abraham; the father of Jesus; (2) Joseph having accepted Mary, ac-promises of divine blessing under Messiah, of exaltation to cepted also her son, Jesus, and became his foster-father, and be the chief nation of the world, and of the subsequent priviunder just such circumstances today the child would be taught lege of blessing all nations and of being the mediaries through to consider such an one a parent, and to call him father. whom all mankind might be brought to the knowledge of God (3) It is not at all probable that the story of the immacand to his service. From what we know of the operations of ulate conception of Jesus was ever made known to any but our own minds at the age mentioned, we may presume that the closest members of the family, and it is highly improbable Jesus was brimful of questions respecting the hopes of Israel, that the subject had ever been discussed with the boy Jesus, and no doubt from his mother he had received some intimation only twelve Gears of age,-nor would it have been proper to at least that divine providence had indicated that he himself do so. Mar&s laneuarre. therefore. is entirelv consistent with was to bear some important part in connection with the fulfilall the facts set forthvin the Gospel narratcve. ment of the Scriptures; and he was seeking to know the part marked out for him by the Heavenly Father in the testimony Quite noesiblv the mind of the bov Jesus. while investiof the Law and the Prophets. gating the sub&t of his own rcspdnsibilities toward the Althoueh he did not have a Bible in his home, that he Heavenly Father and his plan, had wondered whether or not could consyilt respecting the divine testimony, he did have the his mission might not in some degree begin with his thirteenth common privilege ot the youth of his day of attending meetyear, since at-that time he was-recognized as a son of the ings in the one little synagogue of Nazareth, which was but a law. Quite Dossiblv some of his auestions before the Doctors There, from Sabbath to Sabbath, he emall country town. of the Law were afong this line, and quite probably he had heard the law read and to some extent commented upon, somefinally about reached cthe conclusion that the types of the times also the psalms and prophecies. With these sources of nriestlv office indicated clearlv that his mission would not information the-eager mind-of the boy had grappled, and now, begin until he was thirty yea& of age. His reply to Marys on the occasion of his first visit to the great city of Jerusalem, Did you not espe& me to -be chiding was along this line: nothing attracted him so much as the Temple and its symDid vou not know that I had about mv Fathers business? bolical services, and happening upon a court or chamber in reached the age when I am a son of the Law, and that which the areat questions of the Law and the Prophets were therefore certain responsibilities have come upon me in respect being disc&red dv the ablest teachers of the time, Jesus to the Heavenly Father and his Word and his plan 1 And became so deeply interested and enthused in the Bible study then, as though remembering the conclusion that he had just that qeemingly he forgot all earthly things, so intent was he reached in discussing the subject with the Doctors, he broke plan in studying about the Heavenly Fathers business-the off the conversation, yielded himself to their wishes, and of God. in which he himself was to be so principal an actor. accompanied them to Nazareth, making (so far as recorded) Naturally his questions would be deeper and-more logical no further suggestion of any other than the ordinary course than those of other boys of his age, and naturally the Doctors of life until he had attained the age of thirty years. This is of the Law would be deeplv interested in him because of this expressed in the words, And he was subject unto them. in conlunction with the modesty which we may be sure accomJoseph and Mary realized clearly that the boy was more than was nanled it. And as during these feasts great hospitality ordinary, very extraordinary indeed, yet they did not fully Gsercisetl, especially toward strangers from a distance, -Jesus comprehend the situation nor fully grasp the import of his was probnhly entertained by one and another of these newNevertheless, Marv treasured this with the other pewords. found friends. ruliar testimonies respecting him in her heart, and doubtless The narrative records that, when found by Joseph and it was from her lins that Luke received the information contained in our lesson.Mary, .Jehus was both lrearing the Dortors and asking them qurctions There is a valuable lesson here for all young perTradition declares that Joseph died while Jesus was yet their conduct toward their elders and inscans resnectina young, and that the latter took up the carpenters trade and httuctori. 1 How diflerent the thought we get from this statebecame the support of the family. This finds some support in tr~nt, than we would have gotten had it read that thev found the Scriptural testimony where Jesus himself is called a car,Jesu< rnstr,rctlllg the Doctors, or attempting to teach them. penter, and his mother and brethren are mentioned, but Joseph n-e do not tloriln for a moment that the Doctors were as much is ignored. (Mark 6: 3) Furthermore, no reference is made to instructed hv .Jesus as hc was bp them, possibly more so on Joseph in connection with our Lords ministry though his some points at least; nor do we doubt that if they were truly mother and his brethren are several times mentioned. It is great Amen they would be humble-minded enough to receive quite probable, then, that the long period of eighteen years of instructions from any one-even from a child; and it is even our Lords life, from the time of the incident of this lesson intimated in the context that they asked Jesus certain questo the time of his baptism, was spent in the performance of and his tions, and were astonished at. his understanding the ordinary duties of life. What a thought this gives us answers. In both cases the proceeding was that of deference with respect to our Lords deveIopment of patience-patiently to the other, as implied in the asking of the questions: Jesus waiting until the Fathers time should come and he should harne deferred to the Doctors and asked them questions which begin his ministry; patiently studying meantime, as best he manifested his depth of mind and clearness of-understanding could, to know more and more of the Fathers will and plan; and logical reasoning, led them in turn to ask questions of patiently waiting for the baptism of the holy spirit, which him. would enable him to fully comprehend the situation and his This question plan we commend to all of the dear friends own personal relationship to it. What a lesson there is here of the truth as a wise and proper one, no less to us of today for all his followers, and everyone of us may well realize the than to the boy Jesus and to the Doctors of the Law. We truth of the words, Ye have need of patience, and again, have seen instances in which some of the Lords dear people Let patienre have her perfrct work. What a lesson there is have greatly injured their influence in the truth by dispiay-of for us also in the thought that we are not to attempt to hasten too larae a decree of self-confidence, self-assztrance, in speakthe divine plan, but to wait patiently for its unfolding-not ing of -the di&r plan to others-especially to the learned. to attempt to begin any work for the Lord unless we are sure Meekness is a jewel wherever found, and is especially desirable that his time has come, and that he has palled us to do it; as an adjunct and sling for the truth. Let the truth be shot then, like our Lord, to he instant in season and out of season, forth with all the force it can carry, but always with meekwhen convenient and when inconvenient, under favorable and ness and humility; and the queston~ form of suggesting truth unfavorahle conditions; to do with our might what our hand will often be found the most foiceful. has found to do. And we gather the further thought that the most humble forms of lahor are honorable when they are ours Naturally Joseph and Mary were astonished to find their in harmony with Gods providence. little son in the company of and receiving consideration from the greatest teachers of their day, and probably nothing was Happily for us, we are not born under the Law nor under said to Jesus publicly respecting their disappointment and the limitations which hinder us from receiving the call and their subsequent search for him: probably when alone Mary responding to it before thirty years of age. On the contrary, upbraided him for his neglect to be with the caravan: yet she under the *New Covenant of grace it is our privilege to present did this in a verv kind and moderate manner, which seemed our bodies living sacrifices to the Lords service at as earlv an to indicate that it was a very unusual occurrence, which in age as our knowledge of divine things and our enlight&ed turn speaks to us of parental obedience on the part of Jesus. judgments will permit. We, instead of waiting to grow to the Marys expression, Behold, thy father and I have sought fulness of stature mental and physical, are permitted to begin thee sorrowing, i. has been questioned hy some as being a con. at once, as members of the Royal Priesthood, and to be growfession that Joseph was the father of- Jesus, but we-answer, ing at the same time we are serving. Rut let us not forget Not so; it would be unreasonable to suppose ( 1) that Luke would particularly trace the genealogy of Jesus through Mary, * See June 15, 1919, issue for critical examination of Covenants. [2559]
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the necessity for growth,-adding to faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge and to knowledge self-control, and to self-control patience. and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly-

kindness, and to brotherly-kindnpsc lore.-See 2 Peter 1:5-g. In malice be ye chIIdren, but in understanding be ye men.-1 Cor. 14 :20.

INTERESTING
DF.AR BROTHER RvsSzLL:-In regard to the work here in Boston the report is good. The Volunteer work is blessing all who engage in it and goes on grandlv. Scareclv a Sunday but ., ci that we distribute the trac& at some chuich where the preachers thcnle is Evolution. Two Sundays ago the Pastor of Tremont Tcmnle preached a sermon advocating the doctrine &urch in New of Evolution. * This is the largest Protestant Eneland (conereeation of 3000 and over). and the Pastor is theQgentlema~ who notified police headquarters last June to have a stop put to further distribution of our tract. But he did not succeed. We are finding more work than was at first anticipated and are giving morevbooks. Our report for month of November is as follows:-Nov. 5th in Dorchester 11 c.hurches, 1024 booklets; Nov. 12th in W. Roxbury and Jamaica Plain 14 churches, 686 booklets; Nov. 19th in Dorqhestcr and Roxlindale 18 churches, 1269 booklets; Nov. 26th in Newton 13 churches, 1444 booklets; also in Brookline during month 4 churches, 154 booklets; total of 60 churches, 4877 booklets ; average 81.2. We find churches larger than we anticipated. Quite a number with congregations of from 300 to 600 which accounts for our using more booklets than expected as well as the larger average. We still have 25 to 30 ( brethren a1111sister a) engaged in work. and though we havr accomplished a good work, the end is not yet. We are anxious to do all the important towns accessible hy electric cars, provided you ran keep us supplied. We leave that part for you all who work are receiving blessto decide. l.Tnquestionably Ings, and are being built up in zeal and love in the Lord:, service. Sr. G. desires to be remembered. Your brother, in love .rnd service of our Redeemer, ALESAXDER &I. GRaHau,--Uussuchusetts, [We are filling orders right along. Let the good work proceed. God bless the Volunteers. EDITOR.] DEAR BROTHER Rusuz~.r.:-I am glad that at last I have loncentrated my mind enough to write to you. Not till Mrs. lloehmer was hrre did I read and study anything in the truth +o much as to do me any good, but while she was here my She gave me Vol. I. of JI. 1,bole attention was turned. DAWN but at first I could not read it without a great deal of I read it only to show her I used the gift-it will power. .eemed so uninteresting. But at last it grew more interesting and I devoted most all of my time to reading it and 1 gave up almost all of my play especially with everybody but my (Do you consider this wrong on my part? ) Iuother and sister. -And I went to all the DAWN Circles and meetings hrre while was she was with us, and mamma said the holy Spirit upon me. When Sister Boehmer left us all of my holy interests seemed to die out of me. I could read nothing Scriptural so that I could remember it or act upon it in my daily course I think the reason why God let it happen so was of life. lIecause I got to thinking I was far ahead in the rare and (Dont you think looked boastfully down on my neighbors. 40, too?) But I went to meeting every Sunday and learned 0, -o much good! from Brother Wright and I think he is the Ijest leader that could be chosen-that is, a human leader. But I could remember nothing through the week. Now here is another case: A large tough is always trying to catch us for no reason at all but he claims for an excuse that w\e throw stones at him, but we did not. T wrote to Bro. Boehmer about it and he said I should avoid him as best I could. and in doing this I am obliged to run sometimes or get hit. Sow do yoii -i*onsidcr this right or wrong? Twicr we stopped and asked him what he wanted but he only hit us. \Vlien lh 0 Boehnicr \\ as here he said it would do me good to enter a gymnasium which I did the 1st of Nov. It is in a Congregational Chui ch . I am also entitled to a piirileg:e of Do you think I will fall into boys cluli and six lertures. wrong there? Here is $1 whicli will at least be cnouph to makr one WATCH Towkn which ~111 help some one alomg lust like th(l TOWER of Nov. 1 issue helned me alone: csneciallv the articles about Nehemiah wlucl~ induced me to write. Somany things fit my case exactly,-like where it says while we are in the truth we will be assailed the most, and when we get drowq and lazy about studying the truth WC>will not be assailed

LETTERS
This is exactly right because it went so with me and I shall be happy in the hardest of earthly troubles. Your remark that each should build the walls near his home. has onened mv eyes enough to see that I was in the wrong, because IXdo better in school and away from home than I do at home. Now I will try to do the best I can at home but will not lose my good part away from home. I felt like opening my whole heart to you, and I have done it with the best intentions. I hope that your answer to this letter will come soon and brfp~+ tidings that will do me good. Yours sincerely, HUGO KUEHN,-Oklo. [REPLY:-I am always deeply interested in the young who eive their hearts to the Lord. Mv Christian life hwan at gbout the same age as your own (l-3)) and I know how great a blessing it is to become a soldier of the cross at an early age. At no time do we more need divine wisdom and gracti than in boyhood and entering manhood, and how comforting it is to all such to be able to realize that having csommitted their all to the Lord he is caring for them, guiding and shaping their affairs in the course which will be most to their advantage as respects the present and the eternal life. In re the rude youth disposed to attack you with stones: My advice would be that you go to play in another quarter, and that generously you consider that the man m.ay be just as much unbalanced in mind or as soured in disposition as sorncl who in the language of Scripture. Shoot out arrows, evcmn bitter words, at the righteous. (Psa. 64 :3) On the whole 1 believe that those who throw literal stones are much less dangerous than some who are outwardly more decorous who have The poison of asps under their lips (Rom. 3:13), and who backbite. sneak evil of and slander others-even the Lord* Let us thank God that the time is coming when brethren. there will no longer be in the world any except those who of a sound mind-the disposition of the have the spirit Lord.-2 Tim. 1:7. Respecting your attendance at a gymnasium, and the hearine of lectures: It would seem to me that no evil need result from merely availing yourself of these privileges, and should advise that vou do so. unless there would be something in the way of a boidage connected with this-some obligations-and quite likely there are none that would be objectionable in such a club. With much Christian lore, Your brother and servant THE: EDITOR.1 in the Lord, WATCH TO~ER Bmr,n & TRACL SOCIETY. DEAR BRETHREN:-The Volunteer distribution of the booklets, The Bible versus the Evolution Tkory, has been completed in the District of Columbia, after a campaign lasting Fourteen Volunteers-brothers and sistersseven months. visited 154 churches and distributed 10,934 booklets, besides other tracts. The congregations in the various churches varied all the way from 400 down, the average attendanrc being 71. This work was taken up in acrordance with the offer made in TOWER of April 15th, 96, it being our desire in this manner to show our love and annreciation of the Lord and his truthby engaging in a word which might result in lhe blessing of his true brethren. The work has progressed with perfect harmony of hearts, hands and a willingness to serve in any channel, however humble, and has most evidently been under divine direction, for we have had many indications of providential guidance in selection of churches to be worked, etc. We have been ereatlv blessed in this work which has given us many opportu&ties ior letting our light shine for the-Master.-upon some occasions the brethren being invited within the church building to explain the object of the visit and something of Godkplan as testified to in the literature distrihuted. We were well received on the whole, notwithstandWe are thankful to God for Ing some cases of opposition. these great privileges of serving his truth, and also to Brother Russell and the Tract Society as instruments in his hands IVe are still Volunteers, and ready to carry the good warfare into the adjacent towns with the booklets still on hand. With love to all who are similarly engaged in the Volunteer work. Your fellow Soldiers THE CHURCH AT'\~ASHINGTON, D. C.

[2560]

VOL.

XXI

ALLEGHENY,

PA., JANUARY

15, 1900

No. 2 1

VIEWS FROM THE WATCH

CHURURES AS SOCIAL ULUBS Rev. John Watson, widely known in orthodox circles (as [an Maclaren, his literary nom de plume), wrote for publication recently, that in his judgment the churches of various denominations are rapidly becoming social clubs-ceasing to nppreclate or use the place hitherto considered the true position of the church. The text for his criticism was found on a printed postal card sent out by an American Y. ?II. C. A., which read word for word as follows:
DO NOT FORGET

TOWER

The next Social. The next Candy-pull. The next Entertainment. The next Song Service. The next Gospel Meeting. The next meeting of the Debating Club. The next Chicken-pie Dinner. The next date when you ought to make the secretary happy with your cash. Commenting upon this card, he says:This remarkable list of operations, combining evangelistic zeal, creature comforts, and business shrewdness, requires no 4Lommentary; the items give us a convincing illustration of an up-to-date religious institution-a veritable hustler of a I-. 31. C. A. The Christian church and a T. PII. C. A. are of course very different institutions, and the latter is free from any traditions of austere dienitv. but one is not surDrised to find that the church has alvo b&n touched with the social spirit and is also doing her best to make religion entertaining. one enters what is (-alled a nlace of worship and imagines that he is in a drawing-room. *The floor has-a thick Farpet, there are rows of theater-chairs, a huge organ fills the eye, a large bouquet of tlowers marks the ministers place; people come in with a lannty air and salute one another cheerily; hardly one bends hlq head in prayer; there is a hum of gossip through the bulldinc. A man disentangles himself from a conversation and bustics up to the platform without clerical garb of any kind, as likctly as not in la>-mans dress. A quartet advances, and, in(:lng the audience, sings an anthem to the congregation. ~hlch does not rise, and later they sing another anthem, also There is one prayer, and one reading to the congregation. irom Holy Scripture, and a sermon which is brief and bright. Among other intimations the minister urges attendance at the oyster supper, when, as is mentioned in a paper in the pews, there will be oysters and meat-turkey, I think-and ice-cream. This meal is to be served in the church parlor. %o sooner has the benediction been pronounced, which has some original feature introduced, than the congregation hurries to the d;or, but although no one can explain h&v it is managed, the minister is already there shaking hands, introducing people, getting off good things, and generally making things One person congratulates him on his talk-new name hum. for a sermon-and another says it was fine. Efforts have been made in England also to make church llfc really popular, and, in one town known to the writer, with some success of its own kind. One church secured a new set of communion plates by the popular device of a dance; various congregations gave private theatricals, and in one case had stage property of their own. Bible classes celebrated the ronclusions of their sessions by a supper; on Good Friday there were excursions into the country accompanied by a military band, and a considerable portion of the congregational income was derived from social treats of various kinds. This pnrticsular town is only an illustration of the genial spirit One minister spreading throughout the church in England. uses a magic lantern to give force to his sermon; another has added a tavern to his church equipment; a third takes up the latest murder or scandal ; a fourth has a service of song; a fifth depends on a gypsy or an ex-pugilist. If this goes on, the church will soon embrace a theater and other axtractions which will draw young people, and prevent old people from wearying in the worship of God. [Contrasting these modern and irreverent and unscriptural methods with those of the nast. Dr. Watson continues:-1 Perhaps it mai be the-per;ersity of human nature which is apt to cavil at new things and hanker after the good old times-which were not always good, by any means-but one is not much enamoured with the new departure, nor at all convinced that what may be called for brief the candy-pull system is any improvement on the past. After a slight experience of smart preachers, and church parlors, and ice-cream suppers, and picnics, one remembers with new respect and keen [2561]

appreciation the minister of former days, with his seemly dress, his dignified manner, his sense of responsibility, who came from the secret place of divine fellowship, and spoke as one carrying the message of the Eternal. He may not have heen so fussy in the aisles as his successor, nor so clever at games, nor able to make so fetching a speech on Lore, Courtshin. and Mnrriape. There are no doubt many points in which the congregation of the present has advanced on the congregation of the past, but it has not been all gain, for the chief note in the worship of the former generation was revelencc-people met in the presence of the Eternal, before whom cverv man is lesq than nothing. And the chief note of their child&, who meet to listen to a choir and a clever platform speaker, is selfcomplacency. -The Ladies IIomc Journal, * * * * We have frequently pointed out these same tendencies, but we are glad to he able to quote the words of another-of one who stands so high in Churchianity. But Dr. Watson will err long find that he must not criticize Babylon; and that if hc persists he will lose caste with the lords thereof. So conservative a journal as The Sdwance has alreadv intimated that Candy-pulis and other modern methods oi making Christianity attractive must not be interfered with by old fogies. And so say we 1 Let the innovations Droceed-thev arc essential to thk very existence of Babylon.. And beside;, the sooner the social Churchianity clubs act out their real sentiments all along the line, the better it will he for true Christianity, whose separation from Churchianity is now due to be accomplished in this harvest time-wheat from tares. The more it becomes apparent that, with the vast majority, religion is merely a form of godliness, the more will those who have the power of it as well realize the width of the gulf which really separates the two classes in divine estimation. The louder grow the revelry and irreverence and the scoffing at Gods Word bv hi&er &tics and the boast8 of Evolution, the louder in the earsof the Lords true saints will sound the Master8 command : Babvlon is fallen. is fallen! Come out of her, my people, that yi he not pnrtakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.-Rev. 18:2, 4. * * * * The Editor of the Washington City Times gives his opinion of some of the methods of Churchianity, thus:A sensational Brooklyn preacher lately discoursed on subjects like these: Would Christ Belong to a Labor Union ? Would Christ Go to a Brooklvn Theater? and so on. It is rather difficult to conceive the moral status of people who actually approve of sermons of this sort. Undoubtedly a large part of the audiences which they attract come from mere curiosity, as they might come to any other sort of show; and they might as well be at the theater for all the good that it is likely to do them. One of the most denlorable features of mod&n American life is the tendency towird sensationalism in the pulpit. It is bad from everv DOiDt of view. It excites emotions which are in no way religious, and are all the worse for passing under that name. It is in execrable taste, it misleads people to a sort of contempt for religion, and it makes the churches which indulge in it odious. It has grown out of-another had featul e of our modern life-the Dlutocratic ideal. Anv sensible nerson mav easilv I .I understand that when the attragtion of a church for its memhers depends on this sort of thing, and on the ability of the people of the church to dress well and pay for a handsome building and a showy choir, there is no more real religion in the whole business than there is in a circus. . . . It would be much more to the pomt for the sensational preacher above quoted to ask himsell, in private, whether hie church is the kind which Christ would bc likelv Y to annrove. AI or if it is full of money-changers and the sellers of doves. It is time that sensible and thoughtful reliqioua people in this country understood what a church is really intended to be. It should not be a bad imitation of fashionable society, with all the meannesses, caste distinctions, pettiness, and jealousy of that society, veneered over with a coating of formal religion. . . Z CHRISTIANITY IN JAPAN Not long since Japan was considered the brightest example of progress in Christian missions, and with good reason. Everything coming from Europe or the United States was looked upon with favor-the Christian religion included. In a few vears the number of converts to various shades of nominal Christianity ran up to 40,578 in 1878. However, a great change ha8 occurred there: and within the past two years the total converts claimed by all the sects is only 403.
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PA.

The beginning of this change of sentiment seems to have dated from the time that the different denominations began more or less to compete. It would seem that at first denominational and creed differences were considerablv hidden from the Japanese, and they seem to have embraced Christianity in something of its simplicity of spirit if not of doctrine. However, when they began to send some of their young men to American and English colleges, the fact of the great varieties of contradictory doctrines, all claiming to represent Christs teachings, became known, and was naturally followed by denominational reapings, chiefly, we believe, Presbyterian, The Japanese are a pracficul people, and concluded that, if Christians of the West were so confused and divided respecting the teachings of the Bible, the Japanese could properly exercise their own iudyments on the subiects also. In doing so they are rapidlytending toward agnosticism, doubt, uncert tainty, unbelief, just as thinking people everywhere are doing, except as they get the truth and with it the spirit of a sound mind. How we would like to put into the hands of these JaDancsc and all truth-seekers the light of present truth showing forth the divine plan of the ages. WeLare on the lookout for the Lord to brine forward to the lieht some earnest. fullv oonsecrxted ?Jnpnnege capable of presenting the plan b? translating Dawr;, VOL. L., presenting it to his Christian countrymen. We thought we had found the one two years ago, but it Droved otherwise;-Christianitv was unpopular, but the truth much more so-too unpopular -for him. ^ Rev. Dr. Christlieb. for vears the remesentative of the Erangelical Protestant Mission Societyi of Germany, discussed the set-back in Japan in a volume just published, and Chrisentitled, The Tendencies of Japanese Civilization tianity, in which he explains:The opposition now generally entertained by the Japanese

against the Christian church is due to the changed attitude which they have in recent years developed in so marked a degree to all influences from abroad-a conservative reaction of-a pronounced type. This return to nativism is largely due to the easv success in the war with the Chinese. This reaction from the former enthusiasm for innovation has assumed a particularly determined character. The Japanese have reached the conclusron that they had been too hasty in discarding the old in favor of the new, and this spirit has found its way even into the Christian elements of Japan, which aspired to the establishment of a church independent of the churches in countries that had been Christian for centuries. Although the Japanese have known Christianity only for thirty years and there is scarcely a single adult native who has been a Christian since his childhood, yet they began to regard themselves more capable to develop a Chrmtian culture and life than those who brought them the new faith. These ideas and ambitions are largely due to the fact that attemDts were made to build UD a Christianitv whollv divorced from the national character of the people. The reaction is, to a certain extent, the result also of the radical antiJaDanese tvDe of life that representatives of Western Christianitv aimed to develop, completely ignoring the many excellent traits that make UD the national character of the DeoDle. Still another element that has entered into this reaction is the fact that the Japanese, who is naturallv not too deep intellectually and who -is but half civilized, has been made acauainted with Western aenosticism and atheism as found in thi writings of SchopenhaGer and Herbert Spencer. Through these a certain dangerous contempt for the supernatural has been developed, especially among the younger generation. All these factors and others have united to produce the modern opposition to Christianity in the Japanese empire.

PREACHING

OF JOHN THE

BAPTIZER

JAN. 21.-LUKE 3:1-17. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. error as to become the persecutor of the church. And even Doubtless manv commentors on this lesson will claim that when the Lord rebuked him in the way to Damascus, that was John the Baptize;s ministrg began with the year A. D. 26, not an interference with his zclll or nature. but merely a reand by positiveness of assertion seek to make up for their lack moval of his blindness, his ignorance, permitting his true will of evidence on this subject. Let all therefore bear in mind to come into exercise. And so no doubt others of the Lords that such a dating of Johns ministry will be purely arbitrary, people from time to time have been from earliest childhood to make it conform to the erroneous view which prevails among special subjects of divine Providence which has guided and scholars in respect to the date of our Lords birth. It should shaped their experiences without interfering with their wills, not be forgotten, however, that, although it is well established so as to make of them speed instruments for the accomplishfrom the Scriptures that our Lord was six months younger ment of divine purposes. than his second-cousin, John, there is no other Scriptural date Of Johns life from infancy to manhood we know nothing which so closely and definitely connects the history of our Lord except the bare record, The child grew and waxed strone in and of John the Baptizer with general history, as does the spirit, and was in the desert until the dav of his sho&ng statement of this very lesson, that John began his ministry unto Israel (Luke 1 :80)-not in the sandvdeserts, but more (when he was thirty years of age) in the fifteenth year of the properlv in the wilds, the uncultivated reeions, Derhans in the reign of Tiberius Caesar. Those who claim that Jesus began ihiil country, where his parents resided at the time of his his ministry A. D. 27, instead of A. D. 29, claim that Johns birth. Possibly a Dart of the Lords Drovidence in reanect to ministry began in A. D. 26; and in order to make this fit with Johns training fo; his work consisted in the ordering of the the statement of the first verse of this lesson, they are obliged affairs of his parents, so that possibly they were forced by to count the reign of Tiberius Caesar two years before its adcircumstances to reside in such a wilderness-home, where they mitted date. For a particular discussion of this subject, howwould have comparatively little intercourse with others., and ever, we must refer our readers to MILLENNIAL DAWN, VOL. where John, probably as a forester, would have the experiences II., p, 54. which the Lord saw would best fit him for the work intended. Of John it is written that he was filled with the holy Spirit All Christians should learn to trust to the Reavenly Fathers from his birth. But we must not misunderstand this to mean guidance, remembering his special promise, which is applicable that he was begotten of the holy Spirit, in the sense that to each one who is in Christ, viiz., that all things shall work Christians are begotten of it, for he lived before the time of together for good to them that love God, and-remembering spirit-begetting-in the Jewish age, not in the Gospel or Christhis they should be content with the lot which Providence tian age. Thus our Lord said of him that, although there seems to mark out for them-not indolent, but content, when had not arisen a greater Prophet than John, nevertheless, the thev have done all that their hands find to do.-not restless. least in the kingdom of God is greater than he-the least one peeiish, dissatisfied, complainers against God and his proviin the house of sons is on a higher plane than the greatest one dence. Trust in the Lord and do good. It may be that the in the house of servants. (Matt. 11: 11; Heb. 3:5, 6) The Lord is fitting and preparing us individually for some special Apostle again explains that the holy Spirit was not yet givm, service, and that the permitted experiences alone will prepare because Jesus was not yet glorified.-John 7 : 39. us for that service. Indeed, we know from the Word that God In harmony with this we must understand that John was designs his elect for joint-heirship with our dear Redeemer filled with the holy Spirit, holy power or influence from God in the glorious Millennial kingdom; and we can well realize from his birth, after the same manner that the other prophets that because of our imperfertion we need much moulding and throughout the Jewish age had been under that holy spirit. fashioning, chiseling and polishing to make us meet for the The expression would lead us to understand that, although inheritance of the saints in light. We are to remember also John was not born immaculate, as was Jesus, he nevertheless that we are incompetent to judge of our own imDerfections. was well born, under holy influences, which tended to develop and hence incompetent to judge of the experiences which would in him natural characteristics suitable to the mission he was be most helDfu1 to us. It is difficult for us sometimes even to intended of God to fulfil. This does not involve the thought see ourselv& as others see us; much more difficult, undoubtof divine interference with the free will of the individual, for edly, it would be to see ourselves from the divine standpoint. Paul tells us that he also was chosen of God from his birth Here faith in God comes to the front-This is the victory to be a sDccia1 servant to do a sDecia1 work. (Gal. 1: 15) which overcometh the world, even your faith. Nevertheless, the Lord did not interfere with his exercising The time of Johns showing or presentation to Israel his own free will, even permitting him to go so far into blind 125621

JANUARY

15, 19co

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(23-24)

was undoubtedlv the time when he reached the legally required thirty years of age; and then it was that the w&d of the Lord came unto him. causinp him to begin his mission. WC are not to think of &is exprgssion as ha&g to John the same signification as it has to 6s who are of thii Gospel age. The word of God came to John as a prophet, for our Lord declared,-There hath not arisen a greater prophet than John the Baptist. The Lord made clear to John that the time had come for the beginning of his ministry, not merely by an impression or su&ise, gut with positiv&ess, as in-the case of all the nronhets. In harmonv with his commission he went to the thicklysettled regions ik the vicinity of the River Jordan, preaching repentance-that the people should reform-and baptizing in the Jordan those who professed a reformation. For this reason John sought the pools or deep places of the river;-for instance, he went to Enon, near to Salem, because there was much water there-a pool sufficiently deep for the purposes of immersion. We are not to fall into the too common error of supposing from the record that John preached to the people that repentance and baptism would work for them (L remission of their sins. To so interpret these words would put them in direct conflict with the entire testimony of the Scriptures, which is to the effect that without the shedding of blood there is no remlssion of sins. The usual representation of this subject is therefore clearly in error. To-the contrary, we are to understand this verse to mean that John preached a baptism sjgnifying repentance unto, or preparatzon*for, a remissi:on of The time had not vet come for the blotting out of the Ei$ and John neither ha-d nor could have obtained authority to derlore sins remitted because of repentance and baptism. Had it been possible for him to have made such a proclamation. truthfullv. it would have proven that there was no necessitv for the coming of our cord Jesus to give himself a mnso-m for Israel and for all the families of the earth. If repentanre and immersion in water would bring the forgiveness of sins, the Saviour and a great one whom God had promised to Israel for so long would have been wholly .unnecBut when we view Johns work and preachmg as essary. merely a preliminary one, to make ready a repentant people, desiring to have their sins forgiven, desiring full at-one-ment ivlth God, and expecting a Saviour to accomplish all this,then all is harmony. And this thought, that the remission of sins was a work future from Johns day. a work to be accomplished by Christ, is fully borne out by the succeeding context, a quotation from Isalnh the Prophet, which has not even yet been fulfilled, but includes the entire work of the Millennial age. That age will be one for remission of srns and blotting out of sins, and the full reconclllatlon of so many as will accept Gods grace in Christ under the New Covenant. (Compare Acts 3: 19-21) In that time, under those favorable conditions, and not before, will the statement be fulfilled, All flesh shall see the salvation of God. We are to bear in mind that Johns work as a messenger was exclusivclv to Israel. and had nothine whatever to do with anv of thk Gentiles. To Israel he acteci as the Elijah or Forerunker of illessiak in the flesh, seeking to induce that time, to accept the formal offer of nation, in Its harvest Gods kingdom by accepting Jesus as the King. But Johns mission w-as not successful to his nation. and nrofited onlv a few of the people; those few who believed Joims testim&y, and received it into good and honest and repentant hearts, were prepared to receave Jesus and to appreciate and receive the remission of sins offered by God through him. The remainder of that nation, rejecting Johns teaching, and being in an unrenentant condition of heart, were not properly exercised, were not ready for Jesus, and did not app;eci&e the offer of remission of sins through his blood as a consequence, and as a nation were rejected & God and wholly overthrown: While John thus acted as the Elijah in introducing Jesus in the flesh to fleshly Israel, and gathered out a certain class who were ready to receive Jesus, and who were blessed by him, so we see that in Gods plan there is a greater antitype of Elijah than was John, as there is a greater Christ than was our Lord Jesus. The greater Christ is the spiritual one, The Lord from heaveny--LLNow the Lord is that Spirit. And this glorified spirit Lord is the Head of the church which is his bodv. and this body of many members will, in the first resurrectib&f be made like him and to share his glory, ;tnd with him and under him constitute the great Blessiak, who shall take unto himself his great power and reign, establishing Gods kingdom amongst men, and causing his will to be done on earth as it is done in heaven. (Matt. 6 : 10) The coming into power of this great Christ, the spiritual Christ (head znd body) constitutes the second advent to mankind-the

manifestation of the sons of God for the deliverance of the groaning creation. (Rom. 8: 17-19) Thus the second advent of Christ the Head (with the church his body) will be seen to be on a very much higher plane than was the first advent of our Lord in the flesh, although the first advent was all-important in that without it and its sacrifice for sins there could have been no second advent of Jesus, the Head, in the glory of kingdom power, and there could have been no glorified members of his body to be associated with him. After thus noting the relationship of the two events, it ia proper for us to note also that as the blessings of the first advent were offered to nominal fleshly Israel so the presentation of the blessings of the second advent will be to nominal Spiritual Israel (Christendom), and as a Forerunner or herald was appropriately sent to fleshly Israel, to prepare them for the first advent, likewise it would be appropriate that a proportionately greater Forerunner should precede the second advent, and seek to make ready therefor all nominal Spiritual Israelites. As we have already shown,* this greater Elijah, who heralds the spiritual Christ, is composed of many members; Jesus in the flesh was himself the Head of this Elijah class, and all of his true followers, who will be, when glorified with him, members of the glorious Christ, will have previously been in their earthly lives members with him of the Elijah class, whose mission it is to show forth the principles of righteousness and true holiness, and to exhort both by word and conduct all men to repentance and to preparation for the second advent-the glorious appearing, the setting up of the Messianic kingdom, the actual blotting out of sins, the straightening of every crooked way, the leveling up of deep crevices of character, the leveling down of the hills of pride to the proper level of humility; and in every sense of the word seeking to prepare all flesh to see the salvation of God. Nevertheless, we are to remember that the Scriptures distinctly indicate that the ttst,imony of this greater Elijah will be equally unsuccessful with that of the lesser antitype of Elijah, John the Baptizer, The church in the flesh has not succeeded in making straight the paths of the Lord for a triumphal entry to his kingdom upon the earth. A few have heard, but the message has utterly failed as respects the vast majority, even those who profess respect for and to be waiting for the kingdom. Nevertheless, all Gods good purposes will be ultimately nccompliphed, though net,essarily introduced by troubles, calamities, distress upon Christendom, in the end of this age or harve4 t,ime, similar to those troubles which came upon fleshly Israelites who were unready for the Saviour, and knew not the time of their visitation, at his first advent. All this unreadiness, however, shall not hinder the work of the Messiah. As at his first advent he gathered all Israelites indeed to the new dispensation, so now he will gather his elect little flock to himself; his kingdom will be established ; it shall rule over all; it will accomplish the straightening of every crooked path; it will level up the path of righteousness and holiness. and make of it a highway freed from stumbling blocks of error and from Satans deception. (Isa. 35:s. 9) All mankind then brought to a knowledge of the truth will have the privilege of progressing through the times of restitution up this grand highway of obedience to the grand perfection lost for himself and his race hy father Adams transgression, but redeemed for Adam and his race by the precious blood of Christ. All flesh indeed shall see the salvation of our God, and so many as will may share therein, for this is the blessing which God has provided for all the families of the earth, through the true spiritual Seed of Abraham -Christ and his elect church.-Gal. 3: 16, 29. It would seem that Johns ministry at first was somewhat popular, notwithstanding his probably uncouth backwoods appearance and great plainness of speech; SO that great multitudes came to him: amongst these were some who seemed to John to be SO vile that he could not properly accept them until they had given some proofs of reform. These he denominates children of vipers--very harsh language, we would be inclined to say. We are not to understand that such language is proper to be copied by the Lords people of today. We are rather to suppose that there were special conditions at that time which made this language appropriate, and that John, as a prophet, was divinely puided into giving this sharp reproof. The Lords people of the Gospel age are instructed on the contrary to speak with meekness, gentleness, patience, longsuffering, etc.,-in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves-reproving with all long-suffering. The Lords people of today are under general instructions of Gods Word, as regards all their conduct, and are not to depart therefrom unless it would be under special divine direction, as were the l MILLENNIAL DAWN, Vot. II, Chap. 8.

[25631

(24-26)

ZIONS

?#A
. .

.4LLECHESY, Pa.

prophets of old-such as is not glvcn to any at the present time so far as we are aware. When John speaks of his hearers fleeing fro1n the wrath to come, we are not to get the thought that he preached, or that the people believed in, the doctrine of eternal torment, and that the words referred to this. Quite to the contrary, there is 170 ~71~17 teaching in the Scriptures. The wrath to come 1eferrctl to by John prophetically was the trouble that was abo71t to come 71l~on that nation unless they would receive Messiah, who had not yet becan offered to them, b77t who would shortly appear, and for \!hose appearance thev were to make ready by tr77c rcpc1ltanc.r and baptism. The wrath to come did come 71pon the natloll 1,rc:tuse of its rcjcction of Messiah, :IQ our Lord and the -\l)ostlr Pa771 s~cciallv testify. (See Luke 21:23: 1:om. 0:22; 1 il1es. 9:16) Tt 1,717&d fi&& against them in the pleat tinic of trouble ~17ich led to tlic collapse of their national polity in ,t. II. 69.70, and t1it.y ha~c been under that wrath and 77nablr to rc&tabli+ thcmcrlve~ as a nati from tl1at day to tbc l)r(Scnt timr \V\r shall find confirmation of this intclrprctatioll of thr \vrntb to camp further clown in this lrsson l)r,a( hing hc fo7711done dificulty-. and that w21s In Joh~ that his lic:irc~i~ wtrc imbnc~d with the thought that thev nerc Gods specially. c~hosrn. clrct pcoplr. whose gloriflcati& had been foretold 1n the prophrt+, ant1 that since thrrc were no hetter pcoplr in thcb world it \\as nnrraso11able to suppose that God would pas, by 111,~very best. They reasoned tl1at hc must take hom(. in 07tlcr to fulfil his nronlisc<: and that ther were not only thr mo\t obedient to hislaw o&nrdly, but alsb were the nat71ral scc~l of .~l)raha1n. to whom the promises were made. Likewise the nrinrinal olmosition to the teaching of holiness, entire consecraiion io the Lord, today throughout: Christendom, is the samrh error. -1 falic theory has gotten into the mind5 of C%rixtian T~~oplr. \\hich leads thr1n to reason that holiness cannot IN%(~&nti~l to the Lords favor. Their Droress of rcaasoninlr i+ tlii.: Out of tllcb &&en hundred l~op711;7tion t hw ii1 C only about. three millions of the woritls hundred 1nillio1~~ tllat n~ak(~ thr clightc& prof&ion of Christianity, r711dtliih inc~lritl(+ all tlrc Crclck Catholics, Roman Catholics, and what l%isl~ctp lzo,tcar (Xl. la:.) tl~~hignntetl the riligstrakcd mtl speckhd of 11rttr&ntihn-infants; and all. Xow. say they, God must ecbrtainly intend to have SOTIIP. and if 11~ takes all kinds of (hri+t ian. 111.will lla\e only c~omparatively few, and if nirbrcly :III :~nil~ition to 11th nlir~atl trf the devil were to niov(b llill1, 11, c~1111ti <rat Al\- Ic>icct anv who claim to be Clonsequently Christit711w. illltl WllO :Ilt' V\ PI1 llillf-\V:LY tl~&Ilt. they rcaqon that holinc*+ to the Lord, ;anctific~atiou of thou&t and word a~td tired, cannot 11ct~s~;cnti;ll to tli\ in,, favor. an; in thereforr rather c*arrying matters to an chltrcme. The &Claration that onlv tllc 1)lIIe in heart shall w( (:otl. illld that without hol~nc~s no man shall SCP tbc Lord. :&. to thenr. rxtremr Htntcments, ilIlt must l)c pilSSC!d 1)~. or cblrc the word holiness must be c~onsirlcrc~d as 71sc*rlin oltlen times in ;I ah iiiwiiin~ Jiot op~ly or \-iol(lntl\ very restricted wnw. wicked. Thus we see tll.lt thcl rtlltltypi( 111 I<lijuh to the ~I~\vs VIIcountered tl1e same tlillic*ultics tl1itt :11 encountered now hy the L a.ntitypic*al Elii:lh 1ninistori11,g to nominal +ritual Tsrarl. But note .Johns ;tnswcr; hc laid down the conditions ver) strictly: Do not permit yolrrdrlrcs to br tlcccivctl into thinking that God is 7111dcrc:ompulsion to accept s11~11 YOU, and ilh that otherwise his word would brcomcl void; do IlOt tliink tliat he could not Kc% children of Abraham that would bc ln7rcr than ~071. and thcrcforc that 11~ must take you; God is unlimited in power and 711ilin~itctl in resource. and. if necessary, he c*nulrl raise iip children t 0 .Ibrnham ant of tl7t9ts stones--out of some that vou considrr as far fro111 the possibilities of being Abrahams children as though thrv werr thyhe stones at today. we answer Christendonl: yoiir feet. And similarlv ihat God iittcrly rCJects bypo~*ritical Christi;711ity. as rep&sented bv the vast nn7iorits of itx nlofessors. still blinded hv the god *of this world. :711dignoran? of the trur character df God arid of ;Trsns Christ whom hc has rent; brcaus:ch 11ot pnrc in Jleart, not cnnsccratcd fullv to the T,ord. wollld t11nt \\,A had a trump& voice that wr Inight tell tbc millions of no1ninal Christendom tlw true state of tl1e (~a~~~, and would that they had .circumcised cars to hear and rcforxn. and be prepared for the glorio17s cvcnts now due to bc 77shcrerl in--withnut being nhliged to pass through the great trouble timr. All we can assure them is that God will fi11d the full number of his elect, :7nd that the R711 number is nearly complete now. and that in all it is hut a little flock to whom it is the Fathers good pleasure to give the kingdom: and that soon these will all be glorified with their elorious Head and Ilord. and that then tl?e kingdom c~tahli~hcrl will be 1~ ealed to hlwq :\I1 the falnilirs of the earth. Ye\-<1thc~l+~. \vc rlcepl>

sympathlzc with them in the fact that their condition necessitates that the introduction of the kingdom shall be with a time of trouble such as was not since there was a nation, and, thank God, shall never again he.-Dan. 12:l ; Matt. 24:21. John, proceeding with his discourse, points out to his Jewish hearers that the time of judgment had come upon thei?* ?&ion. The axe was laid at the root of the trees: everv Israelite who was not an Israelite indeed was to be over<hrow<, and to be cast into the fire of tr+mble with which that ape and national polity terminated. The three and a half years % 077r Lords ministry to the Jewish nation, and their final rejection by him, are represented by the barren fig tree parable. in harmony with the statement of John foregoing.-See Lukr 13:6-9. .John evidently struck the chord of fear to some extent. but he struck it properly. There is a proper presentation of the truth, n11d a proper fear of God and his retribution, whirl1 nits properly be kept before the mind of the transgressor; but thls is wllo!ly different from the terrorizing fear of eternal torment, wh~h plays so impork?nt a part in all the theological teaching, directly and indirectly. today, and which has driven some to insanity, some to skepticism and infidelity, and has hindered the great majority rw17 of saints from appreciating the true character and plan of o71r God. Let us nrrsent thr A wrath to come, truthfully, not misrepresenting the character of our God; for assuredly God will not hold them guiltless who blaspheme his holy name. Under Johns preaching the pcoplc began to inqui1r what (*ourso tl1ey should pursue, and sum1ning the matter 71~ Johns instruction was that they should practice justice, mercy, lorr. generosity ; they should avoid violence, extortion, etc. ; and shonld seek to be content with such things as they had. This was excellent advice, and rmdoubtedly those who followed it would bc in just the right condition of heart and mind to welcome the Lord Jesus, i711dhis good tidings of remission of siw th~olrg~~ kis blood and thns 6 hecomc rdconciled with th;. Father. -in,1 similarly if anv now inouire rcsnectinr 7 the roniI ing trouble, the wratii that >s to corn> in the rnd of this ag upon Cllri~tCt1do111,- nhat 11171st do? We answer them,we Practice riphteous11ess. tri7tli , godliness, kindness, benevolenrc. iustice. trust in the Lord, seek to walk in his ways. Or wr may quote them the words of the prophet, specially bearing upon this tirnc, viz., Seek meekness, seek righteousness ; it may be that ye shall bc hid in the day of the Lords anger. (Zeph. 2:3) And furthermore. we may rely upon it that those who thus seek righteousness. etc.. will bc tl1e ones most readv to welcome our King, and his kingdom. and we mav bc surr that when in tl1is liarvest timr sonic fail to 1nake their callin? i7nd election sure. and prove them~clves unwnrthv of thb crowns apportioned to them, the Lord will he nleaseci to selc& from amn&ig ~7~17 penitent. scrkers of right&sness some :I$ substitutes to complete his elect church. So powerful was Johns prcsentatin17 of the trutl1, that thrb pcoplc began to wonder whetilrr or not he might be the Cominp One. the Messiah, but he set the thought at rest sneedilv. <1s*711ing them that hc \tas so inferior toy the Messiah that l% would be unworthy tl1e honor of doing toward him the most menial service of removing his sandals. Then, having given them a little glimpse of the character of Messiah, he proceeded to tell them respecting his work, that it would be higher than his own, and that those who received him would recrive a higher baptism also : Be shall haptizr you with the holv spirit and with fire---some of them (tl;c few) with hold spirit, the remaind(Br (the m:~s-i with the fire Ljudgments, the Ercat time of trouble which d&roved their nitional lifr and many individual lives. He gave them an ilhistration of the matter, showing them that they had reached the harvest-time of their age. and that now a separating was to be expected-the separ&ng of the true wheat from the chaff: and he renrrscnted our Lords work with Israel RR being that of a reape; winnowing the wheat. freeing it from the! c+aff clement. TIow forceful was thea figure! how triica the facts ! Onr T,ortl indeed gathered from that nation all the true wheat. WC may be s&c that not a solitarv grain was lost. All that wheat was g;Lthered into his barn, &td a place of safety, into a higher di&ensation.-ther constituted the brginninp or first members of the Gospel church. It was upon this wheat class that the holy spirit came at Pentcrost, and it has abode with this true church since. after the separati11g (winnowing) of the wheat, and the gathering into the barn, and its baptism of the holv Spirit, in dnc> time. tlic c.haff of that nation was burned 76~ with u?lqrcenchnMr: firc-a time of trouble which nothi~ co~21rl stop ar hinder. It will he rememhered that various ste&w~rr taken to hinder the destruction of the nation of Israel, but all failed: eren the Rnman Emperor was desironq of pre$errinp

[2564]

]ANL,RY

15. 1900

(26~27)

the nation, and of establishing order there, and the Roman army went not to destroy them but to establish peace in their midst; but the Lord had declared that the fire of trouble which he enkindled should not be quenched by any power, that it should do its work to the full; and it did. Likewise it will be with the great fire of trouble with which this Gospel age shall end, and into which the tare class of Christendom will be cast; it will not be an utter drstructian of life (although many lives vrill perish in tbc

great trouble of this Da.y of Wrath), but It ~111 ~onll)hltclq consume earthly governments and Churchianity in a fire of anarchy. Nothing shall quench that fire, or hinder that utter destruction of present systems. But praise God that when this fire shall have consumed the stubble and the falsities and deceptions of present institutions, it will have but prepared the way for the great blessing which he has designed and provided for in his coming kingdom. This fire, and the blessing to follow it, are particularly referred to in Zeph. 3 : P. 9.

CONSECRATION
lhrs is
my

FOLLOWED
JAN. 2S.--&~TT.

BY TEMPTATIONS
3:13-4:ll.

beloved Sun. in whom Z am ?tell pleased. himself wholly, unreservedly, to do the Father> alll. At the moment of consecration his earthly life was yielded up as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world,-and this was syncbolized by his immersion in water. The remaining three and a half yhars of his life were already on the alFar, and he merelv waited for his sacrifice to be consumed. crving with his last l&eath, It is finished! Likewise hc has invited all of his faithful, elect church to become joint-sucrificers with him, and ultimately to become also his loilzt-heirs in the kingdom to bc given to the Royal Priesthood. As Jesus baptism, therefore, signified his death sacrificially Ior sins, so the baptism of Christians symbolizes their participation with the Lord in his sacrifice (after they have first been justified by faith freely from all thinrts bv the merit of his blood). In our Lords cast the consecratyon &as quickly followed bythe symbol, and with his followers the consecration should be followed by the symbol as quickly as they recognize the meaning of the symbol,which for centuries has been beclouded and obscured. Quickly following our Lords ronsecration and its symbolization came the evidence that his sacrifice was accepted of God: the heavens were opened unto him. This nrobablv sicnifies that he was grantid a ~lsion of heaven, confirm&g ro him his relationshin to the Father. and connectinP UD thtb interim of his expeiienca as a man \vith his prehuganexperiences : and there came a roice declaring him to be Gods well-beloved Son, and he as well as dohn (John 1:34) witnessed a manifestation of the divine blessing descending upon him like a dove. We are not informc,tl that the people saw thta heavens opened, heard thi? roicc and saw the dove; on the contrary, the records seem to indicate that only Jesus and John saw and heard, and that the latter was granted the privilege to the intent that he might bear witness to the fact. A dove was a favorite figure with the Jews as an emblem of peace and salvation. In-deed. Noahh dove, with its oli\(a branch, seems to have become a svmbol to al1 civilized neonles. It was most appropriate, therefore. that since some fig&ewas to be used as an outward evidence of divine blessing, the dovt should be that figure. Yet wc arc not to suppose that th(b holy spirit is a dove, nor that it has bodily shape like a dove. but as instructed in all the Scriptures, that it is a divintb power or influence. The dove reprcscntcd fittincrlv the meel, &d quiet spirit which is one of the striking orn&nts of all those who possess the spirit of holiness unto the Lord. Such experiences-as these wh:ch our Lord enjoved are not granted to his followers nor to be expected today;--neither t& voiccb nor the opened heavens, nor the dorc. The comine of the hoI\ spirit to the church at Pentecost was signalized by an outwar; demonstration, wl&h. serzres the e-ntirc chuuah throughout the age. Such outward demonstrations wer( cqsenti:ll at the beginning, as assurances to us that we arc not following some vain imaginations of our own or other mriis minds in respect to the holy spirit, and now we merely havcb the realities, which at first were symbolized or represented in tangible form. -4lt who, after believing unto repentance, arr justified from their sins, and subsequently present themselves to thr Lord to bc haptized into his death (Rom. 6:3). rccctivc an opening of the heavens before them in the srnsc of an opening of their minds to see heavenly things, to appreciate spiritual matters: as the Apostle declares, God reveals them unto us by his spirit; for the spirit scarcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God,-things which eye hnth not seen, nor ear heard. neither hath entered into the heart of [the natural] man. (1 Cor. 2:10) They also hy faith hear the voice of the Father, speaking unto them, saying that. having thus come unto him through Jesus, and ha& thus consecrated their lives to him. they are now beloved so%, accepted in the well-beloved One They also receive the hlessing of the holy spirit, in the shedding abroad in their hearts of the peace-eivine. meek and gentle spirit of holiness. and this becomes more and more a reality with them 3~ thpv hecome more and more filled with the spirit.
~, Y

After John had been preaching and baptizing for about six months. about Sentember. A. D. 29. Jesus, who had been residing in Galilee anh was nearing histhirtieth birthday, set out to-find John and to be baptized of him and to begi;l his nublic mini&v at the earliest possible moment. He was to be a Priest as well as a King for his people, a Priest forever after the order of Melchisedec, and the law required of a priest that he be at least thirty years of age. Hence Jesus ministry was hindered from beginning until this age was attained, but he was free to begin it at the earliest possible moment after that time. He was of course acquainted with his second-cousin, John the Baptizer, who evidently well knew of his upright life and unimneachable character. and who was astounded to hare him apply for baptism, wheiean the class John was seeking was the reneeade and sinful. According to the original reading, .Tohn would have hindered him, shying, I haye need to I)(: baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? Realizing that #Jesus had no sins to wash away, it seemed to John inappropriate that this ceremony should be performed upon Jesus, for we are t,o remember that-Johns baptism was merely a baptism unto renentance-reformation-and not Christian baptism.See Acts 19:4, 5. Our Lord did not attempt to explain to John that he was introducing a new baptism, not for sinners but exclusively fol holy ones, and not, therefore, in any sense of the word symholic of the cleansing from sin, but symbolic of a sacrificial It was not then due time to death for the sins of others. cL.uplain Christian baptism, and to have done so would merely have confused John and those who might have heard, without profiting him any, because the new baptism belonged to the new disnensation which did not begin until Pentecost, except in the p&son of our Lord Jesus himself. And in any case the force and meaning of the symbol is merely what is understood by the baptized one. It is perhaps well that me call special attention to this point, in view of the fact that a large and influential body of Christian people* are even today practicing .Johns baptism, for the remission of sins, wholly failing to realize the import of the new baptism-Christian baptismfirst symbolized by our Lord Jesus himself. Our Disciple friends will not dispute the Scriptural rtatement that our Lord Jesus was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and hence that he had no sins to wash :twap, and consequently that for him Johns baptism of reformation would have been worse than meaningless; it would have been a contradiction of fact and contrary to faith; and whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Hence it would have been wrong for our Lord Jesus to have be& baptized for the remission of sins-Johns only understanding of baptism. We may be sure, therefore, that since in him was no sin, his act of baptism was the first of a new order of baptism-practiced by his followers after Pentecost. (Acts 19:4, 5) We here note the fact that Christian baptism is only for believers in Christ -not for unbelievers, not for skners. Faith in Christ is the justifying power; we are justified through faith in his blood. When justified we are ready for Christian baptism, and not before, but when justified we have no sins to wash away, being iustified freelv from all things. To the Christian believer, hiptism symbdiizes precisely tGe same thing that it did to his Lord. viz.. ccunsecmtbn-the full surrender of his will. his life. his all, t;, the Heavenly Fathers will. By such a surrende; of his will he becomes dead to the woTld, to earthly hopes and aims. and becomes alive toward, God, to walk in newness of life, and by and by to have that newness of life actually, as a sharer with Jesus, his Lord, his Redeemer, in the first resurAll this is syntboliaed in the proper Christian rection. baptism. Our Lord, being free from sin, required no justification by another, and when he had reached manhoods estate prcaentctl
l

The

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denomination,

otherwtse

termed

IXsciples

III-42

[2565]

28-29)

ZIONS

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ALLEGHENY,

PA.

Jesus was led of the spirit-his own spirit, illuminated by the spirit-baptism which he had just received-to go apart from John and the concourse of people into quiet solitude, and for this purpose he chose a wilderness place. Mark says he was impelled or driven of the spirit into the wilderness. The thought we get is that there was a great pressure upon our Lords mind at this time. In a previous lesson we noted his study at Jerusalem at an early age respecting the Fathers business, and how he should go about it. We found the Law instructing him that it wouldnot be proper for him to engage in the Fathers business until he was thirty years of age, and that in consideration of this fact he desisted and served his parents. The momentous time for which he had been waiting for eighteen vears had come. He hastened to nresent himself at the earlies? moment, that his service should not be delaved; but now, under the enlightenment of the holy spirit, instead of beginning his ministrv nrecinitatelv. he felt that he must knowvdefinitely the proper course to.pursue: he must not make a mistake at thr very outstart of his service; he must know the Fathers will, that he might render his service in harmony therewith. Such motives impelled him to seek solitude for thought and prayer, and for reviewing the various Scriptures which hitherto he had studied and hut imperfectly comprehended. but which now began to be luminous under the infllrc~rr(~(~ thr holy spirit which he had received. of IIow proper it would be tlrat all of the Lords people, when they have made a consecration of themselves to the divine service. should be imnellrd bv the new mind, the new spirit, to go apart first and to commune with the Father, and to study his Word resnectinrr how thev should render their lives most lVere this course pursued how acpcpt;ahlr in his srrvlce! many lives would be totally different from what they are; how manv failures and changes and turnings, hither and Our Lord expressed the matter in thither, &onld be avoided! onr of his parables, when he said that anyone taking up his Cross to follow him sboultl sit down first and count the costlearn what the Fathers will would be, as well as the results to 1~~sought. And if any of Gods dear children have neglected thus to seek the right path at the beginning of their consecration, we refer them to the example of our dear Master, who was wi<c in this as in all things, having not only the spirit of a sound mind, but a sound mind itself, through which that However, our study of the divine spirit operated perfectly. will need not be so completely alone as was our Master%--we have brethren , he had none. being himself the forerunner. CYc may profitably take counsel of such as give evidence of faith in and ronsecration to God, that we may learn the more quickly and the more thoroughly the Fathers will concerning US . espe(4ally may we have the aid of the words and example of our elder Brother, Jesus. We must never forget, however, that our consecration is to the Fathers business, and that brcthicm can only he really helpful to us as they assist US in onderstantline the Fathers nlan and our part therein: otherwise thrv miiht become hindrances by substituting their own or sectarian plans and seeking our consecration thereto. Our I,ords temptations may be said to have begun at this point-thoscl temptations in which he was tempted like as we are. yet without sin. It was not the boy Jesus, nor the youth Jesus. thnt was trmntpd as we are. And our Lords temptationq aftrr his rorisecration were not like the temptations which hcset t,he world. but like the churchs temptations. In other words. our Lord was reckoned a new creature from the timr of his ronsecration at Jordan, as we are counted new creatures in him from the time of our consecration; and it was the cotzswrutcd Jesus who was tempted and tried like as his consecrnted followers are tempted and tried. We shall see furtlirr evidences of this as we proceed to notice the character of our Lords temptations, and to compare them with the temntntions whirl, comr to his consecrated brethren. Many Iurvh wondered whv their temptations seemed to commence after their consecration to the Lord. rather than before: seemingly they expected that aftrr consrcrntion the adversary would flee from them, and they should have little or no temptation-totally misunderstanding the divine arrangement. Such temptations or tests of character as come to the consecrated are not appropriate to the unconsecrated: the present is not the judgment day of the world, but the testing time for the church. It would appear that our Lords temptations progressed throuahout the entire fortv davs. but that the three temntatinns specifically described werethc culmination of that peiiod of testing. We may imagine our Lord in the wilderness solitude, inttmtlv thinking over the various nronhetic references to himself, and linking these together, as-an- srchitect would first draw the outline of a building and subsequently fill out feature after feature of its internal arrangements. The outI <I

line before our Lords mind from the Scriptures, beyond any peradventure, was the kingdom. He was to be the King, the Seed of Abraham, under whose gracious government and wise instruction all the families of &e earth were to be blessed. This, the profile, was already clearly delineated in his mind, but other features needed to be properly adjusted. How was he to fulfil the type of the Law which represented the priest as giving up his life for the sins of the neonle? Where would come in-the type of the everlasting priesthood? Where would come in the class of Israelites represented by Rebecca, as he himself was represented by Isaac. and the Father by Abraham, in the type? And if Israel would receive him, and become the Rebecca, where would come in the sacrifice. and how? And then other prophecies no doubt pressed his mind for a place in the plan, viz.. the declaration that although Israel were as the sand of the sea only a remnant should b\ acceptable, and how then would the predestinated number of the elect be found, to comnlete the glorious roval nriesthood: and bv what process would the blessing come to -all the families of the earth, if himself. as the Hieh Priest. and his true followers. as the royal priests, were allcto sufferand to die for righteous: ness sake, as sacrifices? We may well suppose that adjustment and re-adjustment, fitting and refitting, with much reflection and praver, occunied many-of the forty-days, and there may have Keen temptations intermingled with these all: as for instance. auestioninas respecting-the necessity of those features represented in the types and specified in the prophecies of the sufferings of Christ which must take precedence to the glories that would follow. There may have been temptations, too, to deal dishonestlv with the records, to wrest the Scrintures, and thus self-dcbeived. to choose a way not in fullest conformity to the divine out: line; but we may safely suppose that as soon as such suggestions, one after another. presented themselves. thev were promptly rejected.-our Lord being fully determined that he would be absolutelv obedient to the Fathers will and apcornplish the work which he had sent him to do in exactly the manner prescribed. So intent had been his study, and so earnest his desire for quiet fellowship with the Father and his law, th.rt foi ty days were spent under such conditions, and apparently so deep13 absorbed was our Lord that he did not even think of fnod Nor does this appear so strange to us, when we remember that he was perfert, while we are imperfect, physically as well as otherwise. He afterward hungered. It was at the close of this period of Bible study and craver. when our Lord was weak from fasting. that the Adtersary assaulted him with three temptations particularized in our lesson. The word here translated devii is d&bolos, and is used with the definite article--the devil. The arch-deceiver is thus Scripturally distinguished from the fallen angels, who throughout the Scriptures are spoken of in the plural, designated by another word signifying demons. Here, then, is one nlace in the Scriptures where the personality of the prince of devils is definitely affirmed, and his nerson and Dower acknowledaed bv our Lord himself, It is not necessary for us. howe<;er, t; assume that Satan appeared to our Lord in a human form; he may or may not thus have been personally manifest. If personally manifest, we may rest weil assured that he presented himself in his very best appearance, as an angel of light. Indeed, we may well remember that our Lord, in his prehuman condition, had, as the Fathers agent, been the Creator of Satan, and we remember that Satan was an aneel of verv hiah order, whose sin consisted in an attempt to usurp author& and to become the potentate of earth, by stealing the sympathy, affection and obedience of humanity, and that on this account he fell under divine reprobation. We can imagine that a visit from him to Jesus would not be at all inappropriate, as he undoubtedly knew the facts of our Lords consecration, and to some extent knew of the work which the Father had given him to do in the redemption of the fallen race of men. We can imagine him even presenting himself in a friendly manner, and assuring our Lord Jesus that he felt a great interest in him and in his work; that he himself had been painfully surprised to note the penalty of sin upon mankind, and the dreadful degradation which had resulted; and that now he would be glad indeed to have something done by which poor humanity might be delivered from its groaning, travailing, dying conditions. As a friend, thoroughly versed in the situation all around, and interested in its success, and thoroughly conversant with the mental moods and foibles of humanity, he was in a place where he felt qualified to offer some suggestions respecting the very work which our Lord Jesus wished to perform, the plan for which he was now considering.

[2666]

]ANUARY

15, 1900 TO USE SPIRITUAL PROFIT

ZIONS
FAVORS FOR

WAT
PERSONA5

CH ---

IUWEK

- ^ --_ - -

(29-313

TEMPTATION

First, he manifests his personal interest in our Saviour by suggesting his weakne;,s from lack of food and the necessity for taking nroner care of his nhvsical health if he would do He reminded him the great and noble work he had &derta!~eu. also of his present power-that he had just been imbued with divine power, and that he had now full abilitv to supplv his wants, *and need only to speak the aold and have th>- &ones turned into food. Thus also. he suaeested. he would be demonstrating to himself the verity or-the new power which he witnessed coming upon him, and had subsequently felt. What Commore cunning temntation could be devised than this? pliance with it e;identlv meant, not only the relief of his hunger and the strengthening of- his physical frame, but additionallv it annarentlv meant the conversion of Satan. who now seemingly- was in a repentant attitude, and desirous of co-operating with him in the undoing of the evil work of the long ago. It was a strong temptation. Such temptation comes also to all the consecrated; not in exactly the same form, nor in the same language, but somewhat similarly-suggestions that the new relationship with God, and the strength which it brings, may be used to some extent at least in creature comforts-may be utilized for our temporal advancement; may be made to make us shine before men as very honorable and favored of God; may be used to command large salaries, or at least as a means for seeking them, even if never found. We may then all note carefully how our Lord resisted his would-be friend and his worldly:wise suggestions. He flatly refused the suggestion of The using his spiritual power to serve his temporal wants. spir&al gilt could no more be used to procure temporal comforts than it could be sold for monev to Simon (Acts. 8: 18-24) ; but without going into details: and without boasting that he was too holy & think of such a sacrilegious use of the power entrusted to him. Jesus simnlv answered the adversaiy in Scriptural language, that mans life was not whollv denendent unon what he should eat. but that obedience to thi Wdrd of God would be a surer guarantee of life. And after this manner each of the Lords followers should answer every question which in any manner proposes the acquirement of earthly blessings and comforts at the sacrifice of the spirTo quite a number of the Lords brethren the aditual. versary has-presented this same temptation in this form: If vou follow too closelv to the truth. and nermit the holv Snirit bf the truth to maki you very zealous in its service, ;ou~will soon have no bread, no food, for the worlds people with whom Thev will disvou must deal do not annreciate such things. charge you from their employ, or they wiB cease io deal at your store, or they will dismiss you from being their pastor, or thev will withdraw from vou their fellowshin. their societv, etc., and you will starve for all the good things-of this present life. The nroner answer is that God is able to take care of all those whb rispect his spiritual blessings too much to sell them for a mess of pottage, as did Esau in the type; and that we are convinced that whoever lives according to the Word of God, tho he may lose some of the comforts of the present time, will eventually gain the far better, the life eternal with exceeding glory. Our Lords positiveness of replv shut off the temptation quickly, and discouraged the advkrsary from further proceeding alone that line: and so it is with us. his followers: if we are poYitive in our rejection of temptation it increases our strength of character, not only for that time, but also for subsequent temptations; and it disconcerts to some extent our adversary, who, noting our positiveness, knows well that it is useless to discuss the matter with persons of strong convictions and positive character; whereas, if the question were parleyed over, the result would surely be the advancing of further reasons and arguments on the adversarys part, and a danger on our part that we would be overmatched in argument, for,-as the Apostle declares, the devil is a wilv adversary; and we are not ignorant of his devices. Fromntand nositire obedience to the word and spirit of the Lord is the oily safe course for any of the brethren.
TEMPTING GOD BY UNAUTHORIZED EFFORTS

flat roof of one of the wings of the Temple-not physically, but mentally, just as me&ally we can go to varibu, places and do certain things without change of physical location, I (Satan) can give you a The suggestion now made was this: good suggestion respecting a way to bring yourself quickly into prominence before the people of Israel, and you will be pleased with it. because it is a Scriptural way; indeed I hare found that it is foretold in the prophecy that Messiah at hrcl coming will do this: and the people will readily recognize it as a fulfilment of the words of the Prophet David, and thus they will embrace your cause quickly, vou will become the leader of the people, and your work will go on mnst grandly : and as I said before, I will rejoice in seeing the prosperity of the work, for I am heartily sick of the depradation which I have witnessed for now four thousand years. My suggestion is that you.go to the roof of the southern wing of the Temple which on its rear part overlooks the Valley of Hinnom, towering above it six hundred fret. and which also overlooks the court of the Temnle in which there are !iundreds of devout Jews: then lean from this eminence, and arise unhurt by the fall. This will demonstrate more quickly than anything else you could do or say that the power of the HighThis, I sav, est is upon you, and that you are the Messiah. is referred to in the Scripture which says,--He shall give his angels charge concernina thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.-Matt. 4: 6. Similar are the temptations which Satan presents to the consecrated followers of Jesus:-Make a great show before the world and the nominal church; attract their attention bv any means, and not simply by the preaching of the cross of Christ ; use the spiritual powers and blessings that vou have received for doing- some great and striking work, which will appeal to the natural man. and thus secure auick and ereat success; do this instead of doing the quiet and less conipicuous worh of presenting spiritual things to the spiritual class. which work the vast maioritv can in no wise annreciate, but will only shun you, consider you peculiar, and which not onlv will lose vou the svmnathv of the mass. but will brinn vou specially the hatred ofsome oi the principal professors of Christendom. Again our Lord answered promptly and correctlv: It is written again. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thv God. Satan would like to have us walk bv sicht. not bv faith: he would like to have us continually tempting God, and demanding some ocular demonstrations of his favor and protection, instead of accepting the testimony of his Word, and relying thereon implicitly in faith. In the light of the unfolding of the Scriptures we see that Satan, probably unwittingly. quoted a passage of Scripture whollv out of its proper meaning and mterpretation, a passage which referred. not to the literal feet of Jesus. and to literal stones. and to literal angels. but to the symbolic feet-memhers of the body of Christ today, and to the stones of stumbling, doctrinal and otherwise. which are now permitted in the nathwav of the faithful. and to the angels or-ministers of divine truth who in the present harre<ttime would be commissioned to hear nn the feet mcmhers with such counsels, admonitinns and c\pkitinns of Scripture as would be necessary for them.-Psa. 01.11, 12.
TEM-PTATION TO OBTAIN DRSTRED COMPROMISE GOOD RESULTS BY

Disappointed in his first effort, the adversary quickly turned the subject, not even dissenting from our Lords judgThe second temptation he presented is ment in the matter. like all others that came to our Lord and that come to his consecrated followers, viz., not a temptation to gross wickedness-to steal, to kill. etc.-but a temntation to do the Lords work in another way than that which &the Lord had plannedthe misuse of the divine powers given him by endeavoring to accomplish good results in an improper manner. Satan took our Lord Jesus to Jerusalem and up to the [2567]

Satans third temptation we may presume was presented likewise in a friendly and sympathetic manner, indicative of a desire for co-operation in our Lords great work. He took him to a high mountain-not literally, hut mentally. Indeed. there is no literal high mountain near Jerusalem, nor anvwhere in the world, from which all the kingdoms of the world and their glory could he seen. Satan took our Lord mentallv to a vcrv hiah svmbolic mountain (kinedom). He pictured before him the immensity of his (Satansi own power throughout the world, his control of all the nations and peoples to a large extent, and this our Lord subsequently acknowledged when he referred to Satan as the prince [ruler] of Ihis world. This panoramic presentation of Satans power and influence throughout the world was designed to impress upon the mind of our Redeemer the thought that Satans friendship and assistance would be most valuable-nay, almost of vital importance to the success of his mission, and hence that it was very fortunate indeed that at this jurmture Satan had called upon him in so friendly a mood, and that be apparently so sincerely welcomed his efforts and was ready to co-operate therewith. Satan possibly pointed out to our Lnrd that Messiah wns sneciallv referred to as the Kinn of Israel. and to bless Israel, and hedmay have admitted thit a light of influence would extend to all nations through him, but the renter of his argument would seem to be that he proposed to Jesus a still larger

ZIONS

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Inlngdom than Israel. 11~ proposed to him a kmgdom embracing all the nations of the earth, and that he should hare the caontrol of all these, and he able to brine 1x1 the blessed reforms which were designed of God, only bne condition being insisted upon, VIZ., that whatever kingdom or rule or authority might be established mu<t recognize Satan. The adversary thus seemed to see what he thought a favorable opportunity for consummating his nriginal plans, for we cannot suppose that his original intpntio,, was- to iain control of a d$ng and deDraved race. but that he much rather would be the lord or rule; of a highiy cnliplitcnrd and well-endowed people. He \rns willing, therefore. to ~PP carried into effect all the gra. 1 ious work which GotI had tleqigncd, and willing to reform himself and to becaomc the leader of reform, provided only that he should be rccogni& a9 having the chief place of iiifluence in connection with mankind. It was after this manner that he wished our Lord to do worship or reverence to him---to recognize hiq influence and co-operation in the work, 2nd not for a moment (:JJI WC suppose that he expected him to i,ncel before him and to wnrchip him as God. slion$ that it Our Lords reply 10 th~h l&t temptation iullv awakened him to :a rcallzation of the fact that thrrc WRS no real reformation at work in Satans heart; that he wn< -till ambitious, self-sf~t~kln~!. as at the beginning of his downu ard course ; and 1~ ~c~li~tl that to even discuss the matte] flIrther with onr who had thus avowed his real sentiments \~nuld be dislovaltv to the Father. and hence his words, Get thee hence, Satan~1envc me; you cannot CO-Operate with me :It all; my work iq In full a~ord with the ahsolute standard ,)f the di;ine will; I (an 1~ a party to no program contrarl hnme of its features might be ih tn this, however alluring proniislng a speedy cvmqufct of the world, and a speedy estahllshment of a reign of rifiht,eousness and blessing and an :I\ oidance of personal l 1rfIc~r1JJg; I cannot serve two ma.sters: 1 can only recognize thr nnc supreme Jehovah, as Lord oi liraven and of earth, and therefore could not recognize you in .~ny position of autiJnJ~ty rscept as the great Jehovah would ar)point ynn to it, which I know he would never do, so long n;you ire of t,h& prcscnt ambitious spirit. I am opcratini Thou hhalt worship [reveralong the lille of the tlerlinration, PIICT~ the I,ord thy God, and h&n onl!j shalt t7101: SCTW. of our Lord We mnv readilv dis(aer n that this temntation v.as but a s~mpleilluht~:~tion of su& a; beset his follower< ,111 along the narrow wag. irom the same source, directly or S:ita~J thron,nh his various rnouthvieces I Ilrnuph azcncies. / i;i cxontinuallv savinf to tilt 5xint~:, TIere is a more> sncacx9sful way of accompli*liiiig your object than tllat wluc~11 ;on are 1):lrsuing, a more slle(.(+sflll wpy than tllc T,ords way. Bend :I little; make cnmpromlhc ~ltlr the worldly spirit; tin not tow ton clnsc to tllr line oi the Iwrd Of God and tile elamnle IIf tlly Lord Jesus nr~tl thr npoxth: you must be more like 111~ world, in order to llycrt an inflnenct2mix a little into
I

politics, and a good deal into secret societies: keep in touch with the fads and foibles of the day, and above all things keep any light of present truth under a bushel.--thus alone caan you have influence and accomplish your good desires toward men. But our dear Master assures us that we are to he faithful to the Lord and to his plan, and let things work out as best thry may along that line; and that we mny rest assured that in the end the Fathers Dlan not only is the best hut reallv the onlv plan for accomhlishing his great designs, and that-if we wo;ld be associated therein with him as colaborers, it must he by recognizing him as our only Master, and with an eye single to his approval. Our Lords utter refusal of every other way of carrying out his mission than the one which the Father had marked out, the way of self-sacrifice, the narrow way, was indeed a great victorv. The adversary left him, finding nothing in him that he-could take hold bf or work upon, &/I thorouighlp loyal was hr to the very word and the spirit of .Jchornh. And then, the trial being ended, we read that holy angels came and ministered to our Lord-doubtless supplvmg him with refreshment such as he had refused to exercise the divine power to obtain for himself. And such we may rcrognize as being the experience of our Lords followers: with victory comes a blessing from the Lord, fellowship of spirit, refreshment of heart, a realization of divine favor that makes stronger for the next trial. Another lesson here is that temptation does not implv sin so may hiri sin. -4s our Lord was tempted without hrrthren be if they follow his example and with purity of heart. nuritv of intention. seek onlv the Fathers will. Sm But could only come through *yielding to the temptation. let us not forget that hesitancy after the wrong is seen inAnd we may note here creases the power of the temptation. that while Satan is tempter, endeavoring to ensnare us intn wrong paths and wrong conduct, God is not so; he tpmpteth no man (Jas 1:13), and even tho he permit the Adversary and his agents to beset his people, it is hot with the nhject of ensnarine them, hut with the onnosite obiect, that thcv mav by such&ials and testings be gade the stronrer, dev;lopink character through exercise in resisting evil. Let us remember too for our strengthening, the Scriptural assurance that God will not suffer us to he tempted above that we are able to regist and overcome but will with the temptation provide also a way of escape. To avail ourselves of this provision requires merclv faith, and the more we exercise our faith in such matters the mnrc of it we will have, becoming stronger in the Lord and in thr power of his might; and thus by divine grace and under the Masters assistance we may come off overcomers-conquerors. and more than conquerors, through him who loved IJS and bought us with his own precious blood.-2 Cor. 12:9; 1 COI 10:13; Eph. 6:lO; Rom. 8:37-39.

A LITTLE
.4 little while with \\c*:\r!- feet to tread the narrow A little while, the tlnic, will not be long, .\ little while the einle+ (One to follow day by day, 1 little while to sutTc>r and be strong. .\ little while with .I little while to .\ little while with A little while to way,

WHILE
9 little while with humble faith to wage the goodly fight. A little while, grasp firm the two-edged sword, A little while, Satanic hosts shall all be put to flight, A little while, then, trust thou in the Lord. A little while, a little while, Oh, let this be our song, A little while, lav not the armor down: A little while, a lil%le while, the strife will not be long, A little while, and we shall wear the crown !
-GERTRUDE W. SEIBERT.

f:\ltt,rlng tongue to testify for God, su1T~~rscorn and shame. voic~c and pen to spreid the truth abroad, glorify hi< namr
__

__~__1, 1900 No. 3

ALLEGHENY,

PA., FEBRUARY

THE PEOPLE THAT

KNOW THE JOYFUL SOUND

89: 15 Illcssed are the pcoplc tlrat 7ijb@w the joyful SOU?~; they shall walk, 0 Lord, in the light of thy countenance.-Psalm Salvation is the jo> fr11 ;numl. as the poet has well expressed have ever heard these blessed tidings ; the four-fifths are totally blinded by the god of this world, and see nothing and hear It.+ Yaying : nothing of Gods grace. And the matter has been as bad as Salvation ! O the joyful sound, this, or worse proportionately for six thousand years. How we What tltllrlg,rz for our race! yhould rejoice that under divine providence we were born in I)elivlan~+c for the world is found lands where the light of truth sends forth at least a feeble ray, Througll C,otls abounding grace. and where many are not totally deaf to the joyful sound! Yet coming to civilized lands, we are surprised, almost This joyful Sal\-ation ,ound is the Gospel, as declared by appalled, at the gross darkness which beclouds the minds of the the angelic messengers--(;ood tidings of great joy, which shall But alas, how few have heard this joyful people of so-called Christendom, and by the dimness of vision be unto all people. and dullness of hearing of the vast majority in these most -ound ! As mentally we glance over the sixteen hundred milfavored parts of the earth-of the majority of those whose lions of the worlds population, we find that even the most lines have fallen unto them in pleasant places comparatively. extravagant claims would show that not one-fifth of the whole Mentally we see nearly two-thirds of the so-called enlightened PoEMs ,ND HYMN OP r)t\\\ sn 55 [ 25681

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of whom quite probably were denominated heretics, because fifth of humanity bowing to the Virgin Mary, addressing her they knew the joyful sound of the true Gospel, and proporIn prayer, and crossing themselves with reverence at the mentionately denounced the popular doctrines of devils. tion oi her name, and-generally grossly ignorant of the divine _ _ At ill events, under divine providence the joyful sound is character and plan-believers in an eternity of torment for all now heard above the din of Babel bv those who have an ear except those of their own communions, and in long periods of to hear, and it is found to be the ve& same gospel which was purgatorial agony for the great majority of their members. preached by the Lord and the Apostl& and &&need by the Heart-sick with the picture, we exclaim, 0 that these people angels on the plains of Bethlehem-a joyful sound, good caould hear the jo fui sound! for evidently they have ai very tidings of great joy which shall be unto all people. Moreover, most merelv hear d an indistinct strain of it conglomerated with as we have seen in other studies, we are now in the early dawn the jargon<of Babels confusion and Satanic d&ord. of the Millennial day, which in the Scriptures was typically Looking expectantlv to the remaining third of the so-called represented to Israel bv their Jubilee uear-of release from cnlightenei fifth of humanity, known-as Protestants! we hoidage and the return to original possessions, etc. And as inauire. Are these the blessed people who know the Joyful the vriests were to announce the Jubilee vear in the Dav of so&d? A hundred dhordant ;oices answer, Yes! bit we Atoiement, by the blowing of silver iubile: trumpets, so *here inquire, If you have heard it, why such discord, such clashing we have the intitype: theroyal pries& in this, the close of the of doctrines. such senaration from each other bv creed-fences? antitypical Day of Atonement (the Gospel age), are to blow Are not allthe peocle who know the joyful so;nd one people the trumpets of truth (silver being a symbol of truth), an-the one church of the living God, whose names are written nouncing-to the people that the giace of God is come nigh in heaven? This at once arouses doubt respecting Protestunto them, and that during the Millennial dav (of one thounntism. and we hearken for evidences to t6e conxrary, that sand years) now dawning ihe great High Prieit, also Prophet many at least, if not all, know the joyful sound. We perand King, shall stand forth as Gods representative, and 11~ c,eive that in many respects amongst these are found people virtue of his own sacrifice shall crive the needed blesslna of who know more respecting the divine character than do the knowledge to all mankind, and shyall lift up out of deg&tl,lclutside fifteen hundred millions ; and yet here also we find great tion and sin and death, by his providence and grace, ail who blindness. obscure mental vision, great deafness to the voice seek to come back to rirrhteousness and fellowshin I with thr from heaven. Truly amongst these also the great adversal! Father through him. has done a work, so that although in their midst more mny be heard of the iovful sound than amongst other classes of So then, as it was appropriate in the type that this an1he world, get Satail has here also introduced the discords so nouncement should be made at the close of the Dav of Atoneas almost to drown the heavenly music-the joyful sound. ment, so that indicated that it is a part of the divine plan vor while to some extent Protestantism discerns Gods love and that the soundine forth of the iovful sound. the message of justice, the adversary has beclouded its vision and dulled it< the Jubilee of dyvine love and ia;-or and blkssine &o&l be hearing for the truth, by whispering theories that are at given at the present time-just in the closing drays of the variance with divine iustice and love, and make void and meanGosDel age-the closine hours. so to sneak. of the great Dav To some he whispers that God ingless the joyful sound. of AtoneGent.? and at The dav&ing, so to speak, of- tie Miller;never had either sympathy or provision for any except the nial age of Jubilee. rtlect ; to others he whispers that God has the sympathy for Now another matter, little in itself, and easily overlooked all, but lacks the wisdom and power to give practical assistin our translation of the Bible, is the fact that the very word ance to anv but the few: and thus in the minds of nearIv all (turnah) used in our text, rendered a joyful sound, is the the joyfui sound is reduced to a song of praise and joy- and same Hebrew word that is used in Lev. 25:9, where the soundthanksgiving and salvation from a little flock, with which will hg of the Jubilee trumpet is commanded. How strikinnlv the mingle to all eternity the anguishing mails of the vast majcrity Lord has arranged his Word. to make it a basis for fall; and lpf thousands of miliions. joy to his peofie. HOW clear it is to those mllo~*know the There are a few (but alas how few!) who not only hear Joyful sound, and yet how obscure to all others ! Well does the joyful sound, but who discern that the discord is-of the our text say, Blessed are the people who know the joyful ;rdversarv. and that the iovful sound. if separated from Satanic sound! The blessing upon them is certainlv not because of Inharmo&es, is beautiful, harmonio& befond any other sound their own merit, for Ge a?e all conscious of the fact that in our llr song. Full of the snirit of the SOW themselvks. thev haste flesh dwelleth no Derfection. and that none of us could be com10 maie its beautv khown to others: and to point Gut the zended to God bf our own righteousness-all of then, blessed <brigin of the disco&. They feel certain that it will be merely people who know the joyful sound have reason, therefore, to necessary to indicate thr discord and its source to have others give thanks unto him who loved them, and who bought them IIke themselreq inhtantlr discern and reiect the .discord. and with his own precious blood, in whose merit alone thev have rejoice more inlly than ever in the joyful sound-the true standing with- the Heavenly Father. And yet these blessed Gospel. But alas ! what disappointment is theirs: they find people have somethino to do with the matter of their bles\inLr that even amongst the Proteqtant fifteenth of humanitv not -something to do &th the fact that tbev have heard, an; {mlp is the daikness great, but the depravity of heart and hearing have known or discerned the joyful kound. while others mind are so dense that the darkness and discord are vreferred. hearing have not discerned it. They have the 1:earing of faith: ;Ind the joyful sound. the good tiding3 of great joy ior nlt from the little which they first heard thev must have cultivated people. is spurned. and considered to be the discord that is of a love for righteousness; and a hatred df iniquity; they must the advarsarr. Onlv here and there can anv be found who have cultivated honesty with themselves, honesty with the Lord, know the :ioyful sound-who can disting&sh the joyful honesty in handling his Word-not handling the \Vord of God Gound of thr heavenly mthssage from those bv which Satan has deceitfully. (2 Cor. 4:2) Thev mnst hare conserrated their dereived all that dv.-ell upon the earth.-Rev. 18:23; 19 :20: hearts fully to the Lord, and thus have come fnllr under the 0 : 3. guidance df the spirit bf the truth, else thcr \\&lld not be SOUNDING THE JUBILEE TRUMPETS able to discern better than others between the joyful sound of the truth and the discordant sound of error Evicientlv in these The question may arise, Why did God permit Satan, through FIe is a rewardor of them that bls human agencies, to brinz false doctrine amonnst his DeODle we see fulfilled the Srripture, diligently seek him [to know him. to know hiq willl.-Heb. during the d&k ages, thuq t;, blind and deafen th<m to th*e tiue 11.6. light, and the heavenly harmonies of the divine plan? THE NEW SONG OF MOSES AND THE LAMB We answer that Gods purpose during this age has been the Our Lord in symbol pointed out to us the fact that the selection of merelv the little flork of overcomers to be message of his grace in the closing days of this Gospel age joint-heirs with l;lr Son in the coming Millennial kingdom would be so different from the commonly accepted messapcl. which is to bless all the families of the earth: and br nerI misnamed tlie Gospel, that it wonld properly be trrmetl a ~tcf( lnitting darkness to come upon this nominal church C&S he has (1 i taught a great lesson both to angels and men conSW,{//, although it would be the old song of Moses-the message of blessing typified by the writings of Moses and by all the c,erning the necessitv of not onlv starting right. but remaining ceremonies of the T,aw, and the message of the T,amb. the root1 lopal tb the Lord and his Word, and m&&&g a te;ldmbi~ tidings annolu~crd in connection niti; our Lords birth. hnd attitude of heart. (2) Doubtless the majority of the little flock has been selected from the two ends of this Gosnel see throughout his own ministry, when all the people bare him -its beginning and its closing years. (3) There ma) haye record, and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out Iteen much mnre knowledge of the joyful message amongst of his mouth (not threats of eternal torment to nine-tenths I :od4 nconlc during the dark apes than we now have means of the human family) ; and the trstimony of all the apostles of knoming, cince ihe historv ofthat time had few recorders, respecting the Lamb of God and the great work to he awnm<jnd their records then de&t chiefly with the error-blinded plished 1)~ him in taking nway the sin of the ICOP-Zd It is systems and ignored or misrepresented the unpopular instruSee ~,~ILLEKKTAL DAWN, \.OL. II. Chap 6 mentalities used 1)~ God in making the joyful sound---some t Tahentaclc Sl~ndows of Better Sacrifices [2569]
l

ZIONS

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ALLEGHENY.

PA.

merely this same song that is now being sung by those whom God has blessed with a knowledge of present truth-it is the joyful sound which only the people thus blessed know or can sing. It is a n-arld1.y proverb that truth is stranger than fiction, yet this proverb 1s illustrated throughout Christendom today -the vast, vast maJorI@ of professed followers of Christ are strangers to the truth, but thoroughly familiar with the fictions of human invention-traditions of the elders, which make void the \Vord of God. It is in full accord with this that the angel declare? to the Revelxtor that no man can learn to sing thlj song except the elect-the 144,000, the little flock. (Rev. 14 :3) Indeed, nothing is more manifest than that it is necesfarv to be somewhat of an overcomer of the world and its bpliit which prrvatles nominal Cllristendom, ere any would hive tiie courngc tb Sing this eon!!--to declare IJPfOre me; the lengths and brctarlthy and hciphts and drpth? of the goodness and grace of the divine plan. of w1lic.h .Jesus and his sacrificr arc th? center. To all others the fear of man hringeth a snare, and stoppeth their mouths from speaking forth the praise of him who called us out of darkneiq into his nlalvelonq light. But the people that <Ilo ~:uoI(~ their God [his character and plan] shall be vallnnt and do exploits. and like thl: apostles of old ~~11 frrl and say. 11.hpther it be right to obey God or men, judpc yc; but ue cannot hut speak the things which we have scen and heard-Dan. 11 .X; Acts 4: 19. 00. Kor nccrl mr snpposr that the fact that only the 144,000 that those ahle to sing the song can qin= thil; fona implie cou!d not fall from their strndfastneqs and hecnme castxwavs, and lose the pririlcge of singing it. On the contrary, the Scripturrs most di<tlnc+ly abs:lrP 115 that onlv hy unceasing faithfulness will any 1~ pcrmltted to contmue to he reckoned as member5 of that tlert cnmpnry, foreknown and prearranged of God. Our Lord clearly intimates that he will blot out the nameq nf thoqr w!ln rlrc unfaithful thrlt other namcq mav be writtrn in thclr drnd. He clearly intimates that unfaithfulnccs ~111 cansc that the rrown set apart for the faithful will, 3:5, 11. if he prove unfaithful, he Riven to another.-Rev.
THE WALR OF THE BLESSED PEOPLE

know the joyful sound it nil1 be necessary to walk in the light of Gods countenance. Or, reversing the statement, the thought is that all who walk m the light of Gods countenance shall be his blessed people, and bhall know the joyful sound. What a lesson of holines? is here: not a lesson of human perfection and self-commendation to God. but a lesson of nbidIT?/ wz Chmst under the robe of his righteousness, and of walklng contlnuou~ly u;lth him and in the path of the just, which hlnneth more and more unto the perfect day. And whoever would walk with Jesus in the light of divine favor, in the qrnlle of divine approval. must needs walk the narrow way of self-control and self-sacrifice-even unto death. Whoever tirlirrhts in sin and sinful practices cannot walk in the company of .Jcsus, cannot be recognized as a membcl of his body or under 111qrobe--can hnve neither part nor lot in this matter, mhattver may he done with him or for him in the future age. As the Apostle eupresseq it, thn<:c accepted of Christ, and who would maintain afiliation with him, must remember that all of the royal priesthood are given the truth. not to make them vain or boahtful, or heady and high-minded, but to purify them, and to sanctify them. He derlares He that hath this hone in Ihim purlfieth himself, even as he is pure.
A TEXT FOR THE YEAR

Tn llnrmonv with thp foregoing is the intimation of our text whic,ll implie.: that in nrtler to be of the people who will

We suggest to the friends of the truth the adoption of the prrcinuq words of our text as a talisman for the vear, if not ior the remainder of the pilgrim journey. We believe that these msnired words will heir, all who understand them to more and more measure up to thAe divine ideal which they present to our minds: Blessed are the people that know the jorful sound-they shall walk, 0 Lold, in the light of thy c&&ename. Another line, in full harmony with this, from the succeeding Psalm. might profitably he added: Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. Only those who see the beauty of the great King. who discern something of his justice, his mercy and love, his wisdom, his power, can clothe their new minds with these glorious graces which more and more shine before our anointed vision as the beauty of the Lord Our God. And the mnre clearlv thev are discefned. the more faithfullv ran WC copy them. inil the better do we lore the joyful sound, and the hetter can we sing the Song of hkes and the Lamb.

THE VOLUNTEER
The open winter has bcaen \-cry favorable to the Volunteer wrnk thus far, but we adviLe that those who have not already commenced this work make all their preparations for the springtime. when WC hope to hear from all, and to have a goodly supply of rcatling matter rradp for their use. Meantime you will do well to have a meeting, call for en-

WORK

listments in the service, appoint a committee with a central head to lsy out the work systematically, that all congregation3 in Tour city may be served without duplicating. appoint your scribe to communicate with the WATCH TOWER office respecting the number of volunteers, the number of churches, the average attendance of each, and the time for distribution.

WE HAVE

FOUND HIM!

EUREKA!

FEB. &--JOHN 1:35-46. delegation of priests and Levites, sent from Jerusalem. came -1ftcr his wilderness temptation, Jesus returned to Bethabto John asking, Who art thou? to whom he replied that he ar.1. where John was preaching, fully convinced of the charwas not the Christ but merely a forerunner, a herald. To acter of his mission-that it was not to be after the manner these John pointed out Jesus, saying: Behold the Lamb of of Satans suggestion of worldly methods, leading on to popGod, which taketh away the sin of the world, explaining how larlty and honor of men-that on the contrary it would be his he knew Jesus to be the Messiah by a previously appointed sign part to bear witness to the truth in such a truthful and simple which God had given him-the descent of the holy Spirit in the mannrr as would commend it and him to such only as were form of a dove.-Verses 19-34. Israelltrs indeed. No doubt by this time he saw that before the glorification could come the new Israel must be selected, It was the very next day after this testimony to the priests the royal priesthood, the holy nation, the peculiar people and Levites that John. in the presence of two of his disciples, He had reason to expect -antitypical or spiritual Israel. looking intently upon Jesus as he passed near (no doubt wondering how our Lords Messiahship would be made known), that thrre was at least a remnant of this class in the nation Behold the Lamb of God! This was the same of Israel after the flesh. and although fully realizing that no exrlaimed. man could come unto him except t&e Father which-sent him testimony (only abbreviated) that he had given to the priests Aonltl draw him. he nevertheless recognized the momietv of and Levites. and which had evidently fallen. in their case, upon dull ears. But note the difference in the case of those who putting himself in the way of those Whom the Fithkr would were Israelites indeed: the two disciples immediately foldraw, that hr might receive them as quickly and as favorab!y as possible. Hence his return from the wilderness was to the lowed Jesus. *Johns testimony became to them the &-au&g vlrinity of Johns mission work, where not unreasonably he pouzr of God, because they were in a condition of heart to be Thus we see clearly illustrated susceptible to that influence. might expert to find some of the Israelites indeed. Our lesson 5hnws that the Heavenly Father had made use how some are drawn and others are not drawn by the same of John the Baptizers Mission and had exerted through it a message, and we see also that the divine drawing does not operate arbitrarily, but in accordance with certain fixed prindrawing influen;e upon the hearts of some who by &is time ciples pertinent to the divine plan. It was not sufficient that were quite ready to learn of JeFlns as the Way, the Truth and a testimony should be given. it was not sufficient that a curithe Life-the channel of approach to God. The drawing power osity should be aroused: it was necessary additionally that the whirh the Father exerts during this age is the truth-the interest awakened should be so powerful as to lead to action knowledge of divine compassion toward mankind manifested on the part of those who were drawn. as the poet expresses it, through the sending of Messiah to save the people from their He drew me, and I followed on. sins-to deliver them from the power of sin and Satan, as well The Lord is seeking not merely the curious, but the truthas from the death penaltv. hungry, those who hunger and th&st for righteousness, and for It was after our Lords return from the wilderness that the 125701

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fellowship with himself, and here, as in every instance, he that neeketh. 111 this nroner attitude of heart, findeth. The two discIplei had notfoflowrd the Lord far until their faith and zeal began to be rewarded: the Lord turned to them and was the first to speak, and thus he illustrated his own words respecting those drawn of the Father to him, He that cometh unto me I ~111 in no wise cast out. Had our Lord not thus condescendctl It would have been a difficult matter for these humble fishermen to have approached one so far above them in dignity and in appearanre-one whom they had just learned was the great hlessmh, long promlred of God to be the Prince of the kings of the earth. Applying this feature of the lesson to ourselv&. and rememberingthat the Lord is the same yesterdav. todav and forever, helps us to appreciate his condescenqlon maiifested toward a-11 who would come unto the Father through him-we who now come to him because of the hearing of faith and the sight of faith, as well as those who then approached hlrn because of the sight of the natural eye and the hearing of the natural ear. Our Lords salutation, What seek ye? not only overcame the diffidence of those who sought him, but the more they would ronsider his words subsequently, the more meaningful they would find them, as we do today. And this seems to be the que\tlon which the Lord puts to all those who approach him. and essay to become his followers, ?Vhat seek ye? Are you seeking loaves and fishes of earthly advantage? Are YOU seeking enrthlv honor and social and political influence and preferment? The answer soon or later will be manifested by the conduct of the seekers. though evidentlv all do not realize, at the time, what are their reai motlvrq ii seeking the Lord. It were bcttrr. howerer. that each shnnld remember our Lords own caprtsqlon on this fiubiect, and iit down and count the cost at the \-elv beginning--that each one +hquld learn that to seek the Lord &Iv iy to seek after riehteollsness. fellowchln with the Father n&l with the Son; and that this means the iorsaking of rin, ho far as the heart is concerned. and so far as passible the purifying of the flcch by the washing of water throllph the Word.-Eph. 5 :2G. All should learn also that seeking to be disciples of Christ implies not only a fellowship with him in the glory that is soon to br revealed. but also a fellow&in with him in the sufferines af this present time-a fillini up of that which is behind of tlte afflirtionq of Christ. Tf. as our Lord supBrested, earl1 one would sit down and ronnt the coit beforehand, there would be lcsq subsequent disappointment. and although the numhpr of his followers would be much smaller. there would be many l(lss tares amongbt the wlteat. and this would mean tl;c better spiritual pr&peritv of tliP wheat. Tbr woul&br disrinles of .Jequs heard the rruestion without in the right discerning, of course. its depth, nevcrthcless. l&g condition of heart their answer was along proper lines-Rabbi (maqter), where ate you stopping? Thev qeem to have understood that like them~rlres he was a Galilean, and tltat like themselvc\ and others he was merely riqlting in that vicinity on account of Johns mission work, wh!eh drew great multitudes. Their question implied in a pleasant way a desire to become mnre intimately acquainted with Jesus. And he accepted it in this manner, and invited them to his stopping place; as it was about four oclock in the afternoon they remained with him the remainder of the day, and we may well imagine what tlte Evangelist haq not recorded respecting the pleasure and profit which rame to them during theie ho& of As a result thev were convinced of Jesus Mesintercourse. siahship-their own intercouise with hitn tending to corroborate Johns testimony. And thus it is with all who of a true heart seek to know of Gods appointed way; not only are they kindly received by the Lord, but the ver? opportunities for knowledge, fellowsltip and communion which they desire are granted to them. Andrew was one of these two discinles of John, and altho the other is not definitely mentioned it&is the general supposition that it was the Anostle .Joltn himself. who seems to have been of a very modest hisposition, quite &willing to make his own name very prominent-in hi9 writings, Thus on other occasions he mentions himself not bv name. but as that disciple whom *Jesus loved.-John 13:23; 19.26. Andrew and John both had brothers, and the implication of the Greek text spems to be that both at once sought their brothers, to bring them to the Lord, but that Andrew first findctlt his own hrother Simon, and it may be surmised that John through modesty neglected here to mention that he also found his hrnther James, and brought him to the Lord. This is a zood illustration of the prope;couree for those who have found the Lord-thev should at once hegin to think of their brethren, friends. neibhbors. and should cirry the good tidings to them as quickly as possible. It was quite proper that these
Yl

disciples did not follow the courie that some are inclined to follow today, 2)%x.,to seek to learn of the Master all that he would communicate, and then go forth and pose as wise ones amongst their friends, eivine them the information thev had received in drlblets, a;$ avoydmg the me&ion of Jesus as the Fathers channel of communication of the truth to them. Pronerlv. thev investigated nrivatelv to an extent sufficient to J;stily their confide&e, and then >mmediately began to tell the good tidings to their friendi. So earl1 one who has found the Lord should seek to make htm known to others: and more than this, like Andrew. we should not only seek to acquaint our friends with the fact, but <hould seek to hring them to the Lord for personal contact with him-such spiritual contact that they may see h:m with the eye of fait<, and hear him with the ear of faith, that they may know him. whom to know is life eternal. Too many take a different course, and are satisfied merely to tell the good newq to their friends without hringing them through faith and consecration into contact with the Lord. Let us more and more learn the right way to serve our friends. Let u$ learn that knowledge is valueless except as it succeeds in bringing the hearer into faith contact with the Sariour. When Peter was brought to the Lord. .Jesns looked upon him, or as we might ispress it, read him through &d throunh. and then qaid. Your nresent name iq Simon. and you are the snn of ,John. but yhu ihall be rallrtl CrphasHehrew for Peter (Greek. @jos. a stone). This may be understood as a kind of prophecy on our Lords part respecting a great change in Peter4 cahararter Peter was naturally very impulsive-not suffirirntlv qnlitl. too easily rarried about; and pet our Lord evidently iaw in him stcrllng qualities of heart, honesty. sinrerity of purpose: and knnwinz thr influenrr whlrh his teachings and the 11oly Spirit wnnltl exercise upon such a character, he foretold a change whic*h would make of Peter one of the staunchest and most substantial of his corps of disciples. This propherv of rhange was implied in the new name given him, signifyin soliditr-a stone-whereas his previous name. Simon, signified a listener. Although Peter was the onlv one of the twelvr whose name was thus changed. we may readilv suppnse that the characters of all were considerablv changed. undrr the influrnce of the gregt Teacher and of the holy Spirit. which rame upon them at Pentecost. And so it is with 211 who become the Lords disciples: to enter the school of Christ and to remain there means. as the -4postle expresses it. that me will he tmnsformed by the renewing of nur mind<. I\nd the Lord promises all such that they shall have a new name, rspressive of the new character. but which no man can apprpriate except those who receive it--the name of Christ -Rev 2.17. In the case of Philip. the order of prnredure WRS reversed, and instead of his coming to the Loril, as did thr first two; and instead of his heinp brouerltt to the Lord. as in the case ,. of Peter and probahlp .James. the Lord. on the cnntrarv. found him or apprqarhed him on the suhlert. inviting him to hecome one of his disciples. This chnwq II~ the diversity of divine operation in respect to those who are ready for the truth. It map reach them in one way or in anotlter. hut all who are ready for it we may be sure will he brought in rontact with Mei;siah-drawn of the Father. We arp not to question that Philip had hewn previously under divine preparati& and drawn into a condition of heart readv to rrcrive Jesus. else he would not have become his follower &hen invited. Philip was doubtless acquainted with Andrew and Peter, Finre they were of the same city. and like Andrew he seems to hare thouyltt at onre of tellin? the good tiding3 to another, and he remembrred his friend Nathaniel, whom he knew to he God-fearing, and living in espectation of the fulfilment of the divine promise of the hfessiah. We note with plrasure the directncqc of hi- presentation of the subjert, We have found him of whom Moses in the law Tin the Pcntateurh. the first five books; of the Old Trstament] and the Prophets ilit write, Jesus of Nazareth. He did not attempt to interest Nathaniel merely with the proSpert of joint-heirship in the kingdom, though that of rnnrqe would beimplied indirertly ; but hc drrw attention to our JAnrds prrsnn. And his language shows that he was not z mere enthusiast, but that be had hrrn making a studv of the fact that Meqsiah had bern de<csrihed bv Moses and the prophets. and that he h?d evidently I~en rnd&voring, to the best of his abilit,v.., , to test our Lords title bv those predictions and had found satisfactory evidrnre that .Jekus way indeed the Christ, the Sent of God. So it should br witlt all of us when we attempt to present the messace of Christ to the attention of othrrs. WP chould have the promises of God and thrir fulfilmrnt in mind; and these should be our argument. It is not callinr attention to Christ. nor at all followinn the example of Phitip, to assail men wiih threats of eternal tor[2571]

nlrnt. and to ,,,g,* tfrt 111to ~1 ,,on,,s human +clety cxllrd $1 It aould be dell if all of the I~x~la dear followers would example to present as khurch : nor is it followvlng lhilipk learn well it proper, simple directness of approach on rrllgious rnducemrnts the prospect of financial and soci41 prosperity *ubjects, exemplified by Philips words to Nathaniel: and also On the ceontrary, the mcnsitge to through rlunrch affiliation<. they should learn not to attempt to take the Masters place, Ire delircrc4 i* rehpcrting our IAord, and that he ih the> Del~vcr~r hit to bin!: all true Israelites direct to him, as the Teacher, whom the F.ithcr has sent. and that whoever would have the the explainer of the oIisc.ure featui es connected with himself Vathers frllowship and Ilbsing mu4 come to Mc+i:(h and in and his work. Matter- often look tlitrercntlv 011 the outside him find tllc 1~ i4om of God and the mercy of (;od unto salfrom what they app(:ir on the inside. as fiitli and greater I atiou. privilege clihplay them. God has purposely arranged it do that Satlianicl lh comnioilly iiiltlrritootl to 11c anntlier ndmc frill those who look from tlic outside onlv see manv inconiietencies. I:.11 tIl~lIflllP\v. ,iiid iic piol~aI~1~. likr the nthci h, Ilatl hren 1n rriliarmonie~ xnd und4rnl)lc~ fratiiies. while thohe who get to :Ittcntlanc*c at .Jol~n~ mi%slon. \\.e may lcadilv suppnsr that view matters from the inside standpoint of faith (an see Jolinh \inlk not only attrac tc(l to him tlic &i;il outcasts of I ichr. of rare, beauty, harmony, clirincb xnrkman4~ip. -ind l<racsI. s(eking a IIfr of reformation, Imt Ihat it drew to him thin cxteriY)r view is the one that natnrallv comek to a11 of us also c,ertaill c*c,labnrcbrs III the, wnrk. whn ~1 r know II :,i hi\ first, as it came to Satlianiel. and the proper (xxii.c to be dihC1p1Ch; and who nhqisted him in adminlhtering hlptism pursued oh that snggrstetl IJ~ lhilip--come on the> in~ldc and to those nho (*ame a:: rrlJt,ntant sinners. (John 1: 1, 2) This we 110~ it lonkq; take thr standpoint of faith in thr tli\ ine 01lcrs another +uygcstion respecting thebe Tsraelitcs indeed, 1c&relation. and from tli.it ktnndpoiut note tlic ~iiiiiIl~wi of the \\IIo ~1 (SICof .Johna c*ompany. and w(rc thuh introdnc*ctl earliest tlivine plan. to .resu.. autl \\(I c ,c~cly to Irwonw 1r1x di\c.iplc-: their tidellty Tlii:. ~me Ieqsnn i< poiiitrtlly illustratrd 11y an :rnc4ote 10 1~~lltc~ou~llc~~+. .llld tlicair c~lltlea\ or to her\ (b tllcb Lni tl accordtold Ily Pastor Spnr~ecbn. tI,~c~c~;iwd. nf il lllilll WllO \Vcl$ ill\ltcd 1ti1~to tll13 l)(+t ot tllrir :il)llity. INI di1ectlv to their more intihe rcfu~etl. for he IlliltC :lhwclutloll with .rcakli. airtl 111~hcrbi;*e. So d01ll1t1P.i WC Into ,~n orchard to cat orne of the fruit; +Lid that hc had pick4 up l )ntr of the applei 11~ the I n:ldsitlc ~111 find it today. tliat <orile wlio arc CWR~~(*JIii ~0ik-s of retll;~t fell from the trees. ;11lt1th(ty wci c poor and hittc,l. The al c! l pec.ially pi ~li41rtl foi tlccper tuini frcmi Ixopcr nlol iw. ou ner replitd those tree * \VPl I plilI*Itl tll(lC 011 ]I1 IKl<. -0 tllnt triitliy. nlid grit~idw pri\ 11cg:c.rin c*onncction H ith the pre5cnt h:ld IJO)-+ \VOll]t] IlOt ]J( ati rac*tcd into thr orrhat d to %tc;ll. Ii.trvc+t WOII,, and 1,~ *I1011ltl IJC hilling to put OUI ~11 c< in the But. said he. come in-itlc. ant1 there the appI(~, :ir(a tlc*li \r*ty (11 huc.l~. alter (11~r\nmplc of 011r T,ortl with t1lcs.c hi. fir-t I ious. T11u. it ih with tllo+r ~110 +CP Christianityonly from Jl.qlr. rho rvtci ior. Ihrv he,& many mi-1 qii c+nt:q1 ion. of trllca r(b ?;:~tlran~c~l s;etms 10 ha\r hccn rather of the Incredulous ligion ant1 trnr faitli in pr0niin(ant pl;ic~. :iritl oven if thry t? 11~of nliird: IIC wan fearful th;it his fric~nd Phihp was being thcl ,irltl ItIN nl~lr to tli\l iiqiii4 :la IN~~WCC~II tlutl (hribfi:lnity tlt*c*ri\ rtl 1bv an inlpo~tc~r, ant1 1~~ lic,ziin to 0tic.r olJjection+ micrcln c.\cbnt.ltion in c~hurc~hlanity. I hey arc apt to .w~ only N;iz,ireth ;t+lf \(a~ notcbtl ?I, IJCIII~ r:i tIltfir it f:inaticnl city: tlie *elf-rlcni.ils. tlic> (ro-scas. the per*rc~utinn for riglit(~ou~n(~su l)ehi&~h, no doubt Niltllillll(l h:id 1n ;n~iid the dc~l;iinlion of tile >..~kc. rtce.. :intl knnw notliing c+ompar;rtirrlv of tllr hcxn\ rnly 1~1 o:bllr~l, rcb+lJc%c4i K~~tlil~~lic~ni:IS tlir c.itv that would be honilg

\\-hi(,h iii ( dillic.lllt to I)e :lttwlpt tu e\pl:1 III llI.I1t~r. u11t1~~~ stootl. :III~ I\-hlcll h:td not yet tlcbcbn c~xpl;~itlorl to Ikim : non d1r1 h(b M,I\CI In hia faith l~r~~uac~of this allg:,r(j,tion of tltlul)t. On thr ~~~ntrary hc >.titl. COIII,* :I ntl MW WIIVII ~OII h.~vc WPII r11cs III:III. ;111tl II;IVV h(bard him ;IA 1 ha\e, no doubt 1% remain ill 111>oiir ~tiiiitl tlxit 11thiq no ordinary man. arid th,it hr i4 all h+* ~l.lims tn 1~
tilt1 not

not ni(1 (hlv of gainInK inform~~tion ahnut him. (2 I Thr prnof iwkinc ollt tllc lndliren. 3rd of ijrictv illlh itllllOrtilll~T iI1 in*:ing them not mc,relr to a <no~lcdgc of ah&xc t truth. btlt ~~sI)(~(.ii~lly to tllc TD;cI. ant1 to intimatr ~onimuninn and fclIow+hip with him.

THE KINGDOM

ATTAINABLE
Fm.

ONLY

BY A NEW BIRTH

1 I .-.JOIIN 3 : l-18. nur Lortlb rcplic~.. cliiotcd 11itli :rf9ter clrtail. cn Inttmate It W:IS with astnnishmmt that Sic4rmuq hrard from tht, great Teacher that himself and others of the #Jewi> n,ltmn could not possihlv enter the kingdom without lx+ hnrn ;~ne\\ ; and naturallv his mind ran to thr natural birth ;Ind hc 1~ lC\\ . . ,i11(1 01i~ of thcb jiitlg:c4 of their chief or Supreme Court, qiiired how jt ma< pnscilllr that a full-grown man c~nultl JC t IIP S;iiihcdrini. ITi-; wcnltli. learning, etc.. gave him advanSuch :t qucstitrn was tlcyirctl l,v our Lord. t.lgr> 0~61 III:III~ of the pnor and unlearned, and yet they a140 born over again. bi oligllt tli-:itl\ :uitaq~u. a4 our Lord on another occasion exand gave opportunity for th c~splnnatiou that ilir fir5t hirtll which all rspcCnc*r. t ic.. the birth of the flcrh. 1)~ whicsh ulr.4 it: IIow 11:1rtllv I with wh;xt dilficultvl ~hsll thrv that ~-,:I\v 1ic.lics [of any khi 1 c%litrr into the lfi&dom of God mnnkiud ii 1JOrn to human nature. sjnd with a /led1 body. ic :I tylir, a figure, an illuitmtinn of a higher spiritunl l)ii+h. to :I It \\oultl n.itiir:\lly lbr mnre difficult. for a man of largr inIIIICII~Y~ :III(I hocinl bt:lntling lo rrecire inatruvtions from ,Jrhus, \piritual naturr with a .9pirit body. W1:Lt whiA i:, horn of ,IIB~ to 11ec~omc III-: fnlloner, than for humble fishermen to do the flesh i, /lcS7/: that whit% ic, born of the spirit. IS h7j)irif.) 30 : l)ri(lc, l oc*inl (*;l*tt~. tAouglit of what ponplc would think .\q ;I man rannot srr trrcr. liouscs. flnwrrs, c+ . no, c>iitcr into the rninvment of thrsr. until after hr 11x< MW born of tlic Jrld li:iv. cstc*..woilld a11 t~sntl to hinder him. For these reason<, a~ 1% a\ l)os-.illly with :I hope to have a more quiet conver1.11 flcih. s~Iikewis~ no nnc c*an chither see or entrr into the hrav ~dt IOH. Si~*otlrmu?r viqitrd .Jesm by night-semi-secretly. cmly kin~tlnm, exerpt he 1~ horn of the spirit. Tn other wordc. a EL i~lwtly lit lliltl lwc~n imlJrrssrr1 liy tlicl teaching4 and the human Iieinrr ran see earthlr thinrrs. hut nnlv a bra\ rnlv or , rl,lr:lelc. of our l,ortl. foi wc find him ready to :~cknn~vlcd~e spirit-born nnr can WC and sharr i;i the hcarcnlp tiling+: ant1 Ja.~u* ~3 n great Tr:~c*l,cr .cut, of God. although not ready to the long promised kinp~lom of Gad. the Millrnuial :lge~ for i.oi~fc~ him tlic> 1\IrG*inli. Our Lords ministrv. while (omwhich Jsrnel was waitincr. iq to br :I sniritiinl kinrrtlnm ant1 not. In(~ndln~ 111mto Sic~odemus. was evidently a rcr;. diffrrcnt one an earthly one. c~omliosrd of cpirit IJci;igs and not Ilt41 I,cin~s; frum \\11.1 1~ 11;1tlt~xt~c~c+crl ~lc~sinh. ;\\ :I .J&v hr of csourse and only thosr horn tri watPi :illd of the spirit nniiltl cvrr see t of had th li+wI .Trwi+l; tlioii@t rcbpecting the kin~&nn nf God, or rntrr into that kinrrtlnm The rcfcrcnre to water wan prnlx~l)Iy supngr+ied l~v somr I I:.. that T+rarl way that kmgrlom. merely qhrrrn of its power I>y tlita G(sntiIri:, until JIersiaIi should npprnr fnr its dcliversue&ion from Wcodrmus. rc>snec+inrr .John and Iii. h:lntism :I WV and to sul~,jupt P all nations hrforr Tsratll. that the dewish &to rrpentancr-whrthrr or nc;t this had i&thing to do with law might llcrnmc tht> Inw nf the world. going forth with power Our Lord< nnqwer nssnciat& Johns baptism thr new birth. from .T~~ru~;llem. Sic~odrmus di5cernrd tlir wide differencr of water unto rrprntnnrc v ith thr spirit lqetting which hrgnn hrt\+ N~II such hnpcss and the kind of n kin~tlnm pr0rlaimrtl ]I! ilt PPlltlK~St. Prpckntxntc frnm sin ma< essential to the right Jrstih *and hi+ di~riplcn. \Yc mnv rrx~on;ilblr infer. thci cfnrr c9nclitinn of hr.lrt ~hith ~oiild prepare :l ;TCVSfor trnncfer thnt his qurric>L. tllnu:h not st:itrd. were nloiiz lliis Iinr am1 from the ml thly lypia*:ll kinftlom, nnd makr him rrady for the

begettIng of the holy Spirit through \\l11c11. if obedient, 11e would flnallv be born into the heavenly kingdom in the first This use of the word born as representing resurrection: resurrection is a Scriptural one, for do we not read that our Lord .lesus in hih resurrection war) the flrst-horn front the dead-the first-bor)z amongst many brethren-and was it not irr respect to these brethren who would with him be oharers in tlrc ki,lgdorn tliat he addressed Nicotlrmu* ?--HoJlr. 8:29; col. 3:l.s. 18. While we hold that this Scripture in itn full. ultimate meanine. relates to the first resurrection of the kingdom class into ki;pdom power, glory, honor and irnmortality~ we nevrrtheless concede that the word golao i< sometimes rendered \Ve concede alqo that e\-cry OJIC who is to be born begotten. of the spirit in the first resurrection must first bc begotten of the spirit in the prexeut life. \\r ctoncccle alao that the neH life now beg1111i* frrclurntlv ?rwktw of :I* though the new creature wc*rtAdtw~d~y bow by 11kgurativr resurrec.tio11 to newness of lift*. YOII hat11 11ecl11ickenetl [matlr alive. 1~s a figurative resurrc1c.t ion 1 who were dead in trespasses and ;inr;. But these purt1al and fl,vurativc U*P~ of tile wordti alive and not resurrection and %orn ~110i11~1 IJ~ J)ermittetl to discount our tho11ght rc3pecti11,cr the reaI1tir~ ttrlti powers and gloric+ which van be 11tt;1in(btl only by II *bare in the nc*tual first rehur~ rectiolc-born from the dead. W trilr .TCSU* jvi\R talking with ?uicoclemuh q111te proll:1bl~ the w1ntl whistled through the apartment in which they w(r( c1tting. rattling the doork. etc., and Jesus seized upon this a* n good illu\tratio11 by which to convev to the mind of Sico&mu+ the difference between human kings and spirit beings. ant1 tc. pivc him a calearrr conception of the nature and power* of the ~la<s who would compose the spiritual kingdom when He baid, The wind blows set up in power and great glory. where it please%: you bear its sound. but rannot know whence it c*onic*- nnr whitbcr it goes; and so it will be with thohc IJOrn Uf the opirit-all i&eritors of tl1e heavenly kingdom: tbev will br as invi<ible and can ~0 and come as the wind. and inen in tbr fleu11 will be unable to see them, as they are 11nablr to \CP the mind. though they mill he everywhere present :~ntl Indu~nt1al, a< IL, the wind. N 1ec&rnu, was :I.toundetl at the thought that the kingdom of Go,l would be SO different fro111 what himself and others hat1 espectetl. -211 thi. should not have been so strange to N1cntlrniu3 : br l linuld llil\P remrml1eretl that the powers ivllic*h our l,*jrl1 tle~cril~ctl ai the-c whic*li would belnn# to the spirithorn i.1~~~ n-erc tlic \erv powers 11 Iiic~li in the pa+t from timcl to tlrnr had IICVII man~fe*tetl t11r011~11 liol- aii~~ls. who being zcbitt 311 .l)~~~.i,ll 1iii.~i~u1. iipptai tatI l 1tdtlenl.v. aricl \vllcn tlir11 ,111iil(,ll \\ il. il( ~~oinl~li~li~~d.\ dni~lirtl Illkt a+ ~11~ltlenIy. c~oniiiig ai1cl gf ~ifi:! lil,e tlic \\ intl-none kiicb\\ 11 hence or whither. Sico&mu< :Is a tclaclicbr of the La\\, hliould hare 11atl tlieqe thing:s i11 mind. alit1 011r Lord rather reproreb him for not erasping the hut) irct cluic.hlr : Are vou. a teacher in Ihrael. ignorant . of the-c tliiiig?4 .lh it di&ult for ynu. who ale acc+ainte,l 1, ith ttre I,an. to realize these tencahineh? I have I1eeii tellinlr ? 011only l uc*b tl1itlg,r., as are known andtn a cons1derablr esteni hare her11 demonhtrated amongst men through the miniStry of angels. yet y(11i ill? unn-illinp to receive the testimony. Hou 6ould ~011 e~pc~t to believe, if I sl1ould proceed to explain to you hearrnlya11(1 *piritual tl1111ys pertailying to that kingdom You hutelv would be unprepared for such information. Sor would Xi&tlemu~ have I;& to blame for not understandin; $ritriul tliiii,:. if our Lord had told of them; for onlv tllcb spirit-hrgotteu (a11 clea11y gra+p ant1 appreciate thohe things. Our Lord wi15 explaining to him that he must not expect il c,omprehensinn of such things at that time. hut should mere1.y sufficient. however, as a basis expect d partial understanding, clearer comprehension would come with the spirit of faith: The natural man receiveth not the ijaptism at Pentecost.things of the +pirit of God, neither can be know them, berausc they are spiritually tli<cerned. . . . God hat11 revealed them unto 11~[hpirit-begotten one-1 by his Spirit (1 Cor. 2: 1-I. IO). nnd we ma17 enter i11tn the realities when born from the dead in his likenesr. Continuing, our Lord reminded Xicoclemu+ that IIO man had ever ascended into heaven [none had ever been there, or seen heavenly things] except he himself, who had come down from the heavenly condition to the earthly condition-even the Son of Man.* Althnunh aside frnnl the main line of this lesson. it is not amiss t&t we here note the harmony of onr Lords words with the words of the Bpojtle Peter in his (Ii*course on the dsv of Pertecoqt, David is not ascended into the heavens. i&4&S 6:34) -411 the tehtirnonies of the Scriptures nre in harmony on this subject. although opposed by nearly ali nninl ISldcst Creek MS?+. omit the norrls. w/rich is i~1 /rco:*cn
. I ,

sp11ct1 writcbr,. hpikthrn )I, \\cII a4 Chrl&ian. who follow the traditinnh of JIlPn rnrteatl of giving heed tu tbcb +ire )Vord of (:od Ilaving thu. an~wf~red Z~c*o~lemu~ clnrstion?r to tliv bery limit of nohsibilitv at the tinle. our Lold turnctl the +.tbjti% king and 1~~wiv of &wing the 1 grant1 baGis for this spiritual tlo1n. and that he himqelf could J1ot enter into that kingdoJ11 while still in tl1e flesh (1 (or. 1.5:50). but that lie mu-t al*0 he point+ lie changed to rpirit c*ontlition< by re*urrection. out his coining ignoJninioi1~ clrath. :intl lion it waq illustratPd antI tvpiflrtl IJV Mows ant1 tlw I~r;~x.cw wpwlt in thv wilderncsh. ihe whnl(~ worltl i* bittcb11 IJ~ the tlrry *erp~nt, of sin. 11lv whole wnrltl is dying. ;iiitl it war needful that 011r I.ord .lesu~ slinuld be lifted nl) ah ii &iii-oflcbring 011 bc*li:ilf of the \\orltl. that li(* Jnipbt l ul;hquently 1~ lifted up in glory, and 111order that llil\ iii:! thu\ linicl thcb pc>nalty for all. (*ternal lift, inipht lit1 oirerecl io all-that whobocvt*r belic~vrth in hi111 ~l~c~ulclnot perish. but ha\ c~evcrla&inp lift,. I11 pilssing tllr point. lrt n4 1iotic.c tli:rt onr l,ortl <ait1 not a 1,ortl rrsJirc*tiii~ alI\ ttilllgPl of ttlc world going into eternal tor11ic~1it, i& tliti 11tbutter it v:orcl respectink the S~l\~iltl~~ll of iInv in i~iior;11ic.c~ Hih tlf~c~l;1r;ition \\a- that tlic world w:cs )W; tSki#,;.- Hlltt tllat tilt 0111~ Wily in which the? conld obtain ctc~rnal life ;it all \\oultl bc tliror1gli belit~vinp in hiJn. so then tc, ill1 who iir(b willing to lake the l iiiiplt~ &atcmcnt of (;Od* Worrl, it IS clca1 c~iioupli tlial tli(b wic*ktbcl ~110 reject tlic Lord (311110t1~11 ctcrnnl life. ant1 hent*c~~oultl not spc!nd a11 eternity c he it1 mihcrr t)e(+;lurt~ without lift, tlicre (1111 no fecliiip--witliIt is c*leilr lbllOllpll i,lSO that UllO Ollt life tiltby ill{ ]lP,fSlfrd. 1\-(1*llUll IIV hil\(,tl iii tl1i4 il$fC or in tbcb ;1pcbto conie ml,-t ljta %a\etl 11~IreZirBri,rr/ in ,Jc>u~. a11tl (~;IrlIlOt 1~ .:i Lfd tlil OU$I ignoran(c. acacordin:: to tliic Gohpcl. ~l1ic.b 1, tlicb otil~- ;111th~~rizc*d
OlI( ot \\lI? lhcn our T.ortl g:.1\v Nic~otlrm11. ,1 Ill irt slntc~rwrlt tl1c Hea\rnlv Fdther 11;1hpro\ itlt~tl tt1ca bleshing u 11ic.b be lIi((1 I1ern dehc&in-the ki1igtlom. and the lifting up or ,:1(*11tic.e of the Soil of ?tI;111 a prci ecluihite. The 1 cilsolI iy Go~lh rvlllah pathetic lore for liumi1nil~. HP l~el1t~ltl that :1ltl1o11gb m;111c111tl were sliarrrs in father Adanih 5entrnc.c of death. yet in.111y Rmnnght them n nultl. if granted an opportunity, gladly acacvl)t the divine arran~:c~mc~iit. and ~oine It;u~k into at-one-ment a-1111 lheir God, and rcjoipe to abide in hih favor and to do hi. v 111 On this account God had sympathy for mnnkind, and prep1 tB(l a great plan of salvation, of which the firht coming of .Jrsu* in the flesh as a sncarific~ for sites wn. tl1e fi1:t \tcp 01 111.1111ftstatioli. God hn loved tlie world tliat 11~ gwvt I1i. only l)cootteii Son Ttn 111rmiliatinn ant1 -;ic*rificar in tl~,itlr 1. tllat who<never Iielicvet11 in him shn11ltl iiot prxt.i.sir. 1111tII;I\ (1 lolrt~lin I c~vcrlahtinn life * It Ililc: hecii wrtl 1Iv hol,lc o,,v tllilt tlii. 16111
any otllrl O,l( i, CO,ltl~ll~~tl l ti\t~ll,~llt Of tllc (:OQ~~l I,lltll(l called this \-?rctb tile little Goi1)el. 01 flick little Bil)ltb lr111aJ)s in answer to anotlier qnest1tm. or perbal)~ 111elel~* as a part of the further discours> to Sic.ndemu.. Sofia J,nrd nest ~snlaiiietl to him that God S obifv$ in +eiidiny Iii\ Sot1 1 into the world wi1h not to h,r\ c tlitl \\;)rltl c~c~iitletn1i&l. ior tll*b world was al1 eatlv c~o1itlt~mned.sharing with ;\tlanf tlicb nri~ill:l I c~u1ide1n11atio11 hentenccl of tleatl1. 011 tbr cont.1ar!-. Got1 wnt or 11;s Ron to have the world--to rrco/cr f)1cf,tl;irrt/ f,r~jif Ihot scnlfnce or fw~wlfm~iatiou. Thi* 1. in harmony n-it11 ,111otl11 I htdtement of Scripture \rlJicli clrc*l,irck of belielcr. tllilt lllew i11 (111i3t i* 110~ ),O f.f~nfh~,,l,fn1lo,l t0 thtlll tllitt ilIT .Jc~~IIs. ( ~OIII. S : 1 ) , vet nnlv irelieve s II:I\-c 11111.t+c:1l,1 i1ll the rt~mi1inder of tl1r worltlarc~ still untlcr wratll. .~~lrildi 111 and tliercl i* no 0tlit.r Wily of chvdlW c?vrpt tllrc)ll&+ Of !Wiltll. Christ. for There 1s no otbpr nillllr givt.11 1111(1criled\ (11 01 among men \\lifrebv nc mnzt be saved. The lstl1 ver5e i?r in tlilrlllnlly \vitlt tlii. th0Ilght. that Iw.C lie1 crk ekc*;ipe tlic conclt~mnatinn that 1 on tbt, \\orltl. Ilrlt tllat tbosc, who do not acacept of Christ ~~1)1nit1 ~r~tlcr fhe conrlctn7,ntio)c already upon them iIt birtli. ah A(ldn1~ htlirh. NeVO tlielesz. a4 is dp(*larcd in the l!Jth \crsc, tl1r c.ontlc1nll;ltio11 ill reatly upon men is justified by their course. if after seeing tbr light they do not love it. bnt rejcc+ it. ant1 flgbt a,aainct it. However. UC are to remm1brr in tbi% connec*tinn the Apostles d+~claration that manv in tlie pre*ent time see only i;i part. the god nf this world l)linding them more or leh* c*ompletely. (2 Cnr. 4:A) And we rejoice in tllc ahhurdJ1ce of tbc *ame .ipostle (*John 1 :9) that ,Jesns is the true Light, nl1ic.b nltimately, in the kinetlom. <hall be a great Sun of Itightenn~nes~. wit11 healing in his heams, wbicl1 shall shed fort11 light and knowledge to evprv member of the human family during 111s Millennial reien: Lo that all +hall hare the fullest opportunitv of ceasing to yje childrcm of wrath. and of escapi1$ the (*or;demnatinn tltat iu on them tbrnuch Adams tliiinhctl1enc~e. anti of romiiig bat k tliroi1~b thca hiediator. during thr time* ni

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TOWER

hLEGIIENY,

PA.

restitution, to all the good things lost through sm.--Acts 3. I!)-21. i\hlle o71r Lord in hiq d1scourie to Nlcodemus dealt only with the new birth of *the cb71xl1 wh1c.h 1s 111s body, and whirh wit11 h1m. born of the cpir1t. shall constitute the heavenlv kin,zdom tl1:;t ihall blt~ the world. he nevertheless else\I h&e int11nates tl!at tl1e ze\tltutlon blessings which shall come

to mankind will be also after the nature of a new birth, though Speak111g to his disciple5 not a birth to spiritual conditions. of tl1c JI~llcnn1al kmgdom, when they should sit wit11 him in hii throne-tile t1mei of restitution-he calls that Millennial (mitt. 19: age axi] work ~cyello.atlon-Ureek, palrnyenesza. %I This iy not the 5ame word rendered born again, but elgnifies more near]?. re+titntlon, restoration or renovation.

NOTHING

TO DRAW WITH

AND THE WELL I DEEP

FEB. 18.-JOIIN 4 : S-26. God lo (I Sp:rlt, a,ld the9 that worship horn must t~orshlp htnz 2~ splvzt nnd 11%truth. Snmar1a wah the name (of :7 stretch of country lying be1h a lemon 1n tl11$, howe\-cr. along tht> lme of the ,4postleL t\? rrn .I71(lea antI (::IIIIw : 1,(I might call it a co7711ty and say to \\e ~na1111oc avoid word>. Co1~de~c~11d men of low ehtate. ~7~]tl~.111~ tll It the reason why many C(hrihtI:Ul 1JwJple wollld t.tldt It> tl11cbt clfy, cut tli? l an1r nan!e. was its co77nt.y seat. Its i11h.~b1tant~ \v7r( h11~~\vnas Cmarlt:7n+, and tl1e Jews, while d1<dain to speak to such a \\onl:rn i:, that they have utter!y deaI711~ ait thcam coi~:mcrc1:7lly, would hare no mtercourse ai1no.t 1111c~n~~o71~lyto themheireq in1b1betl the 5p111t of their m It il thlhrn 50~1clly ant1 r~~l1~1nu~t~. but tre:rted them 111ever> f cl~g:uiis tcac~h~ngs. which woiild declai e that C;CJ~~ vio71!d SO rcsl~c(~t a, th:,y trc~atctl Gcntilc, 111general, a5 IJCIII~ out*lde ;Illonllnate ku(.ll a pcrso11 that he would deliver her over to the 11~ II. to tJe etc1nally tormented, as soon as she cClme into 111s \ of d1v111~ favor. ;~110:1~.and ctran:_rei s to the commonwealth (:oil, of Ihlxel. Mlthollt and hav111g no hope in the world. ll:clttl> at drath. They leason. almobt unconhcio71sly. that one >o tie~p1~etl ot tl1e Lo1 71 zhould IW sl171nned a1171hpurncd by (Eph 2 12, Il~c :III~~Y~c,:~ of tllcie Samaritans \vere Gentiles, and were tran-l)ortotl to Samaria renturic, I~ciorc. as the Is11~imanl:y. ThcJr need a clearer knowletlgr of the t11\1ne \\-ord rr.p+ :tiilg C;ntls attit7idCl tow;7rtl iinnc~i 5. 111~ 71nw1l!in~~11css rnelltes were tr~l77<l~,~rtc,dto Etbylon. bv Xeb71ehi7tlnezzar. (2 c hn3 <~ 17 . 4-4 I 1 ~Iww (&sntilc\. tl1r~71~h rontact with the tht ;711V -hOUh~ IJCridl. :7lld hi~itrri~1oii tli,:t t!1c $1. ilfiilly <. ~1c,ketl, ~!10 reject all Iii5 nierr1rr ,Lsil:\ll llot 112 to7 :~lc~nt~tl. b;t ,JI~\%<,ant1 thr071gh ir,tc,rrn;rrr1:7pt, n1t8h ccxrtain renegade Jews, IIP I)lottetl out of rsistcnre (_ ret. 4:!1: .irt, X::%l True ohtk7incd a smnttt,rlng of knowledge of the .Jcw1sh 11opes and worship. c~oml~in1rrg the w to ~1nc r\tent with false ideas of \I~:\Y of the 711~111~ tlidracter and plan are \ (rv he!pfi:l to 1brtL bv the Apostles tlirir or\11 As a pc~pl~~ tllcsv are tlrsic~~ Gud- people in siinping their r0111+; propci 1~. words ar fcrl1nf: ift(;r C:cxl, 1f haply tllev might fini h1m i3ltl there been a comnanv of Jews to whom the Lord rtiiil~l liave talked at tliis time. we a1 e l~oun~l to -17ppo-e that (Arts 17 :2i ) But t tlfs tlnrr 11:7flnot vet co7;le for Got1 to reveal h1m\lslf tcj tilt \\trrltl, or IQ any W;V of the woitl to accept 1:1~ cnerg1eq would have heen expended on their 1~~~11:~lf. tl1c to Gfmt!Ic~s tlt71s far ali t11\ i11~~ or had been conrrnti atrd upon II(~~IY t of The c!~~ieputable Samantnn : Init tlic,rc 11~~111,~ nnne !a\ of :11? c.171ldren to IJC fed at the timr. he let hnme of the Israti, tll~~ u(~bd of t\l)rali.~rn and 71pon only such of those as ma111t:7 IIIWI t 11caircovc~na1~t rclat1omh1p by c1rrumc1h1on ; hence c 17imlls of knowledge and hle~~in~ fall to tlie Snnizritanb. nl10, like the GentlIes. were not cl11ldrc11, bnt in cwnp iriwii were tlir .Jcw-, w(1 7% rt(/A t 111not :Ic~knowltdginp the Samaritans, and d(!p. (See Matt. 13 27) O77r I,nlds rniirse - here 1< an in II~IVIIJ~ no tl~~nlin~!. wit11 t!1cbmrcligiouslg, nor 1ntermarryins wit11 th!~ni ho(.ially in\triiction for his followers, an illiistration of thr Apo+tles This w:l~ not. a matter of bigotry, but of divine> rc~gllxt1on and l~r~~h1hiti0n.-De71t. 7: 1-G. words tl1z.t we should do good 1tnto 011 wctt as WC I~:II c opport/c?,lty, e~pcc%xllv to the hou~choltl of faith. F71rthcr. it 1llusTt will b7~rcmcmhc1c~tl that our Lortl distinctlv set the seal t1ates o71r Lords own declaration. tl1at It ~7s h1c mrat and of his appro\xl to thi< COII~-t. when qcnding fort]; his disciples drink to do the Fathers will, to be cnyaped in the Fatl1crs to d7~c*larc the kingdom of Gc.d at hand. He said to them, Go not into the wav of tile Grnt1les. and illto anI/ city of the bay1ness. Althongl1 he was weary. and knew th?t further talking would interfere wit11 his rest and refreshment. lie was Nnnt~lr~tuws mtc; qc xot : for I am not sent save to- thk lost sheep of tl1r %OUSC of Is~uTI. IYe remember, too, the city ready to sacrifice 11is own ronvenirncde that he might l)e 11clyful of the S,7marit:7nq conr*rrning which the Apostles James and to another. even to a social outcast. So the Spoytle c\hnrts all of the Lords people to be instant *John s(:7id, Iinrd, wilt thou that we command fire from heaven, in season and o77t of to r~lllill~lc t11w1 7 To nhnm Jrs71s answered, Ye know not season. in preaching to will1np ear*. There was wisdom in 0111Lords method of intrnd71f in,n what <pirit ycx are of The Son of Man is not come to destroy mens ilvcs, init to save tlirm. liimself to tlie woman. He made a requrqt th7t would not he Nevertheless, we remember difficnlt for her to co1nplr with. and at the cavr time hc I.lid that .JW~IS woultl not ncbrform hi? miracles in healing the San1:rritnn si(k. and that it was for this reason that thee Saihow. that 11imself under nbligat1on to her: and r\pwlrncr this is one of the best methods of anpw:lc*l~in~ all-cnntle~crnma1 itans rcqrntctl and noultl not receive him, or permit him to p1~ thrn71ph tl1cir city on ILLS jo71rney.-Luke 9:5X6 sinn and an espresfinn of confidrnre 1n tlitir ge11rroTity. with It n:7< d77r1ng one of these numerous journeys from Judah the implication whirh it gives of willingness to rct71rn tl1e favor in some manner. through Stma71.1, en route to Galilee. that our Lord, wearied front 111~ c~\l7;171rtinn of 11cn:7clrinp and froin the further esXot 11efd1nr tl1e rudeness of the wom.~ns replv to l1iq rehan~t1on of hi< kitalitv in he,711ng the sirk, and from jourque-t, our Lo&l proceeded to ten?11 a lrsson kpcrting the neyin:. rcbted at Jarobs me!l. while his disciples turned aside grace of God. 11sing the good water of .Jncobs derp ~~11 as an to a \ ill:ige to pni~hnsc prov1s1nnq. illii~tratinn. telling the -woman that if she nndrrstnn? the .Jacob< w~\ll 111(1a ,grent reputntion thrnnghnut that region, pri;-ilege she enjoped she in turn wo71ld lw asking him for bccaii~e of the piiritv of its n-atprs; tl1:7t 11pin: ;i li~;rntone water-flowing water, not stagnqnt, always fresh. 1lVl~lg conntl y most of thci water fn71nd UY$ br:1cl\ish. b71t .Jnrobd She perceived that there was some deep 1neanin.g to our Lords ~~11. <i7111; n tl~~l~tl1of over a llun(lic~tl fret. :7ncl nbniit eight to word<. He could not refer to Jacobs well. for he had no fact 1n tliarnc~tc~r. str11cal: a (*:r\ 1c.cin the ro( k, whirl1 yielded leathrr h77rket and cord ~itl1 which to draw from it; hence a large s77pt)ly of d~~~7731~1~ Ilater. 1T-e are to remrmbcr, too, her inquiry. Khcnce hast thou livinq water? F;7thcr Jacob tlirb scar(*it,v of wntcr it: that part of Ill&> c,niintrv, ecpecially provided this well, and knew of no better water for himself at snmP swwns of t 11c ycnr, n 111~11 arrn11ntc: for the fart that Are ~071 able to provide better water tl1an thisl and fami!v. the Snm:iril:rn wr,ni:77i of nnr lc~wn Iind quite a distance to -4re $071 $reater than he? 071; Lord thrn led another step in comr to trllt iin !1cr supply at this good and11rvcr failin? welltl1c exnosition of sniritual things. a&snrinc her thst the wnter snriy1z. U.l1rn $17~nr1ivotl. .Jr-11s. who wq$ sittin- on the curb which he had to &ve was of i different kind; that it w011ld nf fhc~ well, rca\ti11p. was at oncc rernznixcd by 17er as n Jew, not only FatiSfT thirst for the time being. lmt would be a conant! -11~ VXL~ at onrc rcc*n~7~i7c~tl 11in1 as a Samaritan, not hy tinual well-spring within. cl-er giving satisfaction. mn rl,v IIV f:1ri:rl linc3mca?tG. lnit al<0 11~7 diqtinrtive fcatiires Water, livings water, pure water, iq a wonderful symbol, Tlnrit is of drc~--flip .T( 1111,:1\ing a ~l:itc fringe on tl1eir garment4, rerr rxprrqiire to everyone: and thirst is nnothrr. while the S:lm:ii it:inc ii-ad 11Iiic. longing. tleqirc. r.raviiiy Physical thirst is said to be much to ask a ro71rtpsv, of :, PaFor a .Jow tl) m;:l.-~ n rcq:lwt. mnr? painfiil than ph,vsiral 117iner1 The latter loses itq powers mnritxn. \YI~ i1ni1~iinl . :;ntl :~on~.t~quentlr w!1rn .Je<714asked for contin71es nntl intensifies yr21Jrls11y in wPakneqs. but thirft a drink of tl1ib \\:ltrr t!tc, ~~nin:111waq drnwino; she xi?s astcnhourly until the verr lact breath. Water is that which isllcxtl cnnu~h to 1nq11irc !In\c it rlmt that hr. a Jew. would qumrhes. whir~h qltiqfies this demand of nature. and SO there make ~11~11 rc,cluPSt of 11~1 :1 Samaritan. and licr qliestion has n i4 al50 n soul-thirst and a water of life which alone can in it the element of l)nl(lnQ=. whicah is eyalained later on bv satisfv it. her arknnwlrdgment that she W\AS not a ri;tuous woman. All Frerv amhitinn and c!esire is a thirst. -4 mans greatness, that o71r Lord tl1is. however, makrq it the mnre remarkable his indil-idualit,v, is meacnred (1) 11v the number nf his thirsts or decirec ; (2) by the character orq71ality of those thirsts or would condescend t0 hare any intercourse with her. There [25743
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(46-47)

desrrcb, (3 J by the capacity and intensity of those thirsts of men as or desires. And true cducatron is the instructor respects proper and improper desires, or thirsts: and respecting whrch should be gratrlied, and how to do so most wisely. He who has no desires has nothrng to satisfy, and is practrtally a nonentity. The lesson of life is not that we should be without desires and nlentv of them, but that these desires should be transformed from sinful desires to righteous desrres, from sinful cravings to holy cravings. Thus the followers of the Lord are to hunger and thirst after righteousness. and are to bc filled-satisfied-not by losin g their desires, but by realizing them-by approprrating. the Lords provision, which 1s Imabun~ldnt and continuous, satrsfying all proper longings. proper longings are to be resisted, controlled, rooted out, whrle proper longmgs are to be built up, cultivated, to be supplied and to be enjoyed forever. This satrsfying water of life can be obtained from no other sour(*e than our Redeemer, and all who have received it well know it and can never be sufficiently thankful for it; for in it they have the peace of God which passeth all understanding rulrng in their hearts. Instead of thirst for honor amon& men,ctl~ey have the thirst for fellowship and honor with the Heat-rnly Father and the Redeemer. Instead of a thirst for earthly wealth, their transformed desires now thirst for heavenlv treasures. Instead of thirst for sensual pleasures, their desires are transformed so that their chiefest joys and desires are for spiritual nleasures. And all these thirsts are abundantlv and continually satisfied through the refreshment of the \Vord of Truth. and the holy Spirit of the truth-the water of lift. which is communicated to us by our Redeemer, and is in cnc11 one a perennial living fountain. Of rourqe the STmnritan woman did not grasp the meaning of our Lords words, nor could we, under the same circumstances. for WC are to remember that the well from which our Lord gives us to drink ic deen. and that neither the Samaritan woman nor we have anvthina to draw with. We,- -however. livinr under the new drspensarion of the holv Spirit, have been abmulantlv supplied, for, as the Anoqtle de-clares. The snirit searc~bcth all things. veal the derpth?~os of God. . . . That we mqht know [nlmrerinte, be saiisfiedwithl the things that are freelv givcm uul o us of God.-1 Car. 2: 10. 12. Our Lord did not an<;ver the womans rearrest for the true mater of life. (1) hec-:luqe the time for behtowing the holy Snirit of the truth had not vet rome. and did not come until a& the great saczrilicse at Calrarv-until Pentecost. (2) Becau<r qhe was a Samaritan, and as such could not receive dirrrie faxor and tin holv Sairit until the annointed time whil,h wnq not until the door of favor would b onen to all GentlIe--not until three and a half years after Pentecost: nrrcrtbcless the womans interest and faith and the faith of her townsmen seem to indicate an honestv of heart pleasing to tbp Lord, on account of which he let fall to them some crumbc of comforting truth which may have prepared them for the Gospel when later it was fully opened to them and to all Gentiles. (3) Brrause the wnmsn wan nnt rot in the condition of hrartto rcreive the water of lrfe. It n;as unnrcessarv to explain to the woman the first two reacons. since the last was a barrier which she could more readilv umlrrstand. and hence our Lord called her attention to thefact that she was living in sin. She perceived that he was gifted with a prophetic insight whirl1 nermitted him a stranger to know of her v ;inful corrrse of lrfe, without asking. It may be queried why our Lord would thus confer with a woman unprepared to receive the blessings he had to give, and one to whom he could not have given the blessing. then. even if she had been prepared. The answer is (1) that he was making us0 of an opportunity to itq fullest pnsrible advantage; (2) that despite her sinful course of life the Lord saw traits of honest-v in the womans character, evidenced from the narrative : (3) he might reasonablv hope that the influence of thiq discourse might tend tnwarcl rirrhtenuqness and toward a true thirst for thP water of life. which six years later, under the general preaching of the Gospel (without restriction to the
I

Jews) might bring some of these Samaritans to a realization of the fact that the well cf the water of life is derp, that they had nothing wherewith to draw, and that if they would have this satisfying par tion they must receive it as a gift from him who laid down his life that he might have the nrivilege of ;4od should supplying the water of life to whosoever wills. the poor Samaritan woman never have come under the influcnce of the Gospel. with an opportunity to drink of the water of life, we have the assurance of the divine Word that to her in the future, su.-h an cpportunity will be granted togrther with all who do not now have an opportunity. TFe praiee the Lord for the information afforded us in his Word, that although the water of life is now given individually, and enloyed only by the elect, even as many as the Lord our God shall call, yet the time is coming that it shall no longer bo thus a well of water sprmgrng ?cp &thin the Lords people, but during the Millennial age will be a river of water of life, broad and full and clear as crystal, flowing out from the throne of God and of the Lamb, and of the bride the Lambs wife and joint-heir. to all the families of t!re earth: and that then there will not onlr be trees of lift, whose leaves will be for the healing, restitution. of the nations but that the shall say, Come and he Spirit and the bride (then glorified) that he?reth may say, Come. and whosoever will may come and have the water of life freely.-Rev. 22: 17. The Samaritan woman seemed anxious to avoid any discussion ot her own character and lrfc, and slcilfully turned the auestion to a theological one-whether the Jews or the Samnritans were right yn their difierent views respecting divine worship and its proper place. iind in this we s&e that human &Ien and women of today nature is mu-h the same todav. would rather discuss tbeologrcal problems and denominational controversies, than turn their glance inward, and note the inconsistencies of their own lives. with a desire to reform them. Nor did our Lord too closely press the moral question he had so promptly touched and to some extent made sensitive. and It is his course in this should be a lesson to his followers. sufficient that attention he called to a wrong, and often this is more efficarious than if they he teased and angered, and put on the defensive. bv disrespectful nagging. Our Lord summed up in few words a great lesson respecting the nroner worshin of God. He told the woman most pointedlv that the Samaritans had neither part nnr lot in the maiter, and worshiped thev knew not what, while the Jews, on the contrarv. were fnllo&na the divine instruction. rurverc.bange thcle<q, he pointed to the fact that a great dispensational was imminent, in which all distinctrons and barriers of place and manner would pass away, and that under the new dispensation of this Gospel age any and all having ears to hear and eyes to see Gods grace would be permitted to worchip God anywhere, but only in spirit (with the heart. sincerelv). and in truth, in harmony with the divine arrangement, in the true wvov-through Christ, who is the Way. the Truth and the Life, and by whom alone there is access to the Father-the Messiah, the procurer and dispenser of the wntcr of life. An Oriental fahle tells of a fountain whose mafcra were infused with a peculiar power, so that wherever a drop of this water fell on a-barren plain it cauqcd a now fountain- to push forth. so that nrovided with this water thr trnv*lcar might pass through any desert, however wide or dry, and be always refreshed.
1

Wild and fnnriful the legend: yet mav not meanings high, Jriiions nf bettpr thinpv to come. within its shadow Iir? Tvpr of a better fountain, to mortals now nn~ralcil, The full, free salvation of Christ our Lord revealed Beneath the cross those waters lie, and he who finds them thrre. All through the wildprnesq of life the living stream may hear; And blessings follow in his steps. until mhereer he goes The moral wastes begin to loud, and blossom as the roje!

THE MEMORIAL
The anniversarv of our T,nldq death rrrkoned according to Jewish calendar &I1 this year he April 13 at 3 P. %f.-consequently the celebration of the Memorial Supper will be on the Gethsemane can I forget Or there thy conflict see. Thine agony and hlondy sweat. And not remember thee? [2575]

SUPPER

previous evening, April 12, after six ocloc!< P M. We make this early announcement for the sake of friends afar off. Further statements and local announcements later. When to the crnis I turn mine And rest on Calvary. 0 Lamb of God, my Snrrifice. I must rcmen!btr tlrce. eyes,

INTERESTING
few days since dear Brother DF~R BROTHER RUSSELL*.-A Sorcott wcib rn to call on me, anti 111the course of our converP,Itlurl he mentioned you, and that he had often had a desire to meet you in the fleyh, but that, it was quite improbable now. He 1. getting very feeble, and it is a great effort for him to get al,ont much, but he is ansioub to do all he possibly can. Some time ago llc felt a little better and took his horse and cart ;111(1 ant out ant1 sold nine DAwSs. He returned beaming with 11 j(l)- tll:~t thc~ Lord ha<1 $0 blc~~l 111swork. It is hard for him to n rite. am1 hc wi-hctl me. some time when I would be writing to ! 011. to tell you of hii great love for you as a brother in ( l111.t. .III~ lli; grateflllnrss to you for all the interest you had Hc said l:rlX9 1,) him ~1111~he wits in the colportcur work. t II (t. cl~~rllrtic~.- you 1,~ w of his 101P and prayers already, but t t).lt -~~rn~~t lmcq it URS strcn~thrnlng to us if some of the 1)~(:111t~n ~~.irnc to 11; v;:th a mc+c:t~c of love, and he was sure y0-1 ~,I~!I~II :\l~pr~~<i:ltc the motirr with wh11.11it was sent. Also 111 II<% L. I c~mcml)c~rirlp y011 before the throne of favor, that ,t I\ frr (11, \I:!-t(r woultl crant vou the ncacctcd grace to finish tr tiT,> ,To 1. Il(iOl k you. So 1 wrilc this to you. .\>I I. I 1~ tlfb:lr ltrotbcr. I (an albo add lhat that is my own 112~11 0,: v,,llr l)(l::, If. I s.onl~tinicq th1r.k wvc are too apt to !,,,I., ,I,,, ,I!\,~ xritl rlrft cx pre<.: it as WC sh~~uld, and thus others ;\Iay the dear II/ \ t~fi1.1 11) fc~sl ?ll:lt \I( tlo not ln\c tliem. I ,I 11 l~l(+. vou abnnd:lntly. more thnn gnu are able to think. \:\I, \I i-11 tt,tll;ink yen f:lr tli(s htrong nourl-hing food you have l:wu -~,~c~.;~l~itgbefore 1:. in tllc Tn\!~~s lately. Tour Ilrotber, by tbc favor of tlw Lord. I\. E. Vasri-zrnrncrr.-Sout;L Dakota. [\\-(a c.annot esprcys in words our deep appreciation of the love of tbc iJrCdlrC!n so oftcn c.\-pressed in thclr lrtters as above. Mc ;t*cI1r( tllc1.c tl(>nr brc~tlir~~ri ant1 all tliat their love is most 11(:11 I (( ~proc~:rtetl. 11-e 101c tllc hrcthrt,n ailtl t:ilce pleasure 111~ in I,:\ ittg down our life in tlicir service. I\-e are gl,d to kuow th,it. ,,(,,I rc~mc~rnllc~r ant1 the Lords ll~r~.,~St work, w:lich he 1,: , .C1 11~1h l,(l(sIl pl(~.~-c~tlto ccsntir h(Bre in z\ll(~plic~ny, in your prayers. If \vt m;~v lutl:!c~ trorn tile l&trrL, rcc(I \ ~(1, tlic:us.!ntlq of prayers n v.rn(i cl,!ilv on our bc~ll:llf. 1\c caannot tell you how deeply

LETTERS
fore take the liberty of mentioning the matter to you for If so, a cordial, brotherly welcome awaits you advisement. and other friends, who would be entertained to the extent of our ability. The Musical Towers ordered were promptly received and used to advantage at meetings. Our prayers are with you and we crave yours, to the effect that we may be faithful overcomers, even unto death. Youre in Christ, E. \v. BRENNE:ISEN.-!&XXX?. DEAR BROTHER RUSSELL:--I feel inclined to give you a hrief account of our Volunteer work, even though you may hear from others conccrnmg the same. We put out about 450 of the booklets last Sunday evening. I felt compelled to go out with the others, as I bad been thinking of the letters in last TOWER and of the blc5sed privilege thus offered us of sharing in the blessing that surely comes to tho*e who do thus serve Him. I would urge all in everv place to take up this good work of serving &ds househnl& of faith fof whom there mav be manvY vet in BabvlonI I with this meat in due season. By a singular coincident I went first to the ?\I E. church, where I was c*onvrrted 25 years ago. The second booklet I gave out was to a goung man who offered to pay for it. Upon being assured that it was freely plren to all Bible \tudentq, he &ill urged that I accept a dime and send it to the Tract Societv. whicah I will do onite soon. A iittle boy came runking down. asking me if I wmltl give him another one of those little Bibler for an old Iatly who wanted it. How true that Obedience is better that sacrificr, as it 19 first, or prciiminent. and surely inrolreq the true and ncceptable sacrifice. Kow many we see. eqpeciallv among tbc \ictflrs of the Rnman Catholic system. and al50 fnrc,izn micsionaries who are making great sacrifices. yet not accorllin,? to a knnwledgo of his plan. and consequently misdircc+cd. Jesus said, 1rv sheep hear (obey) ml, vnl(c V'c ml~ltt to ol)ey God ratb& than men. I Brmly lwlic~~r that 011 ar( dnlnr: tliis. who engaze in tlir harrrst wnll;. wlii(~li i. cvdentlp under the &dancse of the Chief Rcapcr. The church here has heen grcatlv benefit&l bv the pull1 I<Ition of the \Vnshinoton and no-ton jetterh in ln<i To\\-: I: 7111: is clearly tliscernnble in the increased zeal of all for tllc, \\()I k. May we not reasonably hope that the inrrrnqe of ma1 1~(~1(~ :1nt1 in other places mny be prophetic of a Iargcr work during tllc> coming year ? 84~~ our heorsnly Father bless the work to the glnrv of his name. and prrqerve us all with vou unto the r~tnl,llsb~ent of his kingdom! Yours in the hope&of the hirrb cnllinsr. [Two letters have been receired from Gktcr\ in C1lri.t ~110 are mothers. who are surprisrd at our advice to 1Tng~~T<mlbu In the ,Jnnunry 1st WAWTI TOWER. One is surpri-cd that we wou!rl approve of anythinK tlmt woultl bring tllr bov into loricli with Frctnrianism ; the other wonclcrq \rhrtbcr or not X11 boys clu1)9 under church auspices are of the kind known to her, and if so sbc wonders verv much th:lt wc eoul(l ad\ iscb hops who are seekinn to walk cn the footstep4 of .T(lcuq :o have anvlhing to do with them. Sbc cars that in addition to the gyninasium for phvsical cultnrc. thev bare rirnrq. (alcrlr _ . ettrs.billiarda, boxing gloves, etc., all ralcnlated to 1fwI a Ijoy fzr from the narrow way of true diqciplechip We certainly did not suppose that the bahc,ments of rburrll(~~ were uqrd in snrh a manner. nor can we vet, think that thiy is the usual custom; it would seem ton exireme to bc grncral. We hope that those known to this sister are rare exceptions. We ns<uredly would advise all boys who seek to w:~lk in the footsteps of our Lord to shun all such places, and rather to do without the mmnnstir exercises. if thcv could onlvY be obtained under such conditions. Our thought, in answering Hugos question. was that the boys clubs were merely lecture and recreation yuildq, entirelv hyrmleqs and at the same time nrofitable. and that the onlb quP>tion was whether or nnt itd association with R nominal church sycton should properly separate from it those who hnll,qht to plans the Lord. Our answer was along these lines, and we still think that a wide distinction should bc observed as brtwpen joining a church, being bound with a misrepresenting creed, etc. and joining a boys club without creed or other bnndnpe except as respects good morals, and not for religious purpnsps, hut merely for conperation in obtaining the privileges of the lrcklre course and the uye of the gymnasium at a moderate expense. To mingle with moral hops in this way is, in our jud,mncnt. mrreiv a business trpnsartion. and the same rules whicab \vould hinder n hoy from thus asqnriating with ofbpr hnpq in n moral and erredless club would similarly hind:ar the Christian father of the boy from dealing in any kind

[2576]

FEBRUARY

1, 1900

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(51-52)

of worldly business with sectarian Christians and others. The Apobtle seems to imply this point in 1 Cor. 5: 10. But we would smcerely regret to be understood as advising countenancing or having any sympathy with the kind of boys Far better that the described by our sisters letter. clubs Chrlhtlnn boy should have no use of gymnastic appliances, or
-

that he should construct some for his own use; far better that he should never mingle with other boys at all, than that he should run the least risk of haviny his heart polluted; for we remember how hroaclly applicable are the Apostles words. Evil communications corrupt good manners.-1 (or. 13 : 33.
--EoITo% --~ 1

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VOL.

XXI

ALLEGHENY,

PA., FEBR.UARY

15, 1000

so. 4

VIEWS FROM THE WATCH

TOWER

PULPIT VIEWS ON THE MILLENNIUM that this hnppv prriotl inay be cnjnyetl in the near futurcl. Rev. Dr. James Llsk, Bordentown, X. J., pastor ot the The Philadclphla press recently iuterviewed the ministers Baptist church, says.-of Pennsylvania and New Jersey on the subJect of the Rl~lAs to your first question, I certainly do so bclievc. Howl~nlllulll, USklll~ :- Uo r,wu bcllele thut the Blblxal Jlzllennwm ever students of t?le \l.ord mny lntcrptet your phr,lx 1:1tJl1of t!le responses denied faith in a The majorltg zs nt hllnd? CiTl mill~~ni~ium, tbclre fan be littiz doubt that <omc ;:lc<ic Mlllennrum, some ex<re&d an expec<atlon that the churches change is soon to take place. The dirme pro:rramme is I;~Iu;: ~oultl 111 it about bv miasionnrv effort, and a few declared mp rapidly complet4, so iar :I$ the prtsent order of things 12 faith ln a ielgn of Chrlst neax athand, as follows:concerned. Prophecy is rapidI{ helng fulfilled. Rev. \yilliam >!cSillly, Harrisburg, Pa., has made a care* * ful htutly UI t!kc ,\l~litxnlum questlon. He says:The majority of those who saw no evidence of a BIillellI bclicve that the millennium period is near-that we nium meant that they saw no eridenre of tl,e speedy convelslon are llvlng III tile last days, foretold 111the Bible. The prophof the world to such a condition that Gotis ~111 w0ul~1 IJC ecies are ail t:elng tultilled and the signs of the time all indidone on earth even as in heaven. And in this we nnl+t comcate it. Ihfsre are *wars and rumors of wars now; there is But alnh! that 10 many mend their judgment as sound. moral la\lty every\rhere; the average church attendance is should be so deluded by bumnn theory RS to so misuntler~tand startlingly \rnall, only 36 people out of e\ery 100 attend any the nlnm statements ot Gods \vorcl-that Christs ;\llllt~nnixl There is moral and political corchu1~41 iii this country. ( I Cor. reig;l is for the verv purpose of sljbdfring all thing;. ruptlon. Filse ideas of the kinndom and of tllc 15:25. 26. 28) All of these things indicate the approach of the millenviews of the chnractc,r a1111 judg&ent day, ant1 imperfect nilIll , :ls ,rli~c~ne may bee by looking up the references in the scope of the atonemrnt, are at the bottom of this blindness to Blth 011 ttrl:, sub@. the signs of our times. *The nllllenn~um will not be brought about by any human METHODIST FIGURES FOR 1899 agency. \\~(x UC not growing better. R:,v. Cllrcnce E. Eberman, Lancaster, Pa., pastor of the Rev. A. B. Sanford. D. D., editor of the Methodist Year Moravlan c11ulch and president of the Pennsylvania Christian Book, says in The lhdadelphia Nethod&,Eiitlr7l\ or L7ilion said:Your readers may be interested to hear concerning the Sentiment or speculation can decide very little on this total membership of the church for lr(!Kl, as the stati+tics The Bible alone offers the authoritative great quehtion. have been prepared for the new Methodist Year Book. now 1 bcllere confidently that Christ is coming again teadllll;r. passing through the press. In some mrasure, the IfsuIt is and tb.lt 111sherorid advent will usher in his kingly reign of preliminary, since the receipt of the Agurcs fiom a few recaent a thou-and years upon thiy earth. fall conferences will slipbtly change the additions thaL i.ltcr Rrv. G(~clrg~~Fulton, Lebanon, Pa., pastor of the Fourth The Year Book total> ~111 appear in the General llinutes. Street Ile~l~rtcrlan church, sdid:not, however, be greatly affected, and show a decarcaqe in I bcltevi that the evidence of the nearness of the milmembers and probationers during the past year amonntm$z to lennium 1s htronger than ever before. Signs have been fou;d In the analysis of this result, several interesting 21,934. in e\rry generation since Christs ascent that pointed to his facts appear. proofs are wars and earthquakes, discoming. T!K principal 1. The increase in full members through the whole church sea and waves roaring, lawlessness and tress of nations, has been but 6,661. It is a serious fact that such strong iniquity prevailing to an alarming degree. The Bible says bodies as the New England, t,he New York. the Ph~lad~~lphia, !Vhcn the Gospel of the kingdom shall have been preached the Central Pennsylvania. the New Jersey and the Wilmington t,o all the nolld as a witness unto all nations, then cometh Conferences suffered conhidcrnble lnssc>s, the decrease in these the ~111. T111q 13 a sign. It belongs onlv to our own age and instances varying from the minimum of 1,36S, to the maximum Another iign Is the prophetic the evidence here is strong. of 2,436. moremcut.-the restoration of Israel which has begun. 2. The decrease of probationers in the year 1899 has Rc\. Svtlncv N. Ussher, West Chester, Pa., rector of the been 25..39.5. Church of tbe Sure Foundation, said:3. This decrease in memhers and probationers is acromThe 31lllennlum is a divine conception, with Scripture panied by a decline in Sunday School scaholars during lS!)9 the oillv source of light and authority. No definite time is of 16,716. It is a noticzeable fxcst that t,be decline in Sundxy stated therem. I believe, however, the world is fast preparing School scholars thus o((*urs in the cprlng confcrenc*cx \\hlrh for it. as a body contribute a total lnss in proh~tionrrs of 22 572. Rev. \Villiam J. Houck, Carlisle, Pa., pastor of Grace It may be said in conrlllzion, tll:it the nrt tlwlinc 111 mcmUnited Brethren church, says:bers and prohatinncrs of 21.93-I is the fir4 nnsitivr deadline I believe that the Biblical millennium is at hand. that has occurred sinre 1881. and. with th:lt reception. since Rtar. 11. E. RIcLlnn, Bloomsburg, Pa., pastor of St. Mat. the year 1863. The above facts are serious. but are such as thews Lutheran church, says :it may he wholesomr, for the church to knnw. * * * I am certain that a great change is imminent. Everything points clearly to a mighty social and religious upheaval We do not rejoice in such evidences of a decline in deThe very fact that this subJect occupies and reconstrurtlon. nominationalism : nor do we esprct it to canntinu,. If till. mens thoughts so 1arpel.y and that the secular press asks losses of denominationnll4m mpant that Gods chllc!rrn w(rt the question is proof of it to me. gettin,: out into tile Zfbrrlt/ wh.~ruc-rth Chnsf n~trkc 3 f,-rc LH Pastor F. Jonte Stanley, of the First Presbyterian church, deed, then we would rc~iolci. But only a small pr(,pnilI~~~l c~f Atlantic City, N. J., helleves that the signs of the times, the present decallne cznn he crc~dltc~l to the sprawl of pi~-wl~t as I read thc,m, point to tbe millennium as not being far off. truth. It means, therefore. indiffc,rrnrc, worldliness. One of the indiceations is the gathering of the Jews at PalesIt will not surprise us if in tbr near f;iture a Trttst tine ; another that the Gentiles hear the Gospel the world Churcbianity will have a srnsnn of great prosperity. lnstlnr over, and still another is that the nations are coming together until the grand collapse which the &rlptures dcrlare will hta commercially, intellectually and religiously. sudden. Rev. 11. W. Moflett, D. D., Lamhertville, N. J., pastor of BROPOSED FEDERATIONG;;MPARO&TESTANT CHURCHES IN the Centenary 31. E. church, sags.-Prof. Brgscblag has isillod ,111appral to German IrntwtThe trend of revelation on the subiect of the millennium ants whic.11 IS hpinn rerardwl favorahlv hv manv of thc)m. It seems to teach that a time will comein the history of the tends in thr direction of thr general rcfiginns federation we world when the Gosnrl shall dominate all nation? and Jrsus have long hren cxupwtlng--\vhirh n ill rcvivc reli$or:s t~lnnnv To the close ehall reign in the knjority of human hearts. and suppress religious liberty and stllle present truth; iJilt student of the world tovday there seem to be many indications [25773

(52-53)

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TOWER

not LIntll it has borne its witness and gathered the wheat of the (:o\pel harvest. The Ltterury Digest gives a summarg of the proposed plan as follows:Thtre is to he no formal union of the various state cburchcs, nor arc tbcse to lose their historical identity in the proposed new arrangement. Not a union is proposed, but a fcdoration of the state churches, with the Prussian church rvbich rcpreqcntn the Emperor, the SZCW~~ZLS cpzscopus of the Prott&lnt church of that kingdom. as the head. The confc+\ionnl statrrs of each church shall remain undisturbed. TII(* olljc~*t of the federation is to unite the churches of the empire for practical purpose?. Chief among these purl~~cs is co-operation in providing for the religious needs of the (~crnlat19 in tbc Diaspora, i. e., those n ho are scattered in the various forclqn lnntls and ncctl rcligiou; care. Then, too, the Irotcstnnt church of the empire mu+t have some means by which it ran, as a hndy, be represented, just as the Catholic church has a reptesentative in tbc Pope. A further hut later purpnie is to secure unity in church gnvcrnmcnt and polity. Tn nthrr wor~ls, it is to hc, with tbc ncre+ary changes, a federation for the good of the church such as the organization of the rmpirc ha+ been for thr StiltP. This federation is to find its expression in an imperial Protestant synod, which shall consist of representatives of the various state church governments, as also of the congregaThe tions, in such proportions as shall he agreed upon. officials of this synod shall be the representatives and the executive board. A CONGRESS OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY This, at the coming Paris Exposition, is proposed as in stead of a I,II lianlcnt of Religions such as was held at the

Chicago \Vorlds Fair. It is proposed to avoid doctrines and merely to show u-orlia-mi4ons. charities, etc., and In all these matters Catholicism hopes to make the chief showing, and reap the greatest advantage. IXsnpprorr;rg of the propbjed Conprcss The Midland, a United Presbvtcrran journal. refers to the Chicago Parliament of Religions as follows :Missionaries tell us that their work has been made more difficult, in India at least. by the boasts of devotees of the false systems of religion there that in Chicago they had met and triumphed over Christianity. Tho not intolerant, the Christian religion is absolutely exclusive. It can have no fellowship with systems which insult the true God and know nothing of that blcsred T\ame by which alone salvation comes to any human soul. Its mission 1s to cxposc and uproot all other systems and rescue men from their delusion and deRe are convinced that these parliaments structive influence. tend to ohscure the di<trnction between the only true religion One such and the systems of error it must serk to destroy. experiment was one too many. If a second is to be attempted we hope the good sense of Christian people will keep them from participation. \Ve arc pleased to note an expression of so much loyalty to the Gospel, and thr onlv Name in which is salvation. It is as Iarc as it is refreshing in these days pf evolutionary Would that thrs zbnbelief and Higher Criticism ?nfidelitv. editor and his readers might see that the hlcssed day of Christs Millennial kmgdom 1s near. in the which all the deaf ears shall be opened to hear the joyfui sound of salvation and to know of that onlv name and of the eternal lrfe offered to all who will obey him.

WITHDRAWAL
Thc*r arc not s;\mplra to bc copzed by pen, but regular lettcr all rcatly to date and sign and can he posted unscaled for one cent c:!c.h It is a kind but plain ~tatcmcnt of our view of the trnc ln~~sil~lc Church and its head Christ Jesus and Its b~ntlagr of love as cnntrac-ted with human institutions under Si\ notIs. (onfct (tlccY ;lntl Irc~bytcries and held together with crectl-l~ontlage. All who get frrc from Babylon should send one of these letters to each church member with whom he as-

LETTERS
It will do them good and it will insure sociatrd in Babylon. that you will not be misuncler,tood and tnisrrprcscnted IM?~Icntlona(ly. Otlierwlsc your witlrdra\val 15 almost certain to be misrepresented as Infidelity-as leaving the trzcc church and not mcrcly leaving a Iiltma>i organization never recognized by the Lord nor instrtuted by him, but by fallible men. Order all you need with tracts and envelopes accompanying free-after getting a saarl)Ze and deciding you wish t0 use t!lettl.

THIS

CHARGE I COMMIT

UNTO THEE, SON TIMOTHY

1 TIMOTHY 1:lS. work could be much better carried on there from Pilgrim More than a year ago we intimated a desire to do somesuch a home office and by one thoroughly familiar with the thing more than has brrn hithrrto atttmptcd to assist Gods methods the Chief Reaper has been pleased to hlcss her-c. True dear sheep in Great Britain and Ireland to hear the great all these branches hare already been started in Great Britain, Sllcl~licrtlx 101~c and tlins to be led into the green Pastures but none of them work as smoothly and efficiently RS !\e beof prcscnt truth. Our thought was to send o;.er one of the licvc thcv will operate under the proposed plan. hlany, we bePrlrr~n~ brrthren. but tbc Lords nrovtdcncc did not seem lieve. hesitate to order tracts, papers, and books because of the distance, difference in money. etc. tlicr6, was started as a lilgrim, and we believe ivlth bencficial rcsnlts. for whic~h tlrc Lord be nraisccl. Tbr nest questron naturally was, To whom shall so imStill wc arc not satisfied that all is being done there that portant a mrsslon be entrustrd? And the question, under thr eouftl i~c tlonr, alltl srncc our last annual report \vc ha\ c been requested guidance of 0111 Lord, hccmi to be sati+factorily srcking to know the mind of the I,ortl respectrng the great inanswered. With his hcsrtg consent we have chosen our dear rrcasc of his work in thr spread of the harveqt message, Brother Henninges, in who~c cfliclency for this service we have \\hic h wt. l)clicve we mav ~Ci~sOll~il~lV esnect in the nest few fullest confidence and who has given many proofs of his yr.irs. \\.lirlc we cspcct that most of the incrcasc will as lovaltv to the Lord and 111scause, and of whose full conserrausrlal 1~ in thiq land, spccrallp prepared and specially favored tion of heart to the Lord we have 110 doubt. He has had perand fa\orablc it setms to iis that the thirtv-fire mllllons ot sonal experience in all departments of the work for the past Britain for several reasons deserve sperial Eonsideratron and eight years-the last seven of which he has spent in the y%l rllo1 t. (1) ISrcnusc of our unity of language and \\ :rtcb Tower office and as a member of the Uatch Tower rcliaious J~(YI~R. (2) Ilrcauhc of the prevalence of a religious family, whose table talks are in the nature of Bible schools. sentiment among the masses. (3) Bccansc we have teason \Ye could not send you, dear British brethren. anyone in to hope that the present lamentable war is not onlv awa!tmour judgment hetter qualified to assist you in carrying on ing thr pcoplc. as wars always stem to do, but adtlrtionnll,v bethe work we all so dearlv love to serve. We trust that you cause sotnc of thr rcvcr\cs met with may prove to be hlcsslngs will wrlcomc him hrartily and co-operate with him to the lay bringrng to the people a larger drgrce of humi!itv and estcnt of your Judgments and opportunities. We shall greatly spcclally causing the religions to ponder over the cridences miss him here, but will feel a pleasure in sacrificing our own WC prc~cnt respecting tlie completion of the elect church convcnlenccs for your sakes-that the grace of our Lord may and thr speedy inanguratlon of the Millennial reign of rightabound toward many who have not yet tasted that the Lord is rnnhnrhs. (1) llccausc hn large a population of one tongue gracious. Map he always abound as at present in the knowlcompnrativclv so small a snare should make bring wItinn edge of the truth and in its spirit of love for the Lord. efforts thcrr tlonbly cffcctr.vr of results, ail other considerai1-e have heen rn correspondence with the British Posttions being cqnal. master General and find that the postal rates and terms arc Arcortlinply we harr planned. and from the first of the less favorahle there than we had expected-less favorable year have been arranging to send to Great Britain a rcprethan ours : but having gone thus far we are not yet discouraged sentativr to look thr tlcld over. with a view to the rstnblish-hoping for some good results from a personal inspection of ment of a branch office in London from whence that whitming the field anyway. Brother Henninges will go drrect to Lonfield could he more thoroughly harvc+d. 711~propnsrtron is. don, view the situation and write us,-meantime awaiting our that the Colporteur work. tbe Volunteer \votk and the reply, he will make a Pilgrim visit to various cities and [2578]

FEBRUARY 1900 15.

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(5+55:

towns where already there are little gatherings of Watch Tower readers ; and this alone we believe will justify. should the London branch proposition prove to be infeascble. Of course, Sister Hennlnges will accompany her husband, not only as his natural help-mate, but, as his helper in the Lords work. 11-e commend our dear sister very highly to you all as a very earnest and faithful child of God and servant

of his cause; full of the spirit of self-sacrifice, and firm for every principle of righteousness as she discerns it. Sister Henninpes has been a member of the Katch Tower family for t\Ielve years; joming in the office work with her brother May Gods blessing continue with both when quite young. these dear members of our family. making them blessings 1~ various ways to the household of faith across the great deep

THE GOOD TIDINGS DISCREDITED

FER. 25.-LUKE 14: 16-20. De came unto his own, and hitis own recetved him not.-Aohn 1 :ll. Remembering the proverb. A prophet has no honor in his Father to do milac!rs at Nazareth. :Ilthou~li tliiq is implied olrn country. our Lord did not begin his ministry in Nazareth in the fart that he thd none, and lmpl~etl al-n In the, explannuhclc almost twenty-eight years of his life had been spent Ihn~lltl?~s lrv i1:1tions and illuctratinns whirl1 he ;~nrc and where rnnscqucntly he was well known to the people. His guided in the matter by certain pnnriplcs povrrning his uv ministry began in .Tudea, and the people of Nazareth of the power from nii high. Xs wt. hnlc alrratlv hrtrii he mlrrllt undonhtccilv hc.11~1 cnnsitlerable respecting the marvelous works not usi thl- power selfi;hl~ In his nwn interest; \vc1 may lYl:rwise suppose that hc wc~111tl not bc at llllc~rty to IIW it simply and words of their sutldenlv notable $ellow-citizen, hefore he a4 a frntifirntinn to ri~iin~itv. l)ut tli.Lt it cniiltl 1)~ uqcd 0131x came thither. All this mo;ld he in their favor, and tend to in recponse to prnprr faith. The ptnple of Kazarc,tli rvlciriitl~ prepare them to receive Messiah and his meqsape, offsetting were not in the attitiide nf faith. xc~t tllcrcfoi e 111tlic 1srnni.r the famiharlty whirl1 w frequently begets contempt. L I conattitude of heart. to recei\r God * l~l~~~~iri~--tl!~~ wrong Our lc<\on show$ that our Lord had been in the habit of dltinn of thrir li~~rth waq miiiife~tc~tl 11~ tllclr :\c+lons. Thor, attrnfling tlw rrllrrlous -errires of tllc Fynagnpue everv Sab\\-v not,> the dlfour Lord rcxfn\rtl to pratlfy tlicxir ciirio\lty. bath dnv, and intimates thnt it had Ireen his custom to do fercncr brtwrrn this rnrinus ant1 nul)el~cviiip tl(B<irr for Inlrthe rending of tllcb 1:1~v--wh1cl~ implicad an education far bearles, and the cnurqe of nrtlnn following it, in rontrgst wit3 yond that of the malnrltp of his day. As synagnguc-attendthe faith of the Svin-Phoenician wnni:rii. her Innnilitr r:! anrc was not Stri(*tly a part of the law. our Lords example heart, and the manner in which clic rrrclvctl nilr J,nr ds fit-t in t!lli- ~c~~liin: to nqioc,inte as far as pos<lble with the moqt (l\inttlle\v S\ 22-29) IVr car rcfnqnl to rr:int her reclu&. to take part rellglnuq pclnplr of his (lag. and his v.illingne~ but sn~l,o~c that hnd the prnple of Nn7:lMh hren in a prnprt in the pul)llc* srrrirrs. are a ltqinn to his people everywhere, attitude* of hrnrt thrg wnl;ltl hart arrc~ptc~tl nltr I,nrd< lefll*sal in harmony wltil thp word4 of the Apn<tle that we ~hnulcl not to wnrk mlrnc*les in a diffrrmt m:inllcr. and wn11lrl havcb <ait forg& tlicl ac~enihlin~ of nilr~el~ ec toeether. as the manner of Well, we enjoy the gra(ainiis wnrd\ from his mouth :~ii~\~av so& is, for tlrr Lnrci*s wnrship.---Hch&w x:25. for they hare brought a healing and i&~~slng to our heart. The pn\~~r of Scriptllre rrpd hr our Lnrd from the ,4nd if such had been their attitude no tlnubt later our J,nrrl prnpl~ecy of Tq,xlnh was qliitc prohnhly the ytnted Scripture would hare performed miraclcq of healing in their city also. lri<nn for tllnt day. for it wnultl apppxr that, it was a custom By wa;r of explaining to them whv 11r might noi prrfnrm of the .Tc\\s tn have Srriptnrc rcadingq each Sabbath day, in their midct. as mrll ni tnnnrtl ntliets. niir his mirarles taking up various parts of the Old Testament Scriptures Lord rated twn illu&xtinns from th<s prnphet5 of t11~ pa4tAt all errlltu, thr leccnn read hp our Lnrd iq altcrnatc~l! Elijah sent to the poor Qrntilc witl:%\*;. to llr a lli(9~ln~r.. tn hrr easily itlentific,tl as n Grc>ck tr,cnslntinn frnm Isaiah 61. He home. -\\hile widnwq of Israel weir ixssr(l bv : an11 Eli&a read the fir<t \car~e of tlrc chapter. and <topped reaflinp in the middlp of the second verse, closed the rnll, and returned it to heallnq Snaman of lcprnqp, nhllr rn~lrlr lp(rs in Tqrael were the stsr\-ant lIn\ing charge of the closet in whirl1 tlie rolls wcl e nnkindlv rrcelvcd pas*rd by. Thee apt illnstrat~ons wer( kept. and then, according to the cnqtom of the time, as by hiq hrarers, because. drawing the pnrnl!:l. it likc>nctl thrm an lntll(,:ltlnn that III) WRS rnadp to make remarkS. Jesus sat to starving poor and diseased lrp~~l s ant1 implic~l our Lnrdc down Hnw much of an esplnuatinn of the Scriptures he care comparative greatness and superiority to them as a tlIFpt~ilWr his ll(bar(*rS WC arc not definitely told. but donl~tlcss he romof divine hnuntr. Aftrr the snmr nlannrr our T,ord (l\llwhCrc nlentctl lil~ornllr ulmn the var1nuq feature4 of the nronhecv. told the Phnriiers that. hr, nq tllP Good Pllvsic*ian, Ij:~d tomt summing up his Ihmnrkq wrath that whirh is recorded, viz., to heal the sick and that the wc~ll nrcdednnt a nhrhic,l.rn. that the prophec*y was In process of fulfilmeut at that very That thiq mnq their attllutle of ho lrt ::lld frrlinK nn nc~l r,f moment. him, sntl thr blwsinps lie dispcnsctl. ?lirv dltl not rrallzc, tli6lr Tile alldipnrr, cnmpnqrd rhiefly of his acquaintanres. had a sin-sicknrqq. and their deadness in ti cxkpa<srq and sinq. an1 miucd sentiment as respwtr him : with the natural feelmg of hence did not rralize their nerd nf ~c~l~nptinn and dcllvrrirrercrcnre for thnce with whom WC are intimately acquainted anre from the pnwrr of sin and d~lih. was blrntled another feeling of pride in a fellowcitizen, who The effcrt of nllr Lnrds illustratlnn~ wns nlmnqt clrc$ricni had nttalncd sllch 1enown : and as thev 11stwIcd to his esupnn the proud heartq hrfnrr him, wllnse nnlv inttrr<t 11111im position nf the prophecy they were filled 6itb admlrxtion, and from the -first had bcru that of pritlc> In him :I$ a f(*llnw all bear him witness, and wondered at the grncmus wortls snw. 11flW ritizcn and hone for mir,lvlr-proof? of his nnw(lr which prorf~(~ded nut of hiq mouth. Thrv said within themever. t!ilS prihc was turned to liittrrnrr;. ant! thrv \\-1n111(1 selvri and to earh other. \Ve hare never heard surh nondermurder the one who had spnkrn <n t11<1 c>sn,ccl f111ly nf thl m a< hcfnre in nur 11v~4. and this from otlr fully gno(1 titli:lcs to compare thrm tl, hungry widnwvs and lcpclrb. u~c~tlinp 111~ neighbor, tlie cilrpcntcr Little did thev realize, when thus aid. The con=reratinn immrd~ntclv bcc:>mr a mnl). fillrc; admil ing his gracious mes<ape. that something would Ocrur with angry passion : and surging fnrth ~111 him tllcl rt ov\ IL in a few mmncnts which wniild complrtelv frcn7v them. and led 111the dirrcatinn of a prrcipire with a vlcw to c:\*t In? 1l1rn lrad tlrllrn tcr dr~ire to murdtlr the one ~110 now declared himheadlong from it. But hy thr rxrrrihp nf qnln( powcr. pob11111\ self to br the fulfillrr of this prophecy, the =2nnintrtl of the a power natural to a prrfrct human l~rll~rr. our T,(nrl rn:~ctr~c~i Lord. tile I\ipssiah, ready to give in due time the blesninFs mealthem with his mind. and passrd from thcllr mltl<t. none (1x1Ill:: tionccl II? tlu~ prophet. to <tap him, and wt-cnt on his way. The Ijeoplc of Nazareth were more intrrr?tcd, however. Let uq note canrcfiilly the me\snpr nhich 0111 T,nld tlrin the ml~a(~l:~s of Jrsns than in his claim to he the Alesqiah. rlarfJ,l wnc, In prnrcqs of fulfilment lhnt dnv. llr tlPlnr,Y; T!:c mi::lr*lcx w(re pr:t(~tic:Il. and they could npprcrintc them, himself to be tllr r2nnintrd Onr mcWlnnc,tl 1)~ tlrcx ~III)~I~IV--~IIb11C III* tcl.lrll,n: tllnt he w,~l+ thr 31e+\1ah ~ermetl far-fetchrd. anointing of the holv spirit tl:ltinz from thr tlrncl ~,i hirnhr~l they hat1 knnwn him fnr so long as the son of ,Josc~ph, the baptism when .Tnhn hnrc wltnrss th:tt thr hnly spirit (lrq~*<~nll(~,i They therefore llcran to wond(ar. and pnsbly to carpenter. upon him and ahndr xv]?11 lllrn Thm nnnlntlnz VW ft,r n ;,TIYquestiou. how mm lie would do in Kaznreth snme of the pose, ar, the prophet tlec*l~~~tl. and nur T,nrd rnnfirmrll tll6 6nntlerful miraclrs done 1~ him at Capernanm and clsesame, saying that he waq nnnintrtl to preach tbc YnLpcl whrl e. of ~111~~11 thcv had heard. Knowing tills to be the THE GOOD TIDINGS BORNE BY THE MESSENGER OF THE attitntle of their mind our T,ord anticipated their rcquc4t COVENANT for miracles, and esplnincd that they mu5t not espect miraclzs from him-though thrv ri-itlcntlv rsnectc~tl mnre miracles amnnpst hir frit9tlq th In tllt,y had hr:lrgl of llih doing amongit strangrrq. Thiq made nc~c~r~~;lry a llttle e~pianntinn, whlrh waq not at all flnttcrlnrr to tllem. Our Lord does not say that he was not permitted of the
. L

[2579]

ft w\-er. ,l Cur. \ii.Zi; J<pll i:L?-2:;) A4ftrr t111h I~rr,ic11111g t)t the Gowwl shall hale been gilen. aucl shall have nccom~~lisliccl it< purpose and il1trntlo1< then will follow tl1r glorious ,ic+unlltit~o referred to in it. A411clif tlw mere clcscrintion of t11r coming ble~~ug$ is called the Go&*l. good n&s. good ticlingq fo1: all peoile, \Vllilt may wc nol hoI& icspect&gtlie I~lcss~urr~ themsclvc*. of nliic~li oiilv the inrhwze is now D siren c: 11) tlwhrar1ng and higl1t nf faith; The Go.pcl wn< to IJC picarliecl by tl1c ,~iiointed Head and try thr xnointcd niemlw1~ of his hotly. lo all who hare ears lo hear 1t. 111tlir hpC(iill irrtrrcst of our particular class, \ ia.. I lita I)oor. tllrb l,rnkc,t1-lic;~rtrtl-nnt tlie litcwllr poor any more tl):ir; t11e lit111;ilIv l1roLc~11-11c~;~rtc~tl. tlicb :ljOol in hpirit. lnit tile lm111l~le-ni11~tl~~tl. \\I10 are alho tlic ~vnin:itl1etir. the tender. \vc t Iic heart-brokwi. ah ii1 ( outrast with the hard-hibarted. miikc this di~tiiic~tioii a5 l~~t\\-een tl1e poor in purke and tllc poor in qpirit bcwIu~ it i9 a wry nrccssaig one. which some failing to (lihwi 11liavc 11c~wmi+lrcl iiito grievous errors. True, Ilot many ricl1. ritlicr iii piirsc or intc~llwt. will attaiu the I,inptlom. the majority. l1criig cl1irfly the poor of this world (1 Cor. 1:26-20; 111purw and iiitrllect. lmt I it.11 in faith. .I:11nc3 il :3) IToww~r, II 1, not lwauhe of their poverty of 111tcllect and of nurse tliat thrrc will be more of this class cllo;en. but mere]> becauw poverty of purse and intellect are 111~11 morr Eavnrnhlr to 111~ clcvclopmrnt of humility than is a piime essential :Irt 11ches of an\- kind: ant1 humility _ 10 an iiiheritanc~c~~vitli tlir wiiits i11 light. \\li~le all of tlic nnointrtl ~~05pcllers mar durinn this age Iwnr their mcssane witlioiit Atriction as to nati&nlitg or c~~lor or hes. to w:l1o~or\~r1 11~s au car to hear. .Tew or Geitilr. tlnncl or frer, and while they may not be able to discern in they .rtlvance which will prosprr. this or that-nevertheless ~111 not wahtr timcAullcl~ cblrort upon those whom they find to br mentally ric.11 and increased in goods, and feeling that ho: they are (Rev. iii:li) t lwy hnrc ucecl of 11otl1ing. I atI1er to take notr of tllosc who, when they hear the good tidinge, give c\ iclcnce of proper ears to hrar, the meek, the (Joor in spirit, rralizing that it is this class that the Lord ;, -prpin!lf- swk1ng during this age. Similarly. tl1c anointed onec are not to spend their time ~ntl~~,~voring to break the hard hearts of tl1r worldly. for this God himself, through variouy 1. not a part of its commission. p1o\ 1dences. is attending to the work of breaking the hard liearts; some arc broken and softened bp the trials, diffhxlties, peiplesities and adversities of the present life; some are to111 and bleeding through severe trials of lift and earthly and the time of trouble fast approaching disappointments: 1$ .pecially designed of the Lord as the time for breaking and rnclt1ng many 11arcl hearts, in preparation for the Millennial I,in~Ldom x11(1 its blessings of restitution, etc. Kow, howevrr, tlw uie+,ige is to bind up the broken-hearted. FIow much tl1ere is of tl1is very kind of work that needs dm11g Tbr poor i1) \l111it, contrite and mellowed of heart, clw1l~pointed with the world, vesed with the flesh and the ._ :ctlverbary, are to be fount1 in nearly every quarter of the W(,, ld : a~rd \\11osocwr 11ns receivecl the anointing of the holv q1 1t sho~lcl rwlizc tl1nt. this power upon him f$ given to br iii the oil and the ~~xwx&rtl upoil this ncwlv class-pouring wine of the tli\iue promiw, to cheer and comfort and bless, .~ntl prrp<Irr for jo&t-hcirsllip in the kingdom, some of the vc1v ~11.. wl1orr1 the Lord will be nlcased to accent. To these tlwd goqwl niav lw preaclic~d frreii; they will not turn again ;tntl rent1 tlic nic~h~~wgcis. lint will hear it, and it will comfort ~tid bind iii, tlie1r wountletl hearts. If tlic*n 11 II:IVC ff~uiicl tlir class to whom the anointed e 41nr~ a1 e to F-pc~c~iallvaddrrsc themselves, what is tl1e special nwsagc ot peaw ;1;1tl hlcssing which tl;ey arr to bear: and x\hich the Prcwl1t~t autl our Lord tlrnomiuatr the Go~nel-llir good ticl111g\ 1< it tltcl ;~1111Oiili(et11ent the electio;l-of a of ll:rlldful to !;lrll~, :III~~ tllca 1eprobntion of all the remainder to 111catrruity ot tc~r111c~111Kio. this iv, nnt the Gospel whirl1 the I1 ophet and .T~hii~ tlcrlai ed. Tq it the message of Gods gnotlne+s of intention. ijut illcapacity of esecution. whit11 will rrcuIt in a verv few lwiiip w\rcl ant1 tlicb great maw of humanitr Iwing eternally tolmcutrcly h-0, not so. Evitlentlv our Lo&l so wasnot wnt to prracli Cl1is kohpel ( 7) of da&nation. common to-tl;1y-for it 1s no part of the messapr here dcclarrtl. nor wnirltl ~iirli a 1tl)i obatinu to c+rrnal misery be callctl crocpel tllltllfllll~ Let Lx. -tar IVlIilt i* iniplircl in tl1iq Gn4prl mcs\ag!cl sc$ fort11 in the ScripturrTnt 115 IillOW linw witlrlv it clifftl h from the various mewagw of 11c~athendnm. nut1 fro;1 tl1e wmrnonly accepted mcwapcs of Clirixtcntlom. Let llh 11otr tllc f rug Cn,pel rnws,ipc tliat slini1ltl 1~ proclainied l)v all \vl1,, 11.1;~ been a11o1ntwl u~tb tl1r 11nl.v Spirit. 1t I\ divltlt~rl by tllc Troljher into fi\v pnrts: (1 I r)elivcrnncr tcl tl1e v:I~)-

ti\e+; (2) recoteriug of sight to the blliid; (3) st~ttu1g at (4) the announcement of tht* libertv them that are bruised: acceptable year of the Lord, as preceding these blewnps : and (5) the announcement of a day of vengeance in the rl& or end of the accentablc war of the Lord.-a time of trouble This las; 1~11 t. such as was not &cc tilere was a natiou. the proper to be proclaimed by the anointed l~ody.~ was not clue to be nroclaimrd br the anointed TIcacl at tl1c t1mct 1411 mankind ale captives, all arcs of our TAorclsAdiscourse. blind, all are bruised; 11ence it is a uni\rc*rhal& blcs&ng that is auuounced in this Scrintural Gosnel mrsbaw. (1) The captives arc il1c slaves df sin; -4dil;ll :und :I11 llldisol~etlic~nc~c~ race, sold under sin. (Ron]. i : 14) Tlirougli iu Eden the lace was boru i11 this sla\ wy, lwrii ii1 slu. sl1alw11 Some of the sin-e11slavecl raw 11nvv already IWCII iu iniquity. remanded to the great prison-houw of drnth. wl1ilr all othtw The good ticlingh wl1ic~h .Tt+u~ are on tlieir WHV tliitlirr. prcac.liecl and which all his followers undrr thr siiulc ano111t111~ of thr dead. 01 of tlie spirit must prearli, is the resurrwtioii as the Apostle expressed his teaching, it. is JehuS ant1 tl1t* (-4&s 17: 1s) Jesus, &e Redermrr. .Tesu- tl1cb resurrect&n. anointed Head of the spiritual Seed which, as Gods kingclom. is shortly to bring to mankind full oppnltu11ity of releaw. not only from the prison-house, but from all tlw other 1widents of their slavery tlirouph tlic first :\tlillll.--he haviiq I(*deemed the first Adam and his postrritv wit11 his 0~11 prrc1ouL life. None but the anointed 1~0~1~ 01 i-t arc commisslonc~d of to preach this good tidings, and ewr,v member of that body of is so commissioned irrespective of 1111m1n distinctlni1. tlo(+ ilot fullil 1111~ Illlqclergy and laity ; an& xlioevrr AlHl .llilh :I\ tt r 1001, sion is unfaithful to his commision around us, tlirou~hoi1t the length ant1 III r.1tltll of C%1~rclii:init.v. falsely called Christianitv, \A, fiiitl that widently vein irk indeed have been auointecI1 becauw \erv frw intlwtl Iarcnb tlllr message of the resurr&tion,-indrrtl tl1,it 111~ niajority of ministers in all denominatinus arc lwa1 tilv nppowd to tl1cb doctrine of the resurrection bccnuse it iq i11 ciiwct conflict \\ ith their unsrriptural theories. (2) The promisrd recnwring of <igl1t to t!lr blind ha< ;l It rtxftbi 9 far deeper signification than nierc nntur.11 q e.-ight. to the blindness which sin has brougl1t upon the hearth of men, perverting their mental vision, I~intlrriiig them from seeing the divine being and his divine attributes in their true The and tiur. just ikIlt wise. lightr-as loving, gr&ous blindness that is upon mankind, and the gross darkness that covers the people in general, is described by the ,4postle as being the work of the great adversary Satan. who by false doctrines not only amongst the llrathen but aI40 amongst Christians, has misrepresented the divine character, the clirinr Word, the divine plan, puttin g ligl1t for clnrkness, and darkness for light, and has tlms dcreivcd the whole world. all nations, with the very small rxwptinn of the fern whnqe eves of understanding ha& Iwe rnlightenrtl with tltc trllc liiht We have no hope for this general np(win:! nf thr l,lintl cycks in the present age-onlv the frw now zrt tile r\-esnlrc TV some reiperts indeed it is better tl1at the mnlnritl should bc nermittrd to remain bli1ldtd until bv tlie lhtilbli~l;ment, of 111~ hlillennial kingdom the rondition shall br mwl1~~mor~ favorable than at present, that when then thr egrs of their uutlw standing hare been opened, and their reSpnnhibilit1rs propnr tionately increased, it may be under circ.1111litanrcls mow favorable to them. (31 To set at liberty them that arr bruisrtl givrs the thought of sins captives sore and distressrtl from the nlau;rc*Ies with which they are bound. This figure fitly rrprewnts tlw lwntlage of rnrl uption, infirmity, etc., which arr rnnromitnnts to thr death -penalty. The promise for such a deliverance means restitution in active oneration (Arts 3 : 19-21 1. in the assistance and uplifting of the world nf mankind durir,r the Millennial age-to all the glorionq perfections lost for all thrnufih father Sdams clisnbetl1rnce. ant1 his wntcwrc of tlc;t t!1. Wliat a glorious hope is here So tvnndrr this also wa< included as a part of the pond tidings. How comparatively valueless would all the othrr features of blessing be. if sicknesq and pain and imperfwtinn cnnt,inued. It is when ~1-psee not only Sin. the taskmaster, itself removed. but also all of its rrsults eountrrartctl. and all thr sinner-rare nrivilrrretl to . L return to thr full librrty nf snns of God. awl tl1at all tl1ia i7 provided for through the redemption that IS in Christ .Tesur. and tl1rnugh thr kin~clnm which is to be establisl1ed in his hands for tl1r blessing of all the families of the earth-then we discern whv it iq called good tidings of arrat iov. :.birh shall be unto iI1 people. nnh hear thececIl bf .Tnllns I;rophecy from tlir standpoint of the future perfectmu, saylug. There shall lw no more clcatl1. neither snrrn\\ nor cary1nK.

neither shall there be any mope learn. for the foltner things are passed away.-Rev. 2 1: 4. The acceptable year (or acceptable time or epoch) (4) of the Lord is this Gospel age, which began with our Lords consecration at his baptism, and his anointmg with the holy spirit, and which will continue until the last member of the body of Christ has filled up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ-until all the sufferings of Christ (head and body) are complete, when the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.-Isa. 40:.X This Gospel age is called the acceptable epoch, because during this time God is willing to accept sacrifices for sins. First he accepted the sacrifice of his only begotten Son our Lord, and secondly he has been accepting throughout the age all those who come unto the Father through Jesus, and who, justified by his merit, present their bodies living sacrifices to God as a reasonable service, and thus become joint-sacrificers with Jesus, and joint-heirs with him in the coming kingHeirs of God. joint-heirs with Jesus dom, as it is written, Christ, if so be that we suffer with him. that we may be also glorified together.-Rom. S : 17.
WE WALK BY FAITH AND NOT BY SIGHT

llowever. it ii; ~~11 to notice that while the Gospel ineludes all the foregoing blessings for manklnd in general, it brings a sooner and still greater blessing to thr little flock whose ears are blrssrd that they hear. and \\liotie eyes arc l~lessctl that they he{. in advance of the \\ 01Id. To thehe all not literally, but by of the coming bleq\ings alp antlclpatcd. fnlth, for \I:( v.111; by faith, not by sight. &Urendy thr true church (whose names are written in hea\-en Hrb. li! :23) ii Ilot onlv Jubtlfied by faith, ant1 tllui rcckonedly relcasctl floln raptcvity to Sill :111dI)rath, but all lcckonedlv i< Ii%% u ith Christ. leckourdly has become new creatures in Christ, reckonedly, under the Sew Covenant. are no longer in thrl flesh but in the spirit, ant1 SC)arrounted of God, and so accounted also of each other. who henceforth know each other, not, after the feqh, but after the spirit-as new rreaitures2 ~~ Cor. 5.16. -__..
<ry2 Tnlv,, 1,d< I(, \ lil7i~o;, F /f BcttoSnr-r~ficL,.~ -~

Thebe hale a new sight. seeing with the eye of faith things that are not visible to the natural sight. They are guided Into all truth, as It becomes due; yes, they discern the deep things of God, because they possess the spirit of God (1 Cor. 2 :9, IO), seeing with the eye of faith things which the natural eye hath not seen, hearing with the ear of faith things which the natural ear has never heard, neither has entered into the heart of the natural man to conceive of or imagine-the things which God hath in reservation for them that love him.-and who manifest their love by their devotion to him and his. The eyes of their understanding being opened, they are enabled to comprehend with all saints the length and breadth, the height and depth, and to know the love of Christ, which pes+eth (human) knowledge.--Eph. 3 : 18. Altho this special class is not set at liberty from the bruises and imperfections of the mortal body durmg the prescnt life, but require in this as in other things to walk by faith and not by sight, nevertheles?, in one sense of the word they are set at liberty from these Imperfections, because untl~~r the terms of the l;ew Covenant* they have the ahblllane~~ of thr Lord that none of the natural blemishes and imperfections and physical weaknesses are henceforth counted against them, their standing being reckonedly that of new creature<, and their judgment in the Lords Sight being according to their intentions of heart, and not according to the weaknesey of their flesh, which is reckoned dead. We exhort all of the redeemed who have 111nt1c co\etl;c~lt a with the Lord, a covenant of sacrifice, to remember why lhev ale reckoned as mrmbers baptiscd into tllc body ot the anointed one (the Christ)-here plainly set forth by the lIeat of our body, viz., that each one is to 1~ a preacher ot thl< Gospel and not of another Gospel. Let uh be faithful for : ct a little longer, until the great High lrirht sliall fully qualify iis as the royal priestlIoot1 in the glory of the kingdom. that then it may be our privilege with him to brinK to mankmd all the wonderful blessings forrstatetl in his gospel, for the blessing of all tbc f;lnuhe, ot the earth, nit11 a full opportunitv1 _of -. attaining tllo trllt11 ;~ntl the liberty of the sons of God. bee Julie 15, 1919, for ctttlcal cunllnation of Covenants

AND

HE HEALED

MANY

THAT

WERE SICK

X~RCII a.----nhRIi 1:21-34. statement of his discourse, it implies that a full kno\+ledge .Jesus made Capernaum his home anti the center of his work of it would not be specially advantageous to us. Howevrr. a in Galilee for a considerable time. It will be remembered that hint or inference respecting a portion of the sermon is furit was here that the Roman centurion, whose servant Jesus nished in the statement that during its progress a man ljr<+ healed, lived, of whom the Jews testified that he was a friend ent, possessed by an unclean spirit, rried out-evidently opof their nation, and had built them a synagogue or house of posing somcthmg Jesus had saltl. saginp. .I& us alone : wh.lt (Luke vii:5) Some ruins in that worship and Bible study. have we to tlo with thee, thou Je>us of X;,~m~ctll v ~11 t tllolt 1 lc*lnlty hare recently been e\-humed which are supposed by come to destroy us? scholars to be the remains of this synagogue, because they seem to be on the site of Capernanm. and represent the most The clear inference is that Jesus had been speakmg ng>Lln*t substantial synagogue structure in all that region, the walls sin, and the power which it exercised ovrr humanity, III\ ol\ being ten feet thick, serentv-four feet nine inches long, and ini all in th6 death penalty, with its sickness xndpam and fifty-& feet nine inchcq wide, with a roof supported by four trouble: am1 incidentallv no doubt 11(xhad mentioned demonirows of columns. ncnl posscision, so common at that time-and more common .%s indicating our Lords strict attention to the Fathers today than moqt people s~~pposc. It is our guess that the business. we harp the statement that straightway, at once, gospel preached at Cnpernaum must have followed some\\ hat on arriving-at Capernaum from Nazareth, o<r Lo<d went into similar lines to the gospel preached at Nazareth, dcclarmg the the synagogue (probably the one built by the centurion), and time at hnntl in which Got1 would bc pleased to receive back began his tearhing. Tliis reads peculiarly at the present day. into harmony with himself those who had becw alien.ltetl when custom ha< completely barricaded every opportunity for through sin, and who had thus been brought untlrr the bontlfree exnression of oninion in almost all places devoted to age of corruption. He no doubt declared him*rlf to b(L the worshi{. The Jewish&arrangement was certainly a liberal onr, great Life-giver, the Good Physician, sent to hral ealfha and every war favorable to the truth. because whatever errors woes ant1 to reveal to mankind the Heavenly @!:lth?r. a11t1 to might creen in. the truth alwavs had an opportunity for become to as many as would avail themselves of it, the \\ a?, __ c L challenging them and exposing thiir weaknesses and refhrring the Truth and the Life, by which they might return to dlto the divinely inspired oracles. Who can doubt that if we vine favor in fullest measure. The langu!gc of the evil spkllt. had just such simplicity or arrangements today. by which truth speaking through the man as its mnuthplecc,* clearly implies could challenge the various errors which have crept into all that these fallen spirits had at least a general untlcrsta~lding sectarian teachine. the result would be favorable-not favorof the time when their evil course would be run. and that they able to sectaria; systems, it is true, but favorable to the knew that the just wages of their sinful course is dcstructionestabllshmcnt of each individual in the truth, as presented in not eternal torment. They rcrognizrd ,Jesus and his mission the divine oracles. and his holmess, and that he was the representative of the Heavenly Father, but they had no hope for themselves-no The people who heard our Lords discourse were astonihhctl expectation other than that when the time should come they (1) At the things which he taught, and (2) at the manner From various Scrip would be utterly destroyed, annihilated. in which he presented them. He taught with authority, that tures, however, we learn that these fallen angels, demons, is to say, our Lord had a clear understanding of the subjects he wicked spirits, will not be destroyed without first being given handled, . and his presentations were not vague suppositions . an opportunity for repentance and reconciliation with God.* and imaginations, and foundationless hopes and speculations ; but were clear-rut and distinct; and well proven by the testlOur Lord did not deign to hold conversation with thebe monies of the Law and the Prophets, so that they were conspirit beings, who had fallen under the ban of divine conclusive in the minds of his hearers. who hitherto had heen used to hearing the scribes guess, wonder, suppose. etc. Since the Lord has not seen fit to provide IIS with even a condensed III-43 [25811
Y

ZION'S

WA TCH

TOWER

ALLEGHENY,PA.

demnation, and with whom the Heavenly Father could no longer hav(l intrrcourhr. He did not, therefore, explain to them that h1s first advent was merely to pay the ransom price, and to start the gnspel mei\ape hxh1i.h wvbuid select the 11ttle flock to he rnc~mhc~rxof h1s btrdv and joint-heirs with him in the kingdom, that \\hcn romplrite and glorlficd should hlws and Judge the world ant1 ~IIdgr tl1r fallen angel? also. (1 Cor. 6:3) Ant1 our Lnrtlq cour\p in 11av1ng nothing whatever to do with thc,i;e fallen sl)lrit+, hut on the contrary commanding thram to hold their pearc. should 1~ a lcqcnn to every one of his fnllnmcrs, ~110 should crc~k in thih and in every other matter to walk in his st(apS. \Te have known some to pet thems~lvch into <tario11s tlllii~~ult~ei: thro11rli curlnhitv-which lfd them p1tht.r to <p1rlt1lall\t ic seanr(s or to prirathly have commIinIc,ItInn \\ith tllr-ch fall(Bn onc5. Their cunning and deceitfulness iq far too deep for humanity, and he who scrks communion with thrnl in anv mnnnrr or degree does so in violation, not only of the Scriptur:il command (Lev. 20 .G: Isa. 8: ]!I\, hilt iIt vloli1t1on nl~ of .Tr\ui runmplc: and such run great risk of tliii< lwing c~ntrappc~cl and falling from their own Thr AlmstIc, giveq us to understand that even stiatlfaitnrs+ unwlllinzlv and unm1ttinpIy we frccluentlp w1estlr, not with flech and l,lond, b11t with th(sqr evil spirits, who inspire and use fall~~n f(~llnwc~rc~atn1 es -Eph. 6 :2. Tlrr llnc*l~~;rn spirit torr thr man in coming nut, that is. ranscd vtol(,nt c*on\ iil~iorl~. and u~d thr mans mouth in nttering a lol~tl crv. Ol1r T,nrtl. of course. could have forhIdden such man1frqt:;tinns of the drmnn spirit. hut preferred to allow it to 1~ SO. that thl1s might hc minifestcd the malIgnant disposItion of the evil spirits. a$ wrll as the power of his command wh1c.11.wIti, all their m:tl1gnitv. thrv could not disobey. The effrct of the mirarlc upon the audience of course was wonderfiil. Thrv saw thr man Christ Jes11s exrrclsinp in their vcrv pr&ncp a supttrhuman power--rontrnllin:! spirit. beinKs No wnntl(Jr thry wcrc amazed. and no wonder h1s fame spread thro1i~hnut all (:alilre. LcwvinE the s\~nn~n~l1c. our Lord, accompanied hy James and .Tnhn. wclnt with Simon Peter and Andrew, 11is brother, to thr1r home. where Pctcrs mother-in-lnw lav sick of a fever. Jesus visited her. and rehukrd the fever. took her bv the hand and hcblprd her up (Luke 4.39). and immediately the fever was golifa. and rven the usually accompanying prostration of ctrcngth did not rcbmain. but on the contrary, she was able to entertain and serve her company. The fitme of ,Tcsns spread rapidly. and at sundown, in the ~001 of the tlav. manv sic+k were brought to him to be healed, and m;lny pos~e~~l of tlt~v1ls, to havethe evil spirlk cast out. The rnnrour4e was a great one, from all parts of the city, and again our I,nrd manifcbhted his mrrcv in healing ailments, and rnstin,n nut demons; again, however, refnsing to converse with thr dttmnnh and even ref11sinz and forbidding their giving testirnony r(<l(( tilt!: llim. Ir:ii& and rommen~lntion f&n an evil sourer are nrver to be desired. 7%~ clu(~~t1on naturally ariscq, \Vhy did the Lord perform surh n11r.l~~l(~s7 lf th!lv werp merc,lv from 11encrnlence and with a d(%<irclto help the afflicted, w&v did he not do more of them ---for tn<t:\nc+c. in tl1r q1tv of Na>arrth, rrrardless of the \Yhy did rond1tinn nf tllc ll~~nits of tlIn& who were aflh&ed. he nclt at one word lc~hnke all the ferrrs and all the other di\c:~<eq \\ll1c.h afllic+(l humanity. thro11ghn11t the whole of Galilee, the whole of Ialehtine, the whole nf ASia. the whole of Aft I, <I. tllcs ,,ll~ll,~ of 1:lll ,,I(, :rncI thr v 11,1lr of Amnica? Quite cl-itlt>lrtly tht\ p~~rfol t11.1~,~ of tlIrw miI ac~lrs wi\~ not merely from IwII,~\,II,~II~1~ to\\:rrc! mankind Intlrrd. we ltn\e r~son to question whether or not it would be a henc~\nl~~nt a( t to rure all the ill-, of humanity in the prcbLcxi:t time. Ilirl ac,lics and p:iinq:. tl,r trniiblrs ant1 sorrows, ;)f hllman1ty are in n1:1nr WII& of the word l)lessing< 1n dis: pniv. III-t :1h \\a\ tllcx l,j\rt of thr original scntrncc of Adam, \1.111~~l1 tl,~,~l:II,. . In tlrr h\\rat of thv face shalt thou eat bre:ld ITc w\-lIn suc~~~l~ in nvoid1nnr the earning of his tlailv food 1)~. wmr kin,1 of toil has ~urrecdcd in plari;lp himhrlf in an unEf\ oral)lc condition, for idlrm~ 1s nni. 0nlythr mother of 1 i(c. llut the father of di~c91itcnt. Similnrlv. there is a mini-rirof in~tiiiction in ~ic~kiir~~ and trouble *\ih:hlcl1 slioul~l not IIC ovrrlookcd. Tllr Prnphc+ rcbfrr< to this hlrahing that in1lc.i (3. 111ti 1llul.ll1on. \a\ IngS IkfoIr I w:is affli~tc~tl I went actray , ;:rid ntang of tli& LOJ ds ponplc can if they \Yill trace some of their grcatcaht Illcshinns and Pr(b:ttrkt licli~~ in the de1 \ elol)ntc~nt of tr11e c~har:lc%c~rto tlioir e\pcricncc,q in 1 ariou9 kintl. of trc~nllleb and dih(qhe. Sntc \\lierr we will tli~nurrliout thr \\nrltl tl1c finrit ant1 tl1p nohI& and the l)ryt bal;nced characters. ant1 trare tllrv rharartt~rs in tl1c1r development, and we find that m11c.h of the rh1ccling and pnl1ch1np which has made tl1em wh.:t tllcy are was done by afflictinn of one

kind or another-guided, 1f thev were consecrated Christiansby the unseen hakd of Providence. The miracles which our Lord nerformed in the little country of Palestine, by which a &all propnrtlon of their sick w&e relieved trmporarily, was nierrlya propl1ec.y of the great heahng blessmg. freeing from the power of Satan and sin, which he preached. and which is to be fulfilled in due timeduring his Pllillennial kingdom. His oblect in nerformine these miracles was not. however, merely to thus prophesy The fut11re and glcatcr universal bles\lnzs of his reign. but more narticularlv as sirens. as evitl(~nre~, as mitne\ses rchperting 111steachingr. It, \;:1shi+ dnctrims or teachings that were to more men; so tllat as the powcr nf God tllrs<* might draw to him that certain class which the Father has given him dnring this age. If he would
L. 1 d

utter

t]lln@

re5])fctlllg

3 ]lf?aVen]y

Vmf]ltlf~Jl,

it birth

of t]lp

Spirit

to a sljirit nnt11re. a snirit kinntlom. etc. it \~oultl be eminmt1.v prn;ber for any hear& to en&ire respecting his authority for making such statements and promises, 11nknown to others and unproven from any earthly standpoint. It was therefore proper that o11r Lord should anticipate snr11 enquirirs rrsperting hi\ authority for h1s teachings by giving miraruloua tlemonstratlons of his superhuman powcr, whicli hc rsplalned tti be of the Father and wltness1ng to his intqrlty. But someone may sap, If such mirar11lon~ manifestations were proper and reasonahle to the genrratlon in personal (ontart with our Lord, ~11~ wonld not -slmllar mirnrles lye nroper . . and reasonable for us of the pre\cnt time. and for others all down thloueh t the Gosnel aee? n-c renlv. that some rkidenres. c, c. I proofs or m:rarlcs would l)e propclr now, and that greater miracles are brfore us today, as witnehscas to the truth of Christlan1tp. These are 11ot of the same ortlrr as thnsc which 1ntrnduc*ed the Gosprl ape in tl1c harvest or c1It1 of the Jewish age; they are, indeed, of a far h1+r nrtlt&r. nntl more in harmonv with tl1e age in wliic*li we li\e. They are none the less real than the mi&lrs of .Trsns day. tlloupil thy mar be less obtruslrr and less likely to be notlcaed. except :1b nttention

Which IS the greater work-the opening of the qes of the naturallv blind. or the onenine of the eves of tl1c untltrstanding? \fhich is the more val1;bhlev Inthe rnd of tl1e Jewish age our Lorcl healed eyes that were blmded e1thcr by accident or poison or a sting or what not, and that was a miracle. but today the Lords disciples, under the guidance of the holy spirit, and through it, are able 1n many instanres to open the eves of the understanding, that those who are blind to spiritual things might see tl?em-and this bhntlness, thr ,4po\tle tells us. is not a mere trlflinz thing <Jr accident or stinr. hut is the skillful and intentional injnrb of the mental eve iv the god of this world, Satan. (2 Cnr. J-.4) nn we not, the&fore, see many more miracles of this kin&-the opciilnp of the eves of the &lerstanding with the cyr-salve of ztllc iruth 111this harvest-time of the Gosnel acre-than are rerordcd of the natural sig.ht restoration jmon& the Israrlitcs in tile harvest of the Jewish age? And which is the more serious of the two blindnesscs? Whetller would we prefer to bc blind naturallv or to be hl1nd tn the spiritual things? ~~l1cther. tllcrcfore, ii it the rrreater miracle to be relieved of natural l~l~nclne~s or to be relieved of spiritual darkness? Undouhtcdly the latter. Similarly with all the diseases, we might draw parallels and find these the greater mlrarles. Peters mnthcr-111-law was being consumed with a fever which tl1c word of the Lord rebukdd. But how many men and how many women throu$out Ch~i~tcntlom todav are beingc consumed of a fever of ambltlon or pride or disco&en& to whom the word of the Lord comes, through some of the household of faith, speaking peace, release from burdensome anxiety and cares of this life, lust for riches, and consummg ambitions and pride of life? How many have been restored to normal ronditions and granted to have the pracv of God ruling in tl1eir liearts, with thankfulness, and imv many !\urh l1aT.e found their sirength renewed. so that being released from the\e fevers they arose to do vigorously the Lords b11siness, to minister, to serve. the Lord and his IN etlirrn v Slntilarly also we rnqht tracr the lamenesseq and 1mpotcnrlrs of the past, and find analogies in the present doatl hands. wnrsc than dead, u~d actively in the service of evil. have hcen recovered for actiritv in the service of the Lord; men and women dead in trespa%es and sins, awakened to newn(+:: of life in the srrvirr of the Lord and of the truth. Such mirarles as these, far greater tl1an the ones of Jesus day 1n the flchl1. He is now-performing through his willmg servants and handmaidens, and these are the :greatest witnesses imaginable to the reality of the Lords grac1ouq message that

C25821

FEBRUARY

15, 1901:

ZIONS

IVAT

CIi

TOWE,?

(60-61)

hc 14 the Messiah, the Sent of God, to bring salvation to the race of mankind. The transformations of life and character, hopes and aims, by which some in the present time are bless&d. iike the phys: ical healings in the liar\& time of the Jewish age. are nronhcries of wlyat the grace of God can and will do fdr huhan>ty when Gods due time shall come, when his kingdom shall corn;, and through its administration of lore and iustice his will shall be d&e on earth as it is done in heave;. He who can

see now the earthly blessings and healings, accomplished by our Lord, were but foretastes of the coming general blessings to be accomplished during the Millennium, should be able also to see that the regenerations of heart and transformations of character now in progress in the elect church are merely foretastes or a first-fruits, illustrative of the blessings of transformed character which the kingdom will accomplish for all who will come into subjection to its righteous arrangements.

THE

SON OF MAN HATH

POWER ON EARTH

TO FORGIVE SINS

IlaRCH ll.--MARK 2: I-12. this with Luke .?: 10. that could be quickly removed. -Compare Following the miracle of our last lesson and probably Our Lord was not otrentlcd hv this lntruslon. He dnubtlesi other miracles not recorded in this connection, our Lord apremembered that all things work together for good to the parently made another preaching tour; after returning to his home city of Capernaum the mcidents of this lesson transLords people, who will accept them thus. So far from feeling offended at the intrusion and persistency, he entirely orerpired. Ecidently our Lord, with his mother and brethren, had been making Capernaum his home for some time, and it is looked these when balancing them with the qualltp which he All of the Lortls nrople can well entirely probable that the house mentioned in this lesson was so rriiirh admireh-faith. our Lljrtlq own home. Dr. Schaff suggests that according to take note of this lesson, and learn more and-more to al.cept the affairs of life as they come as being all subject to divine the Greek text this might read at home, instead of in the house. provldence and all guaranteed in advance to be profitable, to As we saw in our last lesson, however, Capernaum work out some good result, if we will but so permit, by recelvwas the home also of Peter and Andrew, and the incident of ing them in faith. Let us learn also to overlook and forget this lesson might possibly have occurred there, though this is of less probahle. rudeness, especiallv wllere there is evidence of sincell+ 111~rcaturn of the young and wonderful Teacher to his own heart, faith, good intentions. city and home was soon widely known-noised; the result In various ways we learn that under the head of paralysis was a considerable concourse of people, not only filling the in olden times. in Oriental countries, various diseases were house and the courtyard, but eien the door or gateway. included, whi& are now specified under dlffcrent names. For Amongst these callers were Pharisees and Doctors of the Law instance. titanus (lockiaw) would at that time and in that any tlis;rase which (rabhls, srrlhes) , who came out of the various towns of Galilee country be described ai paralysis-indeed, and Juden to hear Jesus, and to note his miracles.-See Luke would render the individual hclplchs, pn\verlchh-\vllctllt,r The 5: 17-18. merelv a deadness or accompanied hy violent cramp\. Our I,ords mission was the preaching of the Gospel, and, incld&ts connected with this miracle wonltl scrm to indicate as alreadv uointed out. the healings. miracles. etc.. were incithat it was a serious case, and had in it something of the t1rnt:11s, ;;nti not 1~ a& means hi: chief work or object-the element of urgency-necessity for seeing the Lord quickly and t.lmr\ of rchtitiition Otherwise propriety would have ohtaining his help promptly. (Acts 3 :21) not having come, the dictated a different course. mlraclrs of our Lord were merely attestations to and corrohor.lti\-c of hih teachings respecting the kingdom and the It might be questioned whether the faith was that of the kingdom class which he had come to call and gather-out of palsied man or that of his friends, but we think the circumI>r,lcl and from amongst the Gentiles. Undoubted!y he stances warrant the belief that the sick man himself elerrised prc,arhcd the sarn(l message dclirered in Nazareth rehpecting the faith and prompted his friends to take the stCps they did in obedience to his reauest. This is imnlied in the fact that the Lords spirit bring upon him, anointing him to preach the I our Lord does not speak of the faith of tllr healc~rs. hut does good titlings to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted and to speak directly to the paralytic respecting his personal faith. ;leclarc a &)mlng deliverance to the captives of sin and death, Our Lord must have seen a very proper condition in the Tnung and the restoration of sight to those blinded bv Satan, and the setting at liberty of all the captives subject t; the bondage of mans heart, else he never would hare said to him, unsnllcitrd, Son, thv sins are forgiven thee. Nor was this e\prcbslon cor1uptlon, hut probably this one message waR presented from unpreme&tated ; our Loxd evidentlv wish4 that the miracle va~iour standpoints at various times, and various texts used, he-was about tb perform should n& tletrnc4 from the prc:u*has also various parahles introduced in Illustration of it. This, honcver. was the Word. inrr which it interrunted. but. on the cnntrnrv. &nuld impress the message. which our Lord was it>as well as illustrate it. He fortknew ayi;o tllat su(.il an comml~sloned to deliver, and we may-be sure he did it faithunusual statement would awaken in his hcnrc~r~ qu(~stionln~s fully. respecting his authority, and thllx the miracle snhscqu~~ntly \Vhile our Lord was in the midst of his discourse a prrfnrmcd woul,l emphasize the fact that 110 was the ~\IP+sI:I~, paralytic, ex lrlently full of faith, borne on a stretcher of some and that the redemption of sinners and the forgivenchs of bins lili~tl l)y fonr fricndq. sought opDortun1t.y to reach him, with had hecn committed to him hy thcx Fnthcr. full faith in 111s power and wilhngness to heal. Finding no opportunity of making their way through the crowd, the The question of the scribes (that is, tllr R:11111iq, Dnc.tnrs thcx bealc~r took their h~clen onto the roof by. the outside stairof the Lnw), Is not siic*h a stntcmrnt 1~1:~~1~1~cm,v? a 1 rry w:Ih way, customal y. in that country-the hullrhngs being u~ally proper one, and they arc not to he lrlamotl for mal;~ng the but one story m height. It IS not at all probable that the Our Lord did not d(lny Its prnprirty. llllt nnywcrrd it cwqiilry. building and roof were of the ordinary kind that wvould have by saying, It wnuld, of rnurcIe, hc easy for anyllntiy tn make obliged that hfting of stones and cement and dirt, and the the claim of forgiving sins, and it might he impns-illlc to disheaking of the plaster beneath, for this would involve an pute 111scalaim, hut in my cdw I will hllhtantiiltc~ my claim to ah~urditr, and the falling of the stones and dehriq and dust hc nhle to forgIve qinq l)y mv power to 1113~1 this m:\n pllysupon oni Lord and the congregation would hnvts heen insufically ; whrn, thercxfore.. you shall pcrcei\ c his mlr:lc~lllnns rure f~~rahle RS well aq danrerouq. The more rensonahle sunnosiof a physlrnl ailment, It will 1~ a lc<<on re\pt4,inK the truthtion is that the house WRS one of the le\s common k&l: enfulness of my st.Ltcmcnt in rernrtl to his sins-th:rt vnu mav ClO.lll~ :I c.onrtvai d caapal)le of nc~c*ommotlating quite a large know that ai the Son of ITan T 11.1~ power, nnthnrit~. to fogaudiclnc*e, the living rooms brin t built around the wall of the eive sins. f Comnnrc Luke 5 :2-l) Then came the hcxallnrr of the courtyard at one end, and a veranda or porchroof ovrr a part paralytic, which, put in this form. hrramr a prnnf. not only of the nDen court. covered with tiles. which could be removed of our Lords healing power, hut also of 111s power to forgive without ;nuc.h dlffi(*ulty. The thoughi would he that our Lord sins. And when the sipk man, in nb&irnce to our Tlnrdq rnmstood under this \-cranba, preachin@; that some of his audience mand, took up his courh or strctrhcr and went forth 1n the were likewise under it and others standin,o out. csnosed to the presence of all, no wonder they were amazed and praised God. Dr. Thompson makes tl;e following Apparently all were fully Satisfied with the demonstration, sunqliine in the court. comment: 1,&c saplng that they wrrr all filled with fear-rcaverenre-in The whole affair was the extemporaneous device of plain view of so mighty a demonstration of dlvlnr power in their peasants acruitomed to openinK their roofs and letting dnwn midst. It was not a lesson of fear toward God in the wnw of a dr(>acl of an unthinkable cvcbrlasting future torment, hut erain. straw and othrr artirles. as thev still do in this I have oftenseen it rinne, and have done TEastern) country. a fear, In the sense of respect for the Gnd whose lnxe and it myself, to houses in Lebanon. I have the impression, howsympathy and compassion had heen so wonderfully mnnifcqtrd ever, that the covering, at least of the lewan (court) was not -a God who not only was willing to forgive sins, hut also made of earth, hut of coarse matting, or boards, or stone slabs, willing to help ant1 to I c~ll~~xe 111screatures from the difficulties
I
I

[2583]

to fhcb.T,ortl the, cnrrlfirc apprnpriat r to the nrw di+enqntion. ,i lnnknl :cntf :I (.ontrlt(, llrxlt * 1~11 oi faith. and remrmher xlsn that our Lord at his haptim assumed the office of the :tntlt.vpicnl high pi ic+t the momrnt he was anointed wilh the hoI\. spirit, :I iit1 1lint, Iti\ 5ncrificca of himself was rounted as El\ ;bn 1~ 111nralit1 it> :Ic~(~c~l~tc~tl tllc Father, from the moment 1)~ of his ~nnsec~ration lo deatll. s~mholizetl in his water baptism. IIrnc~e we tee tllnt our T,ortl- s authority to pronounce the folSrrricss of sin5 I\;\$ in vi1 tiie of his hxvinr sacrificed his humanity (xvhi~li wa; in procrss of ronsumr&tion upon the iIlt:ll I \\lIilo hr, as a new creature, was a priest. of the new order. tllr royal prirstl~ontl. fully empowered to forgive sins. l:llrthermnre. this \\illincnrss of our Ilord to forgive and to 11~1 gi\-tns us n <llgpestin;l of his \\illingne,.s and ntilitr to tlo tlleh( s:lme Illinn< f fnirivr the sins and heal the b&Iv) whctn thr times of ~~eiic;r:,lrcfrcshmcnt shall come from the pre=(npr of .Tchovah-the time< of restitution of all things w1llc.h Cot1 llntll spok~~n b?- 111(> mouth of all the holy prophets bintc tllc norltl hcgaii ---.\rt. 3: l!)-21 l11(*1 xriou\ tliflic~nltie. 11n(ler whic~h humanity labors, ralletl

--__[Illi poem was a reprint of that published

di\eacea, 1lluStriltr -111 111raiious respect?: ior instance. palsy or paralysis reprrarnts a condition of sin in which the indlvidual loses his power--sometimes merely becoming impotent, In the sense of helpless: at other times. in combination with thlq may come an insensibility of conscience, a deadness to all principles of righteousness. such as t,he Apostle descrihrs as In this condition are quite a good many at past feeling. the present time; they are not only helpless as respects all ability to go to the great Physician, but additionallv thev are devoid of any desire,-any nppiecintion of their need;they-have no feeling on the subject. These must he left for the present, hut we mar rejoice that the time iq cclming, according to tht 1)10mlse of the Lords Word, when all shnll rnmc to a reallzni:on, a sensibility of sin, and to n knowled.ge of the way of cb5cape from iti condemnatlnn and its penaltles. In the present tlmr, however, some. like this pnralytie. are not past feeling, and ret are so helple;s as to need the assiqtnnce of flicnds in I,ri&inp thpni to the Lord Ercrv true Chnstlan should b(> such a friend to eveiy fcIInn--r<rntu,r nhn h:~c a desire for the Lords blessing, and and such should be not only symllralincr from sill-6cklres+: nnthct?c but hel1)fnl in l~rlnging their friends to the good rnr should tllcv be readily stnppeh by llipsician of the &II. but they Impediments, ol~+~:~~~le~. like thocr in the illustration, 4lould be rcndv :tnd willing to take advantage of every proper (?lrcumstanctx ;ntI condition to plnrc~ their friend near to thr T~rd and his powrr. that the blessi?,n might rr<ult. And mill ,,ot the Lord IW plc;~sctl with our faltli as well as theirs. If we pcr5istently do all in our power in their aid? True falfh. like truest lovr, invent? : Drnied the door. it circllmrents. Anothrr thoil~ht here is that the first and most impor tnnt thing for all iq the forgiveness of sins Tt 1:: .xn vain that any would rndcavor to avoid this first rcqmtlnl %tep tnxnrd acceptable chl istianity. Some nre Incline(l to put dnctrinc instead of faith and repentance. bllt thiq \\ill not do There is no use whatever in endeavoring to grow :I rrnp of Thr fallo\\ wheat on soil lvhose sod has not bcrn hrokcn ground must first be broken up ere the serd can find proper root and bring forth fruit. So only those whose heart5 have hren plowed z&d brought into the cnnthtion of mrrkncs? and contriteness. and a desire for fellowship with the TAord-thesr .Ilone are proper qubjtcts to be l,rought. to the Lord. True, it 1s not within our power to hrenk the stony hearts. nor to plow the fallow ground : all that we can tlo i3 to note thosr in whose lives rspcriences have produced such results, and to ww the good serd of the kingdom in such hearts. This being the case, we must not be surprised that not many arc read! for present truth: but toward tho?c who give such cvitlc-ncc WC arc not to make the mistake of leading them to suppose that repentance and forgiveness are nonessential, hut rather we are to point them to these as primary conditions upon which alone they can properly make progress, both in knowledge and in grace. co as to attain ultimxtel~- to the gracious things which God has promised to them that love him.

THESE MANY INTERESTING

T)EXR ~ROTIII-R IiLiSil<LT. -unclosed find order for f>hc-lng f2 10s. rypcnsrs lnc,urrcd by llrlnging I$rn. TIouqtnn to our October conferenre. xhich he handed 11ntk to 11s3s H tlnllw ilon to the Tract Fund, fn help drfrag the cost of Btble 1s. I:r olutlon. The rrmnlndcr is from the c*hurch in Glasgow. Sister Fcrrie will tell you about our method of carrying out the Volunteer moremrnt. Up to date WC have given thr hooks at 73 churches, ant1 ha\ e tliqtributed 10,OORcopies, being an average of ahnnt I:%. \\(I lin\c been greatly surprised at the smallncsq of the congregatlnns. LVe distribute only at the forenoon ser\ ire, nllirh in most cases has the smallest attendance, but it invariably includes the more earnest portion of the congregation. and we are of the opinion that by this method the rlpc wheat, will bc reached. There hare been a few inquiries for furtlker literature, from whom we hope to hear again. WC hale suffered no other annoyance than an oc*casional refusal to acrcpt the booklet. All the brothers and sisters who are able take part in the work, and some occasionally travel a considerable distance In order to enjoy this privilege. A few of us meet in the mornmg for a season of prayer before going out, and have found it most refreshing and helpful. 1Ve note with pleasure pour promiqr of another pamphlet for tli4rihution at the c~llurf~lirs \rhi~~li lin\ e I cc~ei\ cd the one

YEARS
lS, lSO4, which please ser.]

in issue of September

LETTER

The church here feel very grateful for nhat on Evolution. you have giren us. and deplore their inability to take a larger share in the financial responsibility. \17e are deeply interested in the work and are willing to do anything in our power to lessen your burdens. Assuring you of the continued affection of all the members of our little company. and their high appreciation of )-our noble work, I am ALF.. TArr,---Scotla?ld. Yours in the one hope, [The Volunteer work in Great Britain naturally; commenced later than here, but we are glad to note that It progresscs splendidly. Ours is a campaign of blood-the blood of the cross, and is far more worthy of time, energp, treasure and our life-blood than any other known in the world. Courage! dear fellow-soldiers. Steady! the eye of our Captain is for victory only by laying down our lives for the brethren as he set us an example. We regret that we are out of our error-destro)ring and new-hope and new-life-infusing Good Hopes for this year justify us in beginammunition. ning the work for this year liberally and paper mill already has our order for forty-six tons of paper for Volunteer work \VC hope to he able to begin filling for immediate delivery. orders ahnut =5pril I.--Enr~oR I

[ 25841

TEXAS

AGRICULTURAL

FRIENDS TAKE

NOTICE

A brother in the truth in the Nursery business at Post Oak, Texas, find8 himself financially embarrassed and asks our aid in disposing of his large stock of fruit trees which he describes as of excellent quality one and two years old and 4 to tl feet high. He has a descriptive catalogue which we will forward to all interested. He says the prices are right. He offers the Tract Fund one half the receipts from this forced sale: but as we do no advertising we turn this advantage
VOL.

over to the friends, who can thus secure good trees for Texas climate at HALF PRICE: packed free and delivered at I;xpress Office. No orders received for less than $2. Drop postal card for free catalogue to us. The catalogue at hand besides the fruit trees includes grape and other vines and shade and ornamental trees. The prices seem reasonable and the goods at half price should be a bargain. This notice is quite a digression from our rule. MARCH 1, 1900

XXI

ALLEGHENY,

PA.,

RE-ENLISTED

VOLUNTEERS!

TO ARMS!

The new lot of Bible vs. lhohtton ammunition is not yet ready, but by March 15 to dprll 1 we will have plenty of the new emmunitinn for use where the noble Ls. Evolution hm You will like it, we assure you this abeTrIp been distributed. in advance. It will consist of Which is the True Gospel? and What Say the Scriptures about Hell? in the shape of a

double number of the WATCH TO~FR. Get your several sqnnd-i together and let us hare your orders statmg (I) the nllmllcr of white Protestant churches in the distrl(+ ; (:! I the .I\ (1age attendance at service which the church meml)eI . ch~cfly attend; (3) the number of Volunteers m your scln~d; (4) to what address would you prefer to have the ammunition sent.

MARK

THE PERFECT MAN!

BEHOLD THE UPRIGHT!

MATT. 4:25-5:12.-APRIL 1. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. of yourself. and claim much, carrying a high head, and having What chara,teristics are essential to our attainment of the a loftv and self-imnortant look. Khat must. we most blcqsed conditions God has to bestow? No doubt there ;s worldly wisdom in the worldly counsel; be in order to inherit the kingdom, be filled with righteousness, no doubt there is some truth in the worldly suggestron, so obtain divine mercy and everlasting comfort, be called the sons far as succrss in earthly matters in the present time is conof God, and be nermitted to see his face, obtaining a great cerned. But here as in other instances, the Lord shows us rcwnrd in heaven? What question, what topic, what Bible that his ways are not as mans ways, but higher. ax the lcswon, could be more interesting to us or a more profitable heavens are higher th:ln the earth. He assures iis that hc tb,lt stutlv t1l.m this one? The great Teacher made it the topic, humbleth himself shall be exalted in due time, while hc who the test, of one of his principal discourses at his first advent, exalts himself shall be brouaht low. in due timr. (Matt. 23: 12 \ and ca11~~d the eist of his argument to be recorded for the In the Scriptures he points us to our dear Bedccmcr as the admonItion of hii true followers throughout this Gospel age. illustration -of the humble and obedient one, whom he bar \\ll~lo the character of our Lord, which we as his followers now exalted to the riaht hand of divine nowcr: and our a?tcnof that one character are to ct>py, is one; and the attainment tion is also called to the great advcrsary,~who, takmg a reverse of all the blessings God or di-pnqitlnn means tllc a ttninment course, sought to exalt himself, and has hecn abdscd, and is 1~s to bestow; ncvcrtbclcsw, in order to present the matter the ultimately to be destroyed.-Phil. 2 :O; Heb. 2: 14. more distinctlv to nnr minds the Lord divides this one charus a A sharp distinction should be noted between bcinp poor in into different sections, giving nrtrr or tli-pn\ition would spirit and being poor in pocket, or in intcllectnal gifts and view of eacah particular part: just as a photographer attainments. 1Ve have all seen pcnple ~110 were poor in thche take a front vic\v. riclit-side view, left-side view. rear view and earthly senses, yet proud in spirit. aneling views. of anv inte-rstinn suhiect. so that all the details The pnint to bc noticctl is that whatever our finnncinl or intr!lc~ctnnl gifts :rnd condiof son&ruction might be clesrly discernible. tions, the thing acceptablr in the divine sight is humlbtv of THE FIRST ESSENTIAL spirit. Such a disposition is essrntinl to t1)o.r who w~mltl The first character-nictnrc which our Lord nresents we may receive the wisdom which cometh from ahnre-tircy mutt, bare rensonahly assume wi;:lA in some respects at least most impora humble appreciation of their own dcficicnc*ics ;~nd lack of Blrs~d are the humble-minded (poor tant: It is humility. wisdom, else they cannot receive freely, heartily. thr wi\tloni We do not in spirit) fnr thrirs is the kingdom of heaven. which God is plc~srd to grant in the present time, only to nndrrhtnnd tllis to s$gnifr that hnmilitg is the only essential those who arc in the attitude of heart to rcccivc it. And It Trace. and that whoever is humble will therefore attain the will be sern also that this hnrnllity of mind is csscntial as a kingdom: but rnthcr tbnt to the attainment of the kingdom basis for the spirit of a sound mind-for ~;bo is in n proljcr hnmilitr is a prrrccl:li~,ltc of first importance. In other words, condition to think just.ly, reasonably, imnnrtl:~lly, c\ccl,t fir-t whil,l all hlln!)lc nrol)lc will not attain the kingdom, the kingof all he hn\c a hnmblc disposition 7 H~iire wr must agree dom cannot be attained bv anvnne who is not humble: the that humility is a primary element in the disposition or mind kin?tlom is theirs. in tile s&se ihat it is nnssible for this class of Christ. to ncscept the terns and to attain to thchonors and blessings, CONSOLATIONS THE REWARD OF SYMPATHY all of a ditlcrtnt attitude of mind-the proud, the Wllil~~ The second beatitude or blr~~~l c~ontlitinn mcntionc*tl by our haucrlrtv. tlic ncxlf-cnncrltccl, are nbaolutelv debarred from any Lord stands closely related to thr first-l:l~~:+~tl arc tl1c.y pn&;l,iiltv of attaining the kingdom so long as these contrary that mourn. Mourning of itqclf is not a grac*r, lm1 It. 1,:xrnnditionb lie at, the foundation of their characters. t&ens an attitudr of mind which is ac~rcptntllc in 111ta tlr 1,01 0 tlist all of the Lords pcoplc might see this point clearly sight. Nor should WC think of a mournflll spirit. witllont, and tlistinctly, and rcnlize once and forever that The Lord eonsolatinn or joys, as brlllg a Christian spiril. \\-c c~.ltlrlot reslhtctb the proud and shnweth his favors to the humble suppose that our He:lvcnly Ftthcr and the ho1 r nr~zcl~ :,I c excliisivi ly 1 How this thought should put a guard upon every continual mourners, as tbcy woiild certainly lit if rn0llrninz one of tllc Lortls littlr ones who is seeking to be conformed possessed any merit of itself. T11e thought ra!JicT. i\. i?lt~+s II to the image of Gods dear Son. Hnw jealously they would are yc that mnnrn now-to whom prcqrnt ~~.lrtllly con~111onq I watch and fnstrr the drvclopmrnt of this spirit of humility in are not entire1.y satisfactory and happifying-who :jrc not their o\vn hrarts, and llnw it wnnld be more and more discernible blind to the dltlicultics and trials through which t11c Ilurn:~n to others in thrlr dai!y course of life, and what a blessing and family as a whole is passing-sin and sickncsr, pn ant1 what an influence for good, especially upon the brethren, trouble, dying and crying: blcsred arc thnic who h:r 1(a qvrnpa Ild result ! thy of heart under present conditions, and to whom thrv are Growing out of this first essential quality or characteristic, not satisfactory; for the time is coming when, nndrr i:or!s as a trre of many branches out of the root, come the other providence, a better order of things shall he in+tifntctl. and graces of the spiiit, which the Lord has declared blessedtheir dissatisfaction with present conditions will lnlt bring How different our Lords teachings in divinely approved. Earthly wisdom them into cln+r svmnathv and fellowshin with thnqc bcitc~r this resnect from all human teachings! up your head; things for which the -divine plan is preparing. \\%n Gods contrnry : Hold would say, on the kinednm sh,lll come and his will he done on earth as it is t,hink well of vourself, if vou would have othrr people done in heaven, all cause for mourning and for sorrow-nnd think well of you; be high-spirited, instead of poor in spirit, for trars will he done awav: that will he a time for consolna little haughty! rather than of humble demeanor; it will tion. for satisfaction, to this rlaon. have a greater influence in many respects, for no one will Indeed, a gnnd measure of romfnrt mmes to the Lords think more hiahlv of VW than you think of yourself, nor people even in the present age-through faith built upon the give you credit for more than you claim; hence, thmk highly

(G-69)

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

.\LLES:CNY.

Ph.

exceeding great and precious promises of the divine Word. The fact that they are able to dmcern the wrongs, the ineuuities, the dIstress& of the present time, create; In this cfaSS that very ?onditIon of heart to which divine nromises au~eal. whereaqothers not so touc+hed at heart with sympath;; for the proanmg rreation. are unable to So thoroughly appreciate the hope< \et before us in the gospel. Hence It IS bv a natural law that sucdh are drawn to the Lords Word, and ire enabled to draw therefrom consolation which Sneaks neare to their heart\, ant1 paves them an Inner 1oy wlIIc1; the less sympathetic cannot ~IIOW under present condItIonS. Blessed are the sym-

their hearts are in the attitude in which it is povsible to receive blebsing. The wnrld, full of self&h craving, Is never subsatisfied, never contented; the child of God, patiently mlbsive to the divine will, Is always satisfledContent whatever lot I See, Since tis Gods hand that lendeth me.
FILLED WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS

The fourth blesamg IS that of hunger and thirst after rightcousnesb. iYo one can have this hunger and thirst unless he previously have to a ronsiderab1e extent the previous characteristics. If he have not 1IumilIty of Inind he will be satpatl1et1c isfied with liiv attamment~ of righteousness, ~wlliy llII:l~J]~ to Ai we can cultivate the first of these graces, humility of See beyond 111sown low plane. uII:Ible to distbern the heiphtu mind, ant1 IJ~ culti\ atIoIi tle~t~lop more and more of this firvt He cannot hunger and grandeurs cf tbr dIrIne perfection, and c5~c~IItIaI c.lIaIac,terIstIc , so we can cultivate alho the bee- and thirst after that wliivli he does not in some measure comon,1 grace. t1Ic symp:Ithctic spiI It. To do thIa we should freUnless he have the spirit of sympathy, which prehend. c[IIeIItlv tIllIrk of othrrs-their iriterests, their trials, their rliscc~rns the wrongs, the inequities of our present time (whleli diflic ultih and hl~oul(l seek to enter into these ah though they In great measure mankind iS unable to c~ounteract and over\v(*1(2 01 our own, ant1 sJ1nu1d seek to lend a helping hand and come-by whIcJ~ some of the human family, very tleticicnt in to tlo go~~tl IInto all ~I~SII as we have opportunltg, especially the \Irtues, have an overplus of wealth and Influenre and to t1ics hollwlloltl of faltll -Gal 6: 10. authortty, while some possessing superior virtues hnxc scarcely the nec.essities of life) lie cannot yearn for the better c~~ntliHOW THE GENTLE INHERIT tion of things which the Scriptures dcc*larc c&an only be Intro111~1hIrd of these gr.I(*ei which the Lord decblares blessed tluc~cd by the establishment of Mess~ahs JJiIlennIal kmgdom. ii 111~~1~1~11~~~~, ah ~\,a ~l10u111snv, gentlcneS5. Febsters DIcor. It is a ble*sed indication then. if we find In 0111heartq a huntionary d(~tineh rnc~c~knc~+i lye, &ulmIissinn to the divine will; to gering and a thirsting for justice. for righteousness, for truth p;ltlcn,~c~ ant1 gentlcne+ from moral and religious motives. -an antipathy to untruth In every form, and to all injustice, It 1~111 lw lsr,*eI\ed thiit there is quite a difference between in-equity-an antipathy, nevertheless, modified, Influenc~ed, thi\ patient. gentle submissIon to the divine will. and the controlled, by tJIe third grace of this list, viz.. by patient ortlinary :entlcne\s and patience which may frequently be The control of this last quality submI4on to the divine will. e?ierci4 simply for the gratification of hrlfish desires. Patient Is what the Apostle refers to when he says, Let your modsubmission to the divine will iz impossible to those who have It is tliIs quality \vlIIch eration be known unto all men. not the first grace In the list, a humble mind* the proud and steppmg in hinders our hunger and thirst after rIglItcou+nesS, self-~Illetl find It impossIl)le to be SuhmIsSIve to divine condiand our zeal for it, (botJI as respects truth and JIractIreI tIons; self rises up,- per\ erts thrir judgments, and misleada from making us anarcahistic or extremists in any srnye of the tlIctIr c~onsc+nces to such an ckxtcnt that they cannot have full word. This quality of hunger and thirst after righteou~nrss. c~ollfid~~llc~c~ 111 (II\ iIW JJIW\ltltw~c. but feel that they must put uncontrolled by the other of these graces of the slIiI It. 11~s led forth their hand and steady the ark. many worldly people. as reformers, Into wild e.\(es\es whc~reas A~orf~o\ cr. only in pa tlcnt sullm1si1on can he developed the (-1l1ltl of Got1 althouph ha\-inp this same hungrr and thIr4 those ~l10 InoIIrn, in the sense of having large sympathies, in . a. larger degree than others. ycat. untler the control of the ant1 \\lIo lI:~\c* ]HTII (~oIIIfortc~(l I)y the ble\sell Promises of God, spirit of a sound mind, instructed from the Lord\ \\.ortI. rests through wh1c11 the 11oly Spirit cnmfnrteth his people. Realizp:iticntl~ .1111in hi, proiiiihe~ ant1 11 nit-: for their fultillnitnt. ing t1Ie e\ l]q of olir tImc. :~JI(] that tbev are nermitted of God missive, and assured of the virtorv of riglItt~ou+Iles~ III Gods for tlIe prrwnt for :I wise pulpose, these not&only svmp,lthize due time, whicsh he adopts as 1IIs time al+n lv itli tlIc* groaning Vreatinn, InIt thic svmnathv and tile comfort, Those who have and cultivate this blrssetl hunger and rcc(i\ et1 as its rc~wnrd tend to make thrm patient, submIssI\ e satihfied, bv and 1~. wlI(~n thirst 4all lie satisfied. alnind:intlv to tbc ,111 ine ~111 Rrmcml~erIng tllat all tlliIlg:j are working Gods kingdom shall be established. and when ilk a r&nlt of together for good to them that lore God. thrv are prepared its reign all evil and a11 sin. all In-cquIties (InIquItIc-I \hall to rec~opIIi~(~ (Ii\ inr JIro\ it1,bnc.c in wh:Itever may befall them, be suppressed. and Gods hole will shall lie donc~ on eartlr aIlt1 pIC])ilrttl also to lot~k for the lcssonr of those provIdenceS, Our hunger and thirqt after even as it is done in heaven. :I\ lIl(+4ngq w1lic.h will l)e lIelpfn1 to them and to others, in rigiiteousness is not to be dcstroyetl. Init, aq nIIr Lord promprrJ)aring for the future ant1 eternal joys. ised, It is to be satisfied. The appetite for truth and rIglitIlli~ third pr:Ic*cs--patlent submission to the dIrine willenuqness ~111 still be there, lrllt the prevalence of truth and x\lIicb (an 1Ie notcltl by those with whom we come in contact. righteousness shall be its satisfaction. nIIglIt be said to he the nuter manifestation of the second In tJIis gra(e, as in the others. there is a sense in which pr;I(.(b, \\llI(.11 I\ in\v:Ird, of tlIe heart. and which might not be hy faith we alreadv attain some measure of the fulfillment 0IItna1 tllv tlIrc~11Iet1 lay our f(~llow-creatures. T11r gra(e of to come-altlIougli it is but a foretaste. Tliose who have the s\ mp:lIll\ nIanif(+ts itstllf II1 0111 JliltieIlt submissi\-enesS in all hunger and tJIirst for righteousness. in JIne with the other tbca :lll;llls of life. rralixlrlg thilt to those wlin are In Christ grapes of tJIe spirit, find in the grarious promises of the Lord all I!l.ltt(I. ilIt untl~r (II\ Ine supervisIon, and tllis patienrr in that comfort and ronsnlatlon which aIre:Idy, even in thI+ rc+lna(t to Gods pro\ idenc*cBs in 0IIr own circumstances and present life, can be assimilated Jlv faith. i1Ild wlI~c*li lIrn\e+ to :lll;llIs l,~Itl+ :llhr) IIatIIrall~ and properly to patience with be meat in due season for the household of faitlr, surt:IInotl~er L, III tltcir ~e:Iknc~rs and failures and ignorance, an d 1ng. strengthening, reqting and at least JIartiaJly s:\tIsfving load+ J OJWrly to l1ClJ~fU1IlC4Sto\vaId them as we have opporthe hunger and the thirst, as they realize the tlivIne JIrovi.ion t1111ity. for ex erlasting righteousness is cscerdIng and abundant, moI e T)II~v~ meek. paticntlv snbmi+sive to the divine will. illall than all that they could have thought or ha\z requested. inlicrit III,, e:Irth Tbr Lord did not mean. nor Is it tme. tlI:It tlIc> p<ItIent and sulImi+si\-e to the divine will inherit -the HOW TO OBTAIN MERCY ciII tlI :it tlIcL pre+rnt tlmc. quite to the contrary, the arrogant, T11e fifth blesses! condition is that of mercifulness. 3Iercy tlicl irrip:ItI~~I~t, the agpI c*s*iv e. the selfish, sucrrcd in grasping is the outward eqression that man can discern, resulting tllcb c,111t*ftltinrrr of J)o\vtr, of InllucIa*e and of wealth now; from an appreciation of righteousness and a hunger and thirst antI tllcb lI~ItI~~ntly \IIlnIIi~~I\ ( 11:Ivr comparatI\elv a poor chance. After we have taken tire pret3ed for it in the renewed heart. 7lIe rc\\ iI1 tl of tlII< grace. tlicq efnre. like the other,. is future: ing steps. and have learned to appreclnte thr intquitics of the folio\\ Ing on urltler tlica tlI\-Inc 1e;ItlInp. tliese shall be heirs of present t,ime, and our own imprfeetions (unrightenusness I Go(l. itlint -heirs witlI .Je\IIs Christ: and the earth is a part of ancl those of other men: and after we hare Irarned that God th,It great Inbrritanc~e. ~li~(*li in turn, bv divine arrangement, alone is able to riplIt these mattrrs in the full and complete tlIcL> qlI:Ill IIcstow at the ~~10~ of tlIe 3JillcnnIal agr, upon the for thtx righting of sense, and that he has made provision \\orl(l of mank1I111 who tlI(bII sur\ 11e-those proved wortJIy of every wrong. and for the restoration to his fnrnr of all who etcrn.il lif(a 1Iy the ?\IIllennial tests. will accept JIis grace in Christ, to he made known to all In Sc\ c~rthelr~s, as tlIeI e is a \ense in which the J,nrtls people dur time-it is then we lIegIn to feel merciful. henerolrnt, are comfortc~tl Iiow, so theIc is al*;0 a s(nsc III wh1~11 thcr now kind, tnward ntJrrrS. to an extent and decree that we could \\nrldly people, who Inher It tllr earth-a figurative senhC. bv faitli. not feel these sentiments previously. The -4postle spcwks of this \vlleII he savs. .A11 tlIInau are rnurs-thinas have not trarrlrtl on the pathway mark4 11y tlIeqc blc4ngs present or things to cnmca. ( 1 Cnr. 3.21:2.; ) TlIose who JIaf-e of rltarscter and growth< in grace, cannot to the same degree the J)roper humble attItutle of mind and are patIentI? sub sympathize with nor feel merciful toward otheI&. missive to the di\ ine ~111. get more of blessing out of the Tile Lord lavs great stress upon this quality of merry, things of the present time than do their actual owners. because deelannp that whatever else mav he our attainments of knowl. 1 . . __ I

[2586]

MARCH

1, 1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(70-71)

edge or of grace, if we have not this one we can never be acceptable to him-if we do not have mercy upon others neither will our Heavenly Father have mercy upon US. And to insure that we do not consider this mercy to be merely an outward form, an expression of forgiveness and benevolence, our Lord expounds the matter, saying, If ye do not from the heart forgive one another, neither will your Heavenly It must be a genuine mercy, and not a Father forgive you. feigned one; it must cover from sight, and so far as possible hlot from memory, the failings and weaknesses of others, else it cannot hone for forgiveness and blotting out of its own short-comings which its hunger and thirst for righteousness Onlv the merciful shall obtain has clearlv revealed to it. mercy : an;1 if we have not mercyUat the hands of the Lord all is lost; for by nature we were children of wrath, even as otherq, and under just condemnation. The exercise of mercv, benevolence, forgiveness, is a blessing. not merely because it is essential to our own forgiveness; ant1 hence to onr salvation, but also because this condition of heart whlcah svmnathizes with others in their failures and imperfcctlons l&lps to rid our hearts of certain of the works of the flr~h and of the devil. which incline to clinn to the Lords neonle lonp after thev hn\:e been lustlfied by faith. and even if&r thrv have made full conserfation of {hemselves to the Lord and are seeking to walk. not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. The :1DoStif? includes amongst the works of the flesh which require plitting away, after we*are fully the Lords, the followAll of these qualities in_v---ancrctr. mallrr. hatred. envv. strife. of selfisine\+ are intagonizeci l;v mercy, and hy it larg&ly they are driven from their secret hidings and entrenched posltions In our hearts. The blessed character of mercy is closely related to love, for It is in proportion as we ob+ain the Lords hplrlt of lore that we manifest toward others mercy, e\en as lie II I. nlanlfe~trtl 111slove tonard US in the mercy extended to II\ iti c111iht. T,o\-c, and mercy, consideration for other-. has much to tin with ciriving out envy. How can we envy those How can we have malice toward whom we love sincerely? tlrose ~110 are our enemies, if me lore them and have merry, c*nmnn\hlon. unnn them. and forgive them frnm our hearts? Ho\< (*an we hare hatred toward them, if we have mercy upon Allfl them. anti feel toward them only a forgiving spirit? how can we be strifefui, if we have a merciful, a forgiving \pl~lt ready to forgive trespasseq against us. as we hope for fnrtri\rnesr of our trespasses ngainqt the divine law? .\IPI cv i c*loirc,tli ngnin+t justice, the Apostle explain. (.J.IG. 2 IXI Dirinta niei (av >atisfiratl divine justice. and thus prepart,(l tile way for the resrue of our rare from the sentenre ~nfi sn tho~r who have become partakers of the of ]ll~tlw t11r1nta S1)illt, a11ti III whom it Ita4 rea(*hpci a rea\nnahJe derelopnicaiit. will permit their mercy to triumph over thnr cnnceptloilh of iii+tic+e (for they have nn law of Jiitice 0vc.r their fello\\ 9 whic~h needs to be satisfied). \Vhilr In;ticc may not be blind in the Lords people, while tllry may diqcarrn th(, fauitq of others mnqt clearly. and while tl1t.y mav h6~k to let jristicse rule in respect to all of their own word-. and thoughts, and artinns. nevertheless they are to let rnrrray triumph in their hearts river JustIce as re&pectr thn-cl ~110 trc+pasq against them, and they are not to hold r(~+~iltint~ilt~ ;iclaiii.t tlioqr who have tinnc~ them injnry, iin1 to ~~1~ to avenge themselves and to inflict justire uion the11 ~Il~lKlll~llt~ I::rtlior. tbcv. nie to sar. It i< for Got1 to be iust: I 1 it i< for IllP. who am a transgressor alkn against perfert 1ukt1c.e. throupll the weaknrsscs which I have lnheriteci. to have c~oinpa~sinn upon my fellow-rreature. who has inhrritecl siniilar ycst cilffrrent weaknt+rcBs: it 1s for me to exercisp nccaorclinply the d~\lne command, tllr blessed characteristic of mercy. And those who do $0 not nnlv get rnnina+~inn, forgiveness. riti c;f the r\-11 works and qmtimentq of the wnrlcl the tIehi ilnti the delil. liut increaqinrrlv herome filled mnre and more with the bpirit of love and &nileness and patient snhniission to the c11\1nr will. and thus the merciful are blessed e\en in the prerent time.
WITHOUT HOLINESS NO MAN SHALL SEE THE LORD

and have thought of It as signifying abjolute perfectlon-not only outward but inwarcl; not only of words and of deeds, but also of thoughts. This view of the matter has tended to dlbcourage some who honestly said to themselves, 1 am not perfect in cieeci nor in word nor in thought; how then can I claim to be blebktd uncler this prorlslon as one of the pure in heart \Ye answer that this is a mlsconcentlon. The Lord knows as well and better than me do, that in our flesh dwells no perfection: that bv reason of the fall all of Adams children have their teeth set 6n edge- by the sour grape of sin. so that sometimes we cannot do the things that we would tin, and through ignorance we no doubt frequently leave undone the things which we ought to do.-Jer. 31:29, 30; Rom. 7: 16-1X. The Lord taught a great lesson tiunng the .J(~ni4 age by the giving of the law to that people. with a promise of life attaGhec1 to it, but the Apohtlra Rr\ilres us thatGnd foreknew, even when he cave that law to the I<rarlltes. that 1)~ the deed4 of the la% should no flctsh be jn4ified 111 111~iligiltthat on the contrary the clearer the law woulci he dl<cerneci the more clear would be the knowledge of sin-of Imp,cBrfcrtion. Gods provision in Christ is that lie ~111 forpirc tll& lml)elfections which are due. not to nersonal wilfuiness. but to the origmal sin, and the weaknesses and imperfections whic~h hare resulted from it-he mill extend his merrv toward 11s as respects those deflections which are not wilful. That nur L&i Jesus was not ignoring human impcrfcctlnn is evident from the statement he mnkeq in rcferencle to the fifth of these blrsseci charncteristlcq. via., thilt the merciful shall obtain mercy-an impliratinn of our nteci of merry. Having a4siilc~tl ii+ that Ire may nljtain mercy. he iq not in this 4stli beatitude cierlnring that we must h al~snliitcl~ pcrfrct in thought. word and deed: for if were $0. or rc.uld attain to such-a iaondition. it would FJ~ wholly unnere~sary for God to provide us mercy and forgiveness of sins through Christs sacrifice. Tll~ thought of pure in heart ir not perferlinn of conduct nor of word, nor of thought, but perfec*tion of intention as respects all of these. Our clesirr and effort must be for perfection-in thought, word ant1 cleeci. The st.lndartl Ibefore IJS, to whicsh our heart?, our wills, must give ak+ent. 1s the divine standard. Be me perfect, as your Father in hc~avrn 1s perfect. (Matt. 5 :48) God has set 110 lower staI;clarcl than this nl)+nliite 1)tnifectinn. lint lita had 111 ovided for 115 giac~~, inci (2.v and peace throu,ah Christ. if we will walk in hir fnotstcns.L thi* puritv of hiart I&:: one of the eqscntinl step5 in the narrow way. Only tile pure in hrart hare the prnmiqe of sc4ng God They rnntinue faithfull,v to thcb enci of th pllgllm:lg,rl~, not .Jr\u-: UII i*t 111the only nttalnlng the lJktsne&s of the Lo~ci present life (Rnm. S 29) in thclr purity of lIeart. pnrltr of intention. sincer1t.v of their efforts toward God aiitl mm. I,ut eventually accanrciing to the Lords prnmisc,. they shall, bv the power of the first rehurrertion, he c~hnngrd from earthjv to heavenly. splritllal rnnditlons. Then. nr the =\po+tlr d(~clRres, we shall he like him. for we shall 5~ IJIm :I.- 11~ oh 4 11 I1
I

The sixth step of hlessecine*s 1q purity of hcJart--purity. of of effort, piiiity of will: motivct, purity of intention, puiity of traniparenrv, of trutlil)urltv. in the sense of sinreritv, In other words, Blessed ire tlira honest-h;arted, those il,llltlS. True. there are worldly 11ho hnvct wl,soli~tc~ly right intentions. people who to 5onie extent might rlaim hnne~tv of hc&nrt. pur;&, intention, lmt until thf+ ha\ e rnme nlon;r the w:l$ of (Ii\ lne ar~nolntmcnt in Cliri-t. iintll t1~c.v harcb licc~onic hi* fnllo\\(xrq til;fjllyil faith and conse(*ratlnn to him. and until they hn\e taken the preceding steps of hlessecinesq, we c~ulcl not rtzc*ogni7e them as being of the (*lass here Ppecif1c.d. JInny have misunderstood this statement, pure in heart,

Father him~rlf, and shall he ;ntrodurcd to lrlnl 1)~ ollr d(aiG Rt~tlren~n~-c~t~~~~1~l~~t~ llinl, without ill <1)ot 01 11 rilll,l(s or any hllrh thing.-l .Jnhn .3.2; ITeb. 1 :3 ; 1<1)11 97. (01 L 11). 5 Jn tbiq. aS in the other bles4nps. a portlnn. a folrta\tc, comes in th(a present life. Thrre ie, sli(~li a thing ns lt:1\1ng the e,ves of nur undrratandinp nprned. that WP mav I,(, rnaltlt~tl to comprehmcl with all iaints what IS the i,rratlth ant1 length and height and clrpth, anti tn know th(L IOVCB C(1lriht of (Eph. 3:18) But not ail have thiq nprnlng of tltca nlc~nt;rl (ly(x; not all arca pririlrgc~ti to <(cl thca fln7 )(ti of .r~hov:~lrs rlrai nctrr in hymmttriral harmony, till-lnr 1uqtic.r. wlic!om. 1nlc :Intl power co-orciinated ant1 rn-nprrntin t in iiili\orr for thcb 11lr~s1n~ of rvcry rrenture. ac,rnrdinp to the purpose nhic~lt God purposc~d in himself before the world was. Rut who m?v rnjny this blrssing, thi\ ~l(;lrer \ ihinn, and who may. 1,y sc&n~ it, IN, t~nal)l(~ti ,liorc anti nlnlc to yo\v in likr,neqs of that glorious prrfertinn ? Only tllc purr in heart, nn!y the qincserr, thr honest-hrnrtcacl. T~IOW DIICI 1,ave :I ciouble inlntl, a cinii1~le will, are Scripturally haicl to 11nvci a tlnuble vision, a cinuble eye. They see. spiritilnl thinprs cross-eyed, \ep thln:s finlll~ie. and propnrtionatrly lnfii~tinf tiy. I\l;lny of C:n(i< pcoplc hare failrti tlliis flr to zro\v iin Into Chris;t in all tlllll~.. 5(0 tlln* tio1lbl~ ant1 rnnfii~etll~--tllc,y <cc somc~tllltlg of tlrr 11c~avt~l~ tlrinc:*. ant1 ~omc41iin~ of tlrr cqrtlilv. tlicJ\ bee Ilnt tl11111r Rllfi in&stinc*tly the lines of th(b di\-in6 (*ha, ;&r. and proportionately they lack nbllity to cnpv it. Lrt all who ha\-e named the name of Christ seek mnre hncl more to have

[25871

but the one Na*tw, -a pure, a sinwr~,

SOIII~ nf the Lordh people find in themselvrs natnrally COIL. siderabhb of a spirit of combativeness, unfavornble to peace. THE SONS OF GOD ALL PEACEMAKERS Indeed. it requwcs something of the spirit of combativeness to The seventh hcatitude is an ontmard manlfe~tatlon of thn fight a good fight against the world, the flesh and the advert hlxth. !Ilie purity of heart tou art1 (iod. which othei c cwmot sary, and to contend earnestly for the faith; tie that thosr discern. \\ 111 manifest itself in thiq se\-.wth cbarac~tw istIc of who have combativeness natllrally find thcmselrw in anhlessedneha and growth-namely, in penceahlr desires ant1 tagoni,m with others along some llnr continnall,v. However, efforts to promote IJeaw in others. l?(fr beyond rlw5tion no they should not bc discour;l~t~d IJv this, but should rernrmbcl one ~11 be a peacemaker from this divine standpoint unlehs 11th thit combati\enrss iz a \aluable &vant and soldier, if tnrnci have already bewmc qinwre. pure in heart toward God; and and exercired in the light dir&ion. Its exercise toward fel nnless he hare alw the nrecediilrr develonments of grace in hih low creatures mnst be modified by mercy, by a realization ot heart: ( 1 ) hnmillty, (5) svm&thy. (:!) patlrnt %ubmission, our own imperfections and the imperfectlons of all. Combat(4) hnngcr and thirst for rightwmsneih (which inclndr\ iveness n&t be trained to fight ilong the lines of love and trn\t I (5) a love or mrwifulnr~~ toward otllc*r+. (6 J sinw itv mercv--lo figlIt for the truth and for all the servants nncl of lipart. And one who has dcvt~lo]wtl t1ic.t. ~li~lr;l~.t~,ri~ti~., 6, are&es of thr truth, ant1 against the error,-but not againht :i!ly partic*ular tlcgrw can siirel~ be ilotliing el\e tl,an Iwaceab1.v tGe blinded and ignorant s&ants of the error. Combatiwtll\poaed himself. ant1 a peacemakrr with ~t11t.r.. ness must be eivcn nlentv to do in fighting against the lmpt.1. Veer?- e\ ldentlv lnit it small nnn11w1 of the Lords pcoplc fections and weakn&ses -of oln- nwnna t1;1es: zntl being ihn. IIXVC progrw-Pd $0 far as to hn\c thi. gr;rcc markedly tletJusily engaged in this pod work. it will find comparatively 1rlopcd and c~\;cn:plificd in their llvt+ Tlw great nia]ority. little time for assaulting others: ,lnd realizing the clifficwltlw wrn of thaw nlio li:~vr named tllc iii~ni~ of Chriht, seem to connected with the ronqnwinp of self it WI11 ll:<\ r the gI?~llvl 1)nrhnc it rw (r.e ccnlrw. which iiJtlicxtc+ tllat e\cil it tlirii compassion for the weaknrrsw of otherr. heart 3 :II(L pul (. ant1 th&r svnipatliir. large. thcv ha\-r htill ATTAINING GREAT REWARD IN HEAVEN mwli to lcni II in t11e school of C11ri.t: for in+tEad of Iwinr The Mwsing that comcq thronpli pcrsec~ntinn ir tlw clphttl beatitudr. It is not until the Lords IwoDle li:(\e c~xperwnwtl wine of thaw l~rwdiiig blcwingb of 11:s ~rd,~~ tlbit tt;cby 1cac.h alho. :I. tlltl the point where they can glory in tritnllationh the Apostle Pan]. But nilr J,;,rd CillYfllll~ (!lHtl17~lllhll(~Y :I. Iwtxet;ll dif(wiit kin& of pc~rwcwtion, 111.11 klng ollt tllc Ille~wtl \\.e arc Jiot to invitch froiii all ot tic>1 sort\. kintl :I. cli\tilict ]~erscwtioli t,y f:inlt-finding and general c:liitanl;eiou~i~c~.s and cnmlJ:tti\-c oplwhitloli to c\-wyt)odv and evwyttlliig: nor ale wt* to invite I,elcccution b\- fanatici&. bather, wc arc%to cult1 vatr the spirit of a so~~nd mind, and t,j ltar II gr.~du;tlly what the sound mind of tlic Lord I<. ah w\wl~tl iI1 tllc St91r) 17~~11then. no tlnnl~t \VC \r111 hr fal.cly a, c811~tl t)y ti)ts tnrcs. IMWI~~ tllcs xlwlorn uf (:(\(I 15 otl world of fanatici-m. cstecmed foollshnc>s \\itll nw11. ns oftcxt1 il1r 11 id~w of ~PII 11 foolishness from thr tliriiw ~tnntll)olnt ~Tlirnw er a coni w of ac*tion wntiltl ,tl)lwd~ to lw fdiiat it ,\I I\ lrcn will (llri.tiilll~ lwrn the lenpth :ind brcatltli iltltl and uiiieasonablc. we arc to hwit:\tc~ !(I do Jt unlit wt llav~ depth of the iniunptinns Sneitl< (a\il of no IILIII. and Let no first made sure that WC?find thr s:I,,,c spilit, twcb1ng .tnd I o;rnpt ~oiiinJll;lic,;itiii pr&~c(l alit nt vonr month, but that example in onr I,ord and 111the apo.tlt~h : thcJJ WC may safr1.v which is goo(1. to tllc ns( of c~tlifvrng (Titn. 3.2: I:]jh. 4:3) follow. regardlcw ot what the wnrltl may SRV or think Jwpect. ITow lent \\ ill II, tahc wiw oi: (;otl. t rw c~hildien to Irain Yor instancr. from thr divine standpoint 11 inp oni cour\e. that in nttrrin:! an evil thing ((1 vi, if thcv \vcre positi\-c of its tiiltli I. tlicl? may lw tloin~ <I woi It1 of evil? is?nsanitr for a man to l,~bor dav and night to ama.s i;iilt1on.. How lonp for his ~~liildrcn io finlit over eat his death. but from thl \\ill it take tli(*in to lvdiii that it i+ not alway:, necw+lry to 5pr:1k the tliilh. nor wcii prnlw to tlo ho cscept when it hnman standpoint thil I; the reasonable ~OUI-P. F1onr the woultl ltr for tlic ctlifvinrr of otli*r\? How ni~uir lea~on.. lincl divine etandpoint it was wise for the apostles to .1Jciid tlwlr . lipon lint. iil1l.t tlier 11ii\c to (YJIIVIII(Y tlirm that they aIt not lives in the service of the truth, sacrificing rill tlily Illtcwctmly to n\c11t1 goc.l] .Illollt othw 1Wple> 1J,l~lllC%. ;111d fault.~nd nloslwcts. name ant1 fame. to obtain cr,~nlnall~- .I Iwttt*1 1 . hut fintltng. and (.viii(.inl. lnlt tlixt all t1ic.r iire (~\iclcwc~~ of tllttii resllii e&on. and eternal glorv, honor and iJnnio&llt drlic~ic~ncy in Iovc~-of tllc,ir d~fi(*itln(*!- in the Iikwei> of Uiri\t. thi.. from the x01 Ids htl~n~l~~~iiit was foolisbncs+, fanlitlcihin. ,1nt1 tltcll Iatk ot th(L clllalitit+ of tile peacemaker: and tlmt J f lwrw.ution cnmw to 11; :I+ a lehnlt of o1,r follo\~mg thr 1.01~I. .IIII~ ttlc nl)otlr~.--cllc,il tcacliing3 and example. alltl It It IllCw Iil(k* ncctl to lw sirivrn ag,tinst r;;rnc.t]~. it tbr- would llI.lA<~ t1wi1 v;llllrl~ :llltl ,~lcctloIl hll,? to a pl:IC*c 111 tile llc:c\w1~ ii Iwvau.c~ of onr falthfulncss to tlic \ows of conwcx~tic)Jl 11) kirlptlonl llih wlvi(~e that all nJrtnuer of cs\il i5 s;lld ngalnst IIh. tal+I) 011. tll,\t ;,I1 would learn by litfiiii t, ,intl I.nntiniially ~~21~11) tlitw i ndced we may rejoiw ; for so wtlie tlic prophets pcr.cc~\cmnlif\- III life. tlic \\ortl. ot tlir .\no.tle. .\Vlii~twc\,1 ( ntcd. 50 \\a~ our Lord 1x1 secntrtl. sn were the apostlcu aiicl all tlic faltlifnl onw >IIIW IJeiwcntctl. Bring thns in qod it becomes a witness or trktinl0n~ wnipan~ iii oiii rsprriww\, to ii5 that we \liall bc in like good c*onipany in that d;lF H llrn i111.Lord &all make up his jewelh. -111 who have such experiences may well reJoicc, ant1 Ii H]w;lutiflll tiling\ fill sbcak to WV]I othw of tlJe ~a&: hcncc the Lords words intimate, the more of such esprrJrm+ MY 111f lltl]m tiLll((, of hH\ inp nnr Iirai t. filltall with good tliing!r, in llave the more will be ollr rewaltl in hcarell. then tlJc> n101c \\I -4nd if xv,> he without any may rejoice in these rsperienws. 01(IN that nut of tlit :~l~nnd:~nw of tbc good things nf oni 11wi t+ 0111 inor~th~ in:i~ ~pc:il; rollt,inii~ill\- good tliingZh. that tllc +,uch rqwl lences it behooves ns to look well tc\ oursell CL le-t to tliosr ueradventure it mean that we are not faithfnlly walking in the T,ortl nonltl a]qn w ct. and tliat \\o~iltl rnllIi\tcBr l,l(-ilip :,nai row way of self-sacrifice,-or are not -doing wth 0111 \\ 111, 11wr ---11111. 4 : s : I,ll!d~ 0.4.x might wItat our hands find to do, ]Jnt are holtlmg back 0111 sacrifiw. Should such be the reflec+Jon of an) let him not 1~s tlisconragwl. but, in the langllage of the Lrophet, let him bind (:odh q)irit, tile Iikcnc~si nt lli. dear Son hii* Iwen tri;c*rd in with fresh cords oi love and ot with thr truth. tlrry the sacrifice to the altar, their hearty. tllry lIa\-e IKVW wnctifcd ecal. praying the Lord to acwpt the sacrifice, and to furni.1~ shall ultimately be meet for the in11~1 itanc*c ot tllcb saints III Only :n(,l1 :lt 11Wl t will the l,OId C\C: lccOgJli%c il light. opportunities for beIll, I* and doing :ulrl suffering for His CRIIW. and for the Lords and the tlntlls sake.--Ps;i. llS.27. wit11 lliq great Soil. 0111 T,ortl. in thr his snns ant1 lolilt-llciil: The prihmatic snm of all these gracw Jr-love; and thocc 31411 (ov(i. thiq is a tc5t \\li~,~Ii \\I may \\(&I1 rcc~ogkingdom. who have them ale l~~vabl~~ ant1 sh,lll by and b; be m,ldc nize for Onr*eIvc. p211 ,cnlarIy. ;ln(l to h~)ll,~~ cs\tcl,t t fol ta,lcatt gloriou-IT lovely. with and like him who i5 altopPtllt~1 ntlirr, ds e~itl~wc~~i~g tlics tlcgrcr of 0111giowtli ,I. c*liiltlrril of Oiir call 1s to attain these t,lrswd cwiditions in the God-oui lwa(~~:~l~lr dlh])o~ltlnll. .III(I ,~iiJ 14.11 tainli-c.. to 1)iir.n~ lorely. suc~h a roiirw in Iif<& :I . ,,I11 tcnt1 lOMIl~1 [I kmgtlom.
;lllc] all ~.-a? *Iilg]c t\J higlory Hlld

SelviW

a faithfnl

heart.

THE ROYAL
-II~/~~ISOC~W p wmld that

LAW-THE
M&TT. i:l-14.-APEIL
men should

GOLDEN RULE
S.

Tn this Ir~~o~i we have another leaf from o11r Lords great This is not a sermon to sinners but to Starrnon on the Mount. the Lords consecrated people; and although there were multitudes within the hraring of our Lords voice, all of whom belonged to the typically conserrated nation. yet our Lord addressed himself sperially to his twelve choscu disciples. who were being-partirulnrly and fully instructed, thfit they, under lhe spirit dispensation soon to be inaugurated, might become the twelve foundations of the heavenly kingdom, represented symbolically in the New Jerusalem of Revelation.-Rev. 21: 14. True, many of the features of this royal law were then and still are sound advice for all who can receive them; but the fact remains that comparatively few are blessed with the cmnmrr of cveo, and unstol)l>ing of ears to permit their appreelation of these holv pei,ls -of truth; aid assuredly they wcrc addressed to and int,cnded for only those who could I rrrtvr them. Tll,lnk God for the good hope tbnt err long, the ktnptlom being established. all the blind eyes shall be opened, :111tlJ(l deaf ears shall be nnstonped, and that in Gods due time fbtsc precepts of the Gold& Rule of love will be appret,l;rtrtl IJ,V all and be applicable to all-whether thcp respond to tlwm nr reject them. F(Jllowing our Lords example and injunction, \\e are encl(a:ivoring to set meat in due season. things new and old, brforc the household of faith, the children of the kingdom, and not before dogs-those who are still outside of divine favor, who have not vet received the grace of God and been adopted Into his farnil; and constituted sons. These precious truths are pearls of ireat price-of great value-to those who hare 111~hrarinrr car and the understanding and appreciative heart -those wfio have been begotten of the spir:i and are neH crcnturrq in Christ Jesus. and seeking to live the new life. \To do not attempt to precent these matters tc: the brutish, the swinish, knowing that they would not appreciate them; but would merelv feel a disappointment and r%ent our good intenlions to our-injury. Our Lord points this out later on in the cliscoursp (verse 6) , and his words are in full accord with thosr of Solomon. Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee.Prov. 9~7. 8. It is to the household of faith, then, that the Lord says, .Tudgc not that ye be not judged. It is useless that wc glvc tIli+ :ldricr to othrrs than the pupils in the school of Christ. for nnt having put themselves under the instruction of the great Teacher it gives evidence that his instructions are not :Ipprrcinted by them. But all true disciples (Icarners. pupils) 4ould give earnest heed to this injunction, and should underhtantl that it contains a very important lesson, which unlearned will render them unready for the great examination, unready for graduation, unready for the kingdom; because in their cbyamination this will be one of the tests. If thev have been fault-finding, cynical, hvpercritical, etc., judging others harshly and uncharitably, it will be a clear token that they have not developed the spirit of Christ, the spirit of love,-which is full of kindness and consideration: hence such would be judged or condemned as unfit for the kingdom, for according to our way of judging others we will be-judged-since nothing else will better demonstrate our true spiritual condition,-the presence or absence of love. Whatever measure of mercy and gencroslty we mete out to others will be the measure of divine mercy that will be extended to us. If all the Lords people could have well impressed upon their hearts this lesson from the great Teachers lips. how wonderfully it would affect their attitude toward others, in thought as well as in deed; how generous, how forfor the weaknesses of others th:y giving. how sympathetic would become; how the spirit of love would grow in thrlr brarts and manifest itself in their words and deeds! RAFTERS IN THEIR EYES Emphasizing this lesson, our Lord suggests that those who are always finding fault with the brethren who, like them.clres arc seeking to walk in the narrow way-who can never .(Lr thr noble efforts of the brethren to copy the Master, but ::I(% C(Jlltinlldly picking at them, are the very ones who have The ext,hc elcate.4 of faults in themselves,-lovelessness. :~g~c;ation of our Lords words of reproof to this class srcms to imply a vein of sarcasm, for literally he says, Why do you stnIt> so at your fellow who is troubled with a grain of sawdust in his eye, while vou have a whole rafter in your own are more or less troubled with diffirve 7 A11 the hrethreni &ltirs of one kind or another, weaknesses of the fiesh,because all ha\-c the treasure of the new nature in imperfect There is none rartllen vessels-marred bv original sin. Yet tbp brethren rightcons no. not one absolutely perfrct.
Y

do to y011, do ye etett. so IO them." whose hearts are full of love. even though they have sawdust in their eye of faith, or intcllcctual discernment or spiritual discernment, and perhaps also splinters in their hands, which affect all the deeds of llfc. and render their work imperfect, and thollgh many of them have splinters in their feet also, so that their walk is by no means perfect, as they would desire It to be-yet if thrv have the spirit of faith and of love and of sympathy, the scirit of Christ, they are his, and far more acce$a-ble io him than any could possibly be who are devnld of the snirit of love and svml~athv, and who therefore in this parable ire represented ns,vl;nll,-perverted in their jutlgmrnt. of others, hecause possessing so little of the Lords spirit ant1 so much of the spirit of the ntlrersnry-the great accusrr of the brethren. This loveless, fmllt-finthng, brethren-accusing class the Lord denominates hypocl itrs. \yhy? Because in finding fault with others they are evidently wishing to give tbe inference that they are not afflicted with thr snme malady of sin themselves; they evidently wiyh to give the impression that they are holy, and since they know in tbril on-n hearts that this in untrue, and that they have many failings, many imperfections -therefore their course is h\-nnclltical. fa1.e. deceptive. disTheir cl& that thrir fault-&ding 17 pleasing to God. prompted by love for the erring and a hatred of sin is deceptive and hypocritical as our Lords words clrarly show. Otherwise they would find plenty to do in hating and condemning and battling with their own sins and ~~-cnknesscs;--casting out their own rafter of self-conceit and hypocris;v. The experiences thus gained would make them very tender and merciful and loving in their assistance of others. All of the brethren should carefull\- \ ~cw this picture which our Lord portrayed, and should note well to see whether or not they have any of the evil disposition of heart-faultfinding, nagging, harsh criticism and denunciation-different. degrees of the same fault. Tf they find any trace of such a beam of lovelessnrss ant1 self-conceit in their spiritual eye. they should go at once to the great Physician and have it, thoroughly eradicated, that they thus may speedily becomtl gentle, sympathetic n?sistants to the brethren, and be prepared as succersful surgeons and physicians for the great work of the Rlillennial age-the kindly and s;ympathetic opening of the blind eyes of humanity and the healmg of all the wounds of sin. TYING GRAPE CLUSTERS TO THORN BUSHES But while we are not to judge our brotbrr, who with uq professes to be endeavoring to walk in the tootsteps of o111 Xaster, and Who gives any evidences at all of sincerity in thc~ Itlatter, wc nevertbcless are to do a certain kind of judging as resaccts mankind in general. Elsewhere the Lord intimatrq that ;by their fruits-we are to know grarevines from thorn-bushes. and fits from thistles. And in this sermon he intimates tdat we ire to judge or discern a4 between the brethren and dogs and swine-the selfish, the sensual, who mind earthly things and who have never been begotten of the spirit of God. We may know these by outward evidences, for If any man ha\-c not the spirit of Christ he is none of his; and if he is none of his, not a branch of the Vine, we are not to waste our time in trying to tie onto him bunches of the fruits af the vine. We arc not to attempt to deceive others or ourselves by helping to counterfeit the true holy spirit in the selfish, unregenerate world. We are not to expect that this class, whose appreciation is only for earthly things, to appreciate holy, heavenly things, any more than we would expect that dogs would appreciate the difference between meat from the butcuhcrshop a& the holy, consecrated meat eaten nnlv bv the oriesthood. We are not to cxnect that the swinish and groveling, who think only of money a& the things of this life, would appreciate the pearls of truth which are so precious in the sight of the brethren, begotten of the spirit. This does not mean that WC should never bring holy things to the attention of those who are not the Lords consecrated people; but it does mean that a mere presentation of the first principles of righteousness and truth should quickly manifest to us those who have an ear for the truth, and those who have not,-that finding the hearing ear we might give diligence to serve it. and fintlinrr the ear closed we might cease to waste our time, knowing that the effort would be fruitless as respects the calling of this Gospel age-to saintship, to the divine nature, to joint-heirship in the kingdom. The Millennial age will soon be ushered in, and that will be Gods lime for breaking the hard hearts, for opening the blind eyes, and unstopping tbc deaf Cars. c-3-74)

[25891

ZlOiVS

WATCH

TO!dER

.\LLECHENY.

PA

Tntleed. in some IcLiJwcts the effort5 ~hirh have heen exthorn-bushe pcntletl uJ)on tlie tlog3 ant! the i\\ inr-the fwleavo~~~i',r to tie to theie V~TICIUS inutaand the t\ll\tlc% tions of the fruits of tllc %J)III~ of Cll~iit, an(l to make the nle:lt of tht! h0ll~JlOJtJ J):lJ:,t;lhJc tl) thml, Jl:lvC? JK!Pn J)OItivtJy injurious to tile Lortls callhe. The hrethl en hare been neglectrtl in the t,ntlcbavnr to fowl the do: class: the makmg ready of the \)I Itlcx for the hritlegroom, and ntiornlng her with the peilrls of truth. hns been nfplcctfd in thr endeavor to intcrc3t ttIc 51vinc in the Jwnrl5 Tlw real value of the true vine, in JIIO(~II-~~,~ good fruit, ant1 the witlc tlifferencr of nxture hctwwn it an11 a hramhle l)u<lr, haI; twn grcnt1.v ohscurtltl 1)) the appropriation of the xIne-i natural fllIItngc> to the hraml~lc 1 et uY not he wIw ntw\e wl.jlat iq nwttcn : It4 us attcntl In ttlc preyent timte to the wmk xthich Gnrl 117q :ippnIntr(l for tlii. :i,g:(s, ant1 Icavf~ to Iii9 aJ)J)ointetl time the genc~ra] \\orli foI ttlcb \\nrlll of m:lnkIntl.
HOW TO OVERCOME LOVELESS SELF-CONCEIT

Rt*tlirItin~ to tllp It~i+ni \~111(.11 t)r(fittIren must learn, tllr nntl J)wsit~l~ tr:l\~ng <JNvI:III~ In nIlnIl thcb correction of the tcntl(snry to JlIflYrc,nnf nnl~thc~r, nlIr I,clrtl gi1e-i instructInns 11nw tlltaw 11r~,rr~ ~1ll:IlItl~~s ma7 I)(, r~r:l(llrntc~rl \\.e arc, to aql< of the LoId the ric~c~rl~~~l 7i)(w\111~ of Iov,~ :I1111sylllJatb~- bhlrh \!I]] hImlt*r lIq frnrn ~II~leing oth(~rq. ant1 \\ trirh nil1 IrelJ~ 114 in cnrrcct ing 0Iir 0!1 n tl(,f[ict+ If \\ e 3-k qinccrely. truly, WC will rt~(*(~i~r.c grnw anI1 help in thii tlirwtInn. hi\ Ant1 nlIIle n*king, it is niir tllity to hr scaeking the thingi which ne lack, the htrlv kpirit, of love to fill nlir h(siIrt4 ant1 if we seek it nc shall find it \ir are to knor!: upon the I,nrtl+ store-hnuqe of grace ant1 hl(4iig tby rontinuctl t~fTort*, a- ~~11 :I9 J,raJ er without ceasing, ant1 :Ii a rt,Snlt it will hiirelv lw nJ)enrt] to IIS. The ailcliig, the> swking. the knnrkinp, will all imply faith in the Tjnrd, ~\hich fill 111~ J)lcLahiii:: in llis siglit. ant1 it will also imply faithfrIJrwss on our pnI t ant1 a tle.Irr tn be conformed fully to lvill the Jxmlq .\n11 thwc gonrl tlr\Irct> of olIr hearts shall he gratlliell, t~fv:lllW, 2s: n II cnrtllly Jl,trwt \\ nultl respon~l to his childs rc*qut+t for rnrthly food, 4 11 the Lord re+pond and ill sn~JjJy &yaw In every time of IICWJ to his rhlldren He will not drwivc~ iis nor givr II~ evil tllinp-, wlwn ue deiire the good, hut 1% tlo for 113c~~rcrdlnglg nllllntl:tI)tl~ mow than n-e could II] ask or think, for is not our hc~nvrrIl:~~ Father much better than any imlkrrfwt hIltnan father cnnltl l~o~~il~ly hr? 1,1Ik(~~ rcbfcrcwrc to thiq tlIworlr,e ( 11 : 13) declares that the, (root] thing that GotI will 1w ~)Jrnwl to civr there asking, sc.csking, knorkin:: nnrs, is his hole hJ)irit. And this is esartly v hat i\ ntwlr~l, as an offs& to the unholy. unloving, selfish, ~wlging ant] fault-finding spirit of the flesh, which must he ra\t nut The antidote for ttIc poison is that ne should he fiJl(~l v ItlI the hnJ,v spirit. thr \pirit of love, for love wnrkc>tll no 111to his neighbor : love sulTcreth long and is kind: 101( 1s llrlt pfrtl ll[J to SW the fault+ of others ant1 to be bli~tl to it3 own: it \rikllntPtll not itself to he a general critic,, fanlt-finder ant1 Iaeruher of the brethren. Love is ympathrtir, hrblpful, the spirit of C:otl -1 Car. 13.4; Rom. 13 10
WORKING IN YOU THAT WHIOH SIGHT-Heb. IS WELLPLEASING 13:21 IN HIS

thinking by a%king ourwlvcs the question. D-null1 I ni<tI the brother to (10. to 1~ or to think thus rey])ect:ng me, if I were he ant1 IIP v PI ,! I v ThIr rule. cloyed)- followrd. will very grncbrnJl,v t)e a guide, initnnceq in which the T,nIt]s JJPqk and yc4 we have knonn swmctl so anxious for an excuse for slander, for cr11 spwking, for posslp. that they found snme Iiilltl of a way of &using thml+elvei for the violation ot the Gnltlrn Rule. even nh<,II ther remcml)ered it and at heart wished to obey it. Let us be vcl*v rnIrfn1. tltanr hrrthlen, how ~(2 handle the Lord, yuletliat TIC do not hantlle the \Void of Gw] tlrccitfullr-tlInt we tin not 1)lintl a~:(] tlwri\-e niirsclrrs rwJwctinl_c Itr tt IIe imJ)nI tnnrr-that ne tin not tlu:q rltinte nntl ilnpmr 011, rolli('i(~ll('(Y -tllnt ~1 do not thlls th\\,Irt n11r praycst :, for the hnJ? $J)II it. only a\ tile rlIanFor the lrnly Spil it mu tiow Into 0111 Ilwrts II,81 iq OJ: ant1 tlIe rhnnncl rln tw k(tJJt O]IC~ onI\- 1)y liCCJ)Iq thlq Golden Rule c.ontlnnally at work at its full g:tI~~e. This (:olrlen Rl~le nut1 xl1 thc>e lr~wn<, that vvnl ko ne\\ 1wc~:cu<e prcwntrd ])y the ,great Tenc*hrr in a c,lraIcr and lwfnrc~, w(bre nCvrrtlI(~lw~ the gist. or errr hhi~i per light tliaii e,wII(e of the 1\Io*aic Law, and of the Lortlh teaching9 thI ough
t11c J opl1& IS THE WAY sucll a lift of riil cfulnc+s rc+Jx*rtinp not only our actIon< t:ut also oiii word, ant1 (1vii nut \tll> pi owwl our thoiiptits (which are the springs from ntielirc wnv-a ~liltirult words ant1 nctlons) will J,e a rerv narrow And yet It is the anlp XL:,, 1)~ nluch n;s ~xn hoJw to way. aie no\\ wbt enter into the Iifc ancl kingdoni of ioy$ whIrli The l)ln.lct u;I~, the en-y \\:I?, before us in the GOsJwl call. the selfish ~a!-, the n-nIldJy way, tloc+ not lend to the kliigOur Lord intiinntw NARROW tll,lt

thr wcnn(i Ilfaatll, t10111 on the contrary, it lentls to death--to : The many :,I tl goiy in that I\ a~ II~~\v, to utter destruction. an11 only tlIc> few fintl ,intl enter into tilt, strait z~ltr ai111 iilrrow way to the klngtlom ant1 its glory, llnnnr and Ini11Io1t:l]Ity. This tlnez not. however. either WY or 11I1plr that tllca 111 cwwt n~e is the only one* in whirh any nl~pol tlunity WI11 tw glvrrl to escape the tle~tr~~ct~nn tnwnrrl wlr~ch the hrcx1tl FL a1111 :\y thr world tend : though it is the only way no\v 0Jwn TIIP Word of the Lnrtl t~l<e\vlIrrc pifit nllt to IIS ttlnt after tllP select little flock, the elect churcll, the hridc, tllr lmJv of C!hrist shall have hew srlectcd from nmnng*t m:1nkint]in the n7rrnw u \yand walk cnnipowd of those who sf& after thece shall hare been glnrifietl with tllc> Redcc~mr~~.VII] lllgll~\ y rome a time n-llen. in the Lortls ]irnvI(lfww. a gxiitl of hnlineis shall be opened to the world of nlankintl. tlllrinp the Illillennial age. Khile it wll he an Ilpward way and not a downward one. so that It will rrqlrc eflolt to \vnlk thrleon ant1 to attain to the full restitution. tile J)Ii/r at its fuI thtr end. nwerthelew it wll he very different flom the m11n\v, the clifirult nav now open tlefnrr thr rlec+ t*hurc~tI. GotIs but not % peculiar penple. It will t)e a way nf Ilglltroll~ness. way of sacrifice, as is the present nnll ow way. xxliirh thu+ enrli olie of whom mud pIrW,t srlt4s the rnyal prirsthnod, his hndy a 1ivIng sncrlfice, in order to make his calling and c~lwtinn inI e. So lion< -Ii:\11 1~ in that er:1ntl 3lill(~nni:ll lligllway : Ilothinp to Iiult or cIP.tlny or intinlr~latc~ fitrm \\cll-11oing: not!liIIz to SwlllcY~ ni tn cic~v:)iii a< :I J)rey tllnw~ ~110 wcbl; to w.llk witli tllc, 7.0111: I~~_rlltiwllhlv nn~! to rnme lJ3Cli into ll.~llnnn~~ \\i)rrcnd nil tlrc+ l)rVtnlenth :I), now :ltb[pllt II.. lwraliw~ S:lt:\Il, 3.7 . 8. !) ; ( I%, thr 11 inw of tliik wnrlll, I< htIl1 iInl)onnd.
&ill who now c;ltc~ tllca 11x1 I n71 \\:ly Tirr 0 2) pclltvl to fjrllt :I Foot1 tight, to ront~~ntl rnlllc+tlv fol to ifiiht the tle\11. If ttiey \rnllltl htvIlrt\ tl:B gr(rtel

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\V~X1~:)~ coinc ,r!t son<ll1eror* tlIrollcll IiIm who lo\-wl ni ant] I,inotJ.-1 7111, C,. 12 : .Jntle t:oll!:llt II, ;ltli ri- OW:I J)lWIf;\,~ 3 : .J.I b 4.7: l;~tlil. H:3i.

1lARCII

1, 1900

ZIONS

WATCH
the

TOWER

(77-78)

we are to rememher that the Lord and hi; disciples were \\ell lxnmn in that vicinity for Tears, and that probably Matthew had not only knowledge ot our Lord, but also faith in hinl, nr tile ?r!es>inh. Sot until nox. howerrr, had .Tesus invltetl him to hecomc one of His immediate disciples; not until now. therefore. could Matthew ebsav to herome such. Thelc ev itlently were many who heard the Lord discourse time ant1 again. and who were to he rerkonrfl as amongst his friends, but who were hy no means inrltefl to become special of the followers. companions an d associates in the ministry Gospc~l, as we& the twelve. Sor ale we to suppose that Matthew left his moneydrawcsr open, and his accounts lrith the Roman government Rather, we nnqettlrtl. to immrdintclv follow the l\Iaiter. mnv n\sume that it mavhare taken davs. or possibly weeks, to *\tra1ghten his affairs and to enable him to-respond t0 the? Ke sho77lfl remrmlJer that the T,ord- ~a11 to aaostleshin. hi+tnrv of severai veers, and manv fli~conrse~, eonrerhations ant1 ibvirlrntq, are &owtled in the Gospel narrative into very

Ln7tl nnr the T.ortl- 3 people are entertained, nor his cnuie srrvefl in th(m. Snrh a house and home loses a grrat blesqinp. ant! tllc lrentl of such a house has serInu\ reasnn to question whether or not he is overcoming, and therefore an overromer, to whom only the prize is nromisrd-or whether he is being nverrome 11p adverse- influcncl&. The Lord dcslres a cnuraveous nennle. a ncnnle so full of faith, and 10x-e to him and his. tiiatkey Wlii ronqnw adverse influcwfw in the Merest of righteousness. What would we think of Jlatthew if he had said to the Lord: 1Jaqter. I would much like to hare a hnnquet at mv home. and to invite there somr of my friend<, that I mqht introtlllre vo11 to them, and that th77s a favnrnlrle influence mieht he exert&l on hehnlf of the truth; hut I have no liberty in my nw7 hnmr-my vvlfc wniilfl not hear Of it for a. moment.---or. my f*!lJltlrrn are un-

con ~~hofarrn~l ]!1l!IV.7n ant1

The name the tares and the puhl~c revenue. tile prnfcysion were 1~0th rxtrrmely odious to t!nL .Tc\\ .s \\I10 verv rrluctantlv snlimitted thrm~elfes to the Pnlil1rnns were counted unt:7\ rcy77l,ttion, Of *the Roman;. il;itl iotlc* tl~~loval to their own nation, in tlint ther acceptefl ilw w11 i1.t. of an alien pnl-ernment. ant1 made 77W nf their l,JJ~~~~lt~tl~~~ tllvir ro77nt7y 27ntl jxw!~le in :7\iicting tn rollfAct nf The n!fice. as will hc readily seen, fl~~c~mefl iinjii~t rr\ fllllf. oplml tuilitips for dikhonv-tr aJ7tl extortino. OftclfYI ,,,<,lJ\~ may 11~1 snre lift wn77ld not Ilk\-e 1tec.n f3liwl to the apostleship :I,,(! \\oll!tI not linvc rprponrletl to the fsall. for we are not to So man ran come to me except the foirc~t that it i5 writtrn. 14:rtlltar n hic~h spnt me tlraw him -qTohn fl : 11.
THE CONSECRATED HOME HONORED

1\T,lttlww was n man of inflnenre. and 2s soon as he acrr!~tc~tl the Lords call, and respondrd hv consecrating him<elf and lli, all. he set nlJtr17t to use his influence in drawing TTe would announCe his own devotion to tllp Saviour. ntllc~l. to tllc r;\i1.(% in hi~(~li a manner and under su~~li favorable circ~1lni~:anfw a+ if pos~~hlc woultl win some. To these ends he n77<rn,rretla lJanq77($ for t!Je Lord and his rliwipleb at his ho77se. .11r,1 Illvltr~~! 111,1n~-of !li< fricntls ant1 l)li-ineqs nwJci:itrs. The-c, 111our lc..son are called 1Iany pnhlicans ant1 sinners. I\ e IIPVP hw77 why the p771117rnnswere nbt,rncised 1Jy the ccrJ/Joi ant! P!7ariww--not herause tlJw we:e wicked, but !,rc~;ru\r their !m<lness w:,s tli\e<teemrd : antl being thus cut off ~c1:11l\~ from tllca 771tr;7-rc17~in77+.the n77l~lirnn~ \vrre forced to llal-(8 1JJo.t of tlJcsJ7 snri,ll inie7cO77rse wJtl7 the non-rfli$oll+, !Jy By the term sinners we way of f*ontrast rallccl hinnrrs. are not nec(ssari!y to understand vile persons and evildoers, lmt rather persons who did not profess nor attempt the holiness claimed 11r the Pharisees--persons who did not claim to 11fa :ileollltc kec:l~i~ of the dlvinr Inn-who flit1 not profess t0 make the outside of the cup or platter ahsohltely clean, tho perhal,< 111many instances the inside was as clean or more rltbnn than were the hearts of the Phnrl~res. who professed This o77r J,nrd intimated 017 srv~ral occaperfrrt holiness. sion+. \\IJ(w. t!Jw(lfoJ v. WCresd t!):rt onr T,OIC! \~:a~ thcl friend
nf p11lilJf311s :111d \innris we arc not to 77nfln~t;\nfl that he

rnly, have no respect for me as a parent, ant1 would create a F1rlnt tli5tu~h~ncr if T v\crc to mrntinn surh a tliing a4 a lianf!uct in ynnr honor, so greatlv are thfy nffrnflefl that I am glv ing up my lncrativf~ business. and so fr:81ful ale they that they nil1 not harr the same snrial \tandlng as hefore, or the same pririlrars of cstrarnganre? 11-e wo7ilfl consider him a most nnfit man to hr an apostle, or to occupy even tile position of elder or denc7ni in thy chiirf~h. nccnrdina to the terms laid flown 1~ the ~Annitlc Paul. ( 1 Tim. 3 :1, .i! IT-r would esteem h71l.l; an nub 7iiiwoJ thy of any responsible pnitinn in the rhiirc~li, ant1 so drficaicnt in the oualitirs of an nverrnmer tllat he wnulfl lsa JiJ arent dam& of losIng the prize. unless he promptly in<titlitrd n reform of his character. Tt is only nllat WC sholllt! rupcact, to find 1\IattIiews case xerv fliffcrent frnm this-tn finfl tliat lie hn~l a strnn!: character: Snr can \\c e\prct that the lrastw would have saitl to !?im. Follow me. llnlrsr- lie hat1 ~77~11 character that wniilfl pfarmit liim to follow in tllr 1Tasters footsteps, for surely nur Lord .Trsus, while PCntle. kint! and loving. was never weak or characterless. And nhat wn7ild wt have thou::ht of Ptlatthews wife and family, had they ohierted to the hanqurt? \\r wnnld have consIdered thrm rather hnprlfhss as rrsperts saintship. ant1 that his wife had not learn4 even the first clemrnt of wifehood:-that she was a hintlerrr instrnd of a helninrr mate. As it was we may he as+nrrd that wit11 thr Lord came a special blessing to that home.
SPIRITUAL FOOD AT THE BANQWET

matlt~ ~~om!n~n~on~of t!lc* rf~wdlts or mfrr;ll lepers of III\ timr. \Ve aIt% ~,ct!lc~l lo understand that in the usage of that time one 1.1,1svof .JVWS WHS (lf~~i~ni~t.((l the holy proplc (Tharlsres). and anotllclr 1.1.1ssflf~signatf~fl as not profr+inq RlJ5017lte hnl7I ~JJJn(~J. I. nitlcavor 3riltthr\\. into (.nJJtact v\fltll the ~~oJrJ7rJ~~Jif!:7!~!t~, ;IIIC! 15 ii t~ntfV s t11ta J,ord, Il0c.k nc--

Tt would seem from ntlrrr narratives of thiq same hnnquet (which was probably several werks after Jlatthcvs ~111) that a large number nf pwplc w(rc pathcretl at hlatthews house, aside from thnsr who partock of that hanq77et (Lnkr 5.29), and from the connection of the narrative it i+ suppnhed that it was on one of the rerrnlar fast dnvs of the Tl~arisers. These facts led to the two questinns: * ( 1 ! TVhy t!nc+ yollr 1(,:1rh(r a<~nciatt~ v it11 t!lc$c !~o!lc, who do not nrnfess sanctification? T11t nhlrction was not that nllr Lord should not trach the pulrlic*anr and sinners, lJ77t that Ike slini7!f! not wt 11 it17 them. 17 llirlt im7Jlif~tl n 50~~7:71 equality. and the Pharls& evidently rrrngni7~tl that our Lord and his apostles were professing and Irving lives of entire consecration to God. In answer to this query n77r Lord said, Thev that are whole need not a phphician. hut they that are sick; the imnbratinn hrina that the nhv\ician had a liaht to co to and mingle with those whom hd sought to relieve. and might mingle with them in whatrvrr manner he saw to br expedient for their Cure. Thus lanaulpe dn~s not imnlv that the Phar~see\ vt(~ v not si(.k, and that thev did n& need our Lords minictrv. tlio tlls, i:!ct wns that not ndmittina that thcv were

to bring his frienflq and ssxnc*lntcs JIasttr and his tc~a~~hinfs is certainlv good Illustiatlon of what eac.11one who
SlJflllld do. lG7rh +hnlJld reek to exert

his intliic~(~ wllcre it is greatest, amnnght thoqe with whom llr is acf!iiainted ant! who are acquainted with him, and upon whelm taithel 111spast honest,v and good rharart~~r should have an ~nflucnce, or else those to whom his r.ldiral change of life Another lesson for us is the wonltl he the mn<t manifest. propriety of using hospitality as a channel fsr the advancement of thcl trllth-the homes of those ml70 have ronrwratcd them~rl\ es to th(i Told should he con+rcrntetl homes. in whic.11 tlits tir\t rnnsitlrr:itinn should be tlica servlre of the l\lnstel; and its inflllrncar qllnlll(! he to draw ollt frlcbnrls to the T,ord. llnit -thev niiglit 1Jr taught of him. Tfw frrq77ciJtlv the uJnsecratinn of the home is overlooked and1 a1,l:caonistle influences are permittefl to dominate. wvlth t!le re.llll that neither

thcrcfnre vv~1 llcttrl 41 (1 for the truth than others. Our Lo~tl intimated thrs m his narahle of the nublicans and the P11aj i<(heil !)ravel \. ii~\ill ing:ns that 111(+c,ci< \l:rht thch pu1111ran had the Iletter qtantling, 1Irrause of his ;Ic~knnwlrdgment of impPrfe&ions and his prtitlnn for mercy. -4nother of the> Erangcllsts atltls other; of nur Lords wnrflh-Go ye and lr:7riJ 11 h:lt t!Jat mf~.lnt+li : I will have ant! not sac~rifiw mwf*v (Matt. 9.131 Our Lord here cbvitltntlv q1~otc~l from lloh~n (i.C,. Tllcl Iraqson the Pharisees Ghnuld have learned from this WHS that in tlmir particsularlty rc+!)ectlna <acrific*r5, <elf-tlenlalc. tithing of miJit, Rnise, riimmin. etc , thr \erv tlilnpq 1n whic~li thry !~n:i~t~~f! 3s endences of thrlr liolinr~~ were tllinrr, ~liI(~li (:nd dlf! Ilot appreciate

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1.1r:in~

-elf-denial.

JT.rtl 11v nttcmptell to , onl1~111~~ (111 lati,tllltv v It11 .TII~~,\I-I~I the rcsnlt would ha\-c 1wci1 diwihtloii9 to Iwtl,. flbl tllc,) ,,I 0 opposites-thr one demanding al~~olll:cl1~s~ ot I.lglltc'oll~llc'... whic*li wah inlposs,ble to qinnrrs; the other tlrniantlin~ 11181 thr in,pnc+:l,,lity of perwnal 1,ghtconsncss shnultl 11c iI~l<tlo\\ldpd. ,iiid that faith should 11r the only condition ot t01. ,zil ~w(w dntl merry. ((41 Ihr same leswn was illuc.tl atrd 1~ llir cii&m~ of that timr in the u9c of skins of .wimals a~ incteatl of tlilb haiirlh and l,o?tles of today-intlerd. siirlt hkinq arc nwl tcj the prewnt time in rariouq parts of thr \\oild, nntl called hottlea. ?iew wlnc put into such hkins in fclnirntinp would strrtch tlicm to almost burhting point. aid huc11 +~III, could never lw used again for new wine. berausc t hrJ ,slahti(a,tv ha\ ing go~tc nut of them the ne\v nine in fclIncnting woultl .11rcly burst them. The lesson whirh our Lord tai,ellt hrrr i. that Judaism I~arlng had its day. had accnmpli~l~rtl It4 ~III pow. and that it was not tbca ciirinc intention that it ~hnnl~l 11,~ rcfornied. as his hearrrs cspertrd. The system 11nd hccom,~ ctllrtc. and to l,nrc attrmptr~l to p,,t into .Tudaism the 1,,#\\ tlnctrincs. the new wine of the Gnhpcl. I\ onld l,n\-c mcnnt t II,, t llnt only thr Jewish nnt,nn would hare bern convulwd .,n11 werked by the spirit of the new teachings, but also that tlw doctrines themselves would hare gone down n it11 the wlc( 1. of tlic nation. Consequentlv it was the tli\:nc nlnn that ,I new Israel should br s?nrteci. a holy7 nation. 2 peruliar pc,apie. and that it should bc the receptacle of the nw\- glll ( and truth then due. Similarl,v now in the end of the Gospel xpc v, lo, ( ~~1 (. the imnossibilitv of imttine the new xine w111c~l1 thcs lla.tcl is now prol iding into thr old wine skin< of sertar,:,ni-1,). and all sectarians realize thiq ton-they rc:lliJe tl,at to rrrtl\( what is now being presented :I* nrehent truth Into thci, cl&,nominations would unquestionablr mean tlic utter w cc.1~(It the denominationq. God is thereforr now. as iii the rntl (Ii the Jewish age, calling out of the whole system su(.h a~ a,c Israelitrs intlerd, that they may receive at his hands the uink~ (doctrine) of the new dis1~enwtion iust at hand. As for thtb old institutions. they have srrred n purpose, partlv good ant1 nartlv had. Their work. so far as the dlrinc nian 1. (,,,I ;AerncYl. is at an end. The leoire of the Br:de&onm .~ntl ,): the bride shall no mow br heard in Babylon it all. (r&n\ lS:23) Bahvlon will not nrrmit them to 1,~ henId. Th(s voice, the teaiahing of prcsrnt truth is consequently nut:.ltlc 11~1 walls; and whoever has an car for the truth, !rllnevcr dchlrcto be filled with present truth, mnst come ouiside of se&rianism before he can thus be filled and blessed and used as a \cssrl in lwarinrr the blessing to ntl,eiq.-Rev. 18:1. 2:.
Y I <.

THE MEMORIAL
Il.il.11 cu-iwl1 (II , ,~I?111 atIll, (r our dear Rcdcemrrs death G1,,)iq :1,11,1\-~r.;,r\~ \\ ill b,b fnllnwctl this year by n larger numl)cr \\ r lwlir\-c. tllnn rx 01 I)c~fOl(. Jbc date I\-ill be the evening dntc cn,lesponding to the of *\pril 12th after (i 1. x.. -that fou,tccnih tl:~~ of the lirst month Jcwn11 time. Ol,r I,or,l. ah tlic antitype of ihr In~wrer hlllJ ( 1 COr. 11 rrll(l lied the tl:,\ brforc the 1,east of Passover as 5:;). bcgnn ; ant1 ,,I, tlic sil,,,c I,,gl,t in xhicl, hc \\a3 betraped he tool< brcatl, 1cl csentii,g his Ilryh. ant1 fl1,it of the vinr. rclJrc:cnting llii I,loc,tl. nntl with thesr instituted a 1lCW lllCmol ial 1)y \\l,ich thr spirit,ial Tsr.wlitea wrc to crlebratc their grpatpr .~ntit~],irnl Pasiovcr, -ccurrd 1~). his blood Of sprinkling npplled 1)~ faith, and lli: flc:h. cSltcn by faith, meat indred.-.Tol,n G:X.
0111.

SUPPER

Our celebration has nothing in common with that of tllc .Tews: indeed what theg celebrate is the Feast week; while we relehrate on the day precedin, v their Feast the death of the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. The day WC celebrate represents the entire Gospel age, in which the entire church-the body of Christ Jesus, the Head-must suffer with him as voluntary sacrifices. The Feast week to us typifies the glory and joy soon to be introduced,-in tl,e Nillennium. Our LOI ds word5 respecting this Memorial are. 7%~ tin ye in remrnibrance of me. 3nd the Spnstle adds. A4~ oft as ye do tllis yc do show forth the Lords death till he come-till he in his kin,ndom shali have come in power and shall hare gathered you unto himself. Many Christian people

[2592]

ha? ( a:sunietl the libeity to celchint(~ Ilii- _\lcmor~,rl at vnri~>litimes-weekly, monthly, quartei ly. et c . hut in 11a1 many ~1 stir the eaily church we understand oui Lo:11 to mean that \ve should celebrate this as WC celebrate an> other event-on its anniversary; just, as we now mtglit >a>-. ,1s 0it as the Fourt!i of July is celehrntcd it shows forth the Indel~endencc of thi3 nation. Those who celebrate our Lords tlccc/il iI1 t11e .Lnit Supper at noon every Sunday, mistake it for the ~1&lv Lore Feast ,-~r Breaking of Bread practiced every Lorcis Day by the in memory of our Lorlls ,.esic,iectfolL and his ,hailv cliuidi spening of the ryes of their undcistanding in the breaking of bread. Rightly undrrstood, nothing in thc~~:c\\cekly feasts of lo!/ rcscmbled the annual coninieiimi ntion of our 3lasters 5oirow and death-nor is the cup evtxr n,cntioned in connection with them. The church at Allegheny will celel~i.~tc the Bfemorial Supper commemorative of our Redecnmrs tlecctk for us, and of our Ynss-over from death unto life t!lrough the merit of ills sacrifice, and of our consecration to be dc,ld with himto drink his cup-on the eremnp of April 12th at 7:X0 oclock at Bible House chapel, Allegheny-, Pa. Friends of the truth who can make it convenient to meet. with US will bc \~elcomcd cordially: but we advise that wherever there sic home-meetings or wherever such gatherings seem possible they be not deserted. No other season seems so favorable for the (!rnwing of the hearts of the Lords people closely together;,vcn as it seems also to be specially an hour of temptation to all professing to be the Lords followers, who like Peter of old s(pm to be specially sifted at this season of the year.

1 hc ncl1icc of our Loili to tlie early disciples. at tli15 time of the ~enr, seems still specially appropriate, \Vatch and ,:I :!\ l,s:t T c enter into temptation ? And recogni7ing this the older Sy;tcms Roman Cat!iolic anal Epi5copalinn <till picccdc t!ie 1\Iemorinl with a faqt or Lenten season-which cnteietl into not formally but in the spirit \~\e believe i3 a \ rry hcll~iul custom to many-not only physically but rlnrltuall-. Good 13 i~la~ ~1 iub=titutcd ,I: foi the Xemoi i,il ~51il~p~i as oiiginnllv ob>.rrvc! 11;: the I,rr~t!. people-the s> stem of couuting being ilightlv changi~~l. 111~moie fii-quent cclchrn tion5 0I the I.Ol.cl'-i Srlilp"T by Pl(lti'it~llt4 :tle ba5ctl I:poll Papacys celt>lnation of the I\Lls;. :in institir! Ion whir 11 1Joth 1x1 fact nnti theory i+ 21) n!~orri~n,~tion to our Lord---rlrn1 lnz 3s it doe5 t!ic ful!iiccL CI~ the efli~3cy of the 01iginal sat.*i(i, II at Calvary ~w'plt ~~\,~lnvll~~I ,' \\ 111 . IlO Ilris 11-e trnit ti;:it ills> l.rjrLi'L in rcmembrnnre of the gre,it sin-~acrillcc-not rnei~~l~~ a~ an outward memorial but ,11so ant1 spWi:ill,v at the <:ime tin1.s feeding on the Lnrtl bv f,iith in their hearts, anal nfre-l> pledging their con+rcration unto death with him while par Fc,r further lnil titular, iec olir 1ss11~~ taking of the cup of Jlarch 1. 1SOX. \Vc xvi11 be glad to have prompt po~t~il cn~d icp~ort~ ~IOIU the appointed secretary or scribe of each little group-Uliercever two or three meet in his dear name to do this. Make all your arrangements beforehand that t.hc precious season be not disturbed by business affairs. of heart comniunion Let us not only unittA in player and communion, but also so 5 numbers 23. far as practicable in our son,~ of praise-using 122 and 1 of H?ymns of 1Jn1c 11.

AVOID

FLATTERY
Could you not in some nav through the TOWER suggest to the friends not to praise a pilgrim to his face: they do not know what offences they sometimes cause, what feelings of latent pride they arouse. ___

In a recent letter one of the Pilgiims. after giving particulars respecting his efforts to feed the Lords sheep aud lambs concludes thus :Pray for me. dear brother, that I may be kept a servant. \-i)L.

SSI

ALLEGHEKY.

PA., MARCH

15 AND

APRIL

1. 1900

KOS. 6 ASD 7 _--~--

WHICH

IS THE TRUE GOSPEL?

I am vot 9skmed of the Gospel of Christ.---Rom. 1 :lO. .Issembly, Defuniak Sin ings. -\ Discourse by P<istor C. T. Russell of Allegheny, Pa., delivered at The Florida Chautauqua Fla.. March 4, 1900, as reported by the Associated Piess. Gospel-the one of which the -1postle was not ashamed. ad So apology seems necessary for our subject-Which is of which, therefore, none of us need feel ashamed,-the Gosthe true Gospel of which the Apostle was not ashamed? If pel, therefore, which should more and more move and enc~gize. time and thought may be profitably expended in the study us as the power of God unto salvation. of the earthly sciences-sociology, finance, etc., etc., built largely upon human inferences and conjecturrs-surely none No one of intelligence will disnute the meaning ot tllln word Gospel; it signifies good* tidings, good ne\v a,--.\ could tlispute the propriety of studying the science of divine good message. Nevertheless, in snme unaccour~tnblc mnnnci . :evelation. If it be profitable to investigate the physical disby common consent, .(rl real Gospel se1mon is almost univei eases of mankind and their causes. and the laws of medicine sally understood to signify bad tidings-tidings of eternal and of sanitation for the offset of these, it surely cannot be miserv to the areat mass of our race-to all except the little disputed that the Gospel which God has prcscnted as the flock bf Gods Faithful people. As a ronsequence the preachei antidote for soul-sickness and soul-death, and as the science of a Gospel sermon is espected to figuratively shake the pertaining to life eternal, is worthy of still greater and more congregation over an abyss of everlasting torture. making a+ profound consideration. strong an effort as possible to intimidate them thereby to a. The greatest minds, the noblest specimens of our race, have thorough reformation of life, in hope of thus escapmg au ndmitted OLII- topic to be the one above all others in imporawful eternity. tame. and have Tveiahed it carefully-whether as a result True, this that we might term the Gospel ( ?) of tlarnunther accepted or rejecled it. We arenot now discussing the tion is not so generally preached as it once was, because wecght of mental acumen enlisted for and against the Gospel: more enlightened minds of cultured people rcpildiate it as a we are mcrelv notina the fact that all men of abilitv have fetich of the past. Yet tliis pcrveision of the Gospel is still recognized th>t the subiect is woithg of their careful conto be heard in country placaes, at camp mretings, occasionally sideration, and as having claims upon their attention parain the city pulpit, and universally in Salvation Army meetmount to anv and all oth,?rs. Indeed, it mav be set down as ings. Nothing is further from our intention than a criticism a fact that qvhoerer has given the subject of religion no conof the consciences and honestv of intention of those who thus >ideration is one of three things,-a novice iu mental exerpreach. It is no part of our mission to criticise persons and cise, or a near relative to the fool who hath said in his motives, but With malice toward none and with charity heart, There is no God, or a coward, preyed upon by fears, toward all WC consid-r it not only our privilege but 0~11 instigated by Satan to hinder honest investigation of the duty to criticise doctrines, that th&eby the truth may be divine message of love and mercy. more freelv established. and error brought into disrenute. Even a hasty glance into the intelligent faces of this large Before Uwe proceed to the consideracon of the Gbspel of audience assures me that you all hare given some thought which the Apostle was not ashamed-the Gospel set forth to our theme;-though experience assures me that comparain the Scriptures-it will be expedient for us to take a glance tirelv few of vou have ever reached conclusions on this subat the different gospels set forth by the various denominaject fully sat&factory to yourselves. Hence your faith and tions of Christendom. It is not our thought that each delove and zeal toward God and your zeal for the Gospel are nomination represents a different gospel, for the differences less strong than you could desire. Let us hope that as we in many instances are chiefly respecting ceremonies, forms, reason together on this great subject to-day, we may, by Gods methods of government, name, etc., and not in respect to the grace, see more clearly than ever before which is the true 125931

(84-85)

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

ALLEGHENY.

Plr.

Severthelesz. there are three meSSage or gospel held forth. diqtmct lines of faith. or doctrinethrze distinct gor;nels set forth in Christendom, all rerognlzed as 01 tbodox, because they all contain RS their fundamental the doctrine of the eternal tormcbnt of all mankind, except the comparatively few %lrYl. Rncah of the-c three go\pels has mlllions of These in supporters, divided into numerous denominations. point of numbers are (1 j The Roman Catholic faith. or ynqpel. in which concur the (irrrk Catholicts and Armenian Catholirs, and some of the high-rhurcoh Episcopalians. (2 I The Calviniitir po<pc~l, which is held h the various Prc;lq?rrlan tlcnomln Itinn<. the Congregntionahsts. Baptists, and many l,nthcrnns and EplGcnpnlInns. (3 I The Arminlan go-pcl, held and rhicsflv represented 11~ tllc 3I(~tbotlistq of various nnmci and rnnnectinns. and hp llonfwr, many of the denominnthe l:rc,c-\\.ill l!:ll)tlitq tlnns at hc:lrt nrc~opt the Arminlan gnbpel. while their church c+nnncsrtlon< itl(sntlfv thcxm with the (nlvlnictlc gnpel. Hence is cnnrc~rncd, that the n-c may h:i,v. so fnr ilS lrntc+tnntiim Armlnlan ikntl the (;Llviniit gospels arc about equally suppnrtcd. 11 may not hr pn<\illlr for II$ to llantllr 3ur suhjert prnperly ant1 thnrn~l~hly wltllont, offrrillg borne criticism of these thl cc* gtr~pf~lh \v111f,ll for f~f~ntur1rs II;IVC~ entrfnnf 11catl themselves 1n (III I\tl:ln mlnfl\, cnc,l~ fortified IIV the dcci+ns of Its 0~11 Cniin~il~. haf~kfd hv \ 0111m1noii5 nl;inion5 from their several tl~oolo~iral scLminarlt)q. but we can and :~ssul edly will stren11nusl\r a\nirl saying one snlitarv wnrtl in crilic:ism of there who ne b(alica\c conqc*iclntinu\ly uijhold the\? se\ era1 rnnflicting \\(a ~111 mu to witnr\s that we are all Scripturally ~:o~pd. en10111cfl to (nntisntl rarnc\tly for thfb faith once delivered (111~ trnr &spcl 1, at tile same time that we to t1,c h:lIllt~ arc (Lnlotnctl 1,~ the \arnp anthoritp to Speak rvil of no man. wvlthin tllrce admittedly lyf~ h11all f~ndf~arnr to lcc~f~p sfrictl? ns the 22pnstle nflmnnislie~, prnpclr IinfBu. anIl. :r(ltliti9nnlly, C; eak the truth in love. *P
ACCORDING TO ROMAN CATHOLICISM to liomnn (;lthnlic*l\m is that all nwrflln" men ff~llintn sin and nndrr scsntchnrc of rtrrnnl torment: that Christ, arcnmpl tshrtl a retlfamptive wnrk whirall. supplemented and 11~ pr:lvors ant1 penances. t,v thfb saf~rific~f~s of the mn\s. marmits ~11 I~:~l~f~\er~ I Roman (atIrolic+ 1 to esrapr that GtcKni iormf~nt, whif.11 will IW the sure portion of xl1 Iifaretirs, AS for iti own rf~gar(llf~si of their good v,nrkh or mor.llq. p~flpl~, it llc~lfl~ tll:1 t e\tn iti lrighe<t nffic*inls, inrlufllng I+THE GOSPEL

T11cx LVq,<l

hops ant] Popes. go to lllrgatnrv for refincxment, purlficatlon from iin antI to 11th prcbpartd forhcnvcn. It claims that some f;ictntly nftckr death L But their r\pckrtntlon is that ultimately Purgatory will 1~. no mnre. its tl~niisnnds of millions being But according prcpa I fnfl for :I I,c,tter and happIer conthtinn. and arrordinf to all to all tllc* grfsat, thcnloginns of 1;rpncp. the Papal bnllh, all lrotrqtant5. all rrlcftrrs of Papacys Thih is the Roman X\ill hllfffT c,ndl(ass tormfwt. trnf*liing\, it. It C3 tllolif, ~oinel fairly presented, as we undWstand clots not +r&n to 114 to he rrry good news--not very good tltlincr<. OV(D to tllo+ ~11:) crt the very best it has to offer, and rt rertalnly would 1~ v&y had tidings to all out of harmony wit11 l:lI):l~y dortrine repro1,rt 11. 11c,\t 1O~lk nt 111? Frc:lt Prntrstnnt +entcbfl ill tllta 1~01 tl (alrinlsm-tile tlo(*t rine oi the election of tllc, f.l111r(.ll ant1 tllc, rc~p~c)l,:ltinn of ill1 ntllc>iG.
THE vation ant1 it GOSPEL :iflmlts PRESENTED BY rnrnca\ lly CALVINISM xv111 spf~nd only hv the mcbrit of a short prnvrrq. t1mc In masses. Piirgatnrp. rtr.. on their :I\sistefl hchalf out of it h.y their

(:11\11:1+n, rl liltI*

tll,rt
th,it

faith
f:lith

in Christ

ir cs<rntial
lieiirin~ antI

to salhcbaring

rcqui~r~ more than :I mere in hiln :\q a gOofI ant1 esPmplilrv man. who flit4 R ma1 tyr to llis csxtrrmr convictions. It rtql;lr(+ fait11 in Clkrihtq flcath n+ a satrififae for mans towards righteousness sin, and at lcbast snme manifcstat~nn of life before any could be rec*npnizrtl as bein<? of the elect the elect Consequently. aWordIng to Calvinism, church. church roultl not inc.lndr the hrathen of the prepent time and all the way bark through thr past. who hare never heard of the only I;amr given undrr heaven or amon,nqt men whereby we muit be saved. Stretched to its very broadest, Calvinism could not inrludr more than one in twenty of earths fifty thousand millions that are estimated to have lived from Adams day until the present time. In other words. according to the broadest pnssihle estimate of this view. more than fort\,-seven thnuqand millions of humanity were. in the lanpua&e of the \\rstminstcr Cnnfossion of Faith, pas\ed by r li non-elect in the divine plan.
And what [lops this mpan-pased h;v or non-eleetv

l,r tltct \\.(,I (1 ot (iotl. Cllvlni+m kno\\~l~llgf~ of (111l\t and belitsf

It means, according to Calvinism, that God, who knew the end from the beginning, before creating this world and mankind upon it, determined that he would pass by and not elect those forty-seven thousand millions of his creatures to life and happiness. but would predestine them to an eternity of torture, and that carrying out this diabolical plan, he Drepared a great place larie enough to hold forty-&en thous&nd millions, and fuel sufficient to nroduce the necessarv combustion there to all eternity-d&l all this with a full appreciation of all the awful facts and rircnmrtances of the case. Moreover, we remember the statement of Calvinism which many of us learned in our youth, to the effect that Gods favor toward the elect is not because of anv worthiness on their part, nor because of any works which thev had done, but of his own sovereign grace he saves them &nm all the horrible ronditions which he has prrdestinctl shall be upon the others. how if the salvation of the elert iq not because of their works or worthiness, but because of Gods sovereign grace only, the simplest mind can see that God micrht without any violation df primiple have estended tllat sorereign grace to others-to all, since it was not hecausr of worthiness nor becauqe of works, but merclv of his own volition that any are saved,-arrnrding to Cal&nism. The celebrated Jonathan Edwards, when prraching upon this subject in Kew England Fears ago, after picturing the awful torment of the non-elect, was asked the quc\tion. Would not the thought of the anguish of the lost mar the bliss of Gods people in glory? His answer In cubstance was, No: you will be so changed that such matters ~111 not affect mu. you will look over the battlements of heaven and see in-tort ment your nei,~hbors and friends, yen, ITnur own pnrrnts and children. b~otber~ and sisters, and turiing round niII praise God the louder hecnnse his justice is matlc nlanifeit. ?iow. mr dear friends. I do nnt charge any who are here prcscnt with having in false a virw of the ciivinc character nnfl I)lan :ii this. Indeed. 1 am g!lnfl to notr that our Calrini<tir friend3 in genrrnl are repudiating this tloctrinr, realizing th?t there is in it a serious lark, nnt only as respects divine love, but also as respects divine justirr. I waq glad some years ago to note that some of our lre<brtrrian friends were so moved hy higher and nobler cnnceptibns of the Almighty that they wished to rid themsrlrrs of any part in SO blnsplicnious a statement resprcting his chrnrtrr and his plan. I nas sorry, however, that when the matter of the revision of the Preshrtrrinn standards WI< takrn up it was found that only a minority was in favor of rrvlsion, and I was still mnre sorry to note that that minnrltv of intellirrent, godly people was willing to continue to &frss to s&h n hnrrlble mis-statement of their true view-willing, shall I say, to continue to blaspheme that holy name because a majority of their brethren were unnilling that such blnsphemous misrepresentations should he discontinued. I am glad to believe that if this matter were hronght to the intelligent attention of Presbvterians in general. a larrre m . C majority &ould be found willing: nay, anxlnu~, to undo the wrong and to make such reparation as would be within their power, by way of honoring the great Jehovrlh and attesting their appreciation of his love and his justice, as well as of his wisdom and of his power. This is ln<t thp point: Calwn18m. in its anYictr to rstal)lish the w1sdm11 ilntl power of Gnfl, 1114foreknowledge and his ability to early nut his plan, llaq c~oncel\-ed nt a plan whirl1 is far from the corrc,ct one, lacking l)oth in justice and in love. It may be argued that lore is a gr:lce ant1 that its exercise 1s not mrutibent upon Jehovah: that all that rnnld be asked or expected of him would be simDlc ln\tirc. and some might be reY&l,v to claim that for God to eternallv torment these forty-seven thousand millions passed by w&Id be in strict accord with justice. This we denv ILe claim that having the poller to create mankind would not justify their creation if the Creator saw that the result would be the everlasting torture of a single creature. Justice would sav that power is not to be exercised to the injury of anoth<r, and that to exercise the creative power under such foreknown conditions would be injustice. And wisdom attuned to justice would say, Better a thousand times never to have created anybody than to have created one being to suffer unjustly eternally. This statement, dear friends, is a fair, imparlial statement of the poq)el accorfling to our beloved brother, John Calvin, ant1 those who subscribe to the Westmin?ter Confrssinn, ant1 their alliec. This surely is not the gospel of which tile .4portle Paul. in our text, declared. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. Paul would assuredly have been

[ 25941

MARCH

15 AND APRIL

1, 1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER
and love:
WITHOUT

(85-86) of any other we must

DIFFERENCE

ashamed of such a Gospel, and so are al1 true Christians, who have the true spirit of love and iustlre,-none more so, nerhaps, than thoqe who unfortunately, through circum&a&es of birth, etc., and hitherto without realizing what it meant. have been lending their name and influen:e to -this greai blasphemy against the divine character.
THE ARMINIAN VIEW OF THE GOSPEL

divine justice ashamed.

DISTINCTIONS

needs be

PRACTICAL

Let us nom examine the Arminian view. This view is growing popular. Its message or gospel is, God is love-he loves ~011; he loves evervbodv: he is doinP all that he can to snre everybody ; if youareibst it will lot be Gods fault, but your own. On the surface, at least, this theory seems much more loving and much more just than the one-already examined, but before we PO far we will also find it verv defective, v&v far from heini either a reasonable or a Scripiurai Go\pei. \Ve will find it inconsistent with its own statement-ilioglcai. For instance, while it sounds nice theoretirally to say that God is doing ail that he can do to save the whole world at the present time, everybody knows that this 19 not true; that on the rontrarv you or I or any other intelligent human heing if posses&l of the one-thbusandth part- of the divine Dower and wisdom could sneediiv accomniish the evanpeiiza&on of the whole world. g-or will it do-to sdy that Ggd has committed hlmseif to a certain mode of procedure through his church, and that if the church fails to contribute with su& cient liberality both money and evangelists the heathen will not hear of the only name given under healen or amongst men whereby we must he saved, but will go to eternal torment, etc. heither will it do to say that-Gnd is doing ail that he can do and is hammered bv the lack of interest in the church ; because his wisdom and foreknowledge foresaw ail thesr conditions as they are, and he could not justly be excusrd from the real responsibility of the matter, since he is the Creator, and in him is vested the all-power as well as the ail-wisdom. Surh a claim as this would he tantamount to snylng that God has erred in wisdom when he thought to leave the ronrersmn of the world to the church, seeing that the churc~h has not arcompiished this. Such a claim would he merely excusing God from doing ail that he can do, instenti of showing that he is doing ail that he can do. But let us look more critically into this matter. If this view NC are rliticising is correct, if God is doing ail that he can to save the wnrid, and if he has been doing this during ail the past ngeq, then without question the worlds conversion is a hopeie~s thing, and we can never expect to see better results than at preqent. This theory presupposes a race or battle het\\ren the Almighty and Satan, each seeking to capture the hmmnn family, and to the discredit of the theory it s11ow~ Satan the victor thus far. Starting out with one pair, both on the Lords side, the first 1656 y&rs ended with a flood in which the whole wnrid of mankind waq hlntted nut hecnltse of n-icketlne<s, and oniv eight personr reckonccl suficiently I lylltenny to be preserved. Startin,? again with those eight 1~1hnnb csountetl sutliclently rightroils for preservation, n-e fit111 that thele are in the world todav sixtrc,n hundred ni~llion~. ;~ntl tllat nut of that whole numb& thc,Ir are about one huntllc~ti I:aillions nominal Roman Catholic, anti one hlnrlllc ti millions nominal Protestants aml a very much ~m:~ll~~r nuttlbet of true saints of God. \\hat would he the lesson from this if t!l~ Arminian theory tse ~ortrct, that God is doing ail that he can do to save the 1;orid? The lesson would he>that with all his good intentions of lore and mercy our God is thoroughly incapable of the work he lmdertook to do. And if theqe arc the results in sic thousantl years, what could we hope for in the future? How many hundrecis of millions of vears would it he before the whole woEid would be converted? . We answer that according to statlstlcs it would never he, for statistic+ show that the natural inrrease of population throughout the world is far, far beyond the l)roportion of even nominal conversions from heathcndom. Indeed, according to some good reckonings, the percentage of Christians every vear is decreasing. the births bf heath& i,~n~ls so far outnl;miermg the hirths=Af Christian lands-even countmg ail the children horn in Christendom as Christians. Js any (?lrictinn. in view of the%e facts, prepared to claim that nllr (n:l 112s hecn doing all that he could do for the conversion of the world? If so. that Christian mav as well write upon 111shopes at once the word Irhahotl. if we saw that the Cairinistic view magnifies the wisdom and power of God at the expeme of his justice and iovc, ne find on the other hand that the Arminian view magnifies the love of God at the expense of his wisdom and power. lhc true Gospri must show divine wisdom and power in full accord with [2595]

But, my dear friends, we may as well now as at any time concede that there is comparatively little difference in the outcome of these two popular Protestant Gospels-the difference is merely a theoretical one respecting how the results The results themselves are the same in are to be reached. both cases-the eternal doom and torment of over fortvFor our Arm&seven thousand millions of human creatures. ian friends no less than Calvinists agree that there is no salvation aside from faith in Christ. the oniv name given: and they admit also that of those whobeiieve in Chri$ only the sanctified are of the real church: and their Gospel is also that only the real church is to he saved and that ail others are to he eternally and most horribly tormented;-some claim in literal flames, others say by the torments, and gnawing of conscience and remorse, which they proceed to say will be Vorhe than the literal flame.-and \\e respond, If worse, so much worse for the argument. Ail surely agree as respects thece two theories or Gospels held out to the wnlid bv Protestant Christendom that it would make no differen& to the forty-seven thousand miilions, whether they go into that awful state of hopeless woe h? divine predestination and lack of lore and justice, or by divine incapacity and lack of foreknowledge and proper arrangements. We believe that no true Christian will be readv .~, after examining the subject thus far to say that he fully apDroves either of these theories. and that he is not ashamed of both of them.
CONSIDER NOW THE TRUE GOSPEL

Let us now proceed to examine what is the true Gospel, presented to us in the Word of God-the Gospel of which the Apostle was not ashamed. The word gospel itself should he the clue--should save the intelligent Christian from belnrr misled bv the various theories of bad titling5 of great mi&v for neaily nil people, miscalled gospel. He who thinks it good news that one out of a thousand of the human family is to be saved and the remaining QQQ to be cterna!ip tormented, is either not a Christian at ail, or he is decidedly undeveloped in Christian character, in mercy, in love. in iustire. In our oninion he is at most only a bibe in Christ &ho has need firstLof the milk of the Korti and subscauentlv of the stronrr meat thereof. that he may grow up into Christ in ail thing;, and be able td romprehend with ail saints the lengths nnd breadths and heights and depths of the love of God which passeth all understanding -Eph. 3: 18, 19. When occasionally we come across some ono who wives evidence of being a Christian, and who still entertains zuch horribly blasphemous views respecting the Heavenly Fathers rh:,rac,ter, we feel like quoting to him the Lords words thl rmz!l tle 11nphet, 311 T\av% are n+ as vniir w3v$, nor lli J tllnll~lltr 33 vniir tllnught~, for ;I< the hc~:~vc;,~ are hirrh~~r thnn thr rarth so arc ntp \vapR ilrgller 111,111 vnur wavs and m,v plans higher than your plalls. (Tsa 55d.Q) A& part of our ohiect in this disrnur?c, dear frirndc, iq to have thpse. whose eyes are anointecl of the T,nrd. that ti1c.v mav see qpirituai thinjis. dinrern snme of the J>nrds hi~hrr w:>vd and hipher plans whlcsh he preqents to us in his Word under the name Gncpei-good tidings.
NOT UNIVERSAL

Thr -4posthb hnn~l to Abrnham, l~eforc~l~antl ilgnifv1ng t)efore it \vns due to begin: for the Gospel tliti not h+n I\ it11 ~2bti3hilm, hut 11 it11 nui T.ortl .J~ws Christ, as th(l &41)ostle ag;iiu (irrinrcs this snlvati~~n l)ec;rn to 1~ tltcl,iretl 1)~ 011r J,ortl :,nYl ,,-a: ronfirn~etl ul:tn 11:hl, them that heard 111m. (ITPl) 2.7) Ali that ever vent h(bfnrr our T,ords prc:jrhinK w<~r: not the GOSpel. hut merely typecs and nrotnIs*Y whirl1 fm~+hntln\\r(l it. I>(+ us notire nr\-t 11lint. 7rcnrtll,,g to 11~ Apn5tlc, ron~titlltecl thl.4 fnre\t:tcmrnt of the Gocpcl to Ahrnham; hca S:IVS that it waq mitr~hc~! in thr wor(l9. ln tI1c.e :Ind 111t1lv scac~lshall all nationi: 1~ I~icr~rtl ((:a1 2.16. 2!1) Xotc tlils r.3rrfuitv: it tlnc-, not .a\, Tn thy se,~l shall onr nut of a thnux:lntl o\lt of the flmilie3 of the enrtll 1~ hir~sc~i, an11 the remaintier he doomed to nn intlr~scrihnhly horribir eternitv, but that the ~holr Gnqpei ia a Gospel of hics4ng, nppiirahle to nil the families of the ralth-through Christ, the true seed of Abraham. When our Lnr(l .Jesus was horn into the \\.orld, the Heavenly Father sent a messsge respecting him, and the angels nho hore that mesage declared that it was a Gospel message. Let us hearken to what the angels said about the pternai

SALVATION BUT A UNIVERSAL OPPORTUNITY FOR SALVATION tells 114 that God l)reachrtl the Gnrprl bcfore-

of the vast ma~o1it.v of our race. They said to the [gospel] IJf B?hol~l \\ 6? bring Toi1 good tidings glext joy. which shall 116~ unto all peoplr. ( TJuke 2: IO) Let It bc tlibtmctly notetl that the Gospel of tlic angels, like tlltb (:ospcl communicated to Abraham. contams no reference to the damnation and eternal misery of any of the Lords neat.rirea. and that consequently our friends of the Salvation Army and nthcrs ~110 in ignorance preach damnation and call It the Gospel. i11C doing so in utter violation of the meaning of the ~ortl and of the uses of that word throughout the V ilpt.urcq. JInwcrer well they mtr mean, they are 1n this (1tainly r~lmiilittiiig a wrong. n grievous wrong, and 11 long e IO ice the li,:ht, of the knowled~c of the goodness of God slime Into their hrart* ant1 rclicrc them of this blindness; wlllch gonies not from (:r~d nor from his Kortl, but from the piince
dW?pllCTdS. c:t ~l:lllill~~,~.---) ((l1.. 4: 4.

tor,omt

the next age. the ~Iillenmum. the whole world alli be brought. to a knowledge of the way of righteousness and love and peace, and will see the divine law in prartlcal nperation, and witness its beneficent results in all those who will come into harmony with the great Mediator. Thus mankind learns the lesson of evil and its consequences first in the present life, and the lesson of righteousness and its blessed results under divine providence, in the Millennium ; and when thus fully eqmpped with knowledge by the Royai on both sides of the question and instructed Priesthood. (the completed and glorified elect Gospel church), mankind will be ready for the tests, that will be applied by the Lord *Jesus. under which the ohedient and faithful will be granted full perfection and eternal life. and the disobedient and incorrigible will be destroyed from amongst the people. -Acts 3 ~22. 23.
IF YE BE CHRISTS, THEN ARE HEIRS YE ABRAHAMS SEED ANL

It ~111 rrclnile all tlrc hllllenninl a,or: (which is to follow ~III- Gospel ape in whic.li we live) to bless all the families or 111~earth with the inrfnl knnwledee of divine grace in Christ. 111st L;Osurelv :IS tll;b fortv--even thousand mill&ns went down 11110Il(*ntll 1; ithollt IIC:~Iin,~ of Ille Savionl, wvlthout cnmm:: TII I ( 1cn1 I,iio~~l~~tl~:c~ thr triith. 11 of lthout the good tidingttf ~w:it iov rcntliin~ their cars.-inht hn surely must they all message of ~WRIC~ forill. from th& grave that tiii< very Go&l ~ootl tltlin~h mar JJP declared to them. and that thev mar 1,;. tc~.irtl t,;;,, ,Slb\ n,1,1 ,~itlivr h :Icccpted to eternal 1ifcor cl;,t 1n?-cd a+ unworthy of life, in the second death. We say Iuct ,o hnrelv. for three reasons fh illliloiili(.cJiiCiit of tlicx Gospel to Xbraham says. il/ III thy* ~~(1 hl1,111a11 tlro f,lrnillca% of tbr earth be blessed. .1nt1 all of these forty-se\en thousand millions belong to this t la*+ sperified. the families of the earth-and they hare not ! rbt !JWn lllessed with this knowlctlge of the Only name where111i> the blessing. (L ) 7hC H:lk iS trllc of thr meSSage )Jy the angelS,the zond tidinos of treat inc 15 for all neonle, and these fortrWV& thousal;; miilinns oi humanity age surely the greit hl11k Of all pCYJpk? , .4 I \\ c i11c sure that thii tc~htiniony must be given to 111tllcb future because the Srriptural declaration is that ill,*m ( III i<t tlictl fo;- the ungodly: he tasted death for every miln. :~nd as n consequence ercry man must have an opporalid Of availtltnit\ glnntctl him for henefitin, cr hy tJJ;lt tkath, ITI,~ liimsclf of IJlr Ijrivilrpe of rtrrnnl life \\hich was sernred II\/ ,111r 1,nrds ransom sacriiire.
DID CHRIST DIE FOR THE OHURCH ONLY?

i{nt some one wonld perhaps say, Christ died only for thr ~1n4 of t,llca churn+ and not for the sins of the world. and con.eclllentJv the sins of the world rannot be forgiven them. We iin;wclr. So; the Scriptural declaration mo& positively is that .lcsuq Christ by the grarr of God tasted death for every And, additionally, the man. t n be testified in tine time. Ano-tlr hays. ITe is a nronitiation rsatisfactionl for our lthe chur~11sl bins. ant1 not for ours only, but also for the iins of the ~holc* world.1 ,Jnhn 2:2. \\%at could he plainer than this? If the price for the .~US of thr u-hnl(L -\\nrltl 1~1s bren paid to Justice, we may rest well assured thnt .Justice will furnish opportunity througil the Redeemer wherehv all these whose sins were atoned for may come to a knowl&e of Christ. and to an opportunity of arcepting divine grace through him. But Pome one will say. Why should God adopt a plan whlrh would necrssitatr i re&rection of the dead, an^d a no&-resurrection trial for rtemal life exceDt for all the elect ;hurch of this Gospel age? WC answer.-- ( 1 I Tt is not for us to inquire why the Lord adoPts certain n1a11s which differ from those which our Poor fIni& minds might arrange for him: rather it is for us to acknowledee that our wisdom is insufficient on such a subiect and that & should corn, humbly to the Lord to hear fromhis Word whatever he may be pleased to inform us respecting his (2) As a matter of fact onlv those who approach nurpnscs. ihe*question from this standpoint need 6xpect to see tlie truth with all saints the lenptbs and breadths or to romnrchend and heights and drpths of tbcb love of Go;.--Eph. 3:18; 1 (nr. 2:12 God has been pleasrtl. however. to reveal to us some of 111s rea<ons for arranging his plan as we see it. He assures us of his full wiqdnm and powcar to manage every featurr of his own work according to his own good pleawre, assuring w that he knows the rnd from the buginning, and that thi ( ntl will fullv lllqtlfv ev(rv strl) that hr has t,akcrI. IIis Llrrrtl. no I&s than nl,srr~ation . shnwq us that, dunng all lhcsrs six thousand yrars the world has been getting a l&son resnertme the csrcedinr sinfulness of sin and it9 waees of
1 ,

Bnother matter, reallv the kev to the wholr oucstlon which we are dlscussmg, 1s re&alcd in Gods Word. 117 . that in the divine purpose the nromised Seed of Abraham that should perfor& tile great aork of blessing all the families of the earth, is to be one, in the sense of one kind, hut not in the sense of one person-that is to say, that the seed of ,\blah~~l~~ consists of .Teaus Christ the Head, and of the church which I. thr body. Sot the nominal or professing church. lout the true c%iircli. whose names are written in heaven. ant1 who walk in the footsteps of their Lord, and are found faithful unto d&11, and shall be granted with their J,nrtl the crown ni life. This Gospel age intervening between the time of the ertwt sin offering and tile time whe; the blessing of earths lliiiiorlwill commence, God has set apart for the work of selcctlnr or electing the body of Christ, the church. the bride, the little flock, the royal priesthood, the Joint heirs wltli Christ in his kingdom. These, like their Head. ale c.alled wltll a high calling, a heavenly Cillli~l~, nil,1 the snlvntion 1)) ovlded for them is higher than that which Go11 1)nrpow< tot the world in general. He is selectine thic; littlr flock and trying them &d proving them, fittigg them and pollshinE them for the heavenly kingdom, and it is to these, as thth Apostle *Peter declares, God has given excecdine great and precious promises [far beyond aiy promises g&en to an\ other of his creatures1 that bv these lnromiscsl me mielit become partakers of tl;e divineYIlatllre,knd join&he&s \v?th calling in conhis Son. This is deuomiuatcd a. heavenly trast with the rarthlv salratiou intended for whn3ocl-er ~111 in due time. This true view of the calling and election of tltc church is another feature of the Gospel. If it is splendid, good ne\\ 5 to know that ultimately all families of the cart11 are to 1~ blessed with opportunities for salvation through the Christ, it is still an additional feature to the good news to know that God has invited us to become members of the Christ company. members in particular of the body of Christ. Xo wonder the Apostle calls this our high calling, our *heavenly calling: it is to the attainment of this great prize that the 4postle exhorts all the fait,hful to lay aside evrry wright and ever-y besetment and to run with patience the race set before us in the Gospel, looking unto Jesus, the anthor, until he shall have become the finisher of our faith. This is the true Gospel, dear friends. the one xv-e find set forth in the Scriptures, set forth by Paul himself, and of which he was not ashamed. This Gospel showy the character of our Creator in a most wonderful light.-hia wisdom, able to discern the end from the beginning; his power, able to accomplish that which he pleases; his justice, squaring every feature of the plan from first to last, according to the most absolute features of righteousness; his love, whose lengths and breadths and heights and depths we have not yet been able to explore; a love which sympathizes with his creatures in their fallen estate; a love which provided a Saviour, and a great one; a love which prompted that Saviour to give his life as our ransom price; a love which met all the requirements of divine justice for us; a love which still pursues mankind, and in this Gospel age calls us to ioint heirshiu with his Son in a nature and kinidom far above angels, pr&ipalities and powers, of which the Apostle says: Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the SOIIR of God. This divine love, still pursuing its original plan for mans salvation, will use the elect glorified house of sons, of which Christ Jrsus is the Head (Eph. 1:22). in blessing all families of the earth with full opportunity of knolvledge and full assistance up the highway of holiness (Isa. 35:8) that so man7 aq ~111 mn,v attain to ~r~titntinn to :111that was lost in

~14ltcn

15 Ah

,fPRIL

1900

ZlOXS
with God through
GOSPEL

W.4TCH
the

TOWER

IRSWI

.4dam ivy coming back into harmony great Mediator.-Acts 3 : 19-23.

NONE NBED BE ASHAMED

Verily, dear friends, of this Gospel we arc not ashamed. for it is the power of Gnd unto salvation to creryone that bel~cveth. It has in our hearts a trnnqformrng and renewing [OMcr, a sanrtifying powel \\hicll no (1101 c.nuld possibly have. and which all the theories of ctcrn:\l torment ha\c never equaled and never will. Let us more and more ~110~ fol tll the plni~es of our God, who bntb called us out of darkness into his marvelous light, by renouncing all God-dishon01irg (.rwds and tlirorieq, ant1 instratI linl(1 forth the Wortl of life, and witness the good confession--the good tidrnps cut great joy whirh hhnll he to all pcopl~.

OF THE

TBUE

patience. mc~ekIle4b) fo1. strange to ~av. tllca,v iv111 find bitlcr opposition from proicsscd servants if the 1.01tl \5110 h;~vt* been blinded and prejudiecd 1)~ Satans Inisrc~IJrcsclitntions of the Gospel.-+ which he seeks to d~ire from the J,ord all wllo have a Iemnant of reiiqon in tlrcir religious thinking. All uho have eari to hear. and HIIO tlo hear tllcb true Gosprl. ~$111quickly d1stmgwsh it from the mlsernblc counterfelts whlc~h for FO long hare passed cvrwnt among Gods penpIt> I&. all such remember that ability to hear i3 an evit1twc.c of tl~\inc favor. and let them not bc :~shnmerl. lwt xlnrlfy (2nd on this behalf. Let such remember. alsn, that thclr ac~c~cptanc~f~ nf truth aq due, in the fucc of nnpopularit~, 1. a part of their tc+tmg. The Lord puts his plan. his Word. ac: 111src~pre+nt:l tive

WHAT

SAY THE SCRIPTURES CONCERNING HELL?

1)~ almost fr,intlc In tllcoir eflorts to I(~Y~II( thr p~~~.llilr; The plain inferrncc 1s that t1lc.y do not belie\-c It. l% only class of people that to any degree show their faittk in It hp their works is the Salvation 4rmy; and thCsc are the sub Jccts of ridicule from almost alI other Christians, brcau~ they are somewhat consistent with t,heir helief. Yet their prciilinr. and often absurd, methods. 50 strikingl,v in contrast t\itlt those of the Lord of whom it was written, HP shall not rry. nor lift up. nnr cause his voice to bc heard iii tllcb ~trret ( 15.1 42:2), are very mild compared with what might be expected if thev were fully ronvinced of the tloctrinct. \Ve cannot lmagiie how sincere believers of this terrible doctrine go from da? to day about the ordinary affairs of life, or meet quietI> in elegance every Sunday to hear an casny from the pulpIt on the peculiar subjects often advertised. Could they do 50 while, really believing all the time that fellow mortal:: :~rc tlying at the rate of one hundred a minute. and *zntcring That lone land of deen desnnir. n-11~(1 So God regnrds thei; bitier prayer9 Tf they really bclieced this few saints could conip~tcentl~ sit there and think of those hurrying every moment Into that awful state described by that. good, well-meaning, but great11 deluded man, Isaac Kattn (whose own heart was immcasru ably warmer and larger thRn that lie nsrril~rtl 10 tluh groat .Jehovah~, when he wrote the hymnTempests of angry fire shall roll To blast the rebel worm. .lnd beat upon the nakrd soul In one eternal storm. People often become frantic with grief whc~ friel& IIRW I~en c31iglit 111sonic terrible cntastropl;e, as a fin r. or a wrrck. though they know they will soon be reliered by death: yet they pretend to believe that God is less loving than themselves. and that he can look with indifference. if not with deli,&t. at billion4 of his creatures rnduring :,I, eternity of torture far more terrible, which hc prepare- for them and prevents any escape from forever. Tot only sn. but they expect that they will get literally into .\l~r,~li:~m~ bosom, and will then look xrross the gulf and WC and IWW the agoniec of thr multitudes (some of whom they non- lnrr and wceyr over) : ant1 thcp imagine that they will hr 40 clinnpetl, and hecome w like their present idea nf Cotl, so hardened a&inqt all pity. and so barren of lore an11 synipntliy. that they will delight in such a God and in such a plan. It is wondrrful that otherwise sensible men and wome~~. 11Ii0 lore their frllow9, and 11 establish liospitnls, ho orpllnliages. nsvlums, and societies for the prercntinn of cruelty even to the brute creation, are so unbalanced mrntnlly that the\ :I doctrinr. and yet br so can believe and subscribe to mrh indifTelciit about investigating it5 authority! Only one exception &n WC?think of-those Mho hold the ultra-Calvinistic doctrine: who believe that God has &weed it tlrlts. that all the rffdrts they could put forth could not alter the result with a single person; and that all the prayers they could offer would not change one iota of the awful plan they believe God has marked out for his and their eternal pleasure. These indeed could sit still. so far a4 effort for their fellows is concerned: hut why sing the p&ises of such a scheme for the damnation of their neighbors whom God haq told them to love as thrmsrlves9 \vby not ratbrr hrgin to doubt this doctrine of devils, this l,la~pllen1~ :l~:litlst the grrat God, hatched in the dark a~~;. n hcsn :I cr.lfty Inirsthnnd tau:bt that it i+ right to do rvil that good mnr rr5iilt 9

A corlcct understanding of this slll,ject hcls become almost a necessity to Christian steatlfar;tnc~ss. For centuries it has been the teaching of orthodoxy, of all shades, that God. before creatinc man. had crrated it great abyss of fire and terrors, capable of dontaining all thg billions of the human family which he purposed to bring into being; that this abyss ht. bat1 named 11~11 : and that all of the nromisrs and tlireatIWI~~S nf tbc 13il)le wele designed to deter&as many as pos;ibltB ( :I little flock) from such wrong-doing as would make this :~\rful place their perpetual home As knowledge increases and superstitions fade, this monstrous view of the divine arrangement and character is losine itq force: and thinking people rannot but disbeliere the iigend, which used to be %st&ed on the church walls 111the hinlreqt dezrcr of art and realism. samples of which _ Some now claim ihat the place are still to he seenTin Europe. is literal. but the fire svmbolic, etc., etc., while others rein ercrv sense and degrecb. I~~ldintc tlicb tloctrinc of hell \\-llile zlatl to qce sunrrstitions fall, a& truer ideas of the great, And wise, and j;lst, and loving Creator prevail, we are alarmed to notice that the tendcncv with all who abandon is toivard doubt, skepticism. this lonf revered doctrine infidelity. TVhy should this be the case, when the mind is merely IIcing dclircrctl from an error:-do xou ask? Because ChrisI i:lri pcoplc llil\ c so long been taught that the foundation fol thi. awful blnsphcm~ against Gods character and government 1s deep-laid, and firmly fixed, in the Word of God-the Bible -arid. consequently, to whatever degree thnt belief in hell I+ shaken. to that extent their fait11 in the Bible, as the I c.v(llatiou OF the true God, iq shaken also ;--SO that thos(* who have dropped their belief in a hell of some kind of (lndless torment, are often open infidels, add qroffers at Gods Word. Guided bv the Lords providence to n realization that the l3ible has bien slandered, as well as its divine Author, and that. rightly understood, it teaches nothing on this subject derogatory to Gods rharartar nor to an intelligent reason, we will nttempt to lav bnre the Scripture teaching on this suhiret,, Illat *thereby faith tn God -and his Wor;l may bc reestablished. in thb heart.4 of his Deople. on a better, a rcasonTndeed, it is o& opinion that whoever shall able foundition. hereby find that his false view rested upon human misconceptions and misinterpretations. will, at the same time. learn to trust hereafter le& to his own and other mens imaginings. and, by faith, to grasp more firmly the Word of God, which is able to make wise unto salvation. That the advorates of the doctrine of rternnl torment have little or no faith in it is verv manifest from the fact that it has no power over their rdhrse of action. l\hile all the denominitions of Christendom sustain the doctrine that eternal torment and endless. honeless despair will constitute the punishment of the wickkd, ihey arc rhostly quite at case in allowing tile wicked to take their (nurse. while they pursue Chiming hells and pealing t,he even tenor of their way. organs. artistic chnirs, and costl,v rdif%~c. and upholstered prws. and polished oratory whirl] mnrr and more avoids any reference to this alarming theme. afford rest and entertainment, to fashionable conp?egatinns that gather on the Lords dnv and are known to the world as churche4 of Christ and But they Feem little conre&esmtatives of his doctrines. ceined nhniit, thr eternal wrlfnrc of the muititudes, or even of themqclves and their own farnil&. thou,oh one would naturally
IrI44

[25971

:89-91)

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

ALLEGHENY

PA.

The doctrine of eternal torment was undoubtedlv introducecl by Papacy to induce pagans to Join her and *support her s.vsteni. It flourished at the same time that bull finhts and ~ladlatorial contests were the public amusements Gist enjoyed ; when the Crusades were called 1~01~ wars, and when men and women were called heretics and were often slaughtcrecl for thinkmg or speaking contrarv to the teachlngs of the Papacy; at a time when- the sun-of gospel truth n as obseurc ; when the Word of God had fallen mto disuse and waq prohihited to be read by any but the clergy, whose love of their neighbors was often shown in torturing heretics to induce them to recant and deny thrlr faith and their Bibles -to save them, if possible, th6y esplained, from the more awful futilre of hcr&ics.-eternal toI ture. Thev did not borrow this doctrine from the heathen, for no heathen people in the \\orltl hare a tloctrine so cruel. 90 fientlish and so unll1.t. Flntl it. T\hocvrr can, nn(l show It up in all its blackness. that. if possit,le. it ma! 1~ qho\rn that tile essence of hnrl)ai iim, malice. hate and un~ofllincss has not been exC*lllSl\C4> :lpl)ie~iatetl lo\- those \;,hnm Got1 has mnqt hi&& faxoretl with light from everv quarter, and to whom he ha\ ronirr~lttrtl the nnlr oracle-l;is \Inrtl. Oh! the shame and rnnfii<inn that will cover thf* fncrq of man-v, even good men, xlln vc~l~lr thought thnt they t11d Got1 service while propagnt:n:: tltiq l~l:~s~~hcmnus tlnrtrinc. when thev awake in the rc~urrc~rtinii. to learn of the love and justice of God, and n hcbn tltcay rnme to know that the Bible does not teach this Gotl-tllsllnnnnn,rr, love-extinguishing, truth-heclouding, sainthindrring, sinner-hardening, damnable heresy of eternal torment.-2 Pet. 2 : 1. But me repeat that, in the light and moral development of this day, sensible people do not believe this doctrine. However, since they think that the Bible teaches it, every step they progress in real intelligence and brotherly kindness, wlilch hlntlrrs belief in eternal torment, is in most cases a gtrp away from Gods word, which is falsely accused of being the authority for this teaching. Henre the second crop of rvil fruit, which the devils engraftment of this error is produring. is skenticism. The intelligent. honest thinkers are thus ilriren frdm the Bible into vainDhiiosonhies and sciences. fnlsc,ly \n-rnllrd, and into infidelity.Nor -do the worldlv renllv believe this doctrine. nor is it a restraint to crinie. for convicts ant1 the lower classes are the firmest believers in it. But, says one, Has not the error done some good? Have not nlnnT been broll_rrht into the churches bv the meaching of I this dortrine in thspast? Xo prior, we answer, ever did real good, but alwavs harm. Those nllnrn rirnr bring< into a chluc;, and whom {he truth would not move, are an iniurv to the church. The thousands terrorized, hut not at he& converted, which this doctrine forced into Papacy, and whirh swelled her numbers and her wealth. diluted what little truth was held before, and mingled it \\~th their unholv sentiments, ant1 errors 80 that. to meet the changed condition of things. the clrrev C.. found it needful to ndderror to error, and resorted to methods, forms, etc., not taught in the Scriptures and useless to the truly converted whom the truth controls. Amono these were nictiirrq . . images, beads, vestments, candles, irand cathedrils, altars, etc., to help the unconverted heathen to a form of gndlineSs more nearly corresponding to their fnrm& heathen wor<hip. hut larking all the power of vital pntlliness. Tlltk heathen were not henefiled. for thrv were still heathen in Gods sight, but deluded into aping what thpv did not nntlc~r~tnnd or do from the heart. They were nddbd t7res. < to choke the whent, without being profited themselves. T11c T,nrtl tells who snwcd the sped of this ennrmnus crop. (hfatt. 13:3n,. The same is true of those who acsurne the nnmr Chri4ian tndav. whn are nnt renllv st hrart rnnrerted by thr truth. hut merely frightened hv the error, or allured bv promised earthly ncl;antnFcs of a &is1 or huqincsq kind. Snrh add nothing to the true rhurrh: hv their idraq and manners they become stnmblinn hlorks to the* trulv ronserratctl. ant1 hv thrir innl)illtv to tlirrrst the truth. the real fond of the saints, thev !~rl eren the few t,iur pastors to drfrant! the true sheep in nldcr to satisfy tlif demands of these gnn ts for somethinn pleaqinrr to thrir unconverted tnntP% No: in no way llnq this &or arrompli4~ed good e.urrpt in the sense that God is ahlr to make eyen the wrath of An to praise him. So also he mill orrrrnle this evil thing evenrually to serve his lmrpnqes. When hv and hv all men (during the Millennium) shall come to SW thronnh this prent dercpt!nn by which Satan has blinded -the w&Id to Grids true character, it will perhaps awake:1 in them a wnrmer, stronger love for God. Seeing, then, the unreasonableness of mans view, let us

lay aside human opinions and theories and come to the Word of God, the only authority on the subject, remembermg that God is His own Interpreter, and He will make it plain.
HELL, AS AN ENGLISH WORD

In the fir\t l)lnc~ bent in mind that the Old Testament Scriptures were \;ritten in the Hebrew language, and the hew Testament in the Greek. The word hell is an English word sometimes selected by the translators of the Er,gllsh Bible to expre5is the sense of the Heblew word sheol ant1 the Greek and gehcIlna,-somctitnes rendered words. hades, turtaroo grave and pit. in old English usage, before Papal The word hell theologians picked it up and gave it a new and special significance to suit their own purposes, simply meant to conceal, to lizde, to corer: hence the co?lceuled, htdden or co~retl plncc. In nltl Englihh literature records mag be found of the 71cllt,lg of potatoes-putting potatoes into pits: and of the 7Lc7Zing of a house-covering or thatching it. The word 71clZwas therefore Dronerlv used svnonvmously with the words grave and pit, td trnnslate the w;rds s~col and hndcs as slg:nlfyfvinnc-- the secret or hidden condition of death. Hnwevei. the shame spirit which was willing to twist the word to teriolizc the ignorant is willing still to perpetuate t,hc error ;-presumably saying-Let us do evil that good may follow. If the translators of the Revised Version Bible had been thoroughly disentangled from the Papal error, and thoroughly honest, they would have done more to help the EngIish student than merelv to substitute the Hebrew worcl s7jeoZ and the Greek wordhndes as thev have done. Thev shnuld hare transBut thev were evident& afraid to tell the lated the words. truth, and ashamed to tell the lie; and s6 gave us sheol and hades untranhlated, and permitted the inference that these words mean the same as the word hell has become perverted to mean. Their course. while it for a time shI;ald< themselves. dishonors God and the Bible. which the common Deonle still suppose teaches a hell of torment in the words :hekZ and had&: Yet anyone can see that if it was proper to translate the word sheol thirtv-one times g~avc and three times pit, it could not ha;e been improper to have so translated it in every other instance. A peculiarity to be observed in comparinrr these cases. as we wiil do shoitly, is that in those teits where the torment idea would be an absurditv the translators of the Kine James version have used the w&ds grave or pit; whil: in all other cases they have used the-word hell- and the reader, lone schooled in the Papal idea of torment. reads the word hill and thinks of it as signifying a pIa& of torment. instead of the grave, the hidden or covered place nr condition. For example, compare Job 14: 13 with Psa. 8G: 13. The former read&--Oh, -that thou wouldst hide me in the grave [ sheol], etc., while the latter reads,-*Thou hast delivered m-y soul from the lowest hell [sheol] . The Hebrew word b&g the same in both cases, there is no reason why the same word grave should not be used in both. But how absurd it would have been for Job to have prayed to God to hide him The Enelish reader would have in a hell of eternal torture! asked questions and the secret would heave gotten nut speedily. While the translators of the Reformation times are somewhat excusable for their mental bias in this matter. as thev were just hreaking aw?y from the nld Papal system. 0u.r modern translators, specially those of the recent Revised Version, are not entitled to any such consicleratlon. Theological profeqsnrs and pastors of congregat,ions ronsider that the>; are iustified in followux the course of the revisers in not esnlalning the meaning of Tither the Hebrew nr Greek words sh>oZ or hndes and by their use of the words they albn give their confiding flocks to understand that a place of torture. a lske of fire, is meant. While attributing *to the ignorant only the best of motives. it is manifestlv onlv dunlicitv and cowardice 11 hich indures educated men, who know the truth on this subject, to prefer to continue to teach the error inferentially. But not all ministers know of the errors of the translators and deliberately cover and hide those errors from the people. Manv, indeed, do not know of them, having mrrely accepted, without investigation, the theories of their seminarv professors. It is the professors and learmsd ones who ar; host hlnmcworthy. These hare kept back the truth ahout hell for several reasons. First, there is cvidertlv a sort of understnm1in.q or etiquette among them, that if they wish to maintain their standing in the profession thev must not tell tales ant of school; i. e., they must not di&lge professional secrets to the common people; the laity. Second, they all fear that to let it be known that they have been teaching an unscriptural doctrine for years would break down the popular respect and reverence for the clergy, the denominations and
Y . I .,

[2698J

illARCH

15 AND JIPRIL 1, 1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOlVER

o-93,

dOIll.

the theological schools, and unsettle confidence in their misAnd, oh, how much denends upon confidence and reverence for men; when Gods Word fs so generally ignored ! Third. thev know that manv of the members of their sects are not const;ained by the l;ve of Christ (2 Cor. 5: 14), but merrlv bv the fear of hell, and thev see clearly, therefore, that to let- the truth be known now wo&l sonn cut loose the names and the dollars of many in their flocks; and this, to those who desire to make a fair show in the flesh (Gal. 6: 12) would seem to be a great calamity. But what will be the judgment of God, whose character and plan are traduced by the blasphemous doctrine which these untranslated words help to support? Will he commend these unfaithful servants? Will he justify their course? Will the Chief Shepherd call these his beloved friends, and make known to them his further plans (John 15:16) that they may misrepresent them also to preserve their own dignity and reverence 7 Will he continue to send forth things new and old, meat in due season, to the household of faith, by the hand of the unfaithful servants? No. such shall not continue to be his mouthpiece or to shepherd his flock. (Ezek. 34:R. 10) He will choose instead, as at the first advent, from among the laity- the common people,,-mouthpieces, and will give them words which none of the chief priests shall be And, as foretold, able to gainsay or resist. (Luke 21:15) the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.-Isa. 29:9-19. HELL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT The word hc~ll, occurs thirty-one times in the Old Testament. and in evcrv instance it is slzeol in the Hebrew. It does not mean a lake-of fire and brimstone, nor anything at all not in the slightest dfglec! Quite resemb!ing that thought: the reverse : instead of a place of blazing fire it is described in the context as a state of darkness (Job. 10:21) ; instead of a nlace where shrieks and groans arc heard, it is described in thk rontext as a place of silence,, (Psa. 115: 17) ; instead of representing in anv sense pain and suffering, or remorse, the eontext describes it as a place or condition of forgetfulThere is no work, nor device, nor neic. (IM. 88.11, 12) know!edge, in the grare [sheol] whither thou goest.-Eccles. 9:lO. The meaning of s7~~1 is the hidden state, as applied to mans condition in death, in and beyond which all is hidden, errept to the eye of faith; hence, by proper and close association, the word was often used in the sense of gmre-the tomb, the hidden place, or place beyond which only those who have the enlightened eve of the understanding can see resurrection, restitution of being. And be it particularly noted that this identical word she02 is translated grave thirty-one times and pit three times in our common version by the Sante t,n,Islators--more times than it is translated hell: and twice, where it is translated hell, it seemed so absurd, according to the present accepted meaning of the English word hell, that scholars have felt it necessary to explain in the margin of modern Bibles. that it means grave. (Isa. 14 :I)) and Jonah 2 :2.) In the latter ease, the hidden state, or grave. was the belly of the fish in which Jonah was buried alive, and from which he cried to God. ALL TEXTS IN WHICH SHEOL IS TRANSLATED HELL (1) ~1mos 9:2-Thouah thcv dip into haJT, thence shall cxpre+ion; but cermine hand take them. [A figurative tainlv pits of the earth are the only hells men can d?g into.1 (0) Pss. 16: IO-Thou wilt not leave mv soul iu hell: neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. [This refers to our Lords three days in the tomb.-Acts. 2:31: 3:15.1 (3. 4) &a. 18: 5 and 2 Sam. 22.6--margin.-The cords 1A figure in whirh trouble is of hd comuassed me about. represented as hastening one to-the tomb.3 (5) Psa. 55: 15.- Let them go down quick into hell-margin, the grave. (6) Psa. 9: 17.--The wirked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God, This text will be treated later. under a separate heading. Thou ha& delivered my soul from the (i) Psa. 86:i3.- lowest hell-margin, the grave. (8) Psa. 116 :3.-The sorrows of death compassed me, [ fiickness and and the pains of hell gat hold upon me. trouble are the figurative hands of the grave to grasp us.] (9) Psa. 139:8.-If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. IGods Dower is unlimited: even over those in the tomb he can -and will exert it and bring forth all that are in the graves.-John 5 :28.] (10) Deut. 32:22.- For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn into the lowest hell. [A figurative representa-

tion of the destruction, the utter ruin, of Israel as a nationwrath to the uttermost, as the Apostle called it, Gods anger burning that nation to the lowest deep, as Leeyer here translates the word shwl.-1 Thes. 2: Iti 1 (11) Job 11:8.-It [Gods wisdom] is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell I than any pit] ; what canst thou know? (12) Job 26:6.-ITell [the tomb] is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering. (13) Prov. 5*5.-Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on IzeZZ [i. e.. lead to the grave]. (14) Prov. 7:27.-Her house is the way to 1lelZ [the grave], going down to the chambers of death. (15) Prov. 9:18.--He knoweth not that the dead are there, and that her guests are in the depths FF hell. [Here the harlots guests are represented as dead, diseased or dvmg. and many of the victims of sensuality in premature g&rc~ from diseases which also hurry off their posterity to the tomb.] (16) Prov. 15:11.- Hell and destruction are before the Lord., [Here the gral*e is associated with destruction and not with a life of torment.] (17) Prov. 15:24.-The path of life (lead&h) upward for the wise, that he may depart from hell henenth. [This illustrates the hope of resurrection from the tomb.] (18) Prov. 23:14.-Thou shalt beat) him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell li. e., wise correction will save a child from vicious ways which lead to premature death, and may also possibly prepare him to esrape the csecoml dfuthl. ( 19) Prov. Jk7:20.--Hell [the grave] and destruction are never full: so the eves of man are never satisfied. (20) Isa. 5: Id--Therefore heZZ bath cn!arged herself and opened her mouth without measure. [Here the grace is a symbol of destructio%.l (21, 22) Isa. 14:9, 15.-l?eZZ [margin, grave] from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming. . . . . Thou shalt be brought down to Itell [the grave-so rendered in verse 111. (23) Isa. 57:9.- And didst debase thyself even unto hell. [Here figuratively of deep degradation.1 (24, 25) Ezek. 31:15-17.-In the dav when he went down to the grave, . . . . I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit. . . . Thev also went down into hell with him, unto them that be slain with the sword. [Figurative and prophetic description of the fall of Babylon into destruction, silence, the grave.] (26) Ezek. 32:21.-- The strong among the mighty shalI speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him. [A continuation of the same figure rrpresenting Egypts overthrow as a nation to join Babylon in rlentrrtctio,l-bllried.] (27) Ezek. 32:2i.LAnd thev shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the nneircumrised, whi(sh are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and thcv have laid their swords under their heads; but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mightv in the land of the living. [The grave is ths only heljf, where fallen ones are buried and lie with their weapons of war under their heads.] (28) Hab. 2:5.- Who enlarpeth his decire as hefl [the grave] and as death, and cannot be satisfied., 129, .Torrah 0 : 1, 2 -Then .Tnnnh pray~l unto the ILord his C;od. nut, of thr fishs bellv. ant1 said. T cried 11v reason nf wine affliction unto the Lortl, and Ire> hrnrtl 111~:omit of the bellv of 71cll. rricd 1. and thou heard& mv vnlw * [The brllv of the fish was for a time his ql-cr~.r-w~e mararn.1 (30, 31 ) Isa. 28: 15-1R.-Bc,c,:rl1sl, ye have said, We have mndc a csownnnt with death. and with hell [the grave] are we at agreement; When the orrrflowng wnurze shall nass through, it shall not romc untn IIS, for we h.ivc made Iiesour refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: Therefore; saith the Lord, . . . . Your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell [the grave] shall not stand. IGod thus derlares that the present prevalent idea, by which death and the grave are represented as friends, rather than enemies, shall cease; and men shall learn that death is the wuges of sin, now and that is in Satans power (Rom. 6 :23; Web. 2: 14) and not an angel sent by God.] ALL OTHER TEXTS WHERE SHEOL OCCURS-RENDERED BRAVE AND PIT Gen. 37 : 35.- I will go down into the glace unto my son . Gen. 42 :%S.-Then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the graze. [See also the same expression in [2699)

;4> proof SW the quotato t11e Nehrrw \ro1tl shcol. trons of the Aoostlrs from the Old Testament,, III which the\ For inst,~nce. Acts 2 :27, Thou wilt not render it had&. leave my soul in lia&s, is a quotation from Psa. lli.l(l, Thou &lt not lea\ e my -0~1 in shfol. -41~1 in 1 Cor. 15 :61. T, , Death is s~allo\~t~l up in victor-. .i 0 death, where i-, \vhe~e ;, t!iv victorv? is nli thy bting? 0 grave Llfat/r;l. allusion to Isa. 25:s. He will sw~tllo~ un death in victory. and to Hon. 13: 11, 0 dratl: I wl!l be t!Ly plagues; 0 slrtyol 1 will he thy drstructinn.
esact1y

HELL

FROM

THE

GREEK

WORD

HADES

Xatt.

I1 :23.-And

tlioil,

Capern,ium,

which

al t r.\altcIJ

forth agail) in f:dds due tini<.-- in the morning. Ronl. 5.12, IS. 19 1 Psa. 6 :5.-Jn death there 11 no ~~~rnt~n~lrran~e thee; in of tile r/rave who shall give thee thanks) lsa. 30:3.-0 Lord thou hast brought up my soul from thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go the grave: [This passage cxpressea gratitude for down to the pit. icrovcry from danger of death.] Psa. 3 1 : 17.- Let the wicked be ashamed: Iet them hct -ilent in the gmoe. Pea. 409 14, 15, margin.-Like sheep they are laid in thr VIUW: death shall feed on them: and the unright [the saints -Dan. 7:27] shall have dominion over them in the morning 1the Millennial morning] ; and their beauty shall consume, the qrave being an hahitation to cverv one of them. But God w~llrcdcem my soul from the power of the .g?uq*e. Psa. 8X :3 -WV life draweth nigh unto the UWCW. Isa. 89:48.--Shall he deliver hi< soul from the hand of t!ic qrave? Psa. 141 :7.-Our hones arc scattered at the w-ares
COIII,~

nrtd cpportiinlty the tit? was highly favored: or, figuratl\-cllx c,\\nltrll unto hens en ; olxt becnu.e of inisn~;c of Gods fnvoi . . It. \v~~lll~l hc dcl):lsrd. or, flnuratirely, ~1st tlnuu to 71fldcs. ov~'lthrown, destroyed. It is nom so thoroughly bzcrret? in obliviorl. that evrn the site where it stood is a matter of dls]Utt~ Capcrnnum is certainly destrot/Pd, thrust down to II~~(~s 1 Luke 16:23.-In heZZ he lifted up his eyes, bring III tor[-4 parabolic figure explained further along. uncle1 Sk IllCIitS. separate heading.] Rev 6 :S.-And hehold a pale horse: and his name that [Symbol sat on him was Death, and gle2l followed with him. of destruction or the at-al c.1 Matt. 16: 18.---Upon this rock I will build my church [Although and the gates of 7zpIZshall not prevail against it. bitter and relentless persecution, even unto death, should afflict the churrh during the Gospel age. it should never nrevail to her utter extermination: and eventuallv, by her resurrection accomplished b-y her Lord, the church will pre vail over hades-the tomb ]
1

CHRIST

IN

HELL HELL

(HADES) (HADES-Acts

AND

RESURRECTED 2:l. 14. 22-31

FROM

Prov. 1 : 12.--Let us swalIow them up alive as the grate: :lnd whole, a? thnw that. go down into the pit [i. e., as nf ,I II rarthquakc. :IS in Kum. 16 ..30-3.31. 11ov. 30. 1.5. 16 ---Fc>~lr tiling% <:I!- Ilot, Tt i;: enough : thcb J1).117V. cnti.

I;ori~ of Solomon Iw. 11. 1 l.-'1'11~

8.6.-.Tealousy is rruel ai thr gvure. IWIII~ i? hrourht down to the orflue.

tw tfiitl fln111 llliu( rl (sq. (The Lord did not ransom any from nl:lrr of fiw r111t1 lorment. for thrre is no such nlnce: but :)r tlirl r.~nsoni all ll~;lrlliintl from thr qru,re, from ;lentTL. the 1,(~n.ilt\ l)i f111~1lt lIpon all 1)~ .\d:ini. bin. as this veiie dc* l:ll~~-.) The abnvtl liqt in(~ludes every instance of the use of the Kngli\h word t~ell and the Hebrew word shcol in thr Old it must be evident to all I<~.itnmrnt. From this rxamination readers that Gods revrlations for four thousand years contain not a sincrle hint of a hell. such as the word is now cmderstood to Signify.
J HELL IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

In the New Testament

the Greek word ho&s

corresponds

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, . , . . Peter . . . . lifted up his voice and said. . . . . Ye men of Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved l~ael. hear these words: of God among you, . . . . being delivered bi the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God [He was delivered for our offenses], ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain : whom God hath raised up, having loosed the painq [or bands] of death, because it was not possible that 1~ should be holden of it [for the Word of Jehovah had prc viously declared his resurrection] ; for David speaketh COW rerning him [personating or speaking for him], I [Christ I foresaw the Lord [Jehovah] always before my face; for he ii on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore ditl mv heart reioice, and mv tongue was glad; moreover also nl;\ &bh shall r&t in hope, I&au& thou &It not leave my soul in kell rlra,des. the tomb. the state of death], neither milt thou suffer- thin; Holy One to FCC corruption:. Thou ~Jehnrnh I hast made known to me [Christ] the w;1~s of life. Here (1111 Lord, as personified by the prophrt David, elpresses hi, f,jith in Jehovahs promise of a resurrection and in the full and glorious accomplishment of Jehovahs plan through him, and rcioices in the nrowect. saying-Men and brrtllren. tet mcs Peter then irocieds, treely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried. and his senulcher is with 114 unto this dav [so that this prophecv could not have refrrrctl to hrmseli personally; for Davids soul was left in hell--l&es, the tomb. the state of death-and his flrsh did see corruption] Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him. that of the fruit of hi5 loins according to the flesh. he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. he, seeing this before [prophetically], spake of the resnrrecthe tomb-to which 11~ tion of Christ rout of hell--hndes, must go for our offenses], that his soul was not lpft in llcll 1If&es---the death state], neither his flesh did see corruption Iln~~ Peter presents a strong, logical argument, based on the \I ords of the prophet David---showing first, that Christ, who was delivered bv God for our offenses, went to hell, the grave, the condition of death, destruction (Isa. 16 : 10) and. second, that according to promise he had been delivered from Rrll, the grave, death, destruction, by a I-esztrrerfion-a raising up to life; being created again. the same identical being, yet more glorious, and exalted even to the express image of the (Heb. 1:3) And now this same Jesus Fathers person. (Acts 2:36), in his subsequent revelation to the Church, declaresRev. 1: 18.- I am he that liveth, and was dead, and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen: and have the keys of hell [I&es, the grave] and of death. Amen ! Amen! our hearts respond; for in his resurrection we see the glorious outcome of the whole plan of Jehovah

to be accomplished through the power of the Resurrected One who now holds the kevs of the tomb and of death and in due tlmc will releaefb all Ihe pris&ers who are, tl~crefor;,oc~~~;~ (Zech. O:lZ; Luke 4:18) 2 the prisoners of hope. or cunnine can bv a11v nossible device wrert tlxse Scriptures rtuh-e a&pervert th& to the support of thibt monstro& and I)lasph~mouq Papal trachtion of eternal torment. Had that hern our nenaltv. Cl1rist. to lie our v1(ariou3 sacrifice, must -till, and to allcternitp, endure such torment. which no o:i( will claim. But clcath was our oenait\-. ant1 Cllrlst died for )llr sin*, xncl also for the sfns of 111~ ~holc world.-I (or. 15:3; 1 John 2:2. Rr\-. 20: 13, lJ.--And the sea gave up the dead \\liicl1 were ccl 111it; and deatl1 and hell [the gra\oJ clc~liv~~i up the dead ~,111rh v.~le In them: ant1 they were ludg\,d. cvtry man. accord ~I~CIt9 tlicir works. And death PJI~ heill [the grave] were : a>t into the lake of fire: this is the second deatll. [The lake t f;i c i9 1lics .Q!/t~boZ of final 31icl c:~~rlaAin~ destruction. i)eath and Itell Ithe grave] both go Illto rt. There shall be ml :IIQIP clcbath; thcl last enemy that shall :IF deitroyed is death. -1 Cor. 13.26; Rev. 21:4 I
OTHER OCCURRENCES OF THE WORD HELL

Having examined the word sltcol. the only word in thcb 1)ltl Testament rendered hell. and the xvo~cl 1~nde.s. n1oq:t iretlucntly in the New Testament rendered .hell we 110~ notice every remaining instance in Scripture of tlie Engllsl1 x\o~cl hell. In the New Testanient two other words ale rt~iitl~~rrcl hell . namclv, gehenna and tartaroa. which we will 1on~lcler in the order -named.
GEHENNA RENDERED HELL

Iliis worcl occurs in the followlng paQqagc,-in all twelve times:--Watt. 5.22. 29. 30; 10:58: 1X:9; 23:15, 33; &lark (1 43-47; Luke 12:.5; Jas 3:0. It is the Grecian mode of .-pelling the Hebrew words which are translated Valley of Il~1~~1orn. This valley lap just 01ltslde the city of Jerusalen1. :IJI(~ -ervrd the purpose of www and garb&Kc burner to that ( it) The offal, garbage, etc., were emptied there, and Ares UPJP kept continually burning to CO)ISUDZ~ utterly all things dppo-Ited therein, brimqtone being added to assist combustion But no living tl1ing was .i!itl insure complete clcstruction. ~v~r nermittcd to be cast into Gc7len)rn. The Jews were not I Il~~\\~&l to tort2lrc anv creature. \lhcn we conqicler* that in the people of Irrael God was ci\lng 11s object lexcons illustrating l11s deal1np~ and plans. present and future. me should cl\-pcct that tl1is Valley of Hinnom. or Gcllc,,incc. would also plav itq part in illustrating \Ye how that Ifrit?i4 priesthood and temple things fntiire clmrch as it 1llu~tratc~cl the royal priesthood, tl1e Christian \vill be, the true temple of God: and we know that their chief I,ity was a figure of the Xew Jerusalem. the seat of kingdom power and center of authority-the city (gorcrnment) of tl1e We remember. too, that Chriftq r:rr:lt, Kinr. Immanuc~l. -I,\-cJ.nmentis rcpresentccl in the book of Rerelation (Rev. 21 : IO-5 ) under tl1e figure of a cit+he New Jerusalem. There, ,1ftcr clcscribing the class permItted to enter the privileges ,1ntl blessings of that kingdom-the honorable and gloriouq, and all ~110 have right to the trees of life-vc find it also ,lcrlared that there shall loot enter txfo 11 anything tl1at tlefileth, or that, worketh abomination, or maketh a he: but Thi* onlv such as the T,amb shall write as wortl1v of life. initv. which thus will represent the entire sax&l world in tllc, ~11d of the RIillenninm, was typified in the earthly city. .Terusalem : and the defiling,<,, the abominable, etc., the class lmworthy of life everlasting, who do not enter in, ivere reprc5entrd by the refuqe and thr filthy, lifeless carcnsses cast into Gclt~n~u outside the city,--wllose utter destruc,tion was thus -rmbolizcd-the second death. -4ccordingly, we find it stated that those not found worthy of llfc are to lye cast into tllc 1,1kr of fire (Rev, 20: 16)-fire here. a< ever\-wllere, hting u~cl as a symbol of destr~~ctzon, and the symbol, lake of Are, lleing drawn from this same Gehennn. or Valley of Hinnom. Therefore, while Gehenna served a nseful purpose to the cL1ty of Jerusalem as a place for garbage burni-ng,-it, like the citv itself. was tvnical, and illustrated the future dealings of God in refusing *and committing to destruct ion all the impure elements, thus preventing them from defiling the holy city, the New Jerusalem, after the trial of the Millennial age of *judgment shall have fully proved them and separated wit11 unerring accuracv the sheep from the goatb. So, then, ffehmna was a-type or illu&ation of the second death-final and complete destruction, from which there can be no recovery; for after that, there remaineth no more which shnl! sacrifice for z&s, but only fiery indignation derour the adversaries.--Hcb. 10 : 26. Let us remember that Israel, for the purpose of being used as types of Gods futnre dealing witlr the race. was typically
Y

tf cbntetl as though tl1e in11~1Jfi llild Iteen #I\ eu bei~ll~~ tIlta: left Egypt. though only a tpprcdl lamb had been slain. \I llCll Jerusalem was built, and the Temple-reprt:sr~rltativc of tht, true temple, the rhurc~h. and the true kingdom as It will bs rstahllshrd by Christ in the 1\Iillenn~um-that people typificll the \\orld in the l\I1llenn1al age. Their pricbt? rcpre<en!ctl the glorifiecl loyal prie~tlinod, ant1 tliclr lniv and its clcn~andof perfect olrcdlcnce rcpresenttxl tl1e Inn and cc~nclitlons ~JI&I the Sew Covennrlt. to IJc tiroliglit into opcratlon for the t~lr-sInz of all the obedient. and ior the concl~mnat~o:: of al1 !rhrl J\ iien g:Iantel.l fullest oppoitunit~. lvill not heartily SUlJlllll tcl ihe li;~l1tcoui ruiinr> and lav- of the Great King. Se(Jiiig then. thlt Iir,1cls pnhty. condition. etc . JIJ ~fi;:lJJ #,II those of the world in the coniJt:g 7$:\. IlO\\ ~\p~~~~il~~~~t~~ tll.1 t \\ ( shollltl fincl the valley or nl)y*-. (:(71(,9/1iu. .I figllle o* til\ srcoud death, the utter cle~tlu.*t~~~n III the corrt~i~g age 0i al: that 1s uiiw01 thy of PI cserx atmn : aUt1 11o\v aptly. too. j, th,. ) Jll~JO!. kdd of fil C hi1 Jl!!l~ I\ itI1 bl lJli~t~~!lC (l:W. 13 .LfJ I drawn from tliiq same Gei~ir~7. or \kll<~v of 111nnom. burning continuallv with brimstone. Ille cxpr&sinn. Inirning wit11 brimstone: adds force to tl1e symbol. -fire; tn expre55 tl1t utter and irrevocable clestructlrencss of the cec?oncldeath: for burning brimstone is the most cleadlv agent known. IIn\\ reasonable. too, to expect that Israel ;rould h,t\e court< and Judges resemblinz or-prefipnrin,n the judgmrltc: of the next age ; and that the sentence of those f fieurafive 1 courts ni that (figurative) people under those ( fi+$a!i\c) laws tb-that (figurative ) abyss, outside that (figurative) city. wollltl large!y correspond to the (real) sentences of the (real) court and Judges in the nest age. If these points are kept in mind. they will greatly assist 11s in understanding the words of nw Lord in reference to Gehellna: for though the literal vallei just at hand was named and referred to,-yet his words carri with them lessons concernine the future nee and thp antI_-., typical Gekejtncc-the second death.
SHALL BE IN DANGER OF GEHENNA-Matthew 5:21, 22

ye hare heard tliat it \vHs said ~JV t,hern of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whoqoerel shall kill shall bP amenable tcl the judges: but I say unto you, that wllosoevcr is anprv witl, hi5 brother witliout a caiisc s7frrZZ [fntuie-under the Eegulations of the real kingdom] be anlenablo to the judges: and whosoever shall sar to hi< brother. %a~ [%illaln] , eliall bch in danger of tl1e 11igh council; Iwt M hosoever shall say. lhn~1 fool, shall be in danger of lrcll [G:che~~u] fire. To understand tl1esc references to council and judges and Geheuna, all sl~oulcl kno\\- something of Jewish rcgulatlon> The Court of Judges consisted of seven men (or twent\ three,-the number is in dispute). and bad power to lud,t, some classes of crimes. The High Council. or Sanhcdrin~ conSiSted of SeveJJty-01X! niell of recog!lized hIrJlilig alld JllJiht\ This constituted tl1e 11ighc~t court of the Jews. and its sup&offenses. The mott ~lious senvision was over tlic p~a\cst tenre was clcnfif : hit ccbrtain vcrv obnosious criminal* were subjected to an indignity after dcaih, l)enlar refused burial ant1 cast T\itli tlie carA& of clogs, the ciiv refuqe etc.. into Gehetlna, there to be consumc*tl. The nbjrct of tl;is IJ~IJTJJI~~ in Gel~e~l~a was to make tl1c crime nncl the ?I im,nal d~+(~stal)l: in the eyes of the people. and siynifircl that tile culprit WA. :I hopeless case. It must be rcmcmbc~rc:tl tliat I:.rncll lt,~nctl f0l a resurrectIon from the tonill. :IJI~ 11mcc tllev 1%~n p:11 t 1cn1kr1 in caring for the corpses nt tli(sir tlcnrl. Sot rcnll/ing full\ Gods power, they appal cntlv Ibirrlit 11r JlPcded t\IcIy :I.,,: tame to that exient: - (Esod: 12: I!;, Ileh. 11 .??: 21~ ; I A t. of tllc IJO~V III (:cilcn,~~r :t ftm 16) Hence the destruction death (figuratively) iruplicd the loss of IJo!J~ of i11tur, 11f(t by a resurrection. Tl111s to \11cl1 G~l/~~/ltr lcprric>ntcc! ~II(% seconcl death in the same figurative way that tl1ey nq a pco;~lr represcsntcd or illustratccl n futui e or&I toi tl!ing* untlcr th*. New Co\cnant. Xotice tliat 0111 IAolcl. in the, almvc word-, no1nted out tlr them that tl1cir ron9triirtion of the JAW, bevel c tho~~gl1 it. way was far below the real Import of that Ilaw, as It shall l~r interpreted under the real kingdom and judges. whicl1 their. only tppifird. Be shows that the command of tlleir la\\, Thou shalt not kill, reached mnch farthlar than they supposed; that maliciozls ollgrr and ritnprration shall be rnnsldrrccl a violation of God's law, nndrr the Xew Covenant. and that snc*h as, undrr thr favorable conditions of that new age, will not reform so tl1ornughly as to fnllv observe Gods law will be counted worthy of that, which t& Gvhcnna near them typified-the serond death. However. the strict sevrritv nf that law will be Enforced only in proportion as the discsphnc, advanttges and assistance of that ape. enablinp caclh to c*nmply with its laws, shall be dislegardecl. Thr same thought IS rnntinurd in

[2601]

(95-97) Matthew 5:22-30

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

Ye hare heart], etc.. hut I bay unto you . . . . it is bettcxr for tbre to lohe one of thy members, than that thy \\hole hodv hll011ld ]Jk' cast into GVhcnlln. Htble again the oprrntlon of Gotl~ law under the hew Cc)\ enant IS rontra+tc~d with it\ ont,ratlon under the Old or ,Je\\~*h Co\rnant, and the lemon of self-caontrol is urged by the -tatthmcnt that it is far more profitahle that men &ould r(-tu+c to rrlatlfv denraved desires (though tiler be dear to tllt~m a> aripht c? e,~antl apparcbntly indi;pensal;le as a right hand 1 than that tlley should gratify these, and lose, in the CI,IIII~ tl~~ath. thl* futurcb 1ifc 111 ltletl throuph the atonement OX for 0 II 1, ho w11l I etnrn to per;ec?:on, holmc\k and God. 1114.~ O\I,I~~YYI~I~Yof our Lord not only serve to show us the, ,,,) Ir I 1ff01 ( I:oln. 7 . 12) of C:o~ly lx\\, ant1 how fully it XV111II,. tlt~lincd and enforc*rtl in thca 1\I111(7inluin. but they l ,1 \ c,tl a, a lesson to thtb .lcw\.s a!so. \\ho ~IVVIOII~V SRW tltrrlllgll >Iov+ c~ornman(!s only the c.rutlc caxtcL;ior of tile law of c:lNl S1ric71thcv fount1 it tlifR(~ult 111their falIt3 state to nlli+t no\\ ~((5tllcs IlnI)o\.lljilltv of tlrcair k(aeljing the finer menninr of tllti lil\v I (1c~;~l(~tl Chr Ist. Had thcv undrr5tood and 1)~

fully to ;p,tV the law, and able fuliy to nplnecmte and $1n!r):~tl~i/:b n 1tl1 our fallen st<;te and inheritetl weaknesses, nc7dtd grc7ltc*r forpi\ cnc+9 of sin, and lot Irim as a great obey the 0111+I( Ian 11(~:11 antl I ehtorc us, so that we CCOT 11~ ;,~.;i(ac.t I.:I\\ of (1otl front our lleart5. Then they woul& have fount1 Cllrist. lillt tIlli l~~con thctp t11tl not learn. for thp ears of their und(n, itanrllrrz \v(x o tl1111 of h(Bnrlnr; hcncxe thev knew not tIl:it (:otl l&a;1 ;L~Ic*:ltlv prcp:\r(a(I the vcrv ljrlest a-tld cacrificc antI 1c:1(ll(bi :III(I r,llv;i,.ian thtbv nc~edcd.nho in due time re(I()( m~tl tll0w 1ii1(l;arth(L tvpirai law. as wcbll as all not under 1t. ant1 VII,, .tlho in t111ctime, khortly, will hchpin his restorin? ~orl,--1 c*Ltcli1ng sight to the I)llnd eyes of their under,.t:lrltlln&r. itlltl hc~;lrln:: to their deaf cars. fhrn the vail shall II(~ tahcn :I\\:IV--the \ail of innnIanre, nridc anti human wisdom \\111(.11Siltan now u*cs to lllind the world to Gods true law and tlue pIan of sal\atinn in Cl111st. A\~~tl not 011lv did our J,ortls trachliing here show the Law of tllcb St%w Co;c~n:lnt, and tc~nrh the .Jew a lesson, but it is as we of llcsncfit to thcx Gospel (allurch alho. Tn proportion lf7I I )I thts c~\a~tnc~s~ of Gntls Law. am1 what wt~uld constitute lu i ftal tlon 1ind(sr itq reqiiiremt~nt~~ we set that our Redeemer unal)l(~ to commend our\\il. ~l-fwt, ;:II~I tlrnt wt.. tnt.\lly of +(>I\$+ to (:(,#I il\ I,cc~I~(~r~ tlrnt IillV. c:lII find acceptance with tIltA 1:;1111(,ronlv III tllcs rnci It of 0111Rrdcemcr, while none can, l,P of tll.lt %c;dy. CO\tt 1~1 bv the robe of his righteousness, cbxc*tallt tll<s ~Oll~t~ri~tttl who e'ntlc?lVor to do only those things 1, ~11J)~C:I~III~ to (:otl, 11 hich includes the avoitinnce of sin 30 Yclt their at~cc~ptalnht~ with God rests t114, cb\ttxllt. of alnllt~. not 111tl,csir pcnrfcBc.tInn, lnlt upon the perferllon of Christ, so T11r.c~. nr~~ th~l~.-.. arc bpnrfited Iolr~~ :,- tllcs\ ;rlbitlc~ in hiill.

kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hel/ [Gehennn]. Src also another account of the same discourse by Luke--12.4, 5. Here out Lord pointed out to his followers the great cause they had for courage and bravery under the most trying circumstances. They were to expect persecution, and to have all manner of evil spoken against them falsely, for his sake, and for the sake of the good tidings of which he made them the ministers and heralds: yea, the time would come, that whosoever would kill them would think that he did God a service. Their consolation or reward for tlns was to br received. not in the nresent life. hut in the life to come. Thev were &sure& and they believed, that he had come to givt his life a ransom for many, and that all in their graves must in consequence, in due time. hear the nellrerrrs loice and rome forth.*either to reward (if their trial had heen passed in this lifta snrres~fullv). future trial. or iudement. :s must he the case with the ,r&t maInrlty <7110&I LAt. in thlr prrscbnt life, cnme to the necessary knowledge and opportunity eshentlal to a complete trial. Untlor preirnt conditions men are able to kill our bodies, but nothing that they can do will affect our future 1)clng (soul I ,* which God has Dromisrd shall be revived or restored 11y hi? power in the re&rrection day-the ti1illcnnml age. Our revi\-rd souls will have new bodies (spiritual nr nntuml -tn enrh seed his own [kind of1 bodr), ant1 these none will have hbrrty to kill. God alone h&s powel to tlrhtroy ?(tferl?/--snul and bodv. He alone. therefore. should be feareci. nntl ih~ nppnsltion of men errn to thr death Ih not to be fearrtl. if t!lcIeby we gain dlrine approval. Our Jdnrtls Intlding then is, Fear not thrm which can terminate the nr+ent (dying) life in these poor dylnp bodies. Car+> littlc for it, its food, its clothing. its Dlewsures. in romnariinn with that future existence or !%ing \?hic*h God has prniitled for you. and which, if secured, may be your portion forever. Frar not the threats, or looks, or acts of men, whose power can extend no farther than the present existence; who can harm and kill these hodies, but can do no more. Rather ha\? respect and deference to God, with whom are the issues of lzje everlastillg-fear him who i4 ahle to destroy in Gdrenna, the second death, both the present dying existence and all hope of future existence. UNDYING WORMS AND QUENtYHLESS FIRES-Matthew 18:8, 9;
Mark 9:43-48

<<It is brttei for thee to enter into life halt, ni It is bet,I,:I,,IIV(~. tllan 0thcI 11 to 1)~ r;iSt into Clfhcl~na. i*r ter that. vou hhonld denv rourselvt3 sinful erntifications than that voushoultl loo ali f;iture life, and prrlah in the second death. ABLE TO DESTROY BOTH SOUL AND BODY IN UBHENNA

oppos1tr.

Matthew

10:28;

Luke

12.5

Here it is conclusively shown that Gehanm as a figure represented the second death-the utter destruction which m&t ensue in the case of all who, after having fullv received the opportunities of a future beine or esistence throuzh our Lord; *sacrifice, prove themselves <nwort!ly of Gods @it, and refuse to accept it, by refusing obedience to his just rcquiremerits. For it does not say that God will preserve soul or body in Gehenna, but that in it he can and will destroy both. Thus we are taught that any who are condemned to the second death are hopelessly and forever blotted out of existence. [Since these two passages refer to the same discourse. we quote from hlark-reinarking that verses 44 and 46, and part of 45, are not found in the oldest Greek MSS.. though verse 48, which reads the same, is in all manuscr1Dt.t. \Ve quote the text as found in these ancient and reliable hK3S.] ?! thy hantl nflend thee. cut it off: it i4 better for thee to enter inta life maimed, than having two hands to po illto Gehennn, into the fire that never shall be quenched. ,4nd if thy foot offend thee. cut it off: it 1s better for thee to enter halt into life, tban having two feet to be cast into Gehennn. And if thine e.ve offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than hFLving two eyes to be cast into Gehenluc, where the worm dies not and the fire is not quenched. After reading the above. all must aeree with the Dronhet that our Lord opened his mouth in fig&es and ohs&e iayines. (Psa. 78 :2 : hlatt. 13: 35) x0 one for a moment PUDpdses that our Lord advised the people to mutilate their bodies by cutting off their limbs, 0; g&ginp out their eyes. Kor does he mean us to understand that the iniuries and disfijiurements of the present life will continue deyond the grave, when we qhnll enter into life. The Jews, whom the Lord addressed, having no conception of a place of everlasting torment. and who knew the word Gehe?lna to refer to the valley outside their city. which was not a place of torment, nor a place where anv living thing was cast. but a place for the utfer destruction bf whatever &ht he cast into it, recognizine the Lords expression regarding limbs and eves to be figurative, knew thai GebennaYalso &as used m ihe same fipurative sense. to evmbolize utter destructicn.
l

Fear

not them n 111(*11 k1l1 thr hotly. b11t are not able to [26021

\?e ~111 supply

free

on application

a tract

on What

is the Soul,

MARCH

15 AND APRIL

1, 1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(97-99)

The future life, which God The Lord meant simply this: has provided for redeemed man, is of inestlmnhle value, and it will richly pav you to make any sacrifice to receive and enjoy that life.- Should it even costan eye, 3 hand or a foot, so that to all eternitv vou would be oblieed to endure the loss of these, yet life wo&lh be cheap at evk;l such a cost. That would be better far than to retain your members and lose all in Gehenna. Doubtless. too, the hearers dlew the lesson as applicable to all the affairs of life, and understood the Master to mean that it would richly repay them to deny themselves many comforts, pleasures and tastes, dear to them as a right hand, precious. as an eye, and serviceable as a foot, ratger than bv eratification to forfeit the life to come and be utterlv destroyed in Gehenna-the second death. But what about the undying worms and the unquenchable fire ? We answer, In the literal Gehenna, which is the basis of our Lords illustration, the bodies of animals, etc., frequently ceyo;pon ledges of rocks and not into the fire kept burning Thus exposed, these would breed worms and be dedestrdved by them, as completely and as surely as those which burned. No one was allowed to disturb the contents of this valley; hence the worm and the fire toyether ccmpleted the work of destnrctzon-the fire was not quenched and the worms died not. This would not imply a neverendmg fire, nor everlasting worms. The thought is that the worms did not die off and leave the carcasses there, but continued and completed the work of destruction. So with the fire: it was not quenrhrd, it burned on until all was consumed. Just so if a house were ablaze and the fire could not be controlled or quenched, but burned until the building was destroyed, we might properly call such an unquenchable fire. Our Lord wished to impress the thought of the completenpqs ant1 finality of the second death, symbolized in Gehenna. All who go into the second death will be thoroughly and completely and forever destroyed; no ransom will ever again be &-en ior any (Kom. 6:9) ; for none worthy of life wiG be Cast into tlrca sccontl death. or lake of fire. but onlv those who lol>e unrighteousness after coming to the knov;ledge of the truth. Ynt only in the above instances is the second death pointbut it is evident that the same edly illustrated by Gehenna, Tencher used the same figure to represent the s?me thing in the symbols of Revelation,-though there it is not called Gchcnncr, but a lake of fire. The same valley was once before used as the basis of a diGcourse bv the Pronhet Isaiah. (Isa. 66:24) Though he gives it nonnme, he -describes it; and all should noticpUthat he Ppeaks. not as some with false ideas might expect, of billions alive in flames and torture, but of the carcasses of those nho transgressed against the Lord, who are thus representpd as utterlv destroved in the second death. The two preckding verses show the time when this prophecy will be fulfilled, and it is in perfect harmony with the symholy of Revelation: it appertains to the new dispensation, the Millennium. the new heavens and new earth condition of things. Then all the righteous will see the jurtice as well as the wisdom of the utter destrurtion of the ineorripihle. wilful rncmicq of ~i~htcnu~ncss, as it is written: They shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
Y ,.

defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature, and [or when] it is set on fire of Gel~e)lna. Here, in strong, symbolic language, the Apostle points out the great and bad influence of an evil tongue-a tongue set on fire (figuratively) by Gehennu (figuratively). For a tongue to be set on fire of Gehennci signifies that it is set gomg in evil by a perverse disposition, self-willed, selfish, hateful, malicious. the sort of disposition which, in spite of knowledge unless controlled and reformed, will be and opportunity, counted worthv to be destroye+the class for whom the secIS inond death, tile real lake %f fire, the real Gchejrna, tended. One in that attitude may bv his tongue kindle a great fire, a destructive disturbance, wtiich. wherever it has- contact, will work evil in the entire course of nature. A few malicious words often arouse all the evil passions of the speaker, engender the same in others and react upon the first. And continuance in such an evil course finally corrupts the entire man, and brings him under sentence as utterly unworthy of life.
TARTAROO RENDERED HELL

Matthew

23:15,

33

The class here addressed was not the heathen who had no knowledge of the truth. nor the lowest and most ignorant of the .Jewish nation. but thr Scribes and Pharisees, outwardlv the most rrlioiouq. and the leaders and teachers of the nconlb. To these our Lord said, How can ye escape the judgmeni of Gehcnna? Thcaqe men were hvoocritiral: thcv were not t,rne to their convictions. Ahnndaht tcstimonv of the truth had been hornc to them, hut they refused t; accept it, and endeavored to counteract its influence and to discourage the proplc from accepting it. And in thus resiqtinq the holy spirit of light and truth, they were hardeninp their hearts against the vt=ry ag:rncv nhlch God designed for their blessing. Hence they wcrc wlckcdly reqisting his grace, and such a course, if pursued, muqt eventually end in condemnation to the second death, Gelrennn. Every step in the direction oi wilful blindness and opposition to the truth makes return more difficult, and makes the wrongdoer more and more OF the character which God abhors, and which the second death is intended to utterly dcstloy. The Scribes and PharlqCcs were progressing rapidly in that course: henrp thp wrlrnmcr incruirv of our Ldrd, How can ye escape? etc. The sense ii this,-Although you boast of your piety, you will surely be destroyed In Gehenna, unless you rhange your course.
SET ON FIRE OF GEHENNA-James 3:6

The Greek word tartaroo occurs but once in the Scriptureq, and is translated hell. It is found in 2 Pet. 2:4, which reads thus : God spared not the angels who sinned, but cast [them] down to hell rtartarooj. and delivered them into chains of darkness, to bd reserved unto judgment. Havinp examined all other words rendered hell, in the Bible, and all the texts in which they occur, \\e conclude the examination with this text, which is the 0111~ one in which In the above quutntion. all the the word tartaroo occurs. words shown in Italic type are translated from the one Greek Evidentiy the translators were at a loss to word tartaroo. know how to translate the word. but conc~luded they knew where the evil angels ought to be: and so they made bold to put them into hell, though it took six words to twist the idea into the shape they had pre-determined it must take. used by Peter, very closely resembles The word tartaroo, tartarus, a word used in Grecian mythology as the name for a dark abyss or prison. But tartaroo seems to refer more to an act than to a place. The fall of the angels who sinned was from honor and dignity, into dishonor and condemnation, and the thought seems to be-God spared not thr angels who sinned, but degraded them, and delivered them into chains of darkness. This certainly agrees with the facts known to us through other Scrintures: for these fallen spirits frequented the earth in the days of dur Lord and the apostles. -Hence they were not down in some place, but down in the sense of being degraded from former honor and liberty, and restrained under Whenever these fallen spirits, in dalkness, as by a chain. spiritualiqtic seances, manifest their powers throl;gb mediums, pretending to be certain dead human helngs, they must always do their work in the dark, hecause darknesr is the chain by which thev are bound until the great Millenuial dpy of judg 1vhether this implies that in the immrdlate future ment. they will be able to materialize in daylight is difficult to deTf PO, it would greatly increase &tans power to termine. blind and deceive for a short season-until the Sun of Righteousne\s has fully risen and Satan is fully hound. Thus we clnqe our investipatlnn of thr Bihlc 11~ of the> word 1~~~11. Thank God, wefind no suc.11 place of (*\r~l:lhting torture as the creeds and hymn-hooks, sitI many pulpits, crronrnuslr teClph. Yet we hare found a hell, shcol. htrdes, to which all our rare were contlt~mncd on ncrount of ,\d,lms sin. and from xvhicb all are r~d~~erned l)y ollr T,ortls tltbnth ; And we and that hell is the tomb-the death concitinn. find another hell (Gehennn-the srrnnd rrrrtlh--ntter deqtl uctlon) brought to our attcntinn as th(b final pen:lltv 111m~ all whn. after being rrdeemed and brought to lhr full knowledge of the truth. and to FUZZ ability to obey it, shall yet choose dttath by rhoosinp a cnurse of nppnsltlon to Got1 and rightenusnesj. And our hearts say. Amrn! True and rightWho shall not eous are thy wavs, thou King of nations venerate thee, 0 Lord, and glorify thv name7 For thou art entirely holy. And all nations shall come and worship before thrc, because thy righteous dealings are made manifest.-Rev. 15:3, 4.
1

PARABLE

OF

THE

RICH

MAN

AND

LAZARUS-Luke

16:19-31

So [important]

is the tongue among our members, that it [2603]

The great difficultv with many in reading this scripture is that, though they regard it as h parable. thpy leason on it and draw conclusions from it RS though it were a literal To revard it as a literal statement inrolves scXvcral statement. absurdities; for &stance. that the rich man went to hell because he had enjoyed many earthly bleaslnfs and gave Xot a word is said ahout his nothing but crumbs to Lazarus. Again, Lazarus was blessed, not because he was wickedness.

:t sincere child of God. full of faltb and trusr, not because he uas good, but, simply because he was poor and sick. If tblh he interpreted literallv. the only logical lesson to be drawn from it is, that unless we are poor -beggars full of sores, we xv111 never enter into future bliss: and that if now we wear anv fine linen and purple, and have plenty to eat every day. \tc are sure of future tormcJnt. Again, the coveted place of favor is -ihrahams bo\om ; * and if the whole statement bc Iltcslnl. tile bosom must aI50 I)c literal. and it surely would not l1~11dxny many of earths millions of sick and poor. JIII~ why consider absurdities? As a parable, it is easy of II11c,ll)rctatlon. In a parable the tiling said ir never the thing \Vc know this from our Lords own cxplanatlons of rllc~:lllt \Vhcn he said wheat, he meant children of Ill. ];irblc~. when he said tares. he meant the children I~IP hlligdom: or 1III%r1c.1 , when 11~.sail1 leapers iI 111sservants were to be Ilrlrlr~l .T.OOd. etc. Ixitt. 13) The same c*laiscs were rraprcThus -the .(.1111*11 tlifYrro;t II!\> iubols in dinerent parables. servants. \\ Illi\f. of one parahl~~ correspond to the faithful So, in this parable, the virgins of others. :Il,tl tllcb nlse represents an.I 1~ nian represents a class and .Lazrirus 11 otllc~l c~ltrsv In attempting to expound a parable sucil a< this. an (I\1~1:1n:ltmn of whxh the Lord does not furnish us, modesty in +uprpqslng our opinion regardiyg it is certainly appropriate \\c therefore oficr the followmg explanation without any .kttcmnt to fotcc our views upon the reader, except so far as III< o\;n truth-enlightened judlnent may commend them as in To our understanding, .~(~orrl with Gods Word and nlan. .\hraham represented God, and ihe rich man represented tl;e At the time of the utteranne of- the parable, .rc~\ish natibn. .rnd for a long time previous, the Jews had fared sumptu~~u.1~ c~ry day-being the especial recipients of Gods favors. 1s I,anl savs What,~ advantare. then. bath the Jew? Much rhicflg, because io the& were committed thr vwr,v wny. ~,rnc Irz ot (;c~l [Law and Prophecy]. The promises to AbraIlam and I):tr~d and their organization as n typical kingdom of God invertctl that people with royalty, as rcprescnted by The typical sacrifices of the law the ric Ii mans purple. ~~on~tltutetl them, in a typrcal sense, a holv (righteous) nation, rc~prc~~cnted by the r1(alI mans fine linen,-symbolic of rlphteous~less.--ne\. I!) :8. Lazarus rcpreseutrd tbc outcasts from divine favor under I 11c law. n-ho, sin-sick, hungered and thirsted after righteousand sinners of Israel, seeking a better life, ne4-. Piiblicanq .Ind trnth-hungry (icntiles who were feeling aiter God con.tltuttd t11c La/llrus (*lass. These. at the time of the utter:tncch of this naral)lc. were entirely destitute of those special ~II~IIIV blessin& \\bich Jsr.lcl enjoyed. They lay at the gate of the rich man. So rich promise3 of royalty were theirs; Ilot. (\ cn typically wcrc thqy* cleansed; hut,- in koral sickness, Dogs pollution ;~ntl sin, they were companions of dogs. wvcrc rrpardrd 3s dctt~stnbl~~ rreaturcs in those days, and the t vplcallv clean Jew c;llletl thr outsidrrs heathen and dogs, .~;id wol,ltl nevrr eat with tllem, nor marry, nor have an! ~lcxlm-+ with thrm.-,John 4:9. _\s to how these atr of the crumbs of divine favor whic>h icll from Israels tnhlta of bounties. the Lords words to thr q:rro-Phomician woman glv( us a key. He said to this Genf110 woman-It is not meet [proper] to take the childrens I Israrlitrsl bread :tnd to cast it to dogs [Gentiles] ; and she .inswcBred. Truth, Lord, but the dogs eat of the c!&mbs that in11 from their ma&rs tahlr. f Matt. 15:2G. 27) Jesus !~t~al~d her daughter, thus gibing the desired cI;mh of favor. But there came :I great dlspensational change in Israels hltorv when as R nation theav reiected and crucified the Son #Bf Goti Ihcn thclr typical ri&teousness ceaked-then the , a of rovaltv cra&b to be-theirs. and the kingdom was ~~~~~rorn themto he given to a nation bringing forth the iruitq thereof--the Gospel Church, a holy nation, a peculiar pNlplt~. ~Titus 2 14: 1 Pet. 2:7, 9; Matt. 21:43) Thus the rl~h man &t=Or to all these special advantages. and soon he thg: .Jcwi.iqh nation) found himself in a ca&o# condition.In surh condition that nation In trlbulatinn and affliction. nac suflrrcd from that day to this. T,:I~S:ITII~ also tlwd the condition ot thr humblp Gentiles .~nd thr God-errking outcasts of Tsrsel underwent a great r,iirr~gc. bring carried by the angels (messengers-apdstles, 4~. 1 to Abrahams bosom. Abraham is renresented as the atIter of tbc faithful, and receives all the ihildren of faith. who ;Irr thn; rrropnixtad as the heirs of all tile promises made for thy cshildrcn of the flesh arc nni the children to -jllrnli:tni. G,f &xl. but the chiltlrtm of ihr promise are counted for thr seed ichIldren of Ahrnbnmi . which seed is Christ:--nntl

Ichildren], and heirs according to the [Abrahanncl promise. -Gal 3 :29. Yes, the termination of the condition of thmgs then esisting was well illustrated by the figure, death-the dissolution of the Jewish polity and the withdrawal of the favors which Israel had so long enjoyed. There they were cast off and have since been shown no favor, whiIe the poor Gentiles, who before had been aliens from the commonwealth [thr polity] of Israel and strangers from the covrnant of promise [up to this time given to Israel only? having no hope and without God in the world. were then made nigh by the blood of Christ and reconciled to God.-Eph. 2 : 12, 13. To the symbolisms of death and burial used to illustrate the dissolution of Israel and their burial or hiding among the other nations. our Lord added a furthrr figure-In hell [hades, the gravel he lifted UD his eves. beine in torments. and s&h Abraham afar off, *etc. Tke dead cannot lift ui their eyes, nor see either near or far, nor converse; for it is distinctly stated, There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom. in the grave; and the dead are described as those who go down into silence. (Ertl. 9:lO; PSI. 115: 17) But the Lord wished to show that L:.reat sufferine? or torments would be added to the Jews a~~:) nation a& their national dissolution and burial amonrst the other neoplcs dead in trespasses and sins; and that?h& &oulb-pieail in vain for release and comfort at the hand 0; the formerly despised Lazarus class. And history has borne out this parabolic prophecy. Ior eighteen hundred years the Jews have not only been-in distress of mind over their casting out from the favor of God and the loss of their temple and other necessaries to the offering of their sacrifices,- hut thev have been reientlesslr nersecnted bv all c,lasses. including nrofesscd Christians. it bas from t&e latter that the Jew& have cxpwtrci mercy, a? expressed in the parahle-Send Lazarus, thai 111map dipthr tin of his finger in water and cool mv tongue: hut the ereat p;lf fixed between them hinders that: Se&tbelrss, God-&Ill recognize the relationship established in his covenant with them, and addresses them as children of the covenant. (Verse 25) These torments have been the penalties attached to the violation of their covenant, and were as certain to be visited upon them as the blessings promised for obedience.Set- Ler. 26. The great gulf fixed represents the wide differnIce lxt.ween the Gospel church and the Jew-the former enjoying free grace, joy, comfort,, and peace. as trur hens of God. and the latter holding to the law, which condemns and torments Prejudice, pride and error, from the Jewish side, form thr bulwark-q of tlliq gulf which hinder the Jew from coming into the condition of true sons of God by accepting Christ and the :o-pel of his grace. The bulwark of this gl;if which hinder4 true sons of God from eoinp to the Jew-under the bondaec c of the law-is their knowledge that by the deeds of the la\\ none can be justified before God, and that if any man keep the law (put himself under it to try to commend himself to God by reason of obedience to it), Christ shall profit him (Gal. 5:2-4) So, then, we whn are of the Lazaruc nothing. class should not attempt to mix the Lam and the Gospel. knowing that they cannot be mixed, and that we can do- nc; rood to those who still cline to the law and reject the sacrl fee for sins given by our LLord. And they, got seeing thr change of dispensation which took place, argue that to den?the Law as the power to save would be to deny all the past history of their race, and to deny all of Gods special dealings with the fathers, (promises and dealings which through pride and selfishness they failed rightly to apprehend and use) ; hence they cannot come over to the bosom of Abraham. into the true rest and peace-the portion of all the true children of faith,-John 8:39; Rom. 4:16; Gal. 3:29. True, a few Jews probably came into the Christian faith all the way down the Gospel age, but so few as to be ignored in s narable which renresented the Jewish people as a whole. As ad the first, Dives-represented the orth&oi Jews, and not the outcasts of Israel, so down to the close of the parablc he continues to represent a similar class, and hence does not renresent such Jews as have renounced the Law Covenant :$I embraced the *K;cw Covenant, or such as have becomt infidels. The plea of the rich man for the sending of Lazarus to his fire brethren lve interpret as follows: The people of Judea, at the time of our T,ords utteranrc referred to as Israel, of this parable, were repeatedly the lost sheep of the house of Israel, citieq of Israel, etr l See June 15. 1919. iww, for cr:tical exnll~lnntlol* rf Covenax+
Y /

MARCH

15 AND AI-RIL

1, 1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(100-101)

because all of the tribes were represented there: but actually the majority of the people were of the tribes. Judah and Benjamin, but few of the ten tribes having returned from Babylon under Cyrus general permission. If the nation of the Jews (chiefly two tribes) were represented in the one rich man, it would be a harmony of numbers to understand the five brethren to represent the ten tribes chiefly scattered abroad. The request relative to them was doubtless introduced to show that all special favor of God ceased to all Israel (the ten tribes, as well as to the two more directly addressed). It seems to us evident that Israel only was meant for no other nation than Israel had Moses and the proph& as instructors. (Verse 20) The majority of the ten tribes had so far disregarded Moses and the nronhets that they- did not return to the land of promise, but prbferred to dwell among idolators : and hence it would be useless to attempt further communication with them, even bp one from the dead-the fieurativrly dead, but now figuratively risen Lazarus class.-Eph. 2 :5. Though the parable mentions no bridging of this great indicate that it was to be g11lf," other portions of Scripture fiscd onl,v throughout the Gospel age, and that at its cloqe the rich man, having received the measurement of punishment for his sins,* will walk out of his fiery troubles over the bridge of Gods promises yet unfulfilled to that natlon. Thou& for centuries the Jews have been bitterly persecuted bv pagans, Mohammednns and professed Chri$tians, thcv are now ~rnduallv risincr to nolitical freedom and inK&nce ; and al%ough Omuch of Jncobs trouble is just at hand, yet as a people they will be very prominent among the The vail (2 nations in the beginning. of the Millennium. Cor. 3: 13-16) of prejutllce stil! exists, but it will be gradunllv takep away as the light of the Millennial morning
See Isa 40 1, 2, margin; VOL. II, page 227.
l

Rom.

11:27-31,

and

MILLENNIAL

DAWN,

dawns; nor should we be surprised to hear of great awakenings among the Jews, and many coming to acknowledge They will thus leave their hudetrll state (nationas Christ. death) and torment, and come, the firit of the nntlonq. to be blessed by the true s(,ed of Abraham, nhich is Chri+t, Head and body. Their bu!nark of race prcJu~l~c~~and priilr 1s fnlling in some places and the humble, the poor in sp:rlt. are beginning already to look upon him whnm they have pierced, and to Inquire, Is not this the Christ? And as they look the Lord pours upon them the spirit of favor ant1 supplication. (Zech. 12 : 10) Therefore, C: rak ve romfortnhly to JerusaI-P lem, and cry unto her that her appointed time is accomplished.--Isa. 40 : 1, 2, margin. In a word, this parable seems to teach precicelv wh:lt Paul exnlained in Rom. 11 :I!>-:~% Becaukc of unbelief the natural branches wvtlre broken off am1 tl!e wi!(l br:lnclleq grafted into the Abrahamic root-promiie. The p:rr.ll~lc l~~,~v~~s the Jews in their trouble and does not refer to t!lrir final restoration to favor-doubtless because it UYIS not p?rtlnent to the feature of the sublect treated; but Paul a.rureq us that when the fulness of the GentlIes-the full nunlber from among the Gentiles necessary to make up the britlc of Chrl-t [natural Israel] shall obtain mercy -is come in, they through your [the Churchs] mercy. He asqures 11s tlr,lt this is Gods covenant with fleshly Israel (who lost his hi::her, spiritual promises, but are still the po+sesser5 of certain earthlv nromises. to become the chief nation of earth, etc. In prOofA of this statement, he quotes from the prophet, sayThe deliverer shall come out of Zion [the glnrifirtl ing. churchl. and shall turn awav nn,rrodlineqq from .Jacob [the fleshly seed] . As concerni@ the C*ospel [high c:lll1)1:l]. they are enemies [cast ofT] for your snkrq. but a9 touc*hinq tlic election, they are beloved for the fathers ~:lkeq. For (iotl hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might, hnrr merry upon all. 0 the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!-Rom. 11:2(X3.

FAITHFUL

CO-LABORERS HEARD

FROM

DEAR TSROTIIER RUSSELL:-I have gust been reading again in the To\\EK of March 1st the article entitled Jlark the Pet fe?t l\Ian, etc., and want you to know how much I have enloyc,l it anal profited by it. Aftcsr thanking the Giver of *vet). good and l~ f& gift I tlinnl\ vou, nncl continually play that the favor of the Lord Jeszs dhrlst he with you it1 all your ~nrk, and that you may ever be d:~fendcd from the asIuttinrr myself for a moment in sault9 of the adversary. your 111~1ce. was able to see that>oli would rrloiccx to know I that the> i~on~ehnl~l were annr,aclnt%in_rr the things new and up Four nltl, nnil I n-nntcd by thiq iittle nc1tet.o help %ld Please do not trouble to acknowledge this, but behands. llevc me. Tours in the Lord, ELLIOTT H. TIIOXPSOX,--Wasi. DEAR BROTHER RVSSELL:--I wish I could tell the two dear sisters who azranzed the Index how much I appreciate it. It in csnctly what ihnve needed. It certainly &quired a good dr:rl of patient work to nroduce it and I hone all of the I TOUXII rc&tlrrs will appreccate it. How much I would like to be at Allegheny at the great Plltmnrial and enjoy the sacred season with you all. Not that I \\nuld be willmg to be absent from Scrnnton at that time, hut the remembrance of five years ago when I was there and the rich blt,\smgs I received at thnt time makes me long for onr more such precious season. 0 whzt a ble+yed five years it h:lq bcrn! Every day has been full of a ~~on~clou~ncss of the dear Lords faGor, &I the I cannot say that I have always done the verv hest I mirht hsvct clone. still it has been on; continual effoit to follo& our l~leswl LIcntier and Guide on tltr narrow way. All of the timr L have begun conscious of liiq tender love. and his favors have bern more numerous thnn the hairs ofmv head. And you. Brother l~us~ell, you hare been a true and faithful under-sheoherd and kind and loving pnstor to LIJ all and I hope that :111have had a keen appreciation of this. some I know have, for many time have I heard prayers go up from consecrated hearts for you. Brothers Woodworth and Hodges are hnth growing young of the men, and are indeed getting to 11r able rninlstprq Word. Thry are capahl@ of stnndiny for Its tlcfrncc anvwhere. Hopi& this may find vnn nll ~~11 nnil happy .rt All& Fhenv. I send greetings to tile Church thrxre in the ndmc cf l,nvinylv your 1,1 olhflr in thr little company at Scranton. Christ, HAYDEN Samox,--Ibznsylvania.

DEAR BROTHER Rr~ssr,r,~--I hare the pleasure at this time of writing to you, and I assure you thnt It is a ple.~~lirc You are burdrnrd no doubt with lcattcar+ from the indeed. friends of the fnlth, but your kind patienc+ta sc(n1s so llrotnlnent in your writlnps that I am quite sure J'OLI will al)l)~~~(~(:Lte a letter, even from me. The faith in thr coming Kingdom has grown at tllis place under mv care until we have a few-a little b~liitl of fl~ll(l\\llr of the Lo&--who, I trust, arc pre~entln~ li\ IIlK c (1 Ific,<9 T11c work 1~ nr,~fh\:lril\~ ~.(O\V unto him who boug!it them. and the path not very smooth so far nq thlr wot!cl in cons cerned. We meet with a good nlnnv ollhtac,l,as. :I+ <(I m.Inv have bern prejudiI*etl by tile 1111nd th,lt, arc. l(*.i(illlg th(m; still we arc In hnlwc; tlrnt some ~11 me tllcl ligllt CV~II in hrlc*h darkness as hereprevails. I thought it might be proper to mention that WC Il.;\-e great deulrcs for another lll~rim v~<il. \\I, l101),~ tll,rt one is hratl(~tl tllis UYIT. and c~n ktt~rb \vltll 11, for :L fry\- ~1~11A.
Y

hat11 called us nutof darkne.,s Into 111qn;,l~\vllo11-: 11-111 I> the prayer of one who is the leaht to II(~ 1~.~11(~1 hlb11 1-011t, <I E. I,. BxKWs,--f ,ttl. TC,,. in IIis srrvlce,
WATCII TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY,

Krxn

Sras:-Comin_n

out of nur little

chapel

lait

Lnrde

blessed and thank God It W.I~ thrown ii; rely n ,I!. :I y J I\ x-q I am nn old laxly in n 11011~~~of f:litil hungry for such truths. I was hl) lally ni ttnr and prayer and cannot liuy such things. careful leading to find on the bark of the litlle imok tllnt ~OII would contribute a paper to any of the Cortiq :>,rr~l who rrruld I am anxious to read solncthin~ tlflite,l not huv the same. by theauthor of &IKr,F,NNIhT, DZWN, for I sc:lrr?lv c.ipWt to be able to get hold of the three vnlmncs of th.\t wonderful message and will hr so thankful for anythinS you can >cn:l me frw Perhaps thrnuch mr it will rrnch qc),nta OIJF :>ntl do great snnd. God wil1 h&s the bcnutiful truths sc>nt out from vour house. Anvthing that one of his a& q:tintq ran do, to tssist will be done by &IRS. CARBIE bk&mE,--fit. Louis.

[ 2605]

PARABLE
These

OF THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS

punzshment, brrt the rtghtcow

shall go away znto everlastwg

into life eter)laZ.-Matt.

25:31-46.

While the Scriptures, as we have shown, do not teach the hln~phemous doctrines of everlasting torment, they do most emphatically teach the everlasting punwhment of the wicked, the cl:\<4 rcpreqcnted in the parable as goats Let us examine the parable, and then the sentence pronounced at its cfow It has heen truly said that Order is Heavens first law; this is yet frw. we think, have realized how emphatically trucl. In plnnclnp hark over the plan of the ages, there 1s nothing ul11c11 girrq \uch cnnrlu~lre evidence of a Divine Dli wtnl :I< thr o~dcr ohserveti in all its parts. Got1 has had drfinrte anti stated times and seasons for every part of his work ; and in the end of each of these seasnn\ thprr hai hem a finishing up of its work and a clearing ofT of the rnl)l)ish, preparatory to the beginning of the new Thus in the end of the v Irrk of th(b tli\orn-atinn to follow .Jr.w1-h age order is ohsrrrrti-a harvesting and complete sel)aration nf thcb uheat class from the chaff , and an w1t11 enter (a rcllcctinn of tlrr, latter claqs from Gods favor. the fe?v jutlpeti \\orthy in the end of that age, a new aget!lcs (:r~~~d~l ago-began l\nd now we find our+lves amui the clo31ng \crnts, the harvest. of this age. the wheat nhirh hnrr grown together during this age an:1 thv %rf+ are l~ir:g l (~paratc~l. \Yith the former class, of which our Lord .Te\l~, IS. tlltb TIcad, a new age is ahout to he inaugurated, and thr+t~ \vhf~:lt .arP to reign as kings and priests in that new element is judged as utterly tli~pcn~ntion. while the tare un\\nrthv of tlrat favor. \\.hile nl)scarving this order with reference to the .Tewish agt and thr one just closing. our Lord informs us through the pnrnhle nntlcr cnnsideratinn that the same order will be obscrve~l with reference to the age to follow th14 Gospel age. The harv& of the .lewi<h age wni likened to the separation of \vhpat from ch;rff; the harvest of this age to the separation of \1lirat from tares: and the harvest of the Millennial ag:cato the scparatinn of shrrp from goats. That the pnrnhlt~ of the sheep and the goats refers to the 3lillc~nnial ngcb IS clearly indicated in verses 31 and 32\\ hw the CON of man shall. come tn hw glory, and all the holy angel3 with him, that shall he sit upon the throne of his ghnv, anti l)cBfnrc* him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divitirth his shrrp from the goats. As in the present age every act of those on trial (the church) goes to make a part of that (aharartrr whirh, in due time, will determine the final dc~ci~ic,n of the .Tritlge in our case. so will it he with the world in the age to come. As in the presenb age (thr nations) the t,rial of the maioritv of the individual memhrrs of the rhurch ends. and the deiisinn of their case is reached, long hefore the end of the age (2 Tim. 4:7-g), so under the Millennial rcirrn the tlerision of snme individual cases will be reached lnnrfi hefore the end of the age (Isa. 65 :20) ; but in each age there i9 a harvest or general separating time in thfb rn;t of the agr. In the dawn of the. hIillmnia1 age, after the time of there ~111 IIC a gathering of the living nations trnulrlc. hefore Chri.t, and, in their appointc~d timcl and order, the de 1t1 of all nation+ shall 1~ cnllrd to appear hefore the judgnr(lnt 5cl:rt, of (llrl~t--not to receive an ~n~nWtlinte sentence, l)rit to r(reivc a fair ant1 impartial, intlivitlunl trial (Ezek. IS 2-l. l!). 20) iintltr the m&t fax orahlr tit ~~iimhtance4, the rf+ult of w1ric.h trial w111 hf. a final 6:cntcnc~e. as worthy or unworthy of crcrla\ting life.* The s(~ne of this parable therefore, is laid after the time of troulrlc. mhcn thcb nations shall ha\ e 11e~~ suljdued. Satan of Cllrists kingdom hound (Rev. LO 1, 2) and the authnrity c~.t:rl,ll.hc~d. 1S1e this, the hrific of Cllrist (1111,overcoming c hiirc II 1 1~ill have lbctn seated \\ith him in his throne of sl)rritual INWW and will have taken part in c,xecuting the Then t.1~ Fnn of man iufllrmrnth of t!le arCat flnv of urath. and his hritle, tlie glnrififfifi c*lrurc.h. will bl> rc\ ealeo and he seen IIV mcu. ~1ith the (vcq of their untl~rstandin~ and shall shine f;,rtli as the sun in the king:tiom of their F:&thcr.-Mntt. 13 -1.3. Herr is thr Sew deru<alom as ,To!ln saw it (Rev. 21 ) , that coming down from holy city [s!/mhoZ of gorcrvmclltl . God orit of h<~il\.f~n. During the time of trouble it will be coming down. and hefnrr the end of it. it will have touched the e;trtlr. This is the >tone rut nut of the mountains withnut 11ands (hut hv the power of God). and it ~111 then have hrcnmc a great mountain (kingdom), filling the whole earth (Dan. 2.3.5). its COWIZ~ICI ha\ing broken to nicpes the evil kinrr1 0 <.

Here is that glorious city (government), prepared as a bride adorned foi her husband (Rev. 21:2 j, and early in the dawn of the Millennium the nations will begin to walk in the light of it. (Verse 24) These may bring lheir glory and honor into it, hut there shall in no wise enter into it [or become a part of it] anything that defileth, etc. (Verse 27) Here, from the midst of the throne, proceeds a pure river of water of life (truth unmixed with error), and the Spirit and the bride say, Come, and take it freely. (Rev. 22 : 17 ) Hpre hepms the worlds probation, the worlds great judgment day-a thousand years.* But even in this favored time of blessing and healing of the nations. when Satan is bound, evil restrained. mankind in process of release from the grasp of death, and when the knowledge of the Lord fills the earth, two classes will be developed, which our Lord here likens to sheep and goats. These, he tells us, he will separate. The sheep class-those who are meek, teachable and willing to be led, shall, during the Millennial age, be gathered at the Judges right handsymbol of his approval and favor; hut the goat class, selfw~llcd and stubhorn, always climbing on the- rocks--seeking prominence and approval among m&--and feeding on mise< able refuse, while the sheep graze in the rich pastures of the truth furnished hy the Good Shepherd-these are gathered to the Judges left hand, the opposite of the position of favor -as sublects of his disfavor and condemnation. This work of separating sheep and goats will require all of the Rlillennial age for its acromplishm~nt. During that age. each individual, as he comrs gradually to a knowledge of God and his will, takes his nlacc at the riairt hand of favor or the left hand of disfavor, ac~cnrding IS htl improves or misimproves the onnortunities of that enlden a~? Bv the end of -that age, ail- thf ~orlrl of mankind nrll 11nvc arranged themselves, as shown in the parable, into two clns~s The end of that age will he the rnd of the worlds trial nr judgment, and thm final disposition will be made of tile two classes. The reward of this sheep cxl,\ss will he granted them herause, f1urin.g the age of trial and disriplinr, they cultivated and mamfested the heantiful eharactcr of lore, which Paul desrrihes as the fuIfilling of the law of God. (Rnm. 13.10) They will have manifested it to racsll nthrr in their time of sorest need: and what thev will iiavc done for one another the Lord will count as done unto him, rolinting them all his brethren-children of God. though they will be of the human nature, while he is of the divine. The condemnation of the goat class is shown to 1)~ for the lack of this spirit of love. LTntler the same farnrahle circumstances as the sheep, thev wilfullv resist the moulding influence of the Lords discipline, and harden their hearts. The .goodness of God does not lead them to true rrnentance: hut, like Pharaoh, they take advantage of his gootinesq and do evil. The gnats. who will not have d~~vrlnpetl the rlrment of lore. the law of Gods being and kingdom. will he rnunted unworthy of everlasting life, and will be drstrnycd; while the sheep, who will have d~reloi~etl God-likeness (love), and n ho wiI1 hare exhibited it in their characters. are to be installed as the subordinate rulers of earth for futurca 3ee9. In thr end of the Millennial age, in the final adiust&nt of human affairs. Christ thus addresses his sherp: Come, ye blessed, . . . . inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the fnlmdatinn of the world. It 1s manifest the sheep hrre addressed, at the close of the Millennium, are not the sheep of the Gospel age, the Gospel church. hut those other sheen to whom the T,orrl referred in John 10 :lB. And the kingdom prepared for them in the divine plan, from the foundation of the world. is not the kingdom prepared for the Gospel church. The church mill rereive her kingdom at the beginning of the Millennium: hut this is the kingdom prepared for the sheep of the 1111: lnininl ape. Their kingdom will he the dominion of earth which was oripinnllv given to Adam, hut which was loyt through sin, and which is again to be restored when man is Inought to perfection. and so made fit to receive and enjoy it. That dominion will not he a dominion of some of the race over others, hut a joint dominion, in which everv man will be a king, and all will have equal rights and privileges in approlninting and tnloying every earthly good. It will he a sovereign pcnplr-a great and grand republic on a basis of perfect rightrnusness, wherein the rights of every. man will be conserrrd ; because the golden rule will he mscrihed on every heart, and every man will love his neighbor as himself. The dominion of all nil1 he over the whole-earth, and all its rich (Gen. 1:28 : Psn. 8 :5-S ) The and hnuntiful stnreq of blessing. See THE PLAN OF THE AGES,Chap. 8, The Day of Judgment.
l

(101-102)

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ZIONS

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TOWER

(102-103)

kingdom of the world, to be given to the perfected and worthy ones of the redeemed race at the close of the Millennium. is clearly distinguished from all others by being called the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world, the earth having been made to be the everlasting home and kingdom of perfect men. But the kingdom bestowed upon Christ, of which the church, his bride, becomes joint-heir, is a spiritual kingdom, far above angels, principalities and powers. and it also shall have no end-Christs Millennial kingdom, 11hich ~~11 end being merely a beginning of Christs power and rule. (1 Cor. 15:25-28) This endless heavenly, spiritual kingdom was prepared long before the earth was founded-its inception being recognized in Christ, the beginning of the creation of God. It was intended for Christ Jesus. the First Begotten; but even the church, his bride and joint-heir, was chosen or designed also, in him, before the foundation of the world.-Eph. 1:4. The kingdom or rule of earth, is the kingdom that has been in preparation for manlcind from the fozrndation of the world. It was expedient that man should sufrer six thousand years under the dominion of evil, to learn its inevitable results of misery and death, in order by contrast to prove the justice, wisdom and goodness of Gods law of love. Then it will require the seventh thousand-years, under the reign of Christ, to restore him from ruin and death, to the perfect condition, thereby fitting him to inherit the kingdom prepared for him from the foundation of the world. That kingdom, in which all will be kings, will be one grand, universal republic, whose stability, &l blessed influence will be assured by the perfection of its every citizen, a result now much desired. but an impossibilitv because of sin. The kingdom of Christ during the Millpnniui will be. on the contrary: a theocracy, whichcwill rule the world (duiing the period of its imperfertion and restoration) without regard to its consent or approval. The brethren of the Gospel church are not the only brethren of Christ. All who at that time will have been restored to perfection will be recognized as sons of God-sons in the same sense that Adam was a son of God (Luke 3:38) -human sons. And all of Gods sons, whether on the human, the angelic or the divine plan, are brethren. Our Lords love for these, his human brethren, is here expressed. As the world now has the opportunity to minister to those who are shortly to be the divine sons of God, and hrethren of Christ, so they will have ahundant opportunity during the age to come to minister to (each other) the human brethren. The dead nations when again brought into existence will nerd food, rniment and shelter. However great may have been their possesiions in this life, death will have brought all to a common level: the infant and the man of mature years, the millionaire and the pauper, the learned and the unlearned, the cultured and the ignorant and degraded: all will have an abundant opportunitv for the exercise of benerolence, and thus they will be privileged to be co-workers with God. We are here reminded of the illustration given in the c.l-e of Lazarus. .Jesuq onlv awakened him from death. ant1 then ~rre the rejoicing friends permitted to loose him from his grave clothes and to clothe and feed him.

Further, these are said to be sick and in prison (more properly, under ward or watch). The grave is the great prison where the millions of humanity have been held in unconscious captivity; but when released from the grave, the restoration to perfection is not to he an instantaneous work. Being not yet perfect, they may properly be termed sick, not dead, neither are they yet perfected in and under ward: life: and any condition between those two may be properly symbolized by sickness. And they will continue to be under watch or ward until made well-physically: mentally and morally perfect. During that time there will he abundant opportumty for mutual helpfulness, sympathy, in5tl u&ion and encouragement, and any failure to asyist will mark a lack of the Lords spirit of love. Since all mankind will not be raised at once. hut gradually, during the thousand years. each new group will finz an army of helpers in those who will have preceded it. The love and benevolence which men will then show to each other (the brethren of Christ) the King will count as shown to him. No areat deeds are assigned as the ground for the honors and favo;s conferred upon ihe righteous: they will have simply come into harmony with Gods law of lore and proved it by Love is the fulfilling of the law (Rom. their works. So, when man is restored again 13:10), and God is love. to the image of Cfod-very good-man also will be a living expression of love. -Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. does not signifv a rule indenendent of the divine law and supremacy: f& aithough God gave earths dominion to man at first, and de-ignr reytoring it to him when he has prepared him for the great trust, we are not to suppose that God intends man to rule it, otherwise than as under, or in harmony with, his supreme law. Thv will be done in earth as in heaven, must forever be the principle of governMan thenceforth will rule his dominion in harmony ment. with the law of heaven-delighting continually to do his will in whose favor is life. and at whose right hand [condition (ha. 16:ll) of favor] there are pleasures forevermore. Oh! who would not sav. Haste ve along. ages of elorv! and give glory and ho&r to hi; -whoseloGing pl&s are blossoming into such fulness of blessing? Let us now examine the message to those on the leftDepart from me, ye cursed (condemned) --condemned as unfit vessels for the glory and honor of life, who would not yield to the moulding and shaping influences of divine love. When these, brethren. were hungry and thirsty, or naked, sick, and in prison, ye ministered not to their necessities, thus continuall$ provirig yourselves out of hnrmonv with the heavenlv citv (kinndom) : for there shall in no case enter into idanyihinb thit defileth. The decision or sentence re,narding this class is-Deljart from me into everlasting fire [symbol of destruction], prepared for the devil and h& annels. Elsewhere (Heb. 2 : 14) we read without svmbol that Christ will destl-071 . . . . hi& that had the pane; of death, that is, the devil. And these [the goats] shall go away into everlasting [Greek, azonios-lasting] punishment, but the righteous into life eternal [Greek, aionios-lasting.] The punishment will Both 11ill be eveI la*tlng. be as ln;tmg as the rellnrd.

EVERLASTING
The everlastingness of the punishment being thus established, only one point is left open for discussion; namely, the nature of the punishment. Take your Concordance and search out what saith the great Judge regarding the punishment of wilful sinners who despise and reject all 1119blessed provlcions for them through Christ. What do you find? Does God there say-All sinners shall live in torture forever? No: we find not a single text where life in any condition is promised to that class. Gods declarations assure us that ultimatelv he will have a clean universe, free from the blight of sin *and sinners,because All the wicked will he destroy.--Psa. 14.5:20. But while we do not find one verse of the Bible saying that this class can have life in torment, or in any other condition, we do find numerous passages teaching the reverse. Of these we give a few merely as samples-The wages of sin The soul that sinnetll. it shall dze. is death (Rom. 6.23) . t (Ezek. 18.4, 20) The wicked shall perish. (Psa. 37 :20) I Psa. Yet a little while and the wicked shall not be. 37 : 10) Thus God has told is plainly the nature of the kverlasting pllnishment of the nicked-that It will be death, destruction. The false ideas of Gods plan of dealing with the incorrigi-

PUNISHMENT
ble. taught ever since the great falling away. uhicll rrllminatetl 111Papacy, and initilled intn our mint]< flnm rliiltlhootl, are alone r&ponslble for the view generallv hcltl. that the ererlastinz Dunzshme)zt nrovidetl for 11ilfnl kinnc.1, Is n t!le many life of torliient *This view i; lleltl. notn lth~tantllng clear statements of Gotls n-oitl that th(air punishment iy to l+ear Paul itnte VCIV e\l)licitlv uhat tllr jninihIw dcnllr. Day, ant1 of ilirnt i9 to hc. Speaking of the .,lnle ~Illlrnnl,\l the same r&q, who, despite all the favolnble opportunltirs and the fulness of knowledge then, will not come into harmony with Christ, and hence will know not God. in the true sense and obey not, he savs-who shall be pmishcd. Ah, yes 1 hut iww punished? He tells us how: They shall be l~~mishcrl with eredastinq (IesfruCt~ou [a destruction from which there &all be no recoverv, no redemr>tlon or resurrectlon-Heb. 10.26-291 from the l;~e~nicc~ of the Lord and from This tle<trnction (2 Tlrr.. I:!)) the r Lrrlorv of his Dower. ii repre&tctl in the parable as the evrllastlng fire prepared for the devil and his angels: it is the lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death (Rev. 20: 14)) into whirh the goat class of this parable are sent.-Matt. 25341. Thus the meaning and reasonableness of this statement concerning everlasting punishment are readily seen when

[ 26071

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ALLEGHENY.F i..

looked at from the cxorrect standr~olnt. The fire of the narable. by wh1c.11the punishment (destr;ct,lon) is to be atcompllhhrd; ~111 not be literal fire. for the fire is ax much a svmhol as thfb sheep and gciats are symbols.. llre here. a; ii&r \\ he] e, symbolire ilrstructlon. and not in any sense pl eservution \Ve might wNr.11 Ica\e this suiJIel*t here, and consider that we hale fully shown that thcb evcarlastlng punishment of the goat cl:i*s will hr tli~~truction : but we direct attention to one other point which c.linc*hre the truth upon this subJect. \Ve refer to the Greek \vol tl X-o(astn. translated nun~shm~~nt. in lerse 46. This word IlilR not 1;J it the 1emirteht itftaa of torincnt. Its primary qnilication i5 to c~ct of, or prune, or lop off. as III the prunlnx of trro<: and a +ecorltlary nic,iiiing 1s to rf~straln. The w~:,krd ~111 he evcrlastlngly rc:straint,d, cut off from life in the ec~l~ontl death. Illiihrration oi thr llw of kolrfs~ra ran en<iIy \JC IIdd from Grech calah-1ca1 writings The (ireck word for tormcant i+ tfrsrr!os, a nerd totally unrcl:~tcd to the word kolnsln. lif~l~fst12, the word iii131 in 3latt. 23: 16, occurs in but one otllc*r 1~lacr in the Blblr. \ iz., 1 John 1:lS. where it is iml,roIBriy rc~ndercd torment in thla commou version, whereas it ~lroultl rlbad, Fear bath rctstraint Those who nossess a copy of Youngs Analytirxl Concanrdnnce will & from it ( IULl !)!I.:) that the definition of thtb word ko1asl.y i< prun2?1q, ri~\frrrlnc~c/, rcytraint z4nit tlicl author of the E:mphatic Ix:~plott. after translating kolnslu in 3lal.t. 26:46 ~JY the wurils i3ltting off, says in a foot note: 111f~ common version and many modr,rn ones render lcoZnsJn c(JonloJJ. cvfrlastlng punlshmrnt, conveying the idea, as g~~ncrally interpretcil, of bffsfnos, tnrmcnt. 1ioZasi~~ in its varJ(lu- form- oc.eurq in only three* other placer 111the K;t~w Te~larnc~nt~ A& 4:21; 2 Pet. :!:!I; 1 ,Tohn 4:lH. It is delhc~ (41P,~LY writ,%--The ( harintrer restrains [&la&j his ficary +tc~~~tl~. 3. 70 duc+fl:c. to punish. To cut off an in(II\ Ifl~lil I ironi lift, or froni ho(.Jctv. or even to restrain. i3

I III, WC ,,I,~11 111~111:~1~1. tt,,; .l~J1t,~lJ,~c. tlJus pr& 1,t \ ing tllcl force, ariil hi~aut~v ot tlic antitlJi~+i~. The righteous go to Zrfr, the ~~1thl~i1 tab 1111~ rrrttinq turf frnm life. deulh.--2 Thes. 1:9. So\\ (Y)IJ.I(~~~Ic*:Jrc~fully 111~ text, and note the ant,ithesis, tllcs c~~rrl 1.15i +howt~ I)tlt\\rc*n tlJc> rcwartl of the sheep and the I,~\\:IJI~ fit 111ta . :n:tth. \vtlllalJ the correct idea of lcolasin ci\1+ 1111* ,111,. 1I:lhY gorx Into everlasting Zzie, while the rit o[f from life-forkver.restraine~ in CJI IIVI I. cvrlla~tiilg llt~:ltlJ .\nd tiliq cxac%Iv agrchc+ with what the Scrintures

stone (Rev. 19 :20), the element brimstone being mentioned to mtensifv the svmbol nf destruction. the second death: burning briynrtonc tJ>ing one of the most d&dIy elementr kno\\u. It 1. destructive to all fo1m.r of life. The symbolism of this lake of fire is further shown by the fatat that ihe symbolic beast and the svmholic false proihet. as well as the devil anti and death and hell Ihadesl. hi:, followere, are destroyed I6 it.-Rev. lb :20; 20: 10, 14. 15: 21:s. This destruction or death iq called the Second death in c.ontradistinction to the First or Adamic death, and not to Flgnify that everything which goes into it dies a second time For instance. death (the first or Adamic death). and hacks the grave. a;e to be Gast into it;-this work nlli require the entire Xlillennium to accomnlish --, it. and in no sense will they , so also fh dev11, Ylk taver have been destroyed brfore. will never lyre been iIt>beast. and the false prophet, stroved before. I&om the first. or Atlamic death. a rllsltlrec.tlnn has IJWII pro\ ided. All that are in their graves shr11i therefore come forth. The Revelator propheticalfi derlares: Tlrr spa gave up tlJe dead mhirh were in it, and death and hell [hades, tht, grave] gave up the dead which were in them. . . . And 1 saw the dcah, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened. (Rev. 20:1X I21 Tt nas in view of t:ods plan fnF redeeming the racr from Ailnmic death that in both the Old and New iestaments it is ralled a sleep. In Jsrxels historv of the eood and the wicked It is reaeatedlr stated that tiley slept with their fathers The ;Ipostl& usrd the same sbmhol, and our Lord also. nut no surh svni bol is used in deference to the Second death. On the contrary. thr strongest figures of total and uttrr rlcsfntctlon are used to svmholize It: viz.. fire and lJrimstnnc1: because that \\ ili IJP ii dcitruction from which there \\iII bc no recover! 13lcsscd thollpht! the Adamica death (\\h~c*h c*lalmed the wlJo1~~race for the -in of their prngenltor) shall be forever ~w:~llowcd up. and chall W:~W in this Sec*ontl dealh into wlJ~clt Jt. is to be cast by the great Rrdt~emer who lJou,nht the wholr world with thr oarrificc of IJJrnGcIf. Thus God tells us throueh tlJc> Prophet.. 1 will ransom them from the Dower of tlc 0 #rat c [.&co/ 1. 1 will rrd~+~m them from dttath 771,~ I Hoc. 1:3:14i Era\ tb I skroll 1 will hc fhv tlestruc+on. iirht 0; AdnLic deatlJ sh:;Il no longer IJav;~ IJlll~rty orpo\\eJ o\er meu. as Jt, hah Ilad for the pa*t $1~ tlloll+;~nd years; IJO 5. I?. .lcr. 31 .29. 1olJgcr shall any die for Adamn bin. (Ram 30 : ISzck. IS.) T1x.n:efnrth tlJc& New Cnvenant, sealed with the pre&us IJlood, shall he in fnrcy, JJnd only ~~~7f1~7 will be counted as SIIJ and lmuJ+hed with tlJt> tranqreSsionr I~II~ will the AdamJc wng~s of qin-death-the Second death death he idant into and swallowed up by thy secsond drath dark, secarct c~ontlltion. the gravt. Bnd hndes and &&---the \\lJich 111the 1JrrRent time speaks to us of a hope of futuJ (* Ilfc I,\ (~otla r&urrection power in Chribt-shall be no rnort for the swond death will devour no heinc fit for life-noric~ for \\hom there remains a shadow of hop,:: hut hll(Bh only iltJ. iIll r;.y the unerring Judge, hare 1~cw1 full\ . iinpartially ~t~lli\ idually found worthy of dcstrtrction And Satan. that 1~111ytrmptchr who deceived and ruined the rac(l, and who, with Continnillly to y~r cirtent encrpr and cunning. has rnugllt 1hitart the purpose of God for our ~al~,ttion through Christ. an11 with him iI1 who arr of his spirit, hi9 ang!~ls: shall 1)(x (if3 flvl IlCd. and shall never awake from death to troulrlc thr Hwe 11~ is snid to he cilht Inlo the lnkr OI wnrldagaln. fiw. -the sec*nnd death: and Paul in TIeh. 2 l-1. referring to t!Jca ~~llnr thlny. (3113 it tlestrllctlO~P-tllilt he might tIf31rO11 d(ailtlt. and hiin that hrlth the potr of tlt~ath. float iq thin dtb\ 11. r\ntl the tJeaht, and the false nrnlshet. the prrat Chr~~thutlom, shall ne\(*r ~s&pe -horn it. Thl3c.e systems are c.Jitl to he cayt ali\r (that is. wliilc thev ,lr(b still oreanizrtl .L . anil opthrati\ca I I!!to tIrt* I:rbr of fire burning with brimstone.II,.\ l!) .%O.

19 2,I 20 10. 14. 15. 21 d 111~ l.~I,l~ IIF tir(x #lnd brimstone is several times men1IOIIV~ III tll(a IKJO~ Of Iler~~lntlnn. whit+ all Christians admit to IIf. :I l,lM~l< 11t ? ~JJlJol* lIo~e\cr. they gemrally think and C(~~#i cjf tl117 1):li tlclilar I\ hvmbol ah a literal statement ci\to the .torment doctrine. notwithstanding 11,:: \t~oltg sii1,&rt the laf*t, that, the qvmbol oh calearlv defined as meanine the ~,~lYJrlll ll,~;ltll Aud death and heli were cast-into the lckc of p-r Ihtr is thr second death, etc. (Rev. 20:14) It I* .Ol!ltt lIlJ,S; ~~)~ll~lll llf RG il IaLe of fire burning with brim-

THE

LAKE SECOND

OF FIRE DEATH-ml:,.\

AND

BRIMSTONB,

WHICH

IS

THE

The gre.tt time of trouble. the Lords juclgmcqt. which will uttrrlv drstrov thc\e svstemq. will undoubtedlv caiic(L great so(*l;li. financial and reIigious difficulty and pai; tc) all those idrnt ificd with these deceived and deceiving systems, before they .tre utterly destroyed. These sycfems will be cant in. clestrni c&d. at th; hrgin&g of the bIJIlrnnium, while 8atan.n drstructlon w reserved until its VIOW. when all the goats shall have been separated from thtb rl;eep, and thev shall perish with Satan in the Second dt%atlJ. ax his angels, .,* nJ(~\st*ngerk or servantr. None of these abominable characteramong. men, who, knowing the truth, vet love unrighteousneRh--none of the fearful and unbelicvirl~---tl~o~ who will not trust God after all the manifestations ybf his grace afforded during tIlta Millennial reign of Christ; nor tl~e abominahle

[ 26OrCl

ZIONS

W.tiTCH
ll:lrJnolJ\
powrr

TOllER
ih

(in6

if17~

who at hea] t a, c JrJurdereJ s .rntl 11 IJorenJon~rrs and sorcerers and idolaters and liars: none of these *hall escape from the second death, to defile the earth a.gaJn. A11 such-after a full and abundant oi~uoilunitr for reformation, will be judged unworthy of life, and wJll be forever cut off in the scc&d death, spmbolJzcd by the lnhe oi Iire and brimstone. age and its SVVCJ.RIprophetJc pen l)ictuJc~ of the Millennial w-o~k Jn chapters 20 and 21 of Kerclatlon. clearly show the obiet t and result of that age trf trial. Jn hnlmony with tht i eJn:JJndcr of tlJc ScripturcL ali rxd,Y noted. Uianter 20, verses 2. 1, 11, with verses 1, 2, 10, 11 of rlJnpter21, show the beginning of that Age of Judgment, and cri 0,s an11 JJii4eulinp Lystemq. TllC 1 ~~trnlllln~ of l~lilltllrlL! The iwt# I and the &fnlk prol,lJet are the chief s.! mholq, :iJid Jf~pJrwnt tlic oi,~~,JJi~.itJ;lJl,- cbr c\--tcnJz of error which. -riiJq* iucl~meiit against the lfwf tilt 1. fY,ll*tltutc J,dlI 1011. tj;rones of the present time, nut1 ag&st the beak and the f:1I.c 11 qllet sI/Yfc)ns fcJllOl\ G slw~hly upon the introduction of thi5 hlillenninl judgment IcJgn. The thrones of the present dominion of earth will be cast down, and the dominion traJJ>ferred to the gwat PJophet, Priest, King and Judge, ((6)JiiJ)ar~~ IIan. 7: 14. r:!: E~(ak;. 21 :t?i) ~,rl~ow rirrht it is. 1111.n the 5y~tcwJ* of fiJ01 IYJII 1~ ipf~edily judged worthy of f!P<t,11ct10r2,the lake of fi1 c. the second death.-Rev 11 20. Ihus the second tlritluetion (or dcathI hegins quite early tn the new iiitl~inmt : it hegins with the false systems wmIKIIIL(~~ hy tl;c benqt. fa1.e p;ophet. etc. but it will JJot r&r11 tilt wnrltl of mankind. nq intliridunl~. until thcv have first hat1 Full trial, -G.ith full &oitiinit~ tochoosc liie and live for(V,, Chapter4 20: 12. 1.1. and 21 :3-7, indicate the bleswtl. f.lvolnblc t&l in which all. both dead and living (except thp c 11111 uho. 11ith .Jewr CIIJi-t. :Jrc kinrs. nriests. ioint-heit s ch. :~IIU~ ~~Jf]gw); will be brought to n full k&&edge df the truth. rc11c~x from arrow and ijaiii, and freed from every blintlinp rtl (1Jtlr ant1 prpJJi(lice. and trietl according to their wod~s. The grant1 outcome of that tJin1 will be a. clean universe. nhich is in \. the Rrvrlatnr eqiirww it. Et cr,t/ wcatwc lwn~ fw and on the earth . . . . heard I saying, Blessing and hnt~or nJJd glory and powr Iw untn him that sitteth upon the i IIJ oJJP. and unto the J.nmh fmcrc~r But this result will hc :~~~c~mplislir~l iii hninlnny with all Gods dealings past and 1'1 (Lent, u liich Iin\ c a111 aye rcco,~ni~rd mans frrwloin of n ill to ( hoosr gontl or roll, lifr or tle:rth. \Vr cnnnnt doubt tllfw that in the close of the Ali]]ennia] ngr Gntl x1111 ng:liJl for n. little season permit evJ1 t.n trJuJJJph. in oJdt,r t1Jerchy to twt his rrcature; (~110 wJ]l bv 1 II:, t t i tllr 11nvc bccomr thnronghl~v acquainted with both go&l ant1 e\ il, a~(1 the cnnwqurnccs of each, and 1x411have had his iu*tice ant1 lore frilly demonstrated to them), that those ,4r]ln tiJJllll\ pJY*f?i :JJJtl cl~orl-c>r\-Jl ma\- Iw c1Jt fbff--t]citloypf]. r]lJJs 1:n11 11ill for all rtrJrJJi v J enJo\ ~1 all 15 do JJot iore rigllt110 ~o:~~Jicss x11(1lJ<xtr JJJiqJJitv. T1-c rend. regnrtlini that testing, that Satan will endeavor to lwtl astray all 1~mnkJnt1, \~lrose numberq will then l,p a+ tirr wntl of the l a for multitude; but that manv of them ~111 follow Fatan\ wil example and choose evii and &sr~hr~i~t~~~re. ith lJ:lz-t r\prrirncr I\ brfore thrm. and unhamneretl
IA

:llld lWYfckt ],.li.\lJf 0 Of J""tlW, \\ ldOllJ, lUVC, ;~1111 the DJriJJc Ruler. Revelatlon 2 1: 8 111, The true clJar,ictcr IA the goat cl.ihs is portrayed. fe,r I fill and imbelicrin:: [I\ Iro Iv111 riot ti ust God], the nlK)Jii IlJ~l]~]P. murderers [ lnnther-haters1 , \I 1101 cmorJgeJ h, sorcer~J -. idnlatri s [ wch RS JnJaappropi iatc ant1 Jnihnse divine fnvol Itlro vJ\-c to \elf or ;1JJv other cre,ltiJJc or thing tllat scJ vJc~ to God]. anal all 1iaJs-.\~lJo=i,cl-cJ .llll1 ]lOllOJ M ]llf]J bC]ml: lnrrtli ant1 mnkrtll n lie [iii n 11nrtl. a11 u 110 do not lnrch tilt tlrltll nnd wck it. nIlI at n*,v co.1 t]f~ff~Jlt] :lllt] holtl it] * -IIn llnrc tlJcir IJart in 111~1:1kc I\-1iiclJ I>111 JJrtlJ n 1111fire nnll 111 JJ!luhicli i- tltc <toiJe [C:c:7teJrJJrr,~~ml~ol of utter tlrhtJJictJoii], to .111! ~llC]J C~Jll]l;lJl.\~ \i 011]1: lw lqmlhl\.C Second death. It i> hnrtl to tolcJ .~tc IlJrm nn\v. I\ lirlj IJnJJcst. JJlJJ ight bcinr. v , can svmpnthizc u 1111tlirm, kno\\ ing that hiJclJ &sposJtJ~~Jr:lJc nowin geat Jnea>uJc 1!1(>Jcsnlt of iiilieJitrt1 wcnknr+ (11 tlic flesh. tic are mo\ cd to a ~~c:I~~JI~c of s\inpntlrp by ilIt ~ttnembrance that iu o:,r own case; oftrn, V~I~JI IVC wnultl tic zond. evil is nrescnt uitli Ii<:. I:ut iii thr tlow nf tlw Jr11 of l;JJn\\ l(*tl;rl* illlli iJ.)r r giGrn cvciv ntl\niitSlpc ant1 OppOllUlJit~ :Il,ilJtr. ilriq ~19;s xi11 1)~ an nlJ11oJrrJJcr ant1 tlt~tc5t:JtinJJ tl* nil

THE

DEVIL,

THE

BEAST AND TORMENTED

THE

FALSE

PROPHET

.,J,~SC. ITO\\ P\-cr. 111if~Ji Gnll tloci Jiot tell 115 riChrJ tlir JllJrtiileJ or thr 1~JolJoJ tioiJ of tlJo>cs to be found wrthv of lift.

r]l:lt

llftfl

alit]

]lnlW]f+

t]P-tlWctlOJl

i;.

iJltfJl~]cd

oil]\

fol

:JJJc,lhcr 0lJpnJ tunltx- of lifr for JiJ.iJJ. JJJitcatl of lc,it1111~ :111to :lJi :ilJhoi rcJJce of <iii. \\ill lc,l~l MBJJJC ;iJ1,1Jn~(lll.Jt C,IH~ i9 to ton loving lo rut tlJc&Jn off JJJ t:tct wrnJJ!l tlts.ltli. nJ t11:lt If lrcs dial w he \\nultl $1 P tlJ(lJJ othct :111(1 ct ntlicr fiitiJJ ( o~J!,nJ I EuilclJJJg tliJJ\ JJpt,JJ :J 5JJ,Ji,ow,l wcnkuc,su JJ; tlir tiuJiiif3. rlivJJJc cliarnctrr~. tllwr Jiiax lrc* 11~1to tJv to t:il;r atl\,:uit 15

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER
)r negligent of Gods favors enjoyed, and of their duriei and ~I~lisation~ fo him. sliall hltat e the fate of tl1e trtllrt77ll I\ icked. ml I,e cait Into tlw hwolld t1cat11. In further proof of this, we find that the Hehrew word sl~zrb, which in our test is translated turned. signifies tttrtxd b<tcli. as to n prevtnus phtcc or condition. Those rcfrrrcd to in thts text ha\Te been et-ther in sheol or liable to enter it, hut king retl(aemed by tl1c pt(~cintts ltlood of Christ, \\ill he brought If then they aie ~ic7;crl. they, and all who out of slteol. for@ (;otl, shall he 120.~2cdbftcl; or Icttl,ncd to shc07.
I

DID

THE

JEWS

BELIEVE

IN

EVERLASTING

TORMENT?

Sotinp That \I ta tlxcli that tlir dnctrittr of cvet l:i~t1t1~ tormrnt \\ :I. eti~taftetl itnon the doctrines of thr Cht ititian cliurch il w1.y tlnring tht ;T,eriod oi tlte npobta*y, thr .gtcat falling wllich rultntnnte~l in Palacy. hottle 11avc tttqltit rtl \\ 11rtlter tt of .Tosrphtts;. that thtr tlors not 5cem. accnrrlttt g to tllr \rnrlts tlortiitie \vas fitmly held by the .Te\vs; and, if ho. tl1ey a-l;, tloc* It not seem eritlrttt tlt:ct the early Cllristinns, being largely converts from .Jutlai~nt. brought this doctrtne with them. tn the very nutstnrt of Christianity? \Yr nns\v(~r, To: thta tlockritie of evcrla\ting torment sprang nat1lrally from tltc tlncttinc of 11ttt11:1n it11n1ortaltty. n-liicsh a+ a m*ttctl it1 anrtliing ltkc tllc pl1tlosol)hir cliie5tiott n-:1. fir-t ltlnt11tt1,~ lbty+rnt fort11 1,~ the ll;rt~~tiic irl1001 of (:tcciAt1 l~l1110~0l~lt~. 71)cw fit ,t aflit itirtl tlint c.1r11 t11ntt c~otttntnrtl :I f1 agment of tlcit),. ant1 that this w01tltl p1 crrnt hit1t ftont cvcr (1) ittg. This fo1ttid;1tion Iaitl. it was as tii\v to tlcWttl)r~ a l)lC1v(bfor PI-lllint to the credit of t Iiov lic:~theti doeis as for lvell-tloetr. 11hilosoplterc, 1~. tt ~~otclctl that they failc,l to tlt~vclop, or at leait to manifest. that tlrpth of tlrgtadnt inn frot11 I~tlc~v~llcnce and rensnn and pity. nerr+ary to paint, hy word nntl pen ant1 brush. such details of horrot s and agonies as 11 ere *not1 incorporated into their tloct1 inc. illltl :I hrlief tllvl cv)f tlrc~larctl in the profeskctl chtitcli of Christ. necessary to halrntioti To apprecintp the caie. it is ttrrrswt ~7 to I cwtc~tt1lwr that. n-hen the Clirtrtian churcli \\a: cit,thlishc~tl, (;tcrrcl <toot1 at tlte ltend of itttelltgcttcr ntid civtlt7:3tintt. ;\lrwntlw thv (;tc:tt hat1 concliterrd thh \\nrltl. ant1 hat1 ~piea(l tc%.lxd for (:I ewe ever\\\ littt e : ant1 tltowh. ftott, a t1ltlitntv Iloit1t of \icl\\-, Rontc l:r,r r(fitthat1 taken her place. it vn~ otltrru isr tit lttc~t.ttlu(. tiirteh. (Grecian l~hilosol~l1cr~ ant1 l~hiln~nl~l1tt~s 1~1 tllca intrlIt Icctttal n niltl, ant1 imp epnn ted ant1 allcctrll 0\1*1>tlltng. hcc;lme cuskm1ary for l~l1ilo~nl~ltct 9 ant1 ttVclrc.1 y of clthc,r throt icq to claim that thtxir svstetiis ant1 tlleorlry wet (2 tlcS1rl) tl1e yatne aq those of tltc C;tcrinttb. ant1 to cndw\-c:r tl, 1(~11lI~\X cliffe~~~nces hrtIveett their nltl thenrieh ant1 tltc pl~ttl:tr (;I ((t:ltt by rlnitttinp 1ltat \ien s. And sntt1r fiougl1t to make cnpitnl \\ ltll their system eti~lnxcetl all the good points of Ilntolll*tn others wl1ich Plato tlitl tint we. Of tl115 ~1~35 were the teacher5 in the Chti~tmn clit1rch in the seconcl, tl1irtl an(l fourtli eentut irs. Cnt1cc~tltt1~ tlic popularl\~ aecel)ted tort rctnr<% of thr phtlnsopl1eri. thry cl litned that the same gone! fLs;rtttte< of l~hilosoplty Uerr fount1 it1 C11rist5 tracl1ing., ant1 tlint lie wit5 one of the prcatc+t plrtl\~~onhers. etc. Tl~its a l~lrtttlit1~ of Plntoni5111 and Chrtsttan1ty tonk place. T~IIS l,ecamr tl1ct more prnnottncrtl as kin,%.:. ant1 fmncrorq hczati to hct utinizr t eligio11s teachtt1~4. ant1 to favor ltkelr to nwr thta !wople and 111ake thc1n lawt11o.r tnoht <\i-hilt heathen tc~acliers \\ete truckling to SIIC!I imnl~itlttip. l~nnisl1tnrnt for pcrial srr1tttny. ant1 tcnrlIing an rvetla=kitig those nl1n \-iolatc>tl the ln\vs of thr rtnlxrors (nho tulcd as otllet wIw2 tll:ln that clivn1c~1~ npl~oititctl) . 11-e caxnnt suppow the att1l~itiou~ chnractet~ iii tile ch~~~cll at tll:lt tllrre, who uere and to hecomr the dnn1inant swhitt~~ to tlihplarc ltcatheniim 1eligiG1s po\ver itiitead. wn111d make prominent such doctrines as \\-oul(l in the r\TeS of the empetors seem to hare fit1 equal linltl ttpun tlte fva& ant1 preJttdice5 of the people. Alld WltRt than the doctrtne of the endless rottlcl 1~ tnnre to the purpc totnirnt of tlte refiactorg~ .Josrphus when Tlir same ntntire3 cvitlt~ntly operatedwith writing eoncetnin, cp tl1e hrlicf of the .Jews. His works qhnuld hp tcatl a5 apologies for .Judaistn, and as rfforts to exalt that It should he rettatiot1 in the cytls cof R1nl1r ant1 the wnrltl. t1!ct11l,ete,l that tl1e .JCM had the reputation s of being n very I c~l)cllio11s pcol)lc. vet\- liti\\ 1lling to bc rulrtl evcii by the Thrv 17ctc hnlit1g. in hnrmonv v it11 Goal5 protnises. C:r>nl. Many rebellious outbrenl;~ had to hccomc tl;e cl1ief nation. nccttt ted atttnttg tlicm. ati~l their peculiar religion, tltffetfnt ftntn all otl1ct+. ratt1r in fot iti, ihare of blame for fnvortng too t11i1c11 the slttrtt of liht)t t7. .Tn\fnl)litt< ]1;1tl at1 ol,ject in xlriting his two principal works, He wrote them in of the ,Je\\ \. A~tlti~uitics and \\a~, the (:teelc langttage \\hilc ltving at Rome, nherc 116% \\:Is the ft 1~1,l and gut=t succ.rqsi\.ely of the Roman ctnpetor~ T es[2610-j

blhRC~ 15 AND .\PRIL 1, 1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(108-109)

pasian. Titus ant1 Domitinn. and where he was in constant &tact with the Grecian philosophers. These hooks were written for the nurnnse of showinp off the Jewish ueonle. their courage, laws, ethirs, etc.. to fhe best advantag; before the Grecian philosophers ant1 Roman dignitaries. This object is covertly admitted m his preface to his Bntiquities, in which he says: I have undertaken the present work as thinking it will appear to ~11 the Grrck~ worthy of their study. . . . Those that read my book ma? won&r that my discourse of laws . . . and historical fart< contains so much of philosophy. However. those that hare a mind to know the reasons of everything may find here a v-rry curious philosophical theory. In a nord, as a shrewtl man who himself had become imbued with the spirit of the Grecian philosophers then prevailing. Josephuq dlew from the Law and the Prophets, and frcjm the traditions of the elders and the theories of the various sects of the .Tewy all he could find- that in the most remote degree would tend to show.Firit, that tllc .Jewish religion wnq not far behind popular C+r~~~i:ln1~1111o~pl1~ but that S(IUWNhat analogous theories had : hcrn tl1:1\\ n from l\loses law, and hrltl hg some Jews, long before the Grcrian philoqnpherq broached them. Secondly, that it was not their religious ideas which made the .Tcns RS a people hard to control or rebellious, as all lil,rl tr-lore15 Tl ere e\termtl 1~ the Czepsars. Hence he attempts to prOvc. at a tiinc when vi1 tue was esteemed to consist mai;lly in sltl)misslon. that AInies' law taught first of all that God is tile Fatllcr am1 Lord of all things, and bestows a happy life unon thoqr that follow him. hut rjlunees such as do not Mnlk 111the paths of virtue into inevitahle miseries. And it ic 1n ~iipl)oit of tliic idea. and for such purposes, evidently, that .Tow~~hus. aftrr inying: There are three philosophical sc~rt. an>nn~~ the .Jrw\: firqt, the Phnriqeeq: 5erond. the Saddue ccc. and third, the E,yenes, pinceeds to hire an account of their tlircc thcorieq. esperinlly -detailing any features which rc+t*ml,lctl Grecian nhlloinnhr. And because the last and least. the l<:*kpneq. mnct leseml,lrtl the dnctrines of the Stoics ani lthatllllg (Grecian tlreoricq. .Trlcephns devotes nearly ten times as much -place to thnr \-icx\c as to the views of both Sadducees anti Illdrl\t~e\ rnmhinrd. And yet the Esscnrs were so insignitic,rllt a sect that the Sew Testament does not even mentlnll tll~wl. ~1 hilr ,Jnsephns himself admits they were fem. \\ Ilatts\ tr vie\\ c: they hr~lll. thelefnre. on any subject, cannot he clainletl nq having .Tewish sanction, when the vast majority of .Te\\\ held contrary opinions. The very fart that our Lord ant1 tllr apostle+ did not refer to them ik good evidence that the l<+fsnp9 nh~ln~nnhv bv no mpans represented the Jewish Tbiq snlall hbrt pobahly grew ui later and probably idfin\. ab~nll~ctl from c:reclan philosophy its idea9 concerning immortahty and the everlasting torment of the non-virtuous. It shoul(1 lie rcmcsmhrretl that .Tnsephus was not born until three year< after our Lords crurifisinn. and that he published his \\.ar+* ,\. D. 75 and Sntlquities ,4 D. 03-at-a time when he and other Jews. llke all the reqt of the world. were eaperlv swallon Inp (Grecian phllo*ophy and science falsely so cgle& agalnqt \\-hirh Pan1 \xarnr~l the church.-Cnl. 2.5; i Tim. B:20. .Tn+ephus tlirectctl special attention to the Essenes because it suited his oblect to do so. He admits that the Sadducees, nest to the larzreit bodv of Jewish neonle. did not believe m human immortality. And of the PhAri&ek views he makes a blind statement, calculated to mislead, as follows: Thev also believe that souls have an ~~)t)tzo~taZvfgor in them [Th& might be understood to mean that the Pharisees did not believe as the Sadtlucees that death ended all existence. but believed in a vigor or life beyond the grave-by a res&rectinn of the deadl. and that under the earth there will be rewards and punishments, according as they have lived rirtuouslp or viciously in this life: and that the latter are to be detnined in an eirerlasting p-won [death-not torture], but that the former [the virtuous1 shall have DoLuer to leuive axd
1 .

It Le

ngnk"

Is it not apparent that Josephus has whittled and stretched the views of the Pharisees, as much as his elastic conscience would allow, to show a harmony between them and the phllosophies of Greecr? Paul, who had been a Pharisee, contradicts Josephus. F%%ile Josephus says they believed (&at only the virtuous would revive and Iire ugazn [Does not this imply a resurrection, and implr also that the others would not iiae again, but remain $e&, in the great prison-the tomb?l I%ul,on the contrary, says: I hc\Te holye toward God, which thev themselves also allow. that there shall be a resurrection of ihe dead, both of the just and unjust.--Acts 24: 15. We have no hesitancy about accepting the testimony of the [2611]

inspired Apostle Paul, not only in regard to what the Jews believed, but also as to what he and the early church believed; and we repeat, that the theory of the everlasting torment of the nicked, based upon the theory that the human soul cannot die, iq contrary to both the Old and the Kew TGastarnent teachings. and was introduced among Jews and Christians by Grecian philosophers. Thank God for the purer philosophy of the Scriptures, which teaches that tlw tlwtll of thr soul (being) is the penalty of sin (Eyek. lS.20) ; that all souls condemned throuph r2dams sin 11cl v rt~tlt~emed bv Christs <I soul (Isa. 53:1Oj-; and that only for wilflll, individual sin \vlll any die the Second death-an evcllastlng 1~~1~1sh,~le,tt, but not an everlasting torment. CHOOSE LIFE THAT YE MAY LIVE I have set before thee thiq day life and gootl. drath and evil. I have set before thee life and dcntll, l,lt+hin,rr and curiinp: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.-Dent. 30.15, 10. We come now to the consideration of other Scripture statements in harmony with the conclusions set forth in the preceding ar titles. The words here quoted are flom ?rlo~q to Islnel. To apnreciate them we must rc~memhrr that lslatil nq a people, and all their corenan&, sacrifices, etc.. hat1 a tvpiral slgnlficance. God knew that tber could not obtain life 11v krcninp the Law, no matter how milch they would cl~oosc to ;lo Pn: he&use thev. like all others of the fallen rare. wpre weak, depraved through the effect of the sour grape of sin which Ada?m had (Jer. eaten. and which his children had continued to eat. 31 .Z!r) Thus. as Paul drclnreq, the law gl\en to lyracl c;)uld not give them life because of the weaknesse< n1 deprnvlty of their fallen natuir-Rom. 8:3, Heb. 7:lg: 10.1-10. r\evel theless. God foresaw a benefit, to them from even an unsuccessful attempt to live perfectly : nniiif~ly. tllnt it would develop them. as well as show them the neetl of the better sacrifice (the ransom which our Lord .Trsw gave) and a c/r-ea/tr deliverer than Xoses. And \\itli all thlr their trial furnished a pattern or shadow of tllr individual trial insured to the whole wolld (\\hich Israel tylufird) and srcured by the better sacrifices for sin, whirl1 \\ere thcare prefigured, to be arcomphshed by the great plophet of \\hom bln\c:, \\a* but a type. Thus seeing that the trial for life or tlenth pt(~srntrtl to Israel nas but typical of the individual trial of the nhole world. and its issues of life ant1 th~ath (of eteinal life or the second death), may help some to \ce that thr great thousand-year-day of trial, of which 0111 T~ord Jesus has been appnlntctl the .Jutlge, contains the t/co issues, life ant1 drath. All will then be called upon to drci(lr. under that most fxvorable oppoi tunity, for rightcouhnehs nncl life or sin and death, and a choice murt bc made. And. althnnzh there will be rewards and stripes according to the (&ds of the nresont life, as well a$ ,?ccortlinp to -their roiillnct undrr tbnlt tllal (.lnhn 3 l!): Nntt. lo:.%:!: Jfatt 11 20-21) _ tll(a vrrclict, In the tntl ~11 be ln harmony nitil the clloic~c: casl>tG.\ed by the conduct of each dul ing that age of tiinl The second trial, it\ h(Lntenrp and itr ieilllt, :II ( al-n slio\vn in the \\ords of Aloses quoted hy Petrr (Acts 3:22, 23) : A Pronhct sllall the Loltl voiir (:od rai\e 111)uiltn ~011 of vollr brethren, hke unto me. 'HIM shall ? c hc~lr' 111all thing,-x~yll~~ soever he shall say unto you. And it sl~nll comr to t,ass that every soul [beingj whicl; will not hear [obey] that& Prophet ran,1 thus choosr Ztfcl sh:111 be destrowtl fl om amon_n thp people. In few worsts this calls attention to tile ivirlds great trial. yet futurr. It slio\vs the grrat Prophet or Teacher raised up by Got1 to give a new jlltlgmcant or trial to the condemned lace which hr has rrdcrmt~tl from tbc rnndemnation which came ulxxi it through it+ progenitor, Adam. It. shows, too, the contlltions of eternal llfr to 1~. righteous obedience, and that with the close of that trial sonle will be judged worthy of that life, and some worthy of dchtructlonthe second death. Our Lord Jesus, having redeemed all bv llis nrrfect and and precious sacrifice, is the Head of tbir gi;sat 1i;pllct; durinLr the Gospel ane God has been selectmv thck mcmbera of CI I v his body, who, with Christ Jesus, shall beOGods agents in judging the world. Together they will be that Great Prophet or Teacher promised. Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world ?-I Cor. 0:2. The first trial was of mankind only, and hence its penalty or rurie, the first death, was only upon man. But the seconi trial ii to be much mnle comprehrniive. It will not only be tllr trial of fallen and imperfect mankind, but it will include r\ely other thing and principle and bemg out of harmony

irnpcjrtant qubtion\. ehl)f~,~i,l II! to t IIC NO, Ill. Thesr :irv :Intl \v(sII Vo11lt1 it 1~6, for them if tile!- f~c311ltl IC*.III/C, thrir ,*,IJI~IIt.lncrb ant1 Jrofit thereby. Thev :I,( 11ll,)~ll tdllt Al.0 to ttk! c.llurrli, I)ecdu3e Of our interest i;l ttle world. C~ntl I~fwkuw of Our drsirr to understand and tear11 correctly our lnther~ plan>. We tl.f\f* Ie~lnetl that thr sCL(I if& of Cllt 1-t +ciireh for all mnnl;intl, however vile. an n\b,.lkeninq from dfbatll. and t 11~ Jnirilfage of ttielt~nfter coming to pt~rfection. :fnfl. if t1ir.v will. There A111 lx, a r(y111rcrt1nn Of the dead. of lib Iiig foiever. Iboth of tllca jll7t and tile riniust. (.\rt- 2-l : 1.J 1 ilbfa nbl~~c~t of their Ibeing again tblought into cui+tc*ncch \\ ill be to plvf* tti(fini ii fa\ or.lhlr (~l)l1111 tunitv to ~tcui (s ~v(fiiI.lnting life, on tllf. whirli Go11 rec~~~lreh-obetlie~l~~~ to hi. rqhtroll+ conditloii\Vr Ita\-c no intimation whatever itr tile Scl iJ)t 111 tllat, t+ will whf~ii ,rw,~kc~n~tl. tIlta mo1.11 rrnttlitinn 0: 111,n\I ill h.lvc c~liangf*d, 111 ))otlb reAlsoll i111(l Ic~\-~~latlon, to hIlOX IjIlt \Vf IIIVC~ lllIlcll. that a+ tlift)- wtarlt Into 81ratll \\rak nntl tlcJ)r,ivrd ho they will come out of it. A< there ii "no work. nor flcvirf~. nor kllowl(Eccl. !l . 10 1. they will lnlvtb edge, nor wisdom 111 the grnvc learned nothing; and since they wcrc siunrr. nntl un\\Ol tll,! oi life and divine f,l\or when they died, tllry will $.till 1)t* UII,,.oI tl)v : and a+ thev ll~~vr leccired neither fIllI rew.ll tl+ 1101! U/I J&i&ents for tl& deed5 Of the present lift, it i- cl\-itl(*nt illat iclst sucl~ a time of nw.lkrning as Cotl ha- Jbront1+(~fl tllll Ill:: i~~uarcting. ntltl plllll~lllllg:. the 3Iillennlum i. *leressi*y:--fol antl clivina m all mankind the oppnrtunit! fill fBtc,l ll:ll lltv itcuik(Y t)v Chri*te great ran~oln-qRcrifir,, Whiie strictlv spaking. the world I. not now OII 111.11. that is, the p&&t iz not the time fol iti fIllI iIn{ (onlplltl* trial, get men are not no\!-, nor have thry ever I)~YLII rnt iff*ly nithorit light ant1 ability, for the use of \\liirli they nre .I(co~lntable. In the darkest day4 of the wort(lr Il1ytol> . anIl III the tleeJx+t degradation Of savage life. thrlc II:L+ al\\-nya INV~ at 1eab.t a measure of the light of conszienrc J)ointinp IIIOI c 01 less directly to rlghteousnesq and virtue>. Th.tt thca clued- or tile J)wsent tit,* have much to do with tile flltlllcn, I,IIII tnltght very cleally x\hen. before Felix, 11~ rcba~onc~l of 111-t Ir(b :III~I ,~~lf-~o~crr~~rlc~lt, in lipl\- of thr judgmcnt to (*oIll(. co tll.11 )eli\: trrmbled.-Actti 24:%, Diaglott tran>latinn .lt the lirst advent of our Lord. 111 incrc~.lsctl iileahllr( is ronj(b into the world, and 1l1en lovetl tlarkney. rathrr tlhlll deeds wele e\il. (.lohn 3 19) For tll()+t: Ilpht.. Iw,~:I~Is~ their evil tlrett~ rc,mrnitted against the light pn-r~-~~~l, v hrthrr Ot (*on9ci~q)cc Or Of revelation. men will ha\ e to glV,h nn account. and will receive,. in thrir day of judgment, a just rtcnmpen*r And, likewise, t,n the extent Of their effort to Ilrc* of reward. I ightc~ou*ly: they H ill receivca their rr\\,~rtl 1n the ttny of tllal --~latt. 10 : 42 If men \\Ooultl consider what even renbon tli~rrrns. that a fintr of 1rckoninr. of judgment, is c.oniing. tllat (:otl will Ilot fores-cl Jjermit e\it to .triilmph, and that in MIIW LV:I~ he u ill puniztl e\ll-doers, it wvoultl undoubtedI), .a\ e them llli~ll~~ iorSaid the lroin the age to come rev Y and chastisements .\Voc* unto them that beck tleel) to llitle their counnel ptl.t. flnm tile Lortl. and their lvorks are in the dark. and th_r, ,hy. \\ Ii0 -eeth us ? and I\ ho knoweth 11s ( Isaiah 29 : 1.a1 13ehnlt1, The eyes of the Lord are in every Jlarr. behohllrl~ \\ IIIIV 111(% hcIIlbtIIIf+ tf~af'll that the present 1 Iit* ~lllll cI1* .Jri~lgmrnt-tiny Or Jjerind Of trial, uortfl's .Intl~~~~f~llt-d;l~ or time of tl inl will be tll(* e\ il and the g:onrl" I l'lnv. I.5 :3) ; nlltl -(hl sflkllt

Gospel age i4 and that the thr hIlllennia1 ,~ge it 15 II(~\csithc*lr+s. :t it~a~oiial~l~~ qurstion to ask.-To what cB\trnt uill tlioyca \\lio arc not of the consecrated church he Iield ~c~spnn~ihlc. in tllrb i\lIllrnni.~l age. for their misdeeds. of ,aruelty. tlihhonestr an,1 immolnlity. Of the present time? -AntI to what ll\trnt nill those of the same class then be rewarded for present eftniti to Ilvr moral and I~encrcblent li\-eF?

work into judgment. witI1 every secrcxt thing, bring rrcrj (Eccl. I?:141 whether It be gOOd. or whether it be e\ il. Hp w111 bring to light the hidden thing?: Of darknrtis. :~nd will make manlfr,t the counsels of thr hearts.---1 Co,. A:.>. The age Of Chrikts reign will be a time of lust jur!pment : and though it \\ ill be an age of golden oppOrtun~tif+ to all. it wltl be a time Of severe discipline, trial and J,unThat the judgment \\ill be fair and imirhment to many. partial. and with due consideration fnr the clrcum$tances and

HARCH 15 ANDAPRIL. 1, 1300

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(111-112)

a course of discipline and correction-as the necessary means the opportunities of each individual, is also assured-by the for their perfecting, or, otherwise, their condemnation to the character of the Judge (the Chris&John 5 :22 ; 1 Cor. 6:2), second death. by his perfect knowledge, by his unwavering justice and eoodness. bv his divine Dower and bv his great love as shown The man who, in this life, by fraud and injustice, acTn his sac&ice to redeim men from dear%, that they might cumulated and hoarded great wealth, which was scattered enjoy the privilege of this favorable, individual trial. to the winds when he was laid in the dust, will doubtless The varied circumstances and onnortunities of men, in awake to lament his loss, and bewail his poverty and his this and past ages, indicate that a just judgment will recogutter inability under the new order of things to repeat unnize differences in the degree of individual responsibility, lawful measures to accumulate a fortune. With many it will which will also necessitate differences in the Lords future be a severe chastisement and a hitter experience to overcome And this reasonable deduction we find dealings with them. the propensities to avarice, selfishness, pride, ambition and The Judge has been, clearly confirmed by the Scriptures. idleness, fostered and pampered for years in the present life. and still is, taking minute cognizance of mens actions and Occasionally we see an illustration of this form of punishwords (Prov. 5 :21), although they have been entirejy, unment now, when a man of great wealth suddenly loses all, Aware of it: and he declares that Every idle [pernicious, and the haughty spirit of himself and family must fall. injurious or malicious] word that men shall speak,.they shall We are told (Dan. 12:2) that some shall awake to shame eive account thereof in the dav of iudement (Matt. 12:36) ; and age-lasting contempt. And who can douht that, when &rd that even a cup of cold water: giGen to one of his little every secret thing is brought into judgment (Ecrl. 12:14), ones, because he is Christs, shall in nowise lose its reand the dark side of many a character that now stands measThe context shows that the perward. (Matt. 10:42) urably approved among men is then made known, many a nicious words to which Jesus referred were words of wilful face will blush and hide itself in confusion? CYhen the man and malicious onnosition spoken against manifest light. who steals is reauired to refund the stolen property to its (Matt. 12:24, 31, 32) iie also affirmed &at it would he more tolerable rightful owner, with the addition of twenty per cent -interest, for Tvre. Sidon and Sodom in the dav of iudament than for and the man who deceives, falsely accuses or otherwise wrongs Choryzin; Bethsaida and Capernaum, whicd hgd misimproved his neighbor, is required to acknowledge his crimes and so greater advantages of light and opportunity.-Matt. 11:20-24. far as possible to repair damages, on peril of an eternal loss Note the clear In the very nature of things, we can see that the punof life, will not this be retributive justice? rshments of that age will be in proportion to past guilt. Evstatement of this in Gods tvpical deslings with Israel, whom hP made to renresent the world.-1 Cor. 1O:ll; Lev. 6:1-7. ery sin indulged, and every evil propensity cultivated, hardens See also Tabernacle Shadows, page 99. the heart and makes the way ba-ck to purity and virtue more difficult. Conseauentlv. sins wilfullv indulged now. will reAs we are thus permitted to look into the perfect plan of quire punishment and discipline in the a.ie to come; and God, how forciblv we are reminded of his word through the the more deeply the soul is dyed in willmg sin, the more also will I lay to the line, and prophet Isaiah, Judgment severe will be the measures required to correct it. As a righteousness to the plummet. (Isa. 28 : 17 ) We also see the wise parent would punish a wayward child, so Christ will Parents, in disciplinwholesome influence of such discipline. punish the wicked for their good. ing their children, realize the imperative necessity of makHis punishments will always be administered in justice, ing their punishments proportionate to the character of the tempered with mercy, and relreved by his approval and regreat punishments offences ; and so in Gods government: And it ward to tbosc who are rightly exercised thereby. following great offences are not greater than is necessary will only be when punishments, instruction and encourageto establish justice and to effect great moral reforms. ments fail; in short, when love and mercy have done all that Seeing that the Lord will thus equitably adjust human wisdom can approve (which is all that could be asked), that affairs in his own due time, we can afford to endure hardness any will meet the final punishment which his case demandsfor the present, and resist evil with good, even at the cost of the second death. present disadvantage. Therefore, Recompense to no man None of the world will meet that penalty until they Let this mind be in you. which was also in evil for evil. have first had all the blessed opportunities of the age to come. Christ Jesus our Lord.-Rom. 12 : 17119 ; Phil. 2:5. And while this is true of the world, the same principle apThe present order of things will not always continue: plies now to the consecrated children of God in this our judga time of reckoning is coming. The just Judge of all the ment (trial) day. We now receive Gods favors (through earth says, Vengeance is mine,-1 will repay; and the Apostle faith), while the world will receive them in the next age, viz., Peter adds. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the eodlv instruction, assistance, encouragement, discipline and punishout of temptation and to reserve the unjust unto the- day ment. For what son is he whom the Father chastiseth not? And, as we have of jud,ment to he punished. (2 Pet. 2:9) But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, seen, those punishments will be adapted to the nature of the then are ye bastards and not sons. Therefore, when we repermaoffences, and the benevolent object in view-mans ceive grievous chastisement, we should sccept it as from a nent establishment in righteousness. loving Father for our correction, not forgetting the exhortaOther Scriptures corroborative of this view of future tion which speaketh unto us as unto children, My son, despise 2 Sam. 3 ~39; Matt. rewards and punishments are as follows: not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art 1 Pet. 3:12; Psa. 19:ll; 91:8; Prov. 11:18; Iwd. 16:2i; rebuked of him; for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and 4O:lO; 49:4; Matt. 5:12; 10:41, 42; Luke 6:35; Rev. 22:12; scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.-Heb. 12:4-13. Rom. 14:11, 12. How just and equal are Gods ways! Read carefully the LET HONESTY AND TRUTH PREVAIL rules of the coming age-Jer. 31:29-34 and Ezek. 18:20-32. Thev move to us. beyond the nossibilitv of a doubt, the sinHaving demonstrated that neither the Bible nor reason cerity-and reality of -all his professions-of love to men: As offers the slightest support to the doctrine that eternal torI live. saith the Lord God. I have no measure in the death ment is the nenaltv for sin, we note the fact that the various of the wi&d; but that -the wicked tu;n from his way and church creeds, and confessions, and hymn-books, and theolive: Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye logical treatises, are its only supports; and that under the die?-Ezek . 33.11 . . increasing light of our day, and the consequent emancipation of reason, belief in this horrible, fiendish doctrine of the All who in this life repent of sin, and, as the term redark ages is fast dying out. But alas! this is not because pentance implies, begin and continue the work of reformation Christian people generally are zealous for the truth of Gods to the best of their ability, will form character which will Word and for his character, and willing to destroy their grim be a benefit to them in the age to come; when awakened in Ah no! they still bow before their admitted creed-idols. the resurrection age, they will be to that extent advanced falsities ; they still pledge themselves to their defense, and towards perfection, and their progress will be more rapid and spend time and money for their support, though at heart easy; while with others it will be more slow, tedious and difashamed of them, and privately denying them. ficult. This is implied in the words of our Lord (John 5 :29, The general influence of all this is, to cause the honest30-Diaglott ) : The hour is coming in the which all that hearted of the world to despise Christianity and the Bible; are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; and to make hypocrites and semi-infidels of nominal Christhey that have done good unto the resurrection of life [those Because the nominal church clings to this old blastians. whose trial is past, and who were judged worthy of life, will phemy, and falsely presents its own error as the teaching of be raised perfect-the faithful of past ages to perfect human the Bible, the Word of God, though still nominally revlife, the overcomers of the gospel age to perfect life as divine erenced, is being practically repudiated. Thus the Bible, the beings], and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection great anchor of truth and liberty, is being cut loose from, These are awakened to judgment-to receive of judgment.III-45 126131

(II&116)

ZIONS

/d.4TCH

TOWER

ALLEGHPNY,

PA.

by the very ones who, if not deceived regarding its teachings, would be held and blessed by it. The general effect, not far distant, will be, first open infidelity, then anarchy. For much, very much of this, lukewarm Christians, both in pulpit and pews, who know or ought to know better, are responsible. Many such are willing to compromise the truth, to slander Gods character, and to stultify and deceive themselves, for the sake of peace, or ease. or irecent earthly advantage. And any minister, who, bv utterinz a word for an unnonular truth, will ribk the loss oi his stiiend and his reputatibn for being established in the bog of error, is considered a bold man, even though he

ignominiously wlthhold his name from his published protests. If professed Christians would be honest with themselveb and true to God, they would soon learn that their fear toward God is taught by the precepts of men. (Isa. 29:13) If all would decide to let God be true, though it should prove every man a liar (Rom. 3:4), and show all human creeds to be imperfect and misleading. there would be a great creed smashing work done very shortly. Then the Bible would be studied and appreciated as never before; and its testlmony that the wages of sin is death (extmction), would be recognized as a just recompense of reward.

-_____---

ALLEGHENY,

PA., APRIL

15, 1000

_~- --

No. f

VIEWS FROM THE WATCH

1 IIt, chaking of the ccc.lesiastical heavens continues. Dr. li~lli- tlcnunciatlon of the \Vestminster Confession of Faith. w1lic.h as a Presbyterian he has supported for many year-. 1. ahout as stronrr as he could make it. He is credited G.~th the follnwlng la&age in his discourse to the Plymouth CIIIIIC h Brooklyn, N. Y., on Sunday, March 25: The Cclnfehqion of Faith says that certain men and angels are f~~leortlalned to everlasting- death, being particularly &d unihan~~~:llJlv tle~itmetl. and their number is so certain and tl(.Allitc: that it c.a;lnot be either increased or tlimini\hed, and r\-ery ;-oung man who enters the Presbyterian church has to solcmnlv swear to believe and teach this frightful view. And everv ,;ttc*mpt to rc\ l\c and expel that ht;;tement from the cre&l ~RS 1)ten successfully cornhated by a majority that wishes to retain the dortrinc. It would seem as if a man would prefer to 1~ 1)nrncd at tltc stake rather than hold or assert or charge such infinite crneltv unon the all-mrrciful and all-loving God. The tlav the schnlndirs wrote that chapter in the Confeseion of Fait\] thry xot tllca tlcril c#nnfusPd with God. I would ratllc>r shake my fict In the fare of the Eternal ant1 Ilrnn cverv vile rinithct toward his stainleqs throne. where eternal mcrcv sits with tile worlds atoning Sarior. than lift mv hand nith that c*rcetl hefore Gods throne and affirm that I tali_llt or hrlieved it. The matter iy before tile Chicago Presbytery, which is div~tlccl in uclntimpnt-many of its mcamhers averring that they a~rce to 1)r. Ililli~ views of the subiect. The gentleman propnscs to r(xcign hi* c*onnection with Prrshyterianism if -the lattc,r nl)lrc+s to his attacks upon It flom the inside. The worlll look\ on annrorinely, and Says. Bravo, Dr. Hillis! But to our \-icw the &~tlrm:;nhas little to he proud of; for, grant. in_rr that. as he savs. he has held nrivatelv for years the views he-now cxprrsscs p~~blicly. it follbws &t for all those years itr l~\ed a lie hefort, the whole world. And if for those years he krpt GlltLncc hrc*au~ IIC was making a personal name and fame and fnllnwin,rr, \\111(.11 has now attained, it follows that he for nil thnsc yeais, nc~c~ording to the gentlcmanr own words cluotc~tl al~o\c. hr waq tloin_rr morqe than shaking his fist in the Ian of tlic Eternal--\\oFsca than to have flimg--cver.v vile 11)1tllcbtto\\artl (:nds ~tainlr~s throne where eternal mercy sits 111111tl,ca \\oil~l~ atoning SavInr \\.?tat :a11 nstolmtlinp ronfeqsinn this is to he c(,nt forth to thr \\orltl ! \\.e arc iLnindcd of n11r T~olds wnrd4. Out of thlnc mv11 mont11 I ~111 iudne thrc! Ant1 vet this side of the c*aqe QlIkri: \-cry few. iThi? Berau<e thiv are in a similar pIl,~lit ha\ iug been for pear< dirertly or ilidirt,ctly upholding fhic snin~ rrectl and thlls to the extent of their influence (either a< rninlLfcl< anal offlrrrs nr ~1s~ as common member- of churches avn\\ in? thcie crrctls) they. too. hnvr l)clen thur hlnspheming the Ktcxrnnl ant1 hiq stainle5c: throne. Othrr ministers in PrrsbrtPrl;\n (~hllr(~hrq look with envy at Dr Hillis freedom and wi.11 that tllcl fimc might sonn come that they would have slllfic.ic,llt 1trt11\1111li1linflwncc and prestige to stand alone, that they, too. mlgllt tl(>rlare tllrir independence and cease their a::lin-t thcl (111 lnc rharncter which rauqes uneasiblit~l~lltlll~ nrqc. no?\\ ~lll.fal~~l~tlg long II+RW to It and notwithstanding the fact th:lt cltlltbr< tlo tlir <Rme. -4dtletl to this iq now another fear. that the tidr of puhl~r crntimcnt is on the turn-that the ppw-s. If they law\\ a~ m1wl1 aq the pulpits respecting such matterc, wnllltl br n111(.11 more honest :--RII~ that the risk nf jumpin_rr nut too hnon ai refnrmcrs. and fhus losing nrestiee and p&sil,ly bread ant1 butter. may 1,~ offset snnn by the Reverse risk of not jumping soon enough to get glory as a reformer and on the contrary being covered with odium as those who have deceijcd the prople ac long as pocsihle.
Y

TOWER

Surely it ~~oultl have been mucah more to Dr. Hilli5 credit to have first reblgned all relatlonshlp to Preshytcrianlcm and then in a VU v huml)lc manner to have confe~sctl to Pl!.mouth church hi? bhorttominp~ of the paht and ~IIP rrsolut~ol; henceforth to l)reJch the truth, or at lea\t hi< convictions reqpectiiig it. I) * * Rev. Dr. Donehoo, of Pittsburgh, the very next Sunday (9pril 1s~) took a similar stand against the \\-estmincter COIIfeeiion. whlrh when ordained. he colemnlv vowed that he hellered and would teach. Yet, while still posing as a Preshyterlan and doing violence to hi\ oath of office. he confessed in the followinrr language. quoted in the da11y press. that he has for the ma;lv years- of *his PresbyterIan ;n&nherrhip and ministry been a&ing a lie-he cnnfecses he ne(.cr cotrItZ beliel c what he professed. We quote:The question suggested to me by the text is the following, Are men foreordained to be damnedf It is ahnut the hluntcst, harshest, most unreasonable one that an unpreludiretl trader I am of the Bible could have presented for his consitleratlon. sorrv to sav that it is one that has been prekent in my tho&hts frdm mv earliest recollection. I have heard it discus&d In the puldit, have read many works on the suhlect, and have often graveiv considered it il; private cnnrrrsatlon with hrethren. tho I liare never for one instant had any doubts on the &hject so far as I am concerned. \Thaterer the IVestminster divines may have believed on the suhjert. their language as now understood expresses in unmlstakal~le phrase Thus they decelare: By the de that such was their belief. tree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others are foriordainrci to everlasting death. and their number 1s sc rertain and definite. that it cannot be either increased or diminished. I never could believe such a thing, and I pray to God to preserve me from ever either unwlttingiv endorslnd or so much as entertaining such an insane thou& in mv heart. Nor would I refer-to this at all were it >ot iust ;iow published all over the land that the great Preshyierian ch&ch was about to drae a faithful minister of the gospel to trial for protesting ag-:inst the idea that any man-is -foreordained of bod to Ge damned to all eternity. -If such a sifting protest as that iust now hinted at was to be fearlesslv put in force throughGut the church. and every man who preach& and prays every Sabbath day of his life the very opposite of this horrible dogma, whether he has the brains or the courage to admit it or not, there would be such a depletion in the ranks of the rhurrh as would throw St. Bartholomew in the shade. The gentleman frankly avows that he would have kept quiet htill longer. and have continued to tacitlv endorse the slander against God had it not been his fear thata hunt for heretics miPrht he started in Preshvterian circles. He hones that R suk;cient number of Preshycerian ministers will gro&wl to deter the others from enforcing-the laws and rules of ihe denomination. Yet strange to sav. the men who stav inside the denomination ani denounce it, and declare their perfidy in respect to its teachings and their unfaithfulness to Gods character and Word, are honored; while honest men who refuse thus to stultifv themselves and to blaspheme Gods holy name for hread and (honor one of another are disesteemed. After all then the chief fault is with the DeonIe;-the Dreachers merely dehase themselves to supply thepoGul& demaid. It is time for all who have anv moral honestv to show it. Come out of her, my people, that ye he not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues.-Rev. 18:4.
d

[2614]

SELF-DENIAL

AND CROSS-BEARING CONDITIONS

Then said Jesus unto his disczples, Zf any man will come after me [be my follower], let hzm deny himself, and take up his crow Matt. 16 : 24. fore its complete disintegration, and informs us that this Generally the thought attached to this passage in the remnant, being less than the number which God had preminds of Christian people is that the Lord is here laying down determined, the elect church, is to be completed during this the terms and conditions upon which eternal torment mav he Gospel age by the selection -of the remainher from amongst escaped. This result of false teaching, received from earliest the Gentiles to be fellow-heirs with the Israelites in the same infancy, thus casts a false shadow tipon very many of the promise made to Abraham. These are denominated spiritual utterances of our Lord and the apostles. To the Jew, however, Israel, and the Apostle points out that this change in the who had no thought in his mini of eternal torment for any: divine operation was foreknown to the Lord, and was a part The body, the above utterance would have no such significance. of his plan, as revealed through the prophets-that the Gendisciples, to whom it was addressed, received it exactly for tiles also should be fellow-heirs of the same promise.-Rom. what it says. To understand it as they did let us take their 11:7-12. standpoint: As Jews they shared the nations hopes, based The Anostle Droceeds to show that the blindness will conupon the Abrahamic promise, viz., that in due time God proposed to bless all naiions, and that Israel was to be his- intinue upoi fleshly Israel until the Gospel church is completed, and that then blindness will be turned from them, and they strumentalitv * throueh which the blessings would flow. We shall see; and Gods favor shall come upon them, and they will are to remember that based upon this hope all Israel was in be amongst the first to be blessed under the new order of expectation of a Messiah whose first w-ork it would be to things following the glorification of the elect church. organize Israel in some sense of the word, and then, as its great Head and Guide, bring to pass the blessed conditions. With these thoughts in our minds, putting ourselves exactly in the place of the apostles, we are much better preThe disciples knew that Jesus claimed to be this great pared to understand the meaning of the Masters words, If Messiah, and they had left all to follow him, in order that they any man will be my follower he must deny himself and take might have a share with him in his kingdom,-according to up his cross. The Apostle points us to the same thought, his promise, a very honorable share in it, a seat in his throne. saying that it is only if we suffer with him that we shall When, therefore, he addressed them on this subject in the reign with him; if we be dead with him, that we shall live above words nothing could have been further from their with him. The reference is exclusively to those on the narthoughts than that he should mean that only those who would row way, and does not at all refer to the world of mankind. conform to these strict rules would escape an eternity of The verses following, a part of the same discourse, declare torture: on the contrary, their understanding would be that that whosoever would save his life shall lose it. and whosoall who would not conform to these rules, and be close folever shall lose his life for the Lords sake shall find it; this lowers of Jesus example, would fail to share with him in the also is exclusively applicable to those who had had their eyes kmgdom glories and hbn&s-fail to be associated with him as opened, and had become his followers, and is not at all apjoint-heirs of the kingdom. Thev certainlv exnected that his plicable to others. kingdom, when orga$zed, would bless all natlions, and if it would bless all other nations assuredly it would bless also All who become Jesus followers first take two steps, viz., the Jewish nation, out of which the Master was proposing to justification and consecration, or sanctification. Justification select his joint-heirs. From this standpoint our Lords words is imputed to them as the result of faith in Christ as their are reasonable. and from no other standpoint. Redeemer, and its obiect is to nlace fallen sinful human beings on such a reckonediy perfect- plane or standing before GGd It would be thoroughly unreasonable every way to supas would permit them to present their bodies living sacrifices, nose that the Lord laid down the hard and fast condition that holy and acceptable to God through Christ. Consecration, &ervone who would not become his follower and a cross-bearer self-surrender, sanctification, called in our text self-denial, conto the full extent of self-denial, even of parents and children sists in the giving up of our wills to the will of the Lord: and if need be, would be tormented on this account, or even our wills controlling this implies our all. destroyed. In fact, we know that the same great Teacher declared, No man can come unto me except the Father which This class. having received their share of the ransom, sent me draw him, and we see most evidently that but a (justificationj and l&ving used it, exchanging its hope3 of small proportion of the nations was at that time drawn to restitution for the heavenlv hones. heavenlv calline. sniritJesus by the Father through the word of grace. We see that ual prosperity and prospeciive jbin&heirshipUwith ChYiat,~have How evident, then, it is that the great majority were blinded. no longer anv earthlv rights or hopes: hence such murt either our Lord had no reference to the blinded ones who did not beaain the sni;itual liie thev have started out for or must lose come his dlsclples, but intended his remarks exclusively for the all life. ind the terms orUconditions upon which the heavenly class addressed, whose eyes had been opened and whose ears life is to be attained are the sacarifice of the earthly had been unstopped, and who had become his followers by a life and its interests. Therefore, a< here stated. in respect to consecration. Note the Masters words, Blessed are your eyes, this class, whoever of them saves his rnrthly life (refusing to for thev see, and vour ears, for thev hear;-here is the sugsacrifice it, etc.) after having made the consecration. lo& it gestionthat the Majority of the Je& did not see and did not entirely-loses all hope of a future life. And on the other hear. and hence had no call to be followers of Jesus in the hand, those of this class who are now faithful in laying down same special sense; the majority being not even drawn of the the present life for the Lords sake shall find life eternal Father, not being in a condition of heart to be drawn by the under the glorious conditions of the kingdom. If we be dead truth. with with kim, we shall also live with him.-2 Tim. 2: 11, 12. Note how our Lord refers to this matter, and speaks of the The succeeding verse (26) is a part of the same disrourse, Jewish leaders, saying that they were blind guides, leading not to people in general, but applicable to the disciples, the the blind people, and all about to fall into the ditch. (Matt. followe& and cross-bearers only,- the little flock. It reads: 13:14) This falling into the ditch seems to those who are What is a man nrofited if he shall nain the whole world and deluded bv the eternal torment theory, to be but another suglose his own soul* (being, existenre) , or what shall a man give gestion thkt all the Jewish nation, boih leaders and people were in exchange for his soul (his future existence) 1 We are to fast hastening to hell, to torment. But on the contrarv. the remember that onlv one offer of life eternal has vet been made Scriptures &ow clearly that the ditch to which they were to mankind; and this was the offer that Jesus was making to hastening was the great time of trouble which came upon their his followers, and that has since been made throqhout this nation after our Lords crucifixion, and which culminated with Gospel age to whoever has ears to hear and a will to walk in the utter destruction of their city by the army of Titus in the the narrow way. There is no offer of eternal life to the world year 70 A. D.-since which time they have been nationally disyet, altho the Scriptures clearly show us that there is to be integrated and destroved. an offer of eternal life under other conditions during the ?hat the apostlesdid not understand that all who did not Millennial age; but none can either accept or reject those confollow with them in the narrow wav of self-sacrifice, self-deditions yet, for they are not offered to any. nial, croqs-hearing, were to be tormented, is testified by the Those now invited to eternal life under its most glorious Apostle Peter who. speaking under the inspiration of the holy conditions of glorv, honor, immortality, and joint-heirship spirit, declared to these same Jews that thev had crucified with the Redeemerin the kingdom are exhorted bv our Lord Messiah, and then he adds, But I wot that in ignorance ye to appreciate highly the value of eternal life; and it is implied did it, as did also your rulers.-Acts 3: 17. that anvone who will at all ronsider the matter will readily acknowledge that to give all that he haq of earthly life and its This blind ignorance is referred to also by the Apostle Paul: vanities in exchange for his life eternal would be to get that in discussing the matter in his Epistle to the Romans he great boon at a very small price-at a great bargain; We see pointed out that Israel was blinded and did stumble and fall men who as death draws near, are willing to give their all to into the ditch, and did not attain the great prize which it retain their hold a little longer on the present life; how was seeking, and that the elect only obtained that prize. He much more should we be willing to lay down our lives points us to the elect remnant selected from the nation be[2615] (116-117)

(118-119)

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

voluntary sacrifices, in daily self-denials, in sharing the sufferings of Christ in this present time. that we mav therebv attain, according to Gods good promise in Christ: the glo>ious and eternal life promised to the overcomers.
WHAT CONSTITUTES CBOSS-BEABING?

But now we come back to the original proposition of our text. and inquire particularly respecting the declared terms of discipleship, What do they signify, and how do they apply to us individually in our daily lives? What is it for us to deny ourstllvc%? It signifies that having consecrated ourselves to the Lord wc should have no wills of our own; self should be irnorctl. or. as the Apostle Paul expresses it, Ye are dead, and your life iq hid with Christ in God. Reckon ye yourselves dead indeed unto sm. but, alive unto God. Self-denial, then. mean; to ignorcb self-will, self-gratification: and this rnclu~lrs ~11 the eartblp ambttlon~ and desires, the sinful, and no lcis 1hoic, that are lau~lablc and proper. We pledge oursel\~~q at tllr vrry 11cpnt11ng that w( aie not following our own inr811nntirln5 :tnd 0111 own wills. but are to be wholly subject to tip ~111 of our ITead, thr Lord .Icsu~, if we mav be in turn cnnnlrtl in 115 members in parti(.ul:Lr of his bodp, the elect ~~hurc~b. Very graciously. tbc T,ortl vail< fro],! our si,cht at the beginning of tlicl way somr of tllc trials of the flrsb and confli(*fq bc+wccBn tile mint1 of tllc flc<lt an11 111~npv, mind. which this full con+cration rrm\t In\olrr if ncp preys along the line toward the mark whlc11 hr h:c\ <et for 119 as the standard of c~llarxvtc~r. Could w(b SPC all tll.lt, i\ Implied from the very beyinnin: of the rare wtt woulrl IIC tli\h(bartcned no douht. hut, as we yrow in grarr. and I,~~~OIIIV on:: in the T,nrd and in thr -Ti power of hi< rni$t. wc xro\v :I~v) in knowletlzr and in love toward tlrc Tort1 and to\\a1,1 all \lbo arc in fellowship with him, and thrls it. becomes llnily e:tsicbr for 115. as we sing. . . 111(xpath\\av emontliq Sinrp firit we lcarncd to ln\c it. As n icalilt, by and 11y thr trial.1 wbilll rame at first beeni to 111x n~~tbing, tlllt olhrr trials come instead. as we discern aq Innlo tliqt inr*tly; rnorp c*lcarly. the r:nntl. the arceptable, the perfect will of (:otl. lhlls our trial rendition progresses, and what. ia rrquirrtl of 114 iq that strp l)v qtrp w( shall he faithful to wb~\t wr SW to bc the Lord4 will. and shall seek lo the bc;t of our alnlitv to submit nurscslrc; t1ierrt.o. lhis iq selfdcninl.-for snkini all rlsr lo 1~ ,TWIIS disciples. Crnq\-bcknrinp ia closely rrlated to self-denial, and get a ~lrstimtinn Mwccn tbrm may tt(x notrd. Self-drnial relate:: more partic ulnrlv to paqsivr obrdicncc> and rndiiranrc for the l,ordq sake: ( rn5<-l:cs:?ring rela& more partirularlv to activitics in tlrr T,nrds servicr. which we find to he coiitrarv lo our nntrrral inctlinntinus. Faithfulnc~ss in self-denial meau? c*oiirnp:t and zcanl; cross-benrin,g nirauq rirtory, overcomine Our qclf-dcbninlq may 1)r x icztorirq g::inrd in our own liearts. of which ntbcxr5 ni,lv know nothing. and nf which thev should know nolliinz. ii we dcsirr to h:ivc tllcl fulneqs of the Lord,3 blr5\inz. for w( ar, to m:llir siir(> tll,rt wr do not daiv niirsdre\ to lw ~WII of 111w. hut nlc~rc~lr for the I,nrds anurnval. Ollr crndc-lk~ariii,rrs, Ilowrvrr. may l;r srcn. to some e&t at l(*nst. llv tboV who arc in clo.ca fvb~11:1(4, with us, and eqprcially lay thnGr%wl10 arr \vall;in: in tllr c;\mf narrow way.
CROSS-BEARERS GENERALLY MISUNDERSTOOD

continually, so that they not only maligned his name, but in their hatred sought his life and finally obtained it. Note that they were not worldly people, as that word is generally understood, but members of the leading denominations of his day: and that the so-called holiness people of that da were his most bitter assailants. He could indeed have 7allen into line with the Pharisees or with the Sadducees, and have been and have had a large following, considered respectable, but fidelity to the truth would not permit him to do this, but forced him to take a stand independent of all sects and parties, and this brouaht against him the wrath of all of them. and was his cont&ual and dailv cross-bearing, that had to be borne. if he would overcome and be graded association with the Father in the kingdom. And mav not all of his faithful followers expect similar experiences, ;nder similar conditions how? We think so; we know so; they have such experiences. The Apostle mentions some of these crosses. and declares that the endurance of them arc marks of his fnithfulnesq as a servant of the Lord: In much patience, in afllictions, in necessities, in distresses, in strines. in imurisonmentq. in tumults, in labors, in wntchings, in fastings, hy dishonor, by evil rrpnrt. as deceivers and. yet true. as sorrowful, yet always rejoiciug, as poor. yet maliing many rich. as having nothing, yet possessing all things. (2 Cor. G:4-16) How much our Master knew of being counted a deceiver, while yet he was the true one. of being called Beelzebuh. while reallv the Prime of life! What a crnsq it must hare been to endure mu+ slnndernus miareprrsentations. and contradictions of sinners agniust himself; and how faithfully he horr the Cross. And shall not all of hiq followers expect to similarly share this cross with him, and be misunderstood, misrepresented. misjudged. hg those who are more or less blinded hg the adversary! fhicb diahonor, such evil reports, are amongst the things whirh our Lord sprcificallv declared would be a part of our cross-bearing when he said. Blessed are ve when men shall revilr and persecute you, and sav all manner of evil against you falselr for mv sake. Rcioiie and be rxceedinn clad fin all such cross-bearings), for great is your rewarci in heaven.
CHRISTS FOLLOWERS SHARE HIS CROSS

And bow appropriate it is that all rross-brarers hlmuld remcnizr f~:rc~l~ othr1 . and br nblr to sympatliixr with nnr ant)thrr :ind ::i\ (a an rncouragiii~ word. :I sympathizing look or mar offer. As for others. we :t hrlpinc 11nntl. :I+ rlpportunity (*annot cup1~~~1 sympatliv from thrm. for from their standpoint we are c*ountrtl fool- (Acts 26:2-t; 1 Cnr. l:l8; 2:14; 3:18). unwi9e. foll~0wiiifi an ilnwise courdr. bringing our difficiiltieq upon onr\clvc~~, Ia*c:iiicr \VP insist oii following an ideal Pattrrn. tbr uattrrn of nur dear Rcdc~cmcr, instead of following tlrc patlrrn of rhiirc~liianitv and tbr world Such. of rniirsi. ~IRVC onlv snrrrq for ibr failbful. and often no doubt t,hink This of tbr,m as they sprak of tbcm. nq l)rin,g hypocrites. Indrrtl is all part of the cro4!:.bearillg. especially wheu thosp who deride and who snr(r arc tlrn\c whom wc love and w110se csttrm wr would rniop. if v-r rould have it in conjunction with the ITastrr5 \Ycll done, good and faithful servant. look, for instancr, at our Lord Jesus. and the cross which he bore-not the literal Cross of wood whirl1 he bore to Calvary, amid shame and jeers, but the cross-bearing which Ilr prarti&l continually throughout the three and a .half years of hiq ministrv from the time of his consecration at Jordan. Nntr bow faithfulness to the truth. in testifying respecting his mission. the kingdom that he was establishing: and the terms and conditions of memhershin in it, beinn misunderstood bv the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees,~ led to opposition [2616]

In a word, our Lord calls upon his disriplrr to follow him, in direct ounosition to tho world-current. TTe declare< that the disciple must not expect to be ahove his Lord in being spared such experiences, but promises great, rewards at the end of the journey-life eternal, with esreecling glory The awfulness of the teaching of the creeds of ChriLtrndom respecting the fate of the world in general is only grasped when we begin to seriously consider the narrowness of the way in which all of the Lords true followers are called to walk in his fnotstepq. Surely, if all except surb faithful saints, an extremelv little flock. are to bc etcrnnllv tormented, it wnuld mean that thercnre to br many members of every family on earth consigned to that awful and unendin= ngony. How absurd is the proposition. bow unrrnsnn:ll~lr, how unscriptural, when the Srriptures are rightly understood! But how reasonable iq the proper interpretation of our text. how reasonable its anplicatinn to those who have hrrn drawn of the Father to the Son, and who then hnvc ac-rptcd of the Son and his rrcat ~acrific~e for sin. and who have cnnqidered it a reasonable srrvice to presrnt their bodies living qarrifices. and have consecrated thri; nll to him, that they might have fellowshin in hiq snfferines. and ultimate fell&shin alqo in Thrse ran ser rradilv that the kingdom honor and his glory: glO* to-which thev are ralled. are blessings sogrent, honors sn nrofound. and their wnrks as kings and nrie<ts and iudnes in ihc Millennial age so particular, that ali of these tefitirlgs of faith, patience. lore and obedience are wholly reasonable to them. ,411 such we exhort, especially at this particular season of the commemoration of our dear Redeemers death. that ther catch not merely at the outward form of self-denial, practiced hp nominal Christendom during the Lenten season. hut that. whatever of outward self-denial they may practice they may learn the full meaning of self-consecration and immolation which our Lords words signify: and that they be not content with the wearing of a cross as an ornament, but grasp fully and clearly the purport of the Masters words respecting the true cross-bearing, that in due time they may also attain to the crown-wearing promised as a reward to the faithful. Let us at this season of the year renew our covenant of sacrifice with the Lord. determined. in the words of the Apostle, that we will more zealouslv than ever-Lav aside every weight, and every besetting sin: and run with patience the race set before us in the Gospel, looking unto Jesus, in whose footsteps we spek to run.-Heb. 12.1

CHRIST THE FIRST TO RISE FROM THE DEAD

MAEtK 5~22-24, ~~-~~.--APRIL He is risen, as he said.-Matt.

15. 28 :6.

The selection of the narrative of the awakening of the apostles on so many occasions is not to be esteemed as simply daughter of Jairus as an Easter lesson was no doubt under the a selfish partiality but rather as an indication that these three common but mistaken supposition that the miracle performed who were specialiy zealous amongst the apostles were further unon this child was similar to the miracle of our Lords advanced in sniritual things. and best able to annreciate the r&urrection, which Easter Sunday generally celebrates. We privileges granted them. Their selection was but another will examine the lesson on its own merits, and then see that manifestation of what our Lord called attention to in one of the Scriptures distinctly and pointedly distinguish between his parables as being the divine principle of government, viz., the two miracles-and that the miracle performed upon Jairus that to him that hath shall be given, and he shall have more daughter is nowhere designated a resurrection, nor was it such abundantly-to him that hath used, and profited by divine III fact. favor most faithfully, shall proportionately more and larger favors be granted; because he more than others has by his Jairus was evidently a man of considerable influence in his faithfulness become capable of enjoying and appreciating and community, for to be a ruler of the synagogue meant, in the profiting by additional favors. The Lord evidently loves custom of that time, that he was also a member of the local fervency (warmth) of spirit or disposition. No doubt he apSanhedrin, the court which tried certain classes of offenders, preciates some who are naturally cold and phlegmatic, but just preserved general order, convened the assembly, etc. The rulas evidently he appreciates still more those who have a keener ers of the svnaaoaue had its affairs in charge also, and invited -. interest, a- warmer love, and more intense manifestations. its rearlersandv speakers, managed the srhools in connection with it, etc. As a man of high station in the city, he 110 Noting our Lords annreciation of zeal should lead ,111who arc his followers today to strive after greater fervency of spirit, doubt was acauainted with the nobleman of the same city greater zeal and ener,gv in running the race set bcforc us in (Capernaum) , whose bon Jesus had healed, as recorded in .John 4:46-33. His knowledge of that caqc no doul)t hellmd the Gospel-greater interest in the JIastcrs canoe in all its branches. to increase his own faith in the Lord+ power co remarkably manifested in the circumstances of this lesson. The journey both way- had consumed considcrahle time, and the preparations for tbe burial were far advanced at the It was while Jesus was at the house of 11latthew (Le\i. time of our J,nrd< arrival. for it was the .Jewish rustnm to the publiran-see lesson of RIarch 18 ) , rnjoying the hnnquet have a spcedv burial aftrr death. The hired rnolll ncrs (whom which &tthew had intentlctl qhouid bring hid publican friend, ~latthew desianates minstrels) were alrradv th,arc*. ant1 the in rontact with the JIahtPr, and prob,tbly toward the ronusual unseemlv tumult of thn time was in nr0are.s. Our Lord elusion of the banquet, that .lairus arri\ cd on he qcrnc to rebuked the mourners and spoke of 111~maid as -hqJillg, just bcseec h our Lord for the rctorery of 111h daughter. In the ar he similarly said of Lazarus, Our friend Lasnrnq sleep&h : account as given by Matthew (9 :i8) the ruler-is rqpre~entetl I go that I may awake him. This aroused tl:c lnu,oh nf as saying that his tluughter was aircody dead, wllllc in the scorn, his hearers not npprcciatin~ what he mc+lnt. even a9 account before us the itnplir*at)on is th,rt altho she waj in the disrinies did not annrrriate the word hlccn. when 11ictl The probability ii an csticme condition life itill remained. in connection with Lazarus, until our I,ord s,i!tl plainlv. that at the time Jailus left hir cahild F~ICwas in an estremelv critical condition, and that he surmised that by t!m time 11~ Lazarus is dead. The use of the word sleep for death is very frequent in was taiking with the Loid she was quite probably dead-( and Ihe Scriptures, both Old and New Tectamrnts. 111 the Old such was the case and the servants already enroute to notify Testament the patriarczhs are said to sleep with th*zir fathers. Jairus) . Quite poisibly Jairuq mcntionctl the matter from and this was said alike of both anod and b:tl. kirmq and this stantlpoint: She was at thr point of death when I left prophets and commnn people. In the Sew Tc;tam&t thr her; ahc ia no doubt tlcad now, but come and lay thy hands Apostle <peaks of those that rlccp in Jesus, for whom we It was a wonderon her that she may be healed and live. are to sorrow not as others who hate no hnpc, because we ful exhibition of faith. nncl one which our Lord evidently fully believe in the resurrection of the dead. In lhr CIIC of St,rannreriated. for he did not hesitate to PO with him. phen it ia said that he fell ac,lccp, and the .\noctle in * It was durintr this journev from thehome of Matthew to snealiinn of the clo&m of the Goincl :!Lc tlcclar~~.l that wrnc the home of Jasus, a great-throng of people accompanying of the church wonlrl not thus slrrp. saving, \\Ic l hall not him. that the poor woman who had an issue of blood twel\-c all sleep, but we shall all be chnn!rctl. (1 Ring- 2.10 : ;1rtc year,, and had spent all that she had and was nothing bct7:GO; 1 Thes. 4:lJ: 1 Car. 15:51). Dr. r,ip11t foot cdl3 2 ttered, but rather grew worse. concciveJ the thought that if she could but touch the hem of tJesus garment hhe should 1~ tention to the fnct that the ,Tew~sh thenlo~i~~al WI itin?q, the Talmud. coniain the tbxpresqinn %IIPII lie Llc)kt * lutndreds cured-and by the exercise of her faith in this manner \vaq of times, as sipnifving the timr of death: all~l our word rcme\Vc can imagine the feelings of Jairus in COIIWhealed. Dr. Trcncb. the nnl~tl ccbolar. terv mean$ \lrepino. nl,lcc. qucncc of this delay; while it added to his fait,11 in the power sa;q of this word slcen, Thcrcl,v the rc>alitv of d,*:(r)1 is not of Jesus. it at the same time tested his faith in respect to the fact inmlic.ltlv as~unn(i that dc:tth will the rccoverv of his child. The test became more severe, be- denied. hut onlv ) be followed by a resurrection. .I: sl(Vp ir ( follow ce<I by an cause just kt this juncture messengers arrived from his wife. awakening. saving that the child was dead. and that it would therefore Death would not have hcrn CCVII fipurativcaly (*,~llctl sleep, be* unnecessary to trouble the great Teacher. except for the provision for a re<urre~tinn, nor world it have Similar are the Lords providential dealings with many of had no swakcnin, v of the rlcad born intcndetl. his poeple: he gives us a ground for faith, and then, as we been appropriate And altho this awakening could not take place wllmut a reexercise that faith and act in harmony with it, he gives fresh demption, and altho the redemption prirc scruring 111,.awakencorroboration ; meanwhile testing it, by permitting various difing was not naid until Calvary. nercrthcless all of (:0(1s peoficulties, contrary suggestions, doubts, fears, etc.-not only pie who had faith in lis prornisp rnnfl, to .\bralrnrn (III thy such as woulcl arise in our minds, but such as would be brought need shall all the families of the cart11 be Illr~Vrl) realize1 to us through others, sometimes those nearest and dearest. that what God had promised hc would surrly iulfll. and that Yet our experiences have been that in all such trials of faith since millions of the fantilirss of the earth llatl p211c down into the Lord has been ready to speak peace, comfort and full death ptior to the promise. and hcforc t,he rorn)ncl of the Scr~l assurance to our hearts, if we would hut listen to his words. of Abraham, therefore tile fulfillment of that promi+e significti So it was with Jairua. When the servants arrived. and said. Hope is gone, submit to the inevitahle; Jesus also spoke a n general awakening from thr +lecp of death for all mnnkindin order that all might have the opportunity of bring bles~~l word. saving. Be not afraid: onlv believe. 0. how much there is rn faith! How necessarv God causes that it shall be by the glorious Seed of Abraham. during this present age. He desires that His people shall It was from this standpoint that nnr Lord spekc and acted : Walk hy faith. Without faith it is impossihle to please he was already, sinre llis haptism at Jordan, in prnc~eqs of payGod, and the Apostle assures us that This is the victory that ing the ransom-his entire life was conserrated and had been overcometh the world, even your faith. Indeed, in many rcaccepted of the Father, nltho the sacrifirr had not yet hern snects faith (not credulitv) is the nrime essential of an orerfinished, and was not romplctetl until on Calvary hr cried in comer. No one can he a& overcomer without it; with it anyhis dying moment, It is flnishprl. As a rrznlt of the once can be an overcomer. Gods grace in Christ making full finishing of the ransom there, our Lord declared that in due nrovision for all such. Divine nromises and hlessine are to time the prison-house of death would br opened and that all ihe faith-full only--both as r&pects the present and the the sleeping prisoners would cnmc forth; he declared, Ail eternal life. that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of they that have done well (those now Jesus when he had come to Jairus house, permitted only Man, and come forth; Peter, James and John to accompany him as witnesses of the on trial, and approved by the Lord as overcomers) unto the toward thenp three power of God. The favor manifested resurrection of life, and they that have done ill (those who
I . L < 1 ,

[26173

1119-I?01

(121422)

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

AI,LEGKENY.

PA.

have not escaped the condemnation, nor been approved of God) unto a resurrection b judgment-trial.-John 5:28, 29.) That judgment-trial wiI 1 be their blessed opportunity of coming to a knowledge of the truth respecting the divine character and plan, and if they will of coming into harmony with it, and by the development of character during the Millennium reaching full perfection of restitution at its close. Meantime, they sleep-sleep in Jesus, in the sense that a hope of awakening in the resurrection morning centers in Jesus by divine arrangement, through the atonement sacrifice which by the grace of God, he gave a ransom for all.1 Tim. 2:6. Thus we see that the future life held out before us in the Scriptures is a resurrection hope. In harmony with this the Apostle declared, Of the hope and resurrection of the dead am I called in question. (Acts 23:6), and again it is declared that his constant theme in preaching was Jesus and the resurrection. (Acts 17:lS) There is no hope of a future life without a resurrection, and there is no hope of a resurrection except in Jesus-that he died for our sins, and thus paid the death penaltv which was against us, and thus permitted the wages of sin, death, to become merely a temporary sleep, from which he will awaken mankind, that they may be hlcssed under all the great and wonderful privileges of his kingdom during the Millennial age, otherwise in Scripture called the day of judgment, or trial for the world, as this present Gospel age is the day of trial for the church. When readv. in the nresence of his three chosen disciples and the fathe% and mdther of the maiden, Jesus took -her by the hand, saying, Talitha cumi. These words are in the Aramaic language spoken by the common people of that time. Talitha in the ordinary dialect of the people, is a word of endearment to a young maiden, so that the words are equivalent to Rise, my child. --blford.

ments or restitution during the Millennial age-unless at some subseauent time she accepted the Gospel of the Lord Jesus, and &became one of his* followers, a-member of the church of this Gospel age; in which event she would, if faithful, be accounted worthy of a part in the chief or first resurrection to glory, honor and immortality. But the point we here make is merely that this lesson does not treat of her resurrection, but of her awakening. In harmony with this is the plain statement of the Scriptures that our Lord Jesus himself, in his resurrection, was the first fruits of them that slept. (1 Cor. 15:20) Again, the Apostle makes the same point very emphatic in his discourse to Agrippa, saying that all of his preaching was in harmony with the statements of Moses and the prophets: That Christ should suffer. and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead.-Acts 26:23. These nlain statements of Scrinture cannot be ignored with impunity by those who desire & be taught of God, and to rid themselves of erroneous theories and speculations respecting the word resurrection. Our Lords resurrection was indeed the first, and hence the others were not resurrections at all. Our Lord was raised up-clear up-all the way up-out of death-into the full nerfection of life. It was not necessary that he should be riised to the perfection of human nature again, for indeed it was the human nature of Jesus that was sacrificed on our behalf-one sacrifice forever-which could never be taken back or rescinded-otherwise it would have meant the repeal of mans redemption-the undoing of the at-one-ment work. Rather, we are to remember that when our Lord Jesus made his consecration at baptism he was begotten of the spirit, a spirit being-and that which was begotten of the spirit was in due time born of the spirit, a spirit being-and referring to this spirit birth, his resurrection, we read that AWAKENING OF THE DEAD NOT RESURRECYlION he was the first-born from the dead. the first-born among many brethren. (Rom. 8:29 ; Cal. 1: 18) These are additional The maid awakrnetl to life and consciousness. She did uroof texts to the effect that neither Lazarus nor Jairus not come back from heaven or from hell, but merely awakened dauahter. nor the son of the widow of Nain, nor the young out of the sleep of death, and renewed the experiences of life man whom the Apostle Paul awakened, nor Dorcas, whom as before. Such an awakening from sleep-such a restoration Peter awakened. nor the child of the Shunnamite woman of the life forces that had been temporarily suspended, is of whom Elisha awakened, were born from the dead in any the nature of a resurrection, but is not a resurrection. We sense of the word, either on the fleshly or on the spiritual are to rememhcr that the maiden was not alive beforeplane. that perfect life has not been enjoyed by any member of Let us. then, in thinking of our dear Redeemers resurrecAdams race since father Adams fall into disobedience and tion, seek more and more to grasp its greatness, and to under the divine sentence of death. As the Apostle declares, realize that nothing of the kind ever occurred before, and that In Adam all die, and again, Death passed upon all, and as he was the firstyborn from the dead, so his brethren, the this maiden was no exception to the rule. Our Lord, in speakchurch, are to come next in order. Let us remember also that ine on the subicct. implied that none have life in anv sense his resurrection to spirit nature is quite a different resurrecof-the word, rs&pt tho;ie who accept him, and they only in a tion from what the world of mankind may ever hope to share reckoned sense bv faith. His words were. Let the dead burv -theirs being a restitution resurrection to human conditions, their dead. Hey that hath the Son hath life. As the maiden human nerfection and life. The higher. chief, or first resurwas therefore legally dead, without perfect life, and without rection which our Lord experienced; is promised as a special the rieht to it. before she fell asleep. so likewise. when she reward to his faithful church and to no others. It is this awakened, in answer to our Loids command, she awakened that the Apostle calls the resurrection of the dead, which merely to that death rondition in which she previously was. To have resurrected her he would have meant to have lifted he describes in 1 Cor. 15:42-44. Our great endeavor, therefore. as followers in the footsteps of Jesus, should be the same her completely out of death in every sense of the word, out of mental. moral and physical degradation, up to the grand that was before the mind of the great Apostle, when he said. That I may know the power of his resurrection (the first heights of perfection of mind and body, as represented in the to spiritual conditions, glory, honor and imresurrection, person of father Adam, and our Lord did nothing of this He merely awakened her, leaving her upon the same and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made kind. mortality), comformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain plane of death on which she had been born, and had thus far unto the (special, chief) resurrection of the dead.-Phil. lived for twelve venrs. The maiden will still have her op3 :9-l& portunity of sharing in the general resurrection by judg

THE VOLUNTEER

WORK

therefore why such a distinction should be made in the call. Since the sending forth of the double number of our journal last issue, the Volunteer enlistments have increased The reason is that so far as we are able to judge, colored people have less education than whites-many of them quite wonderfully. The dear friends of the truth everywhere seem insufficient to permit them to profit by such reading as we to think that if this issue is to be the ammunition used by have to give forth. the Volunteers the results will be momentous; hence many are Our conclusion therefore is based upon the supposition that reading matter distributed to a colored anxiolis to enlist in the service which promises nothing of congregation would more than half of it be utterly wasted, and earthly fame or reward, but large appreciation by the Captain a very small percentage indeed likely to yield good results. of our salvation, and large rewards in the world to come. We advise, therefore, that where the Watch Tower literature. There are probably as many as a hundred colored brethren is introduced to colored people it be not by promiscuous ciron the Watch Tower liqts, some of them very clear in the rulation, but only to those who give evidence of some ear truth, and very earne.t in its service, financially and otherfor the truth. wise. We have received letters from several of these, who had We avoid, so far as possible, putting the pearls of present intended engaging in the volunteer work, expressing surprise truth into the hands of the vicious and depraved, whites as well that in the call for volunteers in the March 1st issue we reWherever we have reason to believe that people stricted the inquiry to white Protestant churches. as blacks. They love sin rather than righteousness, we have no desire to rerightly realized that we have not the slightest of race move from their minds any of the shackles which ignorance prejudice, and that we love the colored brethren with just the and superstition have put upon them; rather, we would leave same warmth of heart that we love the white, and they queried [2618]

APRIL

15, l?OO

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(122-123)

them l~ound until, in the Millennial age, when thebe shackles shall all be removed. they will be under the strong hand of a strong governor, who will recompense every iniquity as well as every rfort toward righteousness. Similarly. the exclusion of Roman Catholic churches was not intendrtl 39 any slight upon the people connected with them, for whom we have only the greatest good will and best \I i&es. Sor did it indicate that we thought none of the Roman Catholics amenable to the truth, for, on the contrary, there are quite a number of very zealous friends of the truth who were reared in Catholicism: indeed. onlv last, Sundav (April 1st) at our meeting in &e Bible-Hou:e Chapel, fe& Roman Catholics made public profession of faith in the Redeemer and of full consecration to him, and symbolized it in water immersion. We excluded Roman Catholic churches from the Volunteer service because the vast majority of their attmtlants are either too ignorant or too bigoted to read and think for themselves. True, much of this would apply also to Protestants : hut the percentage of hopefuls amongst the latter i; so mm*11 greater as to justify, we think, the enormous expunge Involved in this circulation of free reading matter at the rhur,l~rs throughout this country. + * * Tlltl \nluntt~er service is open to all of the Lords dear people. brrthrcn and sisterr, white and colored, who have a dehire tliuq to serve the great Captain of our salvation, and to help (1.11\ their brethren cr from the bondage of Babylon into t hcs Ilbcrty wherewith Christ hath made us free from sec*tnri:(ni~m. superstition and every yoke of bondage. Nor do wz &uire to place this service as a yoke or burden upon any, blit as thr word indicat.es, it is only for volunteers. 1r.e Iteltcvca that the Lord would not have any conscriptions or draft+ c~onnc&tl with his service. .AR to whether or not this iq a rn;~p in which you can serve the Lords cause is not for uLI hut for vou to tlcc~itle. We merely give you our opinion, that this ix one of the best means of serving the truthpreaching the Gospel of the kingdom-breaking the chains of error that are upon the brethren-honoring the name and <hnrac*ter of our heavenly Father, and extolling the great redemption accomplished by Jesus our Saviour It is a harvest work, in that it is gathering to the Lord his true people,gathering them out of the various sects-not into another se& but into heart-union with the Lord and with all who are at one with him through oneness of spirit, engendered by low of the truth.
WRAPPERS ADDRESSED FOR SAMPLE TOWEES

laborers are few comparatively, and the wages promised by the Ilaster are enormous- glory, honor and immortality to the faithful. * * * Your succes. and the kind of a reception you receive when circulating the truth, will in many m&ances depend largely upon your own nnlnner. It is an old saying that Like begets like, and if you go forth with your hearts full of love for the dear brethren whom you seek to serve, and if previous to starting you go on iour knees to the Lord to ask his blessing upon your4elve.. as his servant<. and upon your effort in his service, praying for wisdom, grace and a fulness of his spirit of lore. your manner mill not be bold and blatant: hut kind, courteous. humble. yet withal courageous, for you are there as a brother on the business of the Elder Brother, the King. and have nothing whatever to be ashamed of. Tour mission is both honorable and laudable. It is an appeal, not to the passion5 and prejudices of the people, but to their intelle& and their hearts. This kind of preaching is as honorable 214 that done from the platform; yea, much more honorable, for many ministers are confessing in public from time to time, and to their shame. that for years they have been preaching, contrary to their consciences, a God-dishonorunreasonable and unscriptural message. ing, inconsistent, They have been charging good round salaries for this falsification and defamation, while you, on the contrary, as a true minister of the Lord and the truth, not only serve to others meat in due season from the Masters table, but do it with good tonscience, and without raithly reward or any hope of name or fame.
EFFECTUAL VOLUNTEER WORK

\Vr dry e\pe(ting great results from the volunteer fiervice this year, ant1 those who engage in it to any degree will, we believe. look bdck with great. pleasure to their share in it. But regardless of how much blessing may come to others by this service. we are convinced that great blessings are coming to the Lords people, througli the self-denial and cross-bearing which thi, \oIunteer servicae implies. The bringing of our hearts into such a condition of devotion to the Master means a iplritual bIe+Ging and a ,haracter-development which surely wtlI be great aid3 in the attainment of the kingdom. However, to 1113own master each servant stands or falls, and we are to remember not to judge or offend one another, but rather to assiLt each other. In harmony with this we are quite willing to co-operate with XII the Lords dear ncople in whichever of the various methods of serving the tr&h-they may decide to be the most l l l annronriate and best suited to tlieir circumstances. conditions. 11 1 We have derided to discontinue the general volunteer cirzeal, etc \Ve will therefore not restrict this ammunition to culation of the Bible versus Evolution namnhlet. and to the volunteer work at tin> churches, but will supply it freely use this volunteer number everya here instea tl. * Consequently to others, for use amongst their friends, or in any manner all the new recruits to this volunteer service will be supplied that, they may be ahle to use it. For instance, some have alwith the new ammunition, and the various companies may get I(~;III~~ qent 11sin numerous addresses of persons whom they have together at once and, through one of their number. appobted reacon to believe might be amenable to the influence of the as-secretary or Iientenant, communicate with UP, mforining us truth. ant1 otliers have gotten extras for loaning amongst their iesnectina the number of Protestant white churches. and so far friends and neighbors. While these may not be strictly as they may he ahle to judge, the average dttendance at each, count4 in amongst the volunteers, we mav consider them a and the number of volunteers with their names. The Captainkind of sln~rpshootcrs and guerillas. General of our forces is the Lord Jesus, under whoqr banner Those ~110 ni\lr 11s to mail samnlrx to their friends direct from our trfK,e choul~l write the addiesses on wrappers of about alone we are enrolled, and whose cause alone we serve. the kanlc <lze I\! nip in mailing the Watch Tower (12 by 8 From victorv unto victory inche+-the ac1dreb.s to IIC written lengthwise of the sheet. His army shall he lead, and about one and a h.llf inches from the top), and these Till every foe IS vanquished, addressed wrappers should be mailed to us, a postal card acAnd Christ is Lord indeed. The harvest is great, the companying them in explanation. [2619]

One dear brother, whose letter appears in this itisue. had the Dawn in his possessIon, but was too prejudiced to study at a church it, until he witnessed a \ olunteer distribution he attended, and saw amongst the Volunteers one whom he recognized as the head of a large mercantile business. He said to himself at once, There is something real and tangible about the faith of these Christian people, and I must study the literature to find the basis of such self-denial and rross-bearing. He did investigate. and as a result is now a Volunteer I&self. He iq a man of coIIege education, good natural ability, fills a fine position, and is not ash,imed of the Lord, nor of the word of his grace, which has established his own heart and given him a faith and a hope beyond all compare. His present aspirations are, to be humble and faithful until death, and then to be a sharer. a joint-heir with the Lord in his hlillcnn~al kingdom, which shall bless the world. In addition to meekness and love, manifested in look. in word and in act, we advise the dear volunteers to lie(I) a reasonable distance away from rhurch etlifi(es whose tongregations they seek to serve. A reasonable distnme will. of course, depend somewltat upon eirrumstanccs. -1 quarter or a half block would not be loo distant, if thereby tin> people could be well served. Of course. no one should tahe offcn\e at a gratuitous distribution of spiritual food dircctlr at the church door ; yet cspcrience show? that some do take otfcnse at this, and feel a~ dir? the Ph,irisces of old rehnectinp the Iords message, when they a&etI, Are we bIind*aIsov It is we!1 to avoid arousing prcjutlire. Our ammunition is not intended to wound, to hurt, to kill. but to do good, to comfort, to inspire with new Christian life and hop.

A KIND

MASTER, A GOOD SERVANT

LUKE 7 : 1-10.--BPRIL 22. 1,1/x as CC lather pitieth his chiZ&ren, so the Lord nitzcth them that fear him.--Psalm 103:13. Masters and servants in the olden times occupied a much such power as the Lord Jesus manifested had agencies at his r.loser relatlon~hlp to earl] other than they do toJay-a relncommand which would not require him to personally see and tionshiD which took on more of naternal sentiment. touch the servant in order to heal him, even as the centurion The r.hanxeha5 hren hrnught ahout grad&lg, and is not the result himself was accustomed to perform various matters through of great men of tod;iy having-less heart than great men of the mstrumentality of his servants. the olden tlmri. nor of rmplovecs being leqs faithful than emThis was a wonderful illustration, both of meekness and ployees of olden times: it IS I:ather the result of changed conof faith, and it was appreciated by our Lord accordingly. Ilitionq-tile rcb?ult of grc::ter individuality and independence, There is a lesson in it for all of the Lords people, to the effect wl1ic.h lcatls the c~mploycc~ to prcfcr tn sell his time nnd cnergy that the more we exercise faith in the Lord along reasonable ,111a St1 ic,tl,v ~c,n;mc~rc basis rather than on a paternal hasls. 1~11 lines, in halmony with the teachings of his Word, the more Sti\ crtlielc y.. tli(l =cllrral inflliencc is iinfavoral,lt~ in many he will be pleased with us. This same thing was illustrated in rccpwts. f11\t, 11(%( inh~ iIlc*l of gr(hat mental power and inthe case of Thomas, who, being absent at the time of om tliienc*e are to \onir extent Tinder proyerit arrangements cut off Lords first appearance to the eleven, declared that nothing from fcllo\\ \111p ;intl svrnp,ll hy with their employees. and would satisfv him resuectina the Lords resurrection except :tlthouph tlie (l;l\i tllstin;~iic,n? are not lest ma~ketl Ih,ln in the the putting of his finiers &to the nail-prints of his hands. 1)x-t. nor t\cn :I. n111(.1iho, vet clas. i ii-alrj dntl miimo>ity is Our Lord, while granting him the demonstration which he po\+1111;,~ pr,*:ltrar tll,lri c\r . asked. intimated that he would have had a neater blessing if hecould have exercised a greater faith, saying, (More; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. Let all of the Lord? people remember this, and instead of doubting the Lords willingness to perform what he has promised, and requiring signs and further evidences and assurances let 113 rather rest content that he who has 50 graciously donp for us in the past more than we could have asked or thought is equally faiihful today, and will fulfill to uq all the good momises of his Word. The more heartilv we shall aceem? hi3 promises. the more fully we shall trust fb his prapiorlq provijences, the more peaceof heart we shall have-ourselveh, and the more the Lord will delight himself in us as his servant& and brethren, and the more he will be pleased to favor us am! to use us. Our Lords remark: I have not found so great faith, no. not in Israel, was a grand tribute of approval for the Gentile centurion. It distinctly indicates that the facat that the Lords !liInWli ~3% (i IhJi$ an 0rd~~rl.v man. and such mPn usually favor which for over eighteen hundred years had been confined CWk fOJ arid OlJtiliIl orderlv servants. Furthermore. in his to Israel was not merely because the Israelites were alone c,onvcrcation with Our Lord 11~ decalarcs that he was accustonlrd to lli~\in~ llis qer\:Ints do what he bade them.-Verse 8. worthy, nor because in them alone Was found such faith aq that on account of which father Abraham wa4 blessed, and Tile centurion himself waq. of course. a Roman-not a Jew. the blessing pronounced on his children. But altho the Lord llc w.1~. tllr~rc~forc, d(+arred in a general way from the Lords found greater faith in the centurion than amongst others 111 blf,nsingil. which IN, tlcrlarrd on another occasion were for the Israel, nevertheless he could not and did not invite the cenchildren of thr I.inptlon~ (Israelites) onlg. and not for stlangturion to become one of his disciples, because the gifts nntl crs. No dorrllt l~w~usc he Jwlized himself ns out+ldc Judaism callings of God are not things to be repented of. and the -an nlirn :rnd :L <trxngcr, and forergncr from the covenants divine favor to Israelites must and did continue down to thr (Eph. 2 : l2), that and hlrwinrs of God hrstnwetl rr~orr lhrncl. full end of the seventy weeks of favor promised through hc ohtainrrl IlJc cniilwrxtion of the leading J&s of the city, Daniel, the prophet-altho the national favor reased three and that tlrcv noI:ltl favor hii cpnnsr with the Lord, and intercede a half years sooner, in the midst of the seventieth week, five that hi* petitrorr might Ire ~rnrrtrrl. days before our Lords crucifixion, when he said of that nation. He evidently Wc notice 111~eood derds of this centurion. Your house is left unto you desolate; ye shall see me no rcsqpectrd the religion of the Jews, rntl had used his wealth in more until that day. -%Iatt. 23 i38 ; Dan. 9:24. I hr inriltlinr of a \vnazocuc. the ruirrq of which are supposed It is certainly within the range of possibility that thl< Of tliesr JYliIJS Edershrim says, to IJIVe hcG;i found rt&ntly. centurion, whose good works and alms were so highly comI%~ rcmxins now, after e.i,ghtern crnturie<, in their rirhne?s mended hy the Jews, and whose faith was so highly spoken of of (alaborate cnrv~ngn of cornices and tablets, of capital9 and by our Lord, might have been removed by Roman authority nirheq, show with n-hat liberal ha11C1 had dealt his votive hc from Capernaum to Cesarea, another fortress, and that he It is presumed that thi- miracle preceded the offerings. may have been the centurion named Cornelius, the first Gentile awakpniny of .T:tilu~ daughter, and it is not unrra+onable to accepted to t,he privileges and favors of the Gospel church, at suppow that Jairns lrimqelf was one of the elders of the Jews the expiration of the seventy weeks of favor confined to thr who eamr to qJrsrl+ in the interest of the centurion: and this Israelites.-Acts 10: l-35. to some extent lirlpq to awount for hih jireat faith irr our One lesson connected with this subject which should speT,ordq powrr to ,(a\ ivt* hi3 daughter, been though dead ciallv commend itself to anv of the Lords people who are Our J,nrtl q((brns to 11nvc readily granted the centurions masters or employers is theYlesson of kindness for servants rrflurSt : :1nr1 tlic fact t.lr:1t it was not presented personally i7 If a Gentile w&id be so careful for the interests of his servant. p&rimrtl not. to signify any lack of r&pect, hut-the very reand thus bestir and trouble himself much to secure his release verse. a rralimtion on 11iq iart that Jrwa wrrt xvrrse to harfrom pain. much more should every true Christian not only in:! anv tlr:ilinzlq w it11 Gclniiles. except alon,g strirztly huqine$-, feel a kindliness for those who are of the household of faith 11rtrs. Hi< further rnc,ctr;tv and mepknrs; were manifest in the but alro be disDnsed to do good unto all men as they may have fact that brforc .Tc~us h&l reached his house he sent friends opportunity. &e may be-sure that all such evidhncesof in (not pervantn) to hindrr ,Jr~u? from defiling himself hr comterest. in iellow-creat;res. all surh evidences of the spirit of _..-_ .~~ .~ ing into a Grrrtileq honw. For nlthn hc was a man of irJfluence love and kindness, are pleasing in the Lords sight; and not and Dower, hr rcaliacd tlrr harrier between himqelf and the only so, but that every time we exercise ourselves along such .Irwl.q: arrordin~ lo nhirh the Pharicecq would have considered lines we deepen them and strengthen, confirm and establish that thrv dcfilcd themselrrs bv entcrirrr his house. HC accordc*haracter alone the lines of love and mercy. This is one of ingly sugbested that mlr Lord would &rrelg speak the word. tllc ways in whirh we are to develop ourselves more and more and that he l~atl frr11wt tonfidcnc~c fII>\t the word rould be ad copies of C,ods dear Son.-Rom. 8:29. spoken :I$ will outhitlc ai inqidv tllc Ilou;e-that 011e possessing
I Y

THE DISAPPOINTED

PROPHETS WISE COURSE

Lurtr: i : IS-~&-APRIL 29. Ilc Iroth rlo+lc ull things well.--Mark 7~37. Yet this was only in accordance with .John the Baptiser. \Vhile tTe5un was performing man) miracles, making nuwhat John himself had prophesied, saying, He must increase, merouq disciples, and meeting with romparatively little oppobut I must decrease. John was in prison. about 120 miles sition, things were going very differently with his cousin,
f 134-125)

[26201

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ZIONS

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(125-125)

inquiringly-and be set at rest by his Word. We may not be from where Jesus was laboring so successfully. To be shut up able to hear the Lords words with our own ears, but we can m a dark dungeon of the kind usual at that time, and to have receive it second hand as did John-through the testimonies our Lord proceeding with his work, and raising no voice of of the apostles and prophets, by whose writings God has pronrotest on his behalf, and exercising none of his mighty power \-ided in advance replie to all proper queries. ?or his deliverance, probably seemed very strange-to Johnespecially in view of his expectations respecting the work of The question arises, Was John imprisoned on account of the Messiah-that he would be a great earthly general and nff~cious&s-on account of trymg to mind Herod. business? king, in harmony with the general Jewish expectations. Or was hc imnrisoned because of his faithfulness in the dircharge of that* duty? Was it right or was it wrong for him We see how readily John might have permitted doubts and to rgprove the king, and to say ti him that it was rlot lawful He might have said, This whole fears to enter his mind. for him to take as his wife his brother Philins wife? There matter is a fraud, and Jesus and I have been deceiving OWis no question that Hrrotl w.1~ in the wrong, Aantl that John> selves. HP might have lost all faith in Gods providential expres;lon on the suhjcct was a corrrct o!l<, and that Hero.: dealings in theOpast, and ail heart and hope for -the present was livinp in adultcrv. a , but the nuestion is. \1:as this any of and for the future; but notwithstanding the great disappoint~Johns buziness? Did he need to nieddle witd the kings affairs, ment he felt, his faith continued its firm hold on the Lord. and thus get himself into trouble? And if it was Johns duty This is indicated in his sending of his disciples to Jesus, to to reprove Herod on this subJcct, was it not the duty of 0111 make inquiry, and also in the character of the inquiry. He Lord Jesus to have done the same, and m addition to have sloes not say, Is this whole matter a farce, and are we deluded? uttered a protest against the imprisonment of John, and in but on the contrary his question was a sound one, and exgeneral to have raised a great hubbub over the injustice being presses the conviction that thus far the Lord has been leading, done by the wicked ruler 1 Snd if ,John wa\ right in this matLnd that the only doubt in the prophets mind was whether ter was our Lord Jesus wrong in not follo\\ing the same or not, as he was the forerunner of Jesus, Jesus in turn, course? Or if Jesus was ri-rrht in not followin Johns course greater than he, might be the forerunner of some one else still in reproving Herod, does itprove that .John ;&cd in giving speaking, this was greater :and yet to come. And strictly the reproof 1 ctuactly the rnse; for Jesus in the flesh was indeed the forerunner and precarer of the way before the still greater gloWe answer that our Lords conlluct is certainly to be considered as above reproach, iincc in him was no sin, neither I lfietl Christ of the second advent. who will accomplish the great ilntl wonderful things foretoltl by all the holy-prophets was guile found in his mouth; but this does not prove guile *inre the world began.-Acts 3:21-23. and sin on Johns part in following a difYclent course. We are to remember that in manv Iesne& John and his ministry Our Lord, it will be noticed, did not answer Johns question differed widely from our L&d alid his ministry. For instan?;, directly-he did not sag that there was not another coming the uncouth skin-girdle which John wore was vcrv different :lnd s&l1 greater work -than that which he was performing from the seamless-robe whit-h the Lord wnre; antlUthe %ripbut he did eive John to understand distinctlv that the work tures call attention to the fact that .rohn li\ctl a very abPtemtic was then-doing was the very work which gad been foretold eating nor drinking ordinary food. but ious life, neither In the prnphets, and the proper thing to be done at that time. practicing a rontinual fasting or self-denial as respects these \Vhilc .Tohns messengers were with Jesus a number of miracles comforts, while our Lord Jesu1~ ramc both eating and drinkwere performed in their sight, and Jesus sent them back to ing, attended wedding feasts and banquets made In his honor. .John with instructions that they bear witness to him of the work of the Lord progressing in his hands, and to say to John The lesson i? that these grand charactrrs eacoh fulfilled his own mission, according to the divine arrangement, but that they that while the opportunities to stumble at Jesus, his work and his word-, were many, and while many would stumble at these, had different missions. Johns mission was nre-emincntlv that of a reprover and reformer, and we arp to l&derytand &at as as the prophet had declared (Isa. 8:14) yet a special blessing a prophet he was supernaturallv ,rrllidcd in respect to the would rckt upon all who would not stumble, but whose faith various features of the course whic.11 he took In thr T,ord would continue, despite various disappointments Our TJnrds mission, on the contrarv, was a dilferrnt one; he was adthIIf expectation respecting his work and their fulfilmentsthron~h misapprehension of the lengths and breadths and ering to himself those whom .Johns ministrv s&ved to afnuqe Ikeights and depths of the divine plan, which, as the heavens to righteousness and to zeal to know and dothe T,ords will. 1?e who are called to be the body of Chri-t and to follow :jre higher than the earth, were higher than human conception For instance what Jew could have him, may learn a lesson in this as rhspPrts our proper course: (,ould have foreseen. we are not sent forth as .John was. to dwell in the wilderness. thourrht for a moment of the still h&her than Jewish expecliving and dressing uncouthly, and to cariticise and denounce t.lt&s of the kingdom-of the spiriiual kingdom-class to be everything and everybody. selected first hefore the establishment of the earthly kingdom, Some of the Lords dear people fail to notice that such commisqions are snerial and rerv rare. and to he sharers with-Messiah in his glory, honor and immor: I. and sometimes in following the wrong Aropy. und&nedl~ tnlity? bring reproach upon the Lords cause. Wo are to he copies -411 of the Lords faithful servants need to remember the of Gods dear Son. nur Lord. and not to be rnpicq of .Jnhn the Game lcqqons which were thus forcefully impressed upon John: Baptiser. We are nr)t to stir up strife hy tryi;g to mind nt,hrr they need to remember that when sometimes matters turn out neonles husiness. nor to seek to ,rrnvprn all the afilirs of this verk differently with themselves than what they had expected, \Yoild, reproving emperors, king;: governors, etc , hnt to thr when they receive injuries, reproaches and oppression, as the contrary of thiq are eshorted by the Apo&le to rc~mrmber that rewards of faithfulness to duty and to truth, it does not mean what God sees fit to permit we ran SPPfit to endure. that God has forgotten them, nor that they were misled in Even tho we find many things whirl1 v;r cannot cnmmcmd their nrevious service to the Lord: nor does it mean that the or indnrqe, we may equnily finit nurirlvpq :tlllc to nroitl any J,ord has changed his plan; nor that he is careless or indiffperial denunciation of them--ennrc*iallv of thinci: whicah h:lve ferent respecting their rondltion. True, their first thought nb hearing whatever upon fhc ljrnprr ~lrrdrr~tan;lillr and filll houltl 1~ whether or not present unfavorable conditions are filling of the LorIIs Word. Thr Apn~tll~ points out our pr<bprr in the nature of chastisements or the results of an.y misdoings position, sayin,n, Aq rnucah nq lioth rn you live pc~~c~:~hlv wit11 on their part,, or failures to qerve the Lord in his own wny, all men. And our Lnrtl rmphnsized fhr samr thouyrrht. s:lving. hut if they find their cnurse to he harmonious with the divine Bleqqed arc the pcaccmnkers: they sh:111bc railed thr c~hil~lrcn will and Word they should at once rest their faith upon the of God. T,ord. and conclude that God knowq better than thev how to Some of the hnlieqt of the J,ortl Y proplr err on tlilS snbicrt manage his own work. Then while thankful to be u&d in that in their own families, and nrdlrs5lp arnilsc prriiitlic*c and work for a time they should nevertheless be pleased, if it were opposition, and makr their hnmrs unhnpp.v. by c~ontinll~lly the Lordq will. to he set aside for a time-perhaps for the findin,rr fault with things which thn not II~ to the htnndnrti good of others. or perhaps for their own training in the school of expcrienre and in the learning of lessons of patience and of saintliness: and cross-hearing. are neverthelczq not immoral or wirkcd even in tendency. Parent< and gunrtlians are sure1.v of faith. to guard n,rr;rinqt all tendenries toward immorality, etr.. but But such a resting in the Lord, such a centering of life in to find fault with thosr they love mrrrly because they are nnly him. can be enjoyed &ly by those who have made considerable nominal Christians and have the spirit of worldliness. is cernrogress. who have run a considerable distance in the wav of tainly unwiqe. Their general life of prnrc and joy in the holy iheT,ord, and who have already been exercised under the Snirit is the verv best renrnnf of wnrldlir:rss thrv ran Five Lord9 prnvidences, and have learned many lessons in his 2nd the hcqt rprnmmcndatibn of the ,rrlorinu? gospel they proschool. This, however, is the condition which all of the Lords fess. This is the epistle that will be read, the light that will true follower9 are to strive to nttain. as the only one thorreprove dnrkncss. In other words, we must not expert from oughly pleasing to the Lord, The proper course of all Gods nor try to force upon the unrnnserrated the details of our own qervantl when perplexed is the one followed by John, namely, self-denials. We must wait :mtil t,hey shall see full conse to go to the Lord with the perplexity-not doubtingly, but [2621]
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(127-131)

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TOWER

service and present their cration to be their reasonable bodies living sacrifices to God. Pastors and teachers, however, should seek-to keep continually before the Lords consecrated flock the high Scriuture standard. realizing that manv influences are continually at work to iower the-standard ofholi. ness and devotion.
JOHN MORE THAN A PROPHET

The multitude who stood about must have heard the messaPre which Johns disciples brought to Jesus. and no doubt q&&cd within themselv&, if not audibly, Is J&n losing faith in Jesus as the Messiah? If John is a DrODhet himself. should he not tJe informed by God on this s&j&t, without sending to inquire of Jesus? Does not this, in connection with the fact that John did no miracles, prove that John was not a prophet. but merelv some sort of a reformer, possibly selfnppknted? Our cord seemb to have detected &~ch a questinning, and hence after Johns discipline were gone, so that his words could not he construed as a sop of flattery to hold Johns confidence, he delivered quite a eulogy upon his faithful forerunner, which we paraphrase thus: 11 hat did you expect in John-a weak, pliable character, easily swayed by every wind of doctrine and fancy, as a reed is easily swayed by the wind? Those who <, such an impression respecting v his chareet 1 acter are deceiving themselves. - On the contrary, he is a prophet, yea, more than a prophet-he is a special ambassador and messenger of God at this present time, to do an introductory work related to the kingdom which I am now preaching. He is referred to hy Malachi the prophet (3: 1) . Indeed, I declare to you that there has never arisen a greater prophet than John, and yet I say to you that the least one in the kingdom-rlaqs IS greater than he; for he does not belong to the kingdom-class at all, but to the previous dispensation-the house of servants. The law and the prophets were until John (and he is the last of the prophets), and since then VOL. XXI

the kingdom of heaven iti preached, that now whosoever will of this &vinely fatored nation may press his way and gain an entrance into it and become a son of God.-John 12: I. Sate in the text the clearneb> ut our Lords word2 re.+pecting the distinction between the new institution whirl1 he was foundmg and the old institution founded by 1,foses. and which u-as then coming to an end, .givmg place to the new. The Apostle shows that the call ot us Gentiles during this Gospel age to a joint-heirship in the kmgdom as members of the kingdom-class is because those of the Jews ready to receive the kingdom favor upon the Lords terms were fewer than the predetermined number. Our call is to fill the places of those natural branches of the Abrahamic stock. bv being grafted into and made partakers of the original riot hf di&e favor -the Abrahamic promise-to be members of the seed of Abraham, in which as a kingdom-class all the families of earth shall be blesrcd with certain favors of knowledge and opportunity.-Compare Rom. 11: 1-33; Gal. 3: 16, 29. How highlv we who belong to the new dispensation should value its privjleges and opportunities, and seek to make our calling and our election sure. (2 Pet. 1:4-11) If those u-ho were called with an earthly calling to be a house of servants rendered but a reasonable service when they engaged m the Lords work zealouslv, as did John the Bantist. and have been faithful, how much-more zeal and eneriy eight we to put forth who have been favored so much more highly! What manner of persons ought we to be. in all holy conversation and godliness! Let us remember that this high-calling, this heavenly calling, to joint-heirship with our Lord in the kingdom, is a very special and a very limited call, that it will soon end, and that so far as the divine revelation shows. it will never be repeated. In view of these things let us lay aside every weight, and run with patience the race set before us in the gospel, looking unto Jesus. the author, until he shall have become the finisher. of our faith.-Heb. 12 : 1.

ALLEGHENY,

PA., MAY

1, 1900

No. 9

THE MEMORIAL

SUPPER

self, as the antitype. Each year seems to add to the interest of the Lords peoWe noted also the approprintenesi of the emblems which Jesus choose to represent his flesh and his ple in the celebration of the great event which lies at the blood; we saw that unleavened bread most beautifullv illusfoundation of all our Christian hopes-the celebration of the death of Christ, our Passover. Each year the matter seems trated the purity, the sinlessness, of our dear Redeemkr, and to be more clearly grasped by a larger number, and corthat the CUD. the fruit of the vine. remesented his sufferinasnot sufferin& that were arievous,bui ioyous. endured wilhnerespondingly the solemnity and holy joy proper to the occa sion seems to be the more intense, and the overflowing blesI.; gladly, on our behalf, and we rejoiced in these things. We considered how we were to feed unon the Lord in our sing to be more pronounced. hearts while using the bread emblematically-thatwe could Xlany of the little companies of the Lords people who feed upon his flesh in the sense of calling to mind the fact celebratell on the evening of April 12th have responded to that only through his sacrifice could we have life, only by his our requeqt for information resbecting the numbers particibecoming our substitute in death could we, as a race, be set natine. and the measure of the Lords Soirit and blessing free from the condemnation that was upon us through father breiayiing. From these reports we judge that the numbe? Adams transgression. We considered the fruit of -the vine, participntmg this year was considerably more than last year. the svmbol of our Lords blood. as the sealing of the new Though we have not heard from nearly so many, the totals are Cove<ant under which God, throbgh Christ, could be merciful larger. 1Ve believe, too, from the letters that the meaning toward our imperfection<. accepting our intentions, even though of the institution was very deeply appreciated, not only as the weaknesses of the flesh might sometimes hinder us from marking the great sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, but also as attaining all the desired results. marking the consecration of his people to be one with him Then we viewed the matter from the other standpointin his sacrifice. the secondary one mentioned by the Apostle in 1 Cor. 10: 16, The Allegheny church had a moqt blessed season, about 290 17, viz., that the entire church is one loaf, and that it is the \Yc first rcrie\\ed the general meaning of the participating. duty and the privilege of all who have become members of Passover, as it was instituted with the *Jews, tracing the rethe one loaf, the one body of Christ, to be broken in the lationship between the typical Passover Lamb and Christ the service of the Head and in the service of each other, that thus of Lamb of God, our Passover, and saw in the first-born we might have fellowship with Christ in his sufferings and Israel passed over in that night a type of the church of the ultimately he sharers in his glory. We saw that the cup of first-horn. ullirh Chtl iq passing over during this Gospel blessing with which we bless is indeed our communion or 1Ve saw that subsequently these first-born ones became night. fellowship in the blood [sufferings] of Christ, our mingling of the lcaderi of Israel as a whole, and their deliverers from our lives with his life, our joining with him in filling up Epptlan bondage, and we saw that the anti-type of that that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ. We sought deliverance w111 be the ultimate deliverance of all who love to enter into the very deep meaning of the beautiful symbol, God and who desire to serve him, from the bondage of the and to have it in our hearts a power of God, leading us to world and of sin, and of Satan, the antitype of Pharaoh, and keener appreciation of our dear Saviour, and to a keener dethat this ultimate deliverance would be during the Millennial votion as his disciples, to walk in his footsteps. ones will be asage. when the church of the first-born Then, after a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the living sociated with Christ in the Millennial kingdom. Bread that came down from heaven-for Jesus, who was not Next we saw how that the Jews had celebrated the type for a condemned member of the human family, but a specially over sixteen centuries, with no knowledge of the antitype, and nrovided one. suitable to be our Saviour. our Bread. our Lifeyet that in Gods due time Christ, the antitypical Lamb, was Hiver, and ior all the blessing which we have through his slain on the very same day of the month that the typical great sacrifice, we partook of the bread. After this we gave Lamb was slain; and that on the very same day in which thanks for the cup, acknowledging that we have no righteoushe and his disciples met as Jews to celebrate the typical Lamb ness of our own, even though all the past were forgiven, and and the typical passing over, our Lord instituted a new that we could not hope to stand before God acceptably or memorial, which would not look back to the type, but to him[2622]

MAY 1, 1900

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(132-134)

to have any dealings with him except under the gracious provisions of the *New Covenant. sealed with the nrecious blood of Christ. We gave thanks also that by Gods ,raee we have been called to fellowship with Jesus, and told the Lord of our hopes thnr. by his grace we might run our course with faithfulness and eventually be received to joint-heirship with our Master in his glory when we are partakers with him of the joys of the kingdom. The simple but impressive memorial being ended, it was requested that in order that the solemnity of the hour might abide with us, to our mutual comfort and joy, we should part on that evening without entering into any conversation likely to attract our minds from the precious things which filled them, but rather might, for the hours following, remember the severe trials of the disciples, and the dear Masters trials, and seek to enter into close sympathy with his faithfulness, and to be all the more on guard against the wiles of the adversary, which seems to be so potent at this season of the year. Then singing the first hymn we were dismissed. An incident which added to our blessing in connection with this service was the fact that our dear Brother Horace A. Randle, who for about twenty years has been a missionary in China, was with us, and took part in the service with evident pleasure to himself and profit to us all. Bro. Randle wrote us in January last that he was about to start on his long journey of 16,000 miles, with the desire and intention to reach Allegheny in time for this Memorial service. He arrive11 just tile c:ay before, and was very warmly welcomed bv us all. He addressed us on Easter Sundav. amongst other good things telling us of his great joy in t& harve% truth, and of hip- intense desire to make known the grace of God to all the Lords dear people, and of some efforts he had already put forth, and some of the fruitage which the Lord had permitted him to see amongst the missionaries of his acquaintance. Yet with regret he told us of how few of the mi:sionaries seem to have any interest in these matters, and * see Jme 15, 1919, issue, for critical exammatlon of Covenants.

how the majority of the responses he received were in the nature of scoffings. We hope that our dear brother will put his address into writing that we may lay it before the larger church some time in the near future. We have received reports, all of them excellent, from 280 celebrations-from every State of the Union and from Canada. A few of these were from solitary individuals, who had no opportunity of meeting with others, but to whom the Lord granted much blessing, compensating them for their loneliness otherwise. It may be interesting that we give the nulnbers pnrtiripatmg at some of the gatherings reported, as follows :Baltimore, Md., 20 ; Brantford, Ont:, 29; New York, 18; Poughkeepsie, N. IT.. 16; Washington City, 23; Scranton. Pa., 28; Bcston, Mass., 97; Philadelphia, Pa., 55; Toronto, Ont., 0.. 25: Cleve37; Tiflin, 0.. 22; Fhppo, O., 19; Younpstown, land, O., 38;. Colum& 0.; 27; Canton, O., -22;. Toledo, O., 28: Wheeling. UJ. Va. 16: Davton. 0.. 16: Indiananolis. Ind.. 34; Chicago.: Ill., 70; Sagina;, Mich., 18 ; St. Paul and &Ii& neapolis, Mum., 23; Weatherford, Tex., 24; St. Louis, MO., 55;-Omaha, Neb., 19; Council Bluffs, Ia., 16; Vanetia; Tex.; 16: Los Angeles. Cal.. 61: Alleghenv. 290. We are -not foolish ehough-to think that these figures .gire any occasion for boasting; for the total amounts to only a few over 2,600, and we have every reason to suppose th& we have heard from two-thirds of those who celebrated: foreign reports will come later. However, we have every reason to believe that these numbers represent people who not only profess Christ, but who also are seeking daily to live the Christ-life. Moreover, they are full of the Jubilee music, and having heard the joyful sound they are all repeating it far and near. Consequently we expect a much larger showing next year, as others of the Lords truth-hungry, famished household are found and fed with things new and old now supplied us by our Lord. Boston reports the largest numbers of immersions preceding the Memorial, viz., 23.

KNOWLEDGE
Come u~lto me, all ye that

INCREASES RESPONSIBILITIES

&IATT. 11:20-~O.-&~AY 6. labor and are heavy laden, and I will gice you rest. an immoral city? Are these people decent or indecent? The Our Lord would seem to have been somewhat disappointed question whicti the Lord w&h~ examine rather would be, at the result of his ministry, especially in Capernaum, where What is the heart attitude of this neonle or that neonle. this he had resided a considerable time. and our lesson opens with individual or that indlridunl~ What I is he aim&, striving a warning to the people of Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethfor ?--how would he be effected thereby if granted clearer saida, that having been favored -with many mighty works and light respecting the divine will? Hence, if we look at ourmanv evidences of Jesus Messiashin. and that the kingdom selves, and find that we are not immoral, not coarse, sensual, was- being offered to them, etc., t&y would be held &rebrutish, but more refined than many others, this is well; it spondingly responsible. As Capernaum had been greatly blessed is what we should be in view of our favors, privileges and highly exalted, or, figuratively, exalted up to heaven in its mercies: but we are to remember that we might still be very privileges and opportunities, the result to it would be greater far short of what would be pleasing to the Lord, and that degradation. and eventually it would be brought low into the if God should favor us with certain privileges and blessings dust-destroyed, brought- down to hell, in-the text, signifvinp brought down to hades. the death state. And surelv and opportunities, and we were to reject them, our attitidde in his sight might be worse than that of the immoral. this-was f;lfilled in the trouble which came upon the Jews, an& Turning to Capernaum, most favored of all, our Lord which destroyed their nationality, as a result of their having contrasts her with Sodom, whose wickedness was very great, failed to accept the Messiah, and the kingdom which he offered so that it brought upon her a fierce destruction from the to establish. Lord. Capernaum is clearly told that from the Lords standBut though our Lord was disappointed that he was so point of view her people were more wicked, less worthy of generally rejected, he cannot have expected that he would be divine favor, more worthy of punishment, than the people widely welcomed by the people. He must have known, as he of Sodom. This was a severe arraignment, and yet, we can elsewhere describes to his disciples, quoting from the prophecies, that he would be rejected by Israel, and that the see, a just one, for the poor Sodomites, walking in the way kingdom offer would pass by them. 9s a matter of fact his of sin, ignorance of God, etc., gradually went down and down, rejection on their part incidentally permitted the sending of according to the course of fallen nature, while the people of Capernaum had much advantage every way as Jews, whom the gracious call to the kingdom honors to believers among the Lord had blessed with a knowledge of himself, and to the Gentiles, and thus we are favored at the present time. The contrast which the Master draws between Bethsaida whom now, finally, he had sent Messiah, and whose miracles and Chorazin and Tyre and Sidon is a strong one. The they had seen repeatedly, and with whose beautiful character latter two were flourishing Gentile cities, yet, as was comand teaching they had been brought much in contact through mon in such, very full of wickedness and immorality, so that his considerable residence in their midst. evidently their names were synonymous for that which was In view of these privileges and mercies, their rejection of unholy, licentious, unclean. So then, for our Lord to say Messiah and failure to grasp their opportunities branded that if his mighty works had been done in those unholy cities them, so to speak, as being inferior to the Sodomites, in apthey would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes, preciation of righteousness and truth; for our Lord declares that is, with deep contrition, was to say that the people of that the Sodomites would not have met the end they did Bethsaida and Chorazin were in very much worse condition had they had similar privileges and mercies bestowed upon of heart than those Gentiles: futher from such a condition them. as God could bless. The question naturally arises, Why did not our Lord grant From this we may gather that God takes a different the Sotlomites as good an opportunity as hr granted the peostandpoint of viewing such matters from that taken by the ple of Capcrnaum, and why did he not grant the people of majority of people. He does not merely say, Is this a moral or Tgre and Sidon, who were still living, as favorable an op~7 -~

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portunity aa he granted to the people of Chorazin and Bethhave refused it. What a blessed promise is this one, of a saida? We answer, that none of these people were granted future judgment or trial ! How much it means to the whole in trial for eternal life. The Sodomites did -not have-such a groaning creation, that God, who let the sentence of Adam trial : the neonle of Tvre and Sidon had no trial of anv kind: fall on all without giving them an individual trial, has pronor did thb people of Palestine have a trial for life eternal: vided a redemntion for all from that first sentence. and has The trial which they did have was a trial respecting their provided that each member of the race shall individually have love for the T,ord and for righteousness, and of their readiness a trial, a judgment, in due time, at the hands of him who to ho his people and supporters of his kingdom. The result died for all. And then, how favorable the conditions are to of the trial 4owcd that they were not sufficiently in love be, under which that trial will be granted! Satan is to be with righteousness to appreciate the Lords kingdom, nor to bound, and the earth is to be filled with the knowledge of the brro:nr its frmntls and servants; and in consequence of this Lord and his goodness and his gracious arrangements on behalf their citv and their land, and thev as a people were rejected of his fallen creatures, whom he desires shall not perish, but, by the Lord from being his age&e? in connection with the if they will, have eternal life through Christ. c&rbli~hment, of his kingdom. However, as our Lord distinctly intimates (v. !5), these That no individual trial for eternal life had yet come to things respecting the coming judgment and the blessed op:~ny r,f tlrc<c. pcopic is evident from several facts: (1) that portunities which shall be accorded to every member of Adams the whole \pnrld was under condemnation through Adams race, are hidden from the majoritv-especially do they seem t~nnh~rf~~~inu : (2) that no one could be relievedfrom that to be hidden from the worldlv-&se and nrudent. who in~~antlrrnnatron, so as to have a fresh individual trial for life, stead of accepting so gracious > plan, are rather inclined to lmtil tile ranwrn price was paid, and it was not yet finished; teach the people that the poor Sodomites went to eternal tor(3) this is further imnlied bv our Tords statement (verse ment without ever having had a chance, and with no prospect day i!*) that, there would i,e n day of judgment future-a of ever having a chance in the future, although our Lord deof f(3tinn, :I tl:~y of trial, i\ d:~p to set \vho wo111tl be worthy clares that if they had had as good an opportunity as the of c&ma1 life and who unworthy. (Acts 17:31) In that propie of Capernaum they would have repented with a deep lll~l!Zm~nt tla?. the ~Iill~*nni:~l age. all are to h:~vp a rhnc-e The wise and prudent are inclined to tell us also contrition. for everlasting life ; for the granting of this very chance to that the people of Tyre and Sidon, although not favored with ~11 IIf Atl.rms rape \v:~s thr very object of our Redeemers our Lords blessing, are also to be considered dnomed to tk;lfh RIeantirlr, thr people of Bethsaida. Chornzin and eternal torment, though they would have repented had they ~l:l~w~~ii~lll~l. having rcjcctc~l the T,orcl and having been rehad as good an opportunity as the people of Palestine: and ,iec.tc\j b) ilirn. 11e nc.\crthelc5< fnlrnd some there and has been finally they tell us that these people of Palestine, having rebflwtiri~ others sincr. of n <pecial class, which he is calling jected our Lord, must necessarily be sufferers of eternal torto iornt-h(sir*hip with himself in that iIiillennin1 kingdom, Thev fail to ment, and not merely losers of the kingdom. under whop beneficent reign of ri,ghteouqness a full and imby the traditions of see : thcv are blind to the truth-blinded partill IrltlLmlent or trial for life shall be granted to all. He their religious teachers-as the Jews were. :vn~~l~l Ilarch lliq hc~arcrs uutlrr~tnntl. however, that in that Then, to add to their confusion, they begin to attempt futnrc trial time thr peol~lr of Trre and Sidon and Sodom to apply the Lords words respecting a day of judgment. and wo111tl be treatrd with more cnnqidcrntion and allowance than of course internret it to mean a day of damnation, instead thnscx. who hnvin: manv mnre privileges, hacl hardened their of a tlav of trial. Thev fail to note that their riaim is that hen+ again.t what thev did hoe ant1 know. It shall be more the Sodomites were already in hell, suffering torments of tolrrnlde for th land of Sodom in the day of judgment than the severest form for nearly two thousand years, at the time for thee. Capernaiir~i. our Lord uttered these words. Do they think that the SotlomTlo\\ scathing ~a\ the rtl)ul;r of thee words. that the ites could suffer any more after the day of judgment than pf?OplP of Sodom. nntnrinrrs for their wickedness. licentiousthey describe them as suffering now? What do thev undcrmore tolerance, at the 11PSS rtc* , sho111rl fintl more favor. stand by the words day of judgment, anyway? Evidently Lord9 hand. uhrn he Lihould begin the work of judging manthev have no proper conception of the meaning of the words. kind. than themselves. who had been Gods favored people, Thev see that our Lord referred it to a future time, and they blrt whn had not appreclatctl his favors, and had done despite are hopelessly confused and thoroughly unable to give any But if any infer from this th=rt the unto his gontlncsq! reasonable explanation of the matter, either in harmony with people of Capernaum, when they shall be on trial for life durGods character or in harmony with their own wretched and ing the ?lilltnnial ape. will be unkindly treated. it would God-dishonoring theories.-See Dawn, Vol I, page 137. be a (Treat mistake: because the derlnration of the Lords How comforting are our Lords words, that these things Wor,1 :listinctlv is that the world shall he judged in rightare revealed, nevertheless, to some-to babes, to those who enlt.ncw-- not in wrath, malice, not with a desire to do are not great, not wise, according to the course of this world; them in jrrry, blrt with a drsirc to do them every good POSto those who are of humble mind, ready to be taught of the yil,lr-llcnre it will be tnlcrnl~lc for the people of CaperLord, instead of wishing to teach the Lord. This great blesnaum in th;rt dnv-very tolerable-it will he a grand and sing, dearly beloved, is ours, and let us be very careful that hlrssed nppnrtlrnity for them to come to a full, clear knowlwe maintain the attitude of childlikeness and slmplicitg, that edge of th(. L,nrd: but it will be still more tolerable for the we may continue to be taught of God, and to know the things ptol)l,s of Sodom and Gomorrah. because their sins, although that are freely given unto us of God. Let us rejoice in greater in some respcrts. were less heinous in the sight of them and use them, and let the light shine out to others. God-they were 1~4s against character, more sins of @Orplan is of the fact that the divine The explanation ance. hidden from the great majority of the learned, the doctors of WC mav a~,me, thrrefnrr, that during the Millennial age divinity, et?.. is that so it has pleased the Father to let the tliqc;irlllr,pq, h~~dl prnplr ns thnsca of Tvrr and Sidnn and thoqe wise be taken in their own craftiness, and to reveal his purof Snllom. \V)IO 11nd never known God to nnv degree. who had poses to those of an humble mind. Even so, Father, for SO never I;nr,wrn \liu laws, will be in a cnnditinn of heart much (1 Cor. 3:19) The Father it seemed good in thy sight. :rnlenal)lr to the influences and requirements IrlrJl I( ro:ldilv drew to the Son at the first advent, not the doctors of the of tl):lt time than will I)r some otlirru-the people of Chnrazin, law, the srrihes and the notables, but certain Tsraelites inf+tll,;rida :rnr1 faper naum. whn having known more respecting deed, in wham was no guile, though they were but an humble (:O,J b,,,j mirlr<Pd t)le npportllnities of the present life-who few. And the same class has received the blessing all down instead of building them. btXAP ~lr~wt~ therr rlr:lrnc4rrs the nge. The alaster realized that his special instructions must .\I:~] t)l,..e are mc~relv enc:lrnl)l(~s, for we know that all be toward those whom the Father had given unto him, rather t,h+~,~ th:lt :I) (. ITI the gr:ircs slhnll hrnr the voice of the Son that hare dnne goal [the saints. than toward the unready and unwilling ones who would not of IL1 ,,n,l come f0l tb--tliev in. receive his testimony because not in a proper contlition of of life, and they that i!W ,,v~:7~~~r7le1~)llntn tile resurrection heart to annreciate. To his faithful disciples, therefore. and b:r~e rlon61 ,vil [;111 nl:lnl;in~l olrtsi[lr of the saints] unto the to all of the same class since, he declared that all things 7esur radiation nf jllilcment --.Tnlrn 5 .28. 29. he nnsscqsed he had received of the Father; he claimed nothWI, I., 1, lT:rtl i I \ \(I. 1111121 nlonv with our Lords derinrainaof himself; and further, he asserted that no one knew tinn in tlliq Ic+nn. that man\* uhn in the present life have him trlrlv, fullv, intimately, but the Father, and that no man no knn\~l(:d~e ant1 no npl)or tllnitv may be nnthing diqadexcept himself, the Son, and he to whom knew the Ibtiler vfint;ly(v1 tl~erel,g in that jlrtlgment time, hilt nn the cnntrnry The average reader gets very little t.he Son revealed him. may 1;. more 7irsrcptil)le to the gnod inflrrences of the kingdom meaning nut of this passage at first. The Christian who has and its lawr tlmn some others will be who have had contact been making progress for years, growing in grace and in the with the light to some extent in the present life, but who [26241

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knowledge of the Lord, can appreciate it much better. He realizes that while he had some knowledge about Jesus and about the Father at first, from the very inception of his Christian experience, yet it was a different matter to come to know the Father and to know the Son in the intimate sense, in the sense of becoming well acquainted with them, know: ing their mind as one knows the mind, the heart, of an intimate friend. It is a privilege to receive such an acquaintance. It is not to be had by everybody; it requires seeking for and knocking for, and such seeking and knocking implies an earnest desire to have an intimate fellowship and communion. Such a growth in grace should be earnestly sought by all of the Lords true followers who seek to be his jointheirs in the kingdom; for without it they cannot make proqress. In proportion as we know the Father and know the Son we will love them and seek more and more to do those things which are pleasing in their sight.
COME! WEARY AND HEAVY-LADEN

Still addressing the same class, and implying that there were some present of the right disposition who had not yet become his disciples, our Lord appealed to his hearers individually, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The difficulty with most of the people would seem to have been that they were neither weary nor heavy laden, but on the contrary pretty well selfcontented. We cannot suppose that physical weariness and physical burdens was the- thought bdfore our Lords mind, but rather the heart-burden and sin-weariness. which all true Tsraelitra must have felt, if they were honest with themwives. We are to remember that they were under the Law Covenant. fhat its requirements were very exacting, and that it niadc no allowance for weaknesses, imperfections, errors, etc. ; ~~onscr(uent1.y. all of those Jews should have felt themselves ( ontiiually. condemned in striving to carry the burden of the T,aw of Sinai. Not that the law was an uniust one or im1)ossihle to he kept by a perfect man, but because all being Imperfect and fallen they were unable to keep the Law Covenant. So we may suppose that amongst the Jews at that time. while the majority were professing to be holy, lawkeepers. who did no sin. there were some who honestly adn&d to themselves and to others that they did not, could not. keen the law nerfectlv. and who therefore felt burdened ,rnd wr:;ried with their fruitless endeavors. Such felt their need of a burden-bearer, such felt their soul-sickness and need Inf the good Physician, and to such Jesus addressed himself, Inviting them to come to him and receive rest, relief. This coming to Christ for rest is the first step toward a Christian life; it is justification, the acceptance of him as the satisfnction for our sins; and from the time we thus accept him, as the Apostle declares, we have joy and peace through believing. (Rom. 5:l; 15:13) But having been thus reIleiverl and blessed, there is something more for us to do, viz., to learn that there is another burden and another yoke which we should take upon us voluntarily. A yoke is a symbol of servitude, and so our Lord implies that those who are set free (either from the yoke of the Law Covenant, as were the believing Jews, or from the yoke of Gentiles) should become his Satan, as were the believing \ervants, should take his yoke, should learn to do his will. I yoke generally is arranged for two, and our Lord speaks of it as his voke. bv which we are to understand that he also 1%a servant; having come to do the Fathers will, and having put on the yoke of servitude, he invites us to become true yoke-fellows with himself in the doing of the Fathers will, co-laborers together with Christ in the great work of the worlds deliverance from sin and death. The secret of the ability to wear this yoke, and to have companionship with Christ in his service, and to have as a
I Yl I ,

a great blessing in our own hearts, a rest unto our lies, he explains, in our learning to be meek and lowly of heart as he was. It will be impossible for those who are proud, haughty, self-willed, ambitious, worldly-wise, etc., to labor in the same yoke with Jesus, or to find the true rest of soul which we properly seek. But if we are meek, teachable, humble-minded, ready to know and to do the Lords will at any cost, then indeed we shall find rest to our 80~1s satisfaction-the peace of God which passeth all understanding will rule in our hearts. We notice a difference between the two rests of vs. 28 and 29. Of the first it is said that the Lord will give it to him who comes to him in faith; of the second, it is said that he finds this rest to his soul through becoming a yoke-fellow with Jesus. And so it is: there are two blessings ; the first bleesing is that of justification-the joy of having our sins forgiven, realizing ourselves no longer stran,ners and foreigners from our heavenly Father, but brought nigh by the hlood of Christ; the second is the joy which comes more gradually, a fruitage, a grace, a development in the heart, the growing and abiding peace and joy of the holy spirit. This stsrond blessing, however, is attained by very few; the majority of nominal Christians know nothing of it; and yet it is the very object of the calling of this Gospel age, and those who fGl to come to the Lord and to take his yoke. and to learn of him, to become thus copies of Gods dear Son, will fail utterly of the special purpose and call of this Gospel age. and will have neither part nor lot in the kingdom. The blessing of justification by faith is merely to fit and prepare us to take the yoke and to become a co-lnborcr with the Lord in the Fathers service. This yoke which Jesus invites us to come under with him is a very formidable affair from the standpoint of the world; to them it seems to be a most unreasonable yoke, a most terrible burden-to consecrate life, time, means. cverything to the service of God; but from the standpoint of those who have come unto Jesus, and to whom he has spoken peace and re+, through justification, the matter is very different. To such it must seem a reasonable service, that since the Lord has graciously redeemed our lives and our all, we should use what remains of that life to his praise and glory: snd after we have fastened the yoke upon ourselves we find that it is an easy one, and that with it any burden, nnv duty, any trial. any difficulty, any vexation of spirit, any burden of any kind that could come to us. would be light indeed, because of this yoke. Why? Because those who wear this yoke have the assurances of the divine Word, that all things are working together for good to them; that the heavier the burden that may be attached the greater will be the blessing and the reward bv and by: thp more severe th(> experiences dr1r11: the present time, the hrighter shall be the glory, and thr brighter shall be their character and the more sure shall they be of bping fitted and polished for the heavenly kingdom. From this standpoint every burden is light, because our *yoke is appreciated, and is so easy, so reasonable; and additionally it is so light because the Lord is with us in this yoke. He is the gre:lt Burden-bearer. and will not suffer us to be tempted nor to be pressed with more of the burdens of life than we He is watching out for should probably be able to endure. the interests of all those who take his yoke upon them. Their burdens are his burdens, their trials are his trials, their interests are his interests: ven, all things shall work for good to them bt,cause they love him. Let uq remember, however, that the Lord takes no slaves in this way; he does not fasten the poke upon any; he mtarely invites us to come, and then to fasten his yoke upon ourselves, to make n full consecration of o111.~~1ves to him and to his service.

TWO TYPES OF SINNERS Luar:, 7: 36-SO.--MAY 13.

Thy faith hath saved thee. In this lesson we see Simon, a PhnrisPe. cvidentlr considcrnhly impressed with our Lords rll>racter nntl tcLachin,ns, and more favorably inclined tnw:lrtl him than the rna!o~ity. Hr thought it would be plrnsant to Inritr <JCSII~ to allnner, thus to honor him. 2nd pns4bl.v hn\e n little notoriety hlmrelf in connection nith the noted NayarPnP. \%hrn our J,nrd ncreptetl the invltntion and attcnJed the dinner Simon treated him kindly ant1 pnlltely. bllt did not go to any cvtreme of politeness in his entertainment; perhaps Simon was a very common name amongst the .Jews, and hence it is not so remarkable that there were two Slmons at whose homes Jesus was entertained. It is a little peculiar, however. that there are sn many features of similarity connetted with the two entertainments-that at both of them our Lords feet were anointed, etc. (Compare Matt. 26:6-13) lt iR supposed that about a year and a half elapsed between the two events, that recorded by Matthew being just prior to our Lord9 death, anointing for my hurial. [2625]

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feet, and of the self-satisfied Pharisee who entertained him. thinking of him as not being used to special attentions, but was planning a way by which he might do good to both of rather as being a companion of fishermen and common people them-a way by which he might set before all present a great generally. Simon therefore did not salute him with a kiss truth. Therefore he put a parable to Simon. saving that a on his arrival, as was usual with honored guests, for that certain creditor had &two debtors, the one owinga large would have seemed like bestowing too much honor upon an amount, the other a small amount, and when they were totalordinary person whom he, as a Pharisee, was not yet prepared ly unable to pay he cheerfully and promptly forgave them to fully endorse; nor did he send the servant to take off the both. Then our Lord pointed his lesson on this little parable, Masters sandals and to wash his feet. accordina to the custom by enquiring which of the two forgiven ones would be most of the best entertainers of that time. He rngy have said to appreciative of the creditors leniency? Simon, who had not himself: This man and his disciples are not used to being as yet caught the import of the parable, promptly answered entertained in such style, and my servants would recognize that the one who had the largest debt forgiven would unthemselves as being on a par at least with any of these men doubtedly be the one who wodd be most appreciative, and except the Teacher himself. Without, therefore, going to the our Lord annroved this answer. Then directinn attention to extremes of polite entertaining, the Pharisee had \ev&theless the woman: *he reminded Simon that although he had been cordiallv welcomed the Lord to his table. feeline no doubt that kind in inviting him to dinner, and although he appreciated in doing this he was honoring the Lord, and-not sufficiently his attentions. nevertheless the still sreater attentions of the realizing that he was the one who was being honored, in the &man, and the still greater marks gf respect which sbr had privilege of entertaining so noble a guest. How will Simon showed, were evidences that while they botb loved, the woman regard the matter when, in the resurrection time (during the loved the more: and the intimation clearly is that the greater Millennium), Ire ascertains that 111sguest was the Only Belove was developed by a greater realization of sin and a gotten of the Father, full of grace and truth? greater desire to be relieved from it. The Apostle urges upon us all, Be not forgetful to enterOf course, in one sense of the word, all are sinners, all tain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels [Gods The Lord wishes his people to be have come short of the alorv of God. and are houeless without messengers] unawares. forgiveness; get the Pbaiise;! occupied a tlifferentAporition from generous with such things as they have (but not to be vainthe woman, because under the Jewish Law Covenant he was gloriously extravagant) ,-hence it-is written again, There is already occupying a standpoint of tvpical justification, and that scatter&h and vet incrtaseth: and there is that witbwas seeking to maintain that standing hv living a life of holdeth more than is meet [proper] and it tendeth to povstrict regard for the divine Law. On the other band, the erty. It is a part of our present lesson to learn of our own woman, although under the same covenant, by living an abanmean selfishness. which all have inherited through the fall. doned life in open violation of the law, had lost her interest and gradually, under the instruction of the Lord% Word, to in the national typical justification, and was therefore in a get the victory over this and become more generous-more much larger sense of the word a sinner. Simon knew very like our Father in Heaven. well that while he was trying to keep the law he was not Let 115 be specially generous and hospitable toward the keeping it perfectly, but infracted it in various ways from brethren, who really represent the Lord himself; not only time to time, and yet, he was not wilfully an infractor of the as ambassadors for God, but also as members of the body Law, as was the woman; hence in this sense of the word of Christ. there was the wide difference between great sin and less sin; The woman of the citr mentioned. was evidently a comyet both needed the Saviour, and if the Pharisee had realized mon character, widely known to the people of the city, though the truth of the matter he needed the Saviour iust as much as she might not be known to Jesus and the disciples, who were did the woman; for the Law Covenant could not give him Whatever the womans previous life may have not residents. everlasting life-to attain that he must admit his sin and been, she had experienced deep contrition of heart, and a accept forgiveness and salvation from sin and its penalty, desire to live a better life. She had heard about Jesus, the death, as a gift from the Saviour who honored him by congreat Teacher, and that unlike the Pharisess he did not dissenting to be his guest. dain to speak with and to encourage fallen ones and to help Then Jesus turned to the woman and said to her, Thy them up again. She felt that she would like to go to the What words those must have been to her! sins are forgiven. Lord in prayer for forgiveness, and would like to make a fresh Her prayer was answered-a prayer, which had arisen in her start in life, to seek thereafter to live more consistently. She hear6 and which had express&d itself through tears and ointknew not how to approach the matter; she knew not what ment, had been heard and she was forgiven and all the past to eav resnectinp herself; she would merely take a little offershe must save treated as forever blotted out. How thankful ing in her handy and while he was reclinmg at dinner, after felt! Poor Simon, however, so far as we know, did not come the custom of that time, and while his feet would be easily to the uoint of saving, Lord, I also am a sinner. and even accessible to her, she would venture to anoint them with the though -1 have loved less than this woman I also need to be Saying not a fine ointmt~nt wbich she had bi ought with hrr. forgiven, and I pray for the forgiveness of my sins, that I word, her heart too full for utterance, she reached the Masters may be counted one of your followers. No; the very fact that feet. and there her tears trickled over them. Bv her tears he he had a religious standing in the nominal church, and had Ghould know, more eloquently than she could &ice her sentimade a profession of holiness, seems to have stood in his way, ments in words, what were the true longings of her heart for and to have hindered him from accenting the grace of God forgiveness and for reconciliation. and the forgiveness of sins. And so it izright-along. How 110~~ mrrciful and considerate of our needs, is the Lords frequently do we see that people who have been living moral provision tbnt when we come penitently to his feet for forlives. evidentlv seeking to walk in paths of riehteousness. are gileness we are not required to approach him through another, much less prepared to accept forgiveness through the Lord nor to formulate our petition in some exact form of language Jesus Christ than are some others who have been living more -he can read our hearts and accepts our tears and even our carelessly and who awaken to a realization of their undone bumbleit caflorts to make amends and to serve the members condition, and go to the Lord more contritely and more of his body. Snd even though he may delay the message earnestly, and exercise a greater faith, and feel for him of forgirencss it is but to let the roots of penitence and faith consequently a greater love! sink deeper in our hearts. There is no intimation, however, that because of his fail.TPSUS for a time seemed to heed her not, and she may have ure to ask forgiveness and to become a follower of Jesus, questioned whether or not he was misunderstanding her moSimon was condemned to hell, etc.; quite to the contrary, tives and her prayer, but the fullness of her heart found he simple followed the course of his nation (blinded bv oreiuvent in still more tears, and tenderly she wined his feet and dice and false traditions of men). Their rejection of Jesus anointed them with the ointment. The Pharisee, meantime, lost to them the privileges of joint-heirship in Christs kingNow it is most fortunate that I was saying within himself: dom. and led to their national reiection from Gods favor until invited Jesus to dinner to-day, and it is fortunate that this the opening of the Millennial age. Then, as the Apostle woman came in; it affords a proof, a test, respecting the clearly shows, their blindness shall be removed and they shall ability of Jesus to read the hearts of. those about him. -If he be blest with a much clearer knowledae of the truth. Then were a uroohct. if he were sueciallv emwwered and enliahtthe Lord will pour upon them the spyrit of prayer and supened of God, he would have kno& the character of This plication, and they shall look upon him whom the-y pierced, woman; but he evidently dots not know her character, and and shall mourn because of him: Then when they weep as therefore is permitting her to anoint his feet, and this seems did the woman with the ointment. God, through the elorified to be a proof that he is not a prophet. Christ, will have mercy on them and forgive their sing Then their trial for everlasting life will begin.-See Rom. 11:25-32; But Jesus, fully conscious of all that was going on, and Zech. 12 : 10. with a clear knowledge of the heart of the poor woman at his 126261

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The other guests at the table were particularly struck with our Lords declaration that the womans sins were forgiven her. Sot recognizing the speaker to be the Messiah, the Son of God, they questioned the propriety of such words, lut this was one reason why our Lord uttered the words; it was one of his unostentatious methods of calling attention to t!le fact that he was the Messiah, and that as such, and in view of the work which he was yet to do all power to forgive sins was in his hands. Then he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee: go in peace. He wished her to know that it was not her tears that had brought the forgiveness; that it was not the value of the ointment that had moved him to forgive her, but that the thing which was pleasing in his sight, and on account of which her sins were forgiven, was her faith. She not only realized her own sinful condition, but she had realized that this great Teacher had the power to forgive her and to restore her, and she had trusted, and acted upon this, and our Lord wished her to realize that the reward she had received was oecause of exercise of this faith. And so we may realize in respect to all of the Lords favors in the case of each one of his people. When we come unto the Lord, with tears of peni-

tence, we are to knew that they do not prevaii; and if we present gifts we are to know that they do not prevail, and that the tears and the offerings could avail us nothing except as we present to the Lord our faith, acceptine him as the one ~-ho has power to forgive sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And not onlv is this necessarv at the beginning-of the Christian way, but similarly faith cs necessary-all the journey through. If we do not continue in faith we cannot progress. According to thy faith be it unto thee, would seem to be the Lords method of dealing with all who are his disciples, from first to last of their Christian walk and experience. Ths center of the lesson, then, is abiding faith in the Lord: faith when he seems not to notice us; faith when things seem to be going prosperously with us in our spiritual affairs and in our temporal affairs and faith equally strong when the currents and forces seem all to be against us. The victorv that overcometh the world is the faith that in all condition-s is able to look up to the Lord with absolute confidence in his goodness and faithfulness, and to realize that according to his promise eventually all things will work together for good to us because we are his people.-1 John 5:5; Rom. 8 :29.

THE PARABLE

OF THE SOWER
20.

MATT. 13:1-S, 1%23.-MAY

8 : 11. The seed is the word of God.-Luke Millennial age will be a time, we believe, in which the Lord Jesus and his disciples had just returned to Capernaum, will run the plowshare of truth in every direction throughout his home, from a tour of Galilee, and the multitudes. many the world, as it is written, The plowman shall follow close of whom had heard him before and witnessed his miracles, after the reaper. (Amos. 9:13) And, When the judgments gathered about him as he sat on the beach of Lake Galilee, of the Lord are abroad in the earth the inhabitants of the assuredly expecting that they would hear some gracious words world will learn righteousness (Isa. 26:9), and thus be prefrom his lins. And the Master never seemed wearv of nrepared for the new sowing time of the new age, under circumsentmg his Amessage, although frequently, as in this case, *the stances more favorable in some respects than the present, mass of his hearers understood but dimly his parables. There though less favorable in other respects. was a fishing-boat lying near, quite possibly owned by some of Another class upon which the same good truth falls at the his friends or relatives, and evidently with the owners conpresent time is one that has a good appearance upon the sursent Jesus used the boat as his pulpit, speaking to the multiface-fine soil, etc.., but underneath, and but a few inches tude which lined the beach, which at this point is said to rise from the surface, is rock. The soil on the surface is but a rapidly, and which therefore would give the general effect of veneer to hide the rock; it has the appearance of depth of an amphitheatre. a traveler once made an experiment, to see character, sympathy and love, but this is merely a deception. how well the voice would carry under such circumstances, at Civilized customs have popularized at least an outward imitaevery this Spot, and says, It was remarkable how distinctly tion of the graces of the holy spirit, and appearances of good word n-as heard, though our voices were not raised, even at heartedness, but down below in the real heart and intention is three hundred yards off; and it was very easy to comprehend selfishness, that would merely follow the ways of righteousness how, in this clear air, a preacher sitting in a boat could because of popularity or because of some hoped-for gain, but address a vast multitude sitting upon the shore. thoroughly unable to annreciate self-sacrifice for anything or The Ilaster had no difficulty in finding a topic. Quite posanybody. This class ofkihallow characters sometimes receives sibly 1113eye rested on a seed-sower, and as a result we have the truth with avidity, with joy, and seems to contain some this parable, designed to show that there are different classes of the truths most enthusiastic followers; but this is merelv of hearers, and that it is not merely the eloquence or force or for a little while, because of novelty or pride to show off, and truthfulness of the message that determines the result, but not from love of the truth. The selfishness which is the subchiefly the attitude of the heart that hears; hence the imporstratum of their character will not permit them to endure Take heed how ye hear-see that tance of the injunction, hardness for the truths sake. Consequently, as soon as thev your heart is in a right condition to receive the truth, if you find that with the truth always goes something of persecuwould expect a benefit from it; do not expect that the mere tion and tribulation they are surprised, thoroughly tlishearthearing of the truth will profit you, irrespective of your own ened, and all their interest speedily dies out. This class has character conditions. no hope for the kingdom either. They are not of the kind that The good seed of the parable is the Word of God, the truth, the sower expects will yield a crop to maturity in the present even as false teaching, human philosophies and doctrines of harvest. devils, are not wheat-seed but tare-seed; our Lord is not showThe third class of hearers favored by the truth in this ing in this parable what will be the result of sowing good or present time is referred to by our Lord as thorny ground. bad seed, but merely that the good seed can accomplish its This does not mean poor ground, for the thorns are to be work only in certain classes of hearts. found in the very best of ground, especially the thorns of The class of heart that is like the wavside, solid and Palestine, to which our Lord undoubtedly had reference. Of compact with selfishness, not open and generous,is very unthese Prof. Thomson says, These thorns are not biinr huhes favorable around for the truth: nothine need be exnected from or brambles, but are an after-growth of a variety of thistles. such ground. The sower will let as l%tle as possible fall on which come up quickly in every wheat-field of PalestIne. n-e such, but whatever does fall upon it the Sdversary will soon may say, then, that every Christian who receives the wheat take away. Wayside hearers-are not necessarily bad people, or word of God into a good and honest heart during this Gosin the sense of erosslv wicked, but thev are bad in the sense pel age is in danger of having it choked with the thorns, and of being unsuited to the Lords present work and call. They of thus becoming one of the class referred to in the parable, a will need to have the furrow run through them again and class that was favored, that had every advantage, but which again, that troubles of various kinds may make them more brought forth no crop worth gathering, because the thorns generous, more open, more ready for the message. But in took possession of it to such an extent as to choke out the many instances the Lord will not run the plowshare of truth wheat-seed. through such soil in this present age; rather, he will leave it We have heard Christian people describe the thorns which for the Millennial age, when he will be dealing, not only with threaten the good seed in the hearts of Gods people to be these hearts that were partially prepared and which have theaters, card-playing, carousals, etc., etc., but this is a great become unsuitable, but when also he will have a work to do mistake; the hearts that are beset with such things are probwith the great masses of mankind, which, like the virgin ably not good ground in any sense of the word, and probably forests and prairies of earth, are yet uncleared, unplowed and have never received the good seed. But how reasonable is the The great time of trouble at the beginning of the unbroken. [ 26271

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ALLECIIENY.

Pr

mterpretatlon which our Lord himself gives-the thorns are the cares of t,hls life an,1 the deccitfulncss of riches-just exactly \\ hat every Cttrlstlan realizes. The cares of this life are not gross immoralities, but the home duties, family cares, husinc+ c:lr(ts, ctr TllV ~lccelttulne~s of lieIre is not merelv tlir I~.III~,~II~influence \:li~(~li i5 P\CI ci9ctl upon those who p095ess riches, bllt especially it, Icpresents the snaics, the difHculties, the c,nt,ln::Ic,nient~, tlte Inl;lenOings of eflolts tr, become rich. !I()\\ nl:ll,y Christ 1,111 people can testify that thoir spirituality, tht II ISI\a>for the 1.o111 .Intl for the truth and for the kinndom ha V, t~r~c~n chol,rtl 111 grttat mcasurt~ by wealth-coveting ant1 ~wc%llt WJ,ill~I I1 1lo\; Illany ~111 testify that tlie cares of this 11fc tt.ltl* ~rnu111~11 nrtt tllclr fvllov;sllip \\ltll the Lord, and the pou t I I f l;iq \\III~I in tl~~~ir lie,irts , and how a? a result their ii \ (h .!~a Ihrrlc~ll. ilrlil lllt fill tlf anytlrlrl~ in the way of cllaiacter II{,\* i,~l~~:~(.nt. -(I \ 1(t* of (;o,l anI1 iur the brethren .lnd ottlt~r -

much to do with this matter of the amount of fruitage which we yield to the Lord; it will be measured by the degree of our zeal, our love for him; consequently the class bringinK forth the hundred fold represents those Christians who love the Lord the most, fervently, whose hearts are warmest for him, his truth and his people. The Apostle Paul was undoubtedly one of this hundred-fold class, the Apostle Peter was another, and no doubt there have been many in humble positions unknown to fame, 11 hose love for the Lord, and zeal for his cause have bfaen counted to them as hundred fold return for every seed of truth thev received. Let us each with more and more care seek to biing forth much fruit., and as one mean3 to this end to kpc~p down the thorns and evervthlng that wouhl cahoke 01 hinder the influence of the truth in our hearts, in our daiij11vc\. and in our ~1 aids. Let ii13 cultiv.ltc the scetl ant1 nc;t the thorns. THE MESSAGE OF THE KINGDOM Luke says, The yeed is the Word of God; &latthem saps. Our Lord no doubt used both The word of the kingdom. expressions-the good seed is Gods word or message of thtt kingdom. Indeed, the message of the kingdom may be said to be the only rneh5age Gcd has yet qivcn to mankind as a mc~sage of hope. He intimated the kingdom to Abr:lh:lm whcu he promised him that in his seed all tile f.lmilicq of the raltll -should be blessed; the intimation was that, Abrahams qeed should be blessed 1~~ being granted kingdom powers which should prove a blessing to the world at !arge. Israel, :7t thy time of this uarable. was honix to attain this WI\' I)IOI~IS~~ All the promise$ throuih the prophets peltnin to tirt, kingdom, the time when it shall be establi3het1, the blessinpwhich shall flow from it to the uttermost paits of the tnrth when all shall know the Lord, from the least to the grc+itrst when ri.chteousnesa shall flourish throughout the world. antI when sin and sinners and Satan himself will be subiectcd to the nowers of rirrhteousness. in the hands of the Xessinh. ,4t the iime of theutterance of this parable the seed, word IIT message of the kingdom had taken bn a special form, viz., ali invitation to some to become ioint-heirs with the 3Iessinh. thqx heir of the kingdom. Whoe\-er has never heard anything about the kingdom hanever heard anything about the Gospel, for it is the Goapei of the kingdom, as our Lord declared. Hence we SCP that much of the preaching of eternal torment and other thlnps falsely called the Gospel of the kingdom, are delusions which are not of God, not his word, not the good seed that noultl bring forth the good fruit. The false messages have brought forth t%res in abundance. This good seed of the kingdoll; < it is that rightly received into a g;od heart cannot be bnsily choked with earthlv hones or ambitions-for the kingdon, hope is above all. grand, pre-eminent. soul-saticfying. n The kingdom hope is as an anchor to the soul, and does not pelmit the cares of this life to seem large and to crush it out On the contrary, to honest hearts which have received the arood seed of the kingdom the cares of this life are merely mcidental trials which are to be overcome, that thereby chal acter may be formed, much fruit brought forth, to the Lord\ praise, and a share in the kingdom atained. He that hat11 this hope in him purifieth himself, and bringeth forth much fruit.

If ;- .t difllt.lLlt 111.1t to pet 1id elf theye thorns. if they 11br spri:t;l 11r):1n0 ::rt \\,I1 llntlrr \\a~ ,tftcar ~(8 hare received the wtrt%lI IIIJ it will 1117~1~:1l1ly a slow :1iif1 tec!ious business to bc loot il11~11~ r11t: :1n:l 11,1( in whic.11 \v(d could not hope at all for -111 such must go to the Lord PIIVY -5 j.1 nlllv~i\(~;. llllilltl~~ll. and the method himh(Llf iclr t!ie ,111)11ills II 11tsalonc~ can pvt', and ,)ro!*cis by wli~t*h the l.ord ~111 nysist them will be in t.he trln4foxmill;; of thcxir minds so that they will mind not t9rt hly things but lic9\enly things, <et their affections on tblnqs :~br~ve, not on things beneath, set their affections upon frur rirah*,q of the clivillc nature and high calling, instead of and unsatisfactory, on ear tbly riclle<. whwh are but transitory tven if ;~lt:lili~~~I.--~l:Itt. ti:l%21. A1111t,ht. \\,ly 11, c,fltsct tlciu tlan+forming of the mind, this uproof vnfi of the tlrorn9. ir to draw time and attention away from t!tc, (~arlhly thlncs in a compulsory manner, limiting the iinicb th,lt uc uill gilt, to earthly Lhings, and devoting more interrsts in our own hearts and in autl more tlmc lo sl)iritll:ll This will mean more 111~ li(~iirt+ 0 f a)ur i:lmrl icsr and friends. and as the timcb for th+ :,t1:1lv ant1 practice of the truth: t.ruth ~IJIIICX in It ,~~ill I)(, ~OUII~ to be the sanctifying power of f;otl 1,hitch alont~ can unroot the cares of this life. the deceitfulne+ of riches, a1111!&p our hearts in the right attitude to ~KSII nlllt,il fruit lo c111r,\lasters praise. hc.lrers are those whose hearts are in ll:,* pwl qY,lllId 2C1, f3,n-lil ion. r~~.\Oy for the word of the Lord, plowed and I furrc)\\t.*! by p\pr!~*n~ (IS Thiq c&s free from thorns, is ready harvest. and yet even of this to I), ill2 I Irth .IrI ::lmn(lant to our <I RL. :tii n1:t: i:of !,i~,icl (hr same amount. of fiuitage 1 Il.rQttTr -: w~uirly. fclr II<* wprrwnts that qome will bring forth .11it1 (-onic an hundred fold. HP does not, thirty. ..o:nal -i\ty brinz fort!! but the thirty >,N~,l Il!rl:rirl;!l\~ crl tl:o-rl \\liirh I\ Ce)l~l.III~! l(,:?\(a< ,t to 1x\ to discel n tllat ihosc who brnq forth I~U\ b~n~l:~d fold :\rc the mod pleasing in his sight. We have

NEWS FROM THE BRITISH BRANCH

matter which in your last you termed a pleasant surprise for British brethren. Bro. Henninges visit to us is indeed a joyful privilege and to hear him set forth things new anti old is a pleasure that words cannot describe. We certainI\feel that there is scope for much work on the lines that ou\ brother has come over to adopt, if the way be made plain to him by the Lord. Of course it, is not for us to urge or push this matter undulr. however mnch we feel It would gratify us, but this we can offer, that if the Lord makes plain the way to vnu and him our sympathies can then take practical form. These arc my personal feelings, but I know I am only voicing those of many of our dear brethren hele. It would have done your hrnrt good to have seen the little gatherings of glad faces at the last four or five meetings: to feel the warm, sympathetic hand-prasps and the cheery, honest words of encouragement and the earnest God-speeds given to our dear Bro. Henninges and his dear wife. Not but that we always have joy in meeting together and great joy indeed, but, this joy seems a super-added one--n joy abounding. We give thanks to our Lord that he has made you such a [2628]

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1, 1900

ZIONS

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TOWER

(142-143,

channel of blessing to us, and ne pray that our eyes and hearts may be anointed and that we may be given that discerning spirit, which discriminates betneell that which harmonizes with and that which militates against our Fathers revealed plan. So with the boldness and assurance born of sad experience we can confidently approach our Fathers throne with requests according to his will.

If there are any suggestions from you to us as to how we may aid in this present scheme for additionally helping our English brethren we shall be glad lo hear from you. In the meantime we are one with you in this Gospel of the kingdom. in unity of spirit, in the bond of love and in righteousness of life. Yours in our present Lord,
BRO. AND SISTER GUARD.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

ABOUT MAGNETIC-HYPNOTIC CURES, ETU. WHO IS BORN OF GOD?

Question.-The world is full of aches and pains, diseases, and-naturally we look about us for relief. Yo; have alrexdJ exnressed vour iudgment that the cures effected bv Christian Scientists and Sp&tualists are probably produled by improper spiritual mfluences, although exercised to some extent I desire now to at least in harmony with natural laws. inquire respecting cures by hypnotism, and still other cures by so-c;lllctl magnetic healer+. \rhat shall we think of these, and will it be proper for the Lords consecrated people to avail themselves of such means for attaining health? AnsfAer.--Ue feel suspicious of magnetic and mental healare allied with ing. In our judgment thky in many i&ances difficult to or related to hvnnotism : vet it is uarticularlv draw the line h&z, becaulewe all know that there is such a thing as a legitimate mental influence which we all eselciee upon one another, favorably or unfavorably. We know, for instance, that hope and faith, love and joy, are healing and helpful influences, and that doubt and despair, anger and malice, are injurious influences whether csercised by our own In this proper minds upon our own bodies, or upon others. sense of the lord every child of God possessing the spirit of love, the spirit of a sound mind, is a mental healer, and a heart healer, a wound healer; wherever he or she may be, the Influence will be uplifting, comforting, strengthening to good impulses. If therefore the Lords consecrated ones visit the sick, their presence should be a refreshment, comforting, cheering and helpful, and so much the more if they carry in their hearts and communicate with their lips the exceedin.g great, and precious promises of our Fathers Word. With this much of mental healing we are most thoroughly in accord. But Christian Science, Mind Healing and Magnetic Healmg, running upon this same line, seem to us to carry it to an extreme-in the case of Christian Science to the extreme of lying to oneself and believing the lie, and thus gradually becoming a liar, self-deceived and deceivin,v others in respect \\e cannot believe that any course so to all oi lifts affairs. ODDOSed to that which the Scriptures mark out can be of God, nor can we believe that the cures it at, times effects are either natural or of God; we can only suppose, therefore, that the Adversary favors this lying and deceiving process to the intent that he may beguile the mind through further lies and deceptions far from God and the truth. Magnetic Healing is more on the order of hypnotic heal~ng; that is to say, the magnetic healer gains a control over the mind of his subject which is somewhat akin to the control gained by mesmerists and hypnotists, and akin to the We can have soirit control of sniritualism over its mediums. no sympathy with anything of this kind, for even if we were satisfied that the power of control was merely a human power and not, a Satanic one (and we are not satisfied of this), \\e cannot feel that it is right for one human being to subject. his mind, his will, to another, when the evidences prove that every such subjection decreases his will power and places the subject more and more in the position of a slave or machine, suhiect to the influence or control of othersbreaking down kis personality. The Lords woole are admonished to make such a submission of their minds to the Lord, and no one else; and we are confident that the Lord will take no advantage of us under such conditions, to rob us of any good quality. On the whole. then, we urge all of the Lords people to be on guard against mind healers, magnetic healers, etc., especially where, as in the case of Christian Science the mind is to be given up to believe a lie, or in the case of hypnotism, it is to be given up or subjected entirely to another. Our minds are our greatest possession, and are to be given only to the Lord and to each other as directed by the Word of the Lord; and if we cannot have health without violating these principles, we can afford to be without the health for the few more days that remain under the present. conditions, knowing that 6;~ and by, if faithful to the Lord, we shall have the perfect resurrection bodies promised.
LX L 1 I

Question.-In 2 John 5: 1 we read, \Vhosoe\rr belic+vrth that Jesus is thr Christ is born of God. Does this signif) that we are begotten of the spilit at the same moment that we are justified through faith? An&er.---No ; the .Apostle, in the woid4 quoted, is not attemntintr to nive the comnlete DhilOSODhV of salvation. that, being giv& in >ther parts hf his own &&nony, and &at of the other apostles. He is discussing the condition of :X bc liever who has not, only been justified through faith, but who continuing to be a behever. is actiug upon that faith ,lntl the Lords call which comes to the justified, and who, in harmony with that justification and cali, ha4 presented himself :t Ii;inz sacrifice to the Lord. and has been begotten of the hoI\ Scirit. He is still n believer, must alway; continue to he 1~ believer, must always continue to maintain his faith, which ii the foundation of his reckoned new nature in Christ. The word here rendered born should be rendered begot~ ten; it, is the same word in the Greek as the word rendered begotten following it in the same verse. Numerous Scriptures show us that our condition as sinners is Such that we cannot be begotten of God through his holy spirit until after we have been justified through faith of wrath even as others. and As sinners we were children were called to repentance (but not called to the hizh calling) : as repentant sinners we are pointed to the Lc~d Jesus as the Wav. the Truth and the Lift>. bv whom alone wc can return to l&,ony with the Father: When we accept Christ, as our Saviour and his sacrifice as our ranqom price we are justified by faith-reckonedly perfected-and have peace with God, and realize that we are no longer children of wrath, aliens, strangers and foreigners, being brought nigh by the hlood of Christ. Our justification, however, is not our begetting to new nature, but, as the Word itself signiticxs, a making right of our old natures-a compensating ou nul Lords part for the weaknesses and imperfections of the tlesh which are ours through the fall, so that we are reckoned as tho we were perfect men-like father Adam before he sinned It is to such justified or reckonedly perfect, men and women that the Lord sends the high calling of this Gospel age-a call to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, a call to suffer with him for righteousness sake in this present time. with a promise of sharing with him glory, honor and immortality in the future, of being joint-heirs with him in the kingdom which is to bring restitutibn blessings to all mankind. ._ The call of this Gdspel age is to find the royal priesthood, of which our Lord Jesus is the Head or Cliief Priest, and all his faithful ones the under priests. The work of this priesthond is especially future-during the Millennial age the instruction. guidance and teachina of the world of mankind. The call to this priesthood inclucies two things: (1) A call in the present time to faithfulness even unto sacrifice. and none can bc in this priesthood except he offers up himself a willing sacrifice in the divine service. (2) It inclutlcs the glorification that shall follow the exaltation of the SaCrifieers. The thing which each is to sacrifice is himself, his will, his life. his all (Heb. 5:3: Rom. 12: 1) : but God cannot accept to his holy altar any bl~~mished sacrifice, and hence he thev are has not invited sinners to sacrifice themselves-for all hlemishetl. None but our Lord Jesus, therefore, coultl be actually acceptable as a sin-offerin,? on Jehovahs altar: hence the provision is that his church, called to present. their bodies living sarrifices. and to thus have fellowship in Christs sufferings, and by and by in hi4 glory, must, first be juqtified frerlv from all things by the merit of Christs sacrifice, before they rould be accepted as sacrificers holy and ncceptable to God or in any degree come within the limitations of the hi=11 cniling. Altho the Apostle, in the verse you quote, does not particulari7e the three steps of (1) knowledge, (2) faith and (3) consecration, he nevertheless implies them, as will be noticed from the rontext: vss. 3 and 4 tell us that the class the Apostle refers to are overcomers of the world, and that they [2629-j

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t\LLEGHEXY,

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s,Aelc to keep Gods conmandments. and do so willingly, not feclmrr them p-ievouQ.. Thus we see that he is speaking only 3f the consecrated class; and since we know that there were none I ighteous,-no, not one,-of all of Adams race, and +~r.+ we know also that the unrighteous could not be accepted -15 iclint-qacrificers with Christ, we know assuredly that the r?lqstle John had in mind a class of consecrated and spirith+votten ones, who previously had been prepared by a knowle!!:e of Christ and bv a faith in him unto iustification. L That new creature represented by thenew mind which i; now berrotten of the holv snirit when the iustified believer reaches thoat point where dhesacrifices the human will and pre;entq himself unreservedly to the Lord, is merely begotten. The present life is the formative period during Mhich there is no independent life, but merely the reckoned one the Abrahamic Covenant. (Gal. 4.23-31) of our motllw. Our birth will be in the first resurrection, when we shall be born from the dead. Then we shall have life and our mother covenant will be dead, having borne the promised seed that ihall bless all nations. Compare Co]. 1:lS; Rev. 1:5.
HOW WILL THE DEAD HEAR?

Qtrcstzoff.--What is implied by the expression, The dead ghall hear the voice of the Son of Man and thev that hear shall live?-John 5.25. . . rinszoer.-The Greek text seems to be in full harmony with the English, and neither can be understood logically and in harmonv with other Scrintures. extent bv understanding this to mea; that the dead of mankind &all be awakened to such a condition as will permit them to hear, comprehend, understand. tho they will still be dead from the divine standpoint -dead in tlespas3eq and sins-dead in the sense of being still under divine sentence of death. Then after hearing,-comprehending, if they respond to the hearing, if they obev the voice. the command, the instruction, of that dav of 3ud,nmcnt, tl;ey shall eventuUlly attain to petfection of 1ifc ---being raised to the living-point gradually )y the processes of restitution or resurrection, by (through) Judgments, during the Millennium. The fact is simply this, that a fall took place, a fall from a certain standinr or condition of nerfection and life and a redemption was provided at, Calvaiy, on account of which there may be extended to all who fell an opportunity to rise in its beginThe rising. be it never so insignificant arain.
1

ning, must go on to completion-u&11 the subject shall have been raised out of death into life. This raising up is necessarily up to the point or condition from which the fall occurred, and anything short of that would not be in the proper sense of the word a raising out of death and to perfection of life. iVhen considering the word attastasis it is proper that we should interpret it along this line, which is its only true and logical meaning, and if it were m any place used in a less comprehenalre sense, it would evidently be the exceptional use of it, and should not, militate against, its full meaning. But let us look for a moment at the resurrection cf the just ones and the resurrection of unjust, ones. There will be no question as to the resurrection of just ones, that to them anastasls means a perfect raising up to perfect conditions in the first resurrection. Likewise, we claim, is its meaning in respect to unjust ones. It does not say that all of the unjust ones will be raised up, and other Scriptures show that this will not be the case, but that only such of the unjust ones ad ~111 conform themselves to the laws of the kingdom, will thus be raised up and that others will fall back when but p.lrtly raised up and suffer second death;-those who refuse to hear (obey) their Lord in that day. Compare Acts 3 :23.
JOINING TRADE UNIONS

Questton.-Can I consistently join a Trade Union? I prefer to be free, but am threatened with loss of employment, unless I join one. An.?zcer.-The Lords injunctions are specifically along the lines of religion, and hence our separateness from unions should be specially along this line. A trade union has nothing of a religious worship connected with it,, as have the churches and some of the secret orders. Of course: as those who are free indeed in Christ, me would prefer not to incur any obligation except to the .Lord, but if obliged to join a Trade Union to obtain emnlovment. I think vou would do right, to join one. I would, 6owev&, Btat to them that I preferred not to join them (not for the sake of the dues, king quite willing to pay my share of maintaining the proper nrice of labor). but from a desire to be free. lest at some iime the Unionmight wish to dictate to my c&science what would not agree with it. I would therefore give them notice at once that I would be obedient to the demands of the Union so far as my conscience agreed, and that only.

ONLY A FEW MORE YEARS

-FBANCES C. SHOBE.-

Only a few more years to learn our part. Just a few more miles the race to run; So gather courage fresh, 0 fainting heart! 0 weary feet, thy journey soon is done. Onlv a few more months, but full of toil, Fir In the field are hungry souls to feed, Then struggle on, 0 weary, burdened one! For thou shalt find a strength in time of need.

Only a few more days to fill with loveLove for all Gods creatures, friend and foe, Love which shall cover every human fault, And bring a balm for every earthly woe. Only a few more hours, we know, for some, i?ho in this life have fought a goodly fight, Henceforth for them remains a glorious crown, A rest within the radius of Gods light.

Only a few more days of willing sacrifice, Of patient standing when our work is done; Soon in his radiant presence well rejoice, And praise him in our everlasting home. ALLEGHENY, PA., MAY 15, 1900 x0. 10

VIEWS FROM THE WATCH

TOWER

A ZIONIST LEADERS VIEW OF JESUS T)r. Max Nordau, a widely known Hebrew leader: not long in the Talmud. His prayer, the most beautiful that a believer ever formulated, is the quintessence of Jewish ideas concernsince in reply to a question concerning his view of Jesus, wrote ing the relations between man and his Creator. The Sermon the following:on the Mount is the substance of rabbinical ethics; its figures The picture of Jesus as we have it given by the synoptic and comparisons are common among the rabbis. gospels is a vague outline and is a typical and ideal Jewish He observed the law; he taught the morality of Jesus is soul of our soul, as he is flesh of our flesh, and character. who, then, could think of excluding him from the people of Hillel-love thy neighbor as thyself-he constantly occupied Israel? St. Peter will continue to be the only Jew who will himself with matters of eternity; he felt himself in spiritual say of this descendant of David: I know not the man ! If communion with God; he despised that which was mortal in the Jews have not to the present time paid that tribute of his being and all the accidental things of this life on earth. public honor to the esalted moral beauty of the character All these are characteristic peculiarities of the best Jews of of Jesus, the ground for this is to be sought in the fact that the time of the Roman supremacy, especially of the Essenes. those who tormented them did so in his name. The Jews And as to his origin and ethical physiognomy, there. too, the concluded what the Master was from the doings of the dislanguage of Jesus was throughout Jewish. For all of his ciplcs. This was a wrong, but it was pardonable on the part parables, parallels can be found in greater or less abundance 126301

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of those who were eternally the objects of the never-ending hatred of so-called Christians. But everv time that a Jew went back to the original sources concerni& Jesus and learned to study Christ witsout regard to his foll;wers, he was comoelled to exclaim in amazement: Without acceutinp his Messianic claims, this m& is of us! He honors our-rag and we claim him as our own. as we also claim the synoptic gospels as examples of genuine Jewish literature. - And the revision of this trial? This had been done lonn since. The most learned specialists in the department o? Jewish legal procedure have proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that thl trial of Jesus, as tradition reports it, could never have taken nlace before a Jewish court of law. If Jesus was- condemned to death, it was done by the Roman judge, and no Jew, faithful to his law, had the least thing to do with it. Jesus would never have been condemned to death on the cross before a Jewish court, as this method of punishing criminals was not allowed by the Jewish law; and it never could have taken place on a Friday, the evening before the Passe\-er. as the law strinpentlv forbade anv execution on that day. If the Jews had coidemned Jesus a&r the manner reported by tradition, then they would have committed a series bf crimes, each of which would have been severely punished bv the Jewish law. It is accordinelv certain that the whole storv of the trial of Jesus can 6, nothing but an act of venieance intended to punish the Jews for not having recognized the divine mission of Christ. This is inteiesting as showing the change that has come over the people who cried, His blood be upon us and upon our children ! -The Doctors- expression is filling into line with the Proohets declaration of what must soon be the attitude of the Jews as a people, viz., They shall look on him whom they have pierced, and shall mourn for him as one mourneth for an exceptional son. Undoubtedly the best reading matter for the Jew is the Sew Testament. whose simple Gospel narratire and whose masterful Pauline arguments refer him freely to the Old Testament and show prophecy and fulfilment. hype and antitype. However. we are not to exoect Israels blindness to f?ly drpart before the divinely appointed time;-when the elect Gospel church shall have been completed and glorified. 3or are we then to expect their blessing and enlightenment except through the great trouble in which they will share nith all others, and out of which they shall be saved and blest by the glorified spiritual Israel.-Rom. 11.25-22, 31.
METHODISM MORE DEMOCRATIC

The Methodist tares know that they have just as much right to such thines as the Presbvterian tares and the Baptist tares ; aLnd though they *have been enjoying the interdicted amusements for years and intend to continue so to do whether the conference cancels the nrohibition or not. yet somehow they would feel just a little more free if the Not that their consciences are verv words were not there. tender on the subject, but that it gives some of the wheati class an opportunity to upbraid them and seems a curtailand pleasures. ment of their tare privileges And why should not the General Conference grant the request and expunge the article so obnoxious to the tare The Methodist wheat need no such restrictions element? even as the Presbyterian and Baptist and other wheat need them not. After all, the tares are not the children of the kingdom and why should such restrictions give some of them more of a deceptive appearance of bein.g wheat? Let them do what they will--the wider the difference between wheat and tares the better, and the more speedy the separation, now that the harvest time of separation has come.
PRESBYTERIANISM BEFORE STANDS A LIE IN ITS RIGHT Says One of its Ordazned GOD AND HAND Mmisters MAN WITH

The basis of the Methodist Episcopal church is hierarchical. exclusive, all power and authority being rested in the hands of the clergy. But for some years public sentiment has hcen gro\ylng in favor of a more democratic arrangement. culminating in % demand that the laity be granted equal renresentation and voice with the ministers and bishons in Ithk regulation of the RI. E. churchs affairs. The ministers were 10th to part with anv measure of their Laufl~ority and power, but finding the laity persistent th:g have with as good grace as possible finally yielded the point. as the following dispatch from the General Conference at Chicago shows:CHICAGO, May 2.-The pulpit and the pew will hereafter share equally in the highest governmental body of the Methodist Episcopal church. Without a dissenting vote the General Conferenre which opened at the Au&orium to-day, ratified the action of the annual conferences in extending equal representation to the laity. The 157 provisional dell gates were admitted without a contest. The step taken makes the Methodist church a democratic body, and the rule of the preacher passes with the century. As the roll was made up to-day there are 356 Dreachers and 236 laymen on the regular list: At least 50 reserve laymen will close some of the breaches in the deleeation. Radical as- this step is, it has little meaning and will have little effect in the affairs of Methodism, and it is because the preachers realize this that they yield the point without special contest. They well know that the name and form of liberty and power are all that their laity care for or know how to appreciate. So long as the preachers can keep their people in ignorance on the subject of hell, etc., they can manipulate them just as well in conference as elsewhere. I) * * A memorial has been drafted for presentation to this General M. E. Conference requesting that the strictures of the Methodist discipline against dancing, theatre-going, etc., be explmged.

Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, saith the Lord. And they gnawed their tongues [chewed their words1 in pain, but continued to blaspheme [slander, misrepresent] the God of heaven. The commotion amongst Presbyterians continues-some standing firm for their church creed, others repudiating it and begging-to be released from it, but not noble-minded-enough to sten out into libertv in Christ (as thev might so readilv 40) &cause of the co&, of that liberty in namk, salary. et;. Many thus indirectly confess that they despise the -chain wherewith thev are bound. and have desuised it for vears. and have realiied it to be i lie and a blasihemy agains< God; and after confessing to this acting and confessing a lie for years they beg to be released without cost or loss either of human or divine favor, and especially without loss of bread and butter. Note the expression of Rev. Samuel T. Carter in a Presbyterian journal-The Evangelist. He says:be admitted that if a church is honest, that It must which stands in its Confession is its faith. It must be acknowledged that what is contained in its Confession is the The Westminister Confession of faith of anv honest church. Faith is stiil the unquestioned Confession of the Presbyterian Is the Presbyterian church honest in its zeal for church. purity first and peace afterward? Be it known, then, to all the world that the Presbyterian church by its Confession declares that all the heathen perish, that many men are hopelessly lost from all eternity hy the dprree of God. and that there are infants in hell. . . . In realitv the church does not helieve these dreadful doctrines. Then&it stands before God and man with a lie in its right hand. The Independent, a high-class religious journal of Westminster proclivities, makes some very sensible remarks on the situation as follows:The time for removal of error is always; and now revision The Presbyterian church of some sort begins to be exigent. is suffering for it. The arguments for it are those of truth and charily; the argument- against it is that it will delay union with the Southern Presbvterian church. which in not But wed doubt very m&h if re&sion yet ready for revision. is the best course to be pursued. Let the old Confession remain as a historical document. It expressed the views of It answered its purpose then. the Westminster Assembly. It was a noble but faulty document. It gave forth all the light its makers had. Put it where it belongs, as an express&n, not of what we must believe, but of &hat its makers believed. Thev did ErandIv exoress their own faith. but they had no ;ight to enslav; our faith, any more than God has a right to enslave our will. There is no nobler intellectual work that a man can do than to formulate what he believes about God. Theology is the noblest of the sciences -a man of intelligence ought never to t\re of making creeds for himself. He ought to revise his creed every year. A mans conduct, and so his religion, depends on what he believes about the relation between God and man. More evidence, more discovev, more study, more enlightenment from the Holy Spirit, w-ill change his-belief, his creed, and so affect his religious dutv. We would leave the formulation of a creed to Gch man; own conscientious study. We are surprised and gratified to have so able a journal as The Zndependent come forward thus boldly in advocacy of a

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PA

view we have been seeking to promulgate for years; namely, that each individual Christian should have his oum creed. his own faith or belief respecting the things which God has regealed to his people by his spirit through his Word ;-and that each Christian should keep adding to his knowledge and his faith daily from the inspired record, the Bible, using all the helps obtainable to this end. This is the thought of the Apostle when he speaks of grolotl~ in grace and knowledge and approach to the stature of manhood in Christ. He sugrrests that the beeinner in the Christian wav is but a babe n who nerds the &mere milk of the Word that he may grow thereby, and that when further advanced he will need the strong meat of truth which is for the more matured. With such an arrangement there is no room for the methods in vogue among Christians of all denominations which just so much trouble-namely, now ir causing Presbyterianism the fixing hv the Doctors of Divinitv of each denomination of a, crccrl ~tlaimed to contain all themilk as well as all the stronc n meat of Gorls Word) which each babe as it is rrwivc~rl is required to swallow. and which it is instructed will supply all the spiritual nutriment proper for it to reSurb doses or pills are administered ceive to thra end of life. by- cvcrv se&-\ome sugar-contcrl to conceal the real contents from the babe , and <ome like the Presbyterian creed. plain. * honest ant1 terribly bittrr. A gentlrmen in Allcghenv related to us his conversation with a Irr,*byterinn pa;tor before his withdrawal from that I find manv things chni rub. The crentlrmnn said. Pastor. in nnr Confession of Faitlr which upon now more mature consitl~~raltnn I cannot endorse nor continue to be identified with, nnlras you can help me to reason them out. The pastor replied, My dear brothrr, you are getting at this matter from must he swallowed : our Confession 11ic wrong st:~nrll~nint It is like a Brandreth pill; if you atwhole or not at all. tempt to chew it [reason it out1 you can never swallow it.
.~ 0

How strange that the simple and rational way of feeding milk and then meat, which affords both pleasure and nourishment, should have been discarded for the wickedly injurious practice of imposing upon the babes doctrinal pills which not only afford no nourishment but which hinder all growth, and as a result has filled Churchianity with babes who as respects spiritual things have never had their senses exercised to discern the true from the false and are utterly unable to follow the Apostles counsel to rightly divide the word of truth and to try the spirits (doctrines) whether they be of God or are human fabrications.
A SIMPLE CONFESSION NECESSARY

However, a simple public confession is necessary to demondistinguish such from strate who are babes in Christ-to But this confession should be very children of this world. simple-so that the merest babe in Christ could comprehend and fully endorse it as his own. (1) It should declare faith in Christ as a personal Saviour; that he was sent of the Father and gave his life a Tonsom for all mankind. (2) A personal acceptance of him as a personal Saviour and a determination to forsake sin. (3) A full consecration to be a follower of Jesus in every respect and to lay down life itself in his service. Whoever could not confess these should, not be esteemed a babe in Christ at all-nor he fed as such. nor expected to grow up into Christ in all things. May we expect the church nominal to follow this program --or that the voice of the Zndependent will be more potent than our own in hringing to pass such conditions? By no Churchianity contains too many tares and not means. for such suggestions to be impressive. She enough wheat will soon go down in the great time of trouble; and not until the kingdom has been set up need we expect a better general Then it wili apply not to the elect church, arrangement. which will then be completed and glorified, but to the restitution class, then being developed.-Acts 3: 19-21.

THE VOLUNTEER
Tllis work is now nobly started and just in time, we trust. to set it well accnmplishcrl before .Tuly, when so many church nttcnrlants are apt to absent themselves for the summer. The hrrthrcsn ant1 sisters engaging in this service seems to be proflting by it spiritually thrmsclves and it is difficult to conceive of any other form of prearhing present truth that could be more rffcd.ive. The fact tbnt this matter is handed out by Christian gcntlemcn and ladies adds to the weight and force

SERVICE

The results cannot be even apof the matter circulated. proximatetl this side the vail. as you find you will need it Order more ammunition We have a good supply now. But be careful, please, not to order more than you ~111 faithfully and promptly use-for it Letters on this slrbjert should have the word is expensive. Volunteer at the head, and Order No. 2 or Order NO orders should invariably be 3 as the case may be. Initial made out along t,he line mentioned in March 1st Tower.

CONGRATULATIONS

TO BRITISH

FRIENDS

\Ve have pleanlrre in annolrncing to the friends in England, Trrland, Srotlnnrl ant1 \Valrs that our London branch office is open at thlb address givrn above. It is or will shortly be well storked with Dhwns. bonl~lets, tracts and WATCH TOWERS. This will greatly crmrenicnre you all, we are sure, not only \aring time but also postage. and permitting you to use ~lomr23lic initcatl of ff)relgn RTonry Orders. Volnntr~cr ordcls will 1)e filled from there also and we hope

to hear of many fresh enlistments in this branch of the service Any who feel disposed to enter the Colportenr work in Great Britain are invited to write there for full instructions how to work, where to work, terms, etc., etc. Friends there desirous of visits from Pilgrims to hold public and parlor meetings in Great Britain are also invited to write. Address all such letters to
WATCI~ TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY,

131 Gipsy Lane, Forest Gate, London E., England.

PROGRESS OF THE TRUTH

Our &:I I Brotlirr Ramllr. formerly a Baptist missionary m C!IIII.~. has hern with 11s at Alleghenv for about a month. anal ws lI:Ivr lerrnt~l to love him tlcnrlvas one of the Lords 'i,lV1 II1 ml." llr 11:1-:\\rittcn for tbc *TOWER a littlr sketch rlf llis 1(>(,(*rlt r\prrienrrs in receirin~g the t,rnth and of his .*iTr,ltq to Ital it hlliiir~ forth in tnrn lo others. \1 c know it 5vill )pf il~l~rr(~intc~rl. Tile blnthers depth of interest is well 4tlwtrvi l)y hi5 long j[.ilrncy of 16.0Ou milrs to Allrpheny. II, 1 c,,,nic>i s~cl:rllr,l- tllc I <m:1inrlrr nf his r:irtbly Ii fo in .,1111111111_ rJ1~l~iI~~~~ Illiipr~t--tll(l tltfb 11 Gosprl of tllp kinqlom. hr \\ 111 pinlmhly irlrbrt Crcat Britnin. his fnrmrr borne. as -bl\ flit ljw (ir~lrl for Ilnrvcb\t work-preaching, and colporteurfr tllrh I)lWY~. I?~~f~~r(~ lt7ving tliiu rnuntry he has consmted to do some 111~11~1 \\nik. llr IY llO\\ visitrng a nrinibc~r of little gatlict in,:% in Ohio and trrstrrn Trnns\ lvnnia. ant1 latrr on will mracbt \XII 11 thra rhllrrhrq at \\Iashington, Rlltimnrc, Rmbmonrl, Philnrl~~ll~l~in, New York City, etc., inclnding some on the Hndson Rlvcr. \Ve cnnfitlently assure him a most hearty welcome frnrtr all I\-ATCII TOWER readers he may be permitted to me&. His article follows :[2632]

IN CHINA
PRESENT

TRUTH IN THE FAR EAST There has heen in China for years one solitary witness for the present truth, Miss Downing, of Chefoo. This lady was fnrmerly a missionary of the Presbyterian Board and she chnnrerl to meet with a stray WATCH TOWER, about the year 1833. in which she read an artirle on restitution, and at once She was the means of tleeitled to suhsrribe for the paper. leading hlr. Flrller (n hose letter is published at the end of VOL. Ill.) to sturlv the DAWNS which proved so great a hlessing to him. He died in 1894. Amongst the missionaries of Shantung I am afraid Sister Downing was con\irlrred a queer old lady having some odd notions. F11p pr(availed on me, ho\\ever, to subscribe rn 189? for the WATCII TOWER ant1 to get the Zhaglott. The lntter I mllrh wantefl 1 rcxad a little hrre ant1 there in the TOUER, bllt too raslllv ronr~lurled that it was the organ of snme kind of rlnivc~rsnli~m. which I did not lvant to corrupt my nrthodouv, $0 tllrrw them aside. I was too much afraid of the word Universalism. Now I know that snme things m-e universal. Gods sunshine is universal ; it shines from pole to pole, upon both the just and

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unjust. So is his love. (John 3:16) Light and truth are vet to be universal (John 1:9 : Isaiah 11:9). and so is the iestimony of the ransom. ( 1 Tim. 2:6 : John12 :32) Because of my prejudice then I continued four years longer in darkness. Toward the end of that time I saw MILLENNIAL DAWN advertised in the London Tznles, and having been interested for years in the Lords return, I had a growing desire to read that book. In the summer of 1896 Miss Downine lent me VOL. I,, but a day or two later I received another copy from Eng land, sent to me (without my request) by my dear mother. I retrtrned Miss Downing her-copy, and st&ing for my mission station. four davs iournev from Chefoo. I first read the PLAN OF THE AQES in i muli-litter. It wonderfully opened my eyes, and I became more and more astonished at the beantifu1 Bible exegesis it revealed. Later on I received VOLS II. and III.. and continued to read with admiration. In November of the same year I wrote my first letter to of any Allegheny, asking for the TOWER, and more information kind along the same lines. After reading the three volumer myself, I read them again with my wife, an? afterwards with my children, and God has been graciously pleased to lead both my wife and my eldest daughter into a joyour reception of thr present truth. Tn 1897 I began to speak with my missionary collelgties about the character of the Judgment Day, for I was rcsjoicing in the strong consolation it gave me to see that Gods purposeq regarding the heathen-to give them a grneious .md full opportlmity to enter into life-were infinit,eIy more grnnd and bencficc~nt than I had ever dreamcAd. ?\ hrn the cluestion of the Trinity loomed up it gave me :t tp1n~~orar.v shock. but I soon saw that I ~lioultl neither honnr the Father nor the Son by making the Lord .Jcsus more thin thr Bible clearly teacheq, when examined without preiuflice. and I recognized not only that all men should but also that hnttor thr Son even a5 thev honor the Father. it was tile supreme will of- the Father to have it so. In 1898, being persuaded that this testimony is from God, and 1s in conflict with nominal Chrlstianitv, I did not con5idt.r it neces$arv to confer with flesh 2nd blood. but rrsioned my connection \;lith both the Baptist cl~urcb, and the M&ion Boar11 with which I ~RS connected. Bein.; now free from the qrrrtls and traditions of men my first desire was to tell to other- the truth that had given me such comfort and joy. I was able to hold about a dozen meetings amonp missionatier in several stations, but my principal effort IO reach the missionaries of the far East had to be done by correspontlcnre. for they are scattered over thousands of miles of For thii; purpose I coiintrv. in some 500 different stations. had n circular letter printed (a copy of which appeared .in the lo\VrR. *June 15. 1899. nape 157). To each of t11~w letter:: we atltl~d something further in writin?, ant1 enclosing one or mor( tracts, sent them all out by letter poit, which we conFirler(~~I to be much more likrlv to command a leading than if the* whole thing had been pfinl,ed and sent out as printcjl In all we despatched the folIowiny:-1%l7 to Iilirmattrr. sion:lt its in China; 385to missionarirs in .Jnpan ; 72 to mism sionalies in Corea; 20 to missiondries in Siam, etc.; Innking a total of 2324. The number of tracts sent out was abo*lt 5,000.
the

The vast majority ignored our appeal. This we fully erpetted, for we know that many are much too full of work for the Lord to hear him speaking to them. Still many replies were received, varying much in tone and spirit. No Lisa than four accused me of blasphemy. One Doctor of Divinity thought I had lost my- head; one predicted that I had begun to drift toward infidelity. Some deplored my departure from the faith, while yet others, more kindly in intention, Itegged me to return to the simplicity of tht> Gospel; but none of them knew the pearl of great price I had found. One wrote to me thus:-1 am very grieved that you should have been so led away by the wicked one, and would solemnly urge you not to become one of Satans agents. and a seducing spirit. . . . We are living in perjlo& times, and I would warn vou to beware of him who not onlv eoeth about as a roaring -lion, but also as an angel of iight:,0 Another wrote:-It is just as Paul told Timothy. evil men will wax worse and worse, deceiving and bcin;r -deceived. I am so sorrv to think that vou. Dr. Kandle. are one ~110 is being decei;ed bv these evil men.,, These are both personal and esteemed friends, from whom, RP from many more, I am now counted alienated. May the Lord deal very graciously with them. Others wrote thankfully, and shnwrd their readinesx for the harvest message. A well-educate11 Chinece woman wrote -I have been reading the tracts you so kindly left me. first with interest, then with delight, and 1 feel so mnch happier than I have been for a long time: the ntnrd [ rpnd the tnorr I want to read and the more light I get, but there is still much I want to know. I would like to have MII.CEJKIAI. DAWN and the pamphlet on HeZZ. If Jnu tell me how to send the money I will be ever so much obliged. and 38 pamphlets on Hell, TabIn all we sold 90 DAWNS ernacle Shadows, etc. One missionarv, a young rlan who bought the four volumes, and has learned to appreci7tr and love the precious truths therein expounded, came ciut from Brethrenism, and is now standing alane in North China, braring his testimony for the present trnrh. Four other miqsionaries are reading and studying the DAWNS with ioy and prolit. but have not yet come out of Babylon. which is to them no easy thing. I-was also able to leaie 2.5 volumes in Shanghai for fnrther Salk, and will be able to send more out if reclllired. so that I trust the harvest work in the far East may &tinue to develop, until all shall have received at least some testimony to the light of present truth. How true it is that the vast majority of the houerhold of faith have no ear to hear the harvest message! 89 it was in Christs first presence, so it is now. Immersed in their own work, many are preaching in his name, and doing wonderful works for him (Mntt. 7:22), and yet they are as b!ind and deaf as the Pharisees of old, neither knowing nor doing the will of their Father in heaven. It is a strait gate indeed, and a narrow way, and verily few are finding tKe Iif,, thcv lead to. Mav we never cease to humblv and dilirentlv inon& what is the Fathers will concerning us, and abitling in Cl;rist. that we may receive his spirit, may we be enabled not onlv to do that will, but also to see the loving-kindness that in in it!
* <.

HORACE

A.

RANIKE.

PARABLES OF THE KINGDOM

m4TT.
13 :24-xb--~~AY

27.

seed are the children of ihe Rmgdorn. mnnp as were ready, and the remainder from amon@ the Parables of the kin&m are really word-pictures of the Genttles durin,rr this Gospel nge kinetlnm. No one of these parables represents the complete Nntnrally enough. the Jews did not grasp the situation, viea of the subject, hut merpiv one phase of it. Tlt~ attrntive htlt, w(bre lrloking for our Lord to eL;t.lt~lt~h a flt~qhly kingdom Bil)lr student will nnticta that the theme of the Goqrlel from in their midst; The mcssnge first aivrii to I~.lthrr and it was to cniintrrnct this ~~r~~npoiw firqf to I.,st is the kingdom. thnu,ght th:lt .lCquS nttcrrd these pnrnl~lw of the kin~:clotl~Shrnh:lm was that hiq pnsteritv would hlpsq tbr worl&-abnllt nine of them-three htling embraced in this lp\qon. 1llP th;lt is to say, be a king!tlnm cauercisin,n control ovrr the world, This hope \rnq hefnre the scrips began with thp pnr:lblr nf the snwrr, e\aminc~ll in our ant1 for its hen&t and I1plifting. lnst isslIp. which showed thnt there was but one trne $(*?(I or Jewish mind for over sixteen lluntlred years, tbrir expectation meqsnge of the kin,rrtlnm, and that the fruitfulness of that wed being that they would be exalted by. God to that kir@nn pnsitlntl and bless all the f:lt)lilies of the PartI), rcconriting would tlcpnd upon the cbarnctrr of hrart into which it would them to God. Our Lords proclamation nnd tll:lt of his apnsfall. Next we have in order the narable of tlr4, :lt tlip first advent was: The kingdom of Gnrl iq at hnntl, THE WHEAT AND THE TARES --Got1 iq now readv t,o ~~st:ll,lish his kinrr~loni if thr twonl~ il re hitn tint., a;141the ready to rcreive it.i -Hut his n\jn rc~cc~iY~rd Here thr good seed or the mesqnge of the kingdom which kingdom was taken frntn them as a nation. to br $vrn to the our 1,nrd planted is represpntrd as springing up in bcblievers, and constituting them cttiltlrcbn or hpirs of the kingdom. It holy nation, the peculiar people, the royal pric~~thnotl, whom the Lord would select,--choosing first from fleshly Israel so is very proper here to note that there is no other method at
[2633]

The field is the world;

the pod

~152-153)

ZION'S

WATCH

TOWER

ALLEC~IENY,Pti.

present of becomi77g n child of God, an heir of the kingdom, except through the acceptance of the kingdom message, with all that it implies of consecration to the Lord, even unto death-if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also ~101ificd together in his kingdom.-Ron]. Y: 17. The object of these parables, then, was not to depict to o77r minds what the kinedom would be like after it has been established in the world, but rather to picture before our minds something respecting the processes of development by whicah the kinidom-class Tvould - be selected from- among& mankind :17ld made readr for the kinedom which is to be set np at the second coming of Christ in power and great glory: -when he ~hnll cstablisJ7 that hi7llennial kingdom for the ve7y purpose of granting a judgment or trial to all the families of the* cartI:-Jlcrn(Jvr~ntnt e untIcr the f:rio:;rbJc opJ)ortnn1tits of knowle~l~e, etp , then granted 77nto them. 7nanp may choose life tbiough ol,c~tlic~nc:c God and attain it. to 2Zs in thp prcrccting Jjarable the Lord Jc~u~, hlm\elf was the sow\Cr of tJ1c too11 ,scrd, PO in this p7ablc. It wag Jes17s who mai so\ving tllc sect13 of truth, the J)7omiscs. etc., which, sprin::i772 711i71 the liearts of J7is disc7pJeq. transformed them to newness of life, making of them nc::v crcaturcs. and operat7n= thro77gl1 them as his mo77thp7e~~c~~ ietl similar blessings rdr7 wllerever tl7e message, the Gosl~l of the kingdom, has gone. While 7ncn slept the enemy of the sower of the good scsed, viz., Satan, came and sowed tares amongst the wheat. The Lord himself not only made possible the kingdom by 7cderming n7iu7kmd, bnt nnnolmced his willingness to receive some as joint-17elrs of it, and then departed for the far country. even I~raven itself, not to ret777n ur7t71 the time for his kingdom to be established in glory and po\\er. (Mark 13 :34) IJis chosen apostJes faitJifuJJy g77arded tlin field so long as thr;v 17vet1, but when they fell asleep in dcat!l, as the Lord has folcsten and here predicted. the adv(Brcary found good opJ)ortnn7ty to bring in f;7lsc doctrlnca, to sow error, and throngh the error to prc~l77cr :iluonpst the whent a crop of tare+-tla111rl. Tar65 h,\vc tl~cb J)cc77linrity that while growing tliey 1 cry tlccitlctlly re~c!+ll~lc \\ hc.lt, so th:7t 7t i? nlmost impossible to tell them :7It7 t untit a cc7ta7n &Lgrrr of m.7turity i? ieac*lird: the77 1111,~lilYc.~ei7ce is clearly diecernib!e to 311 of caI)cricliicc. \\.C Fre the f77IliIn~c7lt of this feature of the palable in Christendom to&7y; tl7e wheat waq sown broadcast over a WI tain pz7rt of the field, the world of 7nankind. especially tlrro77~ho77t I:II~~~[v :7nd America. and the tare-seed. , the_. error ant1 f.;l,(k c!octlillc. -iac7ns to hnvc been r-own still more liberally; and looking 1);1& we date tl7nt sowing as commencing as L(oon as the npo-tlvs were f:7llc77 asleep. In consequence wc !intl to-day (>hristinrl+, tlnc Chri\tians, genuine Christianr. l~e~otton of t11c \Vo~d of (:otl* plomlses. and fully in accord ~ltl7 it, nnd ~c~cl,in:: to brinx faith good fruit in their live?; ant? 1, (1 nlio SCP 311 almbt irin77lnc:r:7b!e tare-class of imitation (.Thri\tiatls. bqntten 7lot of tllcs truth no1 of the word of the kingtlom, nttc7 lg 7gno1,7nt of it indeed ; begotten of excitement, bcgottcn of fear of 1~~11,ircbg.)ttcn of hopes of worldly advan tncy ?)y ?olning a nomi7:nl church, bt*gottrn of pride and :7 dcsirc fn ?W in ,good Loci+. begott of socinl and finnntinl
1 i

To have attempted to root out all the tares, and to have thus cleansed the wheatfield, at any time in the past, would have meant, as the parable shows, a complete shaking throughout the entire field, a commotion which would not have serred the best interests of the wheat; hence the Lord has permitted for all these centuries that the two classes should live s7de by side and co-operate in church work, and unitedly profess to be his people, intending the separation to be manifest in the end of the age. And surely nhen the separation does occ77r it will cause a wonderful commotion in nominal ZionUahylon. The reapers are first to gather the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them. They do not burn them at once, Ijut proceed to gather the wheat into the garner; and not 77ntil After tJ1c wheat is garnered does tl7e f&e co&me the tares. We are to remember that tJ7is is a uarable. and that the tire is as much a symbol as the tarrs. tlte wheat and the Earner; hence we are n&, to expect a lit&xl burning of the m&es of Christendom in a literal fire, after the little flock, the faithf771 wheat class. tJ7e children of the kingdom. have been gathrred into the barn. the garner, the heavenly condition. Tile fire which will then come upon the whentfield, from whicl7 the wheat has been gathered, and in which the tares are h77ndled. will be what the Scriutures elsewhere denominate a time of trouble such as was not since there was a nation -social trouble, financial trouble, xelipious trouble, accompanied by famine and pestilence, and the end of it will be the disruption of a?1 law. ordrr and relieion and the nrcvalcnre of a~arcliy. In thattrouble all the ?arc3 will br jestroved in the srnqe that none of them thereafter will rlaim td bi what they are no&-none of them will claim to be Gods consecrated people. The various inducements by which they were brought to claim themselves to be Christs followers, wl7cn they-were not, will then be at an end. Xo longer will such a claim rain for them social or financial or otl7er standinrr or advantage, and no longer will they make the false claim. Explaining the pnl:7ble privately to hip disciples. our Lord showed them-that the gath&ing of the whe:7t into the Farncr meant thp comrdetion of the work of this Gosuel ace-the completion of the kingdom class that shall blesi the~wo7ld, and he says, Then &ll the righteous shine forth nc the s77n in the Jilnrrdom of their Father. Thus the S77n of Ri&t7. eousness that is to arise in the Millennial morning, and \\hich is t,o bless tl7e whole world with the light of the knowledge of the goodness of God in Christ, is to be composed, not only of our Lord Jesus himself. the u preat licht. but ~150 of tllo~ chosen to be his ioint-heirs in the kiipdom. his acsociate~ in the shining forth of the light of truth. This was a totallv different roncrution of t!r~ kinrrtlon~
Y ,

THE

PARAELE

OF

THE

MUSTARD

SEED

I Jle ili!rd J):7rib:~-Jictiir(, rlf t!ie l~i7igdoni in its prcse77t :~rnllitlclll. P1(. c*11!111 \oii~, ( q,tl\li1ioii of de\ c!~~!~rn~*nt intc~ntled to show that 1c fl OIII :I 1 fry ~nnll I@nniny tlu~ nominal cllttrch of this GosJ1 !7Yi v 077ld ntt,ain to q77ilc cdonsiderablc proJ1ortions. It5 it:77 t 1\ Il1~~11car1 t1r.b hl17:?!1 to 7tii7&al~l-s~~trl. I\-hlch :7ttai77s to the \I:I+~cI tlr~~l.~ic~tl tll:7t t1lc.v \\c7( to be pcr7nitt&J ihgro\\* to: largZrs<t 47,: of it- ~?:13sof lir7l~s. Yet this large development :cstIlcbr until the. 1~7 vcit-t;777i,. 1~17cntile 7ipenirlg of both under doe> not necc\rarily signify ndvantnge or wnythi7lg special!!111+* (i(.:ilcBr light nf the hnr\c-i-time woald manifest eacl7 class tl~~sir:lble. but on tllc contln ry it become7 a disadvantage, 177 tlr;l7 nli-lily and distinctlv, ant1 t!lvll :I q~nrntiol7 would talif? that ihc! fowls of the air cnmc and lodge in its branches, and id:,, t 7,rltJtbr Jiis snpcrvirh~. dcfilv it The fowls of the air in the preceding pRrab?e of Jt) 0771777iticr~t:77~di7i~\\ c a7 e 17ow in the harvest or CIICJ tJlr sower rrJ>rcsrntcd Satan :7nd his agents, and we are, we aif lhiq *,pc, n77d tllc light of prcscnt truth, as it shines for think, iu\tificd in making a similar application here, and tllc I,07 d-5 ?~o?)lc \vnlkill:: 7nterprgting this to me& that the cJ77&h planted by the in the path of the iust. which -IIIIJ~W 711orc-nn;l 11107 ul:.to tl7e J&cct c day, as ire11 as the Lord ,Tews flo77risl7cd ranidlv and exceedinelv. and that beli=Jlt r,i Ijrc567& truth as it i-h shil7ing 71p017the world and its cc771~~l itb attainment\~ nf &rngtJ7, etc., ST&n through his wx ial :771d li71;777cin? and crirntific questions, is tending to :r!:pnts. came and lodged in thr various branches of the church. ~~JWII lmtll 111~11 heat and tllc t:7le%. The tare class no longer lbey 11;1rc brcan lodping in the branches of this Gospel church -c~,k, 7r1 11i(lc Itsc.lf, bnt c7tller secma to claim that it ic. ihc for li~c,sc~manp cenl.urirs. and are still to be founr! in her. gwl:~ln~. nrticlr, a d&line elc7iir.nt. Thev come in, not for the benefit of the the hcicntliic cl:7as. evolutionists, higher7itit all,? in yc71~1:71the worldly-wise. n777~t:1rd-~cc~l tree or \&rub bttt for their own convenience The wheat class is :7!sr) l)ecolttin:: 17707~ and more discernible, as it ripens in t?7r :1~,? bcn?Iit. It is iu h:trnrc~77v with this that in the present nf I!*>bylnn. nominal Christendbm, as f:rith :7r,d 1loJ~ :771tl joy begotten of the Gosprl of t<e kingdom. time tbc i.nrtl s&lks .I?;(, Lrpnrat inr. IYork mentioned in the unrable is not onlv nt the ho111 of cw~.y for7J tjbird, and a cage of every unclean h;~nti, i)17t in progrrss; :~qd Jl:,tefnl bir!I.--T?cr. 15 :2. a cleavng:c and separation between nornrn:~I Christi.lna ( t.lrcs) a77d tr77e Christians (mbf~at ) . as lhis ccntnlrinntion of ilrc original good planting, by the nr;7llg cwv~~ one ~170 iq awake discerns: a77d this scp:iration n.ivcrs:7r~ :ind 11is :i;entE, i7 as J>rominent in this parable 17 IPCmoip 2nd IIIDW disrernible rear hr year as t?7e h;7rr<+t ill :I< in tiir ;mr:tbJe of t1t.A tares, merely showing it from a wvb Ivogwsw, until it5 clov. tJiEcrPr;t c+aFtJrrrint
[2634]

MAY

15. 1900 THE PARABLE OF THE

ZIONS
LEAVEN

WATCH

TOWER

(154-155)

Here again we have a word-picture of the Lords church during this Gospel age of her development and preparation for the kingdom glory to follow. In this parable we have brought to our attention the Lords nrovision for the necessities of his neonle during this ~;s~~,ld~ge-he did not leave them withoui a: proper &pply . The three measures of meal, equivalent to one Like ephah, constituted a good, liberal househoid supply. all of the Lords nrovisions. it was pood and nure. but as in the other parables the adve&ry int;oduced &purity, falsity, etc.. so in this one leaven is introduced into the meal. Leaven repreqents corruption throughout the Scriptures: in every other instance of its Scriptural u5e it is represented as an evil, an impurity, something that is defiling. For instance, the ISI aelites were to put away all leaven, all impurity, at the time of the Passover, that they might come the nearer to the Lord in holinrqs, etc. Again, our Lord Jesus refers to leaven as a corruption, bidding his disciples Beware of the leaven of the scribes of the false doctrines, the corrupt and Pharisees -beware influence, proceeding from the scribes and Pharisees. Again, the Apostle Paul represents the leaven as an evil thing, say13:7; Luke 12: 1; ing, Purge out the old leaven.-Exod. 1 Cor. 5:7. It would not seem reasonable that our Lord should use the word leaven here as Christian people generally suppose. in a good sense, a4 implying some grace of the hol,v spirit. On the contrary, we recognize consistency in all of his teachings, and we may be as sure that he would not use leaven as a

symbol of righteousness as that he would not use leprosy as a symbol of holiness. How then shall we apply this parable? We answer, that the grace of God given to his people in the beginning of this age, ( 1) the faith once delivered to the saints, (2 ) the hope set before us in the Gospel, (3) love, the bond of perfectness, summed up the three measures of the Lords provision for his people,-in partaking of which they were to become strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. But gradually a woman arose, a false woman, represented in Revelation as a harlot, and as that woman Jezebel. This Roman Catholic system obtained great power over the three measures of meal provided for Gods household, and proceeded to mix therewith the leaven of her own impurity. The result was that all the family food, all the holy doctrines were contaminated with her false doctrines-nothing was left pure and clean, as handed to us originally bv the apostles. The faith once delivered to the saints was distorted out of all semblance to its original simplicity; the hope set before us in the Gosnel was changed to another hope entirely, unlike the original; ihe spirit of-the Lord, love, was perveited to a Alas ! selfish love of creeds of men and human institutions. no wonder all Christendom is spiritually sick, because of this adulteration in its food supply. From this standpoint we readily see the force and meaning of the Masters declaration, that at his return he would eird himself. and come forth and serve his people. and that gemwould seid forth at the hands of his serv& things both new and old from the storehouse of his grace, meat in due season.

THE HARVEST

PLENTEOUS-THE
MATT. 9 : 35-10

LABORERS FEW

:S.-JUSE 3. 10:20. It is not ye thnt speak, but the spirit of LOUTFather that speakcth in you.-Matt. has been extended so that whosoever has an ear to hear, It is a great tribute to the spirit of liberty which preamonFst the Gentiles or amongst the Samaritans. has the vailed amongst the Jews, that our Lord could and did preach privil&e of reconciliation duri<g this Gospel age; but the the Go-pel of the kingdom from city to city in their synagogues without molestation. In contrast, we may feel sure great time of opening deaf ears and causing all to know the Lord, from the least to the greatest, will be in the Millennial that nere he to attempt to teach in any of the churches of age to follow this one. to-clay, of any denomination, he would be refused the privilege Compassion, however, will be an element of the Lords -no matter how faithfully he should adhere to the Scriptural character so long as there are any who need help, and desire declal ation, and the more explicit his teachings the more age it ; and this will be until the close of the Millennial unsatisfactory would they he to those now in -charge, who when all willing to receive the help will have received it, have a theory of their own respecting the kingdom, which will and the only ones not blessed thereby will be those who shall not stand investigation, and whose weakness they would have deliberately rejected his help. Then, and not until then, not wiih to have exposed. And this loss of liberty amongst will his comnassion cease to be esercised, for then there will Christians, as compared with the Jews, in religious matters, be no need df compassion, that which is perfect having come 1s tn their iniurv-making it that much the more difficult through the grace of God in Christ. for them to hiar the joyful sound of the present harvest mesOur Lords compassion for the multitude sugge;jtetl the sage. sending forth of representatives, clothed with the power to Sothnithstanding all the healing of disease which our heal the sick, etc., and in order to bring his disciples into Lord accomnlished. there were still multitudes of sick who line with his thought he told them that the ha&vest was flocked flony various directions to him, in hope of relief, and nlenteous. but the laborers were few. and that theI. should when we read that he was moved with compassion for the The substance of their prayer Offer pra$er on this subject. distressed sheep of Israel, it gives us a deeper appreciation would necessarily be,-Lord of the harvest, send forth me of his kindness, his love, his mercy, and we do not feel that Jesus himself was the Lord of as a reaper in the harvest. it was strange that he who had left the glory of the Father the harvest; the whole matter was in his hands, and evidentand the holy angels, and had humbled himself to mans ly the twelve apostles quickly caught his thought and spirit estate, should now feel compassion for the weak and sinful, respecting the increase of the harvest Tvork, and In consethe degraded, depraved and pained. Rather, n-e say, It was quence he sent them forth two and two; yet he restricted sucll a spirit of compassion how Without just like him! their going, even as he had restricted his own ministry. to would he have become our Redeemer, how would he have left And when we think of him fleshly Israel, because all of Gods covenants and promises the henrenlv glory on our behalf! mereVstill confined to that nation, and would not be-open to as being still the same it gives us fresh confidence, that notothers until a due time which the Father had fixed. and withstanding our weaknesses and imperfections, and the imspecified through the Prophet Daniel-viz., the end of Israels perfections and weaknesses of the whole world, the groanseventy weeks of favor-three and a half years beyond our this same Jesus has comnassion, not only ing creation, Lords crucifixion. ugon his pedple, but in a large sense in d;le time will hate And he gave them power [authority] over unclean spirit-, compassion upon all the families of the earth, and grant to cast them out, and to heal all manner of disease and sickto all a full onDortunitr of recoverv from the blights of sin, Sureiy he only wayts for the ness. This power was holy Spirit power, the same and yet mental, moral ALnd ph&cal. different from that which they received later on at Pentecost due time-the time appointed of the Father-; then with his faithful. his kingdom-class. as the Seed of Sbraham. he shall from the Father. It was the same, in that the holy spirit or power of God is always the same power even tho it have difindeed, in times-of restitition, bless all the familiks of the It was holy, in that it was the ferences of manifestation. earth with a full opportunity of reconciliation to God, and snirit of our Lord Jesus, the holy Spirit or power which was thus of the attainment of life eternal. G&ted without measure unto him,-which he at this time At the time of our lesson his work had not yet taken communicated to these apostles, that they might, as his this broad sweep; nor has it yet, altho it has advanced berepresentatives, do a work in his name. yond the confines of that time. Then his message of reconIndeed, we may surmise that as the curing of disease ciliation and his help were extended only to the lost sheep caused vitality to go out of our Lord Jesus, to effect the of the household of natural Israel-not to the Samaritans cure, and that thus every cure meant the robbing of himself nor to the Gentiles. Since then the blessing of reconciliation [2635]

(155-:57)

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

.hLEGHENY.

ts

of his own life-powers, his own vitality, so in this case we should understand that the nowcr for the heaiinp of the sick was *Jesus power, that thcdisclpies did not ute their own vitaiitr, hut merely his, which he communicated to them, and authorized them to use, saying, Freely ye have recxived, freely give. They \\cre pvlng what cost them nothinc, but whicii was (Lusting .~esns much daiiv and hourlv. It is-whc,n \\c get this thoight of our Lords yieitltng tip his life &lily In doing good to otllers that \ve can best aplueciate how hlq perfect life \Y:IS $0 thoroughly used up in the short spnrc of tl:rce and a half years.

he seems to speak to these, saying that the harvest is great and that the laborers are few. and that if we have his spirit in the matter, and entreat him to send us forth in his se&ice. he will be pleased to do so. And many are thus praying from day to day, and seeking to see mhnt more their fian& can find to do in the harvest work. And the Lord is eraciousir with such to guide their servlcc and to -bless the YesuIts t> their own good as well as to the good of others. As ail of the disripies then prayed this prayer, and got opportunity to engage in some part of the harvest work, so now ail true disciples should be praying this prayer, and should be expects ing and utili*ing opportunities for service. The methods of the harvezt work then and IKW may be hii_rriitlv different. and vet thev are cnnsiderabiv alike. Thih is &the fleshly Israe:, nnd ihe tilessinpr sentnt the hand8 of the harvest reapers are not temporal blessings-not tilk he:illngs of physical disease; but they are better than thesethe opening of eyes of undersrantling, a far greater blessing than the opening of natural eyes, the removal of deafness 8s respects the Lords great plan. a far more precious boo11 thnn the reiteration of natural hearing, etc. Likewise, the offering of the kingdom now is much more tangible and can be demonstnrted much more clenlly than was possible then. for it is nigh, eveu at the doors, and even the world can SW the shakings of the present institutions, preparatory to their removal, that those things of truth and grace which cannot be shaken may remain, may be established, under the Lord> reign of righteousness. As the harvest laborers going forth now seek the ripe wheat of this Gosoei ace. tach should remember the words addressed to the laborers iu the Jewish harvest, It is not me that speak, but the spirit of your Father that qwaketh in you. Not th:it we are to expect to hnve mirnculou~ powers of spfwli granted us. hut that we are to bp fillctl with the truth and its spirit, and then indeed it will be tluc that it ~111 not be our own wisdom th;rt \ve shall speak, nor our own plan that we shall declare, but the wisdom that comet)] from above, and the plan of the Lord our God

n-<SVCfiI tllcslc\L \\e r,,:,> prc\ume lhat the influence of thiq miss1ou work tlrroltghout Israel w:>s not entirely lost, and that :~frcr our Lonlq clur~fiuion, and aftrr the holy Spirit had ~)mc 1r1,on t!lc. fli~ci1~l(~s at lenteco+. and thpp preached the Gospel of ttir kinqlorn from a diKerent standpoint, invitlng all true Ihr:tciitcq to unite with Christ, and thus becomr jnlnt-heirs of thta kinptlnm with him-then it \\as that manv. no 110111,i.of 1hrsc \\ It0 had henrtl previously and witnesscad ttl,. miraclrq. \\err that much b&tcr pi epnred to enter thts ~111ii thrortKh consecration of CII the NI~~,I>O~K Impl~rm, tllc!lTl5(~lIT~ to th Lord. And thr conversion of several thousantls v. itltin :t few tlaj-s after Pentecost corroborate\ this. Th(l tt:lr\cst iti thrb cnfl of tile .Irwish age foreshadowed or t.vl)ifilLtl the 1ialvCst 01 thiq Gospel are. And now, as then, .JF,~Is il the I,nrtl of the h:lrvr\l, and his tiiiciplcs, his messc~n~cr9. nre his :lq!nt* iii tllc gathering woiic. Now, as then,

A WICKED WOMAN

AND A WEAK
29.-JUHE

MAN

10.

5, IS. is excess; but he ye filled With the spirit.-Eph. Others of the world have such ambitions as had Herodias they are ambitions for wealth, or for social position and display, or for title and honor amongst men. These are all \elfish ambitions, yet they are the powers that are moving polltict; and business and society every day-and we are sorry to sn> these gre the ambitions whirl1 are moving many in the pulpits ant1 li:any in various i ciig1ous \vorks. Those are nil \\rong nmhitions, and tho they may not all result as evilly as did that of Ilerodias they are ail selfish, and ail tend at least in the same general direction toward evil and man.v are setlnrrd hv their selfish ambitions into dninrr those thinns c which the>r conscienres do not approve, and many such becnme seducers of others into evil deeds and rcprehensibir schemes. The Christian has before him the onlg proper, iegitimatt and worthy ambition possible at the present time: nor does the average or nominal Christian have these correct ambitions hut rnt1lt.r only such Chrlqtians as are taught of God. qucli ns hc<lr and heed the Word of the Lord. Brfnre these are s.ct the nloqt nnhlr. lofty nmhitinns: they are invited into the SorirtSv. frientlshil> and. fellowship of tl;e King of king? and I,nr:i of inltls. lht~v are Invitc~tl to herome his comnnninns. his hrrthren. co-work& together with him in the pr&t wnrI< he illl~ ~horiromin~+ nntl fnilule of other9 should beccmc to \IC v:~ll~ni~iv 1c97on4. In t,hc c<14c of llerndia3 hrfnrr 113 wc is nnw nrrnml~lisiiin~~, and also tn he joint-hkirs with him in the r*rent wnrk of the Millennial kinedom which 11~ is 4cc itlust rat~tl the pn cr of :nilhitinn, and how impnrt:?nt it iq &nld thrre he g higher ambition that ollr :Irnl)itionq b(b nnhlth and true and pure. Xcarly a11 qhnrtly -to inaugurate. in the wnri(l is somehow or than this qet before mortal man? Surely not. Moreover. thrrca IS of coed ncconipli~hetl it is an nmhitinn which tends to develop all the highcar quaiiofhrr cc>nncctrd wit11 good nmhitions. and likewise nearly all tie5 of mind and charnctcr, for the terms and conditions of the r\il in the world iq somrlinw or other assnriated with that we should irarn to this f[~lln\r\hip are b?sed upon purity of heart, devotion to wrong ,Iitiblt inns. Tlnn important the Lord. etc. so that he that hnth these ambitions and hopes guard our nml)itions, nllr tlc+irca<. nlir i~opcs, our aims: we cfinnnt acromplisli anything without hopes and aims and in him purifirth himself even as he is pure with whom hr has brrnmca aqrocin ttd. Let us have these true ambitions before ambitions: lirnce the necessity fnr qccliring good ones. And us. that they may crowd out and trample down the inferior here let 114 note the fart that the maiorltv of mankin, hare ambitions of earth and sensuality, that lead to sin, groveling little or no nmbitinn, and thrrrfnre arc passinn throuyh life in a kintl of maze, nrcompii~hin~ conip:ir:itively little for illld dcxviliqhness. Herotlias. having gained her point thus far, and finding themsciveq or nthrrs. This is a wrong condition; every man, herse!f in the coveted position of queen, undouhted!y felt woman and child should have a nol~lc amhitinn. and should greatly elated, flushed with her success; but in the midst of labor constantly for thr attainment of that ambition.
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XAY

l,

1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(157-S58)

this elation came the news respecting John the Baptist. and how he had had an interview with Herod the kine. and in the presence of courtiers and others had declared tha% it was not lawful for him to have Herodias for his wife. This was a <hock to Herodias. Who would have thought that any man would have been bold enough to have spoken to the king on such a subject; and who would have thought that the king would have heard him patiently, and even have seemed interested in _him, and have considered him a. prophet of the l.ord God? What wonder Herodias was angry with .John the Tlnptist, :lnd sou&t to wreck upon him her vengeance ! Had she plotted and planned for years to reach her present position, and was she to be thwarted now, and to be cast out at the word of such a man as this? Mo;.eover, if she were now cast out, it would mean a worse condition than ever. for of course &he could not wit11 decency go back to her busbnnd PhilIp, Hmce. if Herod and expect to be kindly received of him. ~honlti give ear to John the Baptist, and should permit his message to influence him, it might mean that Herotlina would Lucerne an outcast. Can we wonder. then, that the evil amljition-nhich had thus far ruled tl& wornans heart should uow move her against the great prophet? We could only ~a; Illat it would be the lezitimate fruitaee of such evil amblt rons a9 she had for years been cultivaying at the expense of w:cry ln inciple. It had not hesitated thus far at anything, .rntl w11v should it hesitate even at murder, now in its greatL& cdxtremity ? Sn it is with all evil, selfish ambition--the tendency is ;~lrvnys downward, going from evil tu evil, from sin to sin, On the contT,+iy, the ambitions w!1jcll 11om crime to crime. :ire lnsnircd of the Lord tend niw~vs upward and upward, lliqlrhcr anti higher-whatsoever things a;e just, whatsoever whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever thin3 21~ true, things arc holy, whatsoever things arc in harnmnv with clod --thi; is the tendency and impulse of the ambitiJn which t:od irlqpires, the wisdom which cometh down from above, wbi~~11is first pure, then peaceable and easy of entreatment. f1111of mercy and good fruits.
THE KING OUTWITTER BY HIS WIFE

the half of his kingdom; and then boastfully he would make oath to his liberality. The girl, no doubt, was instructed of her mother what to espect, and yet the crafty woman had kept the design wholly within her own grasp. Her daughter should not know in advance, lest she should make some error; she would merely first have the kings word that she would have her desire: then she was to come to her mother and receive instructions. Childlike, she seems not to hare had great ambitions and wishes of her own, and hence sbc at once adOpted her mothers wish, and asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. How horrible it seems, that anyone should hnvp such a desire, such a murderous condition of heart ! How strange it seems that a refined, educated woman should have such sentiments as would prompt surh a request! Yet it was but the natural operation of the evil in the fallen heart. As the Apostle James says, the beginning of temptation is to bc drawn awav of desire. of ambition-enticed therehv. Then, when desi;c (ambition) has conceived, it bringeth faith sin; and sin when it is finished bringcth forth death.---James 1:14, 15. Even the wesk and despicable Herod was shocked by the request. He had been trapped, and he s:kw it; he realized at once that this was a scheme on the part of his wife. and that now, as on former occasions, she had proven more than such a match for him. What would 1~ do? \\ould he lcsrnt infamous conduct, and denounce his wife and her dnuqhter as murderers. plottei .i against innocrnt blood of a riglittouu man 1 Would he take his stand for justice and for truth. and resolve that now, seeing the depth of wickedness into which he had been ensnared. he wnuld strive to turn about in his course. and follow the advice of this prophet of the Lord, and reform ?
EVIL RESULTS OF A WRONG STANDARD

lic~~~~dlashad sufficient influence over her husband to secure lhe arrest and imprisonment of John: but apparently she was tlmgrined that she could not accomplish her desires to the This was not so much because in11 in securino his death. llcrotl had a gind of his own, but rather, as the narrative ~lcclarcs. because of his fear. He knew John to be a righteous ~)UD ant1 holy, and, as the Revised Version expresses iti, kept him snf(aDossiblv fearing that if John were set at libert) llt~tln~~ aduld f6d agent; for his destruction. Apparently .lolm wds granted unusual liberties in prison, for his disciples Itnd opportunity to come to him and to bear messages to and t I oni him : and the intimation is that Herod was perplexed ~cspecting how he should deal with him, and occasibnally -(lnt for him and heard him with interest. Herodias concluded that this was a dangerous condition of things, and again her tact and shrewdness came to her assistance. Herods birthday was approaching, and knowing that it was generally celebrated she @posed to make a special csffort on that occasion to secure her ends. These birthdav feasts were occasions of carousal; the Icing would be surrounded by the notable men of his .realm; all would be considerably llnder the influence of wine. and then would be Herodias ODportunitv for securing her wishes. She was crafty, howe&-, and realized that John had an influence upon the king that to qome extent at least off-set her own. Shk realized then that the l,ing knew well her heart. and that he would hesitatr to make a broad and liberal offir to her, and so she prepared her young daughter, educated in Rome, beautiful, attractive. that she should take the place before the king of the ordinary clanrin,a girls who usuallv served on such occasions of revelry. Th& iras supposedly i rare treat, a high honor to the king, that his niece, a young lady of refinement, should take the Dosition ordinarilv occuDied bv one of a low class. The ruse ;vas successful; t6e kind and ihe court were charmed with the qirls beauty, and Herods mind, inflamed with the wine, was generous and unselfish to the extreme. It was customary to remunerate the dancing girls liberally on such occasions, in proportion to the dignity of the entertainer and now how llherally should he treat this one, who had so bewitchingly 1)leased himself and the company, and who was his own niece and step-daughter ? He would ask her what she would like IO have, and in her natural hesitancy he would press the nlatter upon her, to mention whatever it might be, even to
126371

No: he had not suficient character for that; and from his wrong standpoint of view dutv appeared to lit on the other side : First, had he not given his word, and should not the word of a king, .civen on his birthday, and at a feast. and in the presence of 111schief generals a& supporters, be inviolable? Moreover, in his maudlin condition be had riveted the matter with an oath, and now from his wrong stnntipnint pride asserted itself, and would not permit him to t:lkcb thv right course. Here again we see in an exaggerated form :I principle which applies daily to worldly people in all of their affairs. They have a wrong standard before their minds. It is a standard of pride and self-esteem and love\ of approbaa love for rightcnusness, fol tion of others, and not truth, and of deference for the Lord: and hence n1xn.v have found themselves like Herod, led step by step, by what seems to them to be fate, and as they would say, beyond thrir control: but such matters are beyond the control of men because they are not under the proper control, because they are not the Lords people; because they have not given thrlr he:11 ts to him. iherefore the affairs of life, instead of working for good to them and bringing them valuable lessons. helpful and elevating, are bringing them experiences which lead downward continually. The lesson here for the Lords people is to make a proper start, to recognize the Lord, his will, his word. as the standard of iusticc and of truth, and to walk A further le&on is, that wherever we may be, accordingly. wherever the truth may find us, in a downward course, the only proper method is to at once recognize the voice of the TArd, the voice of right as paramount, and to obrv that voice, regardless of how matters may seem or appear to f,lllen fellow men. That the king was sorry is indeed an indication that 1113 heart was not utterly corrupt, but that he should. yield tcr what he knew to be wrong, through pride. IS an evidence of utter lack of character. Iiistory show; that a certain amount of retribution came upon these guilty people forthwith: the sending back of his first wife led to a war between Hcrnd and his father-in-lam, the king of Abrabia, in which Herods force:: were worsted seriously. Later on Herodias prompted Herod to apply to Rome for an enlargement of his dignity and Dower, but his application was rejected, and instead he was bethroned, lost ali -his title, power .and influence, and the only redeeming aualitv noted in the case of Herndias is that she shared I&&ds l&s and banishment. Poor woman ! Perhaps finally she learned that earthly ambitions are much like the anules of Sodom : DerhaDs she learned the follv of the course &pursued, that it briught no true joy, nc; true blessing. but only excitement and one disappointment after another. Perhaps, too, King Herod learned some lessons. We read that
.I.

(1s

16CI)

ZION'S

IVATCH

TOWER

ALLEGHENY,

Pa

he heard cf Jesus and his wonderful works, and that superstiouslv he concluded that this must be John risen from the dead Altllo not a .Jew, but of the family of Esau, he nevertheless hat1 some knowledge of God and of the hopes set before the J~raclltea, and possibly his evil experiences brought him some valuable lessons. So wit11 many of the world in the present time: their experiences arc- bid and yet they impress-lessons upon themselves, :uitl uJ)on otlierh which ultimately may be of service, of VallW AL nc !ook at their mictake? Jet us learn to profit

by avoiding them in our lives. Let us remember, too, that all ambitions and temptations are not on the large and terrible scale of this picture before us, yet that the same principles are involved. Let us learn to recognize principles, whether operating in little things or in great ones, and that he who is faithful to right principles in small things will be faithful in greater trials. Let us first of all learn that the proper course for us is to consecrate ourselves to the Lord, and then seek to have the lawful and laudable ambition6 which he will inculcate through the Word.

FAITHFUL
hJR (' T. li1-S~EI.1,

CO-LABORERS HEARD

FROM

human, that, battle as one will, the prevailing @it of indifference brings at times a keen sense of disappointment. l)L~R +11:.-J t,ll\t the o!lJ)nrtunlty to write to you, in The truth is so glorious that one is saddened at the receJJtion nl.llllfe-i:~l~on of m>r Linrcsrc, and !le.iitfeJt approval of your it meets from the vast majority. But then, of courc~. Gods nin~nrlic c,nt \\orJ,s. now In riiy hantl. Your volume3 of JlrLdue time is the grand refupe and sweetener; the lamps I.rv\;Il\i. I).\\vu I 1111l<t bolt! ant1 ronfeis to be a veritable of the ten virgins are not intended to take tire plnre of the Hil~lp Kry. Iii\tJy tlrqnvin g tire appellation tllry bear-Helps sun. but to light their individual Tjathway. EacJl mll+t _ have _ _ _ for i<illJcz St~i(Jcnt+ I Irnvc in my po~s~~~~ion volumes one to his own Jampand oil in it. The- Rreat buJ\varJ< of error is fi\cb. iii .icJtlit inn to 1171rctS/r,/ l7lc Rc,.l7jlrc,es Jfiolct nell? and leaning upon others; true faith must be individual. endurh !,I, I1IS,,,. Fir. before offei ing any opinion or remarks, per ance likewise. A mob of sheep rushing after a Jrnder of their mit nii ?o IV fir\t. tlilt wit11 regnrtl lo ynilr little work on own nature is the general position; the Good SJleJ~Jlerll leads ll~lr~rt Put/ flrr Scr~pf~crcs :ibo~tf Ilrlll T (10 a little Greek his sheep and calls them each by name. The body of Christ I hnnw nothing of Hebrew, but I must confess that rtlatllnp is to be one. RR a collective number (John 14:21-2R), but tJlis it 1:117/1~~1 iw l~~cmd III~~R~III~~ to fintl out \\here our early oneness is contributed to by each individual. inter J" etc.1 q of tJlr Scril>t 11x(+ found tJle iubstance or foundation of that horrible dnct~inc. t\ntl gaining mu&, very much How the truth isolates! It demands a strong indivitluality knou lctlze on tJlc> ~~111~~~t 11~ rcntllnp- that little work, I have in each. Surely the life of Cllrist shows this most clearly. He was a reflex of the Father, Jle was the Fathers great .lnd to ;1<1; the questinn. \\.J,at V:IF tlleir motive for establishing answer I can find is perfect representative. this Ji(,ll tn;ment tlnct 1inc 7 Tile only I seek not mine own will. ljut his that sent me. And y.et wJiat a wondrous persol,cfllt r/! Ilis that it wac fr nm wiw ~Jfish rut1 to frinllten men into Chriswas not a passive servlte, he was not a mncllinr (ho!!- Spirit Ii2nity. n plari tl~r .\Jmi~Jlt~ never inten;lrd, having made man does not destroy personality) but an artivr. I\-illin:. r+pona frrap agent to chooic~ for J;in1WJf. Biit tllrse devil doctiines qive being, Gods vessel unto honor. \riJJ .c,nii ha\ 11to gl\r Wily to tllr liglit of present clay truth. CJiriits moral n,itiire responded to the touch of God like a bud to tile lay- of the My profcs+ion Jacking that of Christian wnrk-a catechist and sun or a grand organ to the fingers of a musician. Jlut Ilr was s~llnoJrna~t(,r-in the latter J>obition I sometimes, find it difialone, in the most complete sense, so far as this wnrltl was r\llt intlcc~tl. after tlrno\ing a trst, to know \\here to begin or concerned. His motives, ideals and practices wrre so tllffrrcnt. 1, Ilf~l , tc, vntl . not iw(i~ii~~~ \\c,itl. fail iii~~ lbut from tlw fart He dwelt amongst us. Fellowship with God ~1. Jlic only that the* (lrlc+rinrs I ha\-c heen brought up in wfre so twisted source of companionship. God was with him. \Vlry y Beand dictortc,tl tllnt I (lid not know where was solid ground. cause I do always those things whirh please Jlim. I ani not arhninrd to cnnfP?Q that many passages aJ<peared Surely this is our pattern: individual fellowship and service iq the so (JlfJicllJt tllat I l)rcafcrrctl to Jenre them to themselves. But one means for individual strength. Stndv to show thyself thanks to ycmr in~~;~J~~nhJc helps, many such confounding pasnppoved unto God. The bride of the Lahb when gathered sage< arc iio\v as clear to me as daylight. Fir, I hold that into one is plural, but its building ~13 is in the singular. AJmicJrty (lot1 Jlimaclf ha\ raised you up to be the purveyor of lic*.1\c,nJy f~~c~~l fol Iii, fallll~hi~g clliltlrcn : so that I need Wliat a grand J)rnSpect tlie truth prrsents a< the goal of not qay nnrtllinp mnic tJi3n ni*hlng you a fair share of his this individual diqcipline! A perfect nature, sntisfiell when diviric l,lcbh;iiry. 1 a111 <till ic~ading and studying my volumes. I awake in thy likeness; the goal of human creeds iq J>aJtry, At fil st tJlt,I (2 ~(1 v an~c* tJ)ingr tJl.lt rfcsmetl to conflict with my absurtJ.-a future state of locality merely-going to heaven, tli-a,creement crept in, but vi+,\\ s :rntl oJ)inl(uls. and WJIWC missing hell ! that. 1 J~c~lcl. \3.,< Iw~.III.~ 1 did not gr.-p tlic full J~urJKnt of There is beentiful scenery on earth, but it does not give the ~nl~ic~ct. for no snnnrr than graspetl, disagreement disrest or peace or happiness. Our restless nature is like a nJ~pca1rt1. Icaving tile aJ>J)rnvaJ to rc>main. I nrver quickly troubled sea, nothing outsitle can calm it; the troub!e is in ngrc to :I CJWCI~J+lll)jcct or Jjomt, Ilcforc I tlm~nnghly qift man ; that is wllere it started, and that iq where tile rrform and Jiarant1 qtr.liri .~iid J)r\- into it to fintl its fnuntlatinn must be made. The chief value of heaven is because of Gods I CYIIIIV io thiq rountly in Sorem!)rr, 1898, under the many. presence and nature, it is his throne; so with tlie earth: nppointmellt of tli,, Jli~JioJ~ of .7amaira. Bcfnie I left nly far greater planets roll in space. but Christ places tllis planet is!nntl 1 oiir(L 11:ltJ thr oJ)J)nltllnity of seeing tlir filst vnJun~e a5 next in importance to Gods throne, not because of its of l).l\\ X. \\ Ilic.1, a fl irnsl J)n+o+sctJ, J)nt partly destroyedintrinsic value, but because of Gods promises, purpose and Izatk :1nal in-ltlc lr:ivr* \\rrr Ignnr. I tletcrmined to find out presence. The earth is my footstool, hrnce Jrius says, the niitJior~lli1) ant1 w,7\ gratifir(J in having my win11 zuJq3Jied. Swear not by it. Forever with the Lord, in his nature, 31r. .\. .\I. J~~o\\nfic~Jtl is tile man frnm ~\Jlnm I obtainetl all. throne and work is the perfect goal. H(, i& III\ (on.tant ri%itor +incr. There is nJ=o another brother But surely this perfect goal embraces even more; it is VJII, 1~. ~iltt~ii nie fioin (olon. aftei Je.irning I was a reade: not merely for the individual believer and overcomer. \Vhat Pir, I am ynur tJi<cipJe, I of D.\w\-, liin. T~inli Ric~liaid~. shall they do. that are baptised for the dead? etc. TJle joy ant1 I bnJ)P one tiny to find myself whtie SO11 ran n~~iiit !oii: are. Thih. 1 hnJl(*, is but the first of tile many letters I CX- set before Christ embraced more than his own perfect bliss. His glorified body is not only perfect, but it is a conquering pect to \\iitr. Youis in Cllllst, one, acording to the working whereby he is able to suhdue all H. E. \\-TSTER,-ZS~~~~ZILS of Patfama. things to himself. Preeminently this feature separates the triitli from all human conceptions. DE \R l:~co~rii~n R~~hs~r.r:-~\Iany tJl.lnk< for tlie J<intJlv Snmething to (70, something to realize, to show forth the praises of him who wnrtls ant1 tokrn of your letter of Dec. 25th. The graceful*iesL of voiir action manifests an imitation of him who wa4 hath called us, etc. The glory that shall be revealed in us. Service is the grandest law of Gods universe. My Father the embr;tJimc~nt of grace. (Psalm 45:2) Oh, to get nearer to him in tlmu~llt. word and deed! The Christ-like spirit is SO ?corl;et7b Jlitherto, and I work. His angels are rnmistering spirits; perfect happiness and rest will only be realized by a. very rare, but the grnuine article so very piecious. I I trust perfect nature perforncing perfect service. May it be ours you will alwars bear in mind Jiow very much we treasure up more and more to enter now into the true glorg of service iour many Jninors nf Jove. and Jiow o& unceasing desire an;l to see its lofty standard, its eternal basis, and by and by to nraver is. that ,Tebovahs richest blessing may constantly rest npnn you and tile great work committed to your care. see his face and enter into his joy. In our work here we are striving to do what we can. Your brother in the one blessed ~IOJW, -\l.FRED ~AR!WX -\-C/L ,)OUth I\-CtleS. We are not realizing all we desire, for our Jleartp, are so
1 ,

[2638]

VOL. XXI

ALLEGHENY,

PA., JUNE

1, 1900

No. 11

VIEWS FROM THE WATCH

WHY REV. LYMAN ABBOTT IS NOT A UNIVERSALIST

TOWER

all men righteous; otherwise he would not be a righteous God. But I start from the other pole. I begin with my At a General Convention of Universalists one session was own absolute freedom. I recognize as a fact, in my life, in my set apart as Interdenominational Evening, and amongst philosophy and in my preaching, that, in the last analysis, the other speakers was Dr. Lyman Abbott, a representative Condestiny of every man is in his own hands. Father may pergregationalist, who gave his reasons for not believing in uniSpeaking as a liberal Congregationalist he suade. mother mav entice, influences mav environ, God himself versal salvation. may surround wcth all possible persu&ions, but in the last declared that modern Congregationalism does not accept the analysis the destiny of every man is in his own hands. And doctrine of ete-rnxzl putishment as preached by the celebrated what he will do with it I do not know. Jonathan Edwards of the last century. Why, if God be good, has he made a world in which We make quotations from Dr. Abbotts discourse as folthere is sin? Whv has he not made a world sinless? Could lows :Certain&; he not only could, he has. The birds I do not believe that any one of Gods creatures will be he not? are sinless. But he could not make a world in which are kept by God in eternal existence simply that he may go on free moral agents able to choose the good without giving them The proposition has long since in sin and misery forever. at the same time power to choose the evil. Power to choose become spiritually unthinkable to me. I might perhaps believe the one is power to choose the other; and a world in which that a soul could suffer eternally; but I can not believe that there are some men who choose shame, dishonor, sin and anv beine that God ever made will be kept in existence by death, is a better world, I dare to say, than a world made of Go*d that-he may go on in sin eternally. machines that could choose neither the good nor the evil. What was the old doctrine of eternal punishment? The We fully concur with the foregoing, reminding our readers Savoy Confession, up to about the middle of this century, nevertheless of the necessity for remembering the two opposite was the recognized expression of orthodox Congregationalism. views of free agency which may properly be taken from difNot that it was binding on orthodox Congregationalists; but ferent standpoints. as shown in our issue of Dec. 1, 1899, it was the only historic creed they possessed. Except in the page 264. A matter of polity, and one or two minor matters, it was But two queries naturally arise: identical with the Westminister Confession of Faith; and ( 1) How does Dr. Abbott harmonize his two propositions, this was the substance of its statement: It declared that our fa) that the decision respecting his harmony or disharmony first narents fell bv eating the forbidden fruit: that. thev with God lies with man himself, individually; (b) that God beingthe root of ail mankind, their guilt was imputed and has made no provision for the eternal torture of any? The their sinful and corrupted nature was conveyed to all their logical mind will surely inquire, What then will become of posterity; that as a result we are utterly indisposed, disabled, the wicked who are wnuxilling to be saved on divine terms and and made opposite to all good; that from the race thus lost hence unfit for the rewards of eternal bliss, if the time is to and ruined in the Fall, by the decree of God, for the mancome when every creature that is in heaven and on earth ifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestined and under the earth and such as are in the sea shall give unto everlasting life, and others are foreordained to everlasting praise and glorv to the God of their salvation? death ; that those not effectually called, God was pleased, * Is it po%sibie that so fine a logician as Dr. Abbott has for the glory of his sovereign power over His creatures, to overlooked the logic of his own exuressions ? Oh no! We pass by, and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their answer, The conn&ing link in the Doctors logic is clear to sin, to the praise of his glorious justice; and that those his own mind, but he does not care to make it very public not elected, nltho they may be called by the ministry of the because it is not very popular yet-the same is true of many Word, and may have some common operations of the Spirit, The others of the ablest ministers in all denominations. yet they never truly come to Christ, and therefore cannot be connecting link of his logic will be seen at once when it is saved. stated.-he believes in the utter destruction of the incorririblv 1 v Specifically, and clause by clause, I disown that statewicked, as we do, and as we teach publicly. ment. . . . . This doctrine is inconsistent with the character But public teachers who keep silence on this subject and of a righteous God. I might fear such a God; I might tremble put their light under a bushel, do so at a great cost-the before such a God; I might, because I was a coward, obey cost of further guidance of the Lord into the all truth such a God; but I could not reverence such a God. It is promised. Oh, how many ministers in seeking to avoid the inconsistent with the faith that Jesus Christ is God manifest senseless charge, Annihilationist, have suffered Gods charin the flesh, for it was not His nature to pass any by or to acter to be blasphemed and his people to be deluded by the ordain any to dishonor and wrath. It is inconsistent with doctrine of an eternal tmment of the unsaintly ;-preferring the Scripture; inconsistent with the parable of the prodigal numbers and popularity and honor among men and the financial son, which is Christs eoitome of the Gospel; inconsistent with emoluments of these rather than the truth! Alas! thev seek the declaration of Paul.that every knee should bow and every to be wise and prudent according to this worlds standards, tongue canfess Jesus Christ to be the Lord, to the glory of entirelv overlookina the fact that the Lord declares he will not God the Father: inconsistent with the verv chapters of Roman3 reveal*his secrets to such. Our Lord pointed this out, saying, on nhich it is supposed to be founded, for they close with I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because the declaration that Cod bath concluded all i7t unbelzef. I that ~I thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prqcdent and he mtght have mercy upon all; inconsistent with the splendid hast revealed them unto babes-who will utter the truth picture John paints, of the time when every creature that is regardless of consequences.-Matt. 11: 25. in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and such as are (2) Some one will say then, If Dr. Ahbott believes thus in the sea, shall give praise and glory to the God of their in the final reign of righteousness and the destruction of the salvation. incorrigibly wicked, is he not very close to the truth and a These noble words and logical arguments surely appeal very hopeful subject? to all God-loving and God-honoring hearts and heads: and We answer, go. At one time, so far as we might judge we are glad so io think: it is a sign of heart enlargement of any mans heart by his writings, Dr. Abbott was very which should be admired, even tho the speaker (like other close to the truth-a believer not only as above but also great men of our times) has swerved far from the Bible in the Atonement and in the second coming of him who made under the influence of Evolution and Higher Criticism, and is the atonement with his own precious blood. But the Doctor no longer trusting in the great sacrifice for sins finished at seems to have nermitted himself to become one of the wise Calvarv for salvation. But Dr. Abbott said some more good who prefer honor one of another rather than and prudent thins? in that discourse. In telling his Universalist audience At any rate, that which cometh from God only. (John 5:44) why he does not believe in universal salvation, he displayed instead of coming out more and more boldlv for the truth excellent logic. In reasoning that the ultimate fact in human on these unpopul& subjects, he seems to ha;e put the light life is the freedom of the human will, he said:he had under a bushel until it has gone out. For according I know that I can choose the good, and therefore I can to Dr. Abbotts present teachings he undoubtedly is now an choose the evil. What I find true in myself I believe to be Evolutionist with all that implies of rejection of the Bible true in every other man; he can choose the good, and therefore doctrine of a fall by our first parents (and we in them) from he can choose the evil. And while I wistfully desire-yea, perfection and harmony with God-into sin and its mental, and sometimes devoutly hope-that when the great drama moral and physical degeneration and death. And the rejection of life here and hereafter is ended, all Gods creatures will of this implies a rejection of the Atonement; for if man did have chosen the good-1 do not know. If I were a Calvinist, not fall he needed no redemption from the fall-no Redeemer. I should be a Universalist. If I believed that God could And if the ransom for all (1 Tim. 2:6) is denied, then make all men righteous, I should be sure that he would make logically times of restitution to a former estate (Acts

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3: 19-21; Ezek. 16:55, 61) must be denied also. And accordingly there would be no object in establishing the Millennial kingdom-for Evolutionists argue the world is progressing nplenditlly under Evolution and needs Christs kingdom no more than it needed a sin-offering when it had committed no sin .rntl was under no condemnation. Thus nearly all the great and wise prudent according to the course of this world, professing themselves to be wise, have by lraving the truth of Gods revelation, the teachings I~F the Bible, become foolish, and their foolish hearts hare hecornc darkened. Indeed we brlievc this to be the secret of the grclater blindness and more rapid falling away of ministers th.ln other Christians from the very hub of revealed t,ruth, With greater advanthe rnn:.om, ant1 hence from all truth. tagcs for learning the truth than others they have not Zr)@~d truth so as to scnrch for It, especially when they perceived th,lt their search wo111tl not only cost time and energy; but the truth being now as ever unpopular would cost thrnl po~~rrZ~:rrt?y with all cla5ses xrctlded to rrlois. In P~~RC~IJCIICC many rnini~tcin lia\e so trifled \\itli truth .11x(1\I it.11 thclr o\\n consclenccs that they not only have lost lovr anal relish for truth as tenth, but ha\-e txvcn lo& much ttf thnt kc,cbn l~(rcciJtlon fnr tl11111 whirh always accompanies is ncll attestrtl bv tlltb .I trn(l(~r :Intl t i:nnctl ronscicn( (2. This

Texa-, 11i,~lntamed a4 the result of experiments on the Hounder and lower species, that the reactions of these creat,ures against injury do not indicate pain sensations at all. Certain motions are said to express pain, because the? Since they do accompany injury always accompany injury. they are said to indicate that the injury causes the nl:lmal Thiq, the professor says. is a mele argument in to suffer. He regards movements as the immediate c~nsca circle. To prove his position hc quence of physical stimulation. made a considerable number of experiments. The most striking and classic of these experiments werr If such -a low animal made on the common earth worm. lie tlirided at its middle transversely, only the posterior half shows those squirming and jerking movements which, anthropomorphically *viewed,-seem to iudycate pain ; th(x anterior half Now, it (containing the brain) crawls, AS ordinarily, away. each of these halves bc halved again, thr posterior segment Thiq of each squirms while the anterior halves claw1 awar. like result same procc3s may bc continued nith l)Ircisely to crawl indriintil the pieces ale no longer large ennllgh pendrntly. This Ftriking phenomrnon is csplaincci in part by tl~c two srts of muscular fibers in the worm. one lon:itudin~l, causing the squirming and jerking, and the othcr~clr~*ulal. \Ytiv in the pnstcrinr segments which prnducc the crn\\lmg. the former set should bc initlnllv siimulntetl a:ltl in t!le antcriol the latter set, Professor Snrm~xx hays 11e does not know. The abdomen of a hermit crab may be cut in t\\ o witho(l: from any remaining ninv:lMr any but a very slight ?es~ioiibc Limulus stops a few seconds whrn four or fi\ c al)organ. qltit kly l>rrat 1~ tlominal segments are cut a\\ a?, tllen proc(w13
ing as before.

falst~lv, openly niitl 1)~ iii~inilat ioll, to stir ifp the evil lms-ioIl* of thcxir tlf~lntlc~l folln\\ern to rejrct illltl to oucif7/ the t?u//L ~11 such liypncritical scriltei \Vnc is srlrrly roil\irtg upwl lntl lhar iqerq, v 110 \cill nrlthcr cntrr the kingdom thcn1wlvr~ nor Iieriilit tlioqe nlin wonltl lit so inclined to enter -. (onlp:l?C IHntt. 23: 1::.
LOWER ANIMALS SUFFER LESS THAN MAN

fnli(lrlityh hyper-cl itirism has ch~Jrgrt1 Ihr I?ible and tlu* I:rbl~s (:otl Mit11 uu~~mp:~thetic brlltalit>r in cnmmandinp 191ael tn R:ICIifirr sbcc~p, OXPI~. plats .n~tl do\ r< by the tens of t Iioils:\ntlr-~:iiisiilg thrsr inuoc*ciit ci c:~luI es iiitcnsc pail\ %lni ro\ er, it id tlaimc~il Inctrc~ly to l!/pt/tl holnethin,n IutnIc. 1bat lhc mrthnrl romm:indctl by Jlosca law for tlic killing of :Inim,lls for fnntl---tlnmrl\ by bleeding to clcath-is barbarou\. t .cils;lny nc~~llr~ 11ololl~:~tinn nf the ailiinala ~iilfcrin:rs: ,711gt t hr llintluq of Ill~lii~ ;IIC I>ointcd to 14 examples tar Christians. hrcnusc th(:\l will nottastc atrimal food e& if -tal\inn whercbas the foundtar of Christlanitv. wliilr zivinrr hi; follower>

Geophilu5 cut in t\\o in the middle colltinlic-s it9 i*taM Iine, the front half ,rroinQ forward ;\nd the rrnI halt harlc\~;ard Millipedes divided while \\*alkiug do not h.19trn uor stop nor Drilrron flies lose uart ot tlieir abdorncns wlthorrt auy ierk. Eels rontiuue to cat \rh*:~i appreciable change in position tl&Gr abdomens &e cut-away tlllriug the prnccss. Lastlv. sharks and flountlel s, provitletl a cnrrrnt of \\ :Itcar rirculatrs through their gills, \iill allow t11e lnoht tedwllb nnd on their beads ~itl~n??t the sli~Ihtc*-1 c!rep-<going operations npplcciable movement indicnti\-r of pain. * * * Manv friends of the trutll have qurl rctl \\h&hrr 01 uot Gods nlan reveals nnv nrnvisinn tnr the ln\hri anim,ll+. Ihc~\ query whether or not thercl v ill be death< ,lmong tilr 1owr~1 animal9 during the Millrnnium and if so, ii tlinr, wo171Sl not cause pain to their human frientls, etc. Scripture promisrs arc atltlressrd only to 1)ian .\nd lefcr to the lower animals only as they stand related to mans wclfare. ITor instance, tl; promise that the lion shall eat draw l?kr the o\; and lie down ncacenblv with the lamb. is for ?JIRII~ romfni t and asyurancr, and liy ii0 mean5 inlplirs Qvrrlastiuy Altho all animals hare sulf(br(Td by the lifr to the lamb. fall of man. it is lntlirectlv. in that their ruler. their kina. lost his balauce, his full &ity, and hence has been uuable to licstitutinii time< regulate and govern properlv his subjects. therefore will brine its bl&ings chietlv to man, who because of his much high& and finrr-nrganism ha9 suffered by his (le,nratlatinn and death sentence immeasur.lbly more than the
Y G I Y ,

.h

i-11 I:lw \\(r( l~?wrrilif~~l the ~~llttin~ of t11cbthroat.

flfws ? fwtlf~r those

food for man. In 0111npiltion while it tlocs not e\llalist life ina3 nn?rt1;11~ ??ncfmscin:is so thnt, tlI\y-

&lntlv.

ant1 the (lop. not prrillit tc~l -iilTcar 110pain \\h:~trvc~I . ll~r 1x411~~ tllt11c .I(?ra as footl. ,z:l\-r manv inxtaucc3 of !:rcatclr llclvf-M niid mni r than :I??y ol lie? tivr??m3 than (10 tlic oY, sl1Crp. rtc.. I)niibl lr5s tlw w?i-~.inini,llq. tlio \CI~ niucli lrsw tll:?l? i11a11. tivrnc9x of these tcvo is de~ip?rtl to ?iiai,e tlleii? innw tr.lc t;rlilr to IJ~:~??R control and tliel eforr iiinw ilsefnl ant1 cniilli:\l!l~~il.ll~Ic
to hi?n.

\\P clip frnin tlic 1fttsbllr rl ft?\u au articic of thf> above that may bc both intclesting readin?, as fnllons:Animals Which Have Lower no Pain-Recent Orders are not Experiments Sensitive

rorrobol.~l1\ I
:I?JI\ p?otit:?i)l(That

Show

The old writers, actnrdin,o to science. assumed that :I?I Insect has sensations and feeiinga rcsrmbimg our own-that it sreq what we see and suffers as we would suffer if tleatt~~l In the same way. Recently the pendulum has swung in the* other direction, and high authorities practically deny that the lowest organisms feel anything that can properly be c,rllf~~l
pain

Thus

the late Prof. W. W. Norman,

of the Univrriit,v

of

We m.ly expect death among the lower animals durlllg tht> Millennium ap, thev shall hve out their neriocls of uaefuluesr; and by rrnsnn of the contrast the everlasting life lllovided for nlan (made in Gods image) will be the more apprcrintrtl. Snc~3 summer and winter are to continue (Gen. 8 :22) we may know that the flowers and all vegetation will like\+ise die and revive perennially, remindin, m r&tored snd perfected mdn of the blessed chan_ae that came to him bv divine zacc through Jesus, his I~edeemer and Lord. in the animal and rrgetablc These conditions prevailing worlds 11 bring noA pain, ncitber sorrow nor crying-- (Rev. ill 21 :a) because (t/Z of the formrr things will have nassed a\vav. .\mn&st these will be present mzszonceptionst& which \\c are inclined to attlibutc to the lower animals human feeling3 :lntl sentiments-some even carrying these mistaken notions to flowers-loving and talking to their ilowers as others do to n pet dog-imagining reciprocal feelings and sentiment<. Re&itution will -not only bring to men greater knowledgr but also sounder minds. in harmnnv with the divine mind.so that their loves and hopes, like the divine promises, will measurably pass by the lower creatures and think and plan for and be absorbed in unlifting man-the groaning creation. And alreadv those whd rrce&e a knoaleoige of the tlivinr plan and \<ith it the spirit of the Lord, find tbemsrlvcs no
Y

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longer disposed to waste valuable time and affection upon dogs, flowers, etc., while the Lords brethren need sympathy and aid and co&se1 in the narrow way, and while iankihd in general are in so deplorable a condition as at presentmental, moral and physical. And such a change of sentiment is an evidence of their attaining more of the spirit of a sound mind.-See 2 Tim. 1:7.

may be fully awakened also in the Lords consecrated soldiers of the cross, that they may become valiant for righteousness, courageous for the truth as good soldiers of the Lord *Jesus Christ, and be zealous to the extent of enduring hardness shame, contempt, evil speaking and general opposition from the world, the flesh, the devil and the nominal church which, blinded by false doctrines, Satan is so grievously misleading. This thought respecting the Lords soldiers, and the true THE WAR SPIRIT GROWING nobility of character, and deadness to the world, and aliveFor years Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Russia ness to God necessary to victory over self and the world. have had military fever, as is well known; and now the much impressed us recently on the occasion of our visit to the same has spread in virulent form to Great Britain and her We found that, out of a total of Washington City church. Just what bearing this colonies and to the United States. twenty-seven p&fessing full consecration to the Lord, threemay have on the great time of trouble impending is somewhat fourths were volunteers. and the other fourth tlerirour of difficult to prognosticate, but it forcefully reminds us of the being such and only hindered by circumstances tlrev c~uhl not Prophets pion&ncement.respecting our diy: Proclaim ye this so far control. The Editor had the pleasure of JGining thesrh among the Gentiles: Prepare war, wake up the mighty men. soldiers of the Lord in their campaign against error and for let all the men of war draw near; let them come up [to still bound in Babylon :-a cam the liberation of brethren battle] : heat your plowshares into swords, and your pr;ning paign, a warfare for a purpose, a nob!e purpose, ;I loving hooks into spears: let the weak sav, I am strong. The purpose; a warfare for God and truth and liberty, \\l\icJj incontext follo&g clearly describes the&rent day of trouble in jures ndne and can &end none except the great &Jversary 01 which the symbolic sun and moon shall be darkened and the The I:tlitor has 1ong:ctl to jnilc those whom he has blinded. voice of the T>ord shall be heard in rebuke of evil and the in thir service in Allegheny, but thus f.lr has betl~ rP~traInc(l present symbolic heavens and earth shall be shaken.--Joel by the fear that harm rather than gootl might result IWWUHI~oi 3 .3-1G; Heb. 23:26-20. his being known to bc closely itlentitie(l l\lth tile pllbllcatior! In the light of the Boer war and the resistance shown It n ould be credited to a desire to blow hi* o\:ii horn ratlit I to be possible for a weak nation when well arnied with modern than as the blowing of the Jubilee Trumpet, proclain~in~ the weapons, we need not wonder if some of the small, weak times of restitution of all things spoken by the !n~~uth of nations now feel themselves comparatively strong, and if they all the holy prophets.-Lev. 25:9, 10; Acts 3: 10-21. will be proportionately independent--even to arrogance. BelRe are thankful that we can record that this war fever gium for mstance and S\\itzerland are amongst the weak is sureading as well as the evil life-de&lo\-ina OJIC. The nation? now feeling themselves strong: and it is said that the sold&rs of the cross are becoming more and more rotrr.l::roulatter is now spendin:: on its military forcer and armaments (pro rata to its population) more than anp other nation of and coming more and more to realize that. if we olJf;llt also to la!/ do11)t our Zzces for the brethren. this woultl imrtlvY our Europe. L willi&ness to lav down any and ever-y lesser thing-t lmz. Of course tllis war spirit may quiet do\\n: but while it ( numbering about seventy 1 lasts-while every boys heart is throbbing with military en- influc&e, etc. Tbe Boston cl&ch we understand has enlisted in this volunteet work ,JlmosL thusiasm and every schoolyard is a drill-ground-when even WC have sent thcnl 1:?,8OO of th(a without an exception. the Sunday School scholarr are organized into Rays Brigades volunteer TOWERS which they are hastening to distributka -when nrofessed Christians arc so infected with the fever before the warm weather thins the congregations they woul~i as to bh blinded to justice and love and pity,-things are serve. not favorable to peace. It looks very much as tho the International Peace Congress cried Peace! Peace! when there is WJlat a privilege is here for such as Iin\ ( played (:od for opportunity to serve him and his cause! Counting t list cacil no peace-because the spirit of avarice controls the world of thebe double TOWERS repreqents four SerlnOJl~, a!Jd that and not the spirit of the Lord, the spirit of love and benevoeach should reach and be read by at least three pcwgbn*, V~JJ lence. ITowcver, we who look from the Watch Tower can .,:jmsl note thtxse things with equanimity. In the world but not of any one point out any other method for rc~;t(*lliJl~ III;. desirable class of brethren at the same low WQ~:/ It wr It, \\e can sympathize with all the contestants, realizing that know of no other method of ~csc~hing this (.I:I+ (It cram/ [jlicc, tlacll nation is more or less blinded and misled by the sJ>irit of pride which forgets or has never learned that only rightand if we Jtnow of 910 otlrer wa.v by which I\( ~~nil~l 1~ro31~1J til eousncss exalt&h a nation ; but sin is a reproach to any them the true gwpel. why 4muld not all ot t11~ J,o~(l~ mn r,eol~lt~.-Prov. 14 :34. sccratWl peoJ)Je who fn ioy the light of Jlrlh+nt 11II~II :IVXI~ i<\erv evil course amongst men stems to be the reiult The f<lc+ t11at Ii 1. :I, iIf-f( r:rVthoc! themqrlvcs oi the privilege? Jt i,; rllrc1.v :L L:II(.IW~II~I n~c~thc~cl of thca rnisdirection or perversion of a yootl quality: and sn of pre,Lching is nothing. it is the misdirection of combatlrcnot 0pl.v as respects the brethren we w~)iil~l :litl, biit :!I911 It is in thi4 war spirit: those who have covenantcrl 1ilc~mWl\(~~ a* rlcss :lnd destrrcctlvencss,--tag o qualit& absolutely intlispen5ihlc 3 s respects have learned a\ll who ~~II;-:J~zc~ in to Jnogress. But very few even of Christians living sacrifices to the Lord and 111s (YIIIW. of the Lords Word and spirit how to use these faculties this service a$ ?nmcJtJiin,rr done for :IJ~C] JJJJto llJtb T,o~tl ai i <iJr( J>roprrly-in fighting the good fight, in overcoming and dcto be correspondingly blessed. Let all \t ho (t,,l \ccur(J .I siln~+~ strovin:: the forces of sin in thenbselues and in opposing err01 in this bJ?ssinz. See the item in oiir i5\11c, 01 .\nrJl 1.7111. tlis \~ith truth, the darkness with the light-Spenhing the truth cussing the rvkli, method, etc., Hearken to tll(b ic;yful C~IIIII~ at in IOW. the .Jlll,iJ(xc Triinipct an(l becornca cntJlll+cd I\I~JI :JICB JIITI! oi \\-r pray that as the spirit of walfare rises in otherr it this holv wwrfarc.
1 .>

PHILADELPHIA

CONVENTION, JUNE 16-18

convention hall arc very centrally loc~:itctl, i1(:1 to d(bJ81 .i\ 11 I rlittlc strut car fare need he esprntlctl. (3 i The convention will open $:l:nrtl.ly 1~011111:~. .JI:,Io I (j The forenoon will be dtlvotrd to mcctin:: arr1v1nz Fricsllfi- ;:vttipg nrquaintrtl, etc. On that morning rCpl(*+nt:ltl\~~ <Ii thth J:IJ]\v:I\ (i(,l~tPJiilntJeJphix church will be at tJlc varioii; to mcel nlriving fi icntlq. who will lx, r\pcbc.twl 11) itlrlll 1f.v ihcm r;cJ\cc: hy c!icpJnying coJJ~picllnll~i~ t]JP fiorrt p,J;:c- of cl \\.?rcll TOWI I{ Shollld a~jp fall tn 1~. ItJerttJfic>tl i11(8~ will II I b/t, no diffirulty in finding St. Georges TTnll ac: nlroke ~ii11 tlJltrc% it reception committee (rc>cognizabJc by a silk hatlg*,) will lool, out for their welfare. (4) Any of the friends wlln can attcntl. but wlhb rarrnot afford more than one clollar a tiny pxpenw t1111ing their stnj. will be assisted hy others more al)Jc, out of a fllntl alrend\ provided: and any who cannot afford the motlcst 4nm of ontt dollar prr day, if thrv Pan arrancrt their railwnv fi11t1. wi!l b6, provided for imtls. Come, all \\;lln can, who hive the T,ordd spirit and who seek more of it. Tll? assemhlincr of ourselves t&ether for the consideration of our Fathers W&l will surely hrinp a hleqaing as he has promised.

Short notice 1s not always a disadvantage. and :ve fruqt Arrangements for the Phila~111 not be in this instance. delpbin convention hat1 not. hcen completed when our Iact ISSUC went to pres;p. The above (late girt:< us the advanrnrc of the low rates ,rrrantetl 1~ all railroads to the Repnblic+~n partv convention-namely &e fare for the round trip from al dirwtions. Tltr sea& of the vear is vervY favorable and we anticipate a large attendance. * The convention will be held undrr the auspicses of the Watch Tower Ruble and Tract NocMy. The church at Philadelphia, our hosts or entertainers for the occasion, have made bointifnl arrangement8 as follows:f 1) St. Georges Hall. corner of 13th and Arch streets, has been secured for- the use of the convention. It is one oi the finest halIS in Philadelphia. (2) The Lincoln Hotel, No. 12,, Locust street, haq been O engaged upon moderate terms for the class of accommodation, narrelv, one dollar a day each person for lodgings. Meals can be had at various restaurants in that vicinity at fifteen cents and upward. It will be safe for those of limited mpans to reckon expenses at two dnllars per day, for the hotel and

[26411

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ALLEGHENY.

Pa.

(5) When purchasing your ticket, ask for-Excursion ticket to Republican Convention at Philadelphia. The railroad people assure us that such tickets will be satisfactory to them. (6) Decide about your going as speedily as possible, and if you decide to attend, at once address: Receptaon Committee, P. 0. Box No. 3084, Philadelphia, Pa., stating by what road you will travel, and if possible the hour of your trains arrival on Saturday morning or afternoon. The convention program will be announced at its first session and posted up for reference. We cannot now announce the sneakers. but among them, D. V., will be Brother Randle (formerly a missionary in China) and the Editor of this journal. (7) An opportunity will be afforded (Monday afternoon, June 18th) for any confessing baptism into Christs death to svmbolize this in water ban&m. Robes and towels will be p>ovided, and the service will be preceded by a discourse delininq and explaining Baptism and its import.

(8) No collections will be taken up, nor other solicitations for money made. Our assemblings are for spiritual refreehment and for the acquirement of heaven1 riches for all. (9) Only Christians, who trust in C6 rmt as the ru~som for all, are invited to this convention. It is hoped and earnestly requested that all such who come will seek preparation of heart for a blessing-hunger and thirst after righteousness, truth, purity, holiness; and all who come humbly in this condition will surely not only get a blessing, but also bestow blessings upon others. To these desirable ends let us each make the convention and our own association therein a subject of prayer. We bespeak for it also the prayers of all of the Lords consecrated people who cannot attend: and thus they will no doubt participate in the blessings. Other conventions for this season will be as follows: At Chicago, about Sentember 1; at Dallas. Texas. September 29, 30 and October 1: Particulars respecting the last two will appear later.

FULL ASSURANCE OF FAITH

PSALM 23 : 6. Avlrely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my lzfe, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Saint Paul speaks of the full assurance of hope and of full dom: such receive Gods grace in vain, profiting nothing by a--urance of faith as being the proper conditions for the Lords it over and above the world, which as yet lies in darkness and people. (Heb. 6:ll; 10:22) blindness. And this is the thought exWhat should such do? They should at once resolve that pressed by the Prophet, in our text-full confidence that he to render all they have to the Lords service is not only a reavl ho has beeun a rood work in us is both able and willing to sonable thing, but an offering far too small-far less than complete it (Phil. 1:6) But how few Christians, comparawhat thev would like to render to him who has manifested tively, have this full assurance of faith; how few can- say, such compassion and grace toward us. And we should feel Surely. undoubtedlv. goodness and mercv shall follow me thus, even if there were no rewards attached to such a conshall henceforth through life. and by Gods grace I ultimately secration of ourselves. But inasmuch as God has attached oain the heavenly kingdom and the glorious things which great rewards and blessings, we should feel not only that a The few who can God has nromi5etl to them that love him! refusal to accept would be an indication of non-appreciation enter fully into s+vmpnthv with the Apostle and Prophet in the-e expreshions leave therein a great joy, a great blessing, a of divine mercy, but an indication also of a wcakneis of mind, of judgment, which is unable to balance the trifling and tran: great rcbst of heart whic.11 others do not nossess. Let us theresitorv nleasures of self-will for a few shoi t veali. with an fore inquire why it iy that the number who thus enter into eternity of joy and blessing and glory, in harmony with the the rest of faith is so small. What are the hindrances to the Lord. othrrs, and how can those hindrances be removed, that a And more than this, the consecrated are the only ones who larger number of tltc Lord.5 people may enjoy their patrireally fully and truly enjoy this present life, for they indeed mony ? have a peace of heart which the norld can neither give nor The hindrances are nf two kinds: (1) Many who are on take amav-a condition which all the woild is cnvetiug and tile Lo~tls side, and who have been greatly blessed of him, and seeking after, but finding not because they seek it not in the wlro have matle considerable progress in the knowledge of the Lords wav of full self-surrender to him. We urge. then. UDOn trutlt, and who are trusting in the merit of the Lord Jesus the class *now addressed that thev promptlv make their cove;nti.ri!icc as tlte onlp hope of a future life, and who are thus nant with the Lord, and thus be~!ome he-irs of his gnod prnmill-trfirtl, have ncveithrle-s failed to take the second step ises uertaininn to the life that now is. and also of that which ne,e<Iarv to their full induction into sonship in Gods family is to come, and that thus they lav the forrndatbon for entering an11 into ioint-heir~hin with (hri<t to all the exceeding great into full assurance of the faith and full assurance of the and prrc*torir promises wltic*lr extend only to those who become hope that Gods mercy and goodness shall follow them all the This step. c++ntial to becoming snns and joint-heirs, hli SOllS. days of the present life, and that they shall dwell in the is t!re purpose of full conscrration-the full surrender of our heavenly home forever. o\zn wills. inc~luding all tlte aims and objects and purposes of (2) But amongst those who are real Christians, and who life. am1 includingalso all that WC have in the way of time, have made a full covenant of sacrifice unto the Lord, we find influence. meani. ~epatatinn. etc. Not having taken this step, many who say, and more who think it without saying-0 not having taken up the crohs to follow the Lamb whither; that. I could feel sure that Gods goodness and mercv would soever ltr goeth, thi, large class verv properly feels that it is continue with me all the days of my life, and that I should rllie~tinnat,le to vvhat extent the Lords promises, either for the attain unto his kinedom! 0 that I might have a full assurlift that now is or for the life that is to come, belong to them. ance of faith. a fullassurance that I am accepted of the Lord, Ant1 in this they are right; for none of the promises, present and that by his grace I shall ultimately be an overcomer! or future, belong to thrm, nor to any, until they have come What is the difficultv with this class? Whv is it that these under the terms of a full self-surrender, consecration, presentdo not possess this full assurance of faith? UWe answer, that inr their bodies living sacrifices to God. holv. acceptable. , I their difficulty is a lack of faith in God, and such a lack of t!:inuglt .Jcsus Christ our Lord. faith is not pleasing to God, for without faith it is imposOur advice to these. tlten, is that realizing the situation, sible to please God. Such lack of faith, moreover, is a they do not longer delav, but hasten at once to avail themconstant hindrance to their overcoming. as it is written, This sel~tbs of the greatest privilege that could possibly be offered, is the victorv that overcometh theY&orld. even our faith. even l)r the Almiehtv. Jf thev stand still thev are. in the lanThe Christian who has not the shield of faith, and a large one, &ia~&e of the Ap%e, receiving the grace of God in vain(2 Cnr. 6: 1) Gods grace, as freely beis continually at disadvantage before the adversary.-Heb. iailinc to use it. 11:6; 1 John 5:4. stowetl upon those who have come to a knowledge of the reWhat must be done to overcome this lack of faith, and to demption which ii in Christ .Jesus, is the grace of the forgivehave an increase of faith? We answer. that like the apostles nc-s of sins. of justification through faith; and the very object of old he should pray, Lord, increase our faith. And then. of this grace is to pprmlt or gzlalifq us to become living sacacting in harmony with this l/prayer, each should cultivate rifice-, acceptable to Gods altar through the great sacrifice faith in his own heart: (a) By refreshing his memorv cnnof our Redeemer. tinually with the divine promise:, becomingvery familiar with Whoever, therefore, shall advance thus far and know of his pri\-tlege, and yet refuse to present his little all, has failed these in the Fathers Word. (b) He should seek more and more to remember that havinp made his covenant with the tn be ronstrained by the love of Christ, has failed to appreLord these promises are his, and in his heart and with his rinte the divine favor bestowed upon him. and manifests this lins he should claim them as his before the Lord in nraver failure by his neglect to use his opportunities, by his neglect with thanksgiving. He should claim them as his in h& own to sacrifice the imperfert fragment of this present life, that thou,nhts. and in his ronferences on holy things with the he might obtain in exchange the areat pri7e of glory, honor a.ntl immortality. and joint-lrrirsliip with Jesur in the kingbrethren.
I

[ 26421

JUNE

1. 1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(170-171)

M-hen trials or difficulties or perplexities arise, he should think of these promises, remembering that they belong to him -because God has promised them to such as love him-who (Psa. 50:5; Mal. have made a covenant by self-sacrifice. 3: 17) He should resolve henceforth to trust the word of the heavenly Father implicitly. Thus, if some seeming accident befall him, let him call to his mind the promise that All things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his purpose, and assure himself that the seemins accident would not have occurred had God not seen a way to make it the channel of a needed lesson or blessing. Let him refresh his mind with the thought that he comes under tllc provisions of this promise because he loves the Lord, and so loved him as to make a full consecration of himself to him; thus he is assured that this promise was intended for him. Let such also remember the language of the Apostle, that if God loved us while we were yet &n& so that he provided for us the great salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord. much more does hg love us now, since we have been justified through faith in the great atonement, and have made a full consecration of ourselves to him, and thus come under the terms of adoption into his family. Let him remember, too, that he who hasSbegnn the good work changes never, and that.if our hearts are still in harmonv with him. if our faith is still clear and firm in the great atonement, if our consecration is still full and complete, so that we seek not our own wills but his will to be done in our allairs, then we may indeed have the full ashurancc of faith, because knowing that God is unchangeable, and knowing that we are still in line with his promises and arrangements, we know that all of his gracious provideneed are still being exercised on our hehalf. This is full assuranct of faith-full confidence in the Lord. (3 I It I:, pa&ble, however, for the true Christian who has tdk(tn the step of justification and the step of consecration and adoption into Gods family, and who has had the blessing
c1

of full assurance of faith-it is possible for such to lose thi3, if he become overcharged with the cares of this life, cold and indifferent as respects the Lord, his kingdom, his brethren, his cause. etc. Such, of course. should not have a full assurance of faith: God does not intend it for them, but rather intends that if we leave the proper consecrated attitude we should also lose the joys and consolations which belong to it. And this is not merelv as a retribution or uunishment. but designed specially to awaken US to a realizaiion of what we are losing, to the intent that such as have lost their first love may be revived, may renew their consecration vows, and thus return to the Lord, who will abundantly pardon and restore unto them the joys of his salvation. So then, reviewing our text, we say that this assurance of faith that Gods goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives, and that we shall ultimately by his grace attain to the kingdom, is for the class mentioned in this Psalm, viz., the Lords sheep-those who are following him, and who are having the esperiences outlined in this Psalm. One of these experiences is that following the GluTherd they are not left to hunger and thirst. but are bountifully supplied in the green pastures and by the still waters of the truth. Moreover. it atmlies to those who eruerience the Khenherds I care, his rod and staff, correcting. reproviq or guiding them. Such sheep as learn to love and have confidence in the Shepherd and in his guidance. and to take comfort and blessing out of all the afflictions and trials of life which mav be permitted to come upon them, realizing that they are providential. and for their blesqing-such continue to follow the Shenherd, continue to have tI;k experiences of sheep, and may rejoice with full assurance of faith that he who began the gocd work of shepherding them and leading them out from the hyways of sin and of selfishness into the full blcising of the heaveniv Father, will continue this work and complete it, if they abide in him.--.John 16 :a-6.
II I

GIVE

US THIS DAY OUR DAILY

MATT.

BREAD

6:ll;

JOHN

6:5-IL-JUNE

17.

Jesus and the apostles, entering a boat, sailed across the northerly end of Lake Galilee. The boat was in full view of the shore for probably all of this distance, and the multitudes, not only of those who had heard Jesus, but other multitudes on their way to Jerusalem to attend the Feast of the Passover, going bv slow journey afoot, saw the boat and judged of its objective point,and many, desirous of seeing the great Prophet Jesus, of whom they had heard many things, deviated their course toward the point of the hoats landing. And so it was that after ,Jesus and the disciples had reached their destination (and he had been for some time instructing them in things pertaining to the kingdom) looking up they beheld a vast concourse of people approaching the spot. Je,ur of course knew that with the vast majority at least the ObJeCt in coming was merely curiosity, not faith nor desire for instruction. Nevertheless. as always, his generous heart He beheld them. as sheep having no was full of sympathy. sheuherd. as following Moses and the Doctors of the Law in a blind. almost irrational manner, and having comparatively little capacity or hearing for the good tidings which he had to give. Nevertheless. notwithstanding the fact that they were not in a condition to receive spiritual truths slicli as be could give to his disciples, he proposed to give them a gcnerxl object lesson ahirh might do them good physically at the time, and which might be a channel for blessing in the future, as they would look hack and remember the event. He proposed to feed the multitude with natural food, and to do it in such a manner as would impress them favorahly. and besides, teach a great lesson of faith and trust to his auostleq. who would need in future times the faith and confidence inspired by the miracle which he intended to work. Philip, one of the apostles, resided in a citv not far from where they were; hence it was with special appropriateness that our Lord addressed to him the auestion of sunnlieswhere sufficiency of bread could he obtained, etc.; not: -as the Spostle explains, that Jesus was in any question on thlq hubiett, hut that he wished to stimulate the thought of Philin and the other apostles, and thus to prove or test them and develop their faith in him. Philip, however, took the question in a nureIv DracticaI form, and reulied that it would reouire two hundred pennyworth ($34) of bread to satisfy even partiallv so large a comuanv. But Andrew. auuarentlrthinkino of ol;r Lordsvpower, but scarcely able to realize so great a miracle, suggested that there was a beginning of the supply at least,

in the five barley loaves and two small fIAcs possesEed lay one of the company. Combining the tr<timonies of the tlillercnt Erangeli\ts we might suppose the dialogue between Jesus and the disciples to have been about as follows: Jcszts.--Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat 7 P7tzZip.-Two hundred pennyworth of Itread is not suflirient for them, that every one may take a little All the apostles.-Send the multitude awav that tlicv mav go into the towns and country round about, ant1 lodge and ge? victuals. (L?th-e. ) Jeszts.-Give ye them to eat. (Lrrlie.) All the apostles.--Shall we go and hny two hundred pennyworth of bread and give them to eat? (Mark.) Jesus.-How manyloaves have ye? Go and see. (Jlark.) Andrelc;.---There is d lad here which bath fi\c barleo loaves and twc small fishes; hut what are tln$ among so many ? Thus did our Lord prepare the minds of hi\ (liscipl~s to appreciate the miracle he was about to perform, and then instructed them to seat the people for the proposed meal. This was a comparatively easy tack. btc*ause it was a grassy country, wc are told, and the people wrre ac~cuhtnnic~tl to a certain method of arranging themselves in groups of fifties and hundreds for reneral feasts. The fact &at our Lord Jesus gave thanks for the bread and fish should be an imnortant lesson to all who seek in anv degree to he his followe&. If it waq appropriate that hf should render thanks to the heavenly Father for snme plain snlt), and for some barley bread (the poorest and cheap& dried fish, how appropriate it is that we who bv nature are sinners and under condemna;-n, and onlv permitted to call God our Father through the reconciliation that is in Christ Jesus-how appropriate that we should lift our hearts and voices in thankfulness to the heavenly Father as the author of every good blessing and gift which NP r~linv ! We-cannot understand how any C%rist&nY dare neglect to render thanks for his daily food, ant1 wr thoroughly helrere that those who do neglect this propriety are great losers thereby. God, of course, loses notbiug, for giving does not impoverish him, neither would withholtling make him rich; hut the Christian who has learned in everything to give thanks, and to make acknowledgment to thr heavenelv Father. has learned to appreciate and te enJOy hi* blrqsing more than [ 26431

i 172.173)

ZIONS

WATCH

TOUER

others. To 5uch thankful hearts the plainest of food will be more applcclatcd, more happifying, more satisfying than to ~jtl!er~ And 1t 1~ undoubtedly a fact. that a peaceful, thank1111,happy mind 1s not only a biessing of Itself, but addi~~ortally an aid to thgrition and to the obtalnmg of good Iwlrcfit.s from the food which we eat. How many dyspeptics know that, 1t I> possible to eat without satisfying, and to have !filcnty, and ;\ct tic1 unable to derive therefrom comfort and 111c)perIIOUI r4tttiwtt ! And perhaps there is no better antidote to tly-pep+l.t than a thankful , grateful heart, \vhich acknowl~I;:te di\inc I)tchsings :tncl seek3 to 11s~ them. not only with ilt~l~ll~illlll~~ss. ItIlt wit.11 (ontcntment, and thu> has great gain. Irl1cx. GotI tloci not 1e5cnt fnilurrs to ncknowledgc him in !!I ,111, ,L:t>.. t)lrt, ro11tiiiuc\ 1(~ cnusc the 11111 shunt upon to 111 I\ II > I!(1 ~1[1011IlC ecd, I and to send the rain al1ke upon t12 ![I.t alIt tllh IlrlJll.t, :tnd to prrm1t many of the blPs5ings tL ttkr3 t)rr-cn: 1ifc to c~~nt11111c \vith those wl101make no l~roprr ,I h~:u\~lc~~I~ltlc~ill of tllrrl. NC\ crthclcss, SW I1 c,nnnot hJne to

ttorc!~ t,c~l~iti~lf IICC. ( Iw:rn SO.16, 17) In a word, then, there 1%just one ri:tlt w:iy to brr[in to bra ttllb Lords followers, and f110~c MIto 11r)not w1iI1 to tqin according to the Lords direc-l$m, 111*(llf t ~~)n.c~crntion.II:IV(: 1.0 1ipht to suppose that outward ,.r.i.i c,f i01 1ilat1 -tic piety arp ;lcccpt>lble or pleasing to God. K-c. rnll,t II t \t t)c~~omettic 1,orrls before XYCen11 hope that any ~or~l~il) or WI rice from IIS will be acceptable to him through lf-lli. ittr fait11 of tl!c, apo<ttcs I 3 well demonstrated in the fart 1ht tlrc,y p1 c~c+cdrtl to \r;rt tl1c people. according to the Lords IrlHt I.lt:~tiOl:~ , ;11rt1 tllc*n PI c~~~dctl to (Ii\ 1tle to them the. at tirht. v( ry linli!c~tl qu:iiicity of food. \Vithout faith in the I ,or!I tl1cby \\o111(1 l111tloul1tetlly have rcbfused to take any part ItI i he proc*crtlingy. fc,11in:: that it would bring reproach and ridicule iipoit tl1cinscl\(~*. The I(+son whic$ 1hey learned in [Ilin coniirc~l ion 110 tlorit)t went \i ith them through subsequent year\. tcac*hin:: the1n that they ~oultl do a11 things by the power of (!Ilrlht, if l:lhoring under his command. And the -RrtlP !(~~011~~Oltt(~s fOrc*~fully to 11s all. Xcitlier 011r duties nor lur pri\rlcgc~. arc wllollv 1tl~~itSUrWl bv ollr own abilities. A prop& faith in th(b lio1d permits us tYj rctalizr hi-l omnipotent power. and that if IIP hc with us, fo1 in~l,tncc in that dibtribrltion ot ~pir1tirnl food to the hungry, the little of means and .thil1tg and oIjI)ortunity at our dicposal may IX $0 bles>cd as to .1~*c~on1pli~lini:t1 \cloii+ t tiingq. Tntleed. ha\c w( 1tot this very

experience today in connection with the spread of the harvest message ? Out of the little of means and talent, opportunity and ability, what God hath wrought! How many have been fed and are being fed! The miracle was all the Lords, and yet a great blessing came to the apostles, in that they were privileged to be coworkers with the Lord. And similarly here, in the dissennnation of the harvest message, we recognize that it is all of our Lord, the present Bridegroom, King, Reaper, and yet that he is pleased to use as disseminators of the truth all those who have faith in him and who gladly accept his eerv1re. As our Lord couid have Derfo1med the miracle of feeding the five thousand without the* instrumentality of his disciples, so now he could feed the hungry Israelites mdeed-who are famished, not for bread and not for water. but for the heannE of the \Vord of the Lord (Amos 8: 1I )-without our aid. -Let us gratrful!v thank him for the nrivilene of beinrr ro-workers 111 any capncity, and let, us the m&e &iously doy\ith our might whatsoever our hands find to do. Another great lesson taught by thiq miracle was that of economy; for the apostles who di&r1hutctl the food were requircd to gather up ior their own future use the su1t:tblc fragmen& which remained. and each one accordinelv fillrd his bayket or haversack, which they wrre accustomed& carry 111their journeys. The mirarlr would have haal 01x1~ half 1ls weight without thiq rlosing lesson of economy. The tl1sciples and the multitude might have learned to think of (;ods powers in an impioprr IigKt, and to hare expected ~ufli pro\ i+~ioii :iq woul~l Ullt t1w compensate for their carelessness and nrotlirralitv. gatliering of the fragments showed, fir-t-of ail, the imnlrns1t> of the 1nlrarle, and. secondly. it taught the 1es~o11th.lt we ait to use the meanu, which God has put into OIIY hands, anIl not to expect unnecessary miracle+. HOW many of the Lords dear people Ned to learn th14 lesson of economy? How many are wasteful of tl1c daily fool1 which the Lord prcrides ? How many WOlild be the more blessed by learning to practice careful economy, not only that they might have in the future. but also that, thcv might 111 emergency supply to others spiritual or natural foot1 :I$ opput. tunity afforded? Let aIt who are disposed to be extr:~r:q::nt and wasteful well consider this lcscon from the grc,lt, l+:1c~hc~r. t,l1at nothing is to t1c wasted, that we have a reqpo11\ihllit> in respect to all that God has provided for IIP, either di1cctl) or indirectly, and that after asking divine blessing upon 0111 affairs, and thus signifvin g our appreciation of them. we all to seek to wisely use them, a< wc think would be plrasing in his sight, and frugally, economically. Tile same lesson might be applied also to our spiritual food. The fact that the Lord Iraq riven us bountifullv thinps nts\\ and old does not mean thit we are to treatU those <lessed truth3 carelessly, when wr have eaten thereof and found satisfaction to our souls; rather, we are to be careful of nil tht, fragments, and are to gather and preserve them for furthe and future use, esteeming them none the less the Lords provision than when first we received them from his hands.

REVIEW

OF THE QUARTERS

STUDIES

llry, l.Gn~pLom come; thy will

be done on earth as it is done in heave?&. (5) We saw how the faith of John the Baptist was tested by reason of the fact that the kingdom work did not come in his day just as he had expected it would, and we saw how carefully our T,ord explained to him wherein his expectations had been partly erroneous, and indicated how events as they were in progress were in full accord with the testimony of the Snd so we have learned in respect to the estabprophets. iish-ing of the spiritual kingdom now, to t&t not to our own imaginations. but to PO rather to the Word of the Lord. and to <ice what therein & written, and so doing we are adle to note today what we would not otherwise be able to discern how that our Lords great plan is grandly progressing in harmony with what was written aforetime. (6) We saw, in our Lords denunciation of Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida, how possible it is for some in our day to have great privileges, as those cities had great knowledge, great opportunities of coming into accord with the Lords kingdom, and yet through lack of faith to fail utterly-to fail more miserably as respects pleasing God than did such heathen We saw, nevertheless, cities as Sodom and Tyre and &don. that the full number bf the elect church or kingdom class would be found in Gods due time, and that then will commence the great Judgment Day of thb world, in which it will be tolerable for all, under the righteous judgment of the great [2644]

Rcl jewin:: tltc studies of the quattcr we find that nearly :, 11 of thrm ;I t c closelv 1elntcd to our Qoltlt:tt Text. ( 1 ) \fc had the iJe:ttihldW-th? conditions of heart and ~~haractcr cs\cntial to our participation in this kingdom class that Cod ha; dcclarcd hc 1s selecting from the world, and whit+ hy and tlv he ~111 glorify with the King Emmanuel in his hIill~nnia1 kingdom. (2) We had certain precrpts. ~iomises and warnings re+pcct inf ltow tl1is kingdom class m& make development, not in sitting ill Judgment llpon others IIOW, but rather by judg III~ nothing I,cfore the t1mp, whcu thry shall be granted the pow(rq of jntlpmcnt in siwh <qlorioiis measure as will permit their iutlfiina to be a Messinz to the world. and that tliuq this kingdo glass must seek ihe narrow way to glory, honor ,lnd immortality. (2) We had the miracle of the awakening of the daughter of *Jairun, an illustration of the great work of the kingdom when it shall br set up, and when all mankind shall be released from the prison-house of death. (4) \Ve had the healing of the centurions servant, another picture of restitution blessings which are to be eenrral :kt the-time that our Lords prayer, ?n our Golden Text. is realized, and Gods kingdom shall come and his will he done on parth a3 it is in heaven.

JUNE

1, 1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(174-175)

King, but more tolerable for such as Sodom and Gomorrah than for those who have had the greater privileges and knowledge and misused them. (7) VV:e found, in the case of Simon and the woman that was a sinner, that some who occupy important positions in the nommal church may be much further from the kingdom of God as reqpects their hearts than are some others who have outwardlv been living a less correct life, and that some of the latte;, reforming, may become more zealous toward the Lord and more accentable with him. and hence more eligible to the kingdom. (8) The parable of the sower showed us the importance of having our hearts in a correct attitude toward God. not full of worldly ambitions and cares, which as thorns would choke the very best seed, but freed from these that we should be ready to receive the good seed of the kingdom into our hearts, and to be exercised thereby into seeking first the kingdom of God. (9 ) We saw various parables of the kingdom, illustrating to us the churchs present experiences, while waiting for the completion of the elect number and the full inauguration then of the kingdom glory and power to bless the world. We saw the true Chri~tians renresented bv the wheat, the outgrowth of pure doctrine, the good seed of the kingdom. We saw false Chiistrans represented by the tares, and the false doctrines which produce such, which were sown by the adversary. We saw the growth of the nominal church represented as being very great, but as resulting in inviting into it the fowlWe saw that the spiritual every unrlean and hateful bird. food provided for the Lords household had been corrupted by
I

the woman everywhere predominant throughout the Scriptures, the wine-cup of whose abominations have made drunk all nations.-Rev. -18 :2, 3. (10) We have seen that the sending forth of the twelve apostles was with the same message, the same Gospel of the kingdom, that the Master declared, and that similarly whoever is sent out of the Lord today as a servant of the truth has the same message, the Gospel of the kingdom, under which, when it is established, Gods will shall be done on earth as it is done in heaven. (11) The lesson of Herodias and her wicked ambition and sinful course, in which Herod shared, taught us that earthly ambitions lead downward and sinward, away from God and into degradation, but that the ambition set before the church, viz., to be Gods kingdom, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ our Lord. if so be that we suffer with him, is the lawful ambition which leads upward and is elevating. in its every influence and purifying as respects our hearts and lives. (12) Finally, in the feeding of the multitude, we see illustrated our Lords compassion for the people, which compassion during the hlillennial kingdom will have fullest sway, when the bread of life shall be broken to all of the hungry, and when all shall be privileged to share in the blessings which the Lords kingdom will bring, and that then those who have followed him in the present time shall be associated with him in the work of blessing the multitude under the glorious kingdom conditions. We may well pray from the heart. in the language of our Golden Text, Lord, Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

WHEN PERSECUTED. FLEE as being much more modest than the frequest use of I said, I think. I exnect. Z believe. Z find. etc. And this custom Question.-How should we understand and apply Matt. i< followed in the ablest newspapers and journals of our land. 10:23-When thev persecute vou in this citv, flee ge to anI Of course, incidentally, we voice the sentiments of many other; for verily I say unto you, ye shall not have gone over of our readers when voicing our own; because they and we the cites of Israel till the Son of Man be come? recognize the Bible as a divine revelation, the onlv standard Anszoer.-These instructions were given primarily to the of truth, and endeavor to keep close to its letter -and spirit. twelle Apostles, and doubtless were understood by them to But we will neither bind others to our convictions nor mean that their mission was not to stay long in a place, but permit any to bind us to theirs. The only fixed creed we that RS persecution arose, and the people were unwilling to recognize is the simple and fundamental one-that God sent hear their message, thev were to gd to other cities and-vilhis Son, who died for our sins; and that through faith in this, lages. full of the conr<ction that the time for their snecial and obedience to him, to the extent of our ability, we shall be tcitimonv of the kingdom at hand was limited, and thai they saved. All who so confess are Christians and are to be woul~l not mnre than have accomplished their proclamation trea.ted as brethren. Thev should be assisted to grow in in all the cities of Israel before the Son of Man would be nreknowledge and grace, but should be accorded fullest Bbertysented as King, and the testing of the nation reach its climax. The libertv wherewith Christ hath made us free. Neither Thiq climax was reached when, at the end of his three and a directly no; indirectly has any one a right to make a creed for half vrars ministrv, our Lord rode to them on the ass, as their -King, and fafling to be received (in harmony withthe them nor to otherwise speak for them and then imply their disloyalty and heresy if they attempt to resent misrepnroohecv) declared their house henceforth left desolate.L&e 13 .35. resentations. WATCH TOWFB readers are supposed to be, and urged to be, But while this was the primary signification of the Lords the Lords freemen, and at the same time the Lords bondwords, we believe that like most of his teachings to Israel after servants ; and to call no man master; because one alone is the flesh it had a still larger meaning than was then due to their hIaster and Lord--Jesus. This liberty, however, does not be understood-an application to the parallel cloiing of this hinder them from appreciating one another as brethrenGospel age. As there was a harvest i-n the end of the Jewish age. in which natural Israel was tested. so in the end of this Whose kind designs to serve and please a,& there is a harvest in which spiritual Israel will be Through all their actions run. tested. And as there was a proclamation of Jesus m the flesh, Each is free to love and esteem each other for their work\ as King, so there must be correspondingly a proclamation of sake, and to seek to note how the Master is pleased to use one Jesus, the new creature, as King of Glory. And as in that and another in serving the body of Christ. Earh free one, harvest some were sent forth with the harvest message, and loyal to the Lord, is pleased to recognize as special servant? it was to reach all the Israelites within the borders of the of the body those whom the Lords specrallv uses. Those promised land, so now we understand that in the present harwho are not free with the liberty wherewith Christ makes free, vest the messaec is aoing forth. Behold the bridegroom. and are enslaved to decisions of men and to rustoms and theories, the further lnnouficement to Zion, Thy Gods reigneth. and are not at liberty to follow the leadings of divine provi(Matt. 25 :6 ; Isa. 52 : 7 ) This harvest message is also to be dence and the testimonies of the divine Word. understood as limited in time, and the bearers of it are not WHEN WILL SATAN BE BOUND? to dallv, but to exercise diligence, realizing that the time is Question-In the DAWNS you have intimated that the short. and that thev shall have time and n% more to go over binding of Satan in the end of this age will be accomplished all the rities of sniritual Israel. before the arand consummaby the&increase of general intelligence~light. etc. Is this the tion shall be reached, and the Son of Manshall have comonly sense in whirh you consider that he will be found? pleted the first part of his work, the collection of his saints, Ansrcer.-Bv no means. The binding of Satan with the flock, and thus the kingdom be set the jewels, the little great chain, an-d the putting of him intdthe abyss mentioned up in power. in Rev. 20.1-3. is all figurative: but the fiaures are all meanOF WHOM MD FOR WHOM DO WE SPEAK? ingful. To ~1s they signify a cdmplete re&aint of Satan and all his powers of evil. The great chain represents restraint. Question.-When in the WATCH TOWER and Dawns and The word abyss, in our common version rendered bottomless Old Thaology Tracts we read we believe, our views, etc., The seal upon it represents divine are we to underqtand that a church or society or creed so pit, represents oblivion. rare that none shall interfere with Gods arrangement, but teaches? If not, how shall we understand such expressions? Answer.-No; we speak for no party or sect or creed or that it shall all be carried out strictlv in accordanre with the divine prearrangement. Our suggestion respecting the inconfession, but merely for ourself-the Editor. Long ago we fluence of the increased light of the present time is that a preadopted the plural pronoun in referring to our personal views III-47 [2645]

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linunary restraint of evil results from turning on the light of present truth, which makes the evil the more manifest and the- less able to deceive. But this is not all, by any means. The thought is that the are&t King, who is now about to take full control of the world, has fullpower to bind, to restrain Satan and every evil power and influence, that nothing may hurt or iniure that which is good throughout the Millennial age, as has been the case d&ng the present age, when the kinedom of heaven (the church in its incinient state) suffereth violence, and the violent take it by for& misusing the members of the body of Christ, even as they misused also the Head of the body-our Lord. \Vhether Satan and his associates, the fallen angels, will remain associated with this earth we do not know, but it is quite sufficient for us to have the Lords assurance that they will no longer he nrince and powers of the air, able to miaSome ha\e represent and deeGive mankrnd, a5 at presmt. surmised that Satan and his aneels would be deported during the Mlllrnnial prriod, but whilefhere is no Scripture that we

are aware of which would settle this point, our view is to the contrary of this. We believe that they will not be deported but remain, powerless to deceive. Our reason for so supposing is two-fold : (1) This earth has been the scene of their original transgressions and subsequent misdeeds, and it would seem proper that they should untness the marvelous transformation which will ensue after the Prince of Light, the Prince of Peace, Emmanuel, shall assume the reins of power, and bring blessings to all the families of the earth. (2) The Scriptures assure us that the work of the glorified church will not only be to give trial to or judge the world of mankind during the Millennial age, but that it will include also the judgment or trial of these fallen angels: and if both mankind and the angels are to be judged, during the same period, it would seem entirely reasonable that both should be associated with the earth and its atmosphere.-1 Cor. 6:s; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6.

I THAT
She came, the thirsty one, to fill hc9 pitc*lifir. :1nd found a strancer sittina on thr brink: And while she pouredfor him the wells refreshment. He gave the precious cup of lrfe to drmh. And when she wondered at her lifes rcvealrng, Snd if 3Icssiah deeper depths could see. He graciously her ri\ing faith enc*onragcd.1 that speak to ilice am Hc I And so when we, blest Master, come, all empty. To fountains, we but drink. and drink in rain; Be thou with satisfying waters waiting, That we mav drink. and never thirst again. Our wayward hearts true inwardness disclosing, Constrain our timid faith to hope in thee, And let us hear again the gracious mecsageI that speak to Ihee am He

SPEAK AM HE
JOI~N 4:26; 9:37. They turned him from the synagogue accursed, Whose gift of sight the Savior had bestowed: And, bur&p under grief and indignation, He sought again the well-remembered road. ,4nd while he mused upon his kindly patron, And if he could indeed Messiah bi, Lo, One with beaming countenance adclrr~+tl him I that speak to thee am He Snd so, dear Lord, when our dim eyes are opened. And one-time friends thv healing power desspisr. Be thou anear with words of cheer and comfort. To grant our saddest hour a glad surprise. And when lifes subtle mysteries perplex 115, Unlock to us with faiths unfailing key, That we may hear from out the oprn postal+. I that speak to thee am He !

The proud and haughty still a sign requiring, In vain the zenith and horizon scan, While walks among them One with vesture girded, To wield the purging and discerning fan. But he who humbly treads the path of duty, \Vith eyes unsealed shall his Delivrer see; His trial hour shall brighten wit11 this tokenI that speak to thee am He! R. B. HENNIECES.
1 VOL. XXI

ALLEGHENY, ____

PA.,

JUNE

15, 1900

No. 12 -

VIEWS FROM THE WATCH

THOUGHTFUL WORDS OF AN ABLE MAN

TOWER

-4n exchange quotes epigrammatic statements from various addresses delivered before the Ecumenical Mission Conference, held recrntly in New York City, and among them all none impressed us so much as the following bv Mr. Beniamin Harrison. ex-President of the United State;: U The natural man lives to be ministered unto-he lays his imposts upon others. He buvs slaves that thev mav fan him to-sleep, bring him the jewelrd cup, dance before him. and die in the arena -for his sport. Into such a world there came a Kinc, not to be minister unto, but to minister. The rough winds fanned his sleep; he drank of the mountain brook and made not the water wine for himself; would not use his power to stay his own hunger. but had 6ompassion on the multitude. He ralled them hc had bought with a great price no more servants but friends. He entered the bloody arena alone. and, to dyinr, broke all chains and brought life and immortality light.
THE ANOMALIES OF ORTHODOXY

The Ecumenical Conference on missions recently in session in New York City, considering ways and means for prearhing the gospel to Brahmins, Buddhists, Confucians, Greek Catholics and Roman Catholirs-in its very name ignoring Romanism as anti-Christian, since its missions were not recognized or included under the comprehensive term EcumenzcaGwas of course orthodox. At the same time there was in session in the city of Boston another and quite different convention or Religious Congress, which being under the lead of the famous orthodox preacher, Heber Newton, supported

by many other notable reverend gentlemen and Doctors of must be considered equally as Divinity, also orthodox, orthodox a conference as the one which met in New York City. Yet note the wide difference in these applications of the term orthodox ; for the Boston Convention accepted and anti-Christian, Buddhist and heard all religions-Christian, Brahmin, Confucian on a common level. As a matter of fact this word orthodox, which signifies ccwect or sound doctrine, is claimed by everyb0d.y; for no one could conscientiously hold to anything he consrdered unBut in applying the term to others is the sound or incorrect. difficulty: how for instance can a Methodist agree that Presbyterian doctrine of foreordination and predestination is correct or orthodox and still refuse to accept it? Or how can a Presbyterian agree that Methodist doctrine is orthodox when it differs so radically from his own ? And how can Disciples and Baptists recognize as orthodom or correct and soultd other doctrines whirh ignore water immersion, which Baptists and Disciples strenuously claim is absolutely essential to a membership in the church of Christ, and to the salvation which they claim is provided only for the church? The fact is that the various sects were much more consistent when they each denied that the other was orthodox and each claimed that itself alone was the orthodox, the correct and doctrinally sound church. What brought about this change? We answer, Two things conspired to produce the present inconsistent condition. ( 1) Religious doctrinal convictions have softened, though the profes,Go~ continue as hard and ctout as ever. Instead of

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con*&iorr has come uncel tainty, doubt, skepticism and the general feeling that nobody knows-me may be right, you may be right or all may be wrong. (2) Not knowing who is right we will simply stick to our oum church [not to Christs one, true church, whose names are written in heaven] as being as good as any other manmade church, and merelv recognize all others claiming the name of Christ and having influence, wealth and numbers as being also orthodox. correct also-for all we know to the contiary. But in preventing any advanced thought being known as orthodox all are agreed-they have already suflicient confusion unavoidably covered by that term-unavoidably, because to denv the term orthodox to any popular system would be to cnvite it to denounce yours as unorthodox. and thus to raise a doctrinal discussion which neither cares to risk before the people, lest the weaknesses and fallacies of all be disclosed to those now at ease in Zion, dozing, if not sound asleep, on all such subjects. This is the meaning of the peneral onposition of all denominations to what we are prese&ng from the Scriptures as present truth: they see that it is a positive doctrine and that those who receive it have convictions: thev see, too. that these appeal to the Bible and apply its statemeits in a manner that brings order out of the hitherto confusion and babe1 of the sects: they perceive, too, that it is reasonable (which they know none of the others are) and they each individually and all collectively fear that if heard upon its merits it would sweep all theories before it into oblivion. It is therefore Selfpreservation, the first law of nature, which incites the SOcalled orthodox against the glad tidings of great joy which shall be unto all ueonle. For iust the same reasons the various sects and partiesLof the dews: however diverse, united against the true light as God revealed it in the close of the Jewish age. We of course claim that the WATCH TOWER presentations are orthodox, correct, sound doctrinally-otherwise we would not promulgate them. 9nd we go farther and deny that the various inconsistent, unreasonable and unscriptural doctrines Wc claim that although almost all of Babylon are orthodox the creeds of Christendom contain some grains of truth. thev contain much more errnr, whiclr quite beclouds and nullifies their elements of truth. Nevertheless, we claim that our standard of orthodoxy is not narrow when armlied to Christian ueonle. thoueh it is so erclusive as respe& all the rreeds of ~Christendom~ It is just as broad as the Bible will permit; and who that acknowledges its authority has a right to ask for more or to accept less 7 Our standard of orthodoxy as applied not to sects but to Chxl5tian~, personally, recognizes as correct and sound in do?trine all who acknowledge the following points: ( 1) That he is by nature a member of the fallen. condemned race and hence a child of wrath even as others. and iustlv under the divine sentence of condemnation, (2) That Chri& died for the ungodly, for -4dam and all his condemned race: and hence God can now be iust in iuqtifving him and all who believe in Jesus. (3) That his justification is the basis of his call to full consecration in self-sacrifice, and that he has thus devoted his all to the Lord, in exchange for the share in the Millennial kingdom which the Lord has promised to all such overcomers.-Rev. 2:26; 3:12, 21. All the above described class are properly recognized as orthodox and brethren, however they may differ on minor details in the correct knowledge of which thev may be expected to grow under the Lords guidance; building one another up in [the details of] their most holy faith, as revealed in the Word of the Lord, which, as they come more and more to understand it, will make them wiser and wiser respecting the good and acceptable and perfect will of God-unto salvation-until salvation actual, the crown of life, with glory. honor and immortalitv. shall be the grand outcome of the finished race. Who knows any fault to find with this Bible standard of orthodoxv? No one! But this is the chief around of obiection to it in the eyes of churchianity: it antagonizes and would sneedilv destrov not onlv one but all sects: hence all oppose ii-the far-seeing preachers leading their ever-confiding flocks into the battle against the Lord and his truth, in which through temporary success they eventually are the sad losers.
.A IX

Boston Theological Seminary. The students resigned, intending to 80 to other M. E. colleges presumed to be sound on the Scriptures; but to their surpiise- they found a solid denominational front aeainst them. which consuired so successfully that they were &fused admittance to any. This means thit infidelity to the Bible, under the name of higher criticism, is being imuressed uuon everv M. E. minister now issuing from these ~em&ries. And it means that the greatest poGer of Methodism, its ministry, scattered all over the land,- is to be exerted to the gradual undermining of the faith of Methodists. And, lykc priest like people, it means that Methodism will soon be fighting Gods Word stealthily, covertly, from the inside-inside the house of its professed friends. However, this will only awaken some of the Lords true saints in that house and show them that it is high time for them to come out from Babylon-and from its confusion of false doctrines. Zions Herald publishes the results of an investigation reupecting the number of oorwersions made by two hundred M. E. ministers. educated in the Boston Seminarv since Higher Criticism and Evolution began to be taught therk fifteen $ars ago. The results are reported with great satisfaction as givina evidence that Methodism is urosuerinn exceedinelv under th< diet which repudiates the doctiine gf the ra&Gm and makes void the Word of God. These two hundred ministers report 6,023 convertions during the six months preceding March 1, 1900. The argument drawn from this is that M. E. prosperity lies in that direction, and that the sooner the old fogy believers in the Bible and the Cross wake up and abandon these the more rapidly will Methodism prosper. Hence it was taken as bevond auestion that the General Conference would certainly not raise its voice to interrupt successful procedure. But to what were these 6,023 persons convei Led ? To Methodism Posqibly a very few of them mav have been converted to the Lord. Yet when one remembers that nearly all such so-called converts are children of from eight to fifteen years, it seems amusing to credit their conversion to either truth or error or to call them conversions at all. Principle seems to be disappearing in respect to religious matters. Churchianity of all denominations seems to be getting to be a business governed by rules of trade and lawc of supply and demand. What do the people want? What will draw the crowd, add to the church list and treasury t Evidently these are the queries which cause preachers most of their anxious thoughts rather than-What message does the Lords Word give me for his people? What is the Truth and how can T best make it plain to the Lords sheep? But then again, how could we expect these wise higher critics to lav much emphasis on the words of our Lord and the apostles and prophets when they have concluded themselves to be wiser than thev-claiming that our Lord and the apostles made numerous and grievous mistakes in quoting from Moses, David, Isaiah and other prophets, words which these modern wise men declare were never uttered by these prophets. The conclusion is that if the Lord and the apostles erred in these matters they were not infallibly inspired respecting others : and if they, the higher critics, could correct them on these points they could give them general instruction, and are surely more competent authorities themselves. Alas for the poor sheep 1 How many may he expected to follow the pernicious wavs of these false sheuherds! None too extravagant is the prophetic declaration, Athousand shall fall at thvY side--onlv . the sanctified in Christ ,Tesus. conies of Gods dear Son, ~111 be ahle tn stand complete in him. These will be the very elect, and it will not be possible for them to be deceived and ensnared: for God will eive his messengers a charge [a message] for them lpresen; truth] and thus these feet of the body of Christ shall be upheld that they stumble not.-Psa. 91 :l, 7, 11, 12.
I I

EDUUATED

WHITE

SAVAGES

.I

METHODISM

AND

HIGHER

CRITICISM

It was expected that the General M. E. Conference would be asked to take some stand for or against higher criticism; but so far we have seen no mention of it. The expectation was based upon the protest made by a few students against Higher Crticism, Evolution, etc., being taught at the M. E. [2647]

That education is valuable no one will dispute, nor is it to be denied that it frequently puts a refined polish upon the actions and words of men and women who are therefore known as gentle-men and gentle-women. It is a mistake. however, to confound this kind of surface polishing with the begetting of the spirit, a new heart. The one is a gilding of the surface manners, the other a transformation of the entire being affecting the sentiment as well as the conduct. - As a painful lesson on this subject, proving that fine education may leave men still savage at heart and onlv needing opportunity to develop it, we quote below an article from th; Lzteraru Dzaest. It relates soeciallv to colleae bred men of two nations; both of which combine Religious &d secular-education-Protestant Germany and Roman Catholic Belgium : the representatives of the former probably were three-fourths

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which appears

ALLECHENY. Pa.

Protestants and one-fourth Catholics and of the latter all Catholics. corresponding to the populations of those rountries. Both clr~tm to IJP Chrlqtian nations, kingdoms of God, and their coins declare that their rulers reign by the grace of God. We are glad fhat we hope for a very murh better kingdom for whlrh all the more we pray, Thv kingdom come, thy will be done on earth ewn as it is done in heaven. The article follows : The White Mans Savagery in Africa While it is customary to speak of the African natives as savages. and to deplore the cruelty of the Sultan of Turkey, who pernut> the slave tratle to Aouriih between his dominions and the ea\t conit of Afr~ra, late revelations Drove that men of more c~vll~zctl nationalities (an be quite-as cruel. The Brussels Ictlt Z1Zelcerelates the followlnp* I The ri\e nf the I%und,ln tribes against the Kongo authorities w,ts cau<cd by Bclglnn tyranny. Hundreds of men died with Lothaire and other Kong0 agents in defense of the cruel prartirc9 there. The agent Jlorap says: The rebellion of the Mongall~ legion iq tllle wl~lv to the cruelty with which the natIves are treated. Rubljer is the bootv of the white invader now. If, In a village of 100 male inhabitants able to work, only fifty app<ar with the requlretl amount of rubber, soldiers are sent to kill tile ntller fifty. The loyal natives are used to fight :tgain\t tile tll~loyal, anal as all are man-eaters, it is easy to rewartl the loyalists by promises of feasts on the corpses of the clain.

The following statement papers speaks for itself:

in the contmental

Coxco STATE, DISTRICT BEKGALA :-Before me, Agent of the antwerp Trading Society, appeared at Mandika, the sergeants Massamboko and Mulanda, and the privates Mutuana and Ponga, all of the Station of Mandikn, who swore as follows : We White Man ! We have returned from the war. marched thirty hours distance with the white man Imela ( Van Eykep ) . He ordered us to enter the villages, to see if the inhabitants had gathered enough rubber. If they had not, we were to kill them. In one village we told him we had fulfilled his orders. He told us we had not done enough. He told us to cut up the men, placing the pieces on poles; the bodies of the women and children we were to put in a big scaffold in through NDobe we found the shape of a cross. Returning all the natives treated like that. We swear that this is true. Follow marks and agents name: >Ioray. Acrordine to other resorts hundreds of natives have had their hands Ghopped off because they did not furnish the reSimilar cruelties are reported quired quantity of rubber. from the French Sudan. Several high officials formerly In the German employ have also hecn punished as offenders of this kind. The Dutch papers remark that the French. English and Spaniards hare a great advantage in the patriotic discipline of their newspapers, for while the Dutch and German papers will report an outrage of their countrymen immediately, Frenchmen and Englishmen will exercise patriotic prudence.

KEEP

YOURSELVES IN THE LOVE OF GOD

JUDE 21.

We cannot keep ourselves in this love unless we have gotten into it. ;\nd that all mea do not possess it, or are not in this condition of heart, is not only manifested to our senses through the eupericanres of life, but testified to bv our Lord Jesus, who said to some of the holiness people of his day, I know that ye have not the love of God in vou.-John 5 :42. WP are- to distinguish then between &tural love and the love of God. All mankind bar some share at least of natural love--relf-love. love for family, lore of friends. Our Lord, speaking of thlr kind of love. implies that it is not the love 01 God, _saying, If ye love them-that love you, what thank have ye? For sinners also do even the same. (Luke 6:32) The love of God. therefore, is a diflerent kind of love to that which is common to the natural man, and we need to be directed into it, and to grow or develop in it, as the Apostle testifies, SayinK. The TJord direct Your hearts into the love of God. 12 Thess. 3 :5) We are directed into this love thronah the divine Word which brings to our attention the peculiarity of Gods love as distingu&hed from that of the natural fallen man. \Vhile love in -the natural man is more or Ipsq selfish. even in our very hest exercise of it, on behalf of friends, God commendcth his love toward us as being of a superior kind, in that while we were yet sinners, aliens, strangers, enrmirq through wicked works, under his gracious, loving plan ChriSt died for uq. This kind of unmerited. sacrificinr: low is wholly dlffcrrnt from anything that is known to fallen h7lmanitv. As our Lord Jesus said. the Lrreatest love amongst men would be that a man should lai dowi his life for his frlanrls. but to lay down his life for his enemies iq certainly a much higher type of love-unselfish, gracious, heavenlyJohn 15:lR; Rnm. 5:7. The first blcisinf that comes to II?, as the eyes of our understanding open and we come to some knowledge of the divine (xharartcr and love. iq that we perceive or discern or come to 1wli7e this hightar type of lore-the lnvc of Gad. As the Apnctlc cn;vq, Hereby perceil>e we the lore of God, becauw hr [Chrlctl laid down his hfe for us. Herein was manlfcstcd the low of God toward us, because God sent his only bcgottcn Son into the world that we might live through him.-1 ,John 3.16; 4.9. It is after we have thur perceived the love of God that it begins to operate upon us. if we are in a favorahle condition -if our hearts are gnnd ground, prepared under divine proviOf Such the Apostle says, The love dence for this knowledge. of Christ constrain&h us--draw5 us. awakens a rrcinrncatine love in onr hearts. $0 that in turn we love God. Not that w first loved God. but that hi4 love attrnrted and develoned ours. (1 -John 4: 10) The effect of this love unon the poodground heart is that very shortly it decides that it could do nothing less than lore similarlv in return. and thus he willine to lap down life itcelf in Gods service. It esteems that thi: would be hut a reasonable service, a reasonable recompense for divine favors.

The Apostle Paul sums up this transformatinn from selfishness to the love of God in a few words, saving, Wvc ourselves a190 were at one time foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another; but when the goodness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared he saved UC [delivered us from this evil condition of heart], not on account of works of righteousness which we had done, but according to his own mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the holy Spirit, which he shed on us abundantlv through Jesus Christ. our Saviour.--Titus 3 : 3-6.See Biuglott.This newness of spirit, this new mind, this mind in accord with the lore of God. the Anostle assures us is not received except by those who receive tGe holy Spirit. Those who merely take the step of justification may to some extent experience n reformation of life, so that inqtead of living an openly evil But none course they will seek to live at least moral lives. can expect to receive the begetting of the holy Spirit of love, and thus to become possessed of the love of God. a selfsacrificing love, unless he takes the step of consecration to the Lord, which brings him into the condition in which hr may indeed have the holy Spirit, the spirit of divine love, shed abroad in his heart. Let none then hope to obtain the love of God in any other way than the way which God has provided. Undoubtedly in the Millennial age it will be made possihle for the natural man to come into the love of God through a process of restitution; as he shall more and more attain to the perfection of human nature in that time he may to that extent more and more become possessed of the love of God until, when finally perfected, he may posqess this love of God in full measure-because humanity, in its perfect condition, is a fleshly image of the inrisihle God. But now. while we still have these mortal bodies that are imperfect, and while restitution has not commenced, there is only the one way of attaining the lore of God-bv obedience to the call of this age, to present our bodies living<sacrifices, holy and acceptable ~to God. through Jesus our Lord. The new creature is to grow and to be more and more filled with the holy Spirit-more and more filled with the love of God; hence we may expect that there will be differences of athinment in this matter, and we should know what to look for as evidences of cmr growth in grace and of our attainment The Apostle John declares, This is of this love of God [proof of our possession of] the love of God, that we keep his (1 John commandments. and do not find them grievous. 5:s) He who keeps the Lords commandments, but who finds them grievous. has thus an evidence that he is not in heartharmoiy with them, that he has not made a full consecration of himself to the Lord-the obedience of such an one would be no proof whatever of the possession of the love of God. But whoever of the T,ords people is so in harmony with him that they delight to do his will. have in this an evidence that the
I..

[2648]

JOKE 15,

1300

ZIONS

WATCH

TOIVEEK

(183-184)

love of God is dwelling in them richly and abounding. This is the same thought which the Apostle agAin expresses, saying, Whosoever keepeth his word [loves the word of God, and takes pleasure not in turning, twisting and endeavorin to avoid the force of that Word, but who keepeth or cheris %eth it, loveth it, and seeketh to conform thereto] in him verily is the love of God nerfected.--1 John 2 :5. This remintlsAus of our dear Redeemer, in whom verily the love of the Father was perfected, and who is represented by the Prophet as saying, I delight to do thy will, 0 God; yea, thy law is within my heart. (Psalm 40:s) And our Lord marked out the sami spirit, as being essential to those who would be his disciules. saving. If ve keen mv commandments. ye shall abide in &my loxYe, &en ai I have kept my Fathers commandments, and abide in his love. (John 15:lO) There is no suggestion in any of these or in other Scriptures that mere outward formalistic obedience and piety count anything with the Lord. The Lsrd seeketh such to worship him as worship him in spirit and in truth-such as have the spirit of righteousness, love for righteousness. love for truth, love for all the qualities of the divine character, and a desire to conform thereto in thought, word and deed. Nor are we to make the mistake that some have made, of supposing that the commandments referred to by our Lord are the Ten Commandments upon which hung the covenant which God made with the Jews. We are not Jews, and henre have nothing whatever to do with their covenant, given through Moses, its mediator, at Sinai, nor with the Law upon which it was based. We are Christians, and have to do with a better covenant. sealed with the precious blood of Christ our Mediator, and based upon a still higher law than the Decalogue -a law which instead of saying, Thou shalt not do this, Thou shalt not do that, is positive, and declares what we shall do, saying, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all heart, with all thy mind, with all thy being, with all thy strength; and thou shalt lose thv neiehbor as thvself. This is a higher law, of which our Law-givkr, Jesus, said, A new commandment I give unto vou. that ve love. and of which the Apostle said.- Love is Ythe fulfilling oft the law. The Apostle .John says. He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God; he that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love.-1 John
4:8. lf?

Altho the first evidence of the possession of the love of God is a love for God. nevertheless the Scrintures distinctlv point out ta us that an additional requirement is specified, -: \IZ., love for the brethren-for those who have the spirit of God, especiallv. but in a general wav at least a svmnathetic love for all mankind. Thus the Apogtle says, If we iove one another. [it is an evidence that] God dbelleth in us, and [that] his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4.12) The same Apostles emphasizes this same point,saying. Whosoever hath this worlds goods [interests. affairsl. and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels-of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? ( 1 John 3: 17 ) The intimation is that such a lack of love and sympathy, and such a restraint of assistance from a brother in need, would imply that the love of God either did not at all dwell in such an one, or that it was but slightly developed-far from being perfected. Nor does this love merely exercise itself toward the brethren in matters of temporal necessities; rather, it affects all
l

See lsstle

July

15, 1916,

Mediator

and Advocate

Contrasted

the affairs of life, leading the one who enjoys it to walk in (Eph. 5:2; 4:2) love, forbearing one another in love. And even were it-necessary to speak an unpalatable truth, the smrit of the Lord. the love of God. will dictate the sneakmg of the truth in love, which the Apostle assures us is essential to our growth in ~Christ.-Eph. -4 : 15. Knowledge is valuable. but onlv incidentallv: of itself the Apostle as&es us knowledge would be inclined to puff us up, make us vain and boastfuc and thus quite out of harmony with the snirit of God. the suirit of love, meekness, gentleness. Knowledge might make ;s merely tinkling cymbals, giving out a sound, but possessing no real merit in the Lords sight. But knowledge, when it serves its proper purpose, brings us to the appreciation of the love [that is] of God and to a realization of the wisdom of copying his character, that we should seek so far as possible to be like our Father which is in heaven, copies of his dear Son, our Lord. The Apostle brings this position clearly to our attention when he says, That ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to-comprehend with-all saints what is the breadth and length and denth and heinht and to know lannreciatel tht love of Christ : . . and be filled with all the- f&less of. God.-Eph. 3: 17-19. Undoubtedly love is the principal thing to be studied. to be appreciated, to be copied and practiced in our lives. We trusi -that a large proportion of ?he WATCH TOWZR readers have alreadv become nartakers of this love of God. and that all such ar: seeking *to have it perfected in them, and to be rooted and grounded in it. We have the Apostles assurance that only those who take this standpoint can make permaThose nent and thorough progress in grace and knowledge. who have entered the school of Christ, and who refuye to progress in it toward perfection, may assuredly expert that sooner or later their knowledge of the divine plan will slip from them; while those who do make progress in this proper direction may expect that the lengths and breadths of the divine plan will continue opening before them, and that their erowth in knowledge will keen nace with their erowth in love. a Finally, in hargony witly dur text, let us Ternember that this is not a matter that God attends to, but a matter which requires our own attention. God has made all the provisions whereby we may know of his love, and may be constrained by it, and may be accepted into it, but it devolves upon us to keep ourselves in the love of God: and we can only thus keep ourselves in his lore by seeking to practice in the daily affairs of life the principles of his love: permitting the love of God to constrain us daily to sacrifice ourselves in the Lords service, for his honor and for the spread of his truth; permitting the love of the brethren to so fill our hearts that, as the Apostle expresses it, WC mav be glad to lav down our lives (1 John :7: 16); permitting a sympathetic fo> the brethren love for mankind in general. the nroaninr creation. in all of its trials and difficult&s, to exerris: our hearts so that we shall more and more feel kindly and generously toward all with whom we have contact and to make us helpful to them as we have opportunity; permitting this love even to extend to the brute creation under our care, so that we will not be negligent of their interests; all this seems essential to our keeping ourselves in this love of God. Let us more and more practice, and thus become more and more perfected in this love, which is the spirit of our Father, the spirit of nur Lord. and the spirit of a.11who are truly members of the body of Christ.
I

JESUS WALKING

ON THE SEA

MATT. 14:22-33.-JULY 1. Of a truth thou art the iTon of God. Our last lesson, respecting the feeding of above five thouFather in secret. (Matt. 6:6) All Christians of experience sand persons with five barley loaves and two small fish, and have realized the value of such secret personal communion the twelve haversacks of fragments gathered, and the illustrawith the heavenly Father, nor are we surprised that our Lord tion this afforded of divine ability to care for the Lords peoJesus felt the need of a similar communion. His knowledge pie, and at the same time the propriety of frugality on their of the Father, and his fellowship with him before the world part, was followed that same night by another miracle and was made, so far from satisfying him and rendering prayer another lesson. After the multitudes had been fed, toward the unnecessary, rather stimulated his desire for further iellowclose of the day, they evidently were 10th to leave the comship and communion, especially as he was alone in the world pany of one so able and willing to care for their necessities, -even his beloved disciples, not having yet been begotten of and probably it was to expedite their dispersion that our Lord the Spirit (John 7:39). could not enter into fellowship with urged the apostles to start in their boat for Capernaum. him in respect to spiritual things, nor appreciate the trials Our Lord, after dispersing the multitudes, sought the soliwhich came to him as a perfect man, in a way in which they tude of the mountain in prayer. Though he sometimes prayed do not come to fallen humanity. He needed such fellowship with his disciples in their hearing, so that they recorded the with the heavenly Father for the refreshment of his own zeal, words of his prayer, it is evident that he was not content for the keeping warm of his own love and devotion, which with merely these opportunities, but frequently sought the was the basis of his consecration and his daily sacrificing of Father alone, as he has counseled his disciples to do, saying. himself as a man, even unto death. Enter into thy closet [private apartment] and pray to thy There is no intimation given that our Lord spent much [ 26491

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ZI

OATS

W.-i TCH

TO WEK

time at prayer, morning and evening, yet we may reasonably suppose that he never neglected to seek the Fathers face; but these brief seasons of worship and prayer daily were evidently supplemented by occasions like the one mentioned in thiq lesson, in which our Lord spent, apparently, considerable of the night in prayer and communion with the Father. There is a lesson in this for the Lords people. The duties of life, pressing upon us daily. are not to be neglected; each is to feel, as our Lord exnressed it. I must be about mv* Fathers business, and this would imply. ordinarily, short prayers, which our Lord commended, saying, When ye pray, use not vain ~epetitiona. as the heathen do; for they think they shall be heard for their mnck speaking. Be ye not therefore like unto them; for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him. (Matt. 6:7., 8) And the example of a prayer, given his disciples, is brief. Nevertheless, in proportion aq we feel the importance of the great work in which, by the Lords favor, we are privileged to be co-laborers with him, our hearts should be and will be drawn to seasons of spiritual communion : not neressarily a prayer in the sense of making wpests of the Father, for much of such seasons will doubt le\s bc devoted to thanksgiving for the mercies and favors already experienced, and for the gracious promises upon which we bake our faith for the future, and communion with the Lord. in the sense of pondering his will respecting us, and how we may most acceptably serve and please him. \Vhile our Lord was thus holding communion with the Father, the apostles rowing the boat were having difficulty to make headway, a strong head-wind having arisen, which made thr lake very rough, boisterous, billowy. John, who was one cpf thoie in the boat, tells us that they had only gotten about twc,nty-five or thirty furlongs (two and a half to three miles) f~~rtrl the shore, in the several hours they had been rowing. This was what is termed the fourth watch of the night, viz., between three and six oclock in the morning. While thus rowing hard, worn and sleepy, they saw the figure of a man near them. walking on the water, and apparently intending to psss their boat. (&lark 6:48-50) Some of them cried out in fear, thinking that they had seen a supernatural being. and that it foreboded some calnmitv. but it was Jesus who spoke to them, and set at rest their fears. The boldness of Peters faith was then most strikingly illustrated by his request that the T,ord should bid him walk on the water; and havin<g received the permission, his faith was so strong that he dtd walk for a few steps, until seemingly appalled by his own temerity and the boisterousness of the water, lie began to sink, and cried to the Lord for help, which may impede and weary us are amenable to his control. miracle of the loaves attested the superhuman authority of our Lord, so likewise did this manifestation of his power his power to attest the same: and if the former illustrated protect his people from want and to supply all their necessitire. this last manifested that divine power is unlimited and able to preqerre his people in all the storms and difficulties and trials of life. This is a good lesqon for us to apply individually, realizing, as we all must, that our Lord has supernaturally fed us with spiritual food, and that during the darkness of the nighttime which precedes the Millennial dawn and sunlight there will he storms and difficulties arising which would overwhelm 114 without the Lords nid. We are to rememher that not only the natural minds and waveq obey his power and command, but that all the storms and billows of trouble and persecution which may impede and weary us arc amenable to his control. The mnre we are aldc to realize this, the more of iov and nencc we will experience, because tile stronger will be our faith in him who is aide to succor II$ and who ltas promised eventuallv to do so. and that meantime all thines shall be overruled for our highest welfare, if we abide inhim. But the boat and the twelve toiling rowers, and the storm arid darkness of the night, all picture still more perfectly the esperiences of the Lords people as a whole-not the experiences of a sectarian church, but the experiences of the one true rhurch, of whtch the Lord is the Head, the church of the firstI

born, whose names are written in heaven. (Heb. 12:23) This true church has indeed had a stormy time since parting with her Lord who ascended to the Father. The darkness came down upon them-darkness of error and superstition; and the great adversary, through the anti-Christ and many less anti-Christs, has aroused all through this Gospel age a great storm against the Lords faithful few. The difficulties of their position have caused them to bend every effort to make progress against such fearful opposition, of which one of the apostles declares, We wrestle not against flesh and blood [merely], but against principalities, and against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against wicked spiritin high posi(Eph. 6: 12) This battle against adverse influences tions. has continued throuahout the night-time of this Gospel age, and yet the church -has not reaghed the harbor nor has the storm abated. As our Lord came to the disciples in the midst of the storm, in the fourth watch of the night (that is, in the early morning), so his second coming in the Millennial dawn is to the church and to help her, rescue her from her toil and weariness and peril, as the Prophet says, The Lord shall help her early in the morning. (Psa. 46:5) And as the manner of our Lords coming to his disciples was different from that they had expected, so the manner of his second advent differs from what has been expected, and Peter would seem to represent a class living now, in the end of the age, who being fully convinced of the Lords presence are privileged to walk to him by faith. But as Peters faith was unequal to the occasion, except as the Lord came to his rescue, so all of the faithful now will need the Masters hand stretched to their relief, otherwise they would sink in discouragement, because of the lack of faith. Is there not a good lesson here for all who have been faithfullv laborina in self-control. and in the Lords service. to br&g all thei; thoughts and words and doings into full accord with the will of God in Christ, and who experience from the world and the flesh and the adversary serious opposition as the Lords people? The lesson here, in harmony with its presentations ehsewhere in the Scriptures, is that- little progress can be made bv the Lords neonle until the Master himself shall join them: and that then their blessedness and pririlezes How will be proportioned to the measure of their faith. strongly this speaks to us, then, of continued faithfulness and of growth in faith, not in ourselves but in the Lord, and of his ultimate deliverance of all who put their trust in him. In Johns account we learn that as soon as the Lord and Peter got into the boat, immediately the wind and storm So it will be with ceased and the ship was at the harbor. lhe Lords neonle, the little flock; so soon as their faith has been fully &tested at the Lords second presence. he will join their number. and immediatelv the trials and storms. &fTiculties and oppositions will he at an end, and the desired haven of heaven!y condition will have been reached, the kingdom will have come. Courage, then, dear brother mariners, on the sea of experience, seeking to make your calling and the Masters words to election sure ! Let us note carefully Peter as especially applicable to ourselves, viz., that all that will hinder us from walking out to meet the Lord is lack of faith. 0 thou of little faith; wherefore didst thou doubt? Let us learn to trust the Lord, not only in the matters which pertain to his church and all of its interests and affairs, but also in all of the matters and interests of ourselves and The lessons will be profitable to us, and prepare families. us for larger measures of divine favor, and for the joys of the kingdom. And all this faith is based unon a clear I realization of our Golden Text, viz., that our Lord Jesus is truly the Son of God. If the Son of God, he is true, and if he is true then all the exceeding great and precious promises which he left for us may be relied upon, built upon, anchored into; and such reliance in them will give us the faith requisite for the orercomina of all the difficulties and obstacles of life, that we may comgoff more than conquerors through him who loved uq and who bought us with his own precious blood.
Y I I

Ilty sllip i+ tnsqd by wind and wave. But there is ~,tie whoqe power can save: Across the bea hc hastes to bring Both rest ;lnd peace.-the Lord is King.

Yes, Jesus walks upon the sea. And in the storm he comes to thee: Then trust in him, rejoice and sing: He calms the waves,-the Lord iy King.

He stretches out his hand to thee. And from thy fears he sets thee free; Beneath the shadow of his wing He keeps thee safe-the Lord is King. [2650]

I AM THE
JOHN

BREAD OF LIFE
6:22-40.-Jmn 5.

Some of the multitude who dined on the five loaves and two fish were evidently very deeply impressed with the -4 nummiracle, and inspired with great respect for Jesus. ber of them (we cannot suppose very many) concluded that they would follow this great Teacher, possessed of such wonderful powers, feeling assured that becommg his disciples would at least safeguard them from want; and this, to a people of their kind and under those conditions, was evidently quite an inducement. However, when they found the Lord on t,he other side of the lake, at Capernaum, and expressed to him their interest, and how it had led them to follow him, he told them plainly that theirs was a selfish or mercenary interest, and not the kind that he desired to cultivate, namely, an interest in the truth. Taking advantage of the situation, our Lord gave, not only to these but also to his disciples and to us through them. a most valuable lesson on the proper things to be sought after; pointing out that the chief aim and desire and object of life should not be the meat that perisheth, earthly food, earthly comforts, earthly pleasures, which at very most can be but transit01 y, but that on the contrary the chief aim of all should be to attain life eternal, beyond the present dying condition. He points out that Gods provision for his creatures is not merely earthly for the sustenance of our natural bodies for a little time, but much more important, a spiritual nourishment, of which, if we partake, we shall attain eternal life. He would have them see that the miracle which he had performed, and whose blessing they had shared, was merely an illu~tlntion of a Treater gift, of a more valuable bread of life, that he, the &on of God,. was alone able to give themand the same is true of us and of all. Bv wav of assuring them that he was able to provide the bread 03 eternal lif; as he had shown himself able to provide the natural food, he declared himself to be the Son of God; and that the heavenly Father had sealed him, marked him, granted him the evidences and proofs of sonship in the powers conferred upon him. The seal was the holy spirit, the holy power of God, which acting upon our Lord Jesus enabled him to turn the water into wine and to increase the broken barley loaves and two little fish so as to feed the multitude. These powers were the evidences or outward manfestations to men that Gods holy spirit was with him, the mark or seal of his relationship to God as an honored representative, a Son. On the strength of these eridenres, the witnesses having the right condition of heart should have been prepared to heed our Lords testimony, a3 a message from the Father. The discourse was not without its effect: the hearers felt the force of the suggestion that the important food to be sought after was tha&hich would give the life eternal, and as Jews they had hefore their minds the further thought that God had *lnntle a covenant of works with their nati%, with promises of eternal life attached thereto-the Mosaic Law Hence their inquiry, What works shall we do that Covenant. would bc pleasing to God, and that thereby we might have c+inal life 7 Give us whItever message you have that will help us in this matter. Our Lords answer may at first seem to us a peculiar one, in that he declares that to believe on him would be a u;ork -the walk most acceptable before God-the only work that could possibly make them acceptable to God. What is meant by this we will consider further along. His hearers evidently understood exactlv what he meant, z)ix., that the thing most pleasing in Gods iight would be that they should acknowledge him as the Son of God, the Messiah, coming into the world according to divine promise, to establish the kingdom of God, and to begin the blessing of all the families of the earth. But now theg asked a sign of his Messiahship, instead of realizing that they had already seen the sign or signet or seal of God upon the Lord Jesus, as manifested not only in his spirit of love, kindness, generosity, goodness, purity and truth, as well as in his doctrines, but additionally that they had seen outward manifestations and evidences of the divine Dower uDon him, as shown, for instance, in the miracle of the-day before. This was because they were hard-hearted, as the Scriptures elsewhere express the matter (Mark 3 :5: John 12 :40). that is to say, they \I-ere in a faithlessattitude, not readily impressionable but rather inclined to be skentical: hence these sienn or .z evidences of the seal of God upon *Jesus were not sufficient for them. We can readily see. however, that if sign upon sign had been given. the same evil heart of unbelief could reiect ten signs-as well as it could reject one. Just so it was in the case of Pharoah: he was really more impressed with the first sign given by Moses than by the succeeding ones, each of which being received in an improper spirit tended to make his [2651]

heart the harder, until the last. Just so, it is with some today They incline to ask, Did m respect to the Lords promises. the Apostle say this, that-is contrary tomy prejudices? And if convinced of the fact thev would want to know whether anv other -4poi;tle had said i:, and thirdly, whether the Lord h&self had said it, and fourthly, whether any of the prophets had said it,-seeking not so much to believe as for an excuse for disbelieving. S&h persons usually, if they had all of these evidences. would be no more convinced bv the multinlicitv of testimony. he who rc&lly believes th% On the contrary, Bible to be Gods Word believes its every authentic testimony, whether by the Lord or an apostle or prophet.. and whether stated once or many times reiterated. The morkivg of skepticism in the minds of our Lords auditors is evidenced by their statement. In substance they said, We cannot acknowledge that your mlraclc was so great or so wonderful as necessarily to imply that you are the Son of God, for we remember that Moses exercised a power something of this kind; in fact, he provided bread enough for our forefathers, the whole nation of Israel, for quite a long time in the wilderness, and that without any loaves and fish to begin with,-we refer to the manna. Our Lords response is that the manna war not produced by Moses, that he had nothing whatever to do with sending it; that it came directly as a provision of the heavenly Father, And then our Moses not being even an agent in the matter. Lord pointed out that the manna given in the wilderness was typic;1 of the true Manna, the trugbrcad of eternal life-himself and the truth he n~oclaimed-which lie now desired them to receive at his hands. They did not yet get the thought that hc referred to himself, but rather were getting a crude and natural thought, that as God had given manna from heaven that sustained their fathers in thc%lderness, so now this great Teachrr, Jecus. was telling them of a still higher class of manna, the partaking of which would yield eternal life, and hence they exclaimed, Lord, evermore give us this bread Our Lord then explained the figure or parable, decl,tring, in the language of our Golden Text. I am the bread of life: he that comet11 to me shall never hunger, and he that helieveth on me shall never thirst. It is evident that in the words corn&h to me our Lord did not mean to approach him as his hearers had done, coming across the lake. The expression comcth to me must lx understood, therefore, as coming to the Lord with hunger and thirst for righteousness, with a desire for the life eternal, and hence for the bread of life by whirl1 it might be attained. All who would thus come to Jesus, in this proprr attitude of heart, Likewise would find him to be indeed a satisfying portion. the expession, He that believeth on me shall never thirst, must be understood to mean more than merely believing that such a person lived, for it is written that devils also believe and tremble: to believe, therefore, must be understood to signify accepting the Lord, not merely mtcllectually, but with the heart, as it is written, With the henrt man Eclieweth unto r2ghteousfless [to a change of heart which aspires to righteousness.] He who thus believes in the Lord flom the heart. recoenizine him as the Son of God, throu,nh whom are to be fulfilled all the exceeding great and precious promises of the divine Word, receives such a refreshment, such a slacking of thirst, such a satisfaction, as will never end so long as he maintains this faith. (Rom. IO : 10) Such fintl the divine provision in Christ so abundant Chat they could not ask for more, and exclaim,-It satisfies my longings, as nothing else could do. And now we see the mraning of our Lords words of verse 29, This is the aooork of God [the work which God would be pleased with], that we bekcre on him whom he hath sent. There is a u-o& connected with believing;-not a work with our hands, but a work with our heads and our hearts: and no work that we could do with our hands would be as acceptIndeed, when WC realize able in the Lords sight as this. that in our fallen and imperfect condition it is impossible for us to do anything perfectly, when we remember also that God is perfect, that all his work is perfect, and that he cannot therefore be in sympathy with imperfection, or any degree of sin, we can readily see that the very best works we could offer him aside from faith would be unacceptable. But God has proposed to do a great work for us-he has done that great work in that he has provided the Redeemer, through whom the ransom-price has been paid for our race: and now God can be just and yet be the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. Hence, while no work that we can do could be accepted of the Lord so long as we are under conclemnation, yet he can, by his own provision, accept our faith
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ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

ALLSGIIENY,

PA.

in Chrljt, and justify us through that faith: this, our first work possible, is therefore what God calls for. He will accept no other work, except it is preceded by this one and based upon this one. 0 that all could realize the importance of faith m the Lords sight! Without faith it is impossible to please God, and the more faith we exercise the more do we Dlease him: not credulitv. not a belief of something which God has not said; not a b&ef in our own imaginicgs or those of other men; but a belief in what God has said, and a firm, confident trust therein: this is acceptable with God, and becomes to all who exercise it the around or base of iustification. that bezng justified by faith we might have peace with God throuch our Lord Jesus Christ.-Rom. 5 : 1. Tl; Lord did not here discuss the further step to the high calling of this Gospel age; hence we will not discuss it now. He i, dealing merely with our first necessary step in approaching God.-Justification. The thing necessary, in order to justlfic*atlon. is tbe acceptance of Christ as the Bread of Life -which must be Dreceded hv the realization that we have no life 111 ourselves, -death haying passed upon all of our race throulrh father Adams transeression: and that the Lord Jesusas made flr\h in order rhat he &ight meet the penalty that nas upon father Adam, and thus upon the race; and that nou., therefore, whoever accepts this free grace of God in Christ, whoever appropriates to himself the merit of Christs sacnfire is thereby -eatlnm partaking o, of the great benefits and bles*nrgs provided hy God in the Anointed one, who gave his life for the life of the world, a ranSom price. Whoever mentailv accepts thiy fact. and feeds upon it in his heart, is represent& as feedInE unon the flesh of the Son of Man-nartaking of the human righ&, privileges and blessings of restit&ion [OF in this age justification] provided in him. Our Lord pointed out to his hearers the fact that their slow~rr+ to recseive him, and the slowness of the people of Israel In general. was not an rvidence that he was not the Messiclh. hut rather was an evidence that, thev were not in a condition to receive the Messiah. And further, that it wits not Gods purpose that he should attract the whole Jewi& people, but merrlv that he should draw to himself, by the grac*ious words which should proceed out of his mouth, and by the mirarles or cvitlcnrcs of power of the Lord in him, such as the Fathrr had given him-such as were pleasing to the Father, such as were ready to receive a f&her blessing through this channel which the Father had nrorided. And he assurhd them that while not expecting all to be thus drawn to him. nevertheless all who would be drawn thus of the Father he nould most eladlv welcome. because he was not in the world on a mission oihis own merely. but to fufil the Fathers purposes.-with which he was in full harmony.
TWO CLASSES OP SAVED ONES

the message) ; not so much in respect to who all shall be drawn by the message of his grace in Christ (tho he has to do with the drawing, and in the present time is drawing only a particular class) ; not so much with reference to the call that goes forth to all who accept Jesus, inviting them to run the race of self-sacrifice in his footsteps (tho -he is interested in this call. and suDervises the affairs of those who accept this call, causing thit all things shall work together he has predestinated in for their good) ; but especially resnect to the number who shall constitute the bride of Christ, ani to the character of all who shall be in that company: that it shall be composed of such and such only as shall during this GosDel ape. while in the school of Christ. learn thoroughlv the lessons tf faith and obedience, developing characters-of like pattern to that so gloriously manifested in Jesus, whom the Father sent forth to be not only our Redeemer, but also our Pattern. It is the Fathers will that every one who thus obeys the leadings of divine providence, and attains to the likeness of the Lord Jesus in his heart. his will, his intention (not perfection of the flesh), shall everyone of them be saved in ihis great salvation, and be sharers with Jesus in the first resurto which it rection, and in the glory, honor and immortality leads. Not one of these shall be lost; every one of them shall be raised up to that glorious station at the appointed timethe last day. the seventh of the great week of thousand-year days,-the Millennial day. And as-the Prophet declares, it-will be early in that day for God shall help her [Zion] and that right early [in the morning].
MILLENNIAL AGE DRAWING TO YIELD LARGE RESULTS

In the tno verses following, our Lord seems to distinguish between the two cslasses of saved ones. verse 39 referring to the c1rc.t ,,lass of this Gospel age. and verse 40 to the gel&al blessing upon mankind to follow this age, during the Millennium-and to the opportunitv that will then be afforded to e\clp rrcatnre to hcglessed Jcith this great gift of eternal life. pur(*h:~scd hv our Lord at such hieh cost as his own life. The elect ar;! frqucntly. as here,> spoken of a$ specially grrcrr to Jesus, while the whole of mankind are referred to houqht with his own precious blood. The ai III. 1kKa~lw Father tlrawq to the Son durin g this see a special class, and gi\(+ <11(.11 cl.1~5 to him to be companions, joint-heirs a in his kinpflom-these called his ?rItllienni:ll are somet&es brctlirc~n. #a4 nbcan it is saitl that .Tesus was the first-born (Rom. A-2Q) ; and again, they are nrnou:: ni:lnv hrc+ikren tlrslpn:~tetl 1;~ hl idc and joint-heir. in contradi&inction to the qarcrl of the world of mankind. who will he recognized as the c~hiltlren of Christ. and of whom he will be the*Everlasting Fatller.-Rev. 21:Q: 22:17: Rom. S:li: Isa. 9:6. Our Lord declare: it to-lie the Father,s~will that all whom him shall be saved, shall be raised up-not he ha\ given one of this class shall be lost. Who, then, are these thus sure of snlvntion? Wr answer that the Apostle Paul adds a word of evnlnnation alonz this line, informing us of the class whom thcb Father has Elected and predestinated: thry are sucsh a5 rectalre the Lord Jesus now by faith, and who hearing the invitation of thic, Gospel aBe, the hizh ralllng, are so Impressed with it that they lay &side every weight and run with natirncc thp rare set befork them in the cospel;-and so doing: llndrr divine providence and direction ihe; are molded and -fashioned as resperts their charartrrs CO thad they become conieq of Gods dear Son.-Ram. 8 :29.-Dzaalott. ibe henvcnnlv Fnthel fixed the marks and ionditions of his predestination bf this claqs, not so much in respect to all who shall hear the good tidings (altho he has to do with sending

The 40th verse does not refer to those whom the Father specially gives to the Son to be companions and joint-heirs in the kingdom. and whom he draws through his providences during this age: it refers to the remainder of -mankind whose raisom p&e our Lord Jesus has paid, and who. according to the Fathers Drogram, our Lord Jesus himself is to draw unto himself, du;ini theMillennia1 age: as it is written, I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me. But even as the Fathers drawing is not a compulsory drawing. so likewise But since we the drawing of the Son will not be compulsory. may assume that the majority of those who now resist the Fathers drawing do so because of blindness, ignnrance, etc.. and because the prince of this world is now reigning deceiving, we may reasonably suppose that when our dear Redeemers Millennial kingdom shall have heen established. and when Satan, the prince of this world, has been hound (Rev. 20 :2), and when the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the whole earth,-then the drawing influence upon the world of mankind exerted by the Redeemer himself and by the church, his body, associated with him in glory, will be a drawing which will yield much larger results, so that many ~111 yield to it and come to the Lord truly and heartily, and receive of the blessings which God has provided in him;-all except those who wilfully love sin and refuse the terms of the kingdom, faith and obedience. Of this class our Lord declares (verse 40)) that it iq his Fathers will that, all such shall see the Son (their blinded eyes being opened in that Millennial day, as the Lord has promised through the prophets.-Zech. 12: 10) Their eyes of understanding being then opened, they will be ahle to appreciate, as they cannot now appreciate, the Lord and the covenant of eternal life whirh he offers to all who obey him. They will not thus see him, however, until the god of this world, who now blinds the eyes of their understaning, shall he bound for the thousand years, and his baneful Influence offset with the light of the knowledge of God which will then shine out to the GorId from the great Sun of Righteousness the Lord and the glorified church, his bodv. It is Gods wilTthat all who shall accept Christ then shall have everlasting life too: and that they shall be raised up by the Lord Jes& to perfection also.-%ho theirs will be an earthly, and not like the others a heavenly, perfection; and their raising up will also be at the last day, but not at its beginning as with the elect of the first resurrection. The overcomers of this Gospel age, the bodv of Christ, will be Derfected in his likeness in amoment, in the twinkling of an ;ve, and then subsequently, throughout that age, the work of r&sine UD the world of mankind out of sin and depravity and derraiatihn will go gradually and grandly forwaid until by the close of the Millennial ace all the willing and ohedient shall have eaten to their fill of the bread from heaven and shall he fully raised up, out of sin and death, to life eternal-in the image and likeness of God as was Adam before sin, but with characters perfected and tested in righteousness by their Millennial experiences.

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ATTENTION,

WATCH

TOWER READERS!
for their own readmg if they will let us know, requesting under tbih offer. In view of the fact that our earthen vessels are so leaky we all need to replenish our stock of gracae and truth continually ; and hence we advise repeated readings of the DAWNS. \vhen i-eading them you are really reading thg Bible; for they are merely an arranged and systematized Bible. It is for this reason that like the Bible they do not glow old to the truthhungry.

1Ve have learned recently of some readers of this journal who have not read the MILLENKIAL DAWN volumes entlrr. This iq a great mistake. None can rightly understand or appreciate the precious truths presented herein unless he first have a clearlv outlined view of the great divine plan of the ages: and h>nce we urge upon all th& they begin this study at &we. All on our list are supplied the DAWXS at wholesale rates (to assist in their wide circulation through loaning, etc.) and any too poor to pay even this small sum ~11 be supplied gratis

LORD, HELP ME ! *-MATT.

MARK 7 :24-30.-JULY 1%

15:25

After our Lords discourse on the bread from heaven (we know not how long after) he and his disciples went westwai d to tlir I)ortlcr of Phtenici~~. There, entering into a houqe general with the evident dehlgn of secluding himself-from notice, and posqlblp to pain quiet and rest, the Lord was quickly dlscovrled by a Syro-Pheniclan mother, whose daughter wa+ possesqed of a demon, and who availed herself of this opportunity to lmpol tune the Lord for her daughters deliverance. Thr fame of Je\ns and hii miracles, in healing of the sick, etc., had e\itlently extended throughout that region, yet it mu\t alqc) have been known that *Jesus was a Jew, and that 111smlr,lcles and fa\ ors were confined to his own race. \\.(I can xeadlly see that there were numerous obstacles to the UYIIII~II~ faith. and the strength of faith which surmounted them c~oni~)t~ls atlmlration. (1 ) $1~ was a foreigner, a heathen, for whom God had man~ft~+~tl no favors. without God and havlnr no hope in the \: 1 Id. (I:ph. 2.12 1 Hence. coming to Jesus ihe not bnly had to ovcrcaonle tile l)relutllre\ of her own heathen ideas and insti uction floiil infnnry but bat1 al,0 to overcome evelgtbing ahln to pilde and th; fear of being despised and rejected as one unwclrtlly of the favor she sought. (2 J :I- a poor and uneducated woman she would naturally ha\ ( gi eat tliliidenc~c in al)proaehing a learned man, especially niic 50 not~~blc as tliis gicat Piophet of Israel, of whom no tloitl)t \11,~had hrard mucah. Sot\\ ltbstandlng theie obstaclec, her love for her tllughter, and her c*onfidcnce in Jesus, lvrre so great that she sought liim out; and after the manner of that time and place. in a loud \oi(c ant1 prnl)nbl~ with weeping, cried to the Lord for compas\ion and n+l<tance, in her trouhlc, saying, Have mercy upon me, 0 Lord, thou son of David: my daughter is She met with a rebuff at the grlelouhlv vexed with a devil. very start, for according to Matthews account (15:23) our Lord ignored her entirely. not answering her a word. To many this would have been suficient to have discouraged faith, and sent thrm awa,? weeping; but not so with this woman; she kept up her CI les and importunities. Sloe was confident that the Lord had thck power to assist her, and had not yet refused to do so, and hence her faith continued to cling. The disciples seem to have been annoyed with her cries, wbic*b probablv kept up for some time, and Jesus and the disciples bad evihently left the house in whlrh they were lodging and proceedetl on their journey, the woman still following and The disciples came and besought crvlng out for assistance. him. saying, Send her away, for she crleth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Our Lords answer to the disciples would seem to indicate that the meaning of the apostles words was that he should grant her reque& and send- her awav; and his answer shows The bles&s he had to eive were ahv he delaved so doinz. for Gndq rbrenanted people, the typ~ical seed of 14braham. and this woman was not of that nation to which God had granted much favors every way; she was of a heathen nation, with whom God had not entered into any covenant relatlonship Our whatever. and for whom as yet he hsd done nothing. Lord explained this to the disciples. and in the hearing of the woman, not merely for their benefit and hers, but also, we may presume, fnr our admonition. riltho our Lord would seem to have been resisting the woman and unwilling to grant her favor, we consider it not unreasonable to suppose that he thoroughly understood the c*ase from the beginning, and that he adopted the method he did to draw out her faith, preparatory to the giving of the blessing desirrd. And herein we have a lesson respecting persiqtencp in entreating the Lord for relief from the power of the devil, howAs the rver exercised, whether in our friends or in ourselves. woman knew that the case was a hopeless one a4 respected relief from any other quarter. so we know to hope for relief from the adversary only throuch the Lords interposition. Like this woman, therefore, our faith should he equal to the emer-

gencr, and should perrihtcntly hold on to the Lnltl for the blesiing nhich, with a Ilreater kiiow~~~~e tllan she, we mav be sure he will he plea& to grant in his own due time ana Shall not the Lord avenge his own rlect. winch cry way. dav and nlj;ht unto him. tbo he bear long wit11 tliem ? (Luke 18:i) If in our case the Lord shall not see b(lht to grant a prompt response to our prayer. Abandon 119 not in tcmptation, but deliver uh from the evil one (1Iatt. 6: l:%I, \ve may be buie that it is not from lack of interest 111our \vt~lfiIW. for has he not manifested his interest bv redeeming II<, and by calling us to ioint-heirshin in the liea\.cnlv kinrdom ) If then the l&ponse <hall not &me in the wavd or di the time we had inclmttl to hope, let faith still holdhrr anc,horag:c in the dirine goodness and power, and 1n the e~cctllng great and precious promises. and let us remember that acc*ording to these the time, at very farthest. will not be long. lint11 the Mlllcnnial kmgdom. when the great at11erhary <hall be bound, and tlclirerante full and complete from hlh powrr &lll be .~rnntetl. not only to ourhelres a;id those Immetliatelv drpendent. but ali0 to all of the groaning cieation now ungier 111silaneful influence. The he&ing of the rearon whv she h,ltl lIeen ignol cd. so far from (11s~ ouraging the poor &man scemlngly convinced her the more that Jrsus had the nowvcr to lleln her. and. quite ~~robabl,v in front of him. hhr p;ohtr;\ted heil+cbIf at bi. feet, after the cuctom of the East. so clnrcsiirr of humilitr. dependence and entreaty. arc*ompnn>fi;,g tlili wit11 tlle~ plea, Lord, help me! (Rhtt. 15 324-Z) \Yben finally oul Lord addressed the poor 1~oinan prnstl attx at iris f(Lrt. inipn: tuning I& nhsistance. hi, ~o~tls \vcL~, :12ilin a hnir. r.\l(*lll,rtctl to III-hearten one of little faith, but c~nrrr*ponrlinglv to strengthtIn a great faith His answrr to her WHY not nnb of tllrdn~n and &ontempt. nor of intliffrrenrc to her wne: for indeed we \\ell know that our dear Lord had no such f(,rlinrr* toward any. It implied interrst and sympathv. but esplainrd to her a reacor, why she was not a proper subject, namclv, that as tbc children of a household wnuid he provided for firit. before the dngs, so it was proper that the Lords covenant nrnl)lr. lhr <Jews. should lie ministered unto. healed, taught aid l;lcsbetl,first,~ before these blessings should in any mnnnrr or degree be extended to the Gentile<. wbo in comparison were nq tbc dog5 of the household. -4nd. by tbc way, we qhoultl notice hcrc that nltho dngq amongst the .Jrws were spokrn of frcqnentlv with great &respect. as for instnnre. in Rev. 29:15, \\lth&t are dogs, rtr . referring to the wild dogs whirh roamed the country and were pests. yet the Jewi: mere in the hallit of having house dog* which were esteemed and petted bv the family, and the word that is here used by our Lord and alin 1)s the woman, signifies these house dogs or little claps. pet dncs. and not the objectionable kind. The woman triumphed over the obstacle of the Lords argument, and with wonderful keennrsq and humility she acknowl(,tlged that she was not one of the children w110 had a right to the Fathers blessing. but was merely one of the dogs under the table. desiring a stray rrumb of divine favor. Then o11r Lord, appreciating such great faith and earnestness, said, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone nut of thy tl,kughter. and that the womans faith was of the proper kind was demonstrated by the fart that she believed the T,ords word, ceased her importuninps, and went to her home, to find the matter even as Jrsus had said. How different is our case in many respects from that of this poor woman 1 So far from resisting us the Lord has graciously called us to a knowledge of himself and of his gracious plan, and we who were once aliens and strangers and foreigners have not only been redeemed with the precious blood, hut upon making a covenant with the Lord have been adopted into his family, have been privileged to surround his table, and he has set hefore 113 as meat in due season in preat abundance, all the exceeding great and precious promises of his Wnrd We need not to imDortune for these: thev are our9 for the taking. Ke simply iced by faith to a&eptythem and to ure them. And if the poor woman of this narrative could eyer(ice cuch faith in the Lord, and could get so great
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14.4TCM

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a bles&ig:, it evideucej tlti our minds what ii abuudantly bt3tad m God, 1s one of those heart-qualities which we can bring to elsewhere 111SWIIJ~LIL.~, that nothing that we have or could offer the Lord, that he will not despise; honesty of heart is another, to the Lord would be more acceptable in his sight than faithhumility, realizing our utter dependence upon him, and confaith in him, in his power, in his love and in his promises. fessing it, is another. These various sentiments were expresed Whoever will not exercise faith in these things cannot grow in by the woman in the narrative, by her actions and by her knowledge of the Lord, cannot make development, cannot be words, and as these brought to her divine favor. even before overcomers, gaining the desired victory, for, This is the it was due to come to the Gentiles, much more should our victory that overcometh the world, even our faith, and humility, faith and candor prevail and make us endeavor Without faith it is impossible to please God.-1 John 5:4; to do that which 1s pleasing to God, who has already accepted Heb. 11:6. us in the Beloved, and with whom he is well-pleased in prqThere is little that any of US possess that we could reasonportion to the measure of our accepting through the Lord ably hope would be acceptable to God outside those mercies all the exceeding riches of his grace, which he has promised which he has bestowed upon us through Christ-faith, trust to them that love, reverence, trust and obey him. - -__ ~~____ -- ---__-VOL. SYI ALLEGHENY, PA., JULY 1. 1900 No. 13 ~____ ---___ --____~~__

THE

SERVANT

OF THE LORD MUST NOT STRIVE, BUT BE GENTLE UNTO ALL

2 TIMOTHY 2:24-26.

Vve commend this text and its context to the careful consitlcration of all-espcciallv do the Volunteers need to remember it in connection with the service they are seeking to render to the Lords true sheep still in Babylon. All thus enL and telchers and hence amenable to gaged are ministers the same instructions as Timothy. Some have exposed themselves to rebuke and criticism It is justly, by intruding into church property uninvited. usually best to keep off the pavement fronting a church where there is any reason to think the service would give offence;-

and to apologize if asked to move off it. If possible it is drsirable to keep at such a distance from the building as to avoid seeming to want to serve its attendants more than other passers-by. Especially make sure that your heart is so full of the love of the Lord and his brethren that it will shine out in your face;-then it will not be necessary to urge your gift, but merely to say-Accept a free paper! Lay stress upon the word free, because some refuse thinking that either a price or dmafion will be expected in return.

LOVE
ketr, all hnmblr,

AS BRETHREN;
yourselves,

BE SYMPATHETIC;
1 PETER 3-8. .,
6.6 *>. 6

BE COURTEOUS

of you be sublect one to another, and be clothed with humility:

Humble t7Lerefore, under the mighty

fcr God vesisteth tke proud, nad showeiib faror to the

hand of God, thrrt ?le may exalt yo~c 2% &cc time.

bickerings, rivalries, ambitions, strifes as to who ia greatest, The Apostle has been addressing the elders of the church. etc. exhorting them to give attention to the feeding of Gods flock, and pointing out what should be the constraining influence Manifestly, whoever occupies the position of au eldrr That they may feel his sympathy with to such a service. amongst the Lords people, however small the group may be. them he points out that he also is an elder, and then warns occupies a position fraught with responsibilities to the Lord them against a tendency, natural to all fallen humanity in and to the flick, as well as with besetments to himself. Great any place of influence, to misconstrue their position, and to care should therefore be exercised by every companv of the think of themselves as lords of Gods heritage rather than Lords people, to so far as possible select for the position of as servants of tlie flock. leaders or elders in the church such persons as would not be likel? to be injured by the privilege of service-such as ocIn our day, the natural tendency in this direction is greatly cupying this post would indeed be ensamples of the flock in accentuated bv the long established custom of all denominahumility and in all of the graces of the Lords spirit. tions of Christians to regard the ministers or servants of the It would seem to be with reference to the special trial of such church as of a different class from the others of the flock,-a as occupy this position of service in the church that the Aposrlasq vested with authority from God, and not amenable tle speaks, saying, Be not many of you teachers. brethren, to the same regulations which govern all the members knowing that we roecupying such a position] shall receive, of the body. But how great a mistake this is! The Apostle the severer testing.--.Tames 3 : 1. distinctly points out that a servant is not a ruler, that a serIndeed, so far as the true church is It may not be amiss that here we notice tlw fact that alvant has no authority. tho the word E:lder has the significance of older, yet concerned, the only authority in it is the Lord, the Head of amongst the Lords brethren it is not merely years of natural the church, and his Word, and the words of those whom he life that is to be taken into consideration; in the Jords famspecially chose to be his mouth-piece, the apostles. ily we sometimes see babes with gray hairs. Nor can we Where these speak. all of the body of Christ are to give even count eldership according to the number of years that attention to hear. Where these are silent, no one has authorhave elapsed since the begetting of the spirit, for some grow ity to spenk.And while an elder should be chosen to the posirapidly and mature quickly; others who receive the truth pertion of serving and feeding the flock becarrse of special aptness mit the thorns of cares of this life and the deceitfulness of to teach (to point out the instructions of our Lord and the riches to choke the word, and hence never get beyond the apostles upon any subject), and while such an elder should. position of babes,-never bring forth the ripe fruits of the therefore, in this way be specially helpful to the body of spirit. Christ in drawing the attention of all to the inspired authorNor can we reckon this matter of relationship merely ity of the Word, neverthrless any member of the body of according. to the degree of knowledge of the divine ulsn atChrist has the same privilege-not of exercising authority, tained; for, as the Apoqtle assures us, it is possible for some but of calling the attention of his fellows to the Word of auto have much knowledee and vet be but tinklina cvmbnls thoi ity. The Apostle exhorts the elders that so far from in according to the LoFds standpoint of estima&nU While any manner or degree exercising a lordly or authoritative potherefore an elder, in order to be apt to teach, must have sition in the church, they should r;rther bp erlsaalples to the a.ttained to some conqidernble degree of knowledge of the dibe examples in the matter of meekness, flock. They should vine plan, nevertheless the real evidence of his fitness for the in the matter of patience, in the matter of brotherly kindness, service of an elder must not be determined by his knowledge so that the more any of the in the matter of courtesy, ~7lere7~, hut additionally must be measured by his growth in brethren would copy these elders the more would the spirit grace. So then such of the brethren in any place as possess nf the TArd nrevail in the flock, and the fruits and maces of clear knowledge of the divine plan and are apt to teach, the spirit be~manifested. On the contrary, we know that if and who additionally give unmistakable evidence that they the elder or leader of a little company of the Lords people have grown in grace and are bearing in daily life the fruits of be self-assertive, dogmatic, imperious in manner, tone or look, the spirit of the Lord, in considerable measure of maturity, the effect upon the company under his influence is to produce [ 26641

ILL\

1. l)@O

ZIUNS

WATCH

TOWER

(196-1?F)

may be considered qualified to bc* etderb;-and such may properly be chosen to the eldership by their brethren, regardless of their age according to the flesh. According to the flesh Peter and several others of the apostles of our Lord were his elders, but according to the spirit our Lord is the Elder Brother of all accented to the family of God. Alcording to the flesh both Timothy and Titus were young men-young in years-so that the Apostle needed to write to one of them, Let no man despise thy youth. (1 Tim. 4:12) And yet these young men the Apostle recognized as elders in the church, who, because of their spiritual de~elopment a& knowledge of the divine plan, and aptness to teach. were well aualified to feed the flock of God and to be overseers in itdut not lords, not rulers, not masters, and not vested with any authority-merely privileged to call to the attention of the flock the voice of the great Shepherd and his twelve chosen assistants, and to lead them to the green pastures and still waters of divine truth. Jt was after specially enjoining modesty and humility upon the ones most advanced and most capable of the flock t6at the Apostle, in the language of our texi, urges that each one of the Lords sheen. so far from seeking to be a leader in 1he sense of a ruler 0; iord or master, should seek to be subject one to another-to hear gladly from the humblest of the flock, and to be willing to yield his own preference. RO far as his iudrmcnt and conscience would permit. A church operating uncikr this spirit would not be likely to be rent wit% contention, for each would be so anxious for the interests of the cause and so willing to condescend to the wishes of others. lhnt even the will of the majority would not be considered %atisfactorv, but rather all would seek, if possible, to reach \uch a mndiiied conclusion as would meet with nearly or quit*> unanimous approval. The Apostle most distinctly points out that the quality rbscntial to such proper conduct on the part of elders and on How beautiful is his exhortathe part of all, is humility. tion, Be clothed with humility. The thought would seem to be that outside of every other adornment of character, and rovering all others, should be this robe of humble-mindedness, the> opposite disposition to pride. By way of clinching his argument, the Apostle reminds us of the principle upon which our Lord deals with his flock and with all;-that he disapproves of pride, and that all who are actuated by pride may be sure that the Lord, SO far from receiving them, fcllowshiping them, leading them, bles-ing them, will resist them, push them from him. The natural inference is that thus resisted of the Lord, the tendency of -urh as come under the influence of a spirit of pride and ambition \\ill be not toward the truth nor toward any of the fruits and graces of the spirit, but further and further from these. The Lord resist&h the proud, but supplies his favor Come then, dear brethren, says the Apostle, to the humble. let us cultivate this humility which the Lord so loves and Let us humble our:tppreciates and promises to reward. selves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt us rn due time. The Lords mighty hand has not yet been stretched out to take hold of mankind in general and its affairs, to bring order out of confusion; but it is stretched out over his church, his flock. He has called us to be his sheep, and we have responded and have put ourselves under his care, under his powerful hand for guidance, for direction, etc., that he may of the saints ultimately make us meet for the inheritance In light, joint-heirs with Jesus Christ our Lord, if so bc that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. Seeing that we are under this mighty hand of God, and that too by our own volition, how shall we act? Shall we vield ourselves to his will, and permit him to work in us both to will and to do his good -pleasure and our ultimate exaltation. or shall we resist the Lords Dower. resist his Word of instruction, resist the example set us ih the meek and lowly Lamb of God, and seek to exalt ourselves and to be somebodies, either in the world or in the church? Nay, let us remember that it would be follv to attempt to work against the divine arrangement; we bight indeid to some c\ tent seemingly succeed, and bring upon ourselves, and parhaps upon others also, more or less of separation from God through such resisting, on account of a wrong spirit; but in the end we should utterly fail of Gods favors, both as resnerts the fellowship of the spirit now and the fellowship of glory by and by. for thePe he assures 11s will be bestowed only

upon the humble. Everv Drover incentive and inducement sJKaks to us, saying,-Himble -yourself: become more like a little child, forgetful of self, devoid of selfish ambition: be actuated merely by a desire to serve the Lord, to serve his flock, and to serve his cause, the truth; forget self entirely. Perhaps, as a result, the Lord may increase our opportunities and responsibilities in service in the present life, and perhaps he may not; but no matter for this. It is not for the present life that we are seeking and striving, bllt for the glory, honor and immortality which t,he Lord has promised to them that love hin ;-that love him so much that they hearken to his Word and seek to develop those elements of character which are pleasing in his sight, seeking to become more and more copies of Gods dear Son. The Apostle adds, Casting all your care upon him. All true saints of God are care-full. They have an interest in the Lords work; they have a care in respect to it. They cannot be indifferent to the interests of Zion. Altho their hearts and affections and cares have been lifted from a sectarian channel, it is only that they should be placed upon true people of spiritual Zion. whose names are written in heaven. Of couruk, therefore, kvery elder inthe chur& must feel such a care, especially for the flock in connection with which he has been appointed to service, to feed the flock of Christ:-not to shear them, not to frighten them, not to club them, not to exercise authority and lordship over them, but to feed them. This care, affecting the chosen elders (and all the elders or advanced ones in the church), altho it is a right sentiment in itself, might easily be so perverted as to be dangerous. The elders, either individually or collectively, might become so nervously careful of the flock as to destroy their own peace and joy in the holy spirit; and it might also lead them to take various improper steps, as in their over-zealous judgment necessary for the welfare of the flock. Many in iimes past have been led, under the influence of such a care. to fn various ways take away the liberties of the flock in this or that or another matter:- fearful that these liberties would be iniurious to the cause. We see such a suirit of carefulness and over-solicitude marked prominentlyin th, past by the various creeds and regulations and restraints put upon the Lords flock, contrary to the Scriptures and to the liberty wherewith Christ makes free his people. The motive undoubtedly was in some respects a good one: the difficultv was that so&e Elders, some idvanced-sheep, caring for thk interests of the flock. forgot that thev were onlv its servants. and that they were not Luthoriaed to make &y lawn or restraints whatsoever for the flock. They forgot that the Lord himself is the Good Shepherd of his flock still, that he has not given over his care of it. nor his authority to anyone, to permit such to exercise lordship or to make lawn of anv kind for it, hc having made all ihe laws and regulationsnecessarv. and desiring that his sheen shall be free. with the lib&& wherewithhe made them iree. in the fulleit sense of the \;ord. The remedy for all such unauthorized over-carefulness for the interests of Zion is pointed out by the Apostle, saying,Casting all your care upon him [the Shepherd of the flock]. for he careth for you [all]. Each sheep is to rememher that the Shepherds mighty hand (mighty power) is still in the midst of his people, and that because of his care we do not need to over&&& ourselves with care, nor to feel that we must make chmges in. his plms and arrangements to meet what we might fancv to be new exigencies in the case. All such over-ca;efulness leads to fear, aid fear indicates a lack of faith, a lack of confidence in the Shepherd: and is generally used by the great adversary as one of his most powerful levers to lead the Lords people into a wrong course. Let us all, then (all of the advanced or elder class), hnvo a care for the flock: yea, a deep solicitude; but let II$ cnst the weight of this care upon the Lord, and lrt our faith trust him that he who has been working out so giand and glorious a plan as his Word revcnls to uq now, the plan of the anes, has made full provision for every feature, every circumst:lnce, every condition; and let us thus be ready to co-operate with him in harmony with his Word, hut not to run wlrerc we are not sent, noriu any manner to take our T,ords place, But only the bumble-minded nor attempt to do his work. are likely to receive any lasting blessing, present or future, at the hands of our Lord: for he rC&t?th the proud and showeth favor to the humble.

PHILADELPHIA

CO NVENTION

ECHOES

All will rejoice to know that the Philadelphia Convention, June 16-18. was a blessed success: so far as we have heard all who attended got a blessing, as we had hoped. Indeed, quite a few cxpresPed themselves as so much refreshed and profited that, the Lord permitting, they would also attend the next Convention, at Chicago. The attendance was about two hundred, except on Sunday, The three cities when it ran up to about four hundred: which have been 1endin-n in the Volunteer work were best 19, Washington City represented at the Convention :-Boston 13, Scranton 13. Thus it is always those most awake to note and use opportunities for serving the truth are the most blest of the Lord every \:-ag,-warmrr in their love and service, they nre less exposed to the besetment3 of the adversary: layinn down their lives in the Lords service in fulfilment of th:ir covenant they are in the way which leads not only to fellowship In the sufferings of Ch&st but also in the glories to follow. Sinriteen states were represented-Maine, Connecticut, Rlnssachnwtts, rurw York, Pennsylvania, sew Jersey, Delsware. blnrvland. Virginia. South Carolina. Georgia, Ohio, IndIana, Iliinoiqj Ran;as, \Visconsin, Kevada, Cali&ia and District of Columbia :-and Great Britain was represented bv Bloth~~r RantlIe. who, after dolnp a little further .Pllprim w:ork here, will for a time make England his home and laborfield. At the baptism service thirtv-nine adults, after making a good public confession, symbolized their consecration to the Lord, even unto death, by immersion in xvater. It was an
-3

impressive service to us all, and the entire congregation gave hearty thanks to God for the privilege of witnessing and participating. The janitor of the Baptist church remarked that not only had there never been such baptism service in that old church, but that never before had it contained a congregation all of whose faces were so happy looking. We were glad that the inner light of truth and its spirit of love was manifest to others. We trust that they took knowledge of us that we had been with Jesus and been illuminated by his holy spirit. We cannot present the subjects discussed, but in a word would say,-It was the old, old story of Gods love exhibited in Jesus, and the coming glory of the church and blessing of the world: the story that is as fresh as ever to all in heartharmony with the Lord, and which daily becomes more precious in the light of present truth;-things new and old. None, we believe, \\ere nlnlc blessed than the Philadrlphia brethren nhn $0 kindly and cfficientlv and generously entertainetl us. They provided a splendiri hall for the n&tingh, Daid for the u?e of the baatistrr. looked after the arriving griends and saw to their cbmfo%, and provided free enter: tainment for those of the visitors too poor to pay their onn way. May rich blessings of spiritual kind he their reward for all their services to the Lords hody. By an oversight we neglected to call for a united vote of thanks from the convention; and as this war owing chiefly to the fact that the last meeting was a Question Jleeting, we think to remedy the matter by having the closing service of future conventions a Love Feast.

A USEFUL STONE VERSUS A STUMBLING

NATT.

STONE

16 : 13-26.-JULY
deny

22.

If any man comeafter me, let

hzm

himself, and take up his cross,and follow me.

all life--get it is probable that he meant morr than this. It iq probable that he meant, Thou art the Messiah, the Son of God, the Living One,-the one who ha4 a right to life nccording to the law. \vhile all otheli, b(Bin,rr imperfect. art uiillcr condemnation of the lam and under sentence of death Evidently it was a refreshment of heart, to our J,ortl to have this full and frank statement from Peter. One, at least. of his disciples had profited 1)~ the lrwnns of the preretlmg three years. and had come to the noint of full assurance of faith in him: and the others, w$ile less expreisivc, were probably making progress nevertheless, and would be greatly helped and strengthened and built up by this good confession. PETER A USEFUL STONE IN GODS HOUSE Our Lords response, Blessed art thou, Simon, son of Jona, does not so much signify, I wish or will grant a blessing upon you because of this confession, but rather, You have heen blessed of God greatly in that you have been enabled to discern this great truth, hidden from so many. Flesh and blood (mankind in general) do not so believe. and could not have so taught you nnr convinced you; you have been drawn of my Father in heaven, and through responding to the leadings of his providence the eyes of your understanding have heen opened that you are thus able to see and appreciate this qrcat truth. Then fnllowed a blessing, a prophecy of coming usefulness, partly. at least, the result of this good confession, as it was the result of a nrooer condition of heart :-Thou art Peter [petros, a stone, a ;ock] and upon this r&k [petrathis great stone or rocky mass-the great truth which you have confessed, namely, my Messiahship] will I build my church. The Lord did not propose to build his church upon Peter, but upon the great truth which the Father had laid as a foundation for his plan and had revealed to Peter and which Peter had so nobly expressed. But Peter, indeed, might be one of the living stone5 of the spiritual temple erected upon this great foundation-fact. Peter himself gives us this interpretation of the matter in his Epistle ( 1 Pet. 2 :4-7 ) , assuring us that the whole church as a building of God is growing more and more complete through the addition of each member, who, as a living stone, is built up into and under the headship of Christ, the great chief corner-stone and capstone of the whole--the figure being that of a pyramid.See MILLESKIAL DAWN, VOL. I.. Chap. v.; VOL. III., Chap. X. The same thought is given in the description of the sew Jerusalem, in which Peter is represented h;Y one of the Twelve Foundation Stones, the other apostles being equally foundation stones, and all the faithful in Christ being built upon the foundation of the divine plan, and upon the testimony of these twelve apostles. Rev. 21, see verse 12.
_ I

Peter, the apostle, nnc, a grant1 character. as this lcsyon well illustrates : Tot. lll<P all it1 011,g charactors, hr had proportionate opportunities ant1 liabilities to misuse his strength considerablv to him, points for evil. This lesson. relating a moral respecting the neceq;Ity for meekness, humilitv, and wise direction of those who possess strength of character. The incidents of this lesson transpired toward the close of our Lord3 ministry, probably about six months before his crllc,lfisIon. For about three rear< the T~ltl had, n-lth his dl+ eil)lry, been l)roclaimil\, 0 the *kingdom near at hand and workinrr nlit aclcbs vhlrh tc*ytifietl that he was .J(4lnvah~ .Inolntrd One. Xleantime, his fame had of course spread in every direction. Hclrotl, \\IIo hat1 1)rhrndetl .John tllc Bxptiqt. seems to hare start4 the suggestion that Jesus was John risen from the dead-probably having little information respecting Jesus while hc had cnn\itlerable knowledge of John. Others wishing to properly cretlit our J,ords wonderful works and mighty acts, claimed that he was the Elijah prophesied to precede Others thought of him as Jeremiah or Messiahs coming. some of the great prophets risen from the dead; but very few seemed to have thought of him as the ?tle~~lnh,-expecting Messiah, when he would come, to be very kingly, very great, and of very high standing with thP nation and the ruling Cl,?SS. T11c.v no doubt thought they greatly honored Jesus in crediting him with being the forerunner of the Messiah. And apparently our Lord hat1 not particularly expressed the mattrr of his hltssinhqhip during these years, leaving it rather to be recognizetl by those who should obtain the opening of the ryes of their untlerstanding. He spoke of himself as the to the Father, and Son of Got1 ; he spnke of his relationship tcstifird tllat his mighty works were done in the Fathers name ant1 pnwer, but he said little, if anything, respecting his being tile Pllesiinll until non. Now the ploper time had come that the disciples should recnrniyr tl&nitclv his office. and his question reeardinr what to citroduce the &~l;ie in general said of him was merely matter to the disciples. and give the opportunity to ask them, Thrn it was that Peter dih\!%nm \ay ye that T am? playrtl not only the strength of his faith in the Lord, but al<o hi3 onn strength of character and his zeal, answering promptIV, Thou art the Chri4 [Hebrew, the Messiah], the Son of Godthe Living. ,411~~ altho we may safely assume that Peter spoke for all of the apostles, in harmony with our Lords question, nevertheless, the fact that he was the spokesman <would imply that he was the most thoroughly iml~ued with the sentiment that he exnressed. His statement is suite 1 comprehensive, too : not onlv did he recognize Jesus as the Mea&ah, but he recognized hiS divine autho;itp and paternity, and while it is nossible that Peter meant to sav the Son of the living God: the Son of the God who is the author of
1 L, 1

(198-199)

[ 26561

JULY

1,

1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(199-200)

This was probably the first intimation the Lord had given of his intention to buzld a church. or that anv neriod of time would elapse between the work he was then doing and the This was a gradual way of establishment of the kingdom. bringing great matters to the attention of the apostles,matters which necessarilv would conflict with manv of the ideas and hopes that al;eady had taken possessionof their hearts. It cannot be claimed that our Lord referred to any of the Christian sects when thus speaking of his church: all are forced to admit that these earthly systems are entirely ignored, not only in this statement, but in every other statement which our Lord ever made respecting his church. He never recognized more than one, nor did the apostles; and both Jesus and the apostles reckoned that every true sheep, every true grain, every wise virgin, and every faithful servant of this Gospel age would belong to the one church of Christ, of which the Apostle says that their names are written in heaven. (Heb. 12 :23) They need no earthly record, and such of them as are rightly informed will want no sectarian name, but will be thoroughly satisfied with the name of their Lord; and they will want no earthly creed-fences to separate them from each other, but will desire more and more to be one in fact and in theory. The church of Rome, as being the oldest of all human church systems, claims the name of Christ, and holds that Peter was its founder, hut it can produce no evidence to this effect, for there was no Roman Catholic church in existence The primitive church, until centuries after Peters day. authorized by our Lord and built upon the testimony of the apostles and through their minmtry, after the day of Pentecost, was a very different institution from any of the present-day man-made, creed-bound and clergy-lorded systems. We understand that the Lord is now calling his true people out of this Babylon or mixed condition of present-day churchianity into the light, the liberty, the fellowship, with him and with all who are his, which properly belongs to the one flock, which nas but one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Our Lords declaration that the gates of hell [hades, the death state] shall not prevail against his church, is worthy of careful notice, especially in view of his words following this declaration, to the effect that all who would be his disciples must follow him in sacrifice into death. This must have been an astounding thought to the apostles, as they had, so far from expecting death, expected some kind of transformation to glory, honor and immortality. Our Lords declaration. therefore, that the gates of hell, the gates of the grave, shall not prevail against his church, signified not that his followers should not enter those portals of death, but that eventually those prison-doors of death would open,-would not be permittetl forever to prevail against the faithful. As a matter of fact, the gates of hades did close over our dear Redeemer himself for nortions of three davs. but thev did not nrevail. On the conirary, Gods power prevailed and he arosk from the dead, he left the prison-house, he came forth a victor. And so lrkewise throughout this Gospel age, the gates of death closed behind the apostles one after another, and after all the faithful of the Lords people, as well as others, and our Lords assurance then is still comforting to his followers, that the prisonhouse of death, with its strong bars and gates, the grave, shall not prevail, shall not in the end conquer, but that he who was raised from the dead by the power of the Father will raise us up also, making us also victors over death and over the grave, so that eventually we can say, 0 death, 0 grave, where is thy victory? But where is thy sting? we cannot say this so long as we are subject to death, nor so long as we are under deaths power; but only when the deliverance shall come in the resurrection. Altho our Lord does not here speak of others than the church prevailing against the gates and bars of the tomb, he dots elsewhere give us the assurance that through his prevailing and our subsequent prevailing through his name and assistance, ultimately the whole world of mankind, or so many of them, at least, as will accept of the favor, will be delivered from the power of death into perfection of life: and then shall be brought to pass, in the fullest, most absolute (Isa. sense of the word, the prophecy just referred to. 61 :l-3) Adamic death and its victory over the human family will then be completely annulled, through the atonement accomplished by our Lord, and the restitution which he, with his church, will accomplish as a result. And ang who shall fail of eternal life shail not fail because of the present prevalence of so-called Adamic death, but will be the victims of their own wilful sin, and will experience its penalty, the

second death, whose bars and gates will never open, and against which they can never prevail. for Christ dieth no more and will release - none from Athe second death.--Ram. 6:91 2 Thess. 1:9 ; Acts 3 :23.
THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

The apostles, of course, could not understand our Lords words at the time, as they did afterward, and as we now understand them. (John 7 :39) Nevertheless, these various declarations respecting the future immediately followed, our Lord declaring, I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. What a riddle this must have seemed to poor Peter and his associates! They would doubtless conclude that it meant that in view of Peters confession he would make him grand treasurer of the kingdom, or something of that kind; and only in the light of their fulfilment in subsequent events can we judge accurately the meaning of these words But looking through the experiences of Peter and the church, we find that there were two doors which required to be opened, and that Peter was used of the Lord in opening both of them, and hence that it was properly stated of him that he had the keys, the power, the -opportunity, the authority to do the work in both instances, and he did it. Our Lord himself did not open the door into the kingdom, in the full sense of the word. He merely called out faithful laborers, who should afterward in his name open wide the doors. Indeed, the doors into the kingdom could not he opened to any -until first of all the great transaction of Calvary had been accomplished. Our Lord came to give himself a ransom for mankind, because a ransom was necessary before mankind could be released from the Adamic condemnation, or have any part either in the kingdom proper or in the hoped for blessing- promised through the kingdom to all the families of the earth. Hence the anostles (whom the Father had specially given to Jesus, and of*whom none were lost save the son of perdition, whose place was subsequently filled, through the Lords appointment, by the Apostle Paul-John 17 : 12 ; Rom. 1: 1) , did not and could not receive recognition from the Father until after our Lord Jesus had finished his sacrifice and had arisen from the dead and had ascended UD on high to appear in the presence of God on their behalf,: and on behalf of all men for whom he died. So soon as the sacrifice for mans sin was presented to the Father, the evidence of its acceptance was indicated to mankind by Gods acceptance of the faithful apostles and of all who then were in the proper condition of heart, to the plane of sonship and their hegetting of the holv snirit to a new nature.-and this was marked or indicated by ihe outpouring of theholy spirit at Pentecost, accompanied by gifts of the spirit. It was then that Christs kingdom was established in those who had received him; and then began the work of declaring the gnod tidings of great joy, which must eventually be to
~11 pwpl(s hut mhwh at ~II -t W-R< wstrirted for three ant1 n

half years to fleshly Israel, in fulfilment of Gods covenant with them, that favor should continue to the full end of seventy weeks mentioned by the prophet.-Dan. 9:24. See
~\IILI,E~~SIAL DAWX, VOL. II., Chap. III.

In this work of operling the door of the kingdom to Israel we find, arcording to the record, that Peter took the first, most prominent and initiatory part, as we read: Peter, standing up with [the others of] the eleven, lifted up his voice and said. (Acts 2:14) Peter was the spokesman, Peter used the lie:/, Peter opened the door, the other apostles co-operating and assisting. The other of the two keys was not used for three and a half years afterward, because not until then could the door of favor be opened to the Gentiles. But when the time came for opening the door, we find that it was Peter who was specially designated of the Lord to do it, being sent from .Toppa to Cornelius, to tell him words which should be to the saving of his house-the opening to him of the privilege of membership in the kingdom of Christ. he being the first Gentile converted. the first one to whom the Lord authorized the preaching of the high callin g of joint-heirship with Christ in his kingdom. And the Aoostle Peter referred to this matter subsequently, saymg, Ye know how that a good while ago God made choice amongst us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the Gospel.-Acts 10; 15:7.
BINDING AND LOOSING IN HEAVEN AND EARTH

Our Lord further said to Peter, Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsnever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. This statement has given rise to the claim amongst Romnnists that Peter was the first pope, and that he had an authority superior to the other apostles; but we find that very nearly the

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same words were used to all the apostles a% recorded by the (Matt. 18:18) - Again, a very similar same Evangelist. declaration was made to them all. as recorded bv John, sayWhosoever sins ye remit they are remitted unto ing, them, and whosoever sins ye retain they are retained. We understand these declarations not to be (John 20:23) general and applicable to all of the church, but chiefly to the (John 6:70; apostles, on the strength of our Lords words. \Vc deny that the popes of Rome, or any 15: 10; Rev. 21:14) other persons, ever have been apostles, or ever have exercised Jn a word, we deny the central claim apostolic authority. of Romnnism and Episcopacy, viz., Apostolic Succession. \Ve underbtand this investment of Peter and the other with 1pwm1 ;iuthol ity to bind and to loose. to remit :Iphtlh. and to hold, to signify that God would specially control their so that their decisions and writings might propnttrrances, cbrlv br considered authoritative. Not that God bound himself to tlo and to decide according to the imperfect jud,mcnts of the apostles, but that he has guaranteed us that he would overrule in the affairs and in the RO guide and providentially languagr of these chosen and faithful ones that his people tnight relv upon it that such things as the apostles fixed For instance, it is at their mouth had the &Tine approval. that we learn that me arc justified from all sin through faith in the redrmption; they did not make it so, but under divine direction thrv were &ded in the st,ating of it SO; and we may implicitiv rely ;pon their statements, which, moreover, we find to be in full accord with the principles of righteousTIPSS ant1 the various derlarations of the divine Word. ..-. ..-.They inform us also that certain sins can be remitted or forgivensins of weakness and of ignorance, traceable to our fallrn nature, which we have received by heredity, and th,) penalty for which our Lord has already borne. They inform us :tlso that other sins, viz., wilful sins, are not forgivable, ant1 mav bc indeed sins unto death, unto the second death. And \\ch see herein reasonableness also ; for we perceive that Christ did not die for any except the Adamic transgresslon, and thn\c sins which dirrctly or indirectly may be traceable cannot thereto it: and that ~\iilful, deliberate transgressions fore bc forgiven, but must be expiated-if comlritted with considerable light. but not full light, the expiating penalty but if committed with full wilfulness and may be &ri+s, against full light the penalty could be nothing short of death -the second death.--1 John 5:16; Luke 12:47. 48; JIeb.

l ub~tltutlon theI efor of :I plan iiiorc agl eeable to the ficsh. The text says that Peter took him, and this we may understand to signify that Peter took him apart from the others-it was a private interview and exhortation, and no doubt Peter intended to bring in various support&g arguments: for instance. that the discinlen would be discouraeed with $uch talk, etc. However, hc &~ly began. Jnd did ;ot get to finish his argument, the Master being so full of the spirit of loyalty to the Father and his plan that he could not even endure a suggestion to the contrary, and must needs hasten to repudiate such a disloyal suggestion. His answer was a severe rebuke to Peter, yet doubtleqs was n blessinp to him SO long as he lived, and probably helped him after;ard to be much more modest in the matter of ounosine0 his nlan to II A that of the Lord. When our Lord said, Get thee behind me, Satan,: he did not mean that he considered Peter possessed by the adversary: rather, the word Satan in the original is adversary. and was properly used in respect to any person taking a position adverse or in opposition to another. 1% adversary is called Satan, that word being used for him as a proper name. Our Lord turned from Peter at this time. and addressed his words BO that all the apostles might hear him, that the matter might be the more impressive and all the more a valuable lesson to them: that they might all know that their Master never compromised his Fathers will in any sense or degree. Get behind me, adversary; thou savorest Ipartakestl not the thing:9 that bc of God, but the things that be of men -you are \-iewing matters not from Gods standpoint, but from the standpoint of fallible, fallen men. So it is to-day, and ever has been with the church, the hly of Christ; if they are intent upon following the foothteps of the Lord thev must cxnect adversaries to arise who wiil seek to turn the& away frbm the path of sacrifick and duty: to make it seem too difficult, or to attract their attention to other plans or methods less costly-more in harmony with the fleshly mind. We should remember the hiasters ,ourse and take a similar one. and point out to these, if they be friends, and in the truth (and such they frequently are, as was Peter), that their influence is being exercised in a wrong direction, against the truth, against our best interests, against the divine plan and hence that thev are not only adversaries to us, but ilso adversaries to the cord. We should thus seek to reclaim them and to heln them to walk 6.4-6; IO.26 27. in the same way with us,-instead of leaving the narrow way to follow their kindly meant but pernicious influence. CAST NOT PEARLS BEFORE SWINE The word here rendered offence would more properly Following this conrcrsation with the disciples, our Lord be translated, as in the Revised Version, a stumbling block, t.harge,l them particularly not to make his Messiahship genor a stone of stumbling. Thus we see that it was the same This rorroborates the thought erally known to the prople. Peter whose noble confession had so refreshed the Lord and :hat neither the disciples nor our Lord had previously been blessed the disciples and himself, and who on this account but rather preaching that the ~~nnncinting his Messiahship, was designated a stone, indicative of strong character, that kingdom of heaven was at band, near at the door, without was now, by reason of the same strength of character, strong .aying prrcisely who was to be the King. The command not mindedness, strong will, in danger of becoming, not a stone lo make the matter known was evidently because the result in the Lords temple but a stumbling stone. And should of quch a program would have been to hare aroused at least some of the Lords people, strong in chzracter, become stumba Ilarty spirit amongst the people, BOMe of whom accepted ling stones to UB, we have here our Lords illustration of our his mirac~lc~s, etc.. ant1 would lrnvc espoused his cause, whllc proper course-to turn from them, refusing to be stumbled, nith the Phnrisce~. would have opposed, and thus an <dlcT'. refusing to he lead away from t.he consecration which we incur I c3c.t would naturally ion hare followed :-besides it woul,l with the ~IYXIXIII \vhich 0111 have made. ll.ltl. III~<,Ifcrrtl ronqitlrrahlr I.ortl <a\~ marked out for him in the tlivinr. \Vord.-his death Our Lnrd took this occasion to lay pointedly before his .IS the sin-oWcrin=. IJr ditl not need to ptoplnirn his Men&hdisciples the fact that if they loved the present iife, with its -hip. fny 11(xnlrf~:ttly I;ttr\\-. ah llr hilt1 *t.\tct1. tllat \\h,,soe\cr advantages, etc., more than the future one, with its present the Father would draw would come. and I hat those not drawn disadvantages, they had no business amongst his discipIen: of the inthcr, and not disposed to become his disciples, should that anyone who would be his disciple should reckon sclfrmt, IX%+ncrinllr drawn bv the nroclamntinn of hla >Iepsinh. denial, self-negation, absolutely necessary to discipleship ; -hip ant1 the pknspects of the kfngdom. and should be prepared, with no uncertainty of mind or pmpose, to follow after Jesus with a cross,-not a literal cross, PETER A STUMBLING-STONE, AN ADVERSARY but the crossing of human self-will with the divine will. tlaving prepared the minds of thr disciples. by the foreThen come the terms of discipleship very clearly stated. going derlaration, that hades, death, would not br permitted All who become disciples, and who hope for life in the kingto triutnph nvcr his church, etc., our Lord from that time dom, must expect to sacrifice t,hc present life, and whoever for\\nrd lwpn gradually to break to them information redoes not sacrifice the present life shall not find that glorious from the dead ipertitlz hi\ own tl(~cenh,~and his re;urrortion eternal life which God has in reservation only for the overJt \\;\s thc~n that thr samcb noble Pctfr forgot himself. as we comers. Rut, our Lord reasons, what would a man be adwould say. ant1 undrrtonk to correct the Lord and to outline vantaged were he to gain all of this world, all of its adfor him other things. He was moved to this, not merely by vantages and riches (which none could hope to do) if thereielfich motiyes nf prejudice and hopes of sharing in the by he should lose his own being. his own soul, his life. his king,l~,m. and avoiding the ignominy, but doubtless also by his cxiatenre : or what mo1~1d a man not be willing to give in love for the I.or,l and his desire to RCChim honored and ex&lt, %B exchange for the perpetuation of his life eternally. (The nltcd, rather than to be set at nought and killed. word so@ in this verse, is psuche, the same Greek word renon another occasion this noble Apostle said t,hings not knowdered life in the preceding verse.) Surely anyone possessed ing what he said, so now be cvident,ly did not realize the of a souncl mind and able, therefore, to rightly weigh the adimport of his language, and how, if it were followed, it would vantages and disadvantages of the present life, as compared mean to nnr Lord the rejection of the Fathers plan and the
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with the eternal life in Gods kingdom of righteousness, must confess that it would be a bad bargain to gain the whole world in every sense and to lose his own being. It is in view of the logic of this argument that OUF Lord and the apostles urge all true follower9 of Christ to present

their bodies living sacrifices, holy, acceptable to God, and their reasonable service;-to lay down their live9 for the brethren, that by these means they may attest their devotion to the Lord and attain to his kingdom and life everlasting.Rom. 12:l; 1 John 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:14, 15; Phil. 3:10, 11.

A VISION OF COMING GLORY

This LUKE 9 :28-36.-JULY 29. is my beloved son-hear ham. present condition, as no longer the man Christ Jesus. but the risen, glorified Son of the Highest, a spirit being. In thlx view of the matter, Moses might be understood to renresent the faithful of the .past ages, &d Elijah the faithful-rdf-%% Gospel age, the body of Christ in the flesh,* who are to be ass&iated with him in the glory of the kingdom, and who meantime behold his glory with the eve of faith. and recoenize the great transaction-of Calvary as be basis fbr all kingdom hopes and blessings. In harmony with this view is the fact that at the same time that this vision was taking place the other disciples of the twelve at the foot of the mountain were contending with the adversary, seeking to cast out the devil from the young man. Thus the Lords people of the present time are still in the valley of conflict, still contending with the will of the flesh and the devil; yet their eyes of faith behold at the top of the mountain the glorious Lord, with all power in heaven and in earth, their Friend, their Teacher, and soon to be their deliverer, who will cause them to share in the glories of his kingdom into which he has already entered. We have called this scene on the mountain a vision. and so indeed our Lord calls it, in the account given by Matthew (17:9) : As they came down from the mountain Jesus charged them saying, Tell the vision. to no man until the Son of Man be risen from the dead. And indeed a vision was just as useful to the purpose as a reality could have been. Thus it was that the Lord showed manv thines later on to .-_ --- __ one of these three witnessing disciples 0; the I&e of Patmos. He showed him in vision, angels and thrones and crowns and multitudes and dragons, etc., in a manner which served the purpose equally as well as tho all those beasts, dragons, etc., had been actually created for the purpose. So in this vision: Our Lords transfiguration was merely an appearance-actual& he had undergone-no change. He appeared like as spirituil beings are described, bright, shining like the sun, etc., yet he was not yet a spirit being, and did not become such until his resurrection from the dead; he was still the man Christ Jesus. But in the vision his countenance and his sarmenta were caused to appear to be bright, glistening, etc., and the appearance served every purpose. Likewise, Moses and Elijah a&eared to be present,-bit they were not actually present,because it was merelv a vision. The Anostle distinctlv informs us that Mosei and Elijah and the o:hers of the ancient worthies are not yet made perfect-and that thes cannot be made perfect until after the church, the body df Christ, is complete and glorified with the Head, God having provided some better thing for US, that they without us should not be made perfect.-Heb. 11:40; John 3 : 13; Acts 2 :34. As a part of the vision came a misty cloud of light, which enveloped the group, including the disciples, who were fearful as they entered the cloud. This cloud as a Dart of the vision, might properly be understood as saying *to the apostles and to us, Altho the glory and majesty of the Lord Jesus are unquestionably his, as testified to by the Law and the Prophets, and as a result of his faithfulness unto death, nevertheless that glory will in a considerable measure be hidden, covered, obscured for a time, so that you will see your glorious Lord and King only with the eye of faith, which, altho more or less cloudy, will nevertheless be bright to those who look unto him. And the voice of God speaking in that cloud and testifying to Jesus as the Son of God, and instructing that we should hear and obey his word, would seem to represent how that all through this Gospel age, while the misty cloud surrounds the glory of the Lord, we will have great need to continually hearken to the Word of the Lord, and to repose faith in its declaration respecting the Son of God, our Redeemer. After the vision the Lord and the apostles descended from the mount to engage in the duties of life-to complete the lessons of faith and obedience, battling against the world, the flesh and the devil; and yet, as the quotation from the Apostle Peters letter clearly shows, the influence of this vision l See MILLENNIAL DAWN, VOL. II, Chap. 8. Elias Shall First Come. Continuing his lesson9 to the apostles, showing them that his glory and kingdom could not come until after his suffering and death, our Lord declared, There be some standing here who will not taste of death until they see the Son of Man (Matt. 16:28; 17:l) Then, coming in his royal maiesty. six d;ys later (or eight day-s, counting the one in which this wna uttered and the one in which it way fulfilled) our Lord took Peter, James and John, the three apostles most advanced in faith and zeal, into a high mountain, and while praying with them the transfiguration scene of our lesson ensued. It was a further lesson of instruction in harmony with what he had already explained, viz., that the Son of Man must be set at naught by the chief priests and the elders, and must be crucified, and must rise from the dead, ere he could enter into his glory ;-the kingdom in which he had promised them a share. The transfiguration scene was therefore a picture or vision of the Lords glory in his kingdom, and was intended to assure the apostles respecting the certainty of the kingdom, notwithstanding the apparent failure And this of all kingdom-hopes in our Lords crucifixion. vision was doubtless essential as an assistant to the apostles faith in Jesus as the promised Messiah, since the course of events which would follow in the next few months would be so different from everything that they had expected. Peter, one of those present on this occasion, fully suhstantiates this view-that the transfiguration was a vision of Christs dignity and glory in the kingdom-for writing respecting it he says: We have not followed cunningly devised fables in making known to you the presence and power of our Lord Jesus, but were eye-witnesses of that majesty, for be received fro& God the F:<ther honor and glory, when-there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory-This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. -And this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy mount.-2 Pet. 1:16-X3. The several accounts show that our Lord entered into the mountain to pray, and that the apostles fell asleep during the prayer, but subsequently awakened and beheld the vision, the MasLers face shining like the sun, and his garments glitteringly white, and in-his company two persons who, for some reason. thev recoenized as Moses and Eliiah. altho of course they had never seen either of these me;, $nd would These they overnot have known them without assistance. heard talking with the Lord, the subject of the conv&sation no doubt beine intended for the ears of the disciples-to convince them t&t the matters which would occur* before long in Jerusalem and on Mount Calvary would all be features ot the divine plan, harmoniously working out the blessed result9 promised and longed for, through the kingdom. They spoke of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. What is the interpretation of tile picture? is a proper We renlv. that it rearesented. first of all, that auestion. &ho our Lord Jes;$ must suff& death, even the death of the cross, in harmony with the divine plan, being made a curse for us (Gal 3 : 13)) nevertheless, he was still the Son of God, whose glorious majesty and kingly power would later on be fullv shown forth. And Moses and Elijah, representing the Law and the Prophets, illustrate how the death of Christ, was fullv atte&.ed beforehand. Moses spoke of the -....__ sufferings of Christ in all the arrangements of the Law, its sacrifices, etc., and the prophets declared not only the coming glories, but also the sufferings which must precede them. as our Lord subsequently poinhd out to the two disciples on the wav to Emmaus. saving. 0 fools and slow of heart to believe all that the dropietlhave spoken : ought not Messiah to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?Luke 24 :25-27. Again, this picture may be understood to represent the kingdom during this Gospel age-the kingdom as recognized In this bv the Lords people, but not recognized by the world. view of the vision, our Lords race shining as the sun, and his garments glistening white, would represent him In his
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continued with the apostles through coming days, as it still encourages us today. And may we not learn a lesson to the effect that as this vision was granted when Jesus and the disciples were at prayer, so all those who seek God in prayer may, to a large extent, with the eye of faith realize this same blessed vision of the kingdom-the glories to comeand may, to some extent, with the hearing of faith recognize the voice of God saying, This is my beloved Son-to some extent be enabled to realize that as members of the body of Christ their sacrifice must also be accomplished in actual death before t1u.y can enter into his glory, since it is written that if we suffer with him we shallalso reign with him. \Ve cannot build tabernacles on the mountain heights

of faith and hope, and expect to dwell there in enraptured vision always. We must remember that the duties and trials of present experiences in conflicts with sin and with self and with the adversary are essential to our development ant1 part of our covenant, but like the Master we should frequently seek the heavenly Fathers blessing in prayer; and in proportion as we use this privilege will our hearts and our faces shine ; and proportionately we will be enabled to show forth the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light, and who has shined by his grace into our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of God as it shines in the face of Jesus Christ our Lord.

LEAST AND GREATEST

IN THE KINGDOM

MATT. 18: ~-~~.-AUGUST 5. GOLDEN TEXT.-&@er the little chaldren to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such [lzkelis the Kingdom of God. child, and seating it in the midst, he made the astounding I 11(* (;oltl(~n Irh\t ( IIO+II ~III this 1es~l1 1s mart inappropriate declaration that only such as would become childlike could and misleading. It was spoken respecting children, and as inenter the kingdom at all. As natural men, and most of dicating our Lords sympathy and love for them. Indeed, we them rather unlearned, the disciples had no doubt been aimcannot think of any truly great man or woman who would ing as far as possible from childlike simplicity, and striving not look upon clliltlhood with loving sympathy and interest; rather to assume the dignity of mind and of bearing which and viewing the blank pages of the life represented in them would suggest itself to the natural man as being appropriate be a\\ akcnctl to tcntler foclmgs resl~cting the trmls and difhculq vvl11ch mu-t lie betore them in the to those who hoped soon to share regal honors in the kingdom tics xntl tllwppointmcnt. it must have caused them to of God. \Yhat astonishment path of life, and with hopes and good wishes respecting their learn that the Lord was looking rather for simplicity, meekpossible victories and attainments of desirable characters, That Jesus ness, teachableness, child-likeness, than for astuteness, wisdom, as a * (+ult of thebe experic~iices and conflicts. dignity, etc. ! lovetl children, yea, loved everything guileless and pure, is this not to 1~ cllrl+tlollc~tl, and our (+oltltn Test substantiates Yet our Lords words were not merely a condemnation conviction. of the spirit which they had been cultivating, but a lesson of instruction regarding a change in this respect, his words The kingdom of God will not be composed either wholly intimating not merely the possibility, but the necessity of a or in part of infants who died without either knowledge, Had such been Gods change of course on the part of those who desired a share in exnerience or character attainments. his kingdom. If, instead of reading our Lords words as in purpose it would not have required nearly nineteen centuries the Common Version, Except ye be converted, we read them to complete the little flock of one hundred and forty-four as in the Revised Version, kxiept ye turn, more will get the x pod fight tllollWIld . ,101 \\ Olll~l It IIRV~ IWCll Sill,1 that true thought our Lord wished his followers to learn. thp word must be fought and victory achieved and graces of the spirit convert>having lost its primary meaning to many by reaperseverance in well doing, and that all attmnd 1)) patient son of misuse. They must turn their ideas on the subject, and in all it must be through much tribulation to the fresh, volunstudy and practice-lessons in the opposite direction-lessons tarily and joyfully accepted, that any can enter into the of child-likeness: and our Lords of meekness. of humilitv. kinp~lnm. Infants can have no share under this Gospel call: declaration that those who attain to the greatest development but they will surely share the great world-blessing that will in meekness and simplicity of heart will be greatest in the speedily follow the completion of the Church and its glorificakingdom, implies that those who strive after simplicity and tron as Gods kingdom. meekness will be granted a share in the kingdom, but that none This text is misleading, in connection with this lesson, bewho are self-seeking and boastful will have part or lot in cause in the latter the expression little ones is used in a this matter. Lord referring to his figurative sense, not literally;-the nnrs, Gods humble ant1 trustful tlisciples as Gods little Having thus defined the humble-mmtletl and luno,telltatlons amongst his followers as those upon whom he would bestow children, whom he pities and cherishes as do earthly parents case, for we their little ones. Nor is this an exceptional the highest honors and dignities of the kingdom, Jesus proceeded to give a general lesson respecting s&h little ones find that. rcpratcdly in the Scriptures the young Christian of his followers, saying that all who receive such humble and the less developed are likened to babes, to children. Thus Brethren, be not children in disciples in his name will be reckoned as having received the Apostle Paul -exhorts: him, and whoever stumbles or injures one of these humble understandine: howbeit. in malice be ve children, but in unAnd the Ap&tle Peterexhorts the ~lerstantling be ye men. or little ones will therebv commit a crime so serious that it would be better for him to have lost his life-better that a hrcthren, -1s new born babes. desire the sincere milk of the Rord, that ye may grow thereby.-1 Cor. 14:20; 1 Peter 2 :2. mill-stone were fastened to his neck and he be cast into the sea, and thus all hope of saving his life effectually destroved It was apparentlv after the journey back from the Mount -better that this great calamity should come upon one than of Transliauratron to Canernaum that the discourse of this Irimn nrrG1 1WI. Cnmpar:n g the accounts as given bp Mark that he should do an iniurv to one of the Lords little ones -one of the humblest df the disciples, child-like, meek, and Luke, we gather that the apostles on the way had a disfollowing in the way of the Lord. cussion respecting who of their number were the greatest, and who would be the greatest or most honored in the kingdom As we thus see how great a value the Lord places upon which the Lord had promised and in which they hoped to humility it should encourage all true disciples to cultivate share. This discussion quite probably was instigated by the this quality daily, that thus they might grow more and more fact that onlv three of their number had been specially favored guileless, honest, truly humble, and in the sight of the great hy being v&h the Lord in the mount. The- discussion beRing become more and more great, more and -more fit fo; the tween them, altho carried on probably in subdued tones, not hieh exaltations of the kinadom to come. Seeine that withintended for the ears of Jesus, had become animated as the oux this meekness none can-enter into this kingdim, we need various sides and claims were advocated. It was a little later not wonder that the Scriptures everywhere exhort the Lords that our Lord inquired of them what had been the subject of people to humility-Humble yourselves under the mighty their earnest and animated converse as they followed him in hand of God [now1 that he may exalt you in due time in the way. Arcording to Iiukes account thcv were reticent, not the kingdom. Yet notwithstanding all these exhortations of liking to answer hrs question and to tell of their dispute, no the Scriptures the perversity of human nature seems to be doubt feeling rather ashamed of it. But, realizing that they such that those who become the Lords people and who engage could not hide the matter from the Lord, and some of them to run in his way seem to find more trouble, more to contend evidently anxious to have his decisive word on the subject, against, in this matter than in any other. And some who they asked him to settle the question for them. feel themselves to be little enough seem very anxious that Our Lord desired just such an opportunity for presenting others of the brethren shall esteem them very highly: Would to his faithful ones a needed lesson along thus line; and acto God that all of the Lords dear people, and especially all cording to his usual custom he illustrated it. Calling a little who seem to be leaders, and who have some natural qualifica_I

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tions for leading, and helpfulness in the church, would study well this lesson, and learn from it how to advance themselves in the Lords favor, and how to be truly great according to his standard, which. alone shall prevail. - The word rendered offend in verse 6 and onward would be better rendered stumbled, the thought being that of placing a stumbling-block in the path. The Lord intimates most distinctly that there will be plenty of such stumbling-blocks in the way of those who are truly his, and that, too, in proportion as thev are little-humble. He declares it neces&rv bhat these difficulties, these trials, these offences. shall come. It is necessarv. because it is the divine will that all the elect church shalibe thoroughly tested and developed in character, that thus they may become strong characters, copies of Gods dear Son, willing to suffer for the truths sake, and that gladly, joyfully, the loss of earthly things, that thereby they might please the Father which is in heaven, -thus developing humility and obedience, that by and by they may be ready for the exaltation which he has promised to those only who faithfully follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Yet however necessary that the stumbling-blocks shall be in the way, and that the church, the body of Christ, shall be tested therebv. this does not lighten the resnonsibilitv of those who, as the agents of the zdversary, leid them&Ives to his influence in placing those stumbling-blocks before the feet of the saints; and our Lords words, without indicating exactly the nature of their punishment, assure us positively that such evil-doers will have a reward from him who says, Vengeance is mine; I will repay. In all probability many today are putting stumblingblocks before the Lords little ones, his faithful little flock, who do not realize what they are doing,-just as Peter unconsciously became a stumbling stone, a rock of offence, to the Master, when he attempted to dissuade him from the performance of his consecration vow. Those who place stumbline-blocks before the Lords little ones now similarlv seek them from the narrow path of full consecrati& and to hd self-sacrifice-seeking to persuade them that another and an easier way, a way less humbling to the natural man, a way more politic, more crafty, more wise, according to the course of this world than the narrow way, is just as good as or a great deal better than the narrow way. Such testings are iecessary, and it is also necessary that- all who do not walk closelv in the footnrints of the Savior shall be sifted out, for the Lord secketh only a little flock,-all of them copies of his dear Son. But there is a great responsibility upon those who aid in turning aside any of the floik-who to any extent are stumblinn-blocks. cnubes of stumbling or offence in the pathway of the Lords people. Following this line of thought, that offences or trials and testings must come to all, our Lord urges that tho these tests mean the sacrifice of pleasure or hopes or aims or customs or privileges, precious to us as a right eye or a right hand, or useful to us as our foot, they must nevertheless be overcome, if we would enter into the kingdom. This is another way of saying what he at another time expressed in the ~~ortls, Through much tnbulation shJl1 ye enter the kingdom. Whoever has gotten the thought that the kingdom is to be granted me& on condition of belzotimg in Jesus has notten a wrong thought that is not imnarted bv the Scriptures. Faith isvnecess&y to our justifi&tion, b& fore we can do anything in the nature of self-sacrifice that

God could accept; but whoever stops with the faith without the works, without the self-sacrifice, loses every hope and privilege in connection with the kingdom. To attain it we must strive, must fight the good fight, must endure hardness as good soldiers, must be willing to cut off, not only sinful pleasures, but all things that would interfere with our full devotion to the Lords service and our fulfillment of our covenant to be dead with him; must work out our salvation with fear and trembling.-assisted bv divine grace sufficient for every time of needy and by the lxceeding great and precious promises of Gods Word working in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. We are not to understand that any may be lacking a foot or a hand or an eye in the kingdom; but rather we should understand that as the offending eye represents besetments which appeal to our natural tastes as beautiful and likely to charm and attract us to earthly things, and es the offending hand would represent the doing of things that would be contrary to our highest spiritual interests,-and as the offending foot would renresent the eoinn into forbidden paths of sin- or self-gratification , so the ulop&g off of these would properly signify that it would be better that we should enter the life eternal and into the share in the kingdom without having enjoyed certain earthly privileges and gratiflcations, than that having enjoyed all the earthly gratifications we should thereby have missed our calling and failed to make our election sure. The everlasting fire and the hell-fire mentioned arc equally symbolical %ith the other parts of the figure, and undoubtedlv refer to the destruction which is the wages of sin wilful sinners-everlasting d&truction to be visited upon from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his Dower. That fire is used here and elsewhere in the Scrinlures to represent not torture, hut destruction, is clearly set forth in a pamphlet entitled, What say the Scriptures About Hell.* Branching out further along the same lines, our Lord gives the general caution to us all: Take heed that ye deipise nc:t one of these little ones-thcsc llumblc ones th.\t belong to the Lord. They may seem humble and insigmficant when viewed from the worldly standpoint, but they are Gods friends; yea, they are Gods children, for whom he cares ; and hence whoever does injury to them is insulting and antagonizing their Father which is in heaven. Bioreover, our-Lord assures us that each of his little ones, his faithful. humble little flock. have a constant renrescntation in the Fathers presence. There is a guardian angel for each of the Lords people, and we are to get the thol!ght that thrre is no delay in the bringing of any and everything which pcrtains to their welfare and interest before the attention of the great King. What a thought is here for those who are inclined to he heady and to despise or in any manner override or mistreat the humble ones of the bodv of Christ! And what a lesson is here also for the humble ones-that they are the special objects of divine care and providence, for whom, therefore, all things must work well, because they belong to the Lord! The remaining four verses seem not to be properly a part of this lesson, and inasmuch as they will come up in another lesson later on and in their proper connection, we omit the discussion of them here. __We ~111 supply these free to appbcants who SO request
l

BATTLING
DEAR BROTHER

FOR THE TRUTH

kind during all these centuries, lest the glorious light of the gospel should shine into their hearts. Do you think the interpretation correct? And if so, do you not think that if the attention of the brethren were called to this chapter at the present time it would serve to strengthen those who are already in the volunteer service and encourage others to enlist, inasmuch as the same chapter promises strength to those who drive the battle back? With best wishes, Yours in the service of the King,
CONRAD KUEHN --Ohto.

RussELr.:-At a recent meeting of the church here the 28th chapter of Isaiah was brought up, and it seemed plain to us that this is an exact description of the condition of the nominal church of the present time, from the prophets and seers, who err in vision, down to the tables which are full of vomit, the bed which has become too short and the covering which is too narrow.-See MILLENNIAL DAWN Index references. Now in regard to that part of the chapter which refers to those who drive back the battle to the gate, the thought was expressed that possibly this might refer to the present volunteer work, and that the volunteers are pressing back the battle to the gate, and that the word gate might possibly be a symbol of dominion, representing Satans stronghold, and that this stronghold is the doctrine of eternal torture, against which doctrine the present ammunition of the volunThen again it was teers seems to he specially directed. thought that this gate (or doctrine) might represent the restraint which the enemy has exercised over the race of manIII-48

We certainly do understand this chapter to [In reply: portray events of our day; and while all true soldiers of the cross are now battling for the truth against error we concede that none are doing more valiant service than are thr rolNor do we know of any other service or method unteers. so likely to yield the desired results. As to turning the battle at the gate. it might be viewed

[2661]

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aggressively, as you suggest. or tlefen5ively. Really we are fPn the tlefensivc-the stronghold Zion is attacked b.v enzmiei from without and within. The Bible is attacked by so-called Higher Critics, and the cross. the doctrine of the ransom, is attacked by Evolutionists and hosts of others. and the long entrenched errors of doctrine are now stumbling mnnv who want to be on the Lords side of this battle-the &de of truth. The enemy of truth, Satan, and his deluded followerz must be shown up and driven completely out-i& Zions

walls that now at, last wheat may be distinguished from tare?. \\e know of no better Rid in this conflict than the Volunteer TOWER., It, is an inspiring scene to see the Allegheny church volunteers going forth every Sunday morning, and it must be still more so to witness the larger companp of the Boston church-about 80 per cent, of the entire church, we understand, are volunteers. The influence of such preachers and their message is bound to tell on the right, class.-EnIToR.]

BIBLE READING
DEAR BROTHER RUSSELL:-I can hardly appreciate the advice given by you in the last ~VATCII TOWER, under caption of Attention, Watch Tower Readers! inasmuch as I am always benefited by a rereading of the DAWNS, but permit. me to say that I believe there are some who may misconstrue the last two sentences of the above ni title and think into them a meaning it is not intended they should contain, viz., that you a&i advocating the reading-of the DAWNS exclusive of Gods 1Vortl. I have learned from observation that those &ho merely read the DAWNS without examining the context of Scriptures quoted do not become well established in the truth, SO that when the fire that, tries every mans faith beconic-J Inure ;ntcn-c, they are unable to endure the ordeal. It has further been my experience that, those who state that they have the Bible to read, and that it is sufficient for never come to a clear tl& without reading the DAWNS, knowledge of the truth, because they thereby ignore the instrumentality that God has been pleased to honor in setting forth his truth in these last days. And in ignoring the instrumentality they ignore not man, but God, who worketh all thines after the counsel of his own will; and hence, as long as-they maintain such an attitude, they cannot hop& to But happy are those who keep their be led into all truth. minds in a receptive condition for truth, willing to receive it through whatever agency the Lord may be pleased to send it. to them. May the Lord enable each one of us so to be. Before closing I must tell you that I was greatly encoura~~(1 t,y tile article, licep voul selvcz in the love of God. Ilow it has refreshed me in spirit! I appreciate more fully now the fact, that it, is one thing to possess the love of God and another thing to maintain it to the end of our course.

INDISPENSABLE
How much efiort on our part is implied in the word keep! -continuous effort,, yet ever mindful of the fact, that the Lord is the author as well as the finisher of our faith. It is t,o pray without. ceasing, to quench not the spirit, to despise not prophesying, to prove all things and hold fast that which is good. Some three years ago, when I began to apprecintp the beauty of pres&t trut&, I realized f had lost much presious time. and desiring to make the best, of the little I had left, I thought over s&era1 plans and finally derided on this one, Every day I will try to become a little more like Jesus, and then lie well make plain to me those things I do not now understand. And I find that mv knowledee of the deer, thinff- of God has ever been co&mensurate + with my proiress in becoming more and more like Gods dear Son, but herem I became aware of the greatest struggle of my hfr, a struggle to the death of the old nature, and oh, what a struggle it is, only those who have tried to stem the current of a fallen and -depraved nature know. I found arrayed against me the world, the flesh and the devil, but thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! How appropriate are the words,Keep striving: the winners are those who have striven And fought for the prize that, no idler has won; To the hand of the stedfast alone it is given, And before it, is gained there is work to be done. With much Christian Enclosed find order for DAWNS. lo\e, I am, Yours in our Redeemer, E. J. Cow.kRD.-!/exus. JULY 15, 1900 ____----No. 14

- -_~-RLLEGHESY, ~__~____

_~__--PA., ~_~~ _~--__~~

VIEWS FROM THE WATCH

IS T:TE CHINA TROUBLE PROPHETICALLY SIGNIFICANT?

TOWER

Apparently a serious crisis in the worlds affairs is being rearhc #I in C!iina. For the past sixty years Europeans have been into utling thrnlticlves upon the Chinese, ostensibly for the I,cnrrolcnt l,urlmqc of blessing the Chinese with European but really for commercial purposes,-supplying civiliz;:tion Subsequently, about tlieir neetl: for n monev consideration. rrgulntions forced upon tortv 1 car*. ,~n:b. Iln(ltnr compulsory were permitted to enter the CGinesr, Chl istmn missionaries the Flowery Empire to contradict its religious and moral The new religion brought famideas rhpri\hctl fox crnturirs. ilv stlifr-rspcclally hcc::n=.c it taught. the people that, thei a;lc<+tol s (\\ I~mn tile Cl,il:r~c worship as demi-gods) , not bcin,: I~~llc~vc~ in tlrp 011ly n<tmc \vhelc,ln ih s~~lrntion, were 10-k c: etci,rlallv-tloon~c(l to everlasting torments. Th&e misionnrics, and all foreign merchants who lodged with them, were spc~cinlly protected by treaty laws and rrgulationc. ant1 thuc n-cre rsemptcd from Chinrse laws and became a fnvoretl people, possessed of greater privileges and aloreo\ er, the missionaries (esliberties thnn tllc 7lntircs. l~rcinlly the Komnniats. from all accounts) attempted to ex=ncI inl lrrntr rights to such Chinese as professed tclltl LilrV a1r~:VC15lc:n-t1 ;,ril .:S became the attorneys of their people, .lP :~r,i I,\ nr~umc~nt+ and threats, etc., generally got their faithfrill iI& flom ch,lr::cq brought against them. intruded upon ! I.113 1ncl1 by :cch the white man forcibly t!le vc~llow man, lmtll tile war between China and Japan. which displayed to the civilized world the helplessneys oi China, the second greatest. nation of the world numerically (4~~0,000,000). Since then the white mans arrogance has inerr?sed, and the newspapers of the world have told the Chines that, it. is only a question of time until their nation all1 no longer exist, being divided among the nations of Europe, who have grasped ports and whole districts, compelling a nominal acquiescence on the part of the Cbinese. [2662]

The Chinese are a thrifty people and peaceably disposed and not specially patriotic,-else they would not have submitted to these intrusions so long as thev have. Indeed, they are quite tolerant toward f&ei,aners who will adopt their civilization, submit to their laws and mind their own business. Fnderstxnding the circumstances, we cannot so much wonder at the recent uprising against foreigners under the aurpices of an athletic society called the Ho\ers. It is worthy of note that the presrnt outbreak. \v!iile it has extended to all missionaries and all foreigners, nevertheless began with Roman Catholics exclusively. Much as we must deprecate the killing of many missionaries and many native converts, we must admit that such an uprising would have occurred long ago among white men of any nationality. Lack of patriotic sentiment amongst the Chinese, and in. fcrior armament, etc., account; for the delay of this outbreak: the l,eople have been kept so busy providing for lifes necessi. tirs that love of money ha4 crowded out love of country. EuroDe is astounded at the late uprising, for two reasons. (1) It, offers a suggestion that a patriotic feeling may yet takp hold of the Chinese. which with their overwhelming numbcls would make them a menace to Europe, for they could muster an almy twice as numerous as rcmld all Europe combine&-an almy kcrustomed to obedience. and very economical. (2) Even should the whites succeed in coercing the Chinese, andhold the kingdom as a vassal empire, or &vide the danger is that internaIt amongst the more civilized, tional jealousies over shares in the spoils, spheres of influence. etc., woald ultimately lead to great. wars. far-reaching in their influence, and quite possibly involving all Europe. It 1s from this standpoint that affairs in China are of special interest to those who know that we are living in the harvest time of the Gospel age, and who are instructed from the Word of God to expect this age to close with a great time of trouble-beginning with international complications,

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and ending with anarchy. From this standpoint we examine the Scriptures and note the following as seemingly pertinent, indicating that every nation of earth will be involved in the trouble, but that Christendom, Babylon, Sheshach, fill be the last to drink the cup of wrath. We quote froln *Teremiah 25:15-33, as follows:Thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me: Take the wine-cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I scud thee, to drmk it. And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. . . . . All the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Drink ye and be drunken, and of hosts, the God of Israel: spue and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which 1 will send among you. And it shall be if they refuye to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the certainly drink. . . . . for 1 rAortl 0f h08t9 : Ye shall will call for a sword upon all thd inhabitant4 of the earth, 5aith the Lord of hosts. . . . . The Lord hath a controversy -with the nations: he will plead with all flesh : he will gi& them that are wicked to the sword, saith the T.ord. . . . . Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a crlr,tt whirlwind shall be raised up from the coast3 [bounda:jnd tile slain of the Lord shall be at that Ficsl of the rarth. day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the not be lamented, neither gathered, nor cart11 . they shall huricd. ant\ It 1* not fol 115 to prophery, hut to icek to interpret apply prophecy : and even then we are to learn from the past that it is not the divine purpose that matters prophetically rrvcalcd shall be understood in detrctl until during or after fulfilmrnt .--and then by those taught of God. We therefore mcrclr suggest that, in harmony with the foregoing Scripturcsit will not surprise 113 if the Chinese are entering now their share of the great day of wrath upon all nations;nhoui, to drink their share of the cup of divine wrath, which is to bring all nations low, as an experience preparatory to the gr& blcqsing of all the world under the Nillennial kingd0n1. And if it was appropriate that Israel, the natural seed of Abraham, upon rejection of Messiah should be punished and de3tioyetl nationally, ciphtern centuries ago, will it bc strarwe if other nations also be comnelled to drink of the <ame cup of wrath?-See verse 20. India has already been severely scourged with famine and r,c--tl teilcc, yet these may be only the brginnliiI,I ot liar shalt in the cup of wrath, which we understand ~111 be to ever) nation, as it drinks thereof, a time of trouble without precetlent. Probably the trouble will extend from nation to nation during the next few years, until finally, despite every effort to alert it (verse 2s)) great Babylons turn will come-probably within ten years from now, when she must drink the very dregs of the cup, suffering more severely than the heathen ilations, even as qhc has eujoycd greater privileges and sinned drink Babylon - Sheshach - shall against greatei light.
1 crftcr

of thr world to Christ is near at hand: that thus the Millennlal kingdom will be introduced. They will find that they have heen uttering a false cry, saying, Peace, Peace, when there is no peace, and can be no peace satisfactory or lasting until thr Prince of Peace, Immanuel, shall establish it through his kingdom, by breaking in pieces the nations as a potter? vessel, and establishing his kingdom on a different basis in thrir stead-on their ruins. Kotc now how the same prophcfrefers to this despair of the pastors. etc.. of nominal Christendom, :tt the Rpoliation of their pasture iicldq. as fnllows yr shepherds [pastors], and cl y : ant1 wal10~~ YOUF selves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the davq of your slaughter and of your dispersion are come: and ye shall fall [and be ruined] like a delicate vrssel. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. A voice of crying from the shepherds [pastors] and an howling from the principal of the flock shall br heard. for the Lord bath spoiled their pa+ire.-Set Jer. 25:31-37. * * * Lord Salisbury. the Briti4 Prime ?tIinistcr, addrrssiue The Soclcty for the Propagnl~o~r o/ 111~3Gospel in Fo,-ci& lrr).ts, recently said :Just look at this Chinese matter. You obselvc all the people who are slaughtered. Do :oii imagine that they are hlaughtered simply because the Chmrse dislike their religion? There is no nation in the world so indifferent on the subject of religion as the Chinese ! It is because they and other nations have got the idea that missionary work is a mere inhtrument of the secular gouerrlmcnt to achieve thr objects it has in view. In the East they Ilaw the proverb, Fii~t the .\Iissionarg, then the Consul, then thcb (;pnclr,ll. -x \ i wte Londo?l. AspPctnto?-. comnlenting 011 llw general dlsllke of Europeans by Asiatirs, now bring c~uc~mplifird in China, says ::Howl,

tlltWl

--v~~lw

ri.

the Gospel of the kingdom was circulated throughnut Palestine before itr trouble and overthrow, so we believe thr %ame Gos~wl of the I\lngdom ~1111 prew!wd for a mtness Lc to each nation before its trouble comes. Chiua probably contains but few fully consecrated Christians, and these chiefly among the misslo~arics, and hrnce the harvest inessage might quickly leach them all. In this connection it mill be interesting to note, ( 1) that under divine nrovidencc our dear Brother if. A. Ra;ldlcaent a special pw&al appeal to each Christian missionarv in China. and later manv tracts and DAWW, about a ye& before this trouble broke out; (2) the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society sent tracts and booklets extensively to the same missionaries last year. True, we cannot say that many have received the truth, but we had no reason to cylct that ma9y would receive it. Yet the :vitncqs \vas given to all before their great time of trouble came. Snd who knows but what this interruption of mission work, backed by the truth, may set others to thinking in another direction -to looking and praying for Gods kingdom to come, as the only hope of the world.
As THE SHEPHERDS DISAPPOINTED AND CIZAGRINED

There is in China no race hatred, or color hatred, or, as we believe, hatred of creed for Chin,~~ Christians. Thcv could he tolerated quite well as mere idiots, but that those who dislike their ideas fear thrm also, and believe that unless those who propagate them are extirpated the ideas will win. The Europeans, they say, are already convincing many; they have almost persuaded our Emperor: year by year their views are advancing among the peoplr,-if thrv and their disciples are suffered to live. our religion, our &ilizntion, our social .ystc111. all arc loit to,qct11rr. A\ for our lltc,r.lti. tll(sv wilt he ruined first, for they are our ollicials. People wondet that the harmless missionaries should be the objects of such a pasGon, that thev should hr disrn~I~owclctl instead of m(wlv I~eheatlrd : l)ut think of thr trcatiiic7il 18f tlr(b Ci~ii<tian, 1,) thr Rnnlnn Judges :IIIC~ we .h:111 lw:!111 to lll~tlcl3t:l1~,1 i 1lC Chinese movement. Add but a little fear to the ffelings nlready generated, and who would answrr for the lives of Jew& in France, or Germany, or Rusqia, or for those of Bnarchi+ in any part of Eurone ? A6fics in all aces have believed the amalgam of beliefs and social way3 which constitutes their civilization, to be divine and unimprnvablc, and regard those wno despise it, and preach against it, and shake it, as the in trusive Europeans certainly do, uith a horror which of itself extinguishes the feeling of a common humanity. They hare no more sense that slau<ghtering such iq wicked, than tht Parisians had when they iiiaqsac.rcd th(e lliipurnot~, 01 thnll English sportsmen have wlirii tllq 01 :_!ani7~ ,I 1~ ttlli ni birds.
I .

Reverses in the mission fields of the world, one after another, will be very discouragin<g to ministers who have been preaching to themselves and others that a peaceful conversion
[2663]

General Lord Wolsley, of the British \Var Department, takes a very pessimistic virw of thr outlook in China. which is corroborated by the acr~~mulatin:, r rvid~,nrrs that since tht China-Japan war China haq bccm quietly drilling her troop: nnd arming them with mndern wcnlmw. marhine guns, rtc. ITc qaitl rccently:China possessrs every rcql+itc for ovrrrunning the world. She has a population of 40O,OOO.000, all speaking the same language, or dialect, readily underetooc? from one end of the empire to the other. She has enormously developed wealth, and still enormous natural wealth awaiting development. I-ICI men, if properly drilled and led, arc admirable soldiers. They are plucky, and able to live on next to nothing. Moreover, they arc xbsolutcly fearless of death. Begin with the fnundnt,ion of millions upon millions 0 f such wldiers as those men are capable of bring madr, and tell mc. if you can, where the cntl will be. A Chinese gentleman of education rxplains that the present trouble is occasioned by the Chinese lark of conscience: that

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well-meaning missionaries are duped by many of those professing conversion. He says for instance,A Chinaman, an executor of a relatives will, may decide to cheat the orphans under his care. He arranges the matter readrly with the Mandarin ruler by promising him one-half the booty. Later he concludes to give him but one-eighth, and to pave the way attends mission meetings, etc. Then he represents himself as terribly persecuted because of his new religion, and through the missionary secures consular protection which hinders him from being tried in a Chinese court. This step is taken months in advance of his refusal to give the hlandarin the promised one-half of his booty. The missionary, unused to such duplicity, labors, as he SUppOSW, for justice for the oppressed, but the result of his efforts may be summed up thus,A misled missionary confirmed in his wrongNet result: heatlctlnc9s ; a wouldbe dishonest mantlarln halfled and mfurlated: two orphans robbed of their inheritance; food for nine days gnssip, and stirring up of hatred of foreign devils; the wholr a piece of rank injustice. Let mc deliberately state that I am quite certain there

is not one town in the whole length and breadth of China that has been visited by missionaries, in which you could not at this moment find indisputable evidence of a case similar in all essentials to the example I have given you. We wonder how long it will require our dear friends interested in missions to learn that God is seeking as his elect not the lowest, but the highest types of man;-that now is not the Lords time for judging the heathen-that as the Apostle declares, God hath appointed a day [the Millennial day-2 Pet. 3:8] in the which he will judge the world in righteousness. (Acts 17 :31) When they learn this they will see the un-wisdom of attempting to forestall Jehovahs plan, and will cooperate rather in his great and gracious arrangement of first calling and preparing an elect church, which by and by shall, as Gods royal priesthood, with their glorious Lord, Jesus, as fully competent missionaries, bless the heathen with the gracmus opportunity of salvation promised. Perhaps a signal failure of present missions, and spoiling of pastures, may be Gods method for awakening his true servants now deluded and blinded by false doctrines contrary to the Word.

PROGRESS OF THE CAUSE IN GREAT

The Lords blessing attcntls the British branch. Four colportrurs are at work there with good success. Brother Henningts writes of their work thus,-The results of their labors for the last two months show that any one of average intelligence and activity can, with the Lords blessing, sustain himself in the work. Give a clarion call from the WATCH TOWER for more laborers for this great field, advising would-be laborers to write to the British branch for terms, territory, &c. Rcapccting the Volunteer service Bro. H. says,-The Volunteer work is progressing well; particularly in this city (London), where we have so far put out 14,000 copies. The

BRITAIN

work is going on in four sections of the city. Yesterday was the first day on double turn (A. hf. and P. M.) and the total number of copies of the Volunteer TOWER distributed was 4,000. At this rate we shall soon be obliged to call on you for funds for another 100,000 edition. Our Society has just rented a very desirable meeting place where Sunday meetings will be regularly held. It is a public hall opposite the Great Eastern Ry. station, and near Wansted Park station of Midland Ry. The entrance is No. 73 Woodgrange Road, Forest Gate, London E. All who trust in the precious blood of Christ will be cordially welcomed. Seats free. No collections.

THE COLPORTEUR
We have had many additions to this service lately, but The harvest is still there is mom for consecrated laborers. great. the laborers few, comparatively, and the time is short

WORK AT HOME
-the eleventh hour. Write us for particulars if you have the desire and the opportunity to thus preach the \Vord by printed page.

THE MINISTRY

OF COMFORT

The Lord hath n?lolnted me . . . to comfort all that mourn; to appoint [promise] unto them that mourn in Zion, to gite unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they mzght be called trees of righteousness, the p&nthg of the Lord, that he might be glorified. Isaiah 61: 1-3. visions made for them, and hence they cannot receive the c)ur text is surely good tidings in a very broad and a very blessing, the consolation, the comfort now, but must wait not only to Zion, deen sense. Its message is one of comfort, for it until the establishment of the Lords kingdom, the bindtheconsecrated church, but to all who mourn; and as mening of Satan and the opening of their understanding wrth the tally we cast nur eyes over the world we are deeply impressed eye-salve of the truth. with the thought that the vast majority of mankind are in as the Apostle expresses it, The whole creation But as respects Zion, the consecrated church, this comfort mourning: There are unis now her privilege, and all children of Zion need to be comprnnnctll ant1 trnvarleth in pain together. forted. First of all, they need the comforting knowledge that doubtedly a few who are full, satisfied, and who mourn for their sins are forgiven, and that they are no longer strangers nothing, and who, therefore, under these conditions, are exand aliens and foreigners, but children of God, ioint-heirs cluded from any share in this promised blessing: but they are with Jesus Christ their Lord, if so be that they siffer with exceptions to the rule. Some of them are wealthy in this him. Thev need to be comforted. too. with the assurances worlds goods, and feel that they have need of nothing, and There of the Lords Word that our Godis very sympathetic, very are kept busy with their efforts to enjoy themselves. pitiful, and that if anyone be overtaken in a fault he may are others of the same full class who, tho not wealthy, have be restored, and not be utterly cast down. If the children a very self-satisfied feeling as respects their moral status: of Zion had no such consolations as these thev surelv would they do not realize themselves as sinners; they do not realize be utterly discouraged, disheartened, and faini by tie way; llnilv Imperfections nor their need of a Savior; and tiwr hence the Lord has provided these comforting assurances, are not mourning for anything, and not therefore in the way pointing out to them that having begun a good work in them to be comforted with any of the comforting assurances and he is desirous of completing it, if they will permit him to do promises and provision which the Lord has made for those so, and that to this end they must abide in Christ bv faith, who mourn. coupled with obedience to the extent of their ability. What So far as the world is concerned, our Lords ministry Christian is there who has not sha.red these consolations. We rejoice, howof comfort to them is chiefly a future work. these comforts, and what Christian has not needed them, ani ever, that the time is sure to come when all that mourn, all realized that without them he would long since have been shall be brought under the blessed the groaning creation, undone? influences and provisions of the Millennial kingdom, and shall The Scriptures point out to us that our comfort comes there come to know the consolations which God has provided through fellowship with the heavenly Father and with our in Christ .-the balm for every trouble, every wound ; the cure Lord Jesus : we are comforted, not by believing that they for every blight, every sin and every imperfection; and their are ignorant of our weaknesses and shortcomings,, nor that privilege of profiting by these to the fullest measure by givthev have a low standard of righteousness and a smful basis ing themselves unreservedly into the care of the Good Physiof iellowship, but quite to the contrary of all this, they comcian. But the poor world, blinded and deceived by the god of fort us with the assurance that altho our every imperfection this world as respects the character and plan of Jehovah, is known to the Lord he is yet very sympathetic, very mercican neither see, hear, nor appreciate now the wonderful pro126641

JULY 15, 1900

ZIOiVS

1tATCH

TOWER

(215

-1161

ful: and that havmg provided, in the great qaclifice at Calv&r\*. a full nronitiation (satisfaction) for all sins, the Lord is &y pleased Ato apply, on behalf bf each of his adopted children, m full measure, the riches of grace necessary to the of every unintentional, unapproved cove1 ing and offsetting error and failure, 1Vhat comfort is here! What consolation ! Wlnt privileges of fellowship with the Father and with the Son ! And this comfort, the Scriptures assure us, comes to us thro:lgh the holy spirit-it is the channel, and, hence indeed, Those who have the (John 14:26) calleci> the CornFort-er. holy spirit may have the comfort; those who do not have the holy sl)lrlt may not have this comfort, this coniolatlon. It is only as we receive of the spirit of the Lord, the mind of the Lord. his disnosition. that we are able to understand and appreciate the le&ths and breadths, the heights and depths of his love and compassion and provision for us, and to be comforted thereby. Scvertheless, this comfort of the holy spirit (the channel for the of divine favor), reaches u3 through the Scriptures, Scriptures are the medium, or sub-channel through which the kno\\letlfre of (+ods grace and the comfort of all knowledge reach us; in the Apostles language, Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scnptures might have hope.-Rom. 15 : 4. Yet while this comfort is of the Father, through the Son, by the holy spirit, communicated through the Scriptures, we are informed that in great measure it is communicated by the members of the body of Christ one to another, as the Apostle, for instance, after ielating certain features of the divine plan respecting the deliverance of the church, says, Wherefore, (1 Thess. 4:lS) com/ort ol~e arlotller with these words. Ym1ilarlp, the Apostle declares that he sent Tunothy to the church at Cnhesus. and neain to the church at Colosse. that he n~ryht cori?fol-t their he&ts. This, of course, signifies that hc \\ns to draw their attention to the exceeding great and prrc~ous promises of the Lords Word, and that thus they might drink in the holy spirit of all the promises, and that thu$ they might be comforted, not only with respect to the things promised, but with respect to the loving compassion and qympnthy of him who promises them. \\riting to the Thessalonians, the Apostle says that he sent Timnth.y-to establish you and to comfort you concerning your faith, that no man should be moved by these afflictionq: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto: for verily, when we were with you we told you we should For hlllTc,r trllllilitition, (*Ten as it came to pas mifl ;\ e know-. \\hen 1 ccn&l no longer forbear, I sent to know tlllq c:lII5(. ?our faith, Irqt 1)~ snme means the tempter had tempted you. Here again it is evident that the comfort( 1 Then. 3.2-5) ing ilgnitics ant1 implies establishment in the faith once de-

livered to the saints, that all the terms and conditions of our covenant should be clearly held in mmd, and that the promlses of reward at the end of the iournev might serve to comfort, strengthen and establish &e chlfdren-of Zion in their endurance of the tribulations a4 good soldiers. This comfort. agam. was of the Lord, thxough >he holy spwt, through the agency of Paul and Timothy. Again, the same Apostle, speakcomfort yourselves ing in the same strain, says: \\-herefore, together and edify one another, even as also ye do.-1 Theis. 5:ll. -411 of the Lords people need to remember that in proportion as they are ambassadors of the Lord, and his representatives, it will be their privilege not only by and by in the kingdom to comfort all that mourn, and to be the trees of righteousness. whose leaves will be for the healing of the nations (Rev. 22:2), but they should remember that in the present life they have a ministry of comfort to perform also, toward all who mourn in Zion-toward all of th? J,ords people who are in any tribulation, physical or mental disquiet, dis-ease; and they should remember, too, that just in proportion as they are filled with this spirit now. it is their prlvllcge to bind up the broken-hearted, and comfort the mourning ones. Ko one-can have this spirit of helpfulness, this dispd: sition to comfort and to strenrrthen. and to edifv. and to unbuild the household of faith, y\;cept he hare ir;con<itlcr:rl~e measure the spirit of the truth, the spirit of the Lord, the spirit of love: and in proportion as each seeks to cultivate this privilege of brotherly helpfulness, in comforting and upbuilding and strengthening, in that same proportion he will find the spirit of love developin g and abounding in his own heart, and that his likeness to the Lord Jesus, the Head of the body, is becoming more pronounced from day to day and from pear to year. Finally, in view of what we have seen respecting the Lords goodness toward his people, and the methods by which he comforts them through the holy spirit, the Scrlptureq and the brethren, let us note one of the -4pnstles expressions respecting the great comfort and consolation which God has provided for his consecrated, faithful people, saying:Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord ,Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, the God of all comfort, who comforteth ~t(sin all our tribulation, that we may he able to comfort them which are in any trouble, bv the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.-2 Cor. 1:3. 4. So then, ail of oui lessons and experiences in life in connection with trials and difficulties and tribulations, if we are rightly exercised by them, should bring us larger experiences in the Lords comfort, through the gracious promises of his Word and the spirit of the same; and should make uq the more capable and efficient agents and representatives of the Lord, his Word and his spirit, in communicating comfort to others about us in their trials and difficulties.

FORGIVE

US OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS*

NATT. 18 :21-35.--9vcus~

12.

,\Ilpalr~ntly this lcs3on grew out of the preceding one on the nec(BS<itv for guartlinr against stumbling the least of the Lords littlh ones. It wouldc appear that Peter had immr: dlnte.ly attempted to put into prartire the instructionr of the previous Ics90n. anI1 it was his inquiry as to how often it nould be his duty to exercise forgiveness toward a repentant brother, that gave nur Lord the opportunity to inculcate a lesson upon the subject of forgiveness. The teaching of the .Jewish rabbis on the subject of forglvrnesy Iraq, that, if the wrnnrdoer repented of his evil words or actions and came to the aggrieved person, acknowledging his wrong and asking forgiveness, he should be granted forgiveness aq often as three times. They based their teaching on this subject on the statements of .Job 33 :2D-margin, and Arnoq 2.4. Our Lords teaching on the suhlert was. in many Te\pectq, the reverse of this, and required the offended one to go to the offendtlr to make inquiry respecting the matter, and to show him his fault,. This would require great humi1it.y on the pait of the one who felt himqrlf aggrlerrtl, for it 19 much easier to resent and avoid the injurer, than to go to him according to the rule which our Lord has laid down, Peter seems to have gotten the impression that the Lords rule, being different from that of the rabbis in this respect, would also probably be more generous and require that forgiveness be granted a larger number of times; hence Peter adds together the three and the four times mentioned by Amos, making seven in all, and inquireq whether the Lord would hare his followers be generous and forgiving to those

who trespassrd against them to that extent-seven times. \Vliat must have bc*rn his astnni~hmc~nt, an11 that of all thp apostles, to hear the Lord sav that fnrgircness ~hnuld hr :tccorded, practically, times &thout number-ycvcnty tlmeq seven. The thought wnuld seem to be that tho$e who become the T,ortls people, partakers of his Spirit, the spirit of love. lvill. in 1)rollo1tion :1q tltev are fill~l \\~th th,~t ~1~11 a1111I(~II IIT It that Spirit, be w generous, $0 magnanimous, so loving, &t they \\nuld not only bc willing but glad to forg:lve a repentant brother;-glad to be first to extend the olive branch and to make his way b;lc!i tcl Irronclliatmn anti II,II monv a, <mnottt as possible. From hearts full of pride. canv,v, malice and ot1rc.r elements of the spirit of selfishness and sin, and mrrely topped off with a coat of hcnevnl(hnre anI1 gcnc,rnqity. it ~111 be impossible to dip out very much of the spirit of folcivencss, without t1ippin.g out with it Snnie of the bittrrness and hatred: and even with this mixture forgiveness could not bc granted very freely by an unregenerated heart. But with a heart emptied of malice, and hatred and envy, and filled with brotherly kinllnrss, meekness, paticnc*c*. ~(~utl(*n(~~.. fo1 IN~,IIance, love, we may dip a cup of fnrglveness on evrrr occasion and as oft as it mav be applied for, and it will be without a mlrture of evil, bitternesq, sarcasm, etc., but pure and unadulterated, generous, loving forgivc*ne5s. \VP are to remenibc~1, hn\\evrr. that tlii+ holy Spirit which we have in our earthen vessels did not abound there at first, but with all was merely a surface coating, as it were, to be-

[2665]

<III with. C;raduallx, as the holy Spirit increased 1n our hearts and abounded. it dlsplacrtl the wrong spirit: hence those who are able from thei hearts to dip the cup of forgiveness repeatedly and without a mixture of evil thereby .gire evidence that they hare been with Jesus and have learned of him, and that they have drunk deeply of his spirit, .ind that they hnrc been purging out the old leaven of malice, .~ntL ale being sanctified-by-the truth, being made meet for the. inhe~~tiancc of the saints in light. IVc are to remember 1 hat, till. glonth in glace. \\hilc itha; a positive time of bex:lhning, 111 our consecration vow, is nevertheless a gradual \bOrk. requiring patient perseverance in well-doing, requiring also that the old nature, with its evil disposition, be mortified tontiili~all!--dc,aclencd --so that our minds may be be renewed under the tl;lnsforItling ~nfluencc* of thcb spilit of the truth, in \iliic11 1,~ :IIC 10 elo\, tlail). h! cevrllt~ 1 lll1,S >~~.\PlJ, iJleJitioned by our Lord, we \vuuld not llndel?tJntl tcl signify a limited number of times, 11ut r:~thrr 211 unllmitc~l numbel-that whoever has the Lords jljirlt ~111 IW gl,~tl .tt I,, tlltrt~ to ,,I1l1l~SS i, rv(wlltlll~y. orf vb iI-doers nntl to a~(01 tl thtm iorpi\ cw+. Ihih does not imply. however. that thcic ina> IW no prn.~lt~c+ nttachcd with the forgi\cncss; a<. for initanccs. In the dealing of a parent u ith a child. tile moral ohllquity of the nuscu1d1w1 nldy be forgil cn, and the parents intllgn,~tion a*Iinst the tlisobedi~nc(* of nll\bc~h;lT 101 l,;l~~ ;I\~;I) irlllnc*diatelp, ant1 ;\ et it ma) he prot)cr :It frnlf5 to ittipocr wlJJ12 ]Wllillt~ 011 the trespassing c*llild. In CL\vr) SUCII C~ISV. INNCI cr, it should bc clearly un~l(~ritood 1)) Ilrcs (Ilil(l that thi3 is not because of the parents II IsfiLVOl. \\hic11 ]I:(:, ((.:1+~~~1 thr foigivcnehs. III but that hii por*nliar ]KIICW]:I] tint) r(*qItilo~ that a It+~on shall bc taught of charwhich ~1 hc Ilclljful to t11e child in thr folmntion ill at tel. Iii >IIC~ a cd.ic tlita 10~ of the picnt will of necessity
be ~~IJ~JoIIs;. h~iil~JiLthC+ti(.. and

carefill

that

thp

punishment

+Ilall bc only +11cl1aq mi$t pro]H~rlv lye of benefit to the child -corrcctioil iii I iplitc~ou~ncl+, imt in \I ratll. llowcver. huch corrections as thi:, belong o111y lo p:~~cnl~ ant1 guardians. and do not ploperl; cxtc9ld to 1114hr(~11III the Lords family, who are not eomn~~~~iont~tl to judgis .ultl to puni*h one another, but to assist one anotller.-the Mnstcrs \iortls to such being most positive and emphatic, ,rudpc nothing before the time. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath. Remember him who hat11 ~;n~tl. Tcngcnnce is mine. I will repay, sxith the Lortl. I I,Llr of the same I1IhcTitlll(.(h. (hilt1 of the self-y,ime Gorl. H(b Ilath hut stumhlc~l in the pat11 l\e hare in \veal;nr**+ trod.

heing heard by the church. Its decision should be considered final, and be accepted by all. If either of the brethren still have doubts as to his receiving justice in the matter he may console himself with the thought that he \%ill surely obtain a blessing by giving full and hearty assent to the Lords arrangements, even if he have so large a measure of self-con ceit that he still believes his side of the question to be right, notwithstanding the judgment of all the brethren to the contrary. Whoever will thus humble himself 1n obedience to the voice of the church will have a bIessing. and as we understand the Lord, it will be reasonable for him to expect that the voice of the church in such a matter will be supernatur.illv guided, that tl uth and l.i~llt~~Oll~Il~i~ iJ~nv trJuJnlJh hit amongst the Lords people, let: ub not forget that this is: the highest tribunal, and that brother should not go to law with brother in the worldly court>, however much he may feel himself aggrieved: if he have the forgiving spirit he certainly will rest the matter where the Lord directs, and that too without harboring any unkind or ungenerous sentimcWs. This will be the errtam effect of the indwcllling of the *pirit of holiness, the spirit uf love. In respect to dealings \\ ith those who .Ire without, in the mattc~r of forgiveness, believing husbands dealing with unbelieving wives or believing wives dealing with unbelieving husl~alltl- 01 l)eli~\ing peison~ in business relationsliip with unbelievers: the same spirit of lore and generosity and forgivrncss will apply in every case but not exactly the same way. The believer should be generous toward the unbeliever-he should expect in himselfa larger measure of generosity than he would exuect from the unbeliever because he has had lessons and exieriences in the school of Christ which the unbeliever never- had; he has received the new mind, which the unbeliever knows not of. He should not onlv. therefore, be just in his dealings, but additionally, in propo%ion as he bay be able, he should bc generous, forgiving, not too exacting. Ilmewr. ii :II~ 11nhelievin L unitner has attntl1~lc~tl d fraud. the believing partner, while e;ercising a spirit .of generosity toward hnm. if thp mat,tcr annears to have been wilful. should deliver the offender to the ;<orlds courts, which he &know]ii1 a 4pii it of angel 01 :ir:~licc~ or II,P ,dp.. Ilot ,)I Iw,~lltill:_l tirtl. llut a~ clr~ill(~ lrii tlut\- t~~wal tl socictg for the supl)l~~~l~~n of evil-tiorrs iii mwlJortJo;l as the lawi and arrangemrnts of the world are rdasdnahle flom a Christian standdoint. And rven if he should fullr forciyc. concludinp that there were ,xt,enliatin: c~ircumstnl;c~c~; 1, llirh would ndt requirr that he should deliver the guilt> one to the judges of earthly courts. he might piopcil;v cuough ektecm it t,o bc his duty to have no further denlil!gs with such :I prrson. ~vhon~ he could not trust. This would not imp11 .lny lack of forgivnrs+. hut merel> n reasonable and commendable prudcncc~. Indeed. the cons.?cratrtl pcBople of God are admonished by the Apostle not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. and this might not iiurcason:~l~l~ Iv2 npplietl. not only to marriage. Itut al\0 to l)uGii(5s c1ug,1g(fi111r111. it1111 :1111il1lci~. ~lniil.lrl! husband or the Apostle informs us that if th e unbelieving wif(s choose to depart from the belierrr, the latter may conclude that it is providential nnd for his deliverance from xn unequal yoke, as the Apostle says, Let the unbeliever depart-permit hiw to cancel tlic marriage contract if hr will.
THE PARABLE OF THE
TWO

DEBTORS

1 hrw 1~ elhwn of suppobecll~ good heart and larie experiq.n,.c. ant1 tlrnl N 1thuut attrmptinr to urelutlicr their minds. :tiid to a& tliehc to hear tlir &uSe and to give counsel as td \GIliC I# (111,.I, ill 11101. \\hicltc\ (31ot tr)(~ I)rethl en is iit CI I 01 l holil~l IW convinced by his fellow-pilgrims. whose arguments \vltl~ ilim should he based upon the Scriptures and the spirit of ;ovc:: but. if tiiHert?nceH still exist between them, and canM,+ tW :):I J it,~,iJiZl~t~ 1 h111, .t- ;t cdllrt of hst resort, the 1Jli1t~~J shnnld Iu~ tal;c*n hrfore 11uardhurph-the consecrated-and after or

As was his custom, our Lord illustrated his teaching on this subject with a parable: the king, in the parable. first forrrlres one of his servants a verv larce indcbtc~tllles~-tll~t W, he permits him to go free, as {ho hg had no such indebtedness against him, that he might do \\hat he could toward the Davment of the debt. This servant in turn- finds a fellow-ervant who owes him a trifling sum. au11 who likewisr prnmises its na;vment: but the unmerciful servant, not having the and exa&ing, and rrfusing +rit of the king. IS ungenwous forgiveness attempt3 to esact it through force. The mntt,er lraclliny tlw ears of the l&q, he is justly incensed at finch ~~ondnc~t nil the part of nnv who has himsrlf hem so gmrl0iisJy treated. and, in consequrnce. he put3 in operation the mnchinory of justice which will puniqh the unmerciful serv.lnt II?, now r&ursting nf him the pavment of his full debt; :IIKI our Lord followed tile narable with the statement. So like\\ise shall the heavenly gather do to you if ye fromyour Ilcl:lrtd fnr$rp not evrryonc 111s brother their trespasses. ?CTnt only did our Lord address these words to the disciples nntl not. t.n the multitude, hut additionally he declared that thv illustration was al)plirable to those reckoned members of !tie !~iug~lnui. saving, !I hr kin@nn of heaven in likened unto tlti+ p:~~~:~l~lc. lh~ parable. tbrrrfore. is not an illust,ration

J,r.u

15, 1900

Z I C) N S

W-4 T - --

- - _-- - -

of the Lords dealing8 with the world of mankind, but rather an illustration of his dealings with those who have become separated from the world through the forgiveness of their sins, and who additionally have become heirs of the kingdom through consecration of themselves to the Lord Jesus, to suffer with him, if so be that they may also reign with him. The parable, therefore, is to the church, and suggest8 to us that our original sin was not blotted out, not forgiven in the absolute sense of the word forgiven, but in the language Blessed is the man whose sin of the Scriptures, covered. is covered, to whom the Lord doth not impute iniquity.Psalm 32:1, 2; Acts 3:lQ. Our sins were cowered from the Lords sieht. and we were treated as tho we owed him nothing, by hi; grace, exercised toward us through Christ Jesus and his atoning sacrifice; and this reckoned forgiveness will be made actual by and by, and the debt entirely canceled, if, according to the *New Covenant we have made with the Lord, we shall prove faithful in cultivating his spirit of love and in becoming conies of his dear Son, our -Lord Jesus Christ?--forgiving orhers as we would be forgiven by the Lord, lovmg, sympathizing with and helping others as we have been treated by the Lord, etc. The parable is but an illustration of the Golden Text of our lesson, taken from the Lords prayer: it is only so long as we are willing to forgive our debtors that we may pray with confidence to our heavenly Father and hope for his forgiveness of our trespasses. If we forgive not our fellowcreatures, and that not merely in word, but in deed and from the heart, neither will our heavenly Father forgive our trespasses, and although he has generously covered them from his sight, and treated us as justified by faith, he would immediately remember our trespasses against us, and thus our justification would lapse or be abrogated, by a failure on our part to exercise the holy spirit toward the brethren and toward all men as we have opportunity. From this standpoint the question of forgiveness of the brethren and forgiveness of all others is a very serious one It means that if they do not in a reato the Lords people. sonable time develop this spirit of forgiveness, the spirit of love, the Snirit of God. the holv Snirit. thev cannot continue to be recognized as Christs disciples, they cannot continue to be recognized as children of God, they cannot be recog nized as having their sins covered, but, on the contrary, will be treated as even more responsible than the world of mankind in general, and have executed upon them severer punishments-than will be exacted from others who knew not- the Masters will, and who have never tasted of his grace. and of a who therefore would be less culpable in the exe&se selfish, uncharitable, ungenerous, unforgiving spirit. We cannot suppose, however, that the Lord-would expect nerfection in this matter at once, from those who are still but babes in Christ. But his expectations are reasonable, that we should grow in grace as we grow in knowledge of him. and as exuressed in the lesson of the Vine and the Branches ; every branch which in due time, after due opportunity, does not bring forth the fruitage of the vine, the grap& of love (including forgiveness), will be cut off by the So in great Husbnndman,-no longer recoanized as a branch. This parable, the one who Yhad experienced such great blessing from the king, and who had been reckoned for the time an honored member of his kingdom-class, ceased to be so regarded and so treated, and, on the contrary, was treated by the king without favor. The statement that the unmerciful servant would be de* See June 15, 1919, issue for crltical eumlnatmn of Covenants

livered to the tormentors, until he should pay the uttermost farthing of his debt, might be understood in either of two ways. First, we might understand it to renresent the originai debt resting against every member of the human family -the nenaltv of death-a nenaltv from which our Lord Jesus iedeemed all, and from whi*ch he proposes to set free all who will obey him. In this view of the matter the unmerciful servants penalty would signify a delivery to the second death. Or if the debt be understood as representing, in whole or in part, the obligations of his covenant as a new creature, then the -penalty upon him for failure to develop and manifest the characteristics of the new creature during the trial-time might be understood to- signify that such an one, tho an accepted servant of the Lord, would be required to comply with the full details of his consecration vow, by going into the great time of trouble, and there meeting to the full the demands of his covenant, and learning effectually the lesson of love and sympathy, and to appreciate the grace of God in the forgiveness of sins, as he never before appreciated it. However, we are inclined to think of this matter from the first of these standpoints, that the exaction of the uttermost farthing would signify a hopeless case, in any of the Lords people who, after experiencing divine favor in forgiveness of their own sins, should fail within a reasonable time to learn to exercise mercy and forgiveness toward the brethren,-that such would, as a result, suffer the second death. The Lords people very generally And themselves in considerable trouble along the line of justice. We all recognize justice as the very foundation of all order and righteousness, and when we feel that justice is on our side, it is proportionately the more difficult to freely forgive the person whom we believe to have been acting from the standpoint of injustice. There is a general tendency to require others to measure up to our standard of iustice. bv some sort of nenance, before we forgive them. It is against this very spirit that our Lord was teaching, and to counteract which he gave this parable. We are to remember that the Lord will require us to live up to the standards we set for others. If our standard in dealing with others be one of exact justice, we may expect (See James 2:13) And what no mercy at the Lords hands. would this mean as respects the sins that are past through the forbearance of God, and what would it mean as respects the obligations upon us every day and every hour, to whose full requirements we are unable to measure? As we cannot come to the Lord ourselves on the score of justice, so we are As we must not to deal with others uuon that standard. ask of the Lord mercy, grace, forgiveness, so we must be willing to extend to others mercy, grace, forgiveness, when they trespass against us ; and as heartily, quickly and freely as we ourselves hope for. The Lord has not laid down this rule in an arbitrary fashion, as simply saying, If you do not forgive others I will not forgive you. There is a deeper reason for it than thi*. He wishes to develop in us his own spirit, his own character, a likeness or copy of which was exhibited to us in the person and life of his dear Son, our Lord Jesus. It is absolutely essential, therefore, that WC shall have the character he desires, or else we can never attain to the joint-heirship in the kingdom which he is phased to extend. Hence ne are to understand that this requirement or command of forgiveness, etc., is with a view to develop us as copies of his dear Son, in order that he may bestow upon us, in due time, all the riches of his grace, contained in the exceeding great and precious promises of his Word.

WHO

DID SIN, THIS MAN OR HIS PARENTS?

Aususr IQ.-JOHN 9:1-17. Every traveler in eastern countries is sure to be impressed in western lands can scarcely realize. There is probably no by the fact that blindness is much more common there than country in the world, except Egypt, where this affliction is so in Europe and America. Tabulated information on this subprevalent. At Gaza, for instance, it is said that one-third ject, in Encyclopedia Americana, shows that in 1870 the proof the population have lost one or both eyes; and from my portion of blind in America was one in 1900 population; in own observation in that city I should unhesitatingly say that Europe the proportion was larger, vi-., one in 1094; while in the statcbment is not exaggerated. But amongst these cases China the average was one in 400 population. According to it is difficult to find any born blind. no less an authority than Dr. Geikie, Egypt has one blind This blindness is in great measure the result of the scarcPalestine lying near to person to every 100 of population. ity of water and the neglect of children, whose eyes are in Egypt, and having conditions very similar, especially amongst consequence attacked by the flies. The miracle brought to our the lower classes, may be supposed to have had at least half attention in this lesson differs from the five other instances as many, viz., the terribly large proportion of one in every of the healing of the blind by our Lord, mentioned in the 200 of population. Scriptures, in that this man was born blind. In our Lords Canon Tristan, writing on the subject, says:time the science of surgery had not advanced so far as at Blindness is common in Palestine to a degree which we present, and consequently, as herein stated by the one healed, 126671

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part of the man, nor on the part of his parents, which occasioned his blindness. lf they were students of the Word they would note also the numerous statements of Scripture which clearly point out that calamities are not always punishments for sins: for instance, our Lords declaration respecting the Galileans whose blood was mingled with the sacrifices, and those upon whom ORIENTALISM, MORMONISM, THEOSOPRY the tower of Snoam fell and slew them. (Luke 13:-l-5) Our The ques,tlon of the disciples. whether it was this mans Lord distinctlv declares that these calamities did not indicate sin or the sin of Ills parents that caused him to be born that the suff&ers were sinners above other men. Likewise, blind, implies either an extreme simplicity on their part, not Our Lord in the case of the sickness and death of Lazarus. to see that the man could not have sinned before his birth, declares, not that it was because of sin on the part of Lazor quite possibly it implied that some of the absurd notions arus. but that it was nermitted in order to be for the glory of the far East-of India-had reached the Jews: one of these of Gbd. So in this lesson he declares that the fact th:lT tl; was and still is that each child born into the world had a man was born blind was not on account of sin, but on the previous existence, in which it had done either good or evil, contrary, that the works of God should be made manifest the rewards or punishments of which were represented in the in him. is bemg recondltlons of the present life. This absurdity WC are not denying that sin frrquently brin.gr sickness; vived, even in Christian lands, by so-called Theosophists, and on the contrarv. w-e affirm this. and confirm this view with by two bodlcs of people known as Mormons, in the United our Lords wor& to some of those whom he hraled, Go $111no It is scarcely nccesiary to point out that such a States. There is a great more, lest a worse thing come upon thee. tlleory fintls no support whatever in any statement of the tllfferencr. however. hct\\ren claiming that all clcknc<s 1~ of Qultr to the contrary, it is most emphatically Pcripturrr. sin and the devil, and admitting that much of it is produced contradirtrd by the Scriptures. which declare mans creation or intensified by sin. We go even further than this,and ada 1c~lnrarnation to 11:1~ IN~OII:I (111 (1c~ation from (:ocl--not (L cart mit that in a general way all the blemishes of the present existed. This thought of some being \lhich had previously time may be indirectly traced to our great adversary, Satan. is consistently maintained throu,ohout the Bible, in that we For had it not been for his fall, and for the temptations arc tlistlnctlv told that th(b ch~ltl receives its life from its which he presented to our first parents, we may suppose that father. and inherits pootl or evil according to his course of there would have been no sin in the world: consequentlv no life, and not accordir?g to any course of Il$e of its own in a imperfection, no sighing, no crying, no dyini. But ;t is Thornrrarious condition or in another world. Thus the Lord deoughly wrong to credit to Satans power all the difficulties &r& ~that he visits ihe iniquities of the fathers upon the wnich we experience. We are glad indeed that he is limited children to the third and fourth generation, and shows mercy and restrained; because under the weaknesses with which we unto thousands of them that love him and keep his commandare born we find quite sufficient of evil disposition and weakmeuts.-Exod. 20 :5 ; Deut. 5 :O, 10. ness received by heredity, and operating, -not only between We This heredity, we see, comes in the natural order of things. uarent and child. but between neirhbor and neighbor. The tendency of sin is not only to break down the moral may be glad indeed that Satans power to deceiveis not percharacter, blit also to vitiate and impair the physical system, mitted to vitiate our minds contrary to our wills, and not while Lrodliness. altho it cannot renair and make good the impermitted to break down our wills, except as we give them \Ve may be pairm&ts of -sin, can check these,and hold them-measurably over to svmnathv and contact with evil things. The Scriptures again contradict this thought, in restraint. glad also &at slickness and death working i;n man are- not wholly subject to the prince of darkness, for altho tht, Scripin the tlcclarntion, By one mans disobedience, sin eutered into tures declare that Satans power is deathward, they also show the world, and death as a result of sin, and thus death passed us that he does not have ihis power unlimlte;lly, \,ut c.ln (axupon all men because [thus] all men became sinners-by ercise it onlv under restraints and restrictions. This is most heredity. And if bv heredity then not as Theosophy, Morclearlv indihated to us in the case of Job and his family. moni~m and Orient&m declare;-not in consequence of some Rath&, the Scriptures teach that Satans power or influenie nrevious existence and sin on the part of the child. is the result of the Adamic death operating in mankind and * The whole matter is squared by the doctrine of the ran.~om, renderinc all amenable to Satans devices and deceptions.as all mav readilv see: for if our present blemishes, with Heb. 2:i. which we arc ho& into this world, were the results df sins committed in some previous condition of existence, the death And, bp the way, Jobs case is another illustration of sickof our Lord -Jesus could not cancel them, and the doctrine of ness and calamities of various kinds which were not the puna ransnm would be disproved. The doctrine of the ransom ishments of sin; for have we not Jobs own testimony of is unchan~cahly linked to the doctrine that Adam was a his love for God, his confidence in him, and his faithful reperfect h&an being in his creation, and that it was his silt liance upon him ? Tho he slay me, yet will I trust in him ! and condemnation that passed to all of his posterity, through Bnd more. we have the Lords testimony to the same effect, the channel of natural birth. The ransom (correspon&ng in favor of his servant. Job, and in reproof of his friends who pmce) given by our Lord .Tesns( was a mans life for a mans wromrlv renresented that his sickness and calamities were txlso should life : that, as by/ n n,r~~ rame d(~:rth, ?)!I a man nunishments for sin. come the resurrection of the dead. Our Lords ransnm PRC- 11e conclude, then, upon Scriptural grounds, that not all rifire, l,c~nx the complete and corresponding price and offset sickness is in the nature of sin penalties, but that some sickto fnthrr Adams sin, was constituted thereby an offset to all nesses are as penalties. Hence, &hen the Christian shall find the results of his sin as they appear in his posterit;y-and himself ovcrtakt~n with sickness or otller disasters. he should thus we all were redeemed by the one sacrifice of Christ, the first of all inquire of himself, before the Lord, whether or not just for the unjust. his difficulties are the result of(1) A direct violation of the laws of his reason, as for IS ALL SICKNESS OF THE DEVIL? instance, indiscretion in eating, gratification of the appetite An increasingly large number of Christian people-includin resnect to food which he knows is not suited to his physiing those who refuse medicines-are reaching the conclusion of recognized principles oi Eoncal conditions : or violation that all sickness is the direct result of sin and the work of duct, as, for instance, the endorsing of a note, contrary to the devil; and therefore that godly living will prevent sickthe in,trurtlon of the Lords FVord (PIOV. 6: 1, 2)) \\hirh has ness : and that in the event of sickness, if it be punishment brought disaster to many. If he does not find his troubles for sin, medicines should not be used, but, on thk contrary, to bg the result of personal indiscretion he should lookprayer should be made to God for the forgiveness of sin for 121 To see whether or not sin lies at his door : whether which sickness is a punishment, and that the cure of the disor ioi he has -been 1ivin.e inconsistently, and might. properly ease should be expected as a reward of repentance and faith reroqnize his sickness or trouble as a punishme& for-his sin, exercised. bin jncnnsistencv. If he finds It to be so, he should of Course We wonder how these Christian friends view this lesson. immediately rectify the wrong to the extent of his ability and Like the disciples, they evidently would conclude that a man seek forgiveness, mercy, at the throne of the heavenly grace, born blind must have been so born on account of sin-if not and expect that after suffering some chastisements he will his own sin, the sins of his parents-for they account for all be released. Unfortunately they feel so sat(3) Should he fail to find a cause for his difficulties in disease from this standpoint. iqfied with their conclusions on the subject that they do not either of the foregoing, he should consider that quite posAnd they do not sibly his difficulty, whatever its nature. was one of the ordiinquire of the Lord, as did the apostles. hpar his answer here given-that it was neither sin on the nar- casualties of life from which God does not wholly forethe cure was a marvel, the like of which had never been heard of. Even yet we believe that there are only five cases on record of successful operations upon those born blind. Our Lords cure of such blindness, with the simple prescription used, would therefore be a remarkable miracle today, and much more so was it in that day.
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fend his children-desiring them to walk by faith and not by sight : such casualtles are necessary, that we may be very sympathetic with the worlds troubles. (4) In some instances, as in Jobs case and the case before us in this lesson, troubles may ultimately be found to have been permatted by the Lord, to be channels of mercy and blessing, if rightly received, as in these cases. (6) In all troubles, whether for discipline or for instruction in rititeousness and the development of character. the children 01 God (and we are not considering others now) should forthwith begin to seek the blessing which they may be sure God has in store for them when he permits adversities. And this should not hinder their use oi any means for relief upon which they can conscientiously ask the divine blessing: on the same nrincinle that we labor for and eat the daily d;-ead for which be priyi and which is none the less of divine provision. The work of God made manifest in this blind man was not merely in the miracle performed upon his natural eyes. It extended bevond this. and testified to the beholders the power of God,*operating in Messiah. And it extended still further, in the ease of the man who was healed: leadin the opening of the eyes of his understanding, it inducted 52 into discinleshin to Christ. Had he not been born blind, had he not pissed ihrough just the experiences through mhich he did pass, how can we judge that he would have been in a bettrl rondition of heart to receive the Messiah than the educated Pharisees, who, with good natural sight, were thoroughly blinded respecting Messiah, his teachings and his work, so that they crucified him? And so it is in many instances with many who become the Lords people. Looking back they can clearly see that things which at the time seemed to be adversities, disappointments, troubles, disadvantages, hardships, were really great blessings, in that they led & the opening .of the eyes df their understanding,-were really providences and blessings in disguise. Those who do so realize the divine care, looking back can praise the way God has led them day by day.

good principle, the God-quality is in him, say they; and to whatever extent a horse or a dog may have the good principles, to that extent these are Gods, and to be loved, etc., accordingly. Denying the Father, they of course deny also the Son whom he sent: and altho thev acknowledge Jesus, it is not with a Christian acknowledgement. On the con: trary, they hold that he was merely a member of the Adamic family, and that his pre$minence above others was 111 lrspect to his character and teachiqgs. And they claim that while, in these respects, he stood higher than other men of his day, yet he but feebly grasped at certain principles or truths which are today brought to the world by her distinguished highness, Mrs Dr. Eddy, who thus poses as being greater than Jesus, as an elephant is greater than a mouse; the there be certain resemblances. (2) A Christian is one who believes in Christ as a Saviour from sin as well as from its consequences;-death and its concomitants of nain. etc. But Christian Scientists denv that there is any sin, and denv ~1~0, that there are any *consequences of sin; hence, lo&ally, they deny the ransom, for how could there he a rn~.son~ for sinners, if nnne are sinners 7 Thus do they deny and ignore the very foundation of Christian faith, without which no one is a ChristianScripturally. The absurdities of Christian Science commend themselves onlv to those who are either Scripturally ignorant, or mentally weak; and their chief attractions are therefore(1) The fact that they put on, as a garment of light, gentleness and kindness of word and manner. That these do not grow out of hearts thorough1.y converted to the Lord, and begotten of his spirit of love. is manifest. for altho kindness and patience and gentleness are manifested, the true essence of these is lackinn. namelv. love. Instead of manifesting love to be the mainspiing of their meekness, patience gen&nessy they manifest ambition and money-love as their inspiring motives-so far as we are able to judge the tree by its fruits. So far as we are able to learn, their efforts to promulgate their views are confined to those who are able and willing to pay for the instruction good round prices: and so far as we CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MISBELIEFS are able to discern, their care of the sick shows a love of i\mongst the various false doctrines of today none appears money, and love of fame; and hence very few of the poor of more inconsistent from the standpoint of science and Christhis world have been injured by the doctrines of Christian tianity, than the system which brazenly and defiantly, and in Science, or cured of disease by its treatment. perrerqion of truth and conscience unites these two words as (2) The cure of disease without medicine, and sometimes its name. It would be amusing, we map be sure, to hear almost miraculously, is in the nature of things calculated one of the devotees of this theory explain this Scripture. For, to attract and interest the groaning creation-just as the notwithstanding the fact that their entire system is in oppoadvertisements of patent medicines attract them. sition to the S&iptures, they make a cloak, -a pretense, of beWe unhesitatingly assert our conviction, that this power, manifested lie\ ing the Scriptures, and of using them in support of their through Christian Scientists, is not of God, but of the adthe01 v-chieflv with novices. We may be sure that the-v would directly, or indirectly. atten;pt to t&st and juggle it in so&e manner, and get it SO versary, He no doubt directs his servants into the use of channels and means of which humanity far nwav from the truth and the subiect as at least to conin general, and even many learned physicians, are comparafuqe nlnhy people, who have very little knolvledge of the Bible tively ignorant -channels of human nature, which. DnsSiblv, and shallow powers of reasoning, especially those who have in the future may be used by the Lord during the times & not their senses exercised by reason of use, in connection restitution of all things. Our iustification in ascribinrr their with Scrintural subiects.-Heb. 5 : 14. cures to an evil source, instead of to a good source, ?ieq in Th(blr theory is that there is no such thing as blindness, the fact that they utterly repudiate the principles nf Cllrlithat it is sim;lv a mistaken thought. a misbelief: since the tianity, and we may be sure God wou111 not cniipc>ratr to parent? of thebiind man could notuha;e misbelieved that their nqsist with his power those who deny his very csistcncc, and chiltl would be horn blind, the child itself, me presume they who make void the gospel of the redemption through the wocltl say, got this misimpression before its birth. And then blood of Christ. The miracle-wnlking pn\\ er in tllem \Y( LIPwe have the inconsistency increased, for every one of intellilieve to be the same as the miracle-working power in Spiritgence knows that the infant at hirth has no thought, correct ism and in Orientalism, and in the charms of other Occultl+tr The fallacy of this theory i4 or incorrect, on any subject. -namely, Satanic power. likr\\Iyr proven. in the case of those born deaf and dumb. If it be asked, How could Satan be interested in doing a But argument and reason have no more force with Chrisgood work? we answer: He does no such work amonust tian Pcientists than have th6 Scriptures. Their infatuation those who are thoroughly and stupidly ignorant: he is do& with their delusion is so great that they are fully prepared these works merely iti* tde most ci;ilized lands, and especially to wrest facts, reason, and Scriptures-and then, in perveramongst the mast enliehtened of the neonle in the various sion of all truth and consistency, they call this Chlistian denor;linations of ChristXndom. The ad;e;sars thus assumes Science. the garment of an angel of light and mercy,- not to lead to \Ve are not contending with them respecting their use of to lead to the cross of Christthe word Science, for the most stupid should be able to see the Light of the ~nrld-not u not to lead to the Bible-but to lead away from thescl, to anthat there is nothing scientific in* connection with their other hope of salvation, and to another teacher: to deceive, thenrr: hut we do c&tend respecting their uze of the word if it were possible, the very elect. And be it remembered that Christian. because manv do not recognize that thev have not the slightest right to the use of this term. Our Yconten- our Lords words indicate that when matters come to this condition, where Satan will cast out Satan and heal disease, tion is that a Christian SPientist of full development, canit is a marked evidence that his throne is tottering to its not bc a Christian in any Scriptural sense of the word. fall-that. so to sneak. this is the last extremitv Y of the ad(1) A Christian is one who believer in God the Father, versarys efforts to deceive. and in our Lord Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent to be a l * Y propitiation for our sins, our Redeemer, and ultimately the i)eliverer of all these who obev him. But Christian %ience The Lords method of giving sight to the blind man, we may reasonably suppose, waq parabolic-that is to say, it denies the verv existence of Gbd. claiming to believe merelv in a princzpld of Good. To whhtever e;ent a man has a contains a lesson under a figure. Since our Lord did not
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.k,LEGHENY, PA.

explain the significance of his action in making a clay ointment out of dust with his spittle, and anointing the mans eyes with this. and sending him to wash them and receive sight at the Pool of Siloam, we may exercise our mental pomera in thinking of what these different things would signify. But we are limited in our speculations, nevertheless, and may not run wild, but must restrain ourselves within the limits of plain statements of the Word of God respecting his plan of salvation. In harmony with these plain statements we may interpret our Lords symbolical act thus: The blind man would fitly represent the world of n~anliind in general, who during the present life are mentally hlind-who cannot now see the podnew, merry. and love of God ah thpsc mag be recognized by others who are now nl)le to see them. His being born blind WOUI~ harmonize with this thought, for the blindness that is upon the \\orltl is, to a large extent at least, a matter of hrrcdity. His ldintlnc~ss does not rctpresent a blindness on the part of tlloie \\ho have nnce seen Gods grace, represented in hi< \Vord and plan, aud ~110 have then bcccme blind thereto. nntl ~110 would represent the clasr mentioned by the Apostle a~ having once been rnhghtenetl, and w11o subsequent117 lnw that. enlightenment. (Tlcb. 6:4-(i) If then the blind ma; rrl)IC<rnts tl!ct blintl norlti ( \\IIo do not see, in the sense that are your t11r 1.1111: h(C+, 0F \\ lloni tllca Lord said, Blessed (11
fves

and by our Lord Jesus, is designed in the present age to act upon a small fragment of humanity, and to consecrate them and make them meet for the Masters use in the blessing of the world, in the anointing of the eyes of the blind. From this standpoint of view, the making of the clay would represent the formation of the elect church for the blessing of the poor, blind world. And, quite possibly, not only in this work of making the clay now in progress, but perhaps some portion of the anointing work is now being done, 6s is intimated by the Scripture which declares that the Gospel must first be preached for a witness in all the world, before the end of this age. The world must be witnessed to during this age, but the world will not have the eyes of its understanding opened during this age: it must wait until the great washing time of the Millennial age, of which the Scriptures declare, In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of (Zech. 13:l) In full David for sin and for uncleanness. aqrermeut with this is the significance of the word Silonru. It signifies The sending forth, or The fountain. The Pharisee objected to the Lords goodness, becnuse, forsooth. it infracted some of their hrpcrclltical tlognla~ and traditions. This is interesting, as s&wing to what extent religious forms and ceremonies may bind and blind intelligent and reverential people. And this should be a lesson to all the intelligent and reverent, leading them to great care in juc!ging righteous judgment, according to the standard of the divine Word, and not according to their prejudices and revered creeds, and the traditions of the fathers. Still another lesson may be found iu the fact tllat thcb man who confessed our Lord Jesus, and who stood up in bold tlcfence of righteousness, was greatly blessed, in that after he had thus demonstrated his loyaltv to plinciplc, an11 I~ntl suffered as a result excommunication from the church-thclt Thus his faithfulness under trials and the Lord found 7&l. difficulties. and his willinpness to suffer the loss of earthly fellowship and honor am&gst men, led directly to a still greater blessing, even direct fellowship and communion with How many are there \\lio?ie nif~ntnl ~-CR the Lord himself. have been opened to the truth, who have been ho loyal to the Lord and so appreciative of his goodness as to be f.litlrfc11 in declaring the facts? How manv of thrse have fouud that such faithfulness means separation from the synagogue, from the church nominal? How many of these have feared to lose prestige and influence, through confessing the light of present, truth? But all who have followed the noble course of t!lnnkfulness, loyalty, and obedience to God, have found that such obedience, while it led to a loss of fellowship in the nominal church, led also to a greater fellowship and communion. nnd a more intimate acquaintance with the Lord himself.

fnl

thchv htaf:),

tile

time

of the healing

of sue11 blindness

is in the Nillrnninl age, as 8cripturnlly pointed out, when All thp blind eyes shall t)e opened, and the deaf ears unstopped. (Isa. 35 :5) And this agrees with the conditions of our Loltls IIIIIRC~Y. IM:I~IW w arc mformetl that this miracle took plarc ou the Sabbath, or seventh day, which corresponds to, and typifies the hlillennial day, the sevenththousand year period. Our Lords words, nevertheless, seem to indicate that some part of thiq symbolical picture relates to the present age, for he said, I must work the works of him that sent me while it iq day: the night rometh wherein no man can work. In this statement the word day would seem to belong to the pIesent time. aud to bc illustrated in the making of clay with nur Lords spittle, and the anointing of the blind mans eyes. The dashing of his eyes and the curt would seem to belong to the next age, the Millennial age. The Lords spittle, the hecrctions of his mouth, might represent the truth as fitly as would the words of his mouth-it is another figure, but seemingly of the same force and meaning. He uttered the truth, brnngllt it in contact wvlth the dust of the earth-not in cont:~ct \\lth all thr (111-t of tllc earth, but with a limited portion, an elect nr select portion.-and of this he made the anninting clay. The P~riptnrc~s do inform ~3, in harmony with thiq, that the IVolt of (:ods grace, delivered through

IJor,. SS I
-____~ i\T,T,EGHEXY, PA., AUGUST 1, 1900 .--__ No. 15

LET

US DRAW NEAR
having
pwe

IJet us draw nea.r untlb a true hem-t, in full assurance of faath, our 7~~11~snp~inklnd ~1171 Sot to sinners is this in\ it,ttion :~tltlresr;ed. The invitation acd believe on to them i4 a \-cry dllYcrent our. ri:..-Repent, the I.01 tl .Tc~u~ Clirid, and tlnis ohtniii the remission of your sins. :tntl tllrn ?-(I11 will be 111the nttilude to receive the iniitation. I>r;~w near to God. The AwAle iq addressine those who haT-e x11~:,dy beliewtl unto ju<tificzation. reccivln: ~tn themselves the hcnrfits of the Lords promise, Thei; sins and iniquitieq ~111 I rcmrmbcr no more. (Verse 17) The Apostle is addrrsqing thr brrthrcn, and not sinner<, and urges them, Silylllg. Having thrrcforc, 7~rcfhrc~, boldness [courage, conficlcnw. pxlvilege] to clltrr into the holist by the blood of Jesus. by a new silt1 li\ ing UX~. . . . . let II* draw near. The Apn~tles wwds carry onr nttentloll to Tsraels Tabernacle in tlw ailtlcrncss. nnd the spiritual things which it Illii5trntc~tl NIP Court. cntt~rcd through tbc :_p.lt,(,. ~gn~ficd the state or rendition of the lustifietl, who muqt pass the Altar representing Christs sarr&icae for sinq ; secondly, approach the Larer of water for rleansiuq from defilements; and then be ready to pass under the first Vnil into the apartment of the Tabernacle called The Holy. This Holy apartment represented the state or condition of Gods consecrafed DeoDle (typified by Tsri\elR priests) while vet in the flesh, anh had its Golden Candlr<tirk ior their enli_nhtcnmcnt. its table of Slieu bread. representing thrir privilige of fellowship with God.-drawing near to him III prayer, praise and communion.

OUT hearts sprinlcled

10 ~22.

fq.orn a comciousncss

of ebil, and

tcater.-Heb.

The next step beyond t!le Holy was the hIo.qt Holy, rcpresentine heaven itself; but this could be ent,rled only from the Holy and by passing under the Second Vail. which represmted the actual death of the priest, even as the First The \ail represented the reckoned death or consecrntiou. Apostle 11ns this same thought in mind when elsewhere hr mentrons the consecrated Royal Priesthood as seated together with Christ in heavenly p!aces-- in the heavenly condition, the (ondition represented by the first apartment or IIoly of the Tabcarnacle and of the Temple.
PRIVILEGES OF THE ROYAL PRIESTHOOD

It is in reference to this proposition to advance from the Court condition of justification into the Holy or heavenly reached through consecration or spirit-begotten condition, (and the closest possible approach to God) that the Apostle His language implies that there urges, Let us draw near. mqy properly be a diffidence on our part in respect to this privilege. We might properly hesitate to expect to have communion, fellowship, close approach to the great Creator, realizing that by nature we are imperfect, children of wrath. even as others, and that in whatever degree we differ from others and are accounted worthy of such a privilege of drawing near to God, it is not on account of personal worth on our part, but on account of Gods grace bestowed upon us through .Jesus our I.ord. The Apostle therefore speaks to brliewrs in

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Arcca

1, 1900

near ; let us have an encouraging v ome : **Let II. (hdw courage to draw near; let us have faith in God, who has made us such gracious arrangements and promises. The Apostle intimates that a close approach to God cannot be efIected, except we have first a full assurance of farth. Only those who trust the Lord implicitly, as a little child (Luke 18:17) would trust its earthly parent, can expect to progress and to have the courage, the confidence, necessary to approach God in this very intimate manner; and the desire to draw nearer and nearer to God must be in the justified believers heart. else he will never eo on and attain to this his privilege. And this desire to drxw near to God is a manifestation of our hunger and thirst after righteousness. which the Lord expects to see before he fulfils to such his engagement that they shall be filled, satisfied.-Matt. 5:6. Satisfaction will not be attained fully in the present life. tho the believer who progresses and draws nearer and nearer to God will have more and more of this satisfaction to the end of his journey in the present life, receiving the full measure of satisfaction in righteousness and perfection on the other side the vail. Similarly. in our drawing near to God. we may continue to draw nearer and nearer to him, as we obtain deeper experience in his grace, growing also in knowledge and love in the present life; but the full attainment of our privilege of drawing near to God will not be reached until we shall have passed the Second Vail-passed through death. and been changed from human to spirit beings, and hale entered into heaven itself, the perfect heavenlv condition. There and then we shall he full; at one with the hearenlv Father and with our Lord .Te&. havina drawn near to the full extent of the invitation and to The full of the opportunities granted us in the new and living way, the narrow way to life, consecrated for us. through the vail, by our Lords death as our ransom price. There are, however, certain conditions specified as necessary to progress along these lines. As no one can draw near to God except by attaining a full assurance of faith. neither can he have a full assurance of faith unless he have his heart sprinkled from a consciousness of evil, for, as the Apostle elsewhere declares, If our heart rondemn us, God is greater than our heart. (1 *John 3:ZO) We may be sure that if our course as new creatures is condemned by our own conscienres it would also he condemned by God. Whoever, therefore, would make progress in drawing near to God must seek continually to have a conscience void of offense toward God and man (Acts 24: 16) :-a conscience that is clear, that ran say. I am striving to do that which would be pleasing to God. in harmonp with mv covenant of self-sacrifice. and I am striving to do that, which would be approved also by righteous men. Nothing short of this is at all permissible in those who have consecrated themselves to be royal priests. to offer themselves as living sacrifices in the Lords service, and to draw near to him in the name and under the merit of the great High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.

*ented (Eph. 5:26) in a similar manner aa being a part of the clutv and privilege of all of the Lords neoule throughout the remainder-of the& earthly lives. And \Ge c*an 3ee how beautiful is the illustration here used, that the Word of God, like water, is purifying, cleansing; as the Apostle declares, speaking of the Christians good hopes in the precious promises once delivered to the saints, He that bath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he [who called him1 is pure.-1 John 3:X As it is necessary to a thorough cleansing of our natural bodies that we should wash with ptlre water, so much the more is it necessary to this cleansing of which the A ostle speaks, the cleansing of our moral characters. that we sK ould have the pztre water of divine truth. and not, the muddy and polluted teachings of the adversary, or of those whom he has blinded. And as we look about us upon the many streams of Babylon-the various sectarian theologies which profess to be the -truth-we find that altho there is something of truth in them all, yet it is sadly befouled and wholly incapable of cleansing their votaries from filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit,-wholly incapable of perfecting them in holiness of the kind which the Lord reauires. For instance. false ideas of God and of his characte; and his plan are incentives to those who so hclievc to copy these misrepresentations and perversions of justice and love, and are well calculated to develop in the devotees of such a theory a low standard of character, because the low standard which they set for themselves and other fellow-mortals is really higher than that which they ascribe to the Creator. How important, then, is the truth, and how much meaning we find in our dear Redeemers prayer to the Father on our behalf,-Sanctify them through thy truth ; thy Word is truth. I,rt us not attempt to sanctify ourselves through nnr other washing than this; let us not be satisfied with anything short of the pure water, the pure Word of God, the pure truth.
YE ARE COMPLETE IN HIM-Cal. 2: 10

Now view the class described by the Apostle: they are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus accepted with the Father through the Relored One. More than this, to them has been opened up the narrow way to life, consecrated, made possible, through the sacrifice offered by our great High Priest They are invited to become under-priests, sharers both of the sufferings, and also later on, if faithful, sharers of the glories of Jesus, the Chief Priest of this order. As a means of attaining the glorious end of their calling thev are to cleanse themselves from defilement, and for their us;? in this respect the Word of God has been nrovided: it is at once a mirror to show them their blemishes, and water wherewith to cleanse themselves-the stimulus for the correction of life being the exceeding great and precious promises set before them in the Scriptures. Their hearts, justified by faith, and honest before God, are fully consecrated to him and to his service, and are to be so kept continually-by obedience to the best of their knowledge and opportunities, and bv the blood of sprinkling HAVING OUR HEARTS SPRINKLED which covers unintentional errors and failures. This is th< class that is callcrl to be associated wrtb tbc LOI tl in his How very much is implied in this expression, Having our kingdom; they are styled his brethren, the royal priesthood, hearts sprinkled from a consciousness of evil! It not only the bride. the Lambs wife, and various other names repremeans that we are to avoid sin, and to take heed that the senting their near and dear relationship to the heavenly WCWll; of nlrr month and thr meditations of our henrts nrr Father: and all of these who are faithful to thr twd of the acceptable to the Lord, but it means additionally that our race-course are to be made partakers of the divine nature, hearts. having covenanted self-sacrifice. shall be able to look with its glory, honor and immortality. up to the L&d confidently and realize his blessing and approval, because of the honest, earnest efforts on our part But let us not deceive ourselves in this matter of having hearts that do not condemn us; let us ~cmember that our to comply with the terms of our consecration. But since we cannot fully comply with tne terms ourselves, it is requisite covenant was unto sacrifice and not unto self-preservation; that it was a covenant to lay our all upon the altar-time, that we shall apply to ourselves by faith the merit of the precious blood of Christ, the blood of sprinkling, the blood of influence, means of every kind; and that we agreed with our consecration. and that we shall realize that our acceptance is Lord that we would reckon this our reasonable service. DO only in the Beloved One. our hearts condemn us in this matter, or do they justify us? Do we feel that we are doing all in our power to serve the WASHED WITH PURE WATER Lord and his truth and our brethren? If so. let us rejoice, and let us continue in the same way, patiently hoping for the Having our bodies washed with pure The expression. glorious results promised to the faithful. But if our hearts water, figuratively represents the continued process of cleans= condemn us, let us not be discouraged; but on the contrary ina ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the suirit. remember that this is a Dart of the cleansina of the flesh and peyfecting holiness in the reverence of the Lord, elsewhere en: -of the spirit necessary to our preparation forthe kingdom, and joined by the Apostle. (2 Cor. 7: 1) Rv nature we are all imlet us afresh bind our sacrifices to the altar (Psa. 118:27), perfect, sullied, more or less depraved; and our devotron to the Lord is manfested. first, by our full acceptance and full and be more and more zealous in expending our little all in the service of him who loved us and who bought us with his assurance of faith in the merits of Christs sacrifice; and secondly, by our earnest efforts to put away from our flesh, own precious blond. Thus doing, it will be our privilege day as we have already. put away from our hearts, all things by day to draw nearer and nearer to the Most Holy, and thus finishing our course with ioy we shall have share in the defiling and displeasmg in the Lords sight: that thus we may 6rat resurrection, awakening in our Lords likeness.-2 Car. more and more become copies of his dear Son, our Lord. This washing of water through tlw Word is elsewhere repre- 5:14,15; Ron~. 6:s; 1 .Jobn 3 :2; Psa. 17 :15.
I

[26711

THE PILGRIM

HARVEST

SERVICE

Ke will be glad to have at once postul curd requests for Ill~rlm rlalts from all part; of the United States and Canada. (Brltlsh friend> please address cnrds to our British branch ofiw. London ) 1\.e are rearranging our Illgrim routes and want the following lnfolmation 1n few words 011 postal eartls (not lcatters) for easy reference. Krmemher that these lilgrim vibiti Inrol\-e nc, e\l,enie for tlrc: Pilgrim or his travI\-e ~11ng exljen<c<--all of wll~ch are ljornc 11~ the Society. me1 (*I> 1c~~lllt~it cailtcsrt;liunlcnt for tllf, ill:rini during 111stwo or three tla~ H stay. An>\\er tile clli(9tlon.s 11 number as follo\\ < : I)o you hope for p~ctrl~ rrlectl?lys,-as well as for (1, prliaL~% on(~ tar thoie already intrreyted (2, (orlId anti would the friend5 -ec.ure the use of a

school or church bulldmg or a public hall if publtc meetinga are dehlred ? (3 ) l\;ould a suitable room in a private house be provided for the private meetings? How many friends of present truth reside in your (4 vlclnltv? (5,! How many of these have been consulted and concur. in the answers you are sending us? (6) How many readers? of these ale \VA~CH To~rzt (7 ) Do you now meet regularly for worship and study of the Word, as per Hebrews 10.2.5? Most of these questions can be answered by either Yes or Fumber your answers, and add whatever So or by figures. mav seem expedient, but do not crowd the card and make it d&ult to read and understand.

THE GREAT SHEPHERD

AND HIS SON, THE GOOD SHEPHERD

JOIIX IO: l-16.---9UGUST 26. The Good Si~t~pherd giveth his life for the sheep. I>:\\-111. the Psalmist. \\lote prophetically, .Jehovah is my may follow. Our Good Shepherd has indeed set us a noble sh~nll~~rtl. I &all not want (Psa. 231 : for In Davids dav example. 50 that we may walk in his steps; and whoever ~111, thearrangclnleuts for the Shepherd and the flock of this lelto the extent of his ability, trustfully do this, will find his i-011 hd 1iOt lJWI1 CWU[ktd True, the hea\tsnly Father had wants abundantly supplied, for Yo good thing will he [the pul pocltvl 1115 entlrc plan a\ rehpectr humamtys redemption Shepherd] withhold from those who [thus] walk uprightly. 1,ut III, I1;rtl 11ot > vt w11t and ictllrii to liii (are ai III- flock. He will guide them with his counsel, and afterward receive hi< only htagotten Son, the Good Shepherd, to give III; life for them to glory. --Psa. 84:ll; 73:24. the sh(*(ap. to call the flock. to onen the door and to lead them Our Loriis parable does not tell us about the disciplines out atIt ;nto pasturage ant< to rekt. ;h;everthelesr, in the Lords which the sheep are sure to receive, but these are set before provldenc*c the* natlon of Israel had already been gathered. as us in the prophetic psalm on the sublect, In the words, Thy thosch who would be prepared to be the flock of the Good rod and thy staB, they comfort me. The thought is that the Shq)herd when he shoild *come. These were hhut up under Shepherd, while going before and not driving the hheep, neverthe law (Gal. 3:23), waiting for the coming of the Good theless has such an interest and care that he ~111 not suffer Shepherd to open the door and to call them by name as 1115 one of the sheep to wander away without administering cerown sheep. Others. indectl. came before the Messiah, affecting taln chastisement designed for its good. and to correct It and to 11~ the trur shenhcrtl. lc~atlers sent of God but thev were mere to bring it hack into fellowship in the flock. This is R comfort, pretenders, who sought their own good and glory, &d not that and yet it should certainly be the desire of all true sheep of the shecbp They were thieves and robbers. who sought to to follow the Shepherd so closely that the rod shall not gain possession of the sheep for their own selfish ends. often be necessary. The pnrtrr (rrpresenting the law) would not recognize The link between the Shepherd and the sheep, as here inany of thc+e pretentlc>\, nor approve them, nor open to them dicated, is love. The Shepherd loves the sheep, and has demonacwss to the sheep But when the true Shepherd came he strated this m having laid down his life for them; and the batisfietl the law (the porter), and hought the sheep from sheep speedily learn to love the Shepherd, as their care-taker; justice, giving hii own life as their redemption price. Thus he they recognize him through hlr voice--the Word of God. This pained the full right to nljen the door. the full sanction of voice appeals to the hearts of all the true sheep, who quickly the porter, the full authnrlty to lead forth the sheep to the respond, xever man snake as this man. preen pastures and still waters of divine truth which then be-The voice of the good shepherd is a hlending of various came due to them. sounds in a manner in which they are blended by no other voice. At the time of the giving of this parahle our Lord was His voice sounds forth the chord of Justice comminlaving down hiq life. and at the same time uttering his gled with the rhord of love, and the whole intoned with voice. that the true sheep might learn to know him. And wisdom and with power. Other theories, plans and schemes not only will a11 thr true sheep learn to know the Shepherd, of men and devils, have no such harmony of cnund :I. has but, nrrrinnq thought 1 the Shenhcrd knoweth his own sheen the message which the great Shepherd has sent 119 through indiv;tlunlly. sn that he (*all&h Cach by name as he leads the& his Son. His voice speaks to us of a just penalty for sinsnut Thiq sug!geqtS to us the intimacy of the relationship bedeath; it speaks of love, in our redemption and the forgiveness tween Chrlht and (iach member of hiq flork. of our sins, and the opening to us of the way of life, through resurrection. This word of grace cnnstrninq all the true Thr treatment of sheep in this part of the world is very sheep as no other message or voice could do. Moreover. when dlffrrcnt from that drscrihctl in the parahle. which is still the true sheep hear the voice of the Good Shepherd, it satisfies maintained in Oriental countries. Here sheep are driven, and their longings as nothine else ronld do. Thev will no longer have Iittlr nr no ac*crnaintanre with the her&men. But in he in danger of being attracted by other &unds or voI&, Inlestinc, for insiancc:. f9-fary shraep 112s a personal acquaintance theories or schemes, hut will reply to all, with its shc~nhcrtl and he with it. and it is said that this acJesus has satisfied; Jesus is mine. quaintance I; w partic~ular that the shepherds have a separate name for rba(.h 4lWp. and know each individually by its There are many false voices in the world today, seeknarncs: auf1 that t hfa \he(,p knows it< n\\n name and uGi1 reing to lead the Lords sheep astray, and these are sometImea spontl to a (#all from it< OWII chepherd at anv time. How sounded in deceptive tones, to imitate the Shepherds call, to hcautifullv thlc lllu~trates relatio&hip between draw away sheep after those who would be shepherds, but tile rinse He . eivcs to each one of us Chrl\t arch hi? flock. the church whom the great Shepherd has not appomted. shepherds who a nrw name. and we are each persnnallv known to him-our not only hare not purchased the sheep, but who seek to ignore pcciilinritle~ of charactrr. temp&ament. htc., our strong points the great sacrifice bv which the Good Shepherd did purchase them: and o11r ~~~:~knes~~---h~ knnwcth them all. He loves us, cares We might niention many such false voices, -or false for 11%. helps 11~over our trials and diffirultieq, and shields us would-be shepherds,-Christian hcience, Thcosopy, Spiritism, from thrb trmpt:ltlon< 1vhic.h would he too strong for us. Evolution, Higher Criticism, etc.. but we have the Good ShepHe ~111 not sllff(xr 11s to 1~ tcmptctl above that we are able, herds word for it, that his true sheep will not be deceived by hut ~111 mith the temptation provide also a way of escape, any of these. Kc11 do they know his voice, and its combinaand Calluses that all things work together for good to them tion of justice, love, and mercy cannot be duplicated by others, that lnvfa (:otl, the called ones according to his purpose-his -its message of redemption by the precious blood, justification little flock of this Chpcl age. by faith. the high calling, the begetting of the holy spirit, the by-and-hy deliverance of the sons of God, and eventually of We note also the care of the Shepherd over the sheep, forth ~IIS 015 n l 11q awl gIof4tl beall who will obey him of the entire groaning creation, through for he say<, llr piittctti restitution. fore them. The words putt&h forth have the significance This voice, once heard, can never be mistaken for another; of looking after them. that they all get started in the way and those who know this Shenherd and his voice need never to the .grecn pnstunes and still waters for soul rrfre*hment. be misled by others. The Lor*ds true sheep, whom he knows He is not hcedlcps. careless. reqpecting them. whether they go hv name and who follow him, will not herd the voice of or do not go; nevertheless. having started them in the way he ctrange shepherds, but will flee from them. They know when will not tlrl\e them: he goeth hefore them to lead, that they 126721 (3_76- 230)

ZIONS

WATC-H

TOWER

(231-233:

they hear a false voice, that it means that the adversary 1s seeking to ensnare them; and such ml11 flee from the voice of error that they may come the closer to the true Shepherd, who gave his life for the sheep. If, therefore, we hce home whom we had supposed were of the Lords flock heeding another voice and following after strange shepherds, and heedless of the voice that speaketh from heaven, we need not be fearful; for if they are true sheep of the Lords flock thev cannot long be deceived, if at all. i\-e mav indeed sound out the volc~ of the Good Shepherd. callmc iheir attention afresh to the harmonies and &a&s of tKe voice from heaven, but if still they do not hear and heed, we may know that they do not belone to the flock which our Shenherd is now collectA ing and sEepherding. Amongst those who heard this parable from our Lords lips, not many comprehended, not many had the hearing ear for the true Shepherds voice: only a small proportion of the Jewish people followed him and became his true sheep. Similarly now, many are professing to be the true sheep of the Lords flock, but in this clay of the Shepherds presence his voice. the tlutb, become-: the test. All of the true sheep will hear and he attracted bv the voice of truth now uttered, and will obey it. Those Tcho are not of the Good ShepGerds flock. and who hare not his snirit. he desires shall now be separated; to this end they wili he& the voice of other shepherds, and be deceived thereby: because they are not truly of the Lords flock. Dr. Porter tells of a scene he witnessed, in which several flocks of sheer, were for a time commingled. and how, when the due time &s come, the separation togk place. He says:As we sat and looked, almost spell-bound, the silent hillsides around were in a moment filled with life and sound. Thousands of sheep and goats were there, grouped in confused maqseq. The shenherds stood together until all came out. and then they separlited, each shepherd taking a different path, and uttering. as he advanced, a shrill, peculiar call. The cheep heard them : at first the mass swayed and moved as if shaken by some internal convulsion: then points struck out in the directlonq taken by the shepherds. These became longer and longer, until the confused masses were resolved in long, living streams flowing after their leaders. So at the present Time there are many sheep in the nominal Church. but ther are not all the Lords sheen. Some belong to human leade& of various sects, and-some&are Gods. Thi harvc\t, or end of this Gospel age, the time for separating the wheat flom the tnres, is the time for separating the dlffcrent flocks of sheep. In harmonv with this, we now hear various voices calling the sheep in \;arious directions, as never hefore. This 1s. in the Lords urovidence. for the nurnose of separating all others from his own Yittlk flock. His sheep will hear his voice and follow him--other sheep, consecrated to human leaders, human Inqtltutions, human theories, human efforts. will follow their own bents, and thus be separated flock, and this is now the Lords good from the little nleasure Thus be will nather out of his kinrrdom all things that offend and them that do iniquity, before the glorifying bf his church and the great time of trouble that will follow.
I

CHRIST

THE

DOOR

OF

GODS

SHEEP-FOLD

As a further explanation of the matter, our Lord refers to himself as the Door of the sheep-fold, the lawful, proper entrance-gate, by which Gods people might enter into rest. All who had ever come previously, clalmmg to be messiahs, had attempted to climb up by some other way than that of keeping the divine law and purchasing the sheep. Ther were to take what thev had not thieve9 and robbers, attempting secured a right to, and that for selfish gain. But none of the true sheep would heed them nor follow them. Now, however, the Good Shepherd had come, and had purchased the sheep, opening a legal door of entrance to them and liberty for them, and it was appropriate that all of the true sheep should know it. Now ;t hid become pusslble for the sheep to have in Christ the llbertv so lone desired. and to be led out and into pasturage anh refreshment and to rest and security. Henceforth aehovahs flock should never lack for pasturage; because, having bought them through his Son, they shall be cared for. They may now say, Surely goodness and mercv shall follow me a11 the davs of mv life. ant1 I shall dwell in the house of the Lord fopever. Others who had approached the sheep. seeking to he their I cnme to thee with all my tears, My pain and sorrow, griefs and fears; Thou precious Lamb who died for me, I come to thee, I come to thee.

leaders, had done so selfishly; had been willing to sacrifice the sheep in their own interest; but the Good Shepherd, solicitous for the best interests of the sheep, demonstrated this by the sacrifice of his own life on their behalf, that they might have life more abundant, better than they had ever known hitherto,-eternal life. Hireling shepherds labor for the hire, and not from personal interest in the sheep, and consequently, instead of being ready to lay down their lives for the sheep in times of extremitv and persecution for righteousness sake, they are ready rather to- flee the trouble &nd Thev think chieflv of their own ease and avoid nersecution. cornfor?., honor and di&ity, and of ilow much of the golden fleece they can get from the sheep. They are not very deeply concerned respecting the spiritual progress of the sheep, their growth in grace, and in all the fatness of love and spiritual welfare; but specially in numbers and collectioni. Perhaps never more than at pre\cnt ih thlq tlnth clearly illustrated amongst those who arc profehhetlly rep1 esentdt.1~ es of the Good Shepherd-under4lephertls in 111~flock. Many of th.em give evidence of wanting to be on the popular side of every question-of unwillingness to suffer anythlug for the sake of the truth , of carelessness respecting the lea1 ~1111 Itll,ll condition of the Ilock: of interest iathcr in the human instltutions through nhich they obtain their suppot, and with whose welfare their honor. dignity and titles nie associated. Of Such shepherds Milton, the poet, w1 ate, styling themI . . . . blind mouths. The hungry sheep look up and ale not fed, But. swollen with wind and the rank mist they draw, Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread. The Christian philosopher, John Ruskin, commenting upon this, says: Tliese two monosyllablc~, blind mouths, Ed;nreqs the nreclselv accurate contraries of the right character li the two ireat offices of the church,-those -of blhhop and pastor. A bishop means a person who sees; a pastor means chnlacter a man one who feeds. The most unbishoply can have i;, therefore, to be blind. ille most unpastoral is, instead of feeding, to want to bo fed,-to be a mouth. Nevertheless, the Good Shepherd will always be represented amongst the sheep by those who have his own characterlstlcs, and who are seeking to walk in his footsteps; and through these he will utter his voice. and lend llis n\vn bhcel) to pasture and to rest. These will not only have the same voice, the same Word, the same good tidings, but they will have the same devotion to the interests of the sheep-to feed the sheep, to lead them into the green pa4ures and by the still waters of present truth. and to preserve their liberties in the Lold, and not to pen them up as their own, nor to make merchandise of them. The Father, the great over-Shepherd, Jehovah. iti referred to bv the Good Shenherd. Jesus. in verse 16. The Father kno;eth me [has cdnfidedce in &e-has entrusted the care of the sheep to me] and even so I know the Father [having full him as my Shepherd, confidenre in him, and recognizing director. leatlerl, and [it 1s in harmony with his arrangement for me nntl for the sheep that] I lay down my life for the sheep. The sheep that I am now calling and leading to pasture and caring for and calling bv their own names, and who know me, are a \ely special lot-of sheep; in all only a little flock, for whom .Tchovah. he Great Sheuhrrd. 11as made special arrangements and provisions in his kingdom of glory. -However, these are not all of his sheep, the they are all yet called and led forth. Other sheep I have that are not of this fold. I bought the \\hole world with the one sacrifi(ae for SII~J, anI1 all who have the true sheep disposition, all who desire to be in harmony w-lth righteouhness, truth, ant1 the author of these, I mu4 recognize as my sheep, and muht 5earc.h them nut far and near, until every nnc of them shall l,c found. But not yet: this will l)e hv and bv. after the prehent little flock shall be clorlficd wit11 me. Then they. &th me, shall be the shepherds who Iv111 rrather In all of the true sheen. deliverinr them all from thr power of the enemy, and brln&g so many as will obey my <oire ultimately into that glorious condftinn of oneness. harmonv with the hcavt~nlv Father and with myself. in which contlition, as my sheep, tlyey will be entitled to everlasting life. Then there shall be one fold and ont ~hephertl, as it i5 written. Of whom the whole family both in heaven and in earth 1s named -Kp11. 3: 15
L.

0 wondrous love what joy is mine. To feel that I am truly thlne. rlhu precious Lamb who died for me, I come to thee, I come to thee. [2673]

THE

LORD APPOINTED

SEVENTY

OTHERS ALSO

LUKE lO:l-11, ~~-~O.-SEPT. 2. Tile hawest truly is great, but the laborers are few. others to sacrifice time and strength and zeal, that I may rest, Our I.ord had pre\ IUUSI) bent forth the twelve apostles, and have neither part nor lot in the matter, sacrificing little ad heralds of himself and the kingdom. (Luke 9:1-6) The or nothing. Onlv those are properly qualified to petition iending forth of seventy was evidently some little time afterthe Lord & such i subject, wh&e*hea&s-are burning-with a ward, probably in the last year of his ministry. Their comdesire to do with their minht what their hands mav find to do. mission reads almost in the same words as that given to the Such, in pray&, would be accordin,o to their opportunities. twelve, tho they are not recognized anywhere as apostles on an anxious,-first of all,^b themselves be used as ser%nts of the The fact that seventv men would equality with the tlrelve. nreat Chief Reaner. for it is he that reaneth that receiveth voluntarily go forth as ministers of the Lord, ivithout hope Gages and that &gathereth fruit unto eterial life now, as it IJf earthlr reward or salary, is sufficient evidence that a strong Those who are most zealous to was also in the Jewish harvest. influencehad alreadr been exerted bv ,Tesus teaching. In this serve the Lord, and most willing to sacrifice on behalf of his connection we remembcr the Apostics statement i-hat above cause, are the ones who will receive the greatest present blessfive hundred brethren were snffk:ientlv advanced in knowledge ing of spiritual fellowship with the Lord, and who will be the and zeal to be accounted worthy ofmeeting the Lord after best prepared to share the glories soon to be reaveled. which implies a keen interest on the part his resurrection. \Ve may reasonably suppose of selcral times that number. The Lord adopted with the seventy the same method that that these scventr wcrc repre-mtatives of a much larger he started with the twelve; tix., of sending them two and two; t*ompany of deeply interested ones. They were sent into the and similarly we, at the present, time, encourage the colporteur various cities and vlllancs. whither the Lord himself would laborers in this harvest to go two and two, for mutual encourqo. They were to prepnr;! hi; wav by announcing the kingdom agement and helpfulness, etc. As the poet has said, at hand. and bv nerformins thcmiraclrs intended to demonSo when two together work, each for each ztrate tic auth&<icity of &rir message. Is quick to plan and can the other teach; An explanation of nby they were sent forth is given But when alone one seeks the best to know, (rersr :! ) : it wai because the harvest was great and the laborHis skill is weaker and his thoughts are slow. trs too few to properly consummate the work in the time It is questionable just why the Lord chose seventy for this i\ll interested wcrc expected to l%fllW. .lppolntf?tl of tllc work, However, we remember that Moses chose seventy of the &arc in this appreciation of the g.reatness of the work, and elders of Israel for his assistants, and that this number, sevthe necessity for more laborers being sent forth; and it is enty, was from that time onward preserved in Israel, and hut reasonable to suppose that the seventy sent were chosen or committee of seventy chief men known as the Sanhedrm, from amongst those appreciating the situation and anxious to and iudpes. In the light of this fact, it would appear that be commissioned. if thi nition of Israel-had been in prbper condition of heart There are several lessons for us in this matter: we too are to receive the Lord, the chiefs of that nation would already in a harvest time--in the harvest time of the GosDel age, as have embraced his cause, and the seventy members of the they were in the harvest of the Jewish age. No;, as-then, the Me+ Sanhedrin would by that time have been proclaiming the harvest work ir great, and the laborers are comparatively But since siah throuph the leneth and breath of Palestine. few. and now. as then. we cannot hope that anv would SUCthey had not receive; the King, and had not prayed him to reed in doing harvest work unless specially commissioned or commission them to announce him, our Lord commissioned >ent forth bv the Chief Reaner. Hence. all who aunreciate the others, and the work went on, the honor and privilege passing work now i& progress, nho&d pray tothe Lord t% send them bv those of influence and education who might have enjoyed fog th in his scrrire, or if already engagrd in it. that he would Doubtless the seventy sent forth it had they been worthy. graciously open to them doors of opportunity for greater usewere. like the auostles. chosen from amongst the honestfulness in his service. In the beginning of this harvest comhearted of the coimon people. and not many,-if any of them, paratively few mere used of the Lord & connection with the were rich, wise or learned. harvest work: but as we nroeress we find that the Lord is Likewise, in this harvest time, there are many ministers, graciously ple&ed to send iort% and use more and more those professedly servants of the truth, and possessed of education, who are zealously anxious to lay down their lives for the influence, etc., who by now should realize that we are in the truth. harvest of the Gospel age, and should be seeking of the Lord The expression. The harvest is great, does not necessarilv an opportunity to engage in the harvest work; but instead, mean thai the ambunt of ripe wheat tb be garnered is greaf. they are described as dumb dogs, lying down, refusing to It means rather that the difficulties and oppositions, and bark-refusing to awaken the household under their care t0 multitudes of tlres make it diffk!ult ti reach all of the < let them know that the kingdom of God is at hand, and that wheat class. The aork is great here, as it was great in the all not received into the kingdom are about to be plunged into end of the Jewish age; get only a little flock will be gatha sreat time of trouble. All of the spiritual house of today ered now. as only a remnant was gathered from Israel, as the must either receive a more than Pentecostal blessing, in being -1postle Paul pointed out. (Rom. 9:27) The mass of Israel changed and made sharers of the kingdom, or else, being professed to be the Lords people, hut their piety was little rejected from the kingdo?, receive a baptism of fiery trouble more than profession. They drew nigh to the Lord in attend-havmg their portion with the world, not being accounted anre at the synagogues, and in celebrating the feasts, felt full worthy to escape those things coming upon the world.-Luke and self-satisfied, and looked with nitv upon the Gentile na21:36. tions, and had a great spirit of misGo;ary aggressiveness, and That the Lord did not expect the seventy to convert and rompasqed sea and land to make a proselyte to Judaism. gather in all Israel is vex-v distinctly shown in his statement, Nevertheless, the Lord, who read the heart, recognized that Behold, I send you forth as lanibs among wolves. The theirs was only a formal lip service, and that their hearts Master knew that the majority of the professedly consecrated were far from him; and we see ronditions today very similar Israel of God were consecrated to self and selfishness, to sect to thiq, in nominal spiritual Israel, and party, and not to the truth. The majority were reprethere None were fit to be sent out as heralds of the kingdom sented as voracious wolves, not sheep. Nevertheless, except such who thoroughly believed in the kingdom-such as were lambs and sheep amongst the goats and the wolves, and had accented Jesus as the Messiah: such as believed in his these all must hear the message, and thus be prepared to presence-&u$ therefore, as could speak forth with earnestreceive the Messiah. when he should present himself to them. neqs and power the message they were sent to bear. And so it Special instructions were given to these specially sent;eems to be in this harvest time. The Lord is sending forth forth ones. Thev had a neculiar work to do and the con. more laborers continually; yet only such as recognyze the for ditions accorded.* They w&e not, therefore, a criterion They were kingdom as nigh, even at the door; only such as recognize subsequent workers under different circumstances. the payoztsin of the Kin,n; only such as have a zeal to tell to carry neither purse, nor valise, nor extra shoes, and were the joyful tidings to ot&s, are being used and blessed of to salute no man by the way. They would thus be dependent the Lord in the gathering together of his elect,-the ripe on the generosity of those to whom they ministered the truth. v,hent. his je\yels.---I%:~. $0 :5; Mal. 3: 16, 17; Matt. ( 1) And the effect of this would be beneficial in several ways. 13339, 41. It would test the faith of those who went forth,. and keep It is not supposable that our Lord meant that any sl~ould thrm continually depending on the Lords supervlslng care, appeal to him to send forth more laborers into the harvest, and trusting that he who had sent them knew how to make who at the same time would not be willing and anxious, to provision fgr their necessities while they complied with his f 2) It would furnish an opportunity for hospithe extent of their ability, to enter this harvest service themcommands. selves. There may be some. but we trust very few, who would tality to thoie to whom they preached,- and who, by reason be prepared to pray: 0 Lord bless, I pray thee, thy work, of the necessities of the case, would be constrained to reach and send forth more laborers; but do not send mc. Permit a decision promptly as to whether or not they were in sym:232- 233)

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pathy with the message, and heme with the messengers, and willing to entertain them. The same lesson of dependence on the Lord was implied in the provision for no change of raiment. Besides, it was to be but a short tour. The injunction not to salute anv one by the way may be understood to refer to the custom in Oriental lands of travelers stopping frequently to chat with each other respecting the news. The disciples had but one message, the good tid~ngs, and they were to give all diligence to 1tn promulgation. On arriving at a house and not to be general newsmongers. thev were to take careful note respecting their reception, and were to anticipate this with a praver-that peace: blessing, favor. might be unon that house anditq inmates. If a son of peace: a Child of God. resided there, they might expect that under the Lords providence they would have a kind reception. and were to accept it as of the Lords arrangement. If they were not so received. they were to consider it as an evidence that that was not the home of Gods people, living in corenant relationnl11p with him, and were to take their departule, feeking another and another place. Peradventure they found no entertainer in the village, they were, nevertheless, to give tlicir te~tiinonv. Ant1 it should be given in a striking manner. ? iz.. 1,~ the shaking of the dustcfrom their shoes,%ich, to the Oriental mind. would sianifv a rerv solemn and final testimony : and tl1en they were to * sav, Lfiotwithstanding. be sure of tl1if. that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. -111 UIIO arc engaged in the prc5ent harvest work may learn some very profitable lessons here, applicable. indeed, to the Lords people at any time while engaged in his service. WC have no time for the ordinary converse. The time i4 sluu t : the llarrest work is great; the laborers are few; our t1mn is conqecratetl: we must labor while it is called dav. 6e knowing tl1at a night cometh wherein no man can work. hn\r conrccrntctl our lives even unto death: we are commis<ioned of the ,grcat Lord of the harvest to seek for the true \vllPR t , and to gather it into the barn. What time have we for frivolities or worldliness or the manv social amenities? Rather, we must content ourselves with giving very little attention to these tilings. and must press along the line, engag ing heartily in the work given 11s to do. if ne would 11ave the approval of our Master, his Well done, good and faithful servant. Altho it is not customary today. as it was in Palestine nineteen centuries ago. to salute a house and say, Peace be to this hnllsr! nevertheless all of the Lords people should be peacemakers, peace-promoters, peare-lovers, and a blessing of peace and restfulness should go with them wherever they go. Alas 1 Irow many of them are slow to learn that God has not called us to strife, contentions. bickerings, anger, etc.. hut to love. joy, peace, etc. How few, comparatively. have learned how to speak the truth in Tore; and always to give a soft answer whirh turneth away wrath; and always to avoid the grievnus words which stir up anger. Like the seventy of our lrssnn. in our daily avocations and efforts to minister to others. let the peace of God go with us, shining in our fares, governing our artions and intoning our language. sn that, as the Apostle expresses it, our speech shall be always seasoned with grace. Conditions in rivilizecl lantls tndav are verv different from what thev were and still are in Oribntal lands. so that hc1e and now it would be unusual to he esnected to entertall strangers ; nevertheless. all who are of the Lords true people should be on the lookout to ente1 tain hospitably any servants of the Tord. who thev are sure cmrv his message. tbp Gospel of the kingdom. And, as the Apostle indicates, t&v shouldbe iust as careful not to entertain, not to assist. anti not to bid hod-speed to any who are bearing a false gospel. and denying that the Lord bought us.-2 John 10.

to Satans fall from high glory and privilege and position to his nresent attitude of chief adversarv of God. I beheld Satan ks lightning [as a bright one] fall from heaven. It 1s for those who deny tl1e personalitv of Satan and who deny there are anr fallen angels, to espla~n awav these plain statements of Scripture. The true children of God, the true sheep who hear the voice of the Shepherd, will not be deceived upon \Vhat matters it to this point any more than upon otllers. us that we did not see 8atan fall from his glorious condition? Our Master did, and he has borne testimony, 11ot only resnectinn Satans nersonalitv. but also respecting h1s fall from I&ghtn& and honor. \Vhat is it to us &at others deny that tl1ere .1ie fallen angels, demons: \\I10 seek to 1mpe1sonnte the the Blasters dead, through spiritualmm, etc. ! \Ve ]in\e words. and the word5 of the apoctlcs, to the contrary. and as true sheep WC both licar and bcetl tbr Shepherds voice and follow him. We 11erd not the \-oicc of Satan, uttered tl11ougn those whom 11~controls. telling u+ tbnt tl1ere is no devil, tliat there is no second death, etc. Our I,ortl proceeded to tcsll tllc +I cbnt\ tl1;it it \\a. 11~111117 had given tl1em the power they 11atl c11jbyed, and that it intluded in1n~unitg from tlic biter of serpents and scnipions. and from all the power of the enemy-all enemies. l1ut specially tl1e pncmv, Satan: tile same nne mrntinned al<o in the prayer 11~ from tbc evil which our Lord taught, saying, Deliver 1)ne. It mar not bc amiss to note here tllr f,ict tl1at thehe lmwers and nLthoritics over Sitiln, poisons. serl~eirt-. ctc , Nero ;.nnfined to the twelve ant1 to tl1c subsequent se;-enty, and were Tl11~ onlv Scripture never given to the churc*h in acnernl. lvl1ich &en seems to so implv iy 81ark In:9 to the end: and tliwc vrrscs are not. fnilnd in tlltb nltl(n-t (:I CCli vs.. ni~tl arc: rvidentlv interpolations. added probably about. the flftl1 century: thry are omitted from the Rcbvisrd Version nntl others. Rut while no surli immunity from poison4 and bites and 4ting:s are granted to the Gosprl c*l111rcli in griieral. we have what serves every purpose in tbiq respect; 1 iz , tl1e Lords promise that nothing shall 1,~ an;v nirani 71ul t us as new creatures-that the l,nrtl will permit notlting to Imppen to his conqerrated ones tl1at he is not bntl1 able and w1111ng to overrule for their good. their highrst welfare. While rejoic*ing wit11 1he di~c*ipl1~n in tl1rir inrrcasrtl faitb and joy, resulting from their activities in 11is service, and in the exercise of the gifts which he l1ad bestolced upon tliem, our Lord cautioned them against 17Linkiwg ioo Airlilly of such miraculous gifts, and assures them that thrir rbiefest cause for joy lay in another direction-in tl1r fact tl1at thev had ken accepted as sons into Gods family (Jnlm 1 :12) ; in the fact tl1at their nanif w?rt 1, rittcn in lnavcn. as prospective t membrrs jointheirs with Christ in hi G I\i1r~cloiii-prnspr~t1\ of the hotly of Christ. to snffrr w1111 11im, ant1 thus attrqt ~itli liim to all tbrir fitlelitv. 2nd hy ant1 1)~ to br glnriflrd etrrnitr. This i4 in harmonv ~itl1 tltr .\l)nhtlr Pauls statemrnt in 1 Cnr. 13 :l. whp1e I;(> assurr\ us tbnt tl1e miraculous gifts conferred upon thr earlr cburcb 1~ t11e laying on of the as <iwnl,-in~ 11it11 11nI~nnwn tongues, -4postles hands, snrh interpretations of niystci Ir+, ctr , :11c not proofs of spiritbegotten conditions : that a great17 proof is tlie poqsession of the spirit of the Lord, the spirit of love tl1at nrver faileth. The mo1c of the spirit of love l\r possrss tl1r grratcr is our likeness to Gods dear Son. our R(~tletmcr. and the mnrcb will we be fitted and prepared fn1 a harr wit11 11im in his beavus to do snine cnly glories. If, therefore, tlir T,nitl prImits littlr scrrirr in the present harvest. or to bear snnic burdeni in the lipat of the day, or if lir grants us the privilege of ucre-;sfully cnntrntling against the great adversary and his servants, ant1 ILi~&~s 7(s frflnz hci~g strtn,o or qiurt bv tl1rir words nr looks or dredq, and if be grants us nppnrtu11itirs for helping other5 out of sniilsicknrs4 bv atlministrring tlic good REJOICE IN THINGS UNSEEN medicine of the nrcscnt truth, let 11s 1eioirc in tllesr nrivilrges and nppo1tunitiEs; but let 11s rcjoicrstil1 more t&t under When the seventv returned from this mission they were even the devils are subject unto tlre Lords nrovidrncc we arc 11is cliiltlrrn. bezotten of his full of joy: saying, Lord, cpirit-tbnt o11r namrs havr brrn rccortlrd as irienibers of his us, in thy name. Our Lord assured them that this was what family, ant1 tbnt by and by WC may espcct to be joint-heirs he expected, and intended, when he sent them forth, and with nur Elder &other. Yen, in these good hopes we wil: explained respecting his own knowledge of Satan in his prerejoice. human condition, that there and then he had been a witness
7

IS THE RESTITUTION
A dear brother in the truth seems to think that the teachings of DAWK, Vol. V.. differ from those of DAWN, Vol. III., He sees clearly that 111 on the question heading this article. DAWN, Vol. V., the view we present is that the restitution call cannot begin until the last member of the Gospel church has been changed, glorified, but he thinks that the third v01ume teaches that the restitution call will be in progress simul[2675]

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taneouslp with the closing work of this Gospel age. This rlrarer statement of the subject in DAWN V. is the result of our having lrarned that some had gotten the wrong impreesion from vol. III. In proof of his point, the brother refers UB to Vol. III., page 215, where it is stated that the stopping of the favor or call here, in 1881, is followed, or rather lapped upon, by the general call of the whole world to the Millennial

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blessing: and favors on condition of faith and obedience. Also pages 365 and 367 : Iurther, where the special favor of the gcneial Gospel call ceased, October, 1881, the blessings unon the world would seem to be due to have a beginning. ..it (1X81) was the date of the closing of the high caning, and licnc~ the date for the beginning of the restitution call for mankind in peneral. On que%tmns of so much intricacy it is sometimes difficult to use lanpuare sufficientlv exact: esneciallv if at the time of clr it ritlng ol)1(*ctions or criticisms a& not II fully anticipated. \Vcrc we to express the above points again we would try still liartIer. as in I)alVN V., to.glrartl our statements, and thus to pi clvent any mi5untler~tanding. Our thought is, that the close of the hig11 (*:tIling in the year 18Hl \vas a marked date, and that from that time onward we should expert manifestations along tlrr line of rc+titution-evitlmces that restitution blessing, weie in p~oc(ss of development. IVe had no intention ,lf convevinr the thought that restitution. nhv-;ical. mental ,intl moral, 7shonld be expected in 1881, and onward. As a matter of fact, we see no such process of general physical rcs+tltution in operation. nor ought we to expect it until the Day of Atonement sacrifices (of this Gospel age-Christ and the c.hurc*h, 111sbody) are complete. \Yr h:r\c already pointed this out in the pamphlet, Tabt*rrrac*le Shadows of Better Sacrifices, puhli*hed in 1881. We there \how that the high priest does not put on the glorious garments. rrprescnting the dignity and authoritv of rulership and hlw\lnc, until the Lords goat has been killed, its bodv lJurnet1 without the (*amp, its fat burned upon the altar, and it, Mood carrictd into the Mo\t Holy and sprinkled upon tlie hIerc7 Seat. (We there show also that this goat typified the chu&h. all of whose experiences there typified cannot be ac~comnlished until the la\t member of the hodv of Christ has flni~h&l hiq SR~II~~~Crnmpletrly.) Then it was that the high priest went to the altar. lifted up his hands, and began to l~lc+s the pcnplc, who meantime lay prostrate in the dust awaiting that very bl(,ssing, which typically represents restitutmn. ln the above statement that the stopping of the favor i~r (all her?. in 1881. is followed. or rather lapped upon. hp the grncral call of the whole world to the bllllennial blessings ,711tl favors. WC hoped that the reader would have in mind slur further statement; that altho the call, in its open or full +n%r. ccaicd in 1881. it would he prolonged in a special or privatt~ sense for a time, just as Iqraels national favor ceased ti\-P day< Ilrfnxr our Lords crucifixion, when he said, Your 11o11seIS left lmto vou desolate. vet in an individual sense of tile word. Gods favor continued with Israel exclusively for Ihrce and a half yrnrs following that date; only that instead t>i being a national favor. it was a private, an individual favor. On page 219 we rndeavnr to explain this continuation of thp Gospel Vi111, in another form, using the following lanzliafie : But tlln the gpnrral call has reaypri. the dnnr i4 not \ et ihilt The rnti of the call and the shutting of the door are rlt\timt anti stpnratc. The door stands open for some to Lsrltc*r the ra(*c for the great prize of joint-hrirship in the klngtlom aftfIr the f7ranc,rrrl mll liar cca\ed. &cl ham. predetrrmincti a fix-cd nnmbrr to constitute the rhurrh. thr hndp of Chriht anal tltrrr ran he neither onr memher superfluous nor one lackinp (Src this typically taught in I.ev. 21 : 17-23) It Follows that lir c*mlltl not call or invite to that honor more than no111tl c~omplctc~ the numbrr that he had determined. and ~:otl~ \\ord <lrows that thi< number had been secured [railedl in Ch+olic~r, 18Sl Blit since somr of thosp who responded l:rrrler the rcnc~~al cnll. and mnrlr thr covenant with him. will iail to keep that covenant, fail to so run as to ohtain the prize. thr tlnnr ztantiq open after the general call has ceased, to permit the rntrance to the rare. to srlf-sacrifice in the Fer\:icsc of thp trlith. nf snrnc Frlnrlrr the private or individual ~~,rllI to fnl;c Ihc plnccs of quph as may. during the inspection, ,,:iGt n+rtic the wcbtldin g garment of Christs righteousness; and .ilio of sl1(.11 nthrrs as. harinr made the rnrenant of self-arrifirr in tlrr crrvicr. lore the present evil world, become i,\-rrcltarord with its carps or pleasures, and fail to perform the requrrrmrnts of th(,ir rnvrnant. Our thought is that thiq serrrt extension of the privileges of the rail. after it has ceased as a oenernl offer. must of necessity prrcrdr the beginnin,? of the restitutinn privileges, and hence that nnlv preparatnrv wnrk in respect to the restitution and thr J~loc~l.lnrntion of it. will bc in oltier ilntii tllc, harvest of this Gosprl age has hem fullv gathered. The knowledge of restitution is granted to thr Lord5 consecrated people now, to the intent that thev should not he in darkness with the world in respect to the divine plan, and esperiallr in view sf the approarhing great time of trouble. and also in view of

the falling of the systems of error, false doctrines, etc. It is necessary that the restitution should be recognized by Gods people, in order to keep them from falling in this day of trouble. But the message or call to restitution is not due to the world, to our understanding, in any sense of the word; hence it is that the efforts being made in connection with the dissemination of present truth are confined, so far as seems reasonable and possible, to the church-to those, at least, who professedly claim to be the Lords people, and not to the world. Our brothers letter suggests several questions, which we here propound and answer, hoping that the answers may be helnful. not onlv to him hut to others. it not he, that both the high calling (1) Quest&n.-May and the restitution call are now open 7 Or, if only one of them, would it not seem the more probahle that the restitution call alone is open now? I fail to see the force of your rlaim that the door stands open after the call ceases. _~~_ ~.~ Amwer.--We believe that we have shown, foregoing -that the restitution call could not hegin until the sacrifice of the church is completely finished, and until the High Priest, with every member of his body, is fully clothed with the honors and dignities of his office, represented in the garments of glory and beauty. We doubt if we can make the matter of the open door after the general call has ceased, any plainer than above set forth. We think it beyond question that the Lord could not call at any time a greater number than the elect vmnber, even tho his foreknowledge assured him that manv of the called ones would not make their calling and election sure, and therefrjre would not be amongst the chosen. We hold, therefore, that at such time as the full number of the elect had been called, the general call must of neressity have ceased; and yet, since the Lord clearly foretold that a casting nut of snme during the inspection of the guests would follow (Matt. 22:10-14), and since the elect number must be complete, it follows that there must bc \nmr way of bi 111g1ng in others to take the places of those who wnulti be cast out, after the general rall ceased and the work of inspertion began. To our understanding this work of inspection of the guests has been progressing for some time-since the (*ail ceased As some were found unwnrthv of their privileges and cast into outer darkness. similar to that in n-hlc*li the whole world is. others were admitted to the favors of the called. and And this work must continue until the attendant testings. the full quota of elect ones shall have passed divinr approval. \Ve can think of no other way that would permit God to he iust and reasonable in his dealings, since he will not arcrpt less than the foreordained number, and since he will not call to that number any who, in any sense of the word, might be +Just and true are thv ways. thou open to disappointment. As pointed out (Daivx:. Vnl IIT., page 222) King of saints! these additions are illustrated in the paraljlr by those admitted to lahnr in the vineyard at the eleventh hour, after the relrruiar calls had ceased. (2) Question.-Did not the restitution call prerede the Gospel call? Were not Enoch. Sbraham, Isaac, *Jacob and all Israel called to restitution? If this be true. then the Gospel call was merely a supplementary one, for the time being, and in that event its closing or ressation would at once put in force again the original call which it had temporarily superseded Answer.-No: none of the patriarrhs were called to restitution, nor was it possihle that either they or others could attain restitution blessings until after the ransom had been paid; until after all the Atonement Day sarrifices had been had been possihle without the ransom, offered. If restitution then Christ died in vain, so far as the world of mankind is concerned. But no: all that anyone enjoyed of restitution favors in the past, was what we now enjoy; viz., a knowledge of them. A slight knowledge or hint at restitution was given to father atlam and mother Eve. Subsequently a clearer statement of the same was made to Ahraham, and confirmed to Isaac and *Jacob. There is a vast difference between the promise of a thing and the thing itself. Had the restitution (,<ill gone forth in the true sense. anvnne responding properly \vould have heen restored to perfertion and everlasting life. TI~P, there was a kirld of offer of restitution made to Israel under the Law Covenant-an offer that they would he restored to perfection and life if they would keep their Lam But, as we have seen, the keeping of that ColTenant inviolate. and hence the attainment of restitution la\v was impossible: untirr it was equally impossible. The special merit of the patriarchs consisted in the fact that. living before anv call to overlasting life was made, and with merelv a hint of Gods gracious purposes, they exercised -n great faith respecting the same-enduring much in their

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l*ndeavors to please God, and because of their confidence in evidences of our own weaknesses in our minds and bodies. his promises. From the Apostle Pauls account, some of them The sin3 are not blotted out; they are merely reckonedly WVendured, faithfully, experiences which. had they lived during ered. In the case of the churchs sins: thev will not be this Goqpel age, would have constituted them overcomers in blotted out until death shall destroy these mo<tal bodies, and the highest sense of the word, and ioint-heirs with Christ in until the Lord. in the first resurrection. shall zrnnt us elothe kingdom. But living befoie tbishigh calling or any other rious, spiritual; perfect bodies. In them there w;il be no t&e call had been issued. and sufferine and endurine valiantlv and of sin or weakness or imperfection; all our sins will then be faithfully, they are promised a-better resurr&tion, a md -more actually blotted out. But now we are required to belicl~e in favorable resurrection than that of the world, tho it will not the covering of our sins; to exercise faith in Gotls declarabe so wonderful a resurrection as that of the church. As the tion. Our next step of faith IS in connection with tile high Apostle remarks, God has promised some better thing for us calllnp to sacrifice earthlv and tcmnoral intcrrstu for the (than for them), that they without us should not be made gaini@ of the heavenly piol.y, honor-and immortality. Rut perfect.-Heb. 11 :40. the heavenly crown and blessing are seen only w1f11 the qe of faith; and whoever run-i In the race now set before us in Their resurrection will be better than that of the remainthe Gospel, must not only look with the eve of faith unto ller of mankind, except the consecrated Gospel church, in that Jesus, as the author and finiqhcr of our faith. but \\lth tll+% it will be an instantaneous raisine to nerfection. while the same e.ye of faith must see the vrown of rizlltrousncss which worlds resurrection will be a err;dual one, accompanied by disciplines and testings, and tailed by our Lord the reauithe Lord, the righteous Judge. has laid up tor tlmsp who are faithful. rection by judgment-a gradual raising up of the obedient Thus our3 is nreeminentlv an age of faith. of rrckoned conditions, and of trust in the promises: and It shall and willing throughout the Millennial age, step by step, to have its great and prccioun reward. ,111that w,ls forfeited and lost in Eden. Not so will be the conditions of the Millennia] :~KP. whL-n (3) ()~tesllo~---Will not the restitution call be a call to ushered in. K nnwletl,ne will he there. as we have hen: and faith and to obedirnce. without sacrifice? If we cannot imearh davs euperienres will rcsnlt eithrr in mental. Inoral :,nd AKlnc such :I call as deing now in process, let me ask, Why physical development. or in chastisements for fnilnles to rn,lke not? \\:as not thiq call the one that was onen to Cornelius @+lgress. Such experiences will give ample dcmon4trntinn of and to ever,vhody elsr, both before and since iis time. as menwhat may be expected as the ultimate outcome-rc~titlrtioil as tionrtl 1~7 the Apostle Peter, I perceive that in every nation the reward of obedience, or the second death as the punishment hc that tcarctb God and worketh righteousness is acceptable of disobedience. to lilm ? The matter iq clearlv set before 11: in the Sr*riptulc~s. wb~ch dnszcer.-Peter did not mran to be understood that he that feared God and worked rizhteousnrs< to the best of his clearly trarh that during this age the rule of divirlc dealing to thv faith be it unto thee, while tbc rule ability l~tl ctlltar/s been accentable to God. Peter had iust 14. According lc;lrn&l tli;lt a new dispcnsatidn had been ushered in, and &at of the judgm&t of ihc worltl in the ~lilleniii:~l age 1q c*learly laid down in Rev. 20: 12: I saw the dead. small nnd great, ,inc*e Christ bat1 rrdeemed. not the tJew onlv. but the whole rrorld of mankind, therefore nolo repentance U;<nd remission of stand before God : and the books wcrc opcncd: antI al;othcr <ins were proper to bc preached in Christs name to every book of life waq opened [the firc;t book of life Iq ca!lrcl the I renture. C:rntl& as well .LX Jews; and that whoever sought Lambs Book of Life. containing the names of ttttl rl+bet church. to (10 the I,ortls ~111 to the best of his ability would be achis bride:-this o&r book ofiife nil] be t]lcB lnok or IWOI(~ ~:cr)t;tillc in t!le Lord.5 sipht. of those who shall pass the re<titlltion trial or lud~mcnt sntisfactorilvl. and the dead were ludec~] out of thnqe tb~~~_nrr The rcstltution call-ii\;;ill- be a very different one from any Scriptures-.Jolln in the honks [the which were written that has c\cr WIIP fol th aq vet. It will not be a call to faith 12 : 481 according to their IOOT~S. .!nd to reckoucd tol,?ivc~n~sd of sins, but a call to obedience <tnd to the actual blotting out of sins. During the Millennial It would he a mistake to suppose that God will call mankind to sonship during the Millennial n~c. .jnd riot rcanlllrr ,~gc the world of mankind will be dealt with according to the c&tlition of each, and obedience to the extent of ability will them to make full ronqecration of themselves to him, and to be requIret1 of eacsh individual. EVE-V obedience will receive that righteousness of which he is the personal r(lpresentative. Y Its reward. in the \\:ty of mental. moral ard physical recuNone ran ever have eternal life upon any other ronditinn than peration, restitution : and every disobedience wiil receive a this-ahqolute ohedicnce. and more-nhqolnte hnrmnnv with tuqt c~hast~~rmc~nt, and thuc throughout that age all who will the very spirit of the divine law. the law of rizhtenuSneq.s, *hall have 1he opportuuitv of tlevrlopmcnt, mentally, physthe law of love. And all who will be in harmony with thp TJord to such an extent as this. would of necacsqity sarrifice, Icallr. mornllv. until. at its close. if he has been obedient ro the great Teacher. Christ. he will aaain be in the image if there were onposition to the Jlord or to rizhtcourncqs which .tntl lllc~nw~ of God. ati was Father &lam, but with ad&would make necessary a sacrifice of any kind, rather than tionnl experience gained-not only during the fall. but espedeny the Lord and the principles of his holiness. zaiallv the experiences pained under the administration of The reason why thrre will be no sacrificues required of the (!hriGts pov&ment, &ring the Millennial period, while world during the Millennial age iq that sin and Satqn will rl.ri9z.q again ; while being rcstituted out of sin and death conno longer he in control-this preqrnt evil world (dispen tlltmns. into conditions of righteousness and life. sation) will have passed away. ant1 in itc; stud will 11~1~ hcen ushered in the world to come. wherein dwelleth righteousage as What is now known to ihe church of this Gospel (in like manner also the a&ent ness-wherein rightronsnesq will he the rule. uhckin the, Justification hp faith Kinr and all in favor with him and evcrv.s feature c:f rrovernworthies were iustified) will not be in operation during the Jiillennial a:e,nor he ueceqqary ; because &the conditions%then ment will be one of righteousness, truth and lnvr. will he so different from present conditions. It is because we To suppose the restitution call already rommonrPc1 would walk bv faith and not hv sight--because faith is now SO be to suppose that God had in some manner author171d wmc difficult: and therefore so Talk. that it is so hirhly appreone to annonnre that hrncefnrth no one wnulll CufTcr for richt age taiated and rewarded of God. But when the Millennial doing. but only for wrong doing; and that hcnccforth whoever will have been ushered in, the afe of faifh will have passid souiht to do Fight to tl;;! best of hiq ability, would tind him-that will be the age of knowledge-the age of evidence5 SO self unonpo<rd therein. and that hiq pvcrv clTort wo11111 <*Iear, SO unmistakable, that even the wavfaring man, tho promptly- l&iny mental, moral ant1 physical &rn;rt]l ant1 I,Ignorant, shall not err therein. for the knozcledqe of the Lord cuperation, which, going on ant1 on. 0nuld 1)~ a1111I,\ l(ltil &all fill the whole earth. as the waters rover the fare of the Furthermore. it would hc to nromtw absolute perfection. prent deem With knowledae thus abundant. so that there that any who arrrptcd this rcstitntinn call wo~lltl nc:vcr die ihall he Ao new1 to say to dies neighbor, Know the Lord, the Adamic death: hut on the cnntrarv. acc,rntinz this call because all shall know him. it, follows that sneclal faith ~111 heartily, would find that day hy day. yeir bv .&r,the power be impnsqihle. and hence the rewards of specikl faith will no of delth in him was being vanquished and the process of reslonger be offered. titutinn progressing. We do not mean to say that mankind during the MillenWhen that call shall go forth, and those restitution privlnium will not believe: on the contrarv. none can do otherwise leges shall he offered to Mankind. it will he a9 the Prophit has than believe: we do mean to say, l;owever, that there is a declared. that no man shall thenceforth die for Adams sin. difference between belie&q and exercising faith. We now nor for the sin of hiq fathers. but onlv for his own sin. (.Jer. believe varinus things bv faith. which the world in the next 31:20, 30) We understand that this time will not he rrarhed age will believe, nor bvUfaith hut on evidence, by knowledge until after the time of trouhle-nnt until A. D. 191.5. To our -it will he imnossiblg for them to doubt them. seeinF that from that date onward, the kinrdnm being understanding, the evidences will be so indisputable. For instance. no% God fully established. the rall of the world to restitution priritell9 uq to reckon all of our past sins forgiven, and ourselves lcges will be opened, and whoever shall then die will die for Nevertheless, we continually see his own sin [second death] and not for father Adams; and fully justified in his sight. 11149 /2677]
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whoever will then be obedient to the Lord will experience the blessings of his grace in restitution-actual, perceptible recovery beginning at once, as the reward to the faithful under the restitution call. The sense in which Millennial blessings and favors are already lapping upon the Gospel age, to our understanding, is this: ( 1) knowledge, inventions, etc., are bringing to the world of mankind blessings never hitherto enjoyed, and which are really intended for the Millennial age, and are merely being gotten ready or prepared in thiq day of Zods preparation. (2) Restitution bleismgs are lapping also, in the sense that these inventions, etc., are gradually leading on to the great time of trouble, in which present institutions, social. financial, political, religious, will all be overthrown-that in their stead God may luring in the better nrovisions and arrangements of the l\lillcnrnnl kingdom. (2) Restitution blessings arc coming to thr church now. in the sense that she is permitted to foreice these coming blessings unon the world. and to rcloice cxcrrdlnyly. and to lift up her heart in thank: fulness and praise to hrm who loveth us and who bought us with his own precious l~lootl. and to realize how it is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (4) @estzon.-Suppose some one should say, I wish to give up this present world and all its honors and pleasures, to obey and follow Christ, no difference what trials and persecutions it may bring; but I have no expectation of salvation on the divine plane, and I am not running for that prize. Salvatinn on the human plane is better than I deserve, no matter how much it mav rest me to follow Christ now, in the opening years of his reign. before Satan is bound. I am glad of an opportunity to show my loyaltv under adverse circumstances, which will prove that I am kincere. Who may say that surh an one might not come in under the restitution call? Answer.--The Apostle, on one occasion, said, The times

of this ignorance God winked at-took no account of. So all the way down through this Gospel age, while this high calling has been presented there doubtless have been some of the Lords followers who have not clearly grasped his promises in all their length and strength and beauty-many who did not clearly understand that the overcomers of this age are to be heirs of God, joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, and partakers of glory, honor and immortality. Their ignorance, however, did not alter the call nor the Lords engagement. The heavenly Father is, so to speak, dealing with Christ rather than with us, and thus it is written that we are accepted in the Whoever, therefore, during this Gospel age, has Beloved. fully consecrated himself to the Lord as his Master, fully trusting in him also as his Redeemer, and seeking to walk in his footsteps, the same is an heir of God and a joint-heir with Jesus Christ, his Lord, whether he knew it or not; just as it would be in respect to an earthly inheritance. It might seem strange that a son should not have some knowledge of his fathers wealth and of his fathrrs intention to give him a portion, but the sons ignorance would not alter in any degree the fathers will, nor hinder him from participating in its provisions. So we should say respecting those of the Lords faithful ones during this age, who have not been aware of how great things God hath in reservation for them And this applies also to such an one as you that love him. mention in this question: his ignorance will not alter the divine arrangement; and if he faithfully follow the Lord now we have every reason to believe that in the regeneration he shall sit in his throne, whether he expects so great a favor or not. Nevertheless, we should expect that now the Lord would graciously reveal to such a faithful sacrificer his goodly heritage. There surely is no Restitution Call at the present time -no offer yet of an opportunity to grow out of imperfection and death, into perfection in Gods likeness and into life everlasting.

OUT

OF DARKNESS INTO HIS MARVELOUS

LIGHT

DEAR BROTHER R~ss~~~:--About one year ago your book, called THE PLAN OF THE AGES, fell into my hands. It came like the day-star arising in my soul, floodin my mind with new thoughts and conceptions as to the great pP;an of redeeming this old, lost world. Since 1897 I have been out evangelizing. preaching Christ and Him crucified, to men throughout the States, but my advanced views soon gave dissatisfaction emong the orthodox preachers, especially among the set to whom I belonged, the Methodist Episcopal church societv. It was then that I began to read in earnest every thing1 could find along the line of nroohetic truth. I have read and rc-read with great pleasure andAprofit the first five volumes of MILLENNIAL DAWN; and am only awaiting now further issue of Volume VI. I can not exnress to vou mv indebtedness to you for the light I have reieived fr;m the perusal of the WATCH TOWER publications. May God continue to bless you with light, that you may be the means in his hands of leading many more pilgrims into the glorious light of the liberty of the gospel of Christ. Gince seeing the fulnesa of Gods truth, I have withdrawn from the M. E. church and ministry. Pray for me that I may continue to walk in the light as he is in the light. Yours in the Light, R. K. RICHARDSON,-Alabama. [To the Lord be all the praise for the Iigbt now in due time shining upon his Word and revealing to us his gracious character. I am glad to hope that withdrawal from human institutions and their service means a fuller appreciation and

closer membership in the church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven and a more zealous and more wise narticination in its mini&v of the truth.-EDITOR.] DI~R BROTHER Rvssnnn:-Some time ago Brother Woodworth witnessed mv method of handing out the Volunteer TOWERS and was & well pleased with it that he made me promise to write to you about it. I dont consider it any thing out of the ordinary, but for the sake of my promise I will give it to you. With a bow and a smile I say, Sampl+WATCH TOWEB; TOWER. If any questions are or Free sample WATCH asked, I say, An unsectarian religious magazine. My reasons for this method are, I seek to interest them thus, or rather to arouse their curiosity in knowing what the paper is; rather giving them the impression that I am seeking subIn this way they will read with an unprejudiced scribers. mind-it does not arouse their antagonism by giving them the impression that you have something to refute the arguments they have just been listening to. If any know of the WATCH TOWER and do not care for it, they can refuse t0 take it. and thus one is saved for some one else. I think I am iustified in giving the imnrsession that I am seeking subscribers ; if anT:one becomes interested, he will become a subscriber, and it is for such that we specially labor. With much love, I am, Yours in the best of bonds, Jos. L. HOAGLAND,--P~nSylVania.

UNTO HIM
Just why I suffer loss I can not know; I onlv know my Father Wills it so. He leads in paths I cannot understand; But all the way I know is wisely planned.

BELONCETH

ALL

My life is only mine That I may use The gifts he lendeth me As he may choose; And if in love some boon he doth recall, I know that unto him belongeth all.

I am.his child, and I Can safely trust; He loves me, and I know That he is just; Within his love I can securely rest, Assured that what he does for me is best. C26781

VOL. XXI

ALLEGHENY,

PA., AUGUST

15, 1900

No. 16

VIEWS FROM THE WATCH

REV. R. KEBBR NEWTONS OPINION

TOWER

Doctor Newton writes to the Chrzstian Citizenship League as follows : The teachings of the church, for the most part, are far from following the teachings of Jesus. Nay, they are far from recognizing what those teachings are. The organization of the church is planned and patterned upon a policy which is the very antithesis of a true society of Jesus. Commercialism dominates the organization, and conventionality tyrannizes the pulpit. The law of the market, rather than the law of the mount, is accepted by the church at large. Our Protestant churches are composed, for the most part, of a constituency drawn from the well-to-do classes, and they see nothing essentially unsound or unethical in the economic system of the day. The pulpit, therefore, is rarely free to deliver its soul, if it has one, upon the burning questions of our generation. -Blind leaders of the blind, both seem hastening to fall into the ditch which lies before our civilization. And vet within the Christian church is the very ideal that the world hungers for the very power to solve these problems. Infin itely pathetic is the situation. This is a very severe arraignment of orthodoxy in any case; but coming from one of its leading lights it is terrible!
PROTESTANTISM IN FRANCE AND IN AMERICA

WithIn the past few years Protestantism has been making con\itlerable progress in Catholic France; but it is to he remembcrctl that there the term Protestant includes all systems of rt~ligiou and irrcligion opposed to Roman Catholicism. A\ might he cupected, this in turn arouses the ire of Romani*tq, eqpccially the clergy, who, long accustomed to full control of the masses. and to having their mandates pass without dispute or criticism, are now furious in their attempts to hinder their people from slipping the bonds of gross religious ignorance and sunerstition. and escauine from their control. ljeprived of the &vi1 power of the pasglost a centurn ago-and unable to torture or destroy those who protest against their system, they nevertheless clearly show that the spirit of the past still dominates them, and that only opportunity is lacking, and this by reason of a higher civilization and a more generally enlightened public conscience-not becau<e of a higher and holier religious standing. Words are the cruelest weapons now permitted. and these are used with energy and venom and regardless of the truth. For instance, the 11onne Presse, the organ of the assumptionists (a Roman Catholic order), and many Croix, or Catholic churrh naners, are seeking to arouse nreiudice and public sentiment aLga;nst evervthing not Catholic. bv confo&ding .Tews. Freethinkers and Free Masons with Protestant Christians-charging all with treachery to France, etc.,-and the general name of Huguenots has been revived as applicable to all those to whom Romaniqm is opposed. The inference is deducible from some of the writings, that their authors would like to see these modern Huguenots massacred as were the others-for the glory of God and the peace of the Roman Catholic church.-See MLLLEIL'NIAL DAWN, Vol. II., pages 332-353. The names of some of the tracts and books published in the interest of this crusade against Protestantism would. alone, give a clew to the character of the attack; but we will give a few extracts:The Protestant Peril, of 569 pages. declares:The Huguenots go hand-in-hand with the traitors of the fatherland and with the foreign foes of France, just as their religious fellows did in the year 1870. . . . . The Protestants force their way into the houses of the French people. ostensibly to sell Bibles. but in truth to spy out where the honest peasant has hidden his savings. They are picking out quarters for the armv of the invasion. Therefore, we must keep a watch over these imbeciles and force them to leave our towns. . . . These pious gospel messengers do not prnpn+c $0 much to make converts to Protestantism,. as to demoralize our good people and to lay plans for facilitating the proposed invasion of our country. We appeal to the peasants to become new crusaders in the interests of the good cause. The Protestant Conspiracy charges that the queen of England annually contributes five million dollars to propagate Protestantism in France. and thus to make the latter a vassal Another work is entitled, The state to Great Britain. Treachery of Protestantism. Treasons Formatzon is another of these. It saps:The Huguenot is a born traitor. A Catholic will die for his faith; a Jew to save his money; but a Protestant knows [2679]

no martyrdom. . . . The claim of the innocence of Dreyfus was simply a specimen of Protestant treachery in order to make it possible for England to occupy Fashoda, and William II. to make his journey to Jerusalem. All the defenders of Dreyfus are open or secret Protestants. The Protestant Conquest is the title of another of these blasts of ignorance and falsity, designed to prejudice the populace so that they will give Protestants and the Bible no hearing. It suggests the wisdom and propriety of murdering leading opponents. both political and religious, as follows:The Catholics are too scrupulous. Nobody can bake an omelet without breaking some eggs. No revolution can be achieved without advancing over dead bodies. Do you think it would be a crime to condemn and put to death such men as Zadok Kahn, Reinach, Schemer-Kestner, Picquart, Zola, Brisson, Yves Guyot, Jaures, Clemenceau, Monod, and Rant, because they have organized the Drcyfus conspiracy? I confess openly that I would have no hesitancy to vote for the death of this Reinach, etc., and such pastors as Mono& etc. French Protestants are justly indignant at such unscrupulous methods of opposition. and are crying out for freedom and fair and honest treatment; and to offset it are publishing pamphlets entitled, Away from Rome, and scattering them widely. + * 45 But now note the difference between the sentiments of Protestants in France, and Protestants here. Where they are in the minority they want liberty and Gods Word to prevail, and appeal to reccson am? the Bible as in offset to ignorance, superstition and priestcraft. But how is it here in the land of the free where Protestantism controls the great malority? Ah! here we see the weakness of fallen human nature displayed; for here Protestants, like the Catholics of France, are most bitterly opposed to any advanced light-especially any further light from the Bible;-not only denying what they cannot gamqay Scripturally, but becoming the more angry in proportion as they find present truth unanswerable. True, they have not published volumes in opposition to our presentations, but this is no doubt due to two facts: (1) There is no opportunity to confound the gospel we preach with any class of politicians or political aspirations; and (2) they know nothing to say against our position and fear to call attention to it lest their closely guarded and tightly penned sheep should get a taste of the good word of God, and break away from sectarianism to the green pastures and still waters of divine truth. But most of their fears are groundless, for the majority of their flocks are not sheep anyway; and the goats, true to a perverse nature, would prefer tin cans, paper, filthy rags, or anything of a sensational character-Evolution, Higher Criticism, human philosophy, and science falsely so called-rather than the truth. United States Protestant methods differ from French Roman Catholic methods, but both have the same object; namely, to prejudice the minds of the people under their control who are trusting to them as their guides and spiritual advisers ; thus to hinder them from investigating truth on its merits and in the light of the divine \Vnrtl. Having mentioned the Roman Catholic method, it in but just that we cite instances illustrating the Protestant method. For instance, some years ago the pa\tnr of the North Ave. M. E church of this city made a most furious attack upon the Editor of this journal, whom he had never met, and whose writings he probably had never rrad-as would srem to be implied by the false statements of our position made by him in a discourse over an hour long. What was the vrnund for Simply that five members of his ro$regation the attack? had been baptized by us the week previous, and that he knew, in some way or other. that we believed in the imminence of the kingdom of God. He railed at the fact that this teacher did not belong to any of the sects, and was not recognized by any of them, informed hzs people that hc had been specially educated so as to he able to guide them in all spiritual matters: and that they should seek no other counsel respecting Gods Word. He then demonstrated his wisdom and ability as a scribe instructed respecting the kingdom by declaring that the second coming of Christ must be many thousands of years future, beoause irt his judgment, this was clearly taught, not by the Bible writers, but by the coal fields and ore deposits of earth, which he thought would last that long. If the learned gentleman had only thought of it he might have prophecied a still longer interim-millions on millions of
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years-basing his calculations on the supply of limestone for macadam and whitewash, and on the supply of granite for tomb-stones. This encouraging ( 1) sermon on The Second Coming of Christ ended with an attempt to arouse the murder spirit amongst the goats of his flock and to intimidate the sheep with words, understood by all to refer to the Editor of this journal, who was (by request of the recently baptized ones) present in the audience thirty feet from the reverend and learned speaker, who in loud and angry tones shouted, Do you know what they would have done to such a man eighteen centuries ago? They would have led him outsitle their city and would have stoned him to death! II(,rp iq the; <ame murderous spirit manifested by the French Catholics, ant! in both Incited by n bitter hatred of the trutl+-f,r Iatllrr bv a .fcay of the tlrclk. ant1 a desire to prew qerve, by any and every means, the l&a,, organization ihev hate hertz taulrllt to rec:lld as dz~~~c. Bv anu means i:9 nonr too <iron;; for ~cknow :~f n11mcrouq i&tan;es in which profe+cd minl~tt~r:, of Gods tmtb hnvc most outrageously falsifirtl for the good of the cuzcse. as the *Jesuits would say. For inctancae. it makes the fillhe shepherds (who seem to prrtlomin:,te ) 1cry nnzrv \r hen nicnil)cr5 of thrir flock recrirc present truth anti request that their names be stricken off the sectarian roll bccanse tbrv consider it quite enough and much morta in awort! with the f:ords will and Word to have it written nnlv in the Lambs book of life.-and auite sufficient to be rnc~n;l,c~r~of thr church of the fir&-born, \Ghich are written in heaven, and thus in fellow&lp nith all true sheep, wherever foiintl. In snmr instaneps reported to u9 the pastor kept the 1ettf.r to himsc~lf, and 1011~afterward charged the one who had withtlrawn with L~ackslidm,rr, neglect of covenant in not attenlling service and hencac unworthy of respect or fellowship. In one ~n~;tamce a dear slqter who had been a Bible class teachcsr of prominrnce and inflnenre \vas ho feared by her erst\\ h11c p:i\tor tli;\t ho de!ibcrale!y, ant! with much hypocritical show OL sorrow. circ~lulntcd the report that, she had gone insan@-:\ very pitialllr case. Flig crafty satanic method wcTtwltTl : an,1 hcsr c~lrurrh frirnds and n&hbors let her alone, fo;. tear thcbv would c\;rite her andmake it necessary to srntl her ic, an in=ane asylum. Sc,etlless to say, the si<tfsl is of muc.h ~onrr(!c~r mind than ever beforc;-of muc.h qnllntler mind than any who ran brlievr the unscriptural ant! God-t!ishonnrin(r doctrine of rternal torment. taught by the i:lrrin= crreds lah~~l(~tl Orthotlou. It \v;i~: in \ icw of sii(*h canwardly ant1 (librc!utillll(l ;nci!~ods cornin= to o,,r notirc tllnt wc prCparrt1 nhat nrr kllown as Ritlldraw:11 J,titrhr+- setting forth the truth in kind1.y l*ln ~:unpc---~~IIICII nc s!~ppl~ freely to all w!ln desire them. so that etrch tncwbc , of tile cr~~~/~~af~on receiving one map IX truthmem!wrsllip in full\ inioi mr~l :I, t 0 our I (a$oni for wnnuncin,q sectarian system4 : ant! tliu\, ton, tlir trmptatinn to misreprecent i< t:ll,en trotn t!lcs f;lif;e hl;~np!~<~l uI~~w lo\ IX for the 31. shrc~p i< (hicfly for Ciic~l k(a or th,Lir ~0lclc7~ f!cpce. Rut tlioqe kind]?-nordct! l&tc~t~ arc fearrd ant1 hated as much as the
DAWY.8.

,~lacc~ fnrl,ltlc ui IO mrntion nl]merou: instances of prrfldy ,*nd mi-rc,nrr,~c,iltnticlll br miniiterq azninqt our publications

thinkln~ us \o o!!lo-~l 10 01(~1*1:11 lormc,nt, tlkat 7\r \Wllltl 114 some I\!ntl (I! fir,- 1)rctot ;b:,lr tll:ii. woi~ltl II~~<YI $0 mi!<c it orI hiirn. Othc~r~ lt5.1 cillg 1!1.1 cc~lportrllr. I t, :I,I(! re~~(~h(~tltheir rity an;! h:rc! .0111 r)\wu~ in their pariqhionrr~. bare gnne ahorlt flom 11011~ IO IIO~IW. w:Irnin~. thrr:ICcnln~ and endignity t.roatinoF. (:1~ritdl~,r! to tlicb inll~lli~enrc~ ant1 fiii~rwinl of tllc- pr%r-onI llr:lt t1lc.y \ iolatr tli(sir c~n:a:cni~uts ant1 refu\r to t,:i] e I!*(> ?9ul: and if tl!r\: :~l~~~.icly liavr lhrm to 1~ burp lo lnirll tlrcW~ Oh \chv :I II tills wni nln:. rtca. 7 T,orr for 111~ <~Iw!)? no. inllrcd t bllt lovr lor tlicm~rlvc~~;. lhev well know that whrrcxvcbr tllr trllr light of thr Wnrtl of God rrnes tlleir craft IJ in tlnnrr~~. (SW i\rtq l(i.16-24\ Often tbrv hr.lr of their shrc,p :rcltting into hv-p:lths nf -ill Init \vho (\-cr ho:ird of thrir norkill~ tl~rn~srlvr~ into a frenzv of rncrg on that accol1rlt? \S.!li- tlren arc they $0 r\-ritrd ihe mnmrnt MILI,ENNIAL DAWX is mentioned, or s&n in the houses of their sheep? lbcllr fear iq (1) that if the people read the DAWNS they will know far more about the Bible. and will begin to think and to ask questions whirl1 thrv cannot answer. (2) It will show them that thcv harp bern hiring sheDherds to lead them to the yreen past&es of trnlh who.< ins&ad. have been penning them up in srctarixn folds and forcing them to subqiqt on the God-dishonoring dnrtrincs of the dark age% (3) It will lead the true sheep to get out from among the by showing them gnats and wnlvps in sheeps clothing,

that the harvest time of separation has come and that a great Chief Shepherd is calling forth his own sheep to himself and to fellowshi with all other sheep-free from human creed-pens. (4) I o wonder these worldly-wise 4 shepherds resent a teaching which would gather the few grains of wheat from a pa&hful of tares? It would 100% bad to call his a wheat-field if there were no wheat in it. Then. too, it would count in numbers (tho far less than they suppose-for the tares take little or no interest in present truth), and their prestige and salary depend so much on numbers; how could they regard DAWN otherwise than as their enemy likely to bring ail kinds of trouble to their slumbering flocks bv awaking them to thought and Bible studv? Thii seems &I make no al?owancc for hone& preachers. lov(>rs of the truth who should be glad to find it in DAW or anywhere, and glad to nroclxim it at anv co&-some one compialns. No, we do not deny that there* are gonest. Godfearing and truth-lovinp men 11; thr Christian miniatrv. scattered irobably among ail denominations; hut evidentli,as at the first nclvcnt. the Doctors of Divinity as n clnss are, 1)) their training and selfish interest, enemies of the true light, the wisdom from above and friends and patrons of earthly WIFdom. The malority are hlind and cannot pee the trur light and of the remainder a large proportion seems to love the present wet Id. and to be willing to sell the truth for its mess of pottage. Nevertheless, here and there some forsake all for the sake of the truth,-to suffer with Christ. if so be that they may also reign with him by and by. Nor does it alwavs ston with threateninrr words: these In small towns are often followed bp social ostracism and bus]ness boycott too often successful. For instance, a brother wrote us a short time ago, changing his address, explaining that he had been obliged to move onto a farm because his cotton-gin, saw-mill and grist mill in town had been boycotted until he could not lonaer earn a livino-becau3e of hi:: attempt to explain the tru& of the Bible to his neighbors. The charge against him was that he had too many different translations of the Bible and had many texts marked in his Bible whirh neither the preacher nor his neighbors could find in theirs;not being so well acquainted with their BilllpS XF with their almanacs, dailv papers, dominoes, cards and chess Alas, poor worldi It is-still true that mrn love dnrkneac rather than light. and that this is their condemnation. leadinr surely to the great time of tronhlc with which this age ispredicted to end, as the same love of darkness led natural Israel to its rrreat trouble and overthrow. in the end of the .Jewish age. Yet none of these things move the Lords people, for the same light upon the Word shows not only that the Lords true people will be hated and maligned even to the end of thiF age, and that whosover will live godly must suflcr perseen~ tion; but it shows also the obiect of such tt=sts and trial* and .sacrifircs-to fit and prepark a little flock to be faithful and merciful kines and nriests of God durinr the cominr ane when with theirhord, iesus. whom thcv foiinw throuril e;il as well as good report, they shall, as God3 representatives iudne the world--eivine ,. s, , , to all the fullest onnortcnitv w to , laome back to full hnrmonv with God and riChtrousnes3. PREPARED Td FALL INTO SPIRITISM Tt is our expectation that Spiritism, as one of the latter tlav delusions. is to plxv an important part In the next few yeirs in connection with the gieat fallcng away already begun. in which a thousand shall fall at thv side. and ten ihousand at thy right hand. Romanism taught, and still tearliec, a Purgatory to which their dead go at death for nurifiration for heaven: and that while there the Dravers and ilaid masqeq of their friends on earth avail for them-tog sooner ITJeSSe---to hwvcn],y blifjc, Prntestantiqm at Its start, thrnuah Luther and it: principal exponents, denounced this as a Papal deception to fill its coffers with the money of its deluded people ; and failing to prasp the truth that a dead person is not alive anywhere, but awaits the resurrection of the dead aS his only hope of a future life, Protestantiqm took its illogical posit,inn still held--that death ends all hope. and that all not fit for heaven go to a hell of everlasting torment. And. in harmony with this, prayers to and for the dead were reprobated-the righteous needing none, and the wicked being hopelrsn. It has often surprised us that with the thought that their dead are not dead. but more than ever alive and %overimp among the friends at the funeral, as some ministers exPI&in ( ?) ,-there has not been a greater disposition to follow the lead of Sniritiqm and seek rommunion with those supposed to be al&e and near, and able to assist. The explanation seems to be that Romanistn are under the control of thr priests instrurtetl who are tile saints who may he
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prayed to, and instructed that those who need to be prayed for can only be reached or assisted through the priests,who alone must do the mass-saying and praying. And Protestants have been restrained by the-original dechration of the leaders that uravera to and for the dead were both Romish superstitions,;&anctioned by the Word of God-to which we heartily agree.
A OHANGE

ALREADY

IN PROGRESS

But the Boer-British war has started a fresh discussion of the question of prayers for the dead. As Roman Catholics, after news of a battle, repaired to their cathedrals to pray for the Catholic dead. and to offer mass on their behalf in Purgatory, Protestants have been perplexed and felt their need of somethina to offset the hard error of their creed that if the soldier were a saint he went at once to glorv, but if not a saint at once to an endless and hopeless-torment in hell. Loving fathers and doting mothers were unable to hide from themselves that their sons, and the army in general, were far from being saints or meet for the inheritance of the saints in light ; and vet thev felt sure that thev were far too good and -noble and- patrio&c to be turned over to the care of devils to be roasted eternally: and this coming now, at a time when people are thinking more than ever before. and when human sympathy is greatly expanded, is awakening serious thought in Britain. As usual, however, the adversary manages to turn thought into a wrong direction; and so they fail to see that all the dead PRAYING AND FIGHTING-AN EMPERORS SERMON must wait for the second coming of the Lord and for the res The German Emperor preached a sermon on board 111s urrection awakening then due, and that then (during the Milvacht Sundav. Julv 29. from the test. Exodus 17 :O-11. His lennial age) the whole world will be a grand and good Purgaw& that ashloses prayed and got a hleqsing for torg;-when Satan will be bound. and when so manv as irgument wili, can have the assistance of the royal priesthood ingetIsrael, so all Germans at home should pray tl:at their brethren gone to war in China micht succcssfullv slaughter ting rid of their errors and weaknesses, and coming back to perfection by a process of restitution. No, on the contrary, the heathen Chinese, who should be%like the Amal&itcr. c The press report of the discourse follows:lhe suggestion is that the early Reformers must have erred In reletting that feature of Romes teachings which permits The soldiers shall he tire stronc arm why& r~unrnlles :land encourages prayers for the dead. Note the sentiments sassins. They shall be the ma&d fist 1).hicb -smltcs t il.* t promulgated by the influential Christzan TVwZd of London. It chaotic mass. Thev shall defend. sword in hand. our holleLt %lp .-possessions. True prayers can still cast the banner of t11c Here is theology in the roughest: its chiefest problem Dragon into the dust and plant the banner of the cross upc~l the walls. thrust on you in a fashion which brooks no shirking. What has really happened? Where or what is he who, a moment Again is heard Gods command. Choose us out men and ago so near, is now at a remove to which our snace comgo out? to fight with Amalek. -4 hoi aud sauguinxry htluqqlc putations offer no clew? has begun. Already a number of our brcthrcn We are all on-lookers -todav at are o\er tragedies of this sort, and the auestions behind them ore& us there under fire. Many niorc arc traveling along lio+tilr I~with relentless force. Do our dead still think or love? Have coasts. You have seen them, the thousands who. IO the call of we any sort of relation with them? volunteers to the front who will guard the cmprre. Irave a+Can we do aught for them or they for us? . . . . sembled themselves to battle wtll ridorioll~ huutv--. \vc who remain at home are bound by other sacred duticy. What on this subiect [communion with the dead1 is the \voc* unto us if we remain slothful and slua~i& while thev arc position of Protestant Christians today? Signs are abundant <,< Y engaged in their diMcult ant1 bloody work, ant1 it from our that the stnndnoint from which it is annroached bv non-conplace of security we only curiously look on while they- wrestle formists, not 1&s than by conformists, is 8. somcwhat, different in battle. one from that held by the Reformers and the Puritans. Not onlv should WC mobilize battalions of troops, but we Thoughtful minds are now asking whether the sixteenthshould also, and shall, set in motion an army of trained century onslaught on Purgatory and priest-craft did not, in neonle to bea and entreat lGotl1 for our hrethren that thev the rush, carry away with it some precious things that it ma.6 strike into the wild chaos with sword in hand. 19 time now to restore. . . . . Mai, they strike for our most sacred possessions. We would pray And why should we not pray for the dead ? What is that God the Lord mav make heroes of our men and lead prayer, in the best conception of it, but the following of those those heroes to victory,Uand that then, with laurels ou their we love, with aspiration and affection. with desire for their helmets and orders on their breasts, he may lead them home highest good, with the whole best emotion of our soul 1 What harharous infidelity has taught us that death interposes a to the land of their fathers. Our fight will not he finished in one day; but let not our limit to this out-going? The notion that those who now rest hands grow weary or sink until victory is secured. Let our in God are, because -of that, beyond the reach or need of prayers he as a wall of fire around the camp of our brethren. It is disloval at once m-aver is heathen. and not Christian. Eternity will reveal the fulfilment of an old promise-Call to God, to the departed themselves, and to ou; own best upon me in trouble, and I will deliver thee. Thcrcfore pray instincts. There is no position, not that of heavens central continuously. point; there is no condition, not that of supremest blessedThe Emperor and many other militant Christians fail ness, that is outside the range of love. . . . . to see that Israel was used of God as a tvnical nconle and We have neglected our dead, and in so doing have that the duly authorized slaughter of the *Amalckites was weakened one of the most intimate of our links with the unbecause t.heir iniouitv was come to the full (Gen. 15:16). seen. We have put un in our minds barriers that do not corand God would use them as types of evil and evil-doers to respond with the reality, and so have obstructed the flow of be overthrown by the antitypica1 Moses, the antitypical The mind some of the grandest of the human insnirations. Mediator, Christ-as Pharoah and his hosts previously typrrevolts against these limitations. Its prophetic instinct recogfied the same thing. Similarlv the Land of Promise, Canaan, nizes them as a mistake. The vagaries of Spiritualism are a was typical of thg heavenly Canaan. rough protest against the policy of cutting the cable between The Sniritual Israelite is to watch and fight and nrav, And that other side protests also. here and the beyond. but against a different kind of enemies and -with different Near to us, on the other side of a very thin veil, lies a great through God to the pulling down of error, weapois -mighty realm of life which has the closest connection with our own. and the gainine of victories over sin and self and Satan. What that connection is we at present only dimly discern. The weapons o?ozLr warfare are not carnal, says the inspired Our organs of perception seem only in the most rudimentary Apostle-not swords, machine-guns and battleships.-2 Cor. condition. It may he that our later indifference on this side 10:4. h?s hindered their development. But develop they must, for As for the Christian soldiers going to heathen China they are among humanitys most priceless possessions. A we fear they have not a true from Christian Europe stage will yet be reached when they will be part of the sods [2681]
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general apparatus, and when, not to a stray prophet here and there Imediums?l. but to the common man wrll it be given to stand with Bunyahs pilgrim on the Delectable Moun&ns and behold what was visible there. Light (Spirrtualistic, London, April 10) thinks this is a real, tho belated, recognition of the essential truth of the Spiritualistic position. It says :Spiritualists have been severely criticized and 1rdiculed for affirming that the departed are frequently benefited by the advice, sympathy, and prayers of earth-dwellers. We have been denounced for teaching that progress after death, following upon repentance and effort, is possible for the ignorant and sinful dwellers on the threshold. . . . Thmk of it! Spiritualism is a protest aga,lnst :ke poke of cutting the cable between here and the-Beyo)td! - Aye, and evidentlv the protest has not failed. it has not been in vain. Whilethe writer laments that ourorgans of perception [physical, mediumistic perception, or spiritual gifts) seem only in the most rudimentary condition, he suggests that indifference has hindered their development, and he fully justrfies u9 anal our long struggle for recognition against, not only indifference, but prejudice, intolerance and active hostility, by affirming develop they must, for they are umolzg 7llLntanzt~s most pmxless possessrons ! After this we shall assuredly have The Chrlstzan llorld founding a School of the Prophets for the development and exercise of mediumship and psychical powers generally.

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soldier of the crohs among them, and but few who have any knowledge whatever of the sword of the spirit-the Word of God. They ale probably no better than the thousands of their comratles already there and of whose unchristian conduct, after the c;lptuIe of Tlen Tsln, the telegraphic dispatches published snv. This day ha< been devoted entirely to lootmg the na. tive citv I Tlen Tsinl. The Chinese tilled manv of their women to keep them from falling Into the hands 01 the allied troops. It iy lmposslhle to cable a description of the scenes that were enacted. . . . . American and Japanese troops were the only one? who made any attempt to restrain the civilian or soldier looters.
THE GERMAN KAISERS HUMANE (7) EXPRESSIONS

The Emncror is nrncticallv the uor~e of the German National Cliu~&h syhte<i; ne prehumc he has received the colleglate tIeglee of 1). I)., ah tlld Bismarck. He is evidently another man of 11lood ant1 iron. IIc has surely placed himself, by rec.cbnt utteranc.eq, at the head of the revived ancient order of Chriitian soldiers of the period of the crusades. The Buy5 Brigades should all be pointed to this fact ;-and be advlsctl to leylgn and turn In the opposite direction from the aencral (hristian ( 71 drift of our tlav. The followinv from Y(s Ilave hrar~l tllat it bath lIeen said. Thou shalt love thy nel&l)or, ant1 hate thine rnemy ; but I say unto you, Love your cnem~cs. bIc+ them tllnt curse you, do good to them that hntr you, :Intl prny for them that tlcipitef;lly use you and prr5Prute vou 17 they massage in the German New Testa;lwnt" If he hai 11:1s thr ICrnl),~l or' I\'il'li,lnl r\e, I cntl it? he muet havr forgotten it, or loit its spirit, for last week, in di~patc~hlng Gc~rnlan troop\ to China, he is reported to have salt1 to them. Evrrv c~lvilizntion not founded on Christiamty iq sure to 1~. brou@t to nau#. I send you out. If you close with the <~u~mv, remember this: spare nobodv, make no rxisonelLi; u*c y&r weapons so that For a thou&d years Gence no Chinaman will dare look a\kancc at xnv German. The whole addless breathes the spirit of ruthleGs destruction to the Chlnrqr. The great ma; lord doubled up his mailed fiit and thrratcnetl to nonnd China to nieces. The vain emprror, swollen with a sense of his own ihportance, seemed to -he sublimely unrnnb(.inus of the violent -inconsistency of his fierce nxgani~m with hiq nrofesqed Christixnitv. He would outdo RIol&nmrd in sprcadlng religion with the sword. There arc difficulties, however, in the way of this plan. Christ himself told Peter. who OHS eager to use it for defending the kingdom. to put np his sword, and there is no evidence that he has handed this weapon to William II. for this purpose.

And further, there are the Chinese themselves; there are 400.000,000 of them, and they may prove a considerable obstruction in the way of \Villlams policy. In fact, the German emperors plan IS ahout the worst possible one that could be announced in the present emergency. It would consolidate the Chinese and turn them into a horde of fanatics that might easily turn out to be a genuine yellow terror. It is believed that the emperors rash words will render the cooperation of the nowers difficult, if not lmposzlble. England and America When will* not set out on anv such bloodthirst-+ mission. Christiamtv seizes the sword. it mav perlsh bv the swor\l. Poor old Chma. in its paralysis, needs pity. So&ethmg must be done in the way of chastlhement and reorganization. but let not passion seize the sword and sweep it with a besom of deitruotion. .Ju&ce must be done, but let it he tempered with mercy. and let the Christian nations act in a Christian and not a pagan spirit.
NOT SO PAUL WON MACEDONIA

Rev Dr. Halderman lifts his pen against the modern and erroneous methods of propagating the gospel of peace on earth, good will toward men. He says :1 am ab;oluteIy sure that in the future Russia ~111 gain the supremacy. It 13 also true that, taught by IVestern genius, the Eastern hordes will ret break in awful avalanches on the \\ebt. The greed, the rnpa,,lty, the Chllstle~~, godIe,+. selfiyhners of European nations will get its reward. All the Chri+ tlanitp that has bern wvlought qn Chlna will be small, counting in the terrible final balance that shall he made against FOcalled Christian nation<. who have poisoned China with nplum and made them look upon Chrlstinns as only another tllvlsion of raparious foreign devilh. Considered morally, there are two sides to the question. These Chinese are fighting for their homes, their land. their institutions. They know the Christian nations are ready to rob and cheat them; and when they find the mlssionarles backed up bv guns and swords and blnotlthlrst~ Coi+l(,ks. by rude and godless soldiery, ready to kill and slay. they are only the more infuriated and determined in the npinlon that any n hitr man is a clexil and needs to be slain. It wa$ not so that Paul wnn Marcdnnia and Rome. When he went to Rome he did not say, Down with ?jcro Down he counqeled with the powers that I)e! On the rontrary. Christians to recognize that here Neros government. bad as it waq, was permitted hv God and that Christians should submit. It was by the blood of martyrs our church won at first: not by the blood of their foes, but their own blood; not ched with arms in their hands. but shrd at the stake or rark or block with prayer on their lips and love in their hearts.

GODS PROVIDENTIAL
of the Lords dear sheep of the Allegheny Bccan~c two conglrgation recentlv lost their lives in an accident. while returning home from meetinn and discussing the sermon, many of the I~iethrc~n have Ileen surnrised. The inouirv arose. Do ;vr not bcalicve that God * conse&nted people a;e specialld the objects of his care 1 Ant1 if SO, how was such an accident possi t)Ir 7 These same question4 are liable to arise in mnnv minds, and hence we discurq the matter here for the henefitof all. We advise that ca(*h ~ATCH TO~EK reader shall peruse afresh the trnrt entitled. Calamities: Whv God Pirmits Them. In it we tliqruss this tonir at considerable lenathfrom the standpoint of accidents to the world, and ac&lents to the churrh. Now we will confine our remarks to the latter phase of the subject, suggestinp:(1) It is the Scripture trarhing that every member of the church must die snmeliow. This wac: the purport of our consecration-even unto death. Each memher of the roval priesthood became a member by consecrating,-presenting his body a living sacrifice as did our High Priest, Christ J&us. And iust as it was necessarv for him to finish his course of dying in actual death, so will it be with each of us. (2) As the Masters death was not on a flowery bed of ease, neither, prohablp. will be the death of anv of his footstep-followers. And, if it be a choice between a bed of tedious sickness and a sudden death by accident, many would choose the latter as the less painful-the ouirker rhance. (3) But it is not for us to rho& nn this mo;e than upon other subjects. It is ours to accept with patience and full resignation whcrtever divine providenre mav permit: and this may vary. Under some circumstances it rnav be better that death rnme thrnuph a lingering illness in which God will be glorified, and the power of his truth to sustain shall be demonstrated in the patient, loving spirit of the dying sufferer. Or,

CARE

at another time, the Lord may see best to permit death to come upon his dear one suddenly-as a shock, as a calamity: to teqt the faith of some. and to awaken others from Iclh,xrgy to vigilance,-from drowsiness to a fresh energy in running the rare toward the mark for the great prize. The suddenness of the death of the two dear sheep of this Allegheny fold certainly has had a good effect upon many of the dear ones most intimate wth them, and who knew them both as most saintly characters-ripe in the Christian graces. and fully ready and waiting for their change. Undouhtedlg many not so prepared hare been awakened to fresh vigilance, and a renewal of consecration vows. and zeal in self-sarrifire, by this incident and the thought-Would I have been ready had the call thus suddenly come to me? (4) If to so&e the question arises,-But what about the little children needing narental care? The answer is. that these parents had alyeady placed their children, as well as themselves, under divine care; and that care is still over the children: as able to care for them now, as for hnth parents This is a place for trust-for faith. and children before. Whoever cannot, trust his children to divine care does not as yet properly know his Heavenly Father, and needs to give renewid &ligence to this impo<iant study. Such an one has not vet attained the faith that would be acceptable to God. and *without which it would be impossible to please God,the faith of an overcomer. (5) The shock connected with our dear Redeemers death was no doubt a severe test of faith to some of the early disciples- it seemed as tho it proved that, our Lord was in disfavor with the Father-We did esteem him smitten of God, and afflicted. Yet to those who stumbled not in unbelief the shock of our Lords cruel death became afterward a great lever of sympathy for good as they fully grasped the thought, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for sin

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which brmgs peace to us was upon him, and by nis stripes we are healed. The anostles also suffered violent deaths and learned to regard suchcalamities not as marks of divme disfavor, but the reverse. (6) There can be no uc&ent happen to the Fortd2 consecrated ones, vlewed from the divine standpoint. hair of their heads can be injured aslde from the Fathers pcrmasswm, and what God purposely permits cannot be properly considered an accident from his standpoint, nor from the standpoint of those who fully trust his providence and \I e might even suppose a calamity in \\Illch ninetypace. nine children of this world and one of the Lords consecrated It might be purely accidental so far as met death together. all hut the Lords one was concerned: but, to that one nothing could occur unforeseen of God-nothing that God could not and which per;hitted must mean a have fully controlled. blessing to his child who rightly and in faith accepts it,-For we know that all things work together for good to them that love (iotl. So it was In our Lordq casp. As he testified, the Jews could not touch his life before because his hour was not yet come. And when his hour did come, our Lord testified to Pilate,-Thou couldest have no power at all against The same ib me, except it were given thee from above. true of every member of the body of Christ, the royal priestdoes not watch for the hood. But this divine supervision unconsecrated of the world-except as they may be children of the saints. or others whose affairs and interests are interlinked with theirs. (7) Expecting as we do that the living members of this cln~q will all he gathered to glory royal priest or jewel sometime before A. D. 1915 (and so far as we are now able to

surmise by 1910), we are bound to suppose that a considerable number of these will, in some manner, die sudden or violent deaths. And happy for us will it be if this thought that our change may come at any moment, shall be so impressed as to assist us to be always ready to answer the summons with joy. Let us each permit this thought to arrange our business affairs, our family affairs, our relationship to the brethren-our relationship to the world in general-all our words. and thoughts, and doings; and thus it will bring us great blessing and assist in making us meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. The Editor will not be surprised if his death should come suddenly; nor if by divine permission it should come in some unpleasant form that might, for the moment, seem to jolt and interrupt the harvest work. Let all of the consecrated be on guard against such a wavering of doubt respecting the divine power to care for and carry on the work. If such a trial does come, it will no doubt in pa&, at least, be intended of the Lord to show that the work is his and not ours: and that he is perfectly able to carry on his work, using one or another of his children as his servants to set the food of his providing before the household of faith. All of our affairs in dailv life are shaned to these ends: to the development and brinbing forward bf others ready to the Lords hand. should he at anv moment call for the transfer of our stewardship and bid us Come up higher. And the same applies to the financial means and interests which the Lord has entrusted to our care. Let none be surprised, then, at anything which may happen to us, but, on the contrary, glorify God on our behalf, and press along the narrow way with redoubled energy.

DOING, TO INHERIT
LUKE GOLDEN TEXT:-Thou

ETERNAL

LIFE
19:18.

shalt

10 : 2537.-SEPT. 9. love thy neighbor a8 thyself.-1,ev.

Probably while our Lord was preaching, and his audience seated about him, either upon the hillside or in a synagogue, a lawyer stood up, and thus politely intimated his desire to sav a word in connection with the subiect under discussion. amongst the Jews at that time, signified TGe term lawyer, one versed in the Law of Moses, one claiming to be able to Such expound that Law, and to teach others its true meaning. These were alsc termed peisons today we term theologians. scribes or learned men-irrespective of their religious convictions, some of them adhering to one view and some to another ; some being Pharisees, others Sadducees, e&-each endeavoring to interpret the Law in harmony with the teachings of the sect to which he adhered. Luke does not give u9 the connections, but quite possibly this lawyer raised his question in connection with some discourse in which our Lord held forth that he himself was the Bread of Life, of which, if a man eat, he may live forever-or in which he had, been representing himself as the Good Shepherd. who would$ve his life for the sheeD: or as the Redeemer who had con&, that Gods people mi&t have life. and that more abundantlv-eternnl life. Thin lawver (or: as some today would say, &is D. D.) was probably of the Sadducees, who denied a resurrection and any future or eternal life, interpreting the law. whirh promises life upon certain conditions, aq merelv a decoy, intended to Dromote holiness amonrqt the Lords people, but nevertheless a deception, since the holiest and most faithful of the rape had not inhrrited eternal life, but had gone down into death. even as others. In this view of the matter thin *Jewish D. D. propounded to our Lord a question. hoping that the answer would give room for a discussion. in which he would be able to show himself the greater of the two teachers, and to prove to his pupils, at least (who were probably present with him), that his theories were correct-that no matter how faithfullv the law might be kept no reward of eternal life would be &ven, and that faith in Christ would be equally futile in this respect. The Evangelist says he asked the question, tempting the Lord, that is, to prove him, to draw him out, to expose the weakness of his argument: saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? You recognize me as a scribe. a doctor of the law, a teacher; as one, therefore, who is living a godly and upright life, so far, at least, as his neighbors and pupils mav he able to discern. Lookinn back I Fee that the hoiiest and best of our nation (the holiest nation in the world. and the only one recognized of God) have not inherited eternal life. I see that, on the contrary, they hare died as other men; I see that for some cause (whether it be the Lords failure to fulfill his promise, or mans failure to comply

with the conditions) all have died, none having attained eternal life. Tell me now, what shall I do that I may not share the same fate of death-that I may live everlastingly? Our Lord answered the question with great directness, at the same time signifying his unquestioning faith in the promises of God, that whatever God had promised he would surely fulfil-implying, therefore that if he failed to obtain eternal life it would be his own fault, and not the fault of God. Our Lord practically said, I stand by the Scriptural record: you are versed in the law; quote, as you understand it, the teachings of the law on this subject. The answer shows that this Doctor of the Law was well versed, for he quoted correctlv the most direct statement on the subject td be found in the law. Our Lords reply was equally to the point: Thou hast answered right; this do and thou shalt live-1 confirm the Law; I uphold it; I vouch for its truthfulness ; none who keep that Law can possibly die. The diffirultv with all Jews who have died has been. that thev did not fulfil that law requirement toward God ani man. *
DISPLAY OF HEAVENLY WISDOM

The Doctor of the Law was trapped. He had hoped to entangle Jesus in a discussion, and had himself become entangled ; for the great Teacher had pointed out that the fault was not in God-that God was not unfaithful to his agreement under the law; that the fault lay with the people. And this included the lawver as well a- the remainder of the race; and that he so unde&ood it is implied in the statement, He. desirinn to iustifv himself. said. And who is mv neiehbar? It was very shiewd of the la\;pyer to avoid d&us&g the first commandment. respectin, cr the love. for Got1 \vlth all the heart, nuntl. soul anfl rtrengtli : hcAcausc>no nnr ran thoroughly judge another in respect to this feature of the law; only Gidand each individual hkart knows absolutely whethe; God is loved with every talent, every power of heart of mind and of body. But others can judge to some extent respecting Thou shalt love thv obedience to the second commandment: neighbor as thyself. The lawyer felt that he could safely leave the- first propbsition and claim that none could judge his heart. nrovided he could iustifv himself in resDect to the seeconh1proposition, his dealing< with hiq neighbAr. Hence it is that he brought up this point, saying, But who is my neighbor ? There was a difference of opinion amongst the most learned Jews on this subject of who is the neighbor meant in the law, -some claiming that it meant all Jews, and Jews only. Others claimed that the word neighbor would mean only those Jews who lived holy lives. Thus the lawyer practicallsaid, I shall be obliged to yield my contention and acknow f *

[2683]

edge you supel~ol 10 myself as a teacher, unless \\e can get into a contention on this subtect of who is the neiehbor. In that event I shall at least ce able to bring a styong arguBut when the ment that will appeal to all the hearers. great Teacher had, in parable form, explained the true meanmg of the word neighbor, the lawyer found himself without an 1rgument.
NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO NOT ONE

Some have supposed that our Lord meant that thiq Doctor of the Law and others who heard him should understand that the Samaritan of the parable, by doing a kind and neighborlv act, won fnr hImself the inheritance of etcr~,aZ Izfe, and that our Lord meant further to teach that the lawyir and all of his hearers might inherit eternal life if they would LO and do Ijkcwise-do as tbc Samaritan did-do good, help their neighbors. Tlll~ view is a serious error. Tn the first place, we do I:ot know that any Samaritan ever did just such an act of kin~lness. It was merely a parable, a suggestion : Suppose that suc*h conditions exihtctl, and suppose that a Samaritlrn bad done such an act, would he not be a good nclghbol : Tlw I(~~II tl of &inal liff> \\.I-: not offcw~l oil condition of bt 1n2 a good nrigbbor merely. This was one of the c~onditions (thck one the lawyer questioned). but it was qluite secondary to the mail1 proposition-Than shalt love the The lcsLord with evtbry power and talent of mind and hotly. eon which the lawyer and every other Jew needed to learn was that no imprrfert man could possiblv fulfil that requiremerit,. All so learning that Tb&e is <one righteous. no, not onp (Roni. 2: IO) would Ibe nrc~~)nrctl to look for the 1~1nmihed Me&ah as, first of all, the& sin-bearer, to justify &em and to diqriplinc them anI1 make them perfect and able to
nhey the law.

Our Lord in the parable represents a priest, a Levitr, and a Samaritan. in order to give force to the matter. The priest was specially consecrated to God, the Levite also was conserrated (and most of the Doctors of the Law were Levites), while the Samaritans were outcasts, without God, and having no hope in the world, aliens and strangers from the commonwealt,h of Israel. The Samaritans, altho they lived in a part of the land of Israel, shared none of Israels promises; but, as our Lord tcstifird, Ye worship ye know not what: we [Jews] know what we worship: for salwatiovt is of the Jews. The Samaritan, tltcreforc. wai introduced into the parable to make a strong contrast before the minds of the hearers, and to say, A neighbor is one who does a neighborly act, however high or however low he may be in the scale of intelligence or tlignitv or divine favor. What our Lord wished to prove to the lawyer and to all brarers was. that the Law was just and holy and good, and that any Jew complying with Its conditions would inherit its prnmiir-eternal Iif<*. He wished all of his hearers to rralize. therefore, t.hat the fact that neither they nor their fathers inherited eternal life proved, not that the law was imperfect, but that they were imperfect, sold under sin, and unable, therefore, to comply with the just demands of the law. It was difficult for the Jew to learn this great lesson; viz., that he could not keep the perfeet law of Gid, and hence that be nrc~lr(l a Savior. a Redeemer. who would keen the law for him, and tlms ju&ify him before God, and who would then grant him eternal lifo as a gift, as a favor-not of thr law, but of grace. In harmonr with tllii, the Apostle assures us who trust in the pacrifirc for sins wbi~h Je&s gave. and who have entered into S(w (:nvcn:lrlt relxl inn\bir, wit11 Got1 through him. that 7 hr riehtc~nu~nc+-, of the !:~w iq fulfilled in us-the true sense, meaning, purport of the Law being in our hearts, Gnd accepti this as instead of absolute fulfilment of the letter of the law. Tll~ sncrificvr oi nllr Lord desus compensating for all our imfor all diffcrcnces between the actual demands of pcrfcrtinn<. the law and our cffnrts to conform our lives thereunto, we, wnlkin,n not after the flrsh but after the cpirit, arp reckoned :I& no longer fle+lg heing:s hut new creatures
THE GOOD SAMARITAN

only has it made it clear to many of the Lords dear children the course of conduct pleasing m the Fathers sight, oin., that of generosity, love, benevolence, etc., but it has also brought blessing to many who are not the Lords children, in that they became recipients of mercies, favors and kindnesses in adversity which, otherwise, they might never have known. The road leading from Jerusalem to Jericho has a steep downward grade through a rocky country, which abounds in caverns, the hiding places of highway robbers. It has always been a dangerous road, and on it the traveler is not entirely safe to this day, unless under some kind of a protective guard This feature oi the parable was, therefore, in strict acco;dance with the conditions of the time: so was the fact of the priest and the Levite passing, for Jericho was one of the appointed cities of the piiests and Levites, and it is estimated that twelve thousand of them resided there then. These. with other priests and Levites from other parts, took their &ns in thr service at the Temple in Jerusalem, and, consequently, were frequently on this road. Our Lords parable seems to imply that the religion of the Jews, instead of bringing them nearer and nearer to the spirit of the Law, was really, by reason of the formalities and reremonies and pride connected with it, tending to separate t,hem further and further from the condition of heart which would be acceptable to God. The priest, most fullv consecrated to the service of God in the temple, is represknted as He passed by having least interest in the brother in distress. on the other side (of the ravine), not counting the circumstance worthy of attention; reflecting, no doubi, with a selfrighteous feeling respecting the honor of his own position as a servant of God. and unwilling to run the risk of ritual contamination. The Levite, also consecrated to God and his service, but not so high in office and privilege, was more disposed to consider the poor brother, and to render a helping hand. He went so far as to stand and look at the sufferer. and to think over how much trouble would be involved in an. sisting him, and how much risk he himself mi,rrht run in YU doing (altho we are inclined to believe that the priests and TJevites were, on account of their office, generally exempted from molestation by the robbers.)
EFFECTS OF TRUTH ON HONEST HEARTS

Altho thiq parable of the good Samaritan was not given 111 illnstr:ltc 1~ what gond works the lawyer, or any other man, *Jew or Gentile, might attain eternal life, but, on the contrary, \\a\ given merely to head off the argument of the lanvcr. and to Icnvc him without excuse, it nevertheless confails n rich lesson. which has hrnnght a tilessing to many. Not
-SIeJunc Ii, 1919, lsslle for cr1ttcnl e\amlnatloll of Co\rnallt~

Then our Lord chose, as hero of his parable, a despised Samaritan, unrecognized bv God and disowned bv his favored people. This heightens the force of the picture, by suggesting the thought that one who had never learned at all resnectine the true-God and his will, one who had never been bfferei eternal life on the terms of obedience to that law, might nevertheless exercise so much of brothely kindness and sympathy as to lend a helping hand to a neighbor in distress. And it is still true &at many who,.by reason of their better knowledge of God. through his Word and nlan. should be possessed OF a large; meast&e of his love an; grace, are instkad more deficient-in these qualities than some-who .have been less hiehlv favored. It mieht indeed be that some who are strange& to the covenants &d promises of God as yet, possess, by reason of being well born, a large measure of natural generosity, benevolence, kindness, sympathy, and might be good Samaritans by nature, rather than by grace; and it may also be true that some who have been begotten again to the new life and to the new hopes may naturally have less of this good Samaritan element of kindness and generosity. because low born according to the flesh-born w%h a p&i dominance of selfish nroclivities. However. such an one. coming under the law-of the spirit of life in Christ Jisus, will soon be taught in Christs school, that love is the fulfilling of the law; and if he be an obedient pupil he will gradually attain to a better appreciation of the heaven1 3 Father, and in heart, in spirit, will learn to love him wit I all his mind. with all his beinp. with all his strength. And so surely asthis condition obt&s, and in proport& as the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. it will enlarge them also toward our fellow-creatures, so that every new &ature must at heart come into such a degree of fullness of love toward God and toward his fellows as would make him not only an obedient and self-sacrificing son of God, hut also a good Samaritan, a kind friend, a loving father and husband, a generous neighbor to all with whom he stands related. He will be a living exemplification of the Apostles injunction,-doing good unto all men as he has opportunity, especially to the hous~holtl of faith.-Gal. 6 : 10. The light of a pleasing spirit there. It matters little if dark or fair; And truly beautiful in Gods sight. Are the precious souls who love the right

Beautiful hands are they that cl0 Tbc work of the noble. good and trrub. 13us-y for them the long day through; Beaiitifnl fares are tlie,v that wear [ 26841

BEWARE
LUKE

OF COVETOUSNESS
12 : ~%?~.-SEPT.
16.

What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his ozon soul?--Mark
While Jesus was preaching on spiritual themes he was interrupted by one of the audience, whose heart was filled with anxiety respecting temporal matters, esteeming that he was being wronglv dealt with bv his brother in the division of the parental estgte; and perhaps finding that through some technicalitv he could not obtain what he considered to be his iust rightsunder Jewish laws, he appealed to the great Teacher to-use his influence on his behalfLto speak to 117sbrother-to tell his brother that he ouaht to deal aenerouslv. and nerhans to threaten him if he failed so to do. u 1 * How many there are who see just this much and no more in the teachings of Christ-a channel through which to serve their own interests ; a means of securing justice to themselves. How many are ready to quote our Lords precepts when it suits their convenience so to do, but who otherwise and at other times manifest little interest in them, and in the principles of riehteousness which thev inculcate! Persons-in this attitude-of heart are rarely able to grasp or cnjoy the spiritual truths which our Lord enunciated, just as the young man in the lesson was failing utterly to profit by our Lords spiritual teaching, because his entire thought was preoccupied with his own personal, selfish plans and schemes and views-however iust thev might have been. Our Lord flatly Eefused to interfere in the manner suggested, saying, VVho made me a iudee or an arbiter over you 7 Tlius he illustrated the gem&al-teaching of the Scriptures. Render to Cssar the things that are Casars, and to God the things that are Gods and again, If any man sue thee at tbc law, and take away thy coat, refuse not even if he take similarly thy cloak also-do not ask or expect anything beyond what IS granted by the civil laws of the land in which you live. Be subject to-the powers that be; for the powers that be are ordained [permitted1 of God. Our Lords kinadom. long promised, and which eventually shall be the desi;e of all nations. had not then come, and still has not been set up. We still pray, Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. lrhe Lords people are to recognize this fact, and not to expect absolute*righteousness and ,justice until present conditions cease. with the close of this dlspcnration,%f which the Scripturestell us Satan is the prince or ruler. Instead of expecting justice in full measure now. the Lords people should rather be surprised that there is so large a measure of justice obtainable in many parts of the world. As our Lord was not willing to impose himself as a judge or an arbitrator in his day, so his followers now should not seek to interfere in secular affairs. The case would have been dnlrrrnt had the two brothers come together to our Lord. and, indicating that thcp vvishrd to do right, had requested his ludgntcnt of ~bnt would be the riaht course. In that event undoubtedlv our Lord would have favored them lvith his view of the question and tlic reasons for it. It would be an esrellcnt thing for all of the Lords footstepfollo\vcrs to lrarn \\ell tliis lesson of non-interference in secular matters-the lesson, that those who speak a3 the oracles of God should speak respectin g spiritual matters, to the spiritual class and not to the worldly-to them that have ears to bear, and not to the blind and deaf. This, of course, would not mean that the Lords prople should not give any advice, but merely that thev should not give advice nor otherwise interfere outside the laws, custornsand usages of the country in which they reside. The VOUIW man in the narrative undoubtedlv had aapealed to his brother and to the Jewish authorities for the relief which he thought be ought to have; and similarlv it is proper for a Christian to appeal to the person immediately inter&cd for what he considers to be just riglrts in the matter in dispute. He may appeal also to the laws of the land in which be resides; but if he fails in this he should content himself with his condition and wait patiently for the Lords king~loni and its righteous-retribution.

8:36.

It is as a result of this powers that be in those countries. wrong line of conduct that the good of Christianity, its moral and civilizing influences, are specially hated and feared,-as political interferences, aimed at the destruction of the law5 and institutions which to those people appear to be wise and rrood: and which undoubtedlv are adapted to the present intelSkctual and moral conditions*of the masses of their people. We cannot too strongly condemn, as contrary to the Masters teachings, modern methods of missionary eflort-backed by cannon, warships and soldiers. It seems to u5 ~h01ly contrary to the method employed by our Lord and the apostles, and advocated by tbrm It is much more in harmony with the methods adopted during the dark ages by Papacy and by RIOEarlv Protestant mrssions seem to us to have hammedanism. been along much more reasonable and proncr lines. The missionary, in girirg himself to that work,*understood and agreed that. fiauratirelv sueakina. he took his life in his bands: he had already sac&fi&d bislife before starting. Neither henor those who sent him forth thought of appealing to the government to avenge his death, either witlr manv lives for the out) life, or with large sums of money, nor witb large concession5 of land, or with large privileges of commerce. IIe ITent as :I representative of the meek and lowly Jesus, as a living sacrifice, as tlic apostles in enrlv times went forth. witbout backing, ecclesiastical or civil. Like the apostles, they lvere pririlerced to anneal to all the laws and moral instincts of the people in ;\hose midst thev wcrc living, and for whose good they were laying down their lives; but more than this the\ did not do, and were not authorized to do by anything in the Scriptures. It is the present wrong system of compassing sea and land to make proselytes, with battleships, cannon and soldiers, that is rcsponsihle for the loss of thousands of lives and awful misery. 7Verc the missionarv question todav left upon the same -footing that it occupiedin the days of the apostles, and again at the beginning of this century, it woulrl probably bc less pretentious in appearance, but in realitv probably would have found just as many of the elect as the prezent method: and would hare left undisturbed auestions tlmt nlrcadr have caused much trouble, and I\hich in the near future will cause more. It would have left millions of the poor llcathen in a much more contented frame of mind tlran at nrrqcnt-would have left them much more susceptible to tllc ir;Huenccs of the true Gospel, when, by and by, the great missiorr:rrv work wbirh God has planned will begin in carnrst, uncler tbo ndministration of the kingdom of heaven. with Christ ant1 his elect church, the kings and priests, to rule and blcs5 with infinite power and wisdom and love.
l x *

This principle, put into practice by Christinn missionaries in China, would, we believe, have led to very different conditions than those which now obtain there. Rut our Lords example and various injunctions along this line have been very generallv ignored, and, to the contrary, it has been the custom of missionaries, who have gone to China and other lands. to ignore the laws. of those lands and the powers that be there, which Grids ordinance has nermitted. Thev have attemnted to settle all kinds of disputek; interfering in a manner which the Master, in this lesson, disapproved of. Not only so, but they have sought and invoked, publicly and privately, the interference of various so-called Christian governments of the world on their behalf, and in violation of the laws of the [2685]

Rut while refusing to interfere 11it11 the matter, the Lord made use of the intrusion to point a lcs~on on the *uhject of covetousnrss-a lesson wbicli \\ou!tl 1~ of benefit to botlr of the brothers, if they were present, and a I~WZJII, intlecd, which The exliorronld not fail to be of profit to all of his hcarcrs. tation to take heed of corrtousntss \v0111tl apply to thr onr who had sought our Lords interference lowlll\hc hat1 hccn asking something outside of his rights and out~itlc of his fathers will and intent-coveting wltnt iris fntllcr bad really Or, if 11c wcrc asking only intended should go to his brother. what was reasonably his due, our Lortly \vords would be a consolation to liim, as shoWing tlrnt wlicthci or not lit pot all of his rights in tbc present life would be a conll~arntively unimportant matter-r;nimportnnt as cornpnretl to his hiving such exncriences as would be f:L\-orablc to 111seternal life. and Our Lortls words wollld also rightly using those experirnccs. be a lesson to the other brother, if he were secking to defraud and to take uniustlv what belonccd to his hrothc-or even if he were covet&n+ ungenerous in construing his brothers Indeed. e;erv one who will cnrefullv consider the richts. meaning of our Lords parable in illustration -of this subject of covetousness will draw from it a valuable, a profitable lea3on.
THE RICH CHURL

In this parable it is not stated that the rich xnan had obtained his-wealth by any unlawful meanr. He is not charged with havinrr. defrauded his brother or his nciehbor. The record I merely is that he had temporal blessings in abundance, and that by natural increase he was wealthy; and the point of the lesson turns upon his uuestion to himself. What shall I do with these possessions? * The rieht attitude of mind. the snirit of a sound mind. <> a would have answered this question somewhat after this manner: These bounties of divine providence are a trust, and I am a steward, a trustee; my position will permit me to be a
(254-255)

(255-259)

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

ALLECHEIVY,

PA.

source of great blessing to others of my fellow-creatures not 30 bountifully supplied; in fact, I have rn my hand the power to make many fell&-creature3 comfortable and happy; and in discharaina this stewardshin in this nroner manner I shall have mu& greater pleasure than if *I Endeavored selfishly to use all these bounties upon myself, or to store them up for my own use in the future. Such an unselfish, generous course would not only have had divine approval, and thus have constituted true riches laid up in heaven, but, additionally, it would have been the most direct road to happiness for the already favored individual himself. It is a true proverb, There is that scattereth and yet increaseth, and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth to poverty. So, many have found that hoarding of earthly wealth leads to poverty of heart, to a meanness of disposition, which is not enjoyed by the indrvidual himself, and which is strongly reprobated by him with whom rests our eternal interests, our everlasting blessing and riches. On the contrary, he who uses, in harmony with his best judgment, the earthly wealth committed to his care, thereby purchases to himseif a rich reward of approbation on the Dart of all with whom he has to do: and. through the Lords gracious arrangement in Christ, this cultivationof the spirit of love becomes a most important factor in respect to his attainment of everlasting joy and blessing. As illustrating the uncertainty of such selfish calculations, our Lord might have made the parable to close by showing the rich man as losing all of his nossessions and being reduced to beggary through some misfo&ne, such as war or fire; or he mirrht have shown him the victim of a loathsome disease. in wh?ch even his riches could not purchase attendance, SO that thus he might suffer want in the midst of plenty. But he chose to close the parable by merely representing the rich man as dying suddenly-ceasing to have and to hold and greedily enjoy his selfish hoardings. Soul, take thine ease, etc., is merely another way of saying-Self, take thine ease, eat drink, etc. Our Lord, to enforce the lesson, then raises the question, Whose, then, shall these things be? They could no longer be enjoyed by the accumulator, whoever might get them; he would be poor indeed, whoever might enjoy them; for these were all that he had; he had given up thought and effort and every talent to money-making and to attempted selfish enjoyments, and had not been rich toward God,-had not been rich in good works-had not laid up treasure in heaven. His life had been a failure; he would enter the next life a pauper, as respects mental and moral development in good qualities. He would enter it with a load of selfishness. with which to some extent he had been born, but to which he had added greatly by a life of selfishness. And his load of selfishness

will, in that future life, for a time handicap his efforts toward true nobility, should he then make efforts toward perfection under the gracious terms of the IvIillennial kingdom. Tho our Lord in the parable represents the covetous person as succeeding in accumulating riches, vet, as a matter of fact, the majorily of covetous people never so succeed; and their selfishness is not less reprehensible from the fact that it fails of success. The thought rather is that if a covetous person who succeeds make3 a miserable failure of life, how much worse would be the failure of the covetous person who gains nothing, either in the present life or in that which is to rome! Our Lord, turning to his disciples at this iuncture. Pave a special lesson applicable to them only, a&d not to-the multitude. Literallv translated this messaae is: Be not anx:zozhs as respects ;our earthly life, its food and its clothing. Think rather of the lrfe which 1s to come; remember that this present condition is, from the divine standpoint, a death condition. Consider that in you who believe, the new, the eternal life, has already begun, and that if you will faithfully continue under present conditions in living for this new life, and not after the flesh, it will be erfected in the First Resurrection. Think more of your bo 1.res than of tile raiment which covers them: think more of your life than of the natural food bv which it is at present sustained. God is able and wrlling to-give perfect life-and perfect bodirs and perfect conditions to those who believe in me. who walk in mv footsteps and meet my approval. The reason why you &ed not take anxious thought for these temporal things, for which the world takes anxious thought (and necessarily so), is this: you have come into harmony with God, and have been adopted into his family; believing in me. you have been granted liberty to become sons of God. (John 1: 12) AR sons of God, with the new life begun in you, you are to realize that everything of the present life is quite unworthy to be compared with the future and eternal interests. You are to remember that, having consecrated yourselves to the Fathers will in becoming my drsciples. you have given up every interest and matter to his superior wisdom. Be content, therefore; be without anxiety, knowing that so long as you abide in me, and so long as you are walking in my footsteps, your Heavenly Father knoweth what things vou have need of. even before you ask him, and is both able and willing to givewhat is best. Therefore, if in divine nrovidence vou receive novertv as your unavoidable portion, *accept it a\ best for you. a&ording to divine wisdom; remembering that it is our Redeemer who is guarding our future and eternal interest, and permitting such experiences in this present life as will be most ?,eneficial to us, and as will lead most directly to eternal riches and favors, and that in greatest measure. SEPTEMBER 1, 1900 n-0. 17

VOL. ssr

ALLEGHENY,

PA.,

VIEWS FROM THE WATCH

THE CHICAGO LOVE FEAST A love feast from beginning to end! This was the public exprvq\lnn of manv. and :~ppnrmtlr thr sentiment of all in Our T,ord surely poured us out a grand spiritual attendance. Surely if any went away empty blessing and refreshment. it was in part or in whole his own fault. None of our conventions ever e\rhibited more love for the Lord and his truth and his brethren. Indeed each succeeding one seems just a little better than its predecessors, however grand they were. And may we not expert this, as we approach nearer and nearer in our journey toward The general assembly and It would be but reasonable that church of the first-horns? the ripening of the hearts of a larger number should be more and more manifest in the exhibited fruits of the spirit. The Chicago Convention was announced as aThrough CONVENTION OF BELIEVERS IN THE the Precious Blood of Christ-A m His Millennial Kingdom

TOWER

We had a grand time! The Lord be praised! Mav the blessing 30 abundantly poured out not only be lasting in its effect upon those who received it, but may it overflow from them upon the brethren at their various homes. and thus become wide-spread. We know well that we had the loving thoughts and earnest prayers of many thousands not nrivileged to meet with us. Eighty-two symbolized their consecration to death bv water bantism f 46 brothers. 36 sisters) It was a grand sight, such ai is seldom witnessed on earth. We may be sure that our Lord, the great Chief Reaper, and the saints who have already joined him beyond the vail, and also our guardian angel3 who continually minister unto those who shall be heir3 of salvation, looked upon that scene with deep interest, as did some three hundred brethren in the flesh who were witnesses.
SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIANS TROUBLED

Ransom for All,

ATONEMENT

and

missions

lasted for three days, continuously-except for interfor food and rest-and was followed by a colporteurs session in the interest of those already in that service, or about to enter it. The attendanre was the best we have ever had;-three im( 1) Chicagos large population portant items contributing: and the goodly number already interested in the truth there. (3) The unusually low (2) The citys central location. rates of railroad fare granted from every direction and over all roads. The number in attendance was estimated at between 500 and 600, and of these about 300 were from outside Chicago. /2686]

It

The split between Northern and Southern Presbyterian3 during the Civil war made of them practically two distinct bodies or denominations. The troubles and suggestion3 respecting the Confession of Faith have all been amongst the Northern brethren, until lately. However, at the last General Assembly of the Presbyterian church (South) a petition was received from the Presbytery of Brazos, Texas, requesting that the Assembly modify the statements of the Cnnfcsqion regarding the eternal damnation of non-elect infants. The resolution was strangled in committee which reported adversely to any discussion of the Confession fearing no doubt that the question once opened never would close. The representatives of the Brazos Presbytery asked an amendment to

SIYTEMBER

1,

1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(260-272)

Confession reading thus:-_411 dying in infancy are elect infants, and are regenerated, etc., Chapter 10, paragraph 3. Sote now the shrewd but dlshonezt treatment of that petltion (formulated by the committee and adopted by the Assembly) in these words,--i\e recommend that the prayer of the overture be declined, inasmuch as the pxesent language of the Confession cannot, by any fair interpretation, be construed as tencbing that ally of those who he 171 lllfklllc~~ nX lout. Let us read over this paragraph 3, Chapter 10, of the Confession and see whether or not the Bravos brethren and huElect inman1t.y m general have mis-read it. Here it is: fants, dying in infancy, are regenerated, and saved by Christ through the Spirit, who worketh when, and where, and how he pleaseth. So also ale all other elect persons who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word. If the General Assembly were sincere in averring that in their judgment these words do not teach that there are nonelect Infijllts ~110 dying in infancy are lost, then it follows that the+e hrethrcn have totally repudiated the do&line of election tnlight in other paragraphs of their Confession of Faith. Fnr if all iufants are elect, or if the election does not
the

tion niitl I,o,-en~rlc7lrfttro77. Otherwise they would be forced to the po<ititrn tllnt o,rl!/ el~l persons die in infancy and hence mu<t X~+IIIUP tll,lt (:otl spcru~lly intervenes to prezjelzt the nonelect fl OIII (1~II~ in infanrx, slwcially supervising the deaths of tlltt nlilllon~ of infants dymg annually from infanticide, lack of Gilt etc.

take deny

plaw uutll after the period of infancy, then they must all tllnt C.alri~li?im stands foi in the way of Predeslln~c-

131rt to tIlink of the Cknelal Assnnl~ly taking any of the above lwitioih would 1~ altogt+hel unre:lionable, and hence \\ a I( IIn\!IIl11qly (1 folrcd to think of their resolI1tiou as Ind<ill~ in Il~~llc+t~. Iacl.iug in truthfulne+a, which they no

doubt excused on the Jesuitical plea that-It is right to do wrong if thereby you can serve God and the church. However, the church is not served by this false statement, even if a sect is thereby held together a little longer. The true church whose names are written in heaven, and which will eventually include all the truly elect little flock, is never benefited or served by error or falsehood; but, as our Lord declared, only bv the truth-Sanctify them through thy Nor is God served or honored by truth, thy Word ;s truth. such false representations of his Word and plan. Furthermore, the specifications of e2ect infants implies that the flamers of thi3 Confession hat1 in mind Izon-elect Infants who die in infancy, whose fate they left to be implied by the intelligent reader, who, if he accepted this Westminster Confession aS a whole, would lxalievr in elect and non-elect adults, and coupling this with the specifications of the same (ontessinii on predeattnatio~r woultl eonc*lude that crel F 120)2rlfrcf rfrlrflt must at. one tinit, II;I\-~~ INW~ a tlo,~-c/ccf cn/nift, who dying in infancy would have died non-elect and unregenerated and unsaved by Christ through the spilit who worked not upon them at any time nor anywhere nor nnyho\v, because he pleased not so to do, they being non-elect. 0ne would suppose that our dear Presbyter ian friends, finding themselves m such inextricable confuhlon on thiq tloctrine of election. and yet finding mur11 nu the sul>jcct 171 the Bible, would be ready. yes anxiously an11 hungrily naitiug for the reasonable Bible-solution of the subject presented in Milrl,v fvn ot tlirni swnl to be SO. lr~,i~ztrlDaw17. Trt ronlparati\ The only reasonable explanation is tllnt the majority are IlOt sufficiently honest with themsrlrer aud with each other, .7nd with God and his Word. Tbry do not sufficiently lore the truth--error is preferred. They tlo not hunger and thirst after right. Hence also the compnrativtbly ftaw MIIO ale an+ tified through the truth-the lnrpe nuinber failin:! to make their calling and election sure, berau+p un~nnct~ft~tl 1)~ W:I~OII nf their fal%e docti ines.

THE BIBLE

HOUSE,

ALLEGHENY

of the cause naturally feel a deep interest in connc*ctctl Ill ;lll.V 111:111,,11 n it11 tile 11:11vt+t WOl k. IVe hare frequently bren urged to publish the Editcnq picture either in the MAWNS or in these columns; but have as persistently refused. It is the truth rather than its servant that should be honored and proclaimed. There is too much disposition to credit truth to the preacher. forgetful that all truth is of God, who uses one or another servant in its proclamation a< it may please him. How-ever. when requested to publish a photo of our workshop, the l:ible Hour. we could thmk of no reasonable obltctioll. al111 Iic~xm It ii lwing 1r~prodi1~~~1 in thi\ i-<ue. 111(~ rl Ilonr is the chapel in nhich Sunday antI other servtllii II<. :IiP 11~~1~1011 tlhc. tr111 Ilwir. ((*1111(, 1. tliu l~:~lttcll, btndy : III-, 11~un1 seat being near the window at tllr: 11e:rd (if the qulal 6 f P (it,, pc.
PIPI rtllllt~

Friends

GATHER
Heavenly Father, Holy One ! May thy will in me be done; Make my heart submissive, meek, Let me neer mine own way seek! Loving Savior, I would be Ever more and more like thee, Free from pride and self-desire, Fervent with a holy fire.

ALL THY

CHILDREN

HOME

Blessed Lord, thy saints defend, Watching oer them to the end; Day by day their faith increase Keep them in thy perfect peace, Comfort, strengthen, guide and bless, Lead them through the wilderness; And when thy due time shall come, Gather all thy children home ! -G.

W. F.

DO YE EVEN SO TO THEM
All things wlmtsocver ye u~ould that men should do to you,, do ye even so to them.-Matt. 7: 12. Whatever the tests WC apply, Jesus and his teachings are to thy neighbor as he shall wish thee to do to him-not no seen to tower above all others. For instance, we are freticing that this would be a very different rule, and one which quently told that the Golden Rule is found in the writings of might operate very unfavorably in every way. While few are Confucius as well as in the New Testament, and that this is in danger of making a mistake in this direction, many are a proof that Confucius was a teacher equal in rank with inclined to reason on the matter from this standpoint, and to Jcrug. and equally sent of God. And no doubt many of those say: We could not possibly carry out this Golden Rule in the who give this report do 90 in all honesty; for the fact is that ordinary affairs of life, because, for instance, if I were to do many Christians~ have never seen the dkpth and scope of the to my neighbor as I should wish him to do to me, I should Golden Rule given bv *Jesus. and misunderstand it to be the sell him a five-dollar pair of shoes for one dollar; or a twentysnme a3 the maxim by Confucius, which much resembles it. dollar suit of clothes for five dollars; or what he might want There is a wide distinction, however, and in comparison the of wheat or oats at half the usual price. And if I adopted words of Confucius might be termed a brazen rule. His such a rule with one, I should properly adopt it with all, and maxim is. Do not do to others what you would not wish this would soon mean bankruptcy in my business; so, evithem to do to you. 11~ repeat that this is as much as the dently, the Golden Rule cannot be used in human affairs at majority of Christinns have ever seen in the Golden Rule the present time. given by nur Lord. But we answer that this is a mistaken view of the Golden 1Ve would be glad to see the maxim of Confucius received Rule. and whoever examines it should see that the difficulty and acted upon throughout the whole world by every creature, probably lies in the selfishness of his own heart. HP thinks and undoubtedly the result would bc a great blessing to manhis neighbor might expect goods at less than cost, because he kind-a great improvement over present conditions, in which thinks that he himself would be willzng to receive goods at almost everybody except the saints who seek to walk in the less than cost from his neighbor. The appllcatlon of the Goldfootsteps of the Lord are continually doing every day the very en Rule should show him his difficulty: should teach him thing- \\hich they would not wish their neighbors to do to the lesson that when he goes to his neighbor to buy shoes he them. But even tho so great a reformation could be brought must do to his neighbor as he would that his neighbor should about, it would still lenve much to be desired; it would still do to him: he must pay hi4 neighbor a reasonable-pric,, for hi< leave the world far from the condition suggested by our shoes; a reasonable, living nrofit. And likewise in everv other Lords prayer, Thy will be done on earth, as it is done in transaction: the Golden gule teaches us that we sh&ld be heaven. i;or men might, through policy or for other reawilling to pay the farmer for his produce, and the manufar3ons. doal justly with each other, refraining from the doing turer for his, as we would think just if we were the mnnuof such things as they would not wish done to them, and with facturer and making the sale. Likewise, if we were making the sale, we should not think of charging our customers a all that their hearts might be very full of selfishness, meanlarger profit than we would think reasonable if they were the ness. covetousness, etc., and very far from the condition of sellers and we the customers. Whoever of the Lords people. love. therefore, gets thoroughly into the way of using this Golden But \chen we note the comprehensiveness of our Lords Rule in all of lifes affairs will certainly find that it will cleGolden Rule, we find it is absolutely a love-rule; and that it vate their conceptions of justice, righteousness, equity: and leavp;i nothing to be desired: nothing could possibly be added these eodlike aualities will become more and more develoned It is not merei+ a negative liw : Thou to it: it is cd&plete. in the&, as parts of their characters, until they will obey Thou shalt shalt not do an injury; it is a positive law: them not merely because of their harmony with the Masters do Rood. Thou shalt do thy neighbor all the good, all the Golden Rule, but because they will recognize their true beauty kindness, all the service, that thou wouldst have him do to and grandeur. and because their hearts will be in harmonv w thee. This law, which the Apostle calls the law of liberty, with -them. the perfect law, this Golden Rule for life, has no parallel anyBut this rule, while thus inculcating justice, goes beyond where, in any writings, and could not possibly have a superior, this and inculcates benevolence ;-such benevolence and so -a grander sentiment could not possibly be expressed. But much of it as we. with nronerlv balanced minds would be dishow few there are who rightIy appreciate and love this rule, posed to ask of dthers ii wk were the ones in need, in straits. and use it daily in the measurement of their awn conduct! 0 how grandly rounded out in spiritual character would all As already noted, the majority, even of the best people in the of the Lords true saints become, under the influence of this world. the> vast maiorlty of Chriqtiann. fail to discern its Golden Rule! It would not only affect the actions of life, lengths and its breadths, and consider it merely an injunction making them first just toward all with whom they had dealnot to do injury to others. How few, then, joyfully and apings, then, benevolently disposed toward all needing their aspreciatively grasp its sentiments, and seek from the heart to sistance to whatever degree they were able to render assistconform their lives thereto--none but the saints, none but the ance without doing injury to others,-and, additionally, the el&. we may be sure, are thus in heart-harmony with the same law in force would extend also to their every word. essence and spirit of their Heavenly Fathers law of love. Under the regulations of this golden measurement how few There might he danger of some of the Lords people using bitter or angry or slanderous words would be used-for how this role nmiqs and to their injury, by being overgenerous tofew would like to have others use such to or of them-to ward others and not sufficiently careful of themselves; but speak to them in onger and with bitterness and rancor, or to such instances are very rare, because in our entire race the slander them. No wonder the Apostle tells us that those who general result of the f.~ll has been to crowd out love and have put on Christ must put off all these-anger, malice, benevolence. and to fill us with selfishness. So much is this hatred, strife, envy, slanders, etc. Additionally, this Golden the ~aqe that it has brcome a worldly proverb that Self-preRule would lead to kind words, gentle actions, considerate qervntinn is the first rule of life: that self is always to be demeanor; for who would not wish such from his neighbor? numhpr one, and to he cared fnrwell and thoroughiy before As the Apostle again declares, we are to put on as Christian others are to he even considered. graces,-gentleness, meekness, patience, longsuffering, brothEven after we have been begotten of the holy spirit, as erly kindness, love.-Col. 3:8, 12-15. new crest,lres, after the trnnqforming of our minds has beThis Golden Rule, beginning with the outward actions, mln, we all know from experience that the selfishness of the and progressing to our words, would very quickly extend to o:d nature is qo deep-grainetl that it is likely to hold its own our thoughts; and as we would not wish to have others think \lith uq to the very end of life. We have, however, known ungenerously or meanly of us, nor put a bad construction on of come who. in their desire to conform themselves fully to our every act of life, but would rather that they would view the Lords will, have taken an extreme view of this Golden our words and deeds generously and lovingly, so we in turn Rule, and have understood it as tho it said, Thou shalt do [2688] (261)

VSPTEIBER

1, 1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(262-263)

would find, that under the influence of this Golden Rule, our thoughts of others would become more generous, more noble, less suspicious, etc. This Golden Rule is assuredly the divine law which our dear Redeemer expressed in other words at another time, sayWe may ing, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. safely consider, therefore, that the one rule interprets the other, and that to love our neighbor as ourselves signifies that we should love him and do for him as we ourselves would wish him to love us and to do for us. And we could not understand it to mean more than this. God expects of us that we will make reasonable provision for ourselves and for those for whom, by legal or natural ties, we are responsible-our families, our relatives, as the Apostle says: He that urovideth not for his own, and especially they- of his own house, hath denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.-1 Tim. 5-8. Evidently, therefore, our own households are our first charge and responsibility, and must have reasonable attention before we could hope to do for our neighbors. This would indeed be putting a difference between our neighbor and ourselves, and between our neighbors family and our own family, but the matter is well adjusted by the Golden Rule, rightly interpreted, which requires of us that we shall do for our neighbor, in his want and extremity, as we would have him do for us, were we in his circumstances and he in ours. And our minds being leveled up to a plane of justice, we should expect that if we were in distress our neighbor would first make reasonable provision for his own family, and not give to us to the injury or deprivation of those more immediately and more closely dependent upon him. IS THE GOLDEN RULE INCUMBENT? But some one may inquire: Is it necessary for us as Christians to attempt to carry out this Golden Rule in our dailv lives? When we see that very few even of Christian people appreciate the rule, or to any extent seek to carry it out. mav we not consider that it is a verv good rule. but that its observance is not made incumbent upon us, and that our attainment of eternal life and heavenly glory are not linked with the observance of this Golden Rule? May we not condider it rather as a good standard to have in mind as the perfect law, but consider that we are not to live up to that standard in any sense of the word? We answer that this Golden Rule was the one by which our dear Redeemers every action was measured, the one according to which he lived, and under which he laid down his life on our behalf, and it is essential to and incumbent upon All who all those who would be his disciples, his followers. hope to become his joint-heirs in the kingdom are required to walk in his footsteps as he set us an example (1 Pet. 2:21), or, as another Apostle declares, God has fore-ordained to have an elect church to be joint-heirs in the kingdom with Christ, but he has equally fore-ordained that none shall ultimately be acceptable as members of that glorified church except such as shall, in the present life, become copies of Gods dear Son, our Lord Jesus : and to copy him means to copy the Golden Rule, It follows. which was exemnlified in him and in his course. therefore, that whoever expects to share the kingdom must ive diligence to the formation of character, and that this fi olden Rule is necessary in such formation of character-to develop in us not the principles of equity, or justice only, but also the spirit of love, of unselfishly doing good to others.Rom. 8:2X
, Y Y

Since we are not all alike fallen, not all alike selfish, it follows that some walk much nearer to the spirit of the divine Law, attain much closer to the measurement required by the Golden Rule, than can others; yet no fallen creature can walk fully up to the requirements of the Golden Rule, so long as handicapped by the various weaknesses of the flesh; and here the grace of God in Christ makes up our deficiencies: those who-are able to follow the pattern most closely are still far from following it absolutely, and consequently need to have the merit of the precious blood of Christ imnuted to them to make up for their shortcomings; and those who are still more fallen, and who, with their very best efforts, are still further from measuring up to the grand standard of the Golden Rule, need that much more of Gods grace to compensate for their deficiencies. Hence the Apostle declares that where sin and imperfection abound the most, there Gods grace correspondingly abounds the more; so that those who are in Christ and seek to walk in his footsteps, who are in their hearts measuring themselves with the-Golden Rule, and seeking to the best of their ability to live up to its requirements, may be succeeding variously in their endeavors, from the worldly standpoint; but from the divine standpoint all such are reckoned as having their blemishes fully covered with the merit of our dear Redeemers sacrifice, and that therefore the righteousness of the Law, its true meaning, its spirit, and the true measure of the Golden Rule, is reckoned as fulfilled in them to divine acceptance,-perfectly. But it is not merely to have this Golden Rule thus reckonedly fulfilled in us for a day or for a week or for a month that counts us overcomers, but that we shall faithfully continue to walk as closely in the Lords footsteps as we may be able, faithfully continuing to use his Golden Rule to the best of our ability; and that we shall do this day by day and year by year with continued and increasing zeal, until our Master, watching the process of development of character, shall say, It is enough; the character is fixed: the love for rinhteousness is permanent and thoroughly developed; the spirit of love is indelibly marked, and altho there still remain in the flesh traces of selfishness, yet they are dim and faint in comparison with the original mark, and give good evidence of victorv gained, not in the flesh, but in the heart, in the will. They shall be mine, saith the T,ord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels.-Mal. 3:17. ANOTHER SERIOUS ERROR MADE BY SOME IN APPLYING
THE GOLDEN RULE TO LIFE

DIVINE

STRENGTH

PERFECTED

IN

HUMAN

WEAKNESS

But here again comes in the question, How can those who hv nature are fallen and imnerfect. and full of inherited selfiihness and meanness, everhope to keep this Golden- Rule, which is the full measure of a perfect mans obedience, and which, with all his well-doing and sacrificing, was not more How could we hope than fulfilled by our Lord Jesus himself? to be aonroved as keeoers of this Golden Rule. in the sight of him who can read, not only the outward conduct, but alio the thoughts and intents of our hearts? We answer that here comes to our relief the gracious arrangement which God has provided for this Gospel age, viz., iustification -- bv faith. Our iustification not onlv covers the a---~4 sins that are past (Rom. 3:25), and makes usacceptable to God in Christ, so that we can offer ourselves as living sacrifices upon his altar, but, more than this, it stands with us all the way down the journey of life, and according to Gods grace in Christ it compensates for, or makes up for us all of our unintentional deficiencies, BO that, as the Apostle says, The righteousness of the Law [expressed in the Golden Rule1 in fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.-Rom. 8 : 4.
[ 26891

Undoubtedly the Golden Rule has, to a considerable extent, exercised an inpue7lce over even worldly people (nominal Christians), where such have come more in contact with the true saints who endeavor with more or less zeal to recognize and to use the Golden Rule in the measurement of their daily conduct, without their being keepers of it is a rule, or even professing so to do. And even amongst Christians who have given themselves to the Lord, and who fully desire that his will in every particular shall be done in them, and who recognize this Golden Rule as a grand expression of the divine will. we believe there are serious misapprehensions respecting the proper manner of its use. For instance, among the noblest of the Lords people are some who say, We will turn our backs on society and worldly enjovments, and devote what time we have at our disposal to the improvement of the fallen -to moral reforms, social reforms, financial reforms, the reforming of drunkards, etc. And still others, imbued with the same spirit, and with the same desire to fulfil this Golden Rule, say, We will leave home and friends, and go into far-off lands as missionaries, to preach Christ to the heathen. We are bound to appreciate such noble sentiments. whether we can agree with the conclusions as to methods of work, etc., or not. We love the noble principle which, if not in every instance, at least in many cases, lies at the foundation of such sacrifices of time, influence, convenience. etc.: it is an outworking of the Golden Rule in these dear friends, saying to themselves and to others, If we were in the slums or in heathen degradation, we should wish that some of Gods children would come to us, to lift us up and enlighten us, and hence we should do so to others, even as we would, if our conditions were altered, that they should do to us. This is sound reasoning and a proper application of the Golden Rule, and yet also: we believe,-a mistaken or wrong one. One of the first lessons that the Christian is called upon to learn in the School of Christ is, that his judgment is defertive; that not only our physical powers have deeenerated through the fall, but that- likewise-our mental powers have suffered: so that the whole world todav is not onlv un sound of body, but also unsound of mind, &sound of judg

(264-265)

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

ALLEGHENY. PA.

ment. The primary lessons of Gods children in the School of Christ are to the effect that we all lack wisdom. and that for this very reason he has provided his Book, the Bible!that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished.-2 Tim. 3:16. 17. We are taught in the Book that the work of salvation is one too ereat for humanitv itself. and that therefore God has undertaken the work ; we are taught that he has not left the matter to operate itself at random, neither has he left it to our imperfect judgments and puny efforts: we are taught that the great Savior of the world planned his work from the foundation of the world, and yet that it was four thousand venrs and more before he took the first great step for its accompIiQ~ment, namely, the giving of his Son to bc the redemntion mice of Adam and his race (1 Pet. 1:20) : we are taught th:Lt having begun thi\ work of salvation God has not ahandoned it, and does not intend to abandon it, but that eventually he shall bring forth judgment [trial] unto victorv;-and that eventually our Lord Jesus shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul on mans behalf, and shall be satisfied:-that eventually the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the whole earth. and all shall know him from the least to the greatest; that cventualiv he shall bring in everlasting righteousness. so that the time shall uItimateIy come when all the families of the earth shall be blessed with the knowledge of Gods goodness and grace, and with an opportunity to benefit therehv: that eventuallv whosoever will not obey the great Prophei-King shall be cut off from amongst the people in the second death; that, eventually there shall be no more dvmg. no more sighing, no more crying. no more pain there, because the former things of Adamm sin and its penalty and blight shall have been done away.-Isa. 14:24, 27 ; 65:ll; Matt. 12:20; Isa. 53:ll; 11:9; Jer. 31:34; Acts 3:19-23; Rev. 21:3, 4 But many of Gods dear people overlook these gracious provisions and promises of his Word, and partaking to a considerable extent of the spirit of love they forget that Gods love is still greater than-their own, even -as Gods wisdom is rzreater than theirs: hence thev lose sight of the fact that the- entire plan of salvation isof God, &rd that he has not abandoned it to others, but will carry it out himself in his It is because they forget this that they beown due time. come burdened with the weight of responsibility, and feel as tho the salvation of the world r&cd upon themselves-and, impressed with this feeling of self-importance and forgetfulness of Gods Word, they go into the mission work, slum work, and to the heathen. They forget, and are greatly disadvantaged by so doing, that God has already declared, AS the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my plans higher than your plans, and my ways higher than your ways.-Isa. 55:8, 9. As a consequence of this oversight and misdirection of effort, these dear friends are doing works now which God intends shall be done in a future age, and which can and will be done then to very much better advantage every way. God has appointed the Millennial age for this work of lifting up the weak. onerring the blind eyes of the barbarians, and unstopping their dull ears to hear the message of divine grace. God ha9 annointctl that when his time for this great work, in which he ismore interested than any of his creatures possibly could be. will come, the conditions will be favorable to the sucresa of his plan, which he guarantees us will succeed, and will bring blessings to all the families of the earth, and will enlighten every man born into the world.-Gal. 3 : 16, 29; John 1:9; Acts 3:19-21. Gods Word informs those who seek his counsel, that at that time Satan shall be bound so that he may deceive the nations no more, as he is now doing (Rev. 20:1-3) : that during that period of Satans restraint those whom he now blinds (2 Cor. 4:4) with various doctrines, sophistries, superstitions, etc., will be freed from these, and have the eyes and ears of their understanding opened. It informs us also, that at that time he will establish as the King over all the earth his honored agent, who gave his life as -a ransom for mankind: and that our Lord Jesus will establish the kinedom of God amongst men, a kingdom not merely in name, butalso in power and in fact; one which shall rule the world, forcibly putting down sin, oppression, ignorance, superstition, darktruth, and every good ne.ss ; and raising up righteousness, nrincinle and infiuence for the blessing and uplifting of those khom he purchased with his preciou< blood.- It informs us that, under his beneficent reian all evil shall be subdued. that ewn clcnth shall he conquel%d: and that all mankind,freed from the Adamic sentence of death, may, if they will, then
1

attain unto eternal life and full human perfection, and that only the wilful sinners against light and opportunity will be utterly destroyed in the second death.-1 Cor. 15:24-28; 2 Thess. 1:8, 9; Acts 3:23. The same Word instructs us that the Lords plan for the present age does not purpose the conversion of the world; nor its salvation in any sense of the word: nor its uplifting: but that his plan, on the contrary, is simply the developmeit of the church, the foreordained and uredestinated number. a little flock,. who must all be selected from amonast men. and every one of them be copies of Gods dear Son. (Ram: 8:29) It also informs us that this work of God in this age is the work in which we are invited to be co-workers together with God. It points out to us that this is the work of the bride-to make herself ready for the marriage (Rev. 19 :7) ; that the special work in this present time consists not only in the callimg of the church, but also in the building up of one another, among the called ones, in the most holy faith;-helping one another to perfect holiness in the reverence of the Lord,-showing us that a large part of our work is in our own hearts, cleansing ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, helping one another to make our calling and our election sure, by perfecting in our hearts the Golden Rule.-2 Cor. 7: 1; Jude 20. But overlooking the particular service marked out for those who would be co-workers with God in this aee. our dear friends, now criticised, misuse their Golden RuI< by applying it outside of the class for which the Lord intended it in this age. It will be applicable to all the heathen world and the sub-stratum of society in the Millennial age, but now it is applicable chiefly to the household of faith. True, if we could accomplish al1 that the Lord would have us accomplish for the household of faith, it would then be very proper for us to extend our efforts to the heathen and lower strata of society, rather than to sit down in idleness; but so far from finding that we have not enough to engage our time in the household of faith, we find that we are in the harvest-time of the age, and that the harvest is great and the laborers are few, and that there is much more than enough to engage all our time and energies amona the brethren whom the Lord our God has called. Hence-the Golden Rule calls us to be exercised chiefly amongst these, and not amongst those whom the Lord our God has not yet called, but who are left, in the divine plan, for a calling and blessing of another kind in the next age-the Millennial age. Looking back we see that our dear Master, who gave the Golden Rule, observed it in the manner we are now advocating. Living in the end of the Jewish age, and knowing that the divine favors and blessings at that time were confined to fleshlv Israel. our Lord. with a full annreciation of the Golden Rule,nevertheless used it in strict harmony with the Fathers plan ; and accordingly instructed his twelve apostles also, saying, Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles. and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not; for I am not sent save to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Matt. 10:56; 15: 24, 26) Likewise the apostles understood that while, at the death of Christ, the middle wall of partition, which had heretofore separated divine favor from other nations, was now broken down, so that, so far as God was concerned, the Gospel message was open to every creature,-nevertheless, that every creature had not open ears for the Gospel, and that according to the Lords plan he would not open their ears until his due time, the Millennial age, and hence it was that the apostles sought for the class to whom the present message, the high calling for the church, was intended,-He that hath an ear, let him hear. Pursuing this policy of searching for those who had ears to hear, the Apostle Paul, sent by the Lord to be the great messenger of grace to the Gentiles, did not say within himself (as some-of our dear missionary friends - seem to say within themselves). I will seek out the most illiterate and degraded people iuthe world, that I may lift them up.- Had this been the Apostles sentiment he doubtless would have hastened, with his coadjutors, southward from Jerusalem into darkest Africa, or eastward from Jerusalem into India, with its hundreds of millions, and still further eastward into China, with its hundreds of millions, in utter ignorance of God and steeped in sunerstition. But the Anostle had made a better stud% of the d<vine plan. and knew that the times of restitution, the Millennial age, was set apart by God for this eeneral ualift of mankind: and that it would be a waste of effort to nndertake to do that work in advance of Gods cooperation ; in advance of his time and in advance of his arI

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rangements, which his wisdom foresaw would be necessary to the accomplishment of that work. The Apostle reasoned, on the contrary, God hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17 :31), and that appointed day is a future day, the Millennial day.; and if God has appointed that day to be the time for the worlds judgment, it would be folly on my part to attempt to bring in a judgment of the world sooner than God intends it, even if I were able to do SO. He reasoned, further, that if God has appointed a future day for iudaina the world in general. then the world in general is hot on-trial or under judgment in the present Gospel day, and hence might just as well be left in their heathen darkness a little longer. as God alreadv had left them in heathen darkness for Omdre than four thousand years,-and he reasoned wisely, logically. He was instructed of the Lord, and hence he had the spirit of a sound mind, and did not attempt to do an utterly impossible and hence a foolish thing. He did not attempt to be either wiser or more loving than the Heavenly Father, but trusting to the Heavenly Fathers wisdom and love he sought to know the will of God now. in this nresent age, that he might thus be an ambassador for God and a COworker together with him. Nor was he left in darkness. He was instructed of the Lord, and he in turn instructs us, that the work of the present age is the work of preparing the judges of the world, who, when the great day of the worlds iudgment or trial shall have dawned, will be prepared to execute judgment and justice in the world. and to bless with a riahteous rule all the families of the earth. He informs us that the saints now being tried (judged), tested and developed in character are undergoing this severe process, and are -required to walk in the narrow wav. to the intent that thev mav be fit to be instruments of God for judging the WO& in righteousness when the due time for that judgment shall have come. (1 Car. 6 :2, 3) Consequently, we find that the Apostles energies, so far from being directed to the substratum of society, the heathen and the barbarians, were directed to the very opposite rlase. He sought the best people in the world; the most moral people and the most intelligent; the people most advanced in every sense of the word-believing, and rightly, that the reasonable and gracious plan of Ggd would-commend itself better to such than to the sodden and benighted and stupefied and degraded minds of the barbarian he&hen. Conservatively, the Apostle first sought the intelligent classes of Asia Minor, and after having gone through various cities (not attempting nor expecting to convert the people en masse, but merely hoping, in harmony with the divine program, to find a few, a little flock, and to establish these in nrincinles of riahteousness and in the School of Christ. to iearn of him and to develop character, and to be prepared for the future work of judgship and joint-heirship with Christ in the kingdom)-the Apostle pressed on to find still others who had ears to hear. The declaration of the Scriptures is that he and his company purposed to go into Asia, but that under divine providence he seemed to be hindered from going there, and that then God specially directed him in a dream, and sent him into Europe with the message-sending him, not to barbarians, but to the most enlightened and mosr cultured people of the then And civilized world. the neonle of Greece. (Acts 16:7-10) we remember that la&r &n the Lord sent the Apostle to Rome, telling him in advance that this was his purpose, and seemingly-in order to keep the Apostle in Rome he was sent there a nrisoner. vet for three vears was wrmitted to have full liberty to preach Christ to as many~ a$ had ears to hear. And let us not forget a circumstance which occurred in connection with the journey to Rome, when the Apostle was ship(Acts 28:1-10) He found wrecked on the Island of ?Ilelita. there a people who, so far as we are able to judge, were on the average- better prepared for the truth than the Chinese, Malavs. etc.. and of these the record savs. The barbarians We might suppose that barshowed us no little kindness. barians who were disposed to be kind and generous to people who were ship-wrecked on their coast, would be a rather more favorable class to approach with the gospel of Christ than cannibals, to whom missionaries of today frequently go. And yet what do we find as the result of the Apostles stay in the midst of that people all that winter? Do we read that he left several fiourishing little missions? Do we read that he preached day and night unto the barbarians? Not a word of it :no mention is made of the slightest effort to reach them. The Apostle seemingly knew that they were too degraded to have any ear to hear the Christian message,
,
,,

or to be called with the high calling which God during this We age is sending forth, to gather the bride for his Son. have every reason to believe that the Apostle made no effort whatever to make known the Gospel of Christ to those heathen people. Quite possibly while he was there forcibly detained in their midst, and unable to reach those who would have an ear to hear the good tidings, he may have attempted to suggest to them certain moral reforms, or how to live more comfortably, or something else that would come within the range of their measure of intelligence. But apparently he had no thought whatever that the Gosnel High Calline was for such, and hence the Golden Rule, operatini in his IFfe and governing his conduct, was limited accordingly-limited to act in harmony with the divine revelation and the divine plan. Why is it that the example of Jesus and his inspired apostles is overlooked by so many of our dear Christian friends today? Why is it that they use their Golden Rule without respect to the divine plan and divine promise ? We answer, It is because some of them are leanine to their own understanding, instead of seeking the divine Gord. and to be taught of God; they think they know what ought to be done without inquiring of Gods Word, and they are going about to do what thev think should be done. rather than seeking to follow heavens directions and Apostolic example. Manyof them, indeed, are not self-conceited to the extent of being careless respecting advice ; indeed, many of them are quite lacking in thought on their own Dart, and onlv too willing and too anxiousto take advice 02 others; bul they are not sufficiently careful where they get the advice. They say to themselves, We belong to the Presbyterian body: look at its millions; look at its education ; look at its influence. Or, We belong to the Methodist body: look at its numbers, influence, etc., etc. The same is trueof the others. And then they ask, Is it possible that all these wise and learned men should be mistaken? Do thev not all advocate that we should thus go out to preach the gospel amongst the heathen? Yes, we answer; this is a part of the delusion: many of the great and worldly-wise have adopted a theory, and are attempting to operate the Golden Rule whollv outside of and in utter neglect of the divine plan. Their theory is that Gods kingdom tis come. and thev noint to the civilized nations of Europe and America as e&de&es and nroofs that Gods kingdom -has come, and they say, What all zealous Christians should now do is to convert the Chinese nation, the Japanese nation, India, and all the tribes of the earth. that these also may become-Christian nations like those of~Europe and America, and thus the whole world will become Gods kingdom. But we answer, This is false, utterlv false: the nations of Europe and America are not Gods kinbdom, notwithstanding the fact that they claim to be Christyan nations, and that they put upon their coins that their monarchs reign by the grace of God. They are all, at best and at most, kingdoms of this world, under the control of Satan, the prince of this world. (John 14:30) These are the kingdoms which at the advent of Christs kingdom he declares shall be broken in pieces as a potters vessel, as being utterly unfit for his service, and utterly out of harmony with the principles of righteousness which will be established in his kingdom.-Rev. 2:26, 27; Dan. 2:45. Alas! if these kingdoms of so-called Christendom be the fulfillment of our dear Redeemers prayer which he taught us as his disciples, Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven-if we must accept these as Gods kingdom, if we must think of their rule as being Gods will done on earth as it is done in heaven-then some of us are greatly disappointed, for we find that Gods will is very little done on earth, and consequently heaven, if no better than this, must be a pandenomium in comnarison to what we L had honed for. But we are not mistaken; the Lords Word everywhere teaches that the present Gospel age is for the selection of the kingdom class, the saints, who by and by, in Gods due time, shall be joint-heirs with Christ in his kingdom, and inheritors with him of the great promises made to-Father Abraham, that this seed, Christ (head and bodv-Gal. 3 : 16. 291. shall bless all the families of the earth, as Gods kingdo; bringing in everlasting righteousness. Would to God that we could assist to some-extent in opening the blinded eyes of Christendom on this subiect: and vet we could not hone to render any assistance tothe general mass of churchia&y,for it is the divine plan that not the tares, but only the wheat, shall now understand.-Dan. 12: 10; 1 Thes. 5:3-5. All we can hope for is that those who are the Lords true
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saints are not, and never have been, fully satisfied with the position in which they are, and the work which they are doing: but renl]Pe a heart-hunger for somethmg better, more satisfactory, and more in harmony with the divine character and PO\\ cr--that these n h:) have ears, and who have already heard to <nmc extent the true Gos~~cl, might now hear the true ring of the ~Sbc~~hertls VOIW, :lnd thus be cnllcd away from Bnby!on ajjtl its confusion of error, Its jargon of contrndlction an.1 ln~InceIlty, lo the green pasturch and still waters of divine trntll-prcssnt TV ut,h---thn t ihus qcparated (delivered

from Babylons bondage) they might be more fully united with the Shepherd himself, and become co-workers together with God in his work, learning to exercise the Golden Rule in their own hearts, in their own lives, and to help others of the household of faith and the bride of Christ t,o do the same Wor are we to overlook the fact that while the present Gospel meqsngc is for the highest types of men, it appeals specially to the middle class of these--the humble but intelligent rather than the rich or great. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.--l\lntt 11:25. 26.

VVATCHING AND ITS REWARD

Lc;I<E: 12 : 35.46.--sLST. Ira?tlr IC gc,od, is 1s xh5olutely indi~~prnsable to Christian lif(a It J11raii9. not onl>- d living faith, hut n Tzrowing faith. ll\p~~r~cJJrr \\ ill prove that, neglect of either private prn!~si- (Jl.itt f;:(i) or prayer in the con;;rcgation of the Lnrll, ~x!~flt. iAds 11:4, 5; 12:lL: 1.14: 1G:lZ; 1 Cor. 14: 19 i 1 i- sule to lead to leanncs+ of soul and lukewarmnest. in W-IKY+ to spirltnnl thinns-urifaithfulne~s, coldness, tIea th ! in tide contr.lry, roJJJn~un~&J u it11 the Lord in prayer bring3 Inc~r~~:r<r~lVOJifitl~JJCC in the Lords supervision of our aflail ~ncrcn-(~1 t,lJtlJ in all the euceeding great and precious oronii~ei of hi, L! ortl : increnqed realization of his dealineu. ;ast Jntl ,ir~=d :Jt : Jni~Jt~)t-t~~l Invc~ f(,r all the b&hrPJJ of Chri;:t, anrl inVl( a~11 solicitutlc for their welfare ant1 Spiritual progto\! art1 Cod. Our C:oltlc~ is nece+nrv. the hrethiqai;tl all men. Tc\t s:Jp=eql s, hnivever. fhd, Ir:lying tllilt does not fully

23.

I
Jnure tljan prayinn represent the sent:

mentq of the hrdrt is apt kcry quickly to degenerate into a mcrc fr,rm of \\ortls---tlrawin~ nigh to the, T,ord with the lips while liir llr:JJ t, is far frmil him,-prrk8p.L enwrapped in husiWhoever. therefore, would make ne+3 or pleaqure or sin.
+i,iJ itual way must not only pray with the fl~c LIII~CJ standing. hut he must also watchthcx sinful tendencies of his own flesh-self-gratification. Qelfl.llll~~s. also against the allur~~ments of the world to\\nrO \o-r:~llc rl anridly plraqurcs, wo~.ldly ambitions, honor prngrr=s

spirit, azainct

in the n1111 with

amongst ,ncn. 11~ lore of n41.1nry. (ate.; alao against. the wiles \\v:ioc:r tlrrcitfnl :Jtt.ieli< usually cnme upon I,f 1hP :lri\rl-,Ir\., tllc T,nrtl5 ~~*~plr as an :~n~el of light--to dpr*cive them into iorms an(i crr:~rrlr)ltic~s of Churehinnity, substituting before the mind ?11r1 ::f?~v tim? SIJI*~ consccrntc~tl inteiitionq, human sentiJllrl1t:lnf1 m~~tllotl~ .:nd \vo~kq and ol)jertive~, as instead of (Col. 1 .23) and its 111~ !ln:3p + l~i,~J $1 JJ. JJI the C+o~pel 11v wl10~e In\,I! ioIl. , \IY~l~lJ!lL L!, I1 .IIII~ 1)~ c~~~i~)n3 1 0misr5. c"c'Jlt iv, tl~r IAJYC! IIXS chilled 11s to walk and to run, l~.y faith ~II th(, fnotstrp~ of nur Redeemer. .Intl IrrBt, 111 ~,I~ill, f81llowillg 0111 !,'.w,: 11 scii clr:~I~ particularly with the watching; Ill;! 111I:.lrft)nnv u itll t)lc Goldcr~ Test we know that all true
ii ,I tt.itc.1 w Jllil\l :I ISI) 1~2 praypr~. and tljnt all fervent p:ayers 1, i!l :i~ l),b w;Jicl~cr+. Pr;l\ er represents the faith ; watchIII;: I( I)r(~~JlJ+ rhe \vr)rL.-: whirl: n;ust nccoinpany il. so long .I- l! i\ :: liviilz fsxilh: for. as the Anostle declaren. Pait,li

reward-hc wou!d honor them by treating them as his friend> and bring forth to them of the good things from his pantry He would indeed gird himself as a servant and serv: tllrer faithful ones : and-for the master of the JIou\c to do thih would imply the bringing forth of the very Iwqt that he IJO +?SSWl. in oigle,. to fnlfil tile c~ontlltlnn~ ,~vII Iw 11111~ Hut acceptable to their mnster tllry mrjst he rcarly in \\hnt(*\er hour of the night he might come. The parable, withoul question, refers to th(h second cons ing of our Lord Jesu?. and points out to all of hi5 f?ithfn! servants tlie propel attitude of watchfulness :IJJ~ PI cl>nration to receive him at whatever time his se~nr! atlrcbnt shoulll occur. It also indicates that it was tljp Lords g:clotl pk,~sJJrr not lo reveal definitely and positively to his peolll(b when ttl expect his arrival, but rather- that ail the D;II tl& n thjou~l~ this niulrt-time wllicli we deqiznate the Gn4nrl a?C. anti Ivhich I I, c must necessarily precctlc the morning of the ?Illllcnni;ll da), they bhould be continually awake, alert, waiting for him They slJolll~l have t11c ready to receive him at any moment. loins of their minds girt up and bc :Ict,i\v 111 thuugh1. 111 word and in deed. in every matter kxltaininr to the AIastab lamp of service, that they might be approved of hi;;l;--the* the divine \Tord. so necessarr to their enli~htrnmrnt. hhoulti bc with them, a&l well sup$iei \vith thcoil of tiles hoi\ . . splrlt-and ncll trimmed, in the SCJIS~~ of ~i:htly (lividlng the word of truth, and seeking to nnder~tantl thrnll.gh it their proper attitude of heart and contlurt, to bp pleaslng to their Master. The parable is a very simple one, n~jcl could scnrccsly by misapprehended by the class for whom all p~lables are ins tended--the consecrated church. Tllcse realize at once that the central thonght wit!] them, as the Lord< wrnnts, mu-t be such readiness of heart and mind and character as will 1)~
pleasing to the Master when he shall rojne to gather hli

jewels,-his watching, faithful servants. This thoug!lf of the return of the Lord, and of the hlessings which he has promised to his faithful ones at that time, is the great incentive set before the called ones of this Gospel age. It is fol the Masters favor and the consrquent rsnlt~lxnn with 1111r, to a share in his kingdom, then to he established, and a share in the great work of blessin g the world of mnnkintl, then to he accomplished, th:lt al1 of the saints RIP srrking, watching praying, striving. \Tell ha9 the Apnstlt~ nnid. He t,llat h:JtlJ this ljope in hijjl purifieth himhrlf even as he [the looked-for Alaster] is pure. It is this hope that Ipads the faithful selvnnts cnntinunllv to the lamp of the divine Word, to trim it and to thereb;. keep themselves thoroughly awake, quick of ear and quick of eve in respect to any and every thing relating to the will of the eupecM Master, and such conditions of heart-purlt) and robes of riehteourncss as wnnld be plea+ and accept:Jl~le in his sight at his arrival.

thca p2r;Jl)le. such srrvRnts are Jcprcccnted :Jq hnvIoiJJs FiJ t nhnut and their Iamnq bnrninrr hrirrhtlv. 111~ c~jiqtorn of 0ricnl:ils at that time w:15 to wear Lng,ioosc. Ilo\\ itI<? roles. IhPsr. when they wtarc ic%ting, were loosened .tSI tllc giitllr i)iit when attentlinq to husineqs they were drnwn c,ightl\ at the w,liLt \vJtlJ il girtll(b or belt, prevrrjtjjq them Lamps, which vt-~e the from ijitrrtc~rinp with proper service. I,lode of illnnJinntinJ~. were aI90 Jjrrcssary in the Jjiqht, and not he pcrmittcd to grow dim, but be trimmed as \hnJJl(!

I i fi~w.

in

1~rr thl,ir

J.

ncceqsitv rcquirctl. Ollr Lord points out that such faithful servanti would be appreciated by their master, and that hr would give them a [2692]

Let all watchers fully appreciat.e this parable, and be on guard against c~rery ensnarement of the adversary, and against the stnlxf&g influence OF the world and its spirit. and against the selfishness and weaknesqes of his own flesh: and let e:lch put on the gracrs of the spirit, and assist his fellow-servants in these preparations. that thus an entrance map be ministered to him into the everlasting kingdom of our T,ord and Savior. Jesus Christ.-2 Pet. 1 :4-12. What great blindness and spiritual stupor respecting so simple a parahlr iq manifested by rnxny who are regarded a$ teachers in nominal Zion, in respect to this lesson! Note the interpretation of it nflered hy one of the leading Helps to Sunday Srhnol teachers. The writer evidently is not so blind a$ to fail to see that the parable relates in some manner to the second coming of c)ur Lord; hut he is so blinded

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by misconceptions, false doctrines, etc., as to give the follow ing as an explanation :The cominps of the Lord are ever unexnected to us,-his coming-at dearh, his coming to judge the &orld, his cbming in his kingdom, his coming in the harvest-times of men, his coming in the crises of our lives, his coming with opportunities and open doors, his coming with the power of the holy Spirit. This blind teacher thus believes in seven comings of Christ, additional to his first coming eighteen centuries ago. More than this, the words we quote signify that the writer believes that a coming of Christ occurs every time a death occurs (or possibly he limited this to the death of his saints; but other teachers of the same school of darkness, when preaching funeral sermons, are accustomed to announce the Lords coming in the death, not only of saints, but of pretty nearly evervbodv) . This writer further claims a coming of Christ in all the crises as well as in all the opportunities of human Hc evidently believes (may we not say, dreams?life. is not awake, and surely his lamp is not he surely trimmed and burning, nor the loins of his mind girt about) that there are millions of comings of Christ. Moreover, speaking (in his dreamr) as a mouthpiece of the *great adversary. be speaks of the harvest-time of men-evidently to direct attention awav from the Masters explanation that the harvec;t-time will be the end of this age, in the which he himself will be the great Chief Reaper, and will associate with him his faithful servants in the work of gathering the nhent, (his faithful) into his barn (the spiritual condition). --n17tt. 13.40. Note another method of wresting the Scriptures, and of attracting the minds of the Lords people away from the great trnth evervwhere set forth in the Scrintures. and narticularly enunciated. in this parable, viz., the se&d cdming bf our Lorh as Kin?. and the duty of all his faithful ones to be ready, expecting and joyously waiting for that event. This perversion and wresting of the Scrintures is in the interest of temperance. and represents the Gatching as implying temperance work, thnq : Not only those who are laboring and prqying for temperance reform, but the young people especially, ahonld be wide awake and watchful in regard to temperance. They should watch the effect oi strong &ink upon- others. They should watch its effect upon the communi$i. They should he on their guard ag.ainst the smallest beginnings of the halbit of using intoyicatmg liquors. They should watch for opportnnities of helping on the cause of temperance by word and hy example, in public and in private. IS it anv wonder we hear the Master prophesy respecting the unfaithfulness amongst his professed people at this time, saying, When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find the faith on tlic earth? The form of the question implies the answer. No: he will not find the faith flourishing in the earth,-not prenominating. Other Scriptures, however, assure us that at the time of his coming he will find a little flock of faithful watchers-not many great, wise or learned, but chiefly the poor of this world, rich in faith, heirs of the kingdom. As for Babvlon in general, she is saying, with louder voice than cvcr, Have we not done! done! done! Are we not rich and increased in goods! Are we not compassing sea and land to make nroselvtes! But tie Maiter will say, Thou art poor and blind and miserable and naked. and knowest it not! (Rev. 3:17) Thv collects, of which thou dost boast, are thevnot the ve& hoibedsof infidelity, denying my Word-denying that my- work was perfect in the bekinning, and that present conditions of sin and degradation and death are the nenalties of violation of my righteous law; denying also the Value of my sacrifice for dins, given that the heavenly Father might be just and yet the justifier of him that believeth in me; deny&g that holy men of old spake and wrote as they were moved by the bolv spirit, and claiming a superior wisdom as higher critICS, by which they determine that myself and my chosen and Inspired apostles were ignorant and incompetent and drccxived whm we quoted the words of the prophets and applied thenl: denying also my second coming, to &ather my little flock the churcll. to associate them with me in the kingdom promised through the prophets, which shortly shall bless all the families of the earth; claiming, on the contrary, that all things continue as they were from the beginning,-that a nrocess of evolution is in nroeress. and that no Redeemer. no redemption and no rest.it&.io~ are necessary-some of them going so far as to claim that no personal deity is necessary hut that what they call the laws of evolution are the creator, preserver and savior of the race.
Y

Is it any wonder that under such false teachings in high places, and the same teachings repeated with more or less of ability throughout the length and breadth of Babylon-is it any wonder that my people are perishing for lack of knowledge? (Hos. 4:6) They have hidden the key of knowledge, and not only fail to enter into the privileges and opportunities of this Gospel age and its call, but them that would enter in they hinder by their false teachings and misrepresentations, putting darkness for light, and light for darkness.-Luke 11:52; 2 Pet. 2: 1; 3:3, 4; Amos. 8: 11; Matt. 23: 13; Isa. 5:20. Alas! that any whose eyes of understanding have been opened in any degree should be deluded into supposing t,hut he can do God service by co-operating with Babylon in an) measure, sense or degree. Surely they are under the blinding and stupefying influence of the adversary when they do not hear sharply and distinctly the Lords message to all of his true people at this time, to come out of Babylon and be not partakers of her sins, her errors, her false teachings, and the crime implied in these, and on account of which severe scourgings are coming upon Babylon, and will fall with special severity upon tnose who had known better, and who for anp reason have refused to obey the voice of him that speaketh from heaven-our present Lord, King, Bridegroom.-Heb 12 :25-27 ; Rev. 18 :4. Our Lord applied the parable in few words, saying, Be ye, therefore, ready also, for the Son of Man cometh at an honr that ve think not. That is to say, wntchfulncqs for the great event of the Kings return would be absolutely indispensahle, and would constitute a mark or indication of those worthy to be called true servants or brethren. We are not to make the mistake of supposing our Lord to mean, Watch incessantly, for you will not know when I do come. This would be an absurdity. The central thought of the parable is that the faithful servants, awake and watching at the proper time, will hear the knock, will recognize the Lords presence. will open to him, in the sense of believing and accepting his presence, and will be rewarded by bim in the time of his presence by being supplied special knowledge respecting heavenly things which would be meat in due season to their comfort and joy. All who are faithfully watching shall know when the event occurs, so surely as those who do not watch shall not know. The Apostle Paul speaks of this same great event and of the same class of watchers, designating them brethren: and after evplaining that the second coming of our Lord would be upon the world as a thief and a snare, and that the world will not escape certain trouble and ovet throw of their systems and politics, he explains that, on the contrary, Ye brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief-you have yonr lamps trimmed and burning As he further explains, the brethren worthy to know and to escape the troubles incidental to that time do not sleep, as do others; tbeg are watchful; they are alert, and because thus alert they know of the BridTgrooms arrival, of which the world knows not; and in the time of his presence these brethren are fpd with special spiritual food, which the world knows not of. The Master himself is sending forth, at the hands of his servants, the needed meat in due season, thing? new and old for the strengthening of his household for this present time of trial and for the perfectin, w of the saints for the work Thess. 5: 1-6. of ministry, to which he ha9 called them.-1
TO WHOM DOES THE PARABLE SPECIALLY APPLY?

This was Peters question. He wondered whrthrr or not the Lord meant that the specially chosen twelve apostles were these servants who must watch and wait for him at his srcond coming, or whether the parable was of general application. and meant that everybody should watch. Ollr Lord did not answer this question directly, for to have done so would have been contrary to the divine plan; to have answered dircctlr. to have shown that onr Lord was not coming in the cnriy watrhes of the Gospel night, would thus have been in contradiction of the very teaching of the parable, that he must br watched for all throngh the Goqprl night. Evading this feature of Peters question our Lord embraces the opportunity to give snme further instruction, and explains to Peter and to us all that at that time, then, i. e., at the time of his return, his second advent, be wol11d look out and appoint a steward for the dispensing of spiritual food to the household of faith: and that a special I)lP<sing wonld he with that steward in thr event of his faithfulness. and that he would be removed from the stewardship in the Faithfulness on the part of this event of unfnithfulnesq. steward would imply larger and continued service in dispenq-

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ing the meat to the household of faith at that time. But unfaithfulness on his part, and a disposition to tyrannize the household, would be sure to result in his being cut off from further opportunities for serving the household, and lead to his having a severe experience with the unbelievers in the time of trouble then to come upon the world. And altho it is not ,t-rtetl, it i3 fairly inferable that such an one bemg deposed from stewardship, another would take his place, subject to similar terms and conditions as to faithfulness. In certain senses of the word, and in ceriain respects, every child of God is a steward-a steward of his own talents; opportunities, privileges, abilities in the Lords service ; and each one is to recognize that his responsibilities as a steward in these respects is toward the Master who gave him the talents, and who will require at his hands an account thereof-an increase by reason of proper use. We are not, therefore, to understand our Lords answer to Peter to imply that none of the household but the one are in any sense of the word regarded as stewards. Such an interpretation would be in conflict with numerous Scriptures. We are to notice that the stewardship mentioned is not a stewardship of talents and opportunities, but a stewardship of spiritual food merely. Neither does it imply that in the end of this age, and at the time of our Lords presence and the sending forth of meat in due season that the special steward alone will have to do with the dispensing of the food for the household, for, as

shown in Matthews account of this parable (Matt. 24:45-51), there are fellow-servants whose duty and privilege it will be to co-operate with this steward in the dispensmg of the vrands, the feeding of the household of faith. The thought would seem to be that in the interest of the household and for its comfort and joy and blessing the Master at an appropriate time would furnish to some one of his servants a kev to the precious things of his Word, thus providing bo;ntifully things new and old for the sustenance and iov of the household,-and minister these through numerous ?ellow-servants, as well as through the one to whom the key of this stewardship would be specially entrusted. In this connection we are to remember that every stewardship brings with it weighty responsibilities, and while such responsibilities are not to be shirked, neither are any of them to be undertaken lightly, without appreciating the fact that every one who becomes a servant of the household of faith has thereby a larger degree of responsibility, not only toward the household, but toward the Master of the house, from whom comes every commission. And every servant is to remember that unfaithfulness would surely lead to his removal, even as every manifestation of humble faithfulness on his part will endear him to the Master and to every faithful member of the household, and imply his continuance in the servrce until the Master shall say, IVeIl done, good and faithful servant; enter into the joys of thy Lord.

REVIEW

OF THIRD
SEPTEMBER

QUARTER

30. 1:22. Jle ye doers of the word, and nd hearers only, deceiving your OK% selves.-James his favors upon his terms. Kcvicws are frequently prolltable, and especially so when All must hear eventuallv but comparatively few have the hearing ears at the present time. condlrctctl in the light of this Golden Text; with a view to The prince of this world blinds the mind, closes and stupefies notrng to what extent we have heard the voice of the Son of the ear, or makes what may be heard of no effect through >Ian, and to what extent we have been obedient to his mcsprogress meretraditions of men, or through hardness and selfishness of the sages. To f.lncy orlrselves as making spiritual hearers own heart. Blessed are our eyes if, seeing and hearly by gaining information respecting the Lord, his miracles, ing of the Lords grace and goodness toward us and toward his teachings, etc., is to get the nut and crack it and drop all of his creatures, we at once fall into obedience to the the kernel, tlrr thing of real value spirit of the great Teachers instructions. It is in harmony with this thought that our Lord deIn so doing we will have passed from death unto life-gradually, until, under claretl, The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of Man, and The dead arc the entire human the ministry of the great Prophet, as sharers in the first thev that hear shall live. f:lmil;r, all of whom must hear the voice, the teaching of this resurrection, we shall be perfected and possess life in perfectron, yea, life more abundantly-immortality-the tllvine great Prophet, whom the Father has sent, not only to redeem, nature. but IIISO restore so many of the human family as will accept VOL. xx-i

ALLEGHENY,

PA., SEPTEMBER

15, 1900

No. %

VIEWS FROM THE WATCH

[The following, author
END

TOWER

unknown,
OF LIFE?

came from

India,

WHAT

IS THE

The end of life is not to do good, although SO many of us I once thought so. think so. It is not to win souls-although The end of 2tfe is-to do the till of God. That may be the line of doing good or winning souls or it may not. For the individual, the answer to the question, What is the md of my life? is To do the will of God, whatever that may be. Spur-peon replied to an invitation to preach to an excepto preach to tionnlly large audience, I have no ambition ~O,OOOpeople, but to do the will of God-and he declined. If we could bane no ambitaon past the will of God, our lives would be successful. If we could say, I have no ambition to go to the heathen; I have no ambition to win souls; my ambition is to do the will of God, whatever that may be, that would make all lives equally great or equally small, because the only great thing in a life is what of Gods will there is in it. The maximum achievement of any mans life, after it is all over, 1s to have done the will of God. No man or woman can have done any more with a lifeno Luther, no Spurgeon, no Wesley, no Melanchthon can have done any more with their lives; and a dairymaid or a scavenger can do as much. Therefore, the supreme principle upon which we have to forever. run our lives is to adhere, through good report and ill, through THE SPREAD OF MOHABDKEDANISM temptation and prosperity and adversity, to the will of God, If reports are to be believed Mohammedanism is spreading wherever ihat may lead us. It may take you to China, or in Asia and Africa much more rapidly than is Christianity. you who are going to Africa may have to stay where you are; (1) Its simplicity of dotThis is credited to three reasons. you who are going to be an evangelist may have to go into trine, which makes it commendable to persons of low intelbusiness ; and you who are going into business may have to But there is no happiness or success lectual capacity-Believe in Mohammed and obey his simple become an evangelist. (2) Its permia. law and have an eternity of sensuous bliss. in any life till that principle is taken possession of. And the highest service is first, moment by moment, to be in the will sion of polygamy, common throughout those countries. (3) [ 26941

Missionary. It is excellent.] of God. It may be to work or tc wart; to stand fast or to lay still. Tis he, our blessed Lord, who will keep us in his will, if our eyes are fixed on him. How can you build up a life on that principle? Let me give you an outline of a little Bible reading:The definition of an ideal life: Acts 13:22-A man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. The object of life: Heb. 10:7--I come to do thy till, 0 God. The first thing you need after life, is food: John 4 : 34-- hfy meat i8 to do the will of him that sent me. The next thing you need after food is society: Mark 3 :35-- Whosoever shall do the coil1 of my Father in heaven, the same is my brother, a& sister, and mother. You want education: Psa. 143:10-Teach me to do thy will, 0 my God. You want pleasure: Psa. 40: 8-{ delight to do thy will, 0 my God. A whole life can be built up on that vertebral column, and then, when all is over, I John 2: 17- He that doeth the will of God abideth

from a Christian

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Its uniform requirement of total abstinence from intoxicants. Recognizing the fact that Christianity makes few proselytes from Mohammedanism, and that the latter is growing rapldly in numbers and influence. the Britich Government has of late years been attempting to gain the confidence and support of her Mohammedan subjec+s. whnse number is estimated at one hundred and fiftv millions--fifty mlllzons more than all denomznakons of Protestant C%r&tians in the whole world. Doubtless this change of attitude toward the very religion against which all the Crusades of medieval times were waged, though due to polltical policy, is barked by the changed relieious sentiment of our dav;-which under the lead of the hygher critics has declared,: The hope of the rare lies in a deeper study of the great, insnired writers of the past, such as Shakespeare, Homer. DaLte and a few others, Ghose works have charmed the minds The Bible, also, though a little out-ofof people of culture. date, has been recognized, in the past, as a work of inspiration. and you may find it helpful to include it in your course of reading. General sentiment, therefore, resolves itself into this,Since our wise men tell us that the Bible is unreliable, and that the death of Christ Jesus no more redeemed the world than did the death of other reformers; and since they tell US that future happiness depends upon the cultivation of our mental and moral qualities, and that Shakespeares and other writings are quite as good or better than the Bible for such callltnrr. how do we know but that the RIohammedans Biblethe Koran-is as good or better than our own, and they as right as we or more so? Therefore let us not any longer say with the Bible that there is no other name than that of Jesus given under heaven or among men whereby we must be saved; but let us say, Get morality and education in the name of Mohammed or Jesus or Confucius or whomsoever you please. Such would be the logical outcome of such teachings; and thereby we are reminded of our Lords words respecting these times-When the Son of Man cometh shall he find the faith on the earth?-Luke 18:s.
WHAT GREAT BRITAIN IS DOING FOR MOHAMMEDANISM

Shortly atter the capture of Khartoum by General Lord Kitchener. and at his instance, a Mohammedan college was founded, known as Gordon College, and more recently another Mohammedan school was founded at Sierra Leone, on the west roast of Afrira Thiq latter institution was opened with considerable ceremony under the auspices of the acting-governor, Malnr Nathan, and of it the New York Sun says editorially:The ceremony began with a prayer in Arabic offered up by the Imaum of the mosque, Alfa Omaru, who afterward gave a short account of the efforts to promote education made by the Sierra Leone Moslems. He referred to the years 1839 and 1811, when the Mohammedan religion was considered as a danger to the colony, when Moslems were persecuted and their mosaues pulled down bv excited mobs. Thanks, however, to an enlightened policy, batters were set right, and for more than fiftv vears the Moslems have enioved full toleration and the prot&tion of the British Govern&&t. In 1872 the festival of the Lesser Bairam had been attended by the governor, Sir John Pope Hennessy, with a military escort, and in 1879 another governor, Sir Samuel Rowe, had entertained seven hundred Moslems at Government House on the occasion of the Bairam Festival of that year. In 1891 Governor Hay handed o\er a fine property with commodious buildings to the Moslem communitv for educational nurposes, accompanied bv a grant for the pjyment of the teachers. These successive e;ents-were imnortaflt enochs in the historv of Islamism in West Africa. ani the Imkum looked forward to the day when the present elementary school would become the stepping-stone to a college. In his reply Major Nathan cited examples of Mohammedans occupying official positions in Indian and in Egypt, and added that,He wished .them to perfect themselves in Arabic in order that thev might know what real Mohammedanism is. When they unders&d the Koran, he said, they would see that their religion was one telling them how to live, and not a religion of charms and gewgaws. Knowing English, they would have the literature and wisdom of the white man open to them: and with Arabic, they would be able to read not only the Koran, but the Makamat of El Hariri, known already to some of them, and the Alif Lailat wa Lallah, the translation of which English people read with pleasure. In concluding, Major Nathan urged them not to rest content until they had in Sierra Leone a Moslem college whence wisdom and knowledge might go forth over the whole of West Africa. The Sun believes that the importance of the incident can hardly be overestimated. It aays:I 1

The news of the official encouragement given to the Mohammedan religion and the culture of its saered language, Bra blc, will in a very short time spread from the Atlantic to the Red Sea, and the wisdom of the policy that dictated it will be justified bv the resulting spread of British influence among the Moslem populations Lf hjorth Africa. In all probnbilitv it will lead to a corresnondinp rivalrv on the Dart of the I&ench, whose hold- on the Arab; of Al&eria is nine tot strong, owing to mistakes in policy and the want of character of many of those appointed to office. The next century no doubt has many surprises in store; but whatever they may be, not the least strange will be the spectacle of the two Western nations that led in the crusades promoting, for political and territorial reasons, the creed they then tried to crush. However peculiar all this mav appear from the standpoint of nominuZ Christendom it is perfectly clear to all 01 the We see the falla& of the claim that roval nriesthood. Eu;opein kingdoms are Christs kingdo&-that the Word of God never did recognize them as anything but kingdoms of this world ruled by the prince of this world. We see that the nominal churches are not the one true Church of saints, whose names are written in heaven. We see that the Crusades, Inquisitions, and all similar attacks upon human beings and th&r moral and religious liberties were never authorized by the Lord: but were whollv contrarv to his Word and spirit. We see that it is perfectli proper &d con&tent for w&ldly people and governments (English, French, German or what not) to favor any system or all systems of education and religion that will in any degree counteract vice and immorality, and preserve peace. True, we who have had the eyes of our understanding opened to see matters cZearZy from ihe Bible standpoint could do nothing against the truth and in favor of error-nothing to foster and encourage the error or even to apparently bid it But we are not in official posit&s where such Godspeed. auestions could come to us: because we are not of this world &en as our Redeemer was not (John 17: 16)) therefore the world disrespects us (John 17:14j, and offers us no places of nublic influence. Fidelitv to our Lords principles thus saves 6is faithful from perplex:ties : they have hied io worldly politics and its aims and duties and methods, and have been translated into the kingdom of Gods dear Son, and are thus which has not. yet come into members of the holy gation Dower and ruling authoritv-waiting for their Kina to exalt Y I or set them up ii power and great glory at the timgwhen his kingdom shall be revealed to the world as the supplanter of all kingdoms of this world.
METHODISM AND HIGHER CRITICISM

The heresy case of Professor Mitchell (see The Literary Digest, January 27), has been effectively disposed of for, at least, some years to come. By the recent General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Chicago it was referred to the bishops, who, apparently finding it as embarrassing a subvert to handle as did the Conference, referred the matter of Dr. Mitchells retention to the trustees of Boston Universitv. bv making him eligible to re-election for five vearsuntil, donvenie&y, after ihe next meeting of the Gcnera1 ConThe fact that the trustees of one of the leading ference. Ttlethodist theological seminaries have now unanimously reelected Dr. Mitchell, ~110 is one of the most prominent American exponents of the higher criticism, and has been accused of deviating widely from the traditional view as to the authorship of certain Old Testament books, is regarded as an event of significance. The largest Protestant denomination in. America thus tacitly votes to retain an upholder of the tigher criticism as official instructor of her young clerics.--lzterary Digest.
PRESBYTERIANS BEING SIFTED

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church recently in session in St. Louis. in renlv to nvert,ures for a revision of its Westminster Confession 0% Faith, rlaferred the matter to a committee, whose business it shall be to learn the opinion of the local Presbyters and to report to the Assembly of 1901. The Presbyterian weekly journals give the best clue to the results, for they are generally under the care of the leaders amongst the ministry, who generally try to be on the winning side. From the trend of comments by these journals (The Znterior and The Herald and Presbyter alone seem to urge revision) we opine that the Confession will probably not be revised but reaffirmed. The result of this course would be to sift out the honest but deluded souls in pulpit and pew who for years have burdened their consciences (and in many instances hardened them) with slander against the divine character and deceit toward all mankind in professing the West-

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minster Confession. These have for years consoled themselves with the thought that (1) the Confession is a dead letter anywav, whirh todav nobodv believes, and (2) that it would soon be chanped. perhaps nekt year,-and rni conscience can stand the strain that much loneer. If now that Confession is reaffirmed bv the denominition these will be thereby forced out to maintain even a vestige of peace with God and a good cons&ace toward God and man. The nitv IS that their consciences are not more tender and their* hearts more loyal to God and his truth that they should act more promptly. Thp rhildren of this world [the tares] are wiser in their generation than the children of light [the wheat], said Our And so in this caqe undoubtedlv the reaffirmine of the Lord. Westminster Confession is the wisest course so faras the preservation of the tare organization is concerned. For though. as above sueeested, this will drive out some of the most conccientious, itwill be found that they all told are but few. On the other hand were the Confession revised or repudiated it would mean to the rank and file of Presbyterianism. We have lost our pods! We have admitted that we were all wrong in respect to our faith-blind men who for centuries have attempted to lead the confessedly blind world into truth. and now confeqs ourselves bewildered, yea totally blind as Every Presbyterian would feel respects the divine plan I aba<hPd at such a confession, and hence it is that such a and if it were seen to be revision of creed is improbable: inevitahlp many would transfer their good names and titles to other dpnohinatinna before the funeral.
THE PRESBYTERIAN ARGUES AGAINST REVISION THUS,-

policys sake. The policy, as already suggested, is worldlywise and will serve to keep together a little longer one of the most respected of the human oreanizations falselv stvled churches;- but the end of all such is-not far distant, as cle& shown in Gods Word and nointed out in MILLENNIAL DAWN. .~ VOL. III., Chaps. 4 to 7, and VOL. IV., Chaps. 11 to 13. The follo,ving is the referred toEXTRACT FROM THE WESTMINSTER UONFESSION OF FAITH

lno mucah 11~~ been said recrntly to weaken the force of ITany who never thought of railing our doctrinal statements. them in question are wondering what they reallv t,each. The pcaople would have little difficulty In deciding the meanlnc of that very explicit ond carcfullv worded Westminster Confrcqion. were it not that the theologians having told are fearful that them. Thrse be thy gods, 0 Presbyterians! the pews (more honest than the pulpits) shall diqrnver how tcrrihlv hnmelv, vea. devilish, are these rrnds which fhev have* RO lo& wornhipied and served. Continuing. The Presbyterian says, Others who regard the false ronstrurtions put on them as the work of adversaries. now find that even Presbyterian ministers are declaring them legitimate inferenres. Damage is being done by the outeivings of radirnl revisionists. The rhurrh is suffering, and will continue to suffer in name and in accomplishment, with years Her interests would be far more adof rcviqinn agitation. vanced. in our judgment, by standing by the old standards of faith nnd by the& reaffirmation by Our Presbyteries and Cfcneml Assrmbly. Whnt does this lanpunge mean in plain English? Is not the fotlowinn construrtion a reasonable one? For a long time now our ministers and religious editors have nrrsented a. solid front to the world. and -bv claimine that ilark in tlib creed is white they have succeeded in convinrine Preshytcrinns, at least, that the black parts are at very most not darker than prey or mist and fog color. But now this diqrusqinn is in danpcr of disillusionizing the people. Alrendv it is giving uq grrat trouble and is likely to cause more clisturhance and dissntisfartion, not only with our Diana, but alqn toward us, the well-paid and honored shrine-makers and scxrvers. We arc not thinking about the truth and its berrirc. nor ahout the intrrests of the true church. whose name9 :IIC written in heaven; we are merely considering the tntereqts of our sert. the Presbvtrrian church. and how these mattrrs will affect ller intcbrcsti and worldly prosperity. We feel prnxokrd that Prcshyterian ministers who have stifled their c*onccic~nc~cs vcars should be so weak. so mlsillanimous. for 1s now to chow thewhite feather and confess that they and \V( 211 IlRW for yrnrs been hoodwinking and deceiving the Lnrcis flncak who Cave us liberatlv of their golden fleece to Irad thrhm into pasturcq of truth. As for us, we are commit~1 to thp nrnsnrritv of Preshvterianism-all of our name and title :1nr1 &rtl;lv l;npcs are attarhrd to it, and hence, false t,hcm~h the Confkssinn 1,~ to every instinct of justice and love, we mu+ stick to itsink or swim, live or die. survive or perich 1 Dors the foregoing seem to be an uncharitable paraphrase of the Pr~shyterians position ? Let those who so think read rarrfrllly the following extrart from the Confession and decide thrn whether anything brttcr or nobler than poliry leads it to rlpfrnd and call for a reaffirmation of those sentiments of a rlnrker period. We have too murh respect for the Preshvt&nr*p hrlins to suppose that it does not comprehend the Ian~ll~~~P and too murh rrspeot for its heart to suppose that it at &art endorses the presentation as true and just: hence we can only conclude that it< advocacy is insincere and for

By the decree of God. for the manifestation of His elorv, some inen and angels are predestinated unto everlasting li& and others foreordained to everlasting death. These angels and men, thus predestinated and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed ; and their number is so certaih and definite that it can not be either increased or diminished Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life. God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to his eternal and immutable purpose and the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will, bath chosen in Christ unto eveI lasting glory, out of His mere free grace and lore, without any foresiaht of faith or aood works or verscverance in eithm of -t&m., & an$ *other th&g in the creaiure, as conditions or causes moving Him thereto; and all to the praise of HiS alorious grace. ., As dod hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hat11 He, hv the eternal and free nurnoqe of His will. foreordainrd all tht means theleunto. i$herefore thev who are elected. being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ, are effectually call&d unto faith in Christ bv his Snirit workine in due season: are justified, adopted, sanctified. \nd kept by-His power thr&gh faith unto salvation. Neither are any other redeemed by Christ, efectuully called, justified, adopted, sanctified and saved, but THE EXECT ONLY. The rest of mankind God was pleased, according to thr unsearchable counsel of His own will, whereby He extendeth or withholdeth mercy as he pleaseth, for the glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass by and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glorious justice.
DEFECTIVE EDUCATION OF MINISTERS

Rev. D. S. Grezorv. D. D.. savs:In a ministerial body df $ay seven thousand there arc perhaps several thousands of us that nobody will hear preach: many more that are heard bv eood neople under stress of duty: , _ and comparatively few thataye heard-gladly. . . . The psvcholozv of the average educator is fundamentally defective,-aid heGo his pcdagogics must be fatally false. Hh recognizes the existence of a cognitzve faculty, the power of acquiring the simple elements or raw materials, so to speak, of knowledge. in perreption external and internal; of a consercative faculty, or memory, the power of keeping knowledge so acquired for future use: of a comparative facultzl, the power of *thought for working. up the kriowledge -acqui;ed and conserved into ronrentions. iudements. and reasonings. But iust there his psycho&y of the &elle& strikes a dead wall w&h it seems $owerles<b pass. He fails to recognize the existence of the sunreme intellectual facultv., to whirh-all the others are merely sibordinates and for which alone thev exist-the construciive OT systemidng faculty. He does not And it in his text-books; it has been practically ignored in educational aim2 and methods. . This is too highflown language for the majority of readers; we give its sense in few words thus,-The average minister learns at college to collect certain facts and theories. and to memorize them; but he never learns how to system& what he has learned. We reply that this is true; nevertheless, it is the bulwark of Churrhianitv: for had honest ministers or lavmen attempted to sys&&ze their theology (the errors so largely predominating) they would have found long ago that all their theories are as irrational as they are unscriptural. No theology but the old theolo,q of the Bible-the divine nlan of the a&s--ran be system&&; and it is system and plan ant1 order and heautv throughout, and thus bears the imnressions I of its divine A&hor. eJihovah.
EPISCOPAL HIGH CHURCH PERFORMANCES

lhe Christia.n Commonwealth (London) desrrihes a mact recently performed in St. Michaels Church, London, as fol lows:The mass for the repose of the soul of the deceased wa& celebrated, and at the funeral service in the church all the accessories of Vatican mummery were ohserred. Each of the congregation of ten received a little candle. whirh was lighted beforethe Gospel was read, and blown out after the reacding. The peonles candles were rekindled at the San&us. after incense-birning. After mass the celebrant left the chair, and

[2696]

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at the sedilia changed his chasuble for a black cope with yellou orphreys and then headed a precession with a crucifix. The catafaique was sprinkled with hole water, and tensed, while petitions were mumbled for the soul of the deceased. After t&e clergy were gone the people were invited-to asperse the catafalque with the holy water.
CALAMITIES-WHY PERMITTED

The inundation uf the city of Galveston, Texas, accompanied by great loss of life and property, has shocked the world. And no wonder; it was surely a great calamity that five thousand human beings should so suddenly be swept into death-the grave. Yet the real horror, affecting many minds 1x1connection with this matter, is never even hinted ai in the great headlines of the daily Dress announcements. What a ghotk it would give if the& papers were edited in so-called orthodox style, thus :OF THE JESUS HUMRER CAME TO IIE FOUND THE THE 1IE I%ANISHKD TO 5,000 GALVESTON ONLY ABOUT OF HOPELESS FOR THPM, AND WORLD. HIS HEAVEN. 4,900, AGONY IN TORMENT, PEOPLE. 100 SAINTS FIT FOR KINGDOM REMAINDER,

ETERNAL PREPARED TO THF

ACCORDING RKFORE

kOREI<NOWLEDGE DESIc.N. OF THE

LOVING FOUNDATTON

If our dear friends who profess to believe such blasphemous things respecting our Heavenly Fathers plan would come out honestly and state their views thus plainly we should be glad of it. It would be a great service to the truth. It would act upon many as an emetic, and help them to get rid of the unhea1th.y mass of error which now sickens them and hinders their appetite for the true heavenly manna of the divine Word. which then would be to all the Lords true people sweeter than honey. _ _ Tract No. 2, of the 0~d Theology series, treats this subiert of Calamities and Whv God Permits Them. We recom&end its liberal circulatioh at times like this when preat calamities awaken thoughts respecting divine providenccsy etc. And we might here remark that we will not be surmised if the next fif&en years shall witness an increasingly la&e number of calamities. To our understanding there are physical changes necessary to the full introduction of nlillennial condicome about gradually, and incitions : these will probably dentally cause great trouble and losses. These we understand are so timed as to form a part of the great time of trouhle with which our age is to end, which, however, the T,ord designs shall prepare man as well as the earth for further. fnture When the judgments of the Lord are abroad in blessings. the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

ZIONS GLAD SONGS

Our dear Brother McPhail, who has quite a talent for music, has collected a number of new and beautiful hymns,the music to the majority beinn his own composition. Thpse. fifty-four in number, are well printed, and appropriately bound in paper covers,-price 10 cents each, or $1 per dozen, postnqe frw. This little book, entitled Zions Glad Song.s, has another feature which we are sure will he appreciated by many, viz., t,he addition of the music for twenty-eight old tunes, long. short, common, and peculiar meters. These are inserted in the interest of our repular hymn book, Poems and Hymns of Dawn, the tunes of the remainder being cop,vriphted. It is not at all the thoupht that the new book will supplant the old one: for many of the grand old hymns cannot be equaled by any new onrs. either in word% or tunes. The thought is to make it snpplrmcntary. As such we retwmmend it to you all. Our first edition of 6,000 is now ready and orders will bc filled as received.

THE VOLUNTEER
This branch of the service has lagged a little during the hot weathrr, because of small attendance at church srr;ireg. Now that cooler weather has come we expert that it will revive. Some who have finished their own cities are branch-

WORK

ing out-endeavoring to serve nearby towns. This is comm&dable. Every faithful soldier of the cross is sure to receive blessings both now and hereafter from the Captain of our salvation. Let us be faithful.

THE DALLAS, TEXAS, CONVENTION

-SEPT. 29,

30

&

OCT.

I.-

We do not expect many from outside the State of Texas at this Convention; for the sperial excursion rates are reOklahoma, Indian Territory, atrictrd to near-hy territory. Arkansas and L&is&a we believe participate. in whole or in part. As Texas is a very large *state kre endeavored to arrance for two Conventions. but could not obtain the excursion rites except for Dallas. Our Convention will take advantage of the cheap rates of fare granted on account of the Dallas Fair, and sueb tickets should be called for. If you desire to attend, inquire of your tirket agent at once for rates. train time, etr., and as soon as possible let us know on whirh road and train you and how many will be of your party, males expert to-arrive; and females; if colored, mention it. State if you desire room and board at one dollar per day. Those who rannnt afford even this moderate expense will please sag so, and some comfortahle arrangement will be made for t,bem also.

HALT, has been secured for the uqe of the Convention. It is centrallv located at No. 34!1 Main Street. It is an easy walk from ail drpnts. but those who desire can use elertric rar direct from the depots to the hall. A RFCEPTION COMMTTTEE will RO far as possible meet all who arrive on the morning of Sept. 29th; but any failing to be recognized near the Ladies Waiting Room door can rradilp find Woodmens Hall as above and should proceed there at once. We hope for a good attendance and warrant a warm we1 come and a rich blessing to all true soldiers of the cross; and to those sprkinp to find and put on the whole armnr of God Come, intent upon doinp yood unto all--rsperially to the honsehnld of faith, as ~~11 as praying a blessing upon your self, and you surelv will not go nnay cmptv. Arrangements fnr wntrr hnptism will be romplptr. r&c> towels, etc. Yes, Bro. Russell will attend
\TOODMENS

THE CHRISTIANS

COURSE DELINEATED

etc., ran hr meant hv the wit krd. for such. yeiicrally at least. David, the Prophet. in the first Psalm, has significantly are d~lndrd and hinded by tbc rnd of tblq world $0 tb;lt marked out th(B proper ChristIan course and its blessings and tlirp have never sepn the trllr (:n=prl liplIt; and not srrliiz it In the first VPITP he clrqirm?tes thrrc rl:1ss(s from outrnnir. they hxve not had snrh r~s~mnsibllitic~~ in ronl?ec*tinn wit11 it whom the Lords people should stand aloof-three classes with as would propcbrly brand Ibern 9s wic+rd from tlir cllvine whom if thrg have fellowship, it will hp to their tl(trim~Xnt. standpoint. The wi~~kcd are to hr lnoltrd for in the rhnrc~h. or mnre properly. the wirkcd (maroin. (1) The ungodly. and in barmnny with lhis tlioiirrht is our J,nrds narahle Lerser, Tonng). (2) Sinners. (3) Thp scornful. J3lrssrd is wbirh, rc,ferrinp to lhc rhurc~l, and the tnlentc bc~tnwrd upnn the mnn who walketh not in the counsel of the wicked, nor its mpmberq, dPc,larrs rrspcrting tlie one Lvl10 rerci\ed the standrth in the wav of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the tnlrnt of the Lord hut fgilrd to USP it-Tlmu wicked iIr]d 1 : 1. ccornfill -Psll. slntbful sprvilnt. Thr wic~ked of this nqr wol~ld stem to be Annlvinrr this Psalm nrnnhetirxllv. it is moper that we those who harp enioyed tbr linbt of divinr farnr. who ~I:IVP ;hnnl> dptermine whqt cl&& of pe&nns a& meant hy the come to a knnwled_ne of the truth. bren made partakers of the wicked, the sinner? and the scorn.ful. We Snnpest that under holy spirit, etc., and uho then, despite all these favors and the terms of the present Gospel ape. not murderers and thieves, [2697]

(281-282)

ZIONS

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ALLECH~W.

Pa.

blessings, and despite their covenant with the Lord to be his servants and to lay down their lives in his serv.me, neglect the same The Apostle also points out a certain class in the church as wicked: saying of &em that if they fall away it IS impossible to renew them again unto renentance (Heb. 6 :6). for it had bern better for them that ihey had never known the way of rlghteou~ne~s. than that having known it they should turn from the holy commandment. (2 Pet. 2 :21) The same class is again described as those who sin wilfully after receiving a knowledge of the truth, and for whom, consequently, no further siulrc in the sacrifice for sins remains; and consequentlp no hope for them in the coming age. (Heb. 10:26) In a word, then, -the wicked rlass of the preient age would seem, from the Lord3 standnoint. to Lc those in the church nominal who have received clear light and knowledge respecting the dirme plan, and who have either sinned wilfully bv turning away from a life of righteou\neis to a life of intentional sin, or thohc who icpudmtc the precious blood of Christ and the atonement made for them by the same, counting the blood of the covenant wherewith they were sanctified a common or ordinary thing. If then we have found a class denominated the wicked, 1c.t II* con-:tlrr \\hnt can be meant bv the iniunction that the 1111x-4 of tllr Lord should not walk in thecounse1 of these \v ic,hetl on(~~--il~ol~ld not follow their guidance. their suzaesm.3 tlonc, their instructions, their leading. Elelv m.ln and ererv woman has more or less of an influence wh;ch attracts o&r3 to walk in his way. And all who repudiate the ransom, all who denv original sin and its sentehce of death. and the nccessitv for our redemption from sin and death.-all who thus denvthe foundation of the_ Gosoel. the wicked above drscribed,d seem to make it their spe&al business to endeavor to seduce the minds of others-to lead others astray by their evil counsel. If they cannot secure prompt attention, thcv invariablv suggest.-Walk with us awhlie, keep our company, and Uaee whether you will not groduolly come to bclrece k.s we do, that we tce;e not bought mth a, prme, even the prcrious blood of Christ-that man needed not to be bouglrt; -that hr did not fall from perfection; that he was not sold under sin by our first parents; and, hence, that hr needed not a redemption in any sense of the word, and therefore the Scriptures are false and misleading in making this the centre and pith of the Gosnel. Their false suggestion i3&that our only need was a good and holy tscrmple. They are blind to the fact that all through the past there were many noble esamples. and that there are many todav. far lwyon~l the ability of the average natural man to follow. and that we needed something decidedly more ln~lpful and efhcacmu3 than an example. They seem blind to the, fact that an example would never justify to life one who ~13 justly condemned to death. They do not seem to realize t!mt God was jn+t in pronouming the penalty against our rnc~h. and that hc could by no means clear the guilty through any process of injustice; and that. therefore, it was necessary that a ransom. a corresponding price, should be paid Idol e tlw resurrection and reroncilmtion were possibilities. (Porn. .7:26) But they say, Walk with us in our counsels and see: and. as the Apostle sugge3ts. many follow their pernicious way<. Oc-nviny tllr T,ord having bought them.-2 Pet. 2.1, 2. Tl~o<o ~110 1% ould )~a of the cla<s pronounced blessed of the Lord. in our text. mutt not follow the counsel of these wlck(d. IJIlt. 011 t!W COlltl-ar,-. should stand firmlv bv the Go~pcbl of thr retlcmptlon and SP& no other. Let ali who tl+lrc~ to l~tn blcshrd of thcb Lnrtl mark well t,his counsel and follow it, and hare no fcllnw4~rp whatever with the wicked, nor In any degree walk after their counsel3. Sinners are mention4 as anothrr class, separate and diitinct from the Lw~cl~(~d ahove referred to. and thev are e\itltantlv a class whose transgression3 are much less heinous in the sight of the J,nrtl. thcsc sinners we must look for in the c,llurch nl\o not in the world. Since the world is not yet on trial there is nothing to demonstrate the 3tandinp of any of it3 people. The sinners of our test we would undeistand to bc those who, without repudiating the covenant, without denying the Lord that bought them, and thus falling utterlr from divine favor. are nevertheless failine 0 to live ~~ ~~ according to the terms of their covenant, their consecration. These would \eem to ho <inners against the covenant they have made-those who fail to carry out the covenant of self7 fiacnfire. This class possibly includes some who are described by the Lord a3 overchargrd with the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches, and who for these reasons are sinners against their covenant, violator3 of it. The Lords people who would be of the bIeRsed of the Lord, and receive his ultimate WPII done, are not to stand with these covenant-

violators even. To stand with them might imply to treat them as companions, to enter into their plans and schemes; and surely all who would thus do would be likely to become partakers of their spirit, and to become careless of their consecration vows, and overcharged with earthly cares and ambitions. The scorners are designated as a still different class, and might possibly represent some not of the church, but possessing-more or less knowledge of holy things and .rcjeciing them, speaking of them lientlv and scornfullv. The Lords people are no; to be intima& associated with such, nor make them their companions and friends. They cannot. have fellowship with such without receivine a inlurv. I hence. so far Y as possible the Christian is to avoid this class, in busmess partnerships. in society, and especially in marriage. No one who could speak lmhtlv or scornfullv of our Heavenlv Father or of our Lord Je& or of the exceeding great andprecious things set before the Lords people in his promises, could be other than a hindrance to those who are seeking to gam the prize of our high calling. He therefore who would be blessed of the Lord. and who would attain that for which he was called, should take heed to the instructions and avoid the scornful. This does not signify, however, as the Apostle points out, that we are to have no dealings in the world wltb anv but saints, for, as he tells us, in that event we would needs go out of the world (1 Cor. 6:lO) ; but it does implv a recoynltion of the principle that evil is contagious, and that thecLorde people cannot be too careful to avoid every contact with evil. They should separate themselves to the Lord, to holiness, and seek to place themselves under influences in harmony with their holy and true and pure aspirations, begotten by the holy Spirit. The Prophet implies that those who have fellowship with the scornful and with covenant-breakers and with the wicked who denv the precious blood of the covenant, cannot be blessed of the Lord, because they are in a wrong attitude of heart; for, as his words imply, those who are in the iigbt attitude of heart to be blessed of the Lord can readilv find something much better, much more interesting, much more profitable, than fellowship with any of these classes; Their delight is in the Law of the Lord, and they meditate in his Law by day and by night. This does not imply a reading over of tlw Ten Cominandmerits, nor of the Mosaic ritual, but to the Christian it implies a delight in the law of righteousness, which law is briefly comprehended in the word love. The right-minded Christian who is in the line of heavenly hlessinp now, and of heavenly glory by and by, has found and will -continually find in the great law of love something well worthy of his tnnc and his study. He finds this law applicable to every relationship between the heavenlv Father and himself: he see3 that all of his conduct, his eve;y service toward God as a son, adopted into his family, must be the result of love. He sees also that love is the law which must govern all of his conduct toward the brethren in Christ and toward all men; and he finds in this abundant and satisfactory food for reflection in his leisure hours. so that he is interested neither in the sneculations and quibblings of the scoffers, nor in the worldl; matters which overcharvge the sinners, nor in the false Gospel which engages the attention of the wicked, who deny the ransom. He finds that this Law of God contains, or is related to, every feature of the divine plan) and hence his meditations and studies of its various ramifications lead his thoughts hither and thither, in contact with all the exceeding great-and precious promises which God has bestowed upon them that love him, both a3 respects the life that now is and also that which is to come. And the more this is his attitude the more is he blessed of the Lord; and the more blessed he is of the Lord the more surely will this be his attitude and experience. Such an one, the Lord declares through the Prophet, will be like a tree slanted near rivulets of water. which will alwavs be abundantl? refreshed and never fail in his yield of the fruits of the spirit, which under such circumstances must grow and flourish exceedinelv. And as his fruit will be zbundant, so his leaf (his h@es) will be ever green ; he can and will have faith in him who promised the coming blessings, and whose riches of grace he comes to appreciate more and more daily. All that he doeth shall nrosner. This is literallv true. though not,. perhaps, in the *wai in which the world might view the subject. But what is it that such a child of God doeth? What is his aim? What is his obiect in life? Wealth. fame, worldly honors? No, none of thkse. His aim, thai which he doeth, that which he seeketh, is to glorify his Heavenly Father and eventually to attain to the glory, honor

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(280~283)

and immortality which God has promised to them that love him. fRom. 2 :7 ) If then the Christian but attain these his objects, surely all his experiences will have been prosperous, and that abundantly. What matters it to him if under divine nrovidence he was permitted to err in iudgment reenecting some business venture, so that instead of earthlv prosperity ix brought financial loss. if it worked out sniritual pain? To this -blessed man the loss was prosperitv, &and he &oved the truth of the divine promise, *thai all things &all work tonether for his good. Under such a nromise, under such guidance of divine wisdom in his affair%, guaranteeing him just such experiences, trials, difficulties, earthly disappointments and disadvantages as will, under the Lords providence, bring him richest blessing in the attainment of the great prize of the future which he seeks, and for which every other thing, interest, hope and aim has been sacrificed, how could any be

considered otherwise than prospered? (Rom. 8:28) Surely indeed. all that he doeth shall nrosner-not because of his own wisdom, not because of infillibfiity in the management of his affairs, but because his infallible Lord is supervising his interests, and outworkina them for good to him. It is this same class ofblessed on& that our Lord addresses, saying, Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and sav all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake--thmgsmay seem to be going-contrary to your welfare, and hence to be working out incalculable harm; but have faith-Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven: and it is this heavenly reward for which you have been called, and for which you have entered the race, and the attainment of which will be exceedingly abundant above all that you could ask or think.-Matt. 5: 11, 12; Eph.
3 :20.

TIMES OF REFRESHING
The gathering at Saratoga Springs, N. P., was not expected to be a large one; because the railroad excursion rates extended OVPI only a very limited area. It was therefore a locnl meeting: but as such it served its purrather than a general pose grandly, and brought to many clearer views of the divine plan, and fresh energy in its service, because of renewed consecration to the great Giver of all good. About one hundred were in attendance, and these were nearly all visitors from abroad, as only about three WATCH TOWER suhsrribers reside there. and few outsiders attended. The Lord was with the Convention and blessed the two days of its session greatly; and we believe that the grace there exnerienced will not onlv he a lasting blessing to those in atfrndnnce, hut that its overflow upon others nof privileged to attend. will be a lasting icv and benefit. En route we spent Sunday at Toronto, Canada, where another loral Convention of ahont. one hundred had gathered. This also WRS a feast to our souls. We thanked God for the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love-and realized afresh that The fellowship of kindred minds Is like to that above. The home route permitted a meeting between trains with some of the dear friends at Washington, D. C., where about
0 Y I

thirty were hastilv convened. to whom we snake on Pressing toward the mark for the prize of our high *calling. Depart ina, we thanked God for the fulfilment of Mark 10:30: and feE that if faithfulness to the truth had gained us many bitter enemies, it had also brought us such devoted friends as very few in this world could boast of. We arrived home, at Allegheny, in good seasnn for Sunday services (Sept. 9). where our joy further abounded in addressing about two hundred of the home congregation, and in receiving their hearty welcome back after an absence of two Sundays. We can only wish and hope that each of the one thousand dear brethren and sisters scattered abroad, with whom we communed and shook hands during the Past two weeks (beginning with the Chicago Convention and ending at Allegheny), experienced one-half the blessing that has come to your pastor. He most heartily thanks .you all for your many kindnesses and espressions of Christian love extended to him and the associated Pilarims: and he thanks God for the privileges enjoyed in serving his flock, in Jesus name. A table God has furnished me In presence of my foes; My head he dot11 with oil anoint, And my cup overflows.

SABBATH
GOI.I)I:N TEST:--Ttllosoe~r

DINNERS AND HOW TO UTILIZE

LUKE 14: 1-14.--OCT.

THEM
shall be exalted.

exalteth

himself

shall be abased;

7. and he that

humbleth

himself

Our Lord well knew the extreme of fanaticism to which So far as we know, our Lord Jesus never refused an invithe Jews had gone, especially the outwardly pious and formal tation to feasts, banquets, etc., to which he was asked, with ones, representatives of whom were now gathered about him. his disriples. The present lesson tells us of such a banquet, He knew that they would regard the healing of the dropsical probably specially arranged in Jesus honor, by a Pharisee person as a violation of the Sabbath. Indeed, as illustrating high in serial position as a ruler in the synagogue. The feast the sanctity of the Sabbath. the Jewish Talmud tells of an was aDDOlnted for the Sabbath dav. as was frequently the instance inwhich a house took fire, and three young girls were case, m&y of the Sabbath feasts being quite sumptuous; hut the viands were always served cold, it being a part of the burned to death. simnlv because their friends and neighbors Dinterpreted the law against making a fire as implying also Jewish code that fires should not be kindled nor vituals cooked on the Sabbath day. And although we, as Christians, are that it would be wrong to quench a fire on the Sahbath day, and when expostulated with respertinp the matter, the answer entirelv free from the Jewish law. includina the fourth commandment av well as all the other commandments of the Decawas that it was a sacrifice acceptable to God, who would logue, but are under a new commandment, the perfect law of reward them for having allowed their dear ones to perish love. to God and to man; nevertheless. we concede that conrather than break his commandment! siderable blessing might be experienced, and additional opporJesus wished not only to correct such a false Interpretation tunities for sniritual develonment enioved. if Christian neonle of the law, but also, in harmony with his custom, to do a large were to cook a double portion on Saturdav, and thusleave proportion of his miracles on the Sabbath day; because that themselves freer from domestic responsibilities on the day day typified the coming Millennial day, the great seventh which, according to the laws of the land (tho not according thousandth-year day in which, his Millennial kingdom being to any law of the Scriptures) we appropriately observe by established. he will scatter blessinps of henlina. mental. moral abstinence from the ordmary business of life, utilizing the and physical, amongst all the peoile. By wcy of instructing leisure for worshin. studv and sniritual communion. his disciples and the Pharisees respecting the improper view of the Sabbath eenerallv entertained then hv relieious teachEvidently befoik entering the dining room, probably in the ers, our Lord enquired of the Pharisees whai theyhad to say court-vard. our Lord. while surrounded bv many notahles of on the subject: Is it or is it not lawful to heal on the Sabthe scribes and Pharisees, noticed a man a&icted*with dropsy ; bath day ? They made no reply; no doubt feeling themselves and it would appear that our dear Redeemer was so full of somewhat incompetent to discuss any question with one whom love and sympathy that he had a desire to bless and to heal they had all learned to recognize as a great Teacher, however every such person with whom he came directly in contact. much ther reiected his hiesaiahshil,. The loving character thus manifested gives us assurance that Then Jesus, as showing his own understanding of the matwhen the kingdom comes and our Lord shall take uuto himter. that it would be right. that it would be in full harmonv self his great power and reign, he will assuredly bless and \vith the spirit of the Liwto heal a man on the Sdbbath da;, uplift so many as will accept his favors in a proper mannertouched the dropsical man and healed him. Then, by way of Thus our so many as really desire to be blessed by him. nointing out to his auditors the inconsistencv of their line of Lords general character fully substantiates and corroborates ihoughcon this subject, he reminded them that it was a recogall the prophetic statements made respecting him and the nized privilege and duty of every Jew to deliver his ox or his character of his Millennial work of blessing all the families ass, fallen into some pit or difficulty, and to consider this a of the earth. [SSSS]
A Y

tZS4-?65)

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

.b+LEGHENY,

1'~

work of necessity and mercy, ncjt forbidden by the fourth rommandment of the Jewish law. Hc allowed his auditors to draw the inference from this illustration. that as it could not he wrong to assist a dumb animal out of dificrrltv on the Sabbath, m;u+ 1~s could it be wrong to relieve thedistress of a human brinr made In the image of God. Thus hc would show that GotIs i>ln s arc not albitrily, but that it is always proper to do good.
THE PROPER RIND OF TABLE TALES

E\ery Chri\tinn farnil? ~hnuld utiliyt the excellent opportunitlrs af?ortlcd for so&l con\crscb at meal-times. hot only doe< Jll(%Wnt and profitnblc ccm~r~~ation assist digestion. and tlliik l~rnvc physically lrrlpful, but, additionally, these regnlar inmily pthwlnps sholild be recoFni/cd as opportunities for mcbntal profit and for ;:rowth in knowlrdgr rrspecting both things. tNnlK)ral anrl spiritual Partirnlnrlv for the last fourteen yciarq this has been tile custom of the bible Bousc familv at hll~!rllc~r~~,--:lnd a very profitable onr. Our topics are 11su:11lv r)rnr,onnded in the auc\tmn form. the nrivileee of qu~&minc bein,o open to all at the table: Ansqvrrs to the quwtion~ are sought from rath one present, thu? stimulating thnunht and a proper euprescinn of it, vcrv helpful to all. as sub+qu(~ntlv thc?g hay 1,; rallrd upontn answe; such a question hcfnrr others in nublir or in nrivate. We commend the plan to nil of onr rp:l,j?ls. suggest&g that in snch a gathering the one supposed to he mnit conversant with such matters rcs(1rvc his reply for the last. \Vlir~c tlie family iq cnmpnqrd wholly of new creatures the question would properlv differ somcwhst in general rharncter from nhat thrp would bc if it were a mixed company: ncvnthrlc~ss, apl)ropriatc suhiecti should not be refused from nn.yone prrqent ; as. for instance. questions respecting table rtlquette. good breeding. proner lanrruaee. the events of the dni that do not partake df the nature df iossip. etc. Jt is a ~hnmc that Chriqtlan nconle. even in the humblest walks of life, and when perhap sur;onnded bv povertv, have no thouzht of what valna%lc opportunities arenjforded at such times-of breakinn of bread-to hrpak to their families mental or spirit&l food also, strrn@,hening and elevating. In proportion as Christian p~oplr realize their privileges and duties in such mattc,rq thcv ~111 find that coarseness and rudrnesq at the tahlr will difinppear, refinement and intellectnnlitv . ,, eradnallv disnlacinp them. And one of the features moqt conducaive td trn: table etiquette. and the drawing togethc,r of hearts and minds in true fellowship and intellectual cnlormrnt at the times of nhvsiral repast. will be found to he the giving of thanks toGbd---the iecopnition that every good and evprv perfect gift rometh down from our Father. The family which at tahltb neglects to return acknowledgement to the Giver of every good, will scarrely succeed in properly rec,nfnizinp each other and having intellectual fellowship one with the other. That our T,ord was prompt to avail himself of all such table-talk opportunities. is verv manifest. On ea& occasion of his attcn.d*ancc at a hxnquei we And him utilizing the opportunity for the inrulcatinn of some truth-natural or spiritual. In thr preicnt in*tance he evidently did not consider hiq hearers to be in a favorable condition for high spiritual tl~ac~hing~, and hence his table-talk was on a lower plane, :~tl,~r)trtl to the natnral man. vet nercrthrless inculcating lcs<oni whit 11, if learned, would prrpare the learners fo; the hc~:~\c,nlv tllincr. And this should be the thourht in everv famjlv c,lrc*lc,-that the tendency of all conversjtion should br rnnobling aq well as Instructive-leading upward as well as outward. The guests had bcsc,n invited to the table, and our Lord notircd how they wyrrp each seeking the scats of chief honor, t1111. <bowing the pride and amhitinn of their hearts. We may <.Ifa*lv as~nmc that our Lord and his disciples took the IPi\ tl~stingnish~l seats, in harmony with the Scriptural IIl~Ilrl' lion. In hnnol prcfrrring nne anofher. A f 11orablc opportunity offering, our Lord indirectly called attcnl ion to thr wrong celf-srekin.g course.--not by saying :inr-tltin:: against the action in thlr particular case, but by ku&cbstln:! a prnpricty of contlwt in a general way; he based hi? ills-tratinn upon a marriage feast, at which, more than any o(h(lr. tlistinctionq as to title, honor and position, received much concitleration. As was his custom. he taupht bv a narable. prrmltting his hcarrrs to draw th; infere;ce &id hake thr annlic~ntinn in some measure to the banouet to which thev werr <hpn pathered ; and he wound it up by making this t great lesson on a general principle; viz., that Whosoever ru:+ltcJth himcelf shall he abasrd, and he that humbleth himsrlf Fhall he exalted -a le:qson of vital importance to all who would be ready for and enter the kingdom. This is a great lesson applicable, not only to the natural

man, seeking progress back to fellowship and harmony with God, but there is in it also a lesson to the new creature all through lifes Journey,-that if divine favor is desired and to be exoected it must he sought: not in nride. not in selfsuffi&ncv, but in humility. ihelord resiiteth the proud, the self-sufficient. the boastf,ll. and showeth his favors unto the humble. Thk Apostle Jades likewise calls attention to the importance of this grace of humility, assuring us that no true progress can be made in the way to God, except by the humble. (James 4:lO) And the Apostle Peter, after exhorting to humility, saying, Yea. all 02 you, be subject one to anocher, and be clothed with humilitv. adds. Humble vourselves. therefore, under the mightv h&d of God, that he *may exalt you in due time.--1 Pet. 6 :5, 6. If the hearers had received the message and been corrected by it, it might indeed have worked considerable difference in their standing amongst their brethren, the Pharisees, but It would also have worked a considerable difference in their favor with God. By receiving such a spirit of humility they would be coming into that relationshiu with God and the trut,h which would have divine approval, and be thus the steppingstone to further favor, by preparing their hearts to receive the good things which God has to give. but which cannot be receiied by a<y exrept the bumble-Lea&d. Indeed. we know of nothing today that is so great a stumbling-block to the majority in nominal Christendom as the prevalent spirit of self-seecing. It is a great barrier before the minds ok many, in and out of the nulnit. contmnallv hinderine them from seeing, hearing andI obeying present truth-they love the approval of men rather than that of God. The table-talk later turned in another direction. probably considerable being said in the interim that is not recorded, not pertinent; but before the feast was ended an appropriate op 1101 tunity came for the Lord to present some words of munwl to his host, and this was done in so kind and so wise a m:tnnel that it snrely caould give no offence, but, on the contrary. musl have led the thoughts of all the hearers to higher and heavcnlv things. He advised that the banquets of the well-to-do in thiq worlds goods be extended to thrir poorer, less fortunate neighbors and friends; assuring his hearers that such a rollrsc would bring the greatest blessing, as every good derd bring< its blessing?, forthwith -in the ronsriousness oi having done good; and in the reactionary effect upon ones own heart of every good deed. every benevolence. And, in addition to thrsc blessings, our Lord pointed out that for such an one therca would be a blessing in the future also-a reward that would fully compensate every such benefaction. Our Lords words were in part a commendation of the course pursued by his host in inviting himself and his apostle> to dinner, for thky were poor. Indirectly his remarks-meant that if that verv feast were given with a Proner sentiment of heart. as we hive every reason to presun& Gas the case, his host might expect a reward for his conduct in the future-besides the blessing that had alreadv come to his house through our Lords presence and words of instruction. Sunday School lesson comments will be found to misinterpret the blessing which our Lord derlared would come to those who received the poor. One of these commentaries savs on this point, that Our Lord refers to the first resurrect&, mentioned in Rev. 20:4. 5. assurine n him that. he wnnld hr raised in that resurrection as one of that glorious class. He would have the rewards that God gives, and can give only, to those who are righteous. This is a grievous mistake, a misapprehension of our Lord& meaning. The first resurrection is not to be attained merely by the doing of kind acts to either the worthv or the ul;~ worthy poor. As explained in the connection (Rec. 20 :4) none will h-a, part in the first resurrectjon except thost who hlve been beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God. And, although this beheading is figurative and not literal, it nevertheless has a deep significance, implying much more than making a feast to the Door. It signifies. not onlv death to self-u;zll,-bnt also to he tilt off from<;11 other head;. governments and law-givers, and to recognize no head but Jesus, whom God hath appointed to br the Head of the church which is his body--the &ad of every member of it. It means, not only to be cut off from institutional heads and authorities, but also to cease to have heads and wills of our own, and to accept, instead, the headship. the will. of our Lord Jesus. It is ihe same thought that is drawn to 0111 attention bv the Apostle in Romans 6 :X where he declares that we ar, baptized into the horlg of Christ, as members of that body, under the one Head, Christ, h.y being baptized into his death,-a full consecration of cnlr wills, and ultimately a full laying down of our lives. faithfully unto death. The attainment of this first resurrection and its joint-heirship with

c27001

(h&t in thr Mlllennlal k~ngtlom was clearly understood by the Apostle Paul, and was his aim: and respecting it he said. . I count all thmgs but lobs for the excellency of the knowledgci of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. . . . That I may know him, and the power of 71~s resur?-ectzoll. (Phil. 3:8, 10) Had St. Paul understood OUI Lords words as the above quoted Sunday School lesson cornmentator did, he would have chosen the easy and pleasant plan of feastmg the poor, rather than the years of pricatiou and self-sacrifice in the narrow way which he pursued. And to this, St. Pauls words on another occasion agree. Througll much tribulation shall ye enter the kingdom. What, then, did our Lord intend to promise as a rewaltl for a good deed-done without hope of reward In the present life? 1Ve answer, that he meant to promise the same thing ___--

that he promised to anybody who would give even so much ar rt cup of cold water to one of his dlsclples. Ilc wihhcd to Issure them that all such would by no means lose their re ward. (Matt. 10:42) Not a reward of glory. honor, ammo, tality and joint-heirship in the kingdom of Cod, but a good reward, more than compensating for the kindness they performed. This rewarding of everyone w!lo has done good, either to the poor of this world or especially to the Lord and hiti faithful brethren walking in his foosteps, will come to them, not in the first resurrection, but at that time;-after the first resurrection shall have glorified the church and inangurattrl tbc kingdom, then Mlllcnnixl blessing3 and the reipll of righteousness beginning will bring rewards to rreryonch who ha\ done kindnesses. helping them forward and almndantly rewarcling them; while all who have done r\-11 sh;111 h:~\c soml in compensation and retriblltioil measure of stripes

A ROYAL

BANQUET

DECLINED
14.

LUKE 14 : 15-2-L.-Oc~r. Jesus contmued his table-talk of our last lesson at the Our Lord had led the attention of his Pharisees dinner. a<sociats, not only to the proprieties of life, but to future things, by the suggestion that feasts should be given in the Interest of the Door. whose inabilitv to return the favor would insure a divineblca$ing more thancompensating in the future -in the kingdom. This led one of the company to a remark yes that kingdom, \\ hich we loosely paraphrase, thus,-Ah, for wl1ic.h we hope, will bc a blessed time. How blessed it will IIC to share the bounties which God has promised in the great The speaker probably was well feast which he shall spread! ,irqugintrd with Isaiahs prophecy respecting the kingdom (Isa. 25:li ) in which Gods mercies and blessings to the world UC fignratively represented as a feast, in the words, In this mountain [kingdom] shall the Lord of hosts make unto all the people a feart of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of iat thingfs full of marrow. Thus gradually the minds of the company present had lwm led from earthly things and from commonplace matters qnrial chit-chat, which might have occupied their attendIl(! tlnn, to the consideration of the gracious promises of God. .\nd nndoubt4dlv this was our Lords very object in accept111~the Phnrise~s invitation, and in leading the conversation Now he had an opportunity to zra~luallv in this direction. teach snhethine reanectinp this kingdom and its blessings and the ~11 to *bare it; alld he improved it. His hearers. if they had in mind Isaiahs prophccv and Gods promise to Abraham, \\-ould understand that the kingdom or mountain of the Lord \\ollld be thr house of Israel, in some glorious and exalted t.ondition under hlessiah. and that it was in and through his kingdom that the feast of divine blessings, for all nitions, \vas to be spread. Our Lord now, by a parable, drew atten rlnn to the Gospel call of great blessings and privileges. aild would have his hearers note the fact that while in a general day they would all assent to the statement that the kingdom ~nuld be a blessed one, and the feast there something to be greatly desired, nevertheless when the offer of that kingdom would be made them temporal things closer to their hearts would make it of no effect to the majority. The parable represents a great feast, with a large number of friends of the host invited in advance, that they might be ready at suds a time as the feast would be ready and anGod himself is the host in this parable, and the nounced. .Tewinh nation were his friends to whom, as a people, he had given much advantage every way, chiefly in that to them were committed the oracles of God,-much knowledge of the divine plan for human salvation and the promises that if they, as the seed of Abraham, were faithful, they should have the invitation and privilege and opportunities of this great feast. The Lord addresses them through the Prophet, saying, You onlv have I known [recognized] of all the families of the earth. (Amos 3:2) Israel only was invited to this feast; but the feast was not ready until our Lords day, and hence the invitation to partake of it did not go forth until then. Finally, however, the time had come: Christ, as represented in the bullock of the sin-offering, had already given- himself,-the sacrifice being counted as accomnlished from the time of its offerlng, when our Lord prese&ed himself to John at Jordan, making a full consecration ni his entire being, even unto death. In view of this sacrifite for sins, God could bepin at once to call the already promised gnests %.Qthe great f&t of blessing and manifestation of divine favor toward those to whom Yhe had promised it so long before, through their father Ahraham.

Come, for all things are now ready.

And thus it was that when .Jrsux came and ealled his disciples and sent them forth. the meshaye was. The kinpdom-of heaven is at hand; the great feilst of fat things f6l this nation, that God has so lnnr nromi<ed, is readv: and whosoever &ills may come and be &&ivt~d and parti&& in it. The message of .Tesun and thr twelve. and later the of that seventy, throughout all tJudea, was the invitation favored people to come and enjoy the great feast for which they had impatiently waited and hoped and prayed for ovel sixteen centuries,-the great privileges and opportunities ot the kingdom. But as the parable shows, when the offer of the kingdom was really made, when the invitation to partake of the blessings of the great feast was really put before them, it proved that thev loved the kinmlom and the future things far lesn On the rnntrary. than they and others misht have supposed. the unanimity with which the invitation to the kingdom wah rejected made it appear almost as though the rejectors had Their excuses for so little acted in concert in the matter. interest in the things which God had promised and which they claimed to be eagerlv lnnginp for, were the apparent pressure of other duties which they must attend to, and which left no time for responding to the divine invitation to the With one the pressure came in the direction of kingdom. see&g to his farm, and thus being not slothful in business; another felt that it might do rerv well for Dconle who had nothing else to do to g?ve attention to a spirit&l feast. but as for him, his time was fully occupied with his property, his oxen, sheep, store-business, and what not. Another felt that his duties, social ties, wife, children. etc., demanded all of his attention, and that therefore he could not accept the kingdom privileges. And this, which was the sentiment of fleshly Israel, 1h largely that of spiritual Israel, also, now that the spiritual Manv seem to feel tbat what they kinndom is announced. wo;ld call the real and practical things of life need all 03 They want to get along in this worlds their attintion. affairs. and to he somehodies in it, and thev find sue+ interest in social and material matters a great hindrance to any resnonse to the divine invitation to a sh:lre in thr elnrious Mill&nial kingdom. as ioint-heirs with Christ,-thcgreat feast. the high callingwhidh has come to us. \\cll, in one smsc nt the word this is all right. for it mcrzlv keeps ant of tlw kin!? dom a class which the Lord does not debi& should be in it. and which if it did come in would need to be siftrd ollt, lat(tr although< God has bidden many, he is seeking for this feart only such as will highly appreciate it abovcall other privllepes-those who would be willing to sacrifice anv and ever\ o-~ ~~ other thing in order to share it. The first invitation to the feast, recounted in the parable. represents the first years of our Lords ministry, whi& wcr( specially directed toward interesting the scribes and Phnriqeeind D&ors of the Law, who, ai* the leading men of that nation. and as our Lord said, occupyinp Moses seat. reallv represented that nation as a &hole;- &nd the rejection of tKe invitation by these meant the rejection of it hv that nation as a whole. Thus our Lord was careful to bring before thca priestly class of that time the evidences of his Messiahship, so that when, for instance, he healed the ten lrpers, he (ahIrgttl them to tell no man, but go and show themselves to the priests. Thus the priestly class was informed respecticp the miraculous work of our Lord, perhaps more particularly than They therefore had the invitation to the feast more others. Howerrr. the fact that the chief particularly than others.

c27011

ZION'S

WA 7 Cl1

TOWER

ALLEGHENY.

PA

repreqentatives of Terael acre unready for the invitation was not permitted to hinder. :*nci our Lord. through his disciples, subsequently rxt~~nd~,d tile 111~ ltatlnll to another class. The trial of the natl~m :% a wllnlt~. represented by its leaders. cndtd at Calvarv. or rxthtlr live days before Calvarv. when

thfsm w( nrr ;i5.nrcsti tllcrfl :lr(s 11nt m2nv wlcc not minp groat. no! nlr,r\- lf.~~J Jld !nit chipfly tllc poor f(>r although ilT( not :ilwavs hnml~lf~ br any mrxns. yet among& t11c pm th(bm propnrtlnnatrly more nere fnllntl nho were of acceptable Chai actor : amongit thl, r1t 11 and the Frcat humility would albpear to 11nvr hvn at all times rnrrqondingly scarce. T~IIS vv~orrtl Inrlt;ttinn to the nnnr. the halt and the blind, in the qtrc>rts and lane< of th(l city, as a picture wnuld be \ery dif?lc~ult to appreciate in our day of hospitals and almshnust~s, (At,*.. prnvid(~d by pcneral taxation: but in the days of our Lord it would he very CW~T intlcctl to have collected a 1arFe rrnwd of indigent and Infirm in shnrt order. It will hr ol)served that hoth of these first calls belong to the city-that i4, Turael. the nominal kingdom of God. But the two calls fa~lrd to find thp sufficient number which God had pretlrstinatcd should cnn~titute the kingdom clas;~. Hc rnultl indeed hPv(* induced others to come in. but. on the contrary. he purposely put the iuritatinn to the feast in such a form as would repel thncr who were not of the riuht attitude of heart-in surh a form a< would attract Israelites indeed. who felt and acknowledged their own unworthiness. and who would he glad, on entering the feast. to have on the robe provided for the ~ucsts (~vmbnlicnl of Christ9 riehteousness). to corer the filthv rags of their own imperfertion. But now, hecausc n suffi&nt number was not found in Israel to complete the elect number. the message must be sent outside the city, outside of .Judaism.-to the Gentiles; and thus the third message way Go pe into the highways and whnqorver you meet. compel them tn rnme in. The word compel, however. gives a wrong thought here: it should properly be rendered, urge, rJcrsiiadr. Any1 thus it haq been that throughout the Gospel age, since the brincinc in to the Gnsnpl fnrnr of as manv .Jr-ws as were ready for it: thr mrs+agf 1;~s hem tllrncd to the Gentiles. to take nut of them a people for Gods name, to partake of the great fta:lst with the rcmnaut of T~ra~l. AS the .4postle Paul said to snrnp of thr .TPw~ in hip prcaachinp: It was necep sary that tllr word of Gnd +onltl first have heen spoken to

you; but seeing ye put it from you, and Judge yourselves unworthy of everlaptinn life. 10, we turn to the Gentiles; for so the fiord bath cogmanded us. (Acts 13.46, 47) They showed themselves unworthv of this nreat blessine or gift. in that they were interested &ore in the things thatperi& than in the glorious promises of the everlasting future. The Apostle P,xul calls attention to this fact in Rom. 9:27: Though the number OF thr children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant [only] shall he saved. The Apostle furthrr show* that the call of the Gentiles to be sharers m the kmpdom is merely the continuation of the original call, and that we arc called in to take the places of those who neglected Hc illustrates this by the ~3 #rrnt <nlvation and privilege. olive tree, saying that the natural branches were broken off that we. who by nature mere wild, might be grafted in and hrcnme partakers of the root and fatness of the olive.-Rom. 11:17. This third call to the great feast nf the kingdom blessings and privilepres has prngrcss(xd throughout this Gospel ape. and to our nnderqtnnding is now nearly complete-nearly all the places at the table hare bren provided wit11 gursts; o?llV n few and so snnn as these plares :IIC fillrd. the are yet vacant: great feast will beFin, and we shall indeed rnter Into thr joys of our Lord, and not only be privileged to feast oursclvcs. but to carry of its bounties and blessings to all thr familleb of the earth. The same matters mhirh hindered the .Tews. under the first call. from acceDtine: thir: invitation, havr hindrrrd to a large extent also m&v bf the Gentiles who hilvc heard the third It is imnossible tc; he thnrourh-going business men, call. wealthy, influential, etc., and at the &rn> time follow in the footsteps of Jesus, giving all of our hearts. talents and energies to the Lord in acceptance of his invitation to this feast. The arceptanre of the invitation to this feast means a drep interest in it, beyond everything else, sn that all ntllcr matters, whether houses or Iand~, father nr mother. wlfc or rhildren. shall be secondary to the interest9 of the kinptlom. and to our responsibilities to the terms and conditlnns of the inriConsequently, what was true respectIn: Israrl has tation. been true as resDects the Gentiles. YIZ.. that the (*all to the kingdom has bee; generally. rejected bvthnce who had a (aonsiderable measure of this worlds bl&ings and adrantapesthose who are rich, either in honor of men or snrlal position or talents or reputation or money, have found it difficult to leave these all to follow Jesus in the narrnw way: and, conseouentlv, the Scriptural assnranre IS. not only that those elected in the end bf the Jewish age were chirflg. the poor and lowlv. but that the same has been true amnncst the Gentiles, Not manv wise men after the flesh. noi and is true today: many mighty, not many noble.; but chiefly the poor of this world, rich in faith.-1 Cor. 1:26; James 2 :5. This does not debar those who have riches of nnv kind, but really gives them all the greater privilege and opportunity; for they have that much greater talent which. if thev ~111, they mev sacrifice, and thus the more fully demonstrate their appreriation of the invitation and of the feast, and be rorreLet uq all, like the suondinglv aDDreciated bv the Host. spostleYPaul: *lap aside every weight, every hindrance, every besetment, everything precious to us of an earthly kind, that we may run with patience the race set before US. in response to this invitation to the great feast of joint-heirship with our Lord in the kingdom.-Heb. 12:1, 2; Rom. 8.16-18; 12:l. 2.

ATXEGHFXY,

PA., OCTOBER

1, 1900

No. 19 1

VIEWS FROM THE WATCH

THE BIBLE TRIUMPHANT

TOWER

Evidence< corroborative of the Bibles truthfulness accumulate Gcnrqiq notes Ximrod aq the founder of the Chnldee or ISabylnnIan empilc before Abrahams day. (Gen. lO:S-12) Thc.r and otllrr fraturrq of the narrative have been doubted and con~~drretl mvthirnl ; but explorations in Babylonia seem to confirm the 13ihlc ~clcaordat every point. \Ve have already mentloned the esploration of the ruins of ancient Slppur, nure the royal rapital. nommenced some years ago hp thr rrprcsentatil-es of the University of Pennsylvania, U. S. A. The pa<t vear. It seems. has been a verv fruitful one. the ruins vieldinc to the searchers vast literary treasures.-the once kationnl Librarv of Chaldea. The Biblzh. giveq the following interesting des&iption of the find:The mnqt surprising feature of the discovery is that the persons who collected the tablets and placed them originally in the pot was an old priest, who lived previous to and during the time of Belshazzar, and who was evidently a scientist of no

The pot was, indeed, his archaeological mean discrimination. museum, not portentious in size, but the first museum known to man, and therefore more important for the bearing it had on the history of civilization than any of the great museums in existence today. Among the articles found in it were the following tablets : 1. One of Sargon, which gives his titles. This particular piere of baked clay may give information concerning the doings of centuries. It was the custom in those days for each king to inscribe a memorial tablet not only with an account of his victories, but with his pedigree, showing whrre he was born, who were his ant storq. the god he worshiped, and in fart, anything else that might serve to impress posterity with his personal glory. These tablets, therefore, reveal the names and origin of many of the writers contemporaries, predecessors, and, as the accounts of the sucressive ltinP;9 dovetail into one another. they will all in the end constitute an unbroken history of this early civilization. There are, however, compara-

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tively few of these tablets yet found which date so far back as 3800 B. c., hence the vast importance of this tablet. 2. A tablet written in the reign of Ur Gur. This king is famous for building and remodeling the old temple of Ekur, dedicated to the god Bel. This stone tablet states specifically that he rebuiltl the temple wall, which had originallv been erected bv Narim Sin. He also erected manv other b&dings in Nippu;. 3. A tablet, excellently preserved, stating the great hall of the temple was called Emakh. It also stated. to Professor Hilprechts- great amazement, that there were forty different shrines in Nippur, each of which was dedicated to a distinct This important fact will amaze Babylonian scholars, god. because it has hitherto been supposed that there was but one god, 1. c., Bel, worshiped in Nippur. 4. A text inscribed by Ashur-etil-ilane, a king who ruled a short time over Assyria. 5. An important text of Assyrias last king, Sin-sharishkun. Near the spot where Professor Hilprecht found this wonderful little museum there was picked up a peculiarly shaped barrel cylinder recording King Samsu-ilunas restoration of part of the Temple of Bel. This was about 2006 n. C. Near by lay a curious truncated barrel cylinder marked with the name of Sssur-bani-pal. a king whose name is well known to the exnlorers. In addition to these, two hundred Hebrew bowls, exrellentlv preserved and some of them quite large, But these were unearthed in another Dart of the mounds. were quite modern, having been left by the Jews who lived on the mounds of Nippur as late as 700 A. D. No one can rea-d an account of the work of Professor Hilnrecht without being struck bv the fact that the neonle of 7.060 vears ago lived vrv muchYas we do today. The& was the same appreciation ofliterature and art, as- shown in the cuneiform scrims and in their sculnture. Wealthv neople lived in the cities and employed attorneys to manage- their tenantry who lived in the country on farms. When they bought iewelrv a written guarantv went with it. In the archive ;oom bf Muiashu SZns, attYorneps of ancient Nippur. there was found a tablet guaranteeing that an emerald set in a ring would not fall out for twenty years. Houses were built on an extensive, not to say modern., plan, and were furnished more or less magnificently, as evidenced in the palace above mentioned above. Fortifications were built. wars were carried on, conquests were made, and heroes were glorified. Peonle. when thev died. were not thrown hastilv into the earth. but were laid away carefully in clay coffins, which are found today still covered with the beautiful blue glaze with which thev were decorated bv the ancient undertaker. And for the benefit of posterity, &ience was studied and museums were planned that they might be found in the dawn of the twentieth century, and the history of the race read as a sermon in stones. Commenting on these discoveries. the London Daily News says .The finfl has been much more important than could have been anticipated. In the course of three months no less than 17 290 tablets, covered with cuneiform writings, have been recovered. These are not of the character mentioned in mv former notice of the discoverv of tablets, namelv, the reiovery of private business contracts. conveyances. letters, and the like, but bear more resemblance to the contents of an ordinary library. The tablets are historical, philological, and literary. They treat of mythology, of grammar and lexicography, of science, and of mathematics. There is reason to believe that they will for the first time enable the world to form an adequate idea of life in Babylonia such as could be possible onlv bv the discoverv of a national lihrarv, recording- the national progress in literature science. and thought eenerallv. No document is found in this collection of a later date than 2280 B. c. As this date marks the invasion of the Elamites, the fact adds confirmatory evidence that the library was destroyed during this invasion. The unexplored remains of the library are even more extensive than those already examined. The tablets are generally arranged with regularity on clav shelves around the rooms of the library, and Professor Hilprecht estimates that at their present rate of working five more years will be necessary to excavate and examine the contents. He thinks it probable, judging from the contents already found in the rooms excavated, and from various other reasons, that the unexplored part will pield 150.000 tablets to be added to those already discovered. As the library was one of great renown, the chief glory of the temple in early Babylonia, the chief college for instruction in law and religion, which, as in all early systems, were inextricably bound together, and,

indeed, in all studies judged worthy of attention, it is evident. that no examination of the contents can be too careful. It is, in fact, hardly too much to sag that if the unexplored parts should prove as rich in results as that already found, there will be no example in the worlds historv. not even in Egypt, of so complete a recovery of the records of an ancient civilization. . . . . In the course of the present excavations a palace belonging to the pre-Sargonic period was uncovered beneath an accumulation of seventy feet of rubbish on the southwestern side of the Shatt-en-Nil, dividing Nippur in two parts. Professor Hilprecht himself, having never been doubtful as to the actual site of the temple library at Nippur since his first visit to Babylonia in 1889, considers the discovery of this large building, with 600 feet frontage, which will probably turn out to be the palace of the early priest-kings of Nlppur, as the most important result of this years campaign. Already the few rooms excavated have given valuable results in the shape of pre-Sargonic tablets, of seal cylinders of the earliest type, and clay figurines of early date and great interest. The palace was very extensive, and at least two stories high. I . . . Beyond doubt the greatest success of the year is that accomplished by the American expedition. The importance of the discovery of the pre-Sargonic palace and of the library of so famous a temple as that of Nippur was at once recognized. The svstematic and thorough examination which it is-hoped will bemade next year prom&es to give a full and detailed nicture of life in what the author of the Book of Genesis r:garded as one of the oldest cities in the world, and one whose origin, even in his time, was attributed to the famous hunter whose name has become mythical. The results of the explorations will nrobablv show that Ninnur was as I. important* in the fifth millennium before Christ as it was in the third; that it anticipated the civilization and the period when Babylon took the lead by at least two thousand years, and that at this early period the human race in Babylonia had acquired arts and knowledge which hitherto have only been attributed to a much later period. * * * How does this agree with the claim of Evolutionists that Adam was but one remove from the highest type of monkey, and too ignorant at first to wear clothing? On the contrary, how-these evidences of intelligence amongst the ancients corroborate the old Bible. at which higher criticism, falsely so called sneers ! The Bibles declaration is that the first man was up, high up in intelligence, in the very image of God, and that he fell from that high estate because of sin. The fact is that during the 1656 vears to the flood. the fall. the denravitv of mankind, was very-great; and that in Abrahams day. about 400 vears later. the race was still further enervated. through cl&tic and other influences, as shown by the fact that Arphaxad, born two years after the flood, lived 438 years, while his children, during those four centuries, gradually declined in vitality and years, so that Terah, Abrahams father, died at two-hundred-fire: and it is rwqonal)le to prrsiime tl\xt the mental vigor suffered equally with the physical. And yet the Scriptures show us Abraham. everv wav a noble specimen of humanity: and now ancient Nippurs-libraries, ihen in process of formation, show us that a high drgree of intelligenre was then prevalent among the sons of Ham, as well as in the family of Shem. But we caution all to beware of the dates ascribed to these ancient tablets. cities, etc.: for thev are onlv scientific guesses: and since theyare cnntradictorv t; Bihle chronology, we know that ther are unreliable The worldlv-wise. denressine the Bible as unscientific, and relying on *their own findings. endeavor to reconcile such archaeological testimonies with their previous errors instead of with the Bible. And srientists, misled into reckoning on evolution lines, have given to human history an age much beyond that declared in Gods Word, which we accept as the onlv authority;-some of them going to more ahsurd extremes than other?. Blessed is the man who putteth his trust in the Lord and in his Word.
Y

MANNA

FOR THE

FAMISHING

OF INDIA

The strange appearance of manna on the stems of the bamboo, was reported last March by the divisional forest officer, Chanda, Central Provinces, and notices of this phenomenon have been nuhlished in the local naners. The bamboo forests of Chanda consist of Dmdrocalun& strictus, the male bamboo, a bushy plant from twenty to thirtv feet in height, and affecting the cooler northerlv and westerlv slopes of Central and Southern India. This is said to be the first time in the history of these forests that a sweet and gummy substance has been known to exude from the trees. The gum has been exuding in some abundance, and it has been found very

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palatable to the natives in the neighborhood, who have been consumine it as a food. The occurrence of the manna at this season is-all the more remarkable, since the greatest famine India has known is this year visiting the country, and the districts where the scarcitv is most felt are in the Central Provinces.--Nature. * WKAT WILL BECOME OF PROTESTANTISM IN JAPAN The Japan Advertaser has it upon the best of authority that one of the American mission boards is next month to wlthdraw from Japan its only remaining representative. and IS to leave its work, henceforth, entirely in the hands of the .lapanese, who have become interested in It. The latter( says our contemporary) are to have the use of the buildings and property (;f no inconsiderable value), ant1 some pecuni&y aid will continue to be Lrranted them. but the work itself will be practically free fro$ foreign g&dance. A Ilterary man, residing in *Japan, Mr. Penman, makes (nommeut on the above as follows :This extracbt show3 clearly the failure of Protestant for it is failure. and not largeChristianity in this country; bearted trust in the Ja~anrse Protestant, that has caused this retreat. There are at present independent Protestant cahurches in *Taoan: but. in the first nlace. their Christianitv hb become so ;ag& thit it can ha& becalled Christianiti at all; and, in the second place, they are not making headway. A Japanese journalist, who relates his experiences in the columns of the Kirriaato Tolc!yo Shzmbun, says that he examined the roll of one of these churches some time ago, and found out of a total membership of 323 no less than 86 persons Hc was informed that out of the rewcrc marked ahscnt. mainder, 123 persons were Christian only in name, so that the work of the chur& had to he carried on by a little over 100 converts ; and even out of these the average attendance at church mectingq did not exreed 77. And the last report of the Iiumiai (Independent Japanese churches-Protestant, of course,) shows that the number of self-supporting churches has fxllrn from 40 to 34, and, if the truth must be told there are not more than 24 or 25 of these that are selfsupporting in reality. Nnt onlv arc the Independent churches thus going backward in point of numbers; they are, as I have jist %nted, eoinar wocfullv backward in rceard to doctrine as well. I ghali pive a rincretc example of-what I mean. The Doshisha is a fine educational in&itution estahlished by a Japanese Protestant who was. I believe. a sincere and able Christian. It was run for a numder of yea& as a religious establishment in connection with tire American Mission Board, and of course the trustees were all Christians of good standing, and generFor some time thev u;ere Christians, but allv clergymen. c*hanFrS--Pntal ant1 otherwise-occu; rapidly in Japan. and onlv last venr thPv had nrocressed so far taward Akrnosticism thai a breach witi the American Mission Board occurred. I visited personally some of the leaders of the movement, and thev told mc that thcv rertainlv did not believe in the divinitv of ehriqt; in fact, I iailrd to iiiscover any one point of Christian belief that they did believe in. . . . . Ten years ago Irotcqtantism had a very good outlook in *Japan, and many highly educated Japnnosc clnbraced it. But it took the advanced thinkers among the converts only a year or two to out-Spencer Spencer. and todav the vernacular Protestantism of ,Jnpan is getting on a~ best- it can without rtny burning or The burning and &i&e linhtsshinine linht whntsoevrr. In othir words, the leading native e&siastics---l&&e all and, while still professin,n t,o he Chrisof them pbilosopher~. tians, attmptcd to call in German and other materialism to their aid. The l<nrrlich and American missionarv bodies to The Amkrican Episwhirl) they brlon~etl, naturally objected. c.onaI church of Janan fell foul of Dr. Saeiura. a Jananese miniitcr (nbo hai had, by the way, the advantage bf an who denied the miraculous c~xwllrnt Amtarican education), hirih of Christ. Many of the leading Japanese clergymen rethe orpan of thp Lutheran slrmerl. and, in another dire&ion, Chllrch in -Japan, a mapazine which maintained that the Hihlr i& a revelation. was discontinued because no suitable auditor could be found who was prepared to defend such a theory. Mr. Penman quotes a Japanese writer in a Tokyo magazine
as

force, or to a fixed law called Temmei. What po3blbllity i-, there of building a svstem of moralitv on belief in the existence of suchy an entity as this? . .*. . If we ask what amount of real faith in Christianity there exists in this counChristians dispute try, the answer must be discouraging. about opinions and discuss this doctrine and that, but beneath it all, it seems to me, there is little real belief. Christianity, in coming to us, has had the advantage of being associated with a system of civilization whose merits are acknowledged. It has been represented as part and parcel of that civilization, and hence has in the past received a certain amount of prestige The feeling of the nation that it is no longer likelv to retain. in reference to tlhe various elements composing-what is called Western civilization has chanced. and hence Christianitv is no longer likely to be regarded-asan inseparable part of ihat civilization. If things proceed thus, in thirty years Christianlty in *Japan will be effaced. We cannot vouch for the correctness of these pessimistir views of the Protestant situation in Japan: douhtiess honest We do Deoule view these things throueh various snectacles. kno-w, however. that I&. Pengans picture rorreqponds well with what we see right here at home-that the colleges and theological seminaries of this so-called Christian land are hot beds bf infidelity called advanced thought, higher criticism, Evolution, etc. We cannot wonder, then, that tht same spirit has reached Japanese institutions; nor can ~(1 wonder that the Japanese. less bound to the Bible hv traditions of the past, shbuld be more free to speak and nct nut of their unbelief-especially when popularity, the rnac~c:s of the people, etc., would all favor such a course. Surely the shaking and sifting will he thorough (Hell 12:26) : for it is the Lord that is back of it. wlshiny to thoroughly separate the little handful of wheat from the vast, quantity of tares constituting nominal Christendom, BabyWe may be sure, however, that not one grain of the lon. true wheat will be neglected by the great Reaper --Matt. 24:2-l SEEKING 2,000,OOO HEADS OF WHEAT AND TARES FOR METHODISMS BIG FLOCK The public press has the following announcement
,

Methodists Seeking 2,000,OOO Converts-The Twentieth Century Movement has Opened Offices in Chicago-200 000 Workers Enlisted-Greatest Harvest of the Years Revival Expected In the Large Cities CHICAQO, Sept. 8.-The twentieth century movement of the Methodist Episcopal church to save 2,000,OOO srmlr is ~~11

it he said that our Christian philosophy has been mnrc ~ncrrssfnl than our nreachine of moralitv? I trow not. After attempting to call ih Germa;; material&n to the aid of Christianity with poor results, our philosophers fell bark on the ultra-idealism of Brahmanism and Buddhism, with the outc*omc that they have gradually explained away the peraonnllty of the Christian God, reducing him to a mere controlling

follows Can

under way. Bishop James M. Thoburn proposed the plan at the Gcnera1 Conference of the church in May. It has been the rh]cAf topic at the ministers meetings. The order has gone to the Bishops and will be handed down to each member of the Briefly, the scheme is to have 200.000 members each church. pledge themselves to bring ten converts into the church before Dec. 31, 1901. The Methodist church is so thoroughly organized that the movement will be carried out without a hitch throughout the country. W. W. Cooper, secretary of the movement, has opened r~~~ office in the Methodist Church block in Chicago. A large part of the work ought to hc done 1n the big This is the beginning of a revival cities, savs hfr. Cooper. that will extend thrdugh the first half of-the &king century Everv organization connected with the church will be utilized to f&the; this grand plan. There is much dead timber in the church, which, it is hoped, will respond to this invitation to extend the influence of Christ. It is quite true that church membership is not increasing in ratio to the census, so the Methodist church has decided to start a great agitation. Last vear witnessed a decrease in Methodist numhers, and this and other offsets are proposed. No doubt results will follow. It is as much a Dart of this harvest work to cathcr the tares into bundles ind bind them, AS it is to .&tllei the wheat into the light and liberty wherewith Christmakes Should anv rine wheat be free and safe in his earner. we mav sur& ixpect them to Eathered into these b&dles, he gathered out again, speedily; for The Loid knoweth them that are his. and is callinp in a voice which all his true ones will hear aid recognize a&obey, Come out of her, my ieople. that ye be not partakers of her sins and receive not of her plague3 !--2 Cor. 6:17; Rev. 18:4. No doubt this Twentieth Century Movement will spread among all denominations, and favor the Union movement. No doubt also it will lead to an increased bitterness against present truth and all who are loyal to it as the true gospel. It would not surprise us if this led to persecution, for no doubt many now, like Saul of Tarsus, will verily think that in persecuting the truth and its servants they are doing God service.

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At the convention of Christian workers, Chicago, Sept. 19, Rev. Torrey, as reported by the Chicago Evening Post, said: Unbelief is rampant. Many regard it as a mark of intellectual superiority to reject the Bible, and even faith in God and immortalitv. It is about the onlv mark of superiority many possess, &d perhaps that is the reason they cling to i-t so tenaciously. Many of us who are professedly orthodox ministers are infidels. Worldliness is rampant amone: church members. Many church members are just *as eager a; any in the rush to get rich. They use the methods of the world in the accumulation of wealth. and thev hold iust as fast to it as nnv. when thev have ii. Manv do not believe in the whole Bible. The book of Genesis is a myth; Jonah is an allegory; and even the miracles of the Son of God are auestioned. The doctrine of prayer is old-fashioned, and the doctrine of the loly Spirit is sneered at. Conversion is unnecessary, and hell i& no loneer believed in. Then look at the fads and errors that have-sprung up out of this loss of faith. . . . Praylessness abounds among church members on every hand. Many Christians snend twice as much time every dav wallowing in the mire of ihe daily papers as they do bathini in the cleinsIng waves of God9 holy Word.
ZIONISM PRosPERINa SLOWLY
, Y.

While the last Zionist Congress (London, August) was a success as respects numbers and enthusiasm, it revealed no progress on the part of its leaders in the accomplishment of its aims. or steps thereto. The London Spectator says of it: The main arguments of the speakers are the horrible position of the Jews in countries where, as in Roumania, they are actively persecuted, and the benefit they may be to Europe, as the vanguard of an army of intelligence for penetrating Ssia. Both are sound arguments, but some hotter impulse than either would seem to be required before the majority of .Tewq will quit countries to which thev are accustomed. for a country which has for ages been repr&ented to them a$ desolate bevond exnerience. The English Jews in narticular are too romfortablc to move; the J&s in professions on the-Continent fear to be dcaclared foreigners; and the poor majority have no means of influencing t&h Turkish government, which 1s not favorable to the movement. Some dav or other. when thr Spraglio is in acute want of money, a ireat expeiiment will hp tried; but meanwhile Zionism is rather the highly interpsting aspiration of a treat race. than a practical desirm C. for the ;est&ation of the iews to their own la*nd. Addressing the Congress and speaking on the General Pocition of the Jew, Dr. Max Nordau is reported to have said : Since they heran to review the position of the Jew among the nqtionq. during the sittings of the Congress, the drama had devclopcd before their eves. and everv act was proeresnivelv lreartrendinc. TOP hook bf Joh must bk taken to de the picturk of thr .TPwish position. Anti-Srmitiqm was m-owing more rirtllent. The press of Europe bore testimony to Jew; being cast in priqon for a crime to none so revolting as to the Jew. In Prussia theqe ridiculous charges had received their auietus. and the mprgetic action of t&. government deserved the best thanks of Jewry. ?Vhv are we thus treatcdl Are we not as human as our neinhhorq? Are we not as innocent? Is our desire to support our wives and children 1eqR laudable in 11s than in them There have been other religious persecutions, but none so gruesnme. One historical parallel occurred to his mind. In 1729-31 all the Protestants in Salsburg, Austria, were expelled from their homes on account of reliniou3 intoleranre. They took all necesqarp comforts with them, Church dignitaries offered them vaiedirtorv blessings. and even accompanied them some distance towards their new land. Kine Frederick William I. of Pruqqia offered them a home, and their new neighbors vied with earh other in the heartiness of their greeting. But the poor 270 000 Jews exiled from Roumania carry nought but the rags on their barks; for their sick there was no medical consolation: and their future was as uncertain as their past way dark. They are accompanied on their rough road with suspicion and hatred; are met with repulses and rehuffs, and with the cry, ever growing sterner, Go further, further.
ARE THE HEATHENS SAVED OB LOST?

they will at once reply, Oh, no! we believe and teach that the heathen can be saved and go to heaven if they believe in Mohammed or Buddha or Confucius or some other divinity, if they do the best they know how. You ask them. Will not heaven then be a nlace of common rather than chdice spirits, with such a {reponderance of heathen? and, What advantage then have Christians? and they are sorely perplexed, but generally not sufficiently perplexed to start a fresh investigation of the divine Word to see where the difficulty lies. Wh& we further ask, Why the expenditure of millions of dollars annuallv. and the sacrifice of manv lives -~ of missionaries, if the heath% are saved anyway? th;?y are confused at their own inconsistency. And if we then inquire, Do you not claim that the hearing of the Gospel, with the natural ear, brings condemnation to eternal torment if it be rejected? And do you not admit that the vast maloritv of thbse who thus hea; do reject the Gospel? And pu&gthis part of your faith with the other. do vou not admit that one or the olher must be wrong, or eise &at missionary etTort is keeping millions of heathen people out of heatTen?-Then they are confused and want (not to search for the truth but) to change the subject and stop thinking lest they lose their faith. Poor things, they hold fast to their nonsensical delusions, calling them futth! But now, in line with the above, we have another question to propound to so-called Orthodoxy, based on the followinp clipping from the daily press:
Five Thousand Perished LONDON, POPULATION Chinese Driven Ilbiberably-Shot ANNIHILATED into the Amur River, Where if They Attempted to Land Theg

Inconsistency seems to be stamped on every doctrine and practice of orthodox Churchianitv. For instance, point out to them that only one-fifth of the worlds population -make the slightest claim to be Christians, in the mont formal sense, and that therefore the four-fifths who are professedly heathen can in no sense be saved in Christ, and that unless there be hope for them in the future, by an awakening from death to a resurrection by judgment, there can be no other hope; and

Sept. 2l.--Authentic accounts have been received hefe. says the Moscow correspondent of the Standard, of a horrible massacre at Blagovestchensk, which was undoubtedly carried out under direct orders from the Russian autboritie.s, and which then let loose the tide of slaughter through Amur. The entire Chinese population of 5,000 souls was escorted out of town to a spot five miles up the Amur. and then. beinn led in batches of a-few hundred tothe river b&k, were drderez to cross over to the Chinese side. No boats were urovidcd anti the river is a mile wide. The Chinese were flunz ilive into the stream and were stabbed or shot at the least resistance. while Russian volunteers, who lined the bank. clubbed or shot anv who attempted to -land. Not one escaped alive. Thp -riv& bank for miles was strewn with corpses. It is the claim of certain religious journals, and of mauJ ministers of the gospel, that the present war in China for the protection of ministers and missions is a holy war in the interest of Christianity and its civilization, as against heathen ism and its civilization. Now our question is whether thia war is adding to the population of hejven or of hell, according to orthodoxy? It is surelv a verv imnortant and nroner question fro& their standpoint. Let us see; the succo;ing& of the ministers and missionaries (every one of whom no doubt would have been passported to heaven bv his own denomination) has cost. the l&es of probably 50.600 persons thus far, about 5.000 of the number beine soldiers renresentine Christendom (as the Russians of the lbove clippink). Now-did the entire 50.000 go to heaven?-the heathen because they did not know of Chrisi and the soldiers of Christendom bccausc tha were soldiers of the rroqs? If so. then the war alreadv hip saved 50,000 and should be prosecuted vigorously. * If our question be answered ne~~tivcly--that the heathen 45,000 went to torment, and the Christian 5,000, being no more saints than the heathen, went to the same awful fate, then another question would be in order, namely: Would it not have heen more Christ-like for the few rescued miniqterq and missionaries to have taken death as martyrs. in tht,ir faltb of an immediate entrance to heaven; and to h:lve allowed the. 50,000 thus far slain in thp war, to escape the torture for R few years more at least? Row inconsistent orthorloug is in its every proposition respprting the rrry subject it profesqea to know all about; viz., the divincx plan of salvation! But how ronsistent the Bible teaclhing on these sublectq. -( 1) That only consecrated believers in the atonement arc (2) That the vast maiority of those Christians-%a&. killed on both sides were merely rhildrcn of thir world. and not to he reckoned among the children of God, whose trial for glory, honor and immortality in n~lu in progress. (31 Thatthc hour is coming in thi which not onlv- these, but aZZ that a.re in their araves shall hear the voice of the Son of Mnn and romc fort&, the masses q~nto [i. e.. to have an opportunity for] a resurrection [raising fully out of death. in perfect and everlasting conditions] bv iudements.* dial The word in this text (Tohn 5:29) rendered is very improperly translated It should be $fgment, as in the Rew~cd VPV. .I c dinmnotion

rron, and in verses 22, 27 and places in the Scripturtis where

30 of this this word

same chapter krisrs occurs.

and many

other

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ALLEGHENY, PA.

clplmes. corrections in righteousness, a11 men durmg the Mlllcnnlum.

CAN RESTITUTION CHANGE THE

SKIN?

The followmg, from the New York World, 1s the third we have seen reported. These suggest and illustrate the process of restitution soon due. The item reads: From Black to White He Slowlv Turned PARIXRSIXRG, W. Va., Sept. &-It has fallen to the lot f,f the Rev. \i illlam H. Draper, pastor of the Logan Memorial church, of \Vashmgton Conkerence, A. M. E. church, of this to\\n, to give a living affirmative answer to the famous Biblical question. Can the Ethlouian chance his skin or the leonard !ll> spots? Thougl, once as black-as charcoal, the Rev.-Mr. Dlcrpvr IS now white. HIS people say that his color was ch,~nged in answer to prayerSIany iears ago Draper was employed by a fair-skinned man. and he was often heard to re&ri< that if he could only be white like his employer, he would he happy. While in the white mans service Draper experienced religion. From that day forward he prayed constantly and fer-

Thirty years ago his vently that he might become white. prayer began to be answered. He first experienced a prickling sensation on his face, and upon close investigation found a number of small white spots scarcelv larger than the pomt of He became alarmed, thinking h< had some ^peculiar a pin. disease but he did not suffer and aside from the nricklinn sensation felt nothing unusual. Gradually the white spots b& came larger and extended themselves, until now, after the change has been in progress for over thirty years, Draper has not a single dark spot on his body. Many years ago, before this strange metamorphosis took place, Mr. Draper was in charge of the same church he har now. He was popular with his flock and his departure was a source of great regret. When he recently returned to Parkeraburg therev was great rejoicing among the churchmen because their favorite pastor was coming back. When, however, Draper appeared in the pulpit the first Sunday, not one of the congregation recognized him. In fact, it was all he could do to convince them that he. a white man. was the same old black preacher they had yiars before.

DIVINE

CARE FOR THE LOST

LUKE

15: l-lo.---OCT. 21. There ts JOY WL the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repmteth. Lost. as used in connection with mankind, has quite a difthat only a small minority--one in ten thousand, or one in a fercnt rn~~~n~ng In the Eible from that commonly given it in hundred thousand of earths sixteen hundred millions, is even motlcrn theology. The latter uses the term lost in connec. in a condition of reckoned and relative harmony with Jehovah, tlon \\lth replobater, for whom there is no hope; it implies, the Great Shepherd. acl 01ding to ortl~odoay, hopeless, endless, eternal torment. Viewing the one sheep as representing the whole of huEut tram the Scriptural standpomt the word lost is used in manity, fallen in Adam and &raving far from Daths of righta11 almost opposite sense, as ~111 be noted in the lesson beeous&, and viewing Jesus as the 2ood Shepherd, the reirefort I,\. bentatlve of th(l Father. the Great Shcnhertl (l\a. 23: 1 1. we Our Lord, holy in word and in conduct, naturally would see that the work of going after the lost sheep began at our r11a\v to llllll~clf especially the holmess people of his day, and Lords first advent. We see the cost to our Saviour incidental ?:lc+ wc~e the Pharisees, amongst whom, however, were many to his start for the recovery of the sheep, but we do not yet ,\llOh(fi IIO~III(~S~\\ <IS of a IlJ-pocrltical character-delighting in see the sheep recovered: for in no sense of the word is manout\\ art1 show rather than in purity and holiness of heart. kind broughi back intoharmonv with God. We do, however, Recent le<.o~s showed us our Lord the guest and companion see that durino this Gosnel a&e God is selectine from huof plomlncnt Pharlsces, and how he improved the opportunity manity an elecz church, tdbe tge body of Christ--o--embers of to preach the gopcl to them as well as to others. But the the Good Shepherd, under Jesus as the Head; and we see that J~I:II IYN+, accustomed to thinklng of themselves as the holier it is costing every member of the body something to prepare cla+ of thr Jews. had gradually separated themselves from to ioin in this work of seeking the lost sheep-humanitv in the lower c>ltments of that people, so that in our Lords time general-during the Millennial lge. tllcs t\\o cl.~h~+ mInglet very little; the Pharisees refusing to Alreadv the sheen is found. in the sense of beine located: ac,hnowletlge the others as brethren and fellow-heirs of the indeed, inthat sensl of the wbrd it was not lost. But as it di\ ine pronuhes. Consequently, when they perceived that the was lost, in the sense of having wandered from God into sin lo\\ta~ cla<\(+ of the Jews were interested in Jesus teachings, and degradation, in the same sense of the word it must be .II~II tllat .I(+~Is t11tl not 11oltl llimself aloof from them, but minrecovered or brought back, by processes of restitution (Acts <led with and taught them Just the same as others, they won3: 19-21) out of &gradation, oit of the mire of sin. and the dered, and this imlined them to repudiate Jesus, whom thev horrible Dit of iniauitv and death. It will reauire the entire would hale bcrn glad to have had -as one of their number ff Millennial age to b&i back the sheep in the fuil, perfect sense he had brrn willing to be known as a Pharisee and to conform of the parable; but meanwhile our Lord assures us that ever to their customs. -It was to correct the wrong ideas of these 4 step in this great plan for human salvation is viewed wit Pharisees that Jesus gave five parables, which we are about Interest by the heavenly host, the sheep who &raved not from to caonsltlctr-two of thrm in thiq lesson. the Fathers fold: and the figure changing a little in our The parable of the true shepherd who, loving his sheer, and Lords explanation, and no longer represented bv one sheep, caring for them, left the ninety and nine werl cared for by but by many (even as the human family, tho o;iginally one, under-qhephcrds in the wilds (not in a desert) and went after is now many), he declares that there is joy in the presence the one lost sheep until hc found it, give3 us an illustration of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth-that recjf the dlvinc care. Possiblv our Lord meant no further lesson turns to the fold, to harmony with God. than thl3 to be taken fromhix words: but if we shall SUDDOSB Those now returning to harmony with God are accepted in that the parable was intended to he ipplicd in its varied barthe Beloved, and iustified freelv from all thines bv the grace tlrulars, &cl to illustrate features of tl;e divine plan of sa\vathat was in him, and are, in the language of the Apostle, tlon, WC would be obliged to suppose that the one sheep that retnrninp to the Shenherd and Caretaker of their souls \[a-: lost rtspresented Adam and the buman family. and that (1 Pet. 5:25) ; and c&led to be co-laborers with the Good the ninety and nlnc nevrr lost. but rtamaininr under tbr shepShepherd, as members of his body. herds care. were the angels and other snirit beings. who never In the case of Father Adam. the one original stravino : sheep.. < Y t wandered into sin and &av from God;and whoalwavs have as in the case of many of his posterity, the lost condition 1s km nndrr 111ssupervisionand care. In this view tile shepnot the desirable on&-far rathkr would he and many others hprtl going after thr strayin.:: sherp would represent our Lord have eone back azain to the fold from which he &raved: but Jr-us, leaving the glory wblrh he hnd with the Father before in thi deFadatioi and mire of sin, they became so hegiaded the world waq, and coming into human conditions in the inand helpless that it was impossible for them to return in their tereqt of mankind. own strength by the way in which they went. They needed a To take any other detailed view of the parahle than this Savior+ne able to save them unto the uttermost-able to would seem inconsistent; as, for instance, to suppose that the recover them fully from all condemnation of sin, and to bring loit sheep represented the degraded element of humanity, and them hack completely into the fold of God; and just such an ninety-nine sheep a holiness class, would be inconsistent in one the heavenly Father has provided in our Lord Jesus: He two ways: (1) There is none righteous, no, not one, is the is able to save unto the uttermost all who come unto the Scriptural declaration: and again. as the DroDhet has declared, Father through him. we-all like sheep havk gone istray. (Rbm: 3:lO; Isa. 53:6) True, there will be a class, as the Scriptures clear1 show, (2) Even if it should be claimed that the ninety-nine reprewho. after having received at the Lords hands all the b 9essinas andopportuniti& which his love has provided for their rk spnted some who are relativelp whole. tho not actually so. the and thus illustration would be inapt; because it will not be questioned covery, will still persist in wilfulness-self-will,
I

[ 27061

OCTOBER 1900 1,

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(299-300;

beings, were made in the image and likeness of God. It was These, in the spurn the Good Shepherds proffered assistance. one of these that was lost-the human one, man. And it was Scriptures, are said to sin wilfully after they have come to that which was lost that was sought, and ultimately found. for such, the Apostle declares, there a knowledge of the truth; The houses of olden times, lighted mainly through the doorremains no longer an interest in the great sacrifice, and it is way, with the floors of earth (clay or sand or stones) more impossible to renew or recover them. Respecting the course or less littered and defiled, well represented the condition of of such it is written. There is a sin unto death; I do not say Whoever thus sins wilfully and sin and degradation in which mankind was lost, as represented that ye should pray for it. in father Adam, who bore the image and likeness of God. as persistently puts himself beyond the reach of the Good Sheprepresented m the lost coin of the parable. The parable does herd, and dies the second death, and thus ceases to have any not represent the processes of restitution, but merely the origi(Heb. 6:4-G ; 1 John 5 : 16) part or lot in the divine plan. nal loss and the ultimate recovery of the same thing that ZCCIS It was not for the goat class that the Good Shepherd gave lost, and the energy put forth to this end. The lighting of the his life, and seeks in the desert; nor for the wolves; but candle and the sweeping diligently represent the work of Gocj merely for those who retain something at least of the sheep through the Christ, which will be accomplished by the end nature. desnite their degradation in sin. Adam was a sheep, _ of the Millenmal age. when that which was lost and sought (Luke 3:38) ; or, as the Scriptures i&are, a son of God for, will have been fully recovered. and while his transgression was a wilful one, in some respects, The restored race, when returned to the hcavcnlv Father at we have no reason to suppose that it was more than a 2ca+athe close of the Millennial age will, each and all, be as perfcc+ dcmng of the sheep from the fold, into ways of self-will: in his image and likeness ai was Adam in llis creation, with it did not mean a change of nature from a sheep disposition the added benefits of larger knowledge and fuller anmeciation to that of a goat or a wolf. It did not mean that Adam preof the divine One, who& likeness they will bear. go account ferred to be a &ild of the devil. 1s taken in this parable, either, of the increrlse in the numbers Had Adam at heart become intelligently and wilfully an of the human familv. nor of those members of Adams nosteritv enemv of God and of righteousness we cannot suppose that the who, by reason of Gilful sin (the love of sin more thin ri&tall-wise Shepherd would have sent his Son after him as a eousness) will be destroyed from amongst the people. (Act5 sheep. True, many of the children of Adam today have 3:23) Thev have no standing in the Fathers sight; indeed, attained marked characteristics of goat nature, and, as the the Father takes no cognizance of any except that which was Apostle declares, are enemies of God through wicked works. lost, and that which will ultimately be restored to him by his (Col. 1:21) Nevertheless. the Apostle also explains that many faithful representative. Christ, who seeks and finds. of these are in this condition, not wilfully, but because they The great time of rejoicing, both in heaven and in earth, have been deceived by Satan into putting light for darkness will come at the close of the Mlllennlal age, when all things and darkness for liphtthe eves of their understanding have in heaven and in earth will be heard praising Him that sitteth been deceived. He-explained that the god of this-world upon the throne, and the Lamb; but now, in advance of the [Satan1 bath blinded the minds of them that believe not lest complete rejoicing, our Lord assures us that all the heavenly (2 Cor. 4:4) they should see the glorious light of truth. host rejoices in every evidence of the accomplishment of the Manv of these, then, who through association with the advergreat work; rejoices over one sinner that repenteth-who fully sary- have become goat-like in many respects, still have someturns from sin to harmony with God. And if the aneels in thine of the sheen nature. which. under DroDer enlightenment. heaven rejoice, so, in proportion as they are in harmony with wourd assert i&If and be glai to have the Goodv Shepherd God and the heavenly beings, will all who profess to be Gods restore them fully to divine favor and the fold. people on earth have rejoicing in the recovery of fellow-crrnFrom this standpoint, which we believe is the true one, and tures out of the snare and blindness of sin and Satan. the only one in harmony with the various features of the This was the particular lesson which our Lord sought to parable. we perceive that God takes no account whatever of impress upon the Pharisees-that instead of holding themthose who will go into the second death; they will have no selves aloof from, and feeling offended at, those who were existence whatever, so far as God and his plan are concerned. hearing Jesus gladly. they should, if they were in harmony from the moment they lose the sheep nature. And the. one with God and the heavenly holy ones, have rejoiced to see any sheep which our Lold will recover during restitution times, evidence of repentance and reformation; and should have been and by the close of the Millennium bring fully back into the glad to assist back into harmony with God those who, as the fold of God. will be the human family as God has recognized Apostle expresses it, were feeling after God, if haply they it from the first; viz.. those created in Gods image and likemight find him.--Acts 17 : 27, ness. and who never fullv loqe that image and likeness, and And this must be the attitude of all the Lords people toin whom his image and likeness will be revived and restored day: if they have not this sentiment of heart it is an evidence during the PIillennium. The lost sheep, which originally was that they have not the spirit of the Lord. And to have such represented in one (Adam and Eve) in its recovery will be a feeling of loving interest in the recovery of others out of sin, represented by hundreds of millions of the redeemed and and a disposition to assist them back to harmony with God, restored of mankind. not only is an evidence of a condition of heart which is In THE LOST PIECE OF SILVER harmony with God, but will be found to be an aid to such The narable of the woman who, having a bracelet on which themselves, an assistance in making straight pnthq for their were hung ten pieces of silver-a rnarriiye token-on losing feet, that they themselves, under the Shepherds care, may one of these set diligently to work until she found it, is anultimately rearh the fold in safety. other representation of the snme thought expressed foregoing. So then. let all of the Lords dear people who have already The womans energy in seeking for the lost piece of silver is been found by the Good Shepherd, and who have accepted his given by our Lord-& an illust<ition of dlrzne-energy on behalf loving care and assistance back to God, cultivate more and of lost humunitu. And here again we see that the Scriptures more the spirit of sympathy for others, and of helpfulness use the word ibst in referenye to the original loss, and not and coiiperation in the work in which the Good Shepherd is at all in respect to those who will be destroyed in the second engaged-not yet in seekin.g for humanity as a wholr. but 110~ death-the latter are not said to be lost: thev cease to exist; specially in rendering assistance to those whom the Lord is, they are not reckoned in the divine calcuiatio& at all, and not in the present age, seeking out as the first-fruits of his worthy to be mentioned. They are not at all like the original work and victory--edifving one another, building one another that was lost, which God recognized and proposes to recover. The ten pieces of silver were not only of value, but each UD in the most holv fiith, encouraging one another: helping had stamped upon it. ZIS is the custom with coin, a certain obe another to puton the wedding.erment, and to be Gee% image or likeness. And so with all the snns of God, angels, for the inheritance of the saints in light. as ioint-heirs in the archangels, and we know not how many other orders of spirit kingdom.-1 Thess. 5 : 11; Jude 20 ; Cbl. 1: 12 i Rom. 8.17
I

THE PRODIGALS

RETURN

LUKE 15 : 1l-24.-OCT. 28. I u>ill arise and go to my father. Having given in the foregoing parables of The Lost Sheep matter close home to his hearers--both Pharisees and publiand The Lost Coin, an outline of Gods general dealing with cans-and show to all the real situation and the proper line of the human family, our Lord now gave a third parable m illusconduct for each to take. trating Gods special dealings with the people of Israel. He It will be noticed in this connection that while our Lord wished not only that his hearers should have the general illuswas known to be friendly toward sinners, he was nevel known tration of Gods goodness and care for the recovery of the lost, to condone sin. The friendship ot the publicans was not gained but now he would give a special lesson that would bring the through our Lords falsifying matters to them and claiming [2707]

they woe not smners; but on the contrary, by 111sdeclar1112them to be sinners, by showing his sympathv and love, and cheat i!lcir case. so far from being a hope&s onc, as the. conLlucL of the lhar~~tcs would imnlv. was honcful. if thev would The fathe#in the parlble rephut rcpcnt and turn to God. L resents ,Jchovnh God, and the two sons represent two classes !n Israel. the elder son represcntmg Moses and the prophets, ant1 all iv110 *sat in IIoses \eat, as representatlres of the la\\., with. all \\IIo bought to conform their lives to Its leqllirerll~nt~. lllarl-cbc+, etc. The younger bon represent5 the rerna1ntl~~r of rh,ll prople Israel-the ~1.15~which wL\ Incllnetl to that

To hitch this parable on to the general theme presented in the two preceding, we might view the prodigal son as representing, in a secondary sense, all the remainder of mankind outside of those few in Jsrael who were seeking to do the Fathers will; and from this standpoint we can see that the feast, of fat things provided for the sinners in Israel corresponds to the feast to be opened ultimatelv to the whole world 01 mankind under the kiigdom (Isa. 25:6), that all may return to the Fathers house and that all who thus return will be received of God through Christ, not as slave-servants, but as sons. The two preceding parables make no reference to the human will in the matter of the recovery of the lost; but this parable makes the human will very pro&nent. It was the w%Zi of the bles~ln~s being s,i-tnin ~von~l~rf~il b1(+5lnei and promises-the elder son which for a time kept him in the Fathers house; it was the wzll of the prodigal son that led him forth, his wilful going into the depths of degradation not being hindered by the Father. Likewise, it was his own UJLZZthat led him to illomiscs, c71;~,yc~l tl1(1 blf X54ng:s at home with the I&thcr, that retrace his steps to the Fathers house; and it, was only the j.. in fr~lon+~~iu with Cod a9 his nconle. The vouneer son wzEl of the elder son that hindered him from entering into all wprcwnttd tllc (.I:L\s \\llirh lgnored khr promi&, t&k It< -hare of pr(iirnt lJl(~~<ings. and departing from God wandered the iovs of the festal occasion with which the narable closes. .itar front 111111, 5111and tlly1egard of the law. 111 This parable also ignores the second death,*and the class that, will ultimately be cut off therein. The son that was lost, Thc~ latttar ~I:Is~ hat1 antlc*lpated much pleasure in the wayand subsrquently was found, was lost in his going away into \\.trtl cour~c: Ijut as a malt& of fact iound. as a11 tranisin, and not lost in eternal torment. He was found in his rezrcs\or* do. that tllc wav of thr transgressor I> hard. And turn to God. He was dead, so far as the Father was conin thik rc**pcc,t the slnner:cla+ of Israei~was no dilTerent from cerned, when he was away; but he was alive again when he (4ny other class of sinners at any other time living in violation willingly returned. If the known law, it 15 an attitude of want. of hunger. of disThe lesson to the Pharisees. in this parable, like the others, -.cti-faction, cll,cc);ltcnt, It, IS a condition of slavery to sin and IIf recpI\~ng of bin+ waxes: in the present life, wages of unwas in respect to their proper duties toward their brethren, tlappinesq. mc~l:lnc*hcrlia. Ilr>%rt-aches as well aq body-arhrs. The who in receiving Jesus were showing evidences of a return to God. Indeed, so far as we know, few. if any, of our Lord? parnblc reprc+nts this \on as thoroughlv disgusted with his disciples were of the religious class of that time. who claimed condition, resolving to return to his fathers house-not exto sit in Moses seat. anl to be in every bense of the word the pertlng to I~(, an inheritor of the great promises, the rights to whlc~h wcrc atlmittc~dly forfeltrd, hut merely hoping to have favorites of the Father in that covenanted nation. That the Pharisees did not profit greatly by the palable seems evident; I nc prlr ilrgc of bring admitted to the house as a scrtzznt, not few from that class were will& to .tbandon their position of imlllnr: to be recri\rd a5 a .solt. vaunted superiority, and to acknowledge that in everything Our Lnrd thns illuqtrates the condition of some of the pubthey were wholly dependent upon the Fathers grace. and of !I(:III~ and slllners hovering about him and listening to his teacahin,ne, rcxspccting whoqe reception themselves could do nothing. and instruction the lharisees were finding fault. Our Lord would have them see Some parallel to those conditions which obtained in thv the :lttltudc of the hc-avrnlv Father toward theqe returning end of the Jewish age might be found now in the end of the weq. an<1 111the nalahle pictured him as seeing the repentant Gospel age, even as we have found that in every particular the prodigal a long <vav off,and as having compassion for him, Jew&h $dple and their harvest time were a pa<tern or figure ant1 great willln?nhsa to rarrive him. How this must have or illustration of the Gospel age and spiritual Israel. Amongst tou&ed the hearts of the publicans who heard-to think that spiritual Israelites today, in our Lords second presence, a God was willing to receive-them back again, not to spurn them message is going forth to the groaning creation, a message re<IS the Pharlsce\ did ! Our Lord nrocecds with the Dicture snectinc the Fathers love. and its lennths and breadths and further, to show that the Father notbnly received the prodigal, hgight? and depths ; a message respecring the ransom given hut. beyond hiq cxsprctations, received iirn as a son, not as a by our Lord Jesus, that it, was a ransom for all, and that -ervant-providing for him a new robe of righteousness, and his death was not only a propitiation for our sins [the making for him a great feast of welcome. churchs but also for the sins of the whole world ; a mebsage that the whole world, thus redeemed by the precious Then, as illustrating the attitude of the complaining Phariblood of Christ. is to have full ormortunitv of returnine to Sees, the elder brother is pictured in the parable ai disapdivine favor dliring the Rlillenniai~age. the times of r&ti pointed at the return of the prodigal brother. Thus our Lord tution of all things, spoken by the mouth of all the holy levealrtl to them how different was their attitude of heart from that of the heavenly Father; and thus he gently reproved prophets since the world began. Now, how is this message received by nominal ChristenThe parable shows the attitude of the Pharisees in them. fleelining to call the protligal brother, saying-This thy dom, as to some extent corresponding to the elder brother of wllilc the view of the hrarenly Father to the contrary the parable? Does it not appear that the message of restituson. $3 cxprcqsed in the words, This tiry brother was dead and is tion for a groaning creation (Rom. 8 : 22 ) is received in much the same manner Ihat evidences of Gods grace toward the (ilive again. Jewish Drodieal were received? Does it not annear that The Pharisees and othrrs of the .Jewish nation who sought many of our vdear friends, whom we would have iipected to to keep the law--to he faithful to Gods requirements, were, reioice to find the heavenly Father willing to receive back the 10 far aq that was concerned, in the right attitude; and up repentant world, and that he has made fdll provision for their tn that timr and point were heirs of all that God had promreturn to fellowship with himself through Jesus. and full rsed. and had to give; and had they been not only outwardly preparation to let them all know of his grace in Christ,-does rrlirriour but rellrious in heart alqo. thev would have been it not seem that this gracious message of good will toward iullv prepared to have received at ou; Lords handr the great men, good tidings of great joy to all people, should be to ,le~~illfs of 1111% kinrrtlom pririlc ~~pcswhich being in a wrontz all Christians a gladsome message? ,lttitnde of hrart, thev desnircd and reiected and lost. This It surely shoild be such to all who have the Fathers Spimt; their lnsq iq rcprpqcmtbd in-the parable by their refusal to go rn to thr f(,nqt matlc bv the Fatbcr. to which thrv were as to all who love their neighbor as themselves. But we know how bitterly the messagg is reiected bv some who, to outwelcome as the returned Drodinal. and in which feast, had they l)rcn in a proper attitude &f heart, they would have had ward appearances, have long been fav&ed of the Heavenly J prominent place with the Father in bestowing the welcome Father. and who are well versed in his law. and who have an thr rettlrnrd one. Bnt as tbev were not in the right attibeen seeking to keep close at home, in the s&se of outward tnde of heart to rcrrive their repentant brethren, neither would obedience to the laws of righteousness. What would their thrp have heen in the right attitude of heart to be the Lords course of conduct in respect to his message of present truth instruments of general blessing in his kingdom. He selects thev had been Imply ? Would it not imply that outwardly for joint-heirs with himself & the kingdom, not the selfsons- of God, in obedience to the laws of righteousness, but righteous, who despise others, but such as are of an humble that thev had at heart been far from him, even when with heart. and who, receiving divine mercies and favors as a grace, their li<s they drew nigh unto him, and when they bent are filled with thankfulness, and having the spirit of h&lit their knee in prayer to him? and of harmonv with the Father. reioice to co-operate wit K Would it not seem that if they had the Fathers spirit horn in all of 11;s benevolent plans for the recovery-of the lost. of love and kindness and generosity and justice and truth
.I y

C27083

chxQstR

1, 1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(297-303)

they would be glad, yea, rejoice exceedingly to know that after the selection of the church of this present age to be the bride and joint-heir with Christ in the kingdom, the Heavenly Father had a great and wonderful plan of restztutzon for the world of mankind in general? If they had the Fathers Spirit, if they had the spirit of him who left the Fathers glory and humbled himself to our conditions, even unto death, to be a co-worker together with the Father in the great work shortly to be accomplished for the recovery of the lost, it certainly should fill the Lord,s brcfilircn, wltli j6y to know that it will be a part of their privilege as members of the body of Christ to JoIn with him in this great Hark of

bringing back the lost sheep, of sweeping diligently and findIng the lost coin, and, in every sense of the word, of welcommg back to the Fathers house the lost brother. It is not for us to judge the hearts of men; that is beyond our power ; but the Loltl seems to bc uhiug 111* trulh in such a way that it shall become the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the hearts, and that, sharper than any twoedged sword, it shall separate, shall discover, shall manifest, who have the spirit of the Lord, and who have not his spirit. If any man have not the hpirit of Christ he is none of his.TIeb. 4 : 12.

AN INTERESTING
THE SPIRITS OF JUST MEN MADE PERFECT

QUESTION

HEB. 12 : 23. proaching, and all of the church throughout the age have been Questzola.-How should we understand the statement of approachmg, the glorious Mount Zion, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of blessing. Heb. 12:23, respecting the spirits of just men made perfect? Anszosr.-To appreciate this we must take the statement Ard what shall we find in this kingdom when we have fully in its connections- - The Apostle is contrasting the introducreached it? We shall find the heavenly city, God? klngtlom tion of the Law Covenant with the introduction of the New of power and great Elory. We shall find ourselves introduced Covenant; and let us remember that altho the church is justo a new company iof brethren-the heavenly host; and we tifiecl by the blood of Christ, which seals the New Covenant, shall find our loved ones who have traveled with us in the nrvertheless. the New Covenant itself is not considered as narrow way, in that first general assembling of thp church of having goneinto effect during this Gospel age; it is a covenant the first-borns, whose names are written in heaven There WC shall find ior the wolld of mankind, and the putti$ .of it into effect our heavenly Father, the great Judge of all; there nt tllct !\I- t ifis 011(* brinrs the times of restitution of all things at the second we -hall fintl tlic !,pirlt<, the, ne\\ Ilnillrc~ The church, altho justified by the-sacrifices which .Idvent. fully perfected in the likeness of their Lord and Head-We dealed the New Covenant, is really accepted under the Abrashall be like him, for we shall see him as he IS. There we shall find in due time perfected human beings fully restored hamic covenant-accepted as the &cd of Abraham-members of the body of Christ-through which Seed all the families of to the divine likeness in which fathrr Adam &as crhatcd; and the cnltb are to be blesred under the Sew Covenant, sealed at there we shall find Jesus. who mediated the New Covenant: Calvary, during the Millennium. and there we shall ever appreciate the blood of sprinkling The Law Covcanant, of which Moses was the Mediator, and which cleansed us and presented us faultless before the Father which 1~~1s given at Mount Sinai amid the thunderings and in love. Iightningr and \oic*cs, etc., was typical of the New Covenant But altho we are approaching these grand and glorious of wlll(~h Christ (Head and body) is the Mediator, and which things, we are not to expect that they will all br ushered in IJ to be introducacd to the world of mankind after the whole in a peaceful manner; on the contrary, as the Apostle points bodv of Christ has shed its blood and been comnleted and out (verses 26, 27), there will be a corrtsapondence between A rlo;ified.-Acts 3 :22 ; Col. 1 :24. the &eat time of trouble, with which the Riillennial age and The Apostle &X&S a palallel between the marching of its New Covenant ior mankind will he ushered in. and the Israel from Ezvnt and the Red Sea. un to Mount Sinai, where, wav in which the Law Covenant to the Jrws was ushered in Imder the leade;ship of the priestho;d, they came under the --only that the New Covenant will hr u~~hrretl in on a much Law Covenant. :IIIII iI II ~110 hi)l)c to hrcome c:otl, p~~opl1~. grander and antitypical plane. There will be a shaking here, marching under the lead of Christ and the royal priesthood as there was a shaking there; but instead of its being the physical earth that will shake, it will be the symbolical earth toward another mountain-to Mount Zion, the kingdom of Foll,>\vln~ under l.lle 1)jllnrr of I:otl. thv 71111~w111:11 klngtlom. -societv. And not alone the social structure, but also the the antitvpical Mediator, will come all of Gods Israel, all who heavens: or ecclesiastical structure, is to be shaken here. AS Ire willing to be delivered from the power of the antitypical the Apostles words clearly intimate, the shaking will be 8 Pharaoh vz., Satan. much more wonderful one than was it4 type, even aq every Shed we consider how the Israelites approached Mount antitvpe is much greater than its type. He explains that the shaking here is tobe so thorough thit it will &ake everything Sinai as a host, and that they did not all pet there at the that is shakeable. and that onlv the fixed. permanent, rightYame moment nor the same hour, nor even in the same day, Anri those thin& that xe find the parallel of thiq in the fact that the Lord3 peoplo eouq things shall ultimately remain. throughout this age have been gradually approdc>hing thiq kinashall be permitted to remain. he declares (verse 28) pertain t0 dom-not all at once, but one after another throughout the the kingdom of God. which is immoveable. unshakeable. ace. The last members of the roval priesthood are onlv getIt ig this kinadorn toward which all of the Lord9 people ting rlose to thn kingdom, Mount Zibn. now; and arc to- be marrh throneho& this Gospel ace, that will then be fully attained amidst all thclt prent sh~lkin~ and confusion of the followed in turn bv all the hosts who will become true Israelltes during the Millennial age, when light and knowledge shall great day of trouhle which is in-t before us. And as Mnces be freelv granted. went upinto the quaking mountain, and was lost to the sinht With this picture before the mind, and reading the Aposof the people below, so at, and in cnninnrtion with these tles words as translated in the Diaqlott, we see a beauty in mimhty manifestation5 of the time of trouhlr the entire rhnrrh the expression: We have not approached the natural mountain will be caught up, eatherrd to the I;ord. changed to his likeness-passing through the port,als of death, thnugh thev &all with the terrors of the law, t$e smoke and the clonds and not sleep, but be changed in a moment. in the twinkling of thick darkness and lightnines and voices of words that spoke tbnndemnation and d&th to-any who erred; but we are- apan eye.
<a

ENCOURAGING
I)EAR BROTHER

WORDS FROM FAITHFUL

WORKERS

RussET,L:--S~~~ time ago Brother Woodworth witncsscd my method of handin out the Volunteer TOWERR and was so well pleased with It that he made me promise to write to you about it. I dont consider it anything out nf the ordinary, but for the sake of my promise I mill qive it to you. With a how and a smile T say, Sample-WATClT TOWER; or Free sample WATCH TOWER. If any quwtionq are asked, T qay. An unsectarian religious magazine. i\Iy reasons for this method are, I seek to interest them thus, or rather to arouse their curinqity in knowing what the paper iq: rather givin.p them the impression that 1 am seeking subscribers. In this
x11-51

way thev will read with an unprrjutlicctl mind-it does not arouse their antagonism my giving them the impresqinn that vnu hnve something to refute the argument9 thrv have just been listening to. If any know of the WATCH TAPER and do not care for it, thev can refuse to take it, and thus one is saved for some one else. I think T am justified in giving the impressinn thrlt T am qceking susbscrihers; if anvone becomes interrsted. he zoill become a suhscriher, and it is for surh that we specially labor. With much love. T am, Yours in the best of bonds, JOSEPH
1,. HOACLAND.-Pe)lna!/lunnia.

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DEM BROTIIER RUSSELL:-The TOWER for Aug. 15 is at hand and read. aud I cannot resist writing to vou on the subject, but by no means for the purpose of gettigg an answer as I well l;nc~\v the! \-,\lue of vour tmle. \Vhen iir>t. in the uicat joy of ha\ mg recerrcd the truth, I hastened totell mydear brothers and sisters in Holland, I met with terrible rebuffs. My very dear youngest sister sent me a tract, in which a parson, CJcharsr-hirelrng ( w h ose the sheep are not) warned doctrines of MILhis flock (pen) againit the soul-damning LENXI.\L DAWS. lt added, said he, and lopped off Scripture, and t o prove that he never did such a thing he went on to say that the wags of bin 1s death and eternal torment. Ever since 91 I have quietly but persistently spoken of my Lord ah I know him nuw. Lately my sisters notice has been tlrn~vn to the fat% that I was concerned about her souls conditu~n. and I pointed out to her how she, knowing that I bad imlnbcd sol11-tlamniug doctrinrs. had never taken a step to prevent my ;loit!g Into the tortures of hell file. while she noultl give her trmc to, and get concerned about the welfare of snme man in pr:<on, who had merely transgresfed the tradltlcll, (:t n1,n .\I)- I(ittcal \\:I. Ia1 gcly pornp:l I!r 011( from a serontl si+ter. who has youth, beauty, wealth, talent and society in her favor, but who gives all to nurne the sick. She has worked her way to be dlrectreqs of the Reformed hospital in Amsterdam, our native city. Hers is a life of actual service, and, the still in orthodoxv. she confessed that she was tnwhd tJy th eVltkllt lOVe a& interC!St 1 manifested in Christs fcachine. and that I had the sift to analvze thought. Oh, how glad Iy~v~ll be if I may have-stepped o& so farpast myself to show tllcm my only Head and Master! Souls full of love and con%errntion. but yet of the heart r~low to understand. ,Jubt think of 11~s lik6 those clearlv seeing, so that they too may rcccivc the gift to analyze (order) thought. Oh, how dcarlv I hone I mav have suficient light in me that it may shine clcariy enough for others to see: I fully appreciate what you say about sudden deaths. The fact that we have an undrrstandlng of the plan of the ages is not a guarantee that the n:intl of Christ is in us. If, in one sense, it is a sign of exccedlng love and benefaction, it brings with it no less a rcsnon<ibilltv. Kot all those who understand these truths are destined forone office and one purpose. I do not care for the reward, I do not ask for one; all I ask and all I care for is to render efficient service to at least some sinladen, faltering one for His Names sake. The 15th Psalm has been my choice one from childhood : and from it I learned, amid the luxurious surroundings of a bankers home, to ask why I had receivrtl so much when others had so little, others whom I loved and honored, and who were more worthy than I. Good as my father was, both as man and Christian, I saw that he did not earn his wealth, and that the world was but little better for his being in it. I made up my mind (I can easily remember) at the age of 12, that I would right the wrong if I could, and today I am still laboring towards that end. I feel that I swore then-and whether to my hurt or not I do not know-and I have not chang:cd since. I do know that. accortltnp to the I+altn. I have been blc~setl far beyond my deserts, for Mine eyes have seen thy salvation; yea, I behold (ana;ltlS girtttxrlng sllnrek. It 1s therefore suite itnmaterial to mc. reverently speaking, what occurs. The king dom comet11 not lty olwt L,rttcm. that thcv should rap T,o 11~1. or lo there, and I noultl pluck my right eye (that wherein I thought I saw aright) rather than lose the kingdom. With nravcrs. brother. that the suirit of meekness. love L and humilrtp may he increasingly yours, that so you may prove faithful to the last, I am Yours in the service of the truth,
. ,

vention. I realize that to be present costs you some sacrifice and inconvenience, perhaps, but if you could have heard the expressions of satisfaction at its close, and the expressions of regret that it was so soon over, I know that YOU would have fert well repaid. But, dear Brother Russell, y&r reward is in the hands of him who is the rewarder of all those that diligently seek him, and our thanks are feeble indeed when compared with the satisfaction which he gives in this life, and the hope ahich he sets before us to be given us in tbe life to come. All the brethren expressed themselves in these words, A feast of fat things if e;er there was such a feast and I found it in my own heart to echo the same words. I was very sorry to miss the sessions during the day on Tuesday. but it could not be avoided. However, it seemed that my cup of satisfaction was full. It seems. as one brother exnressed it. that every Convention A is a little better than the preceding one, and that this must be true i5 intllcated by tile fsct lhlt \\e ar( in tllcb en11 of the days, and the end draws on apace. How good our Master is to so freely disclose to us things which are intended for our consolation and hope and purification. As we comprehend more and more of the plan of the ages and of the love of God, which he manifested in his Son, we exclaim. Kho is a God like unto thee: , <i great and marAnd as we come to comprehend also velous are thy works that the plan and the love, both, include even us, we feel constrained to adore such a God, and to spend our lives in his service. Remember me, as I remember all saints, before the throne of grace. Yours in his service, R. H. BaRBER.--iVew York. a word to tell you that DEAR BROTHER RUSSELL: -Just all our alans are turned over.-no doubt with the Lords I cannot go to Giengen: just today I received a permission. letter from Sister Frnkh, in which she informs me that the fact of renting a dwelling for me has aroused such an excitement and hostility amongst church people there that the people who rented me the rooms are so afraid as to annul it. Two ministers came three or four times to the woman, and finallv told her that she would briug a curse upon herself, if she would take me in her house, they would write to the rhurch authorities. and went to the nolicc, etc. Sr. Finkh was attacked in the street bv a woman: who. cried aloud after her ugly words, and the ministers themselves used such expressions in speaking of me as would be punished here, if spoken publicly. Sr. Fink11 and the other three seem to be most earnest, and will follow the Lamb whitheraocver he goeth, even unto death. There is already such hatred as to kill the Lords true people, if they were permitted at all. 1 do not know, at this moment where to go, but trust the Lord mill show me soon. as I wish with all my heart to follow his leading only. Pray for me, dear brother, and for the dear sisters in Gitngen. Yours in our glorious hope, hi. E. GIESEKE.-@3m&n?/. [It is remarkable what an antagonism the truth awakens We among the preachers and church officials of Babylon. hear much of Christian union and liberality and fraternization of Catholics and Protestants. but cu(*h things apply to and among those who preach bad tidings, and is not considered applicable to us who proclaim the good tidings of great joy Strange, is it not? And yet which shall be to all people. how it reminds us of the bitterness of the hatred of the As our Lord church officials of Jewrv at the first advent. declared, they hated the light, and the greater the light the more was their hatred, until thev attempted to extinguish the Light by killing him. The hatred above described indicates the snirit of murder I1 John 3 : 15) : will it ever lead to literal murder ?---How soon ?-EDITOR.]

DASIEL

F.

BOKSSEVAIN,-C~~U&I.

D~.\R BIWTII~;R Russrrr:--T take the first opportunity to personally tllank you for your attendance at the Saratoga Con-

~__VOL. XXI

L-

ALLEGHENY,

PA., OCTOBER

15, 1900

No. 20

VIEWS FROM THE TOWER

WORLD MOVEMENT TOWARD DENOMINATIONAL UNION

A contemporary thus sums up the recent tendencies toward union on the part of Churchianity,-in full harmony with what our pag for the past twenty years have shown will be the procedure of Babylon just prior to her fall as a great millstone into the sea. We quote as follows:The question of denominational union is fast becoming one of the moit important questions of the day in all Prote&ant lands. In Germany, as we have lately pointed out, a strong movement exists for the federation of the stste

churches, amounting to nearly fifty in number; and federation is one step on the road to organic union. In Scotland, the Congregationalists and the churches of the Evangelica Union-sometimes called Morrisanians-amalgamated their forces a short time ago; and the Free and the United Presbyterian churches are to become organically one next October, as already mentioned in these pages. In South Australia the three leading Methodist denominations, and in Canada all the various Methodist bodies have for some years been one. This is an encouraging record.

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(307-308j

Besides this measure of union already attained, there are promising movements under way in England. All the ereat Protestant churches outside the Establishment have for zome years had a strong federal organization, as we have During several years past an several times pointed out. attempt has been made to unite organically two of the Methodist bodies-the Princeton Methodists and the Bible Christians. Both are offshoots of the original Wesleyan parent stock, but separated from it on questions of church government.
CHRISTIAN THEORY AND PRACTICE CONTRARY

The following is from The Orient, a Japanese journal: Japan enjoys the unique distinction of being the only non-Christian power that has been admitted into what is called the comity of nations on a footing of perfect equality, and, to judge from the utterances of the European and American press she is by no means the least respected power. Unfortunately the cause of this respect is not such as to satisfy all Japanese. Japan has made great progress in the arts of peace, - but that is not really why she is respected. That respect was earned in a short nine months by the achievements of the Japanese army and navy. Now that sort of thing is pleasing enough to a nations amour propre, but on calmly thinking the matter over some Japanese would wish that the respect of Western nations had been earned by something else than by mere proficiency in the art of slaughter conducted on modern scientific nrincinles. Russia, too, is respected and country in the feared. Yet she is the only non-constit&ional comity of nations. The liberty of the individual and of the

press is under the tyranny of mere administrative orders in Russia, and official peculation is nearly as rife as in China. And this gives rise to strange misgivings. Are the so-called Christian nations really followers of the relidous cult thev ~~~~ ---0 so ostentatiously and proudly profess? O. Without going so far with Count Toistdi as to say that his rendering of the real meaning of Christianity is the correct one, we do go so far as to say that the precepts of the Sermon on the Mount are the most important in the so-called Christian code of morality. And these precepts, unquestionably, are against war, and all against according honor to any nation or any man on the mere grounds of success in the exercise of brute force, much less of success in slaughtering enemies. And yet it is precisely on these grounds that nonChristian Japan has been accorded the respect of so-called Christian Europe and America! We can very well understand the old Hebrews respecting us for success in war, for the old Hebrew God was -a Ga of battles. But we have alwavs understood that the Christian Father in heaven was no meie tribal war-god, but a God of The present situation is not a little puzzling to us love. poor benighted heathens of Japan, who have earned the respect of those who profess to follow the precepts of Christ on the Mount, by success in slaughtering our enemies, and by that alone. Will real Christians kindly explain what it all means ?
l + *

In our View of last issue we made a typographical error, in stating that Terah, Abrahams father, died at seventy. It should have read-two hundred and five years.

THE CHRISTIANS
THOUGHTS SUGGESTED BY THE

GOAL
CONVENTION

CHICAGO

Perfect love-the mark for the prize; How shall I reach it, 0 Lord? The way thou hast walked is a narrow way, So we read in thy precious Word. We eagerly start in the way with joy, Thinking our love is pure; But the Father, seeking our perfectness, Purgeth us more and more. Till, by dint of strokes and of tears Made to look back oer bitter years Our hearts in anguish deep exclaim Woe is me ! Wretched man that I am! We know that in us dwelleth no good thing, But in the Beloved do we stand; 0 glory and honor and praises to him Who holdeth us in his hand!

Perfect love! 0 Lord can it be Thou in infinite mercy canst see In one so unworthy, so helpless as I, A heart that unto thee would draw nigh? Perfect love! Lord, can it really be Thou hast so loved and cared for me, That when in me did sin so abound Thy grace more abundant was found? Perfect love-the mark for the prize Thou hast placed beyond the skies ! 0 yes, our dear Lord, we will patiently run, With our eyes on thee alone; Not looking back on the way we have come, Battles fought, and victories won; But forgetting those things which are behind Press along our reward to find.

Perfect love-we do see it in him, Who gave his life, our poor lives to redeem; That we might as sons to our Father draw near, For in Jesus weve nothing to fear, As in the light of his glorious face We press to the end of the race; Standing complete in his Righteousness, He alone our perfect dress. -ME. C. A. Ownm.

SEASONS OF REFRESHING
As the time for the Dallas, Texas, Convention drew near, it became evident that it would serve only a small proportion of the Texas friends who would desire to attend, and so arrangements were made for two other gatherings in that large State-about 300 miles apart ;-namely at Houston and at San Antonio. And another local convention of nearby friends All was held at Columbus, Ohio, on the Editors return trip. were seasons of refreshment in spiritual things, profitable, we trust, to all who attended. At Dallas the attendance was about 300; from all parts of Texas, from Oklahoma, Indian Territory, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and California. The three days were practically one continuous meeting with necessary intermissions for food and rest. Fifteen brethren and seven sisters symbolized their real baptism into Christs death, by immersion in water. At Houston we had only a one-day meeting, but it was a good one; full of love, joy, fellowship of kindred minds ; its influence will abide, with some at least, through life, yea throughout eternity, no doubt. The attendance was about one hundred and twenty-five, chiefly local. At San Antonio we had great refreshment during two days meeting with about one hundred and fifty of Gods dear people, mostly from local points. Two informed us that they had driven over one hundred miles in a wagon, there being no good railroad connections, and, anyway, the expense being The Lords blessing was with us ad1 in a consideration. bountiful measure as we considered together the grandeur of our high calling, and the mark to which all must attain if they would win it. At Columbus we had but one day, but it was one full of refreshment, as we met about one hundred dear brethren and sisters from local points, and communed together concerning the exceeding great and precious promises and arrangements of God for the elect, and through them for all the families of the earth, in Gods due time. The arrangements at every point were most complete, and with the cordial reception accorded ourself and all visiting brethren, bespoke-amongst all-a Love divine all love excelling. We shall cherish fondly to the end of our pilgrimage the remembrance of the hearty greetings and many kind atten-

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are spiritually profitable to many, we feel nevertheless that they must not be indulged so freely next year, nor until the concluding two volumes of the DAWN series are prepared. The conventions of this year have retarded VOL. VI. a full year. We have not as yet gotten started on it, and yet our daily increasing mail clearly shows its need. We have in mind for 1901 a convention at BufTalo, N. Y., to which point the Pan-American &position will undoubtedly secure low excursion rates.

tions, great and small, lavished upon us by loved ones whom we had never met before, but who, for all that, were far from strangers. \Ve accepted these attentions as done unto the Lord and to us a representative of him and his truth; and not as personal trihutes. If, as our Master promised, even a cup of cold water given in the name of a disciple shall be rewarded bv him, surely these many kindnesses to us as his servant will bring showers of spiritual blessings to many; and in thi4 \ve rejoice. hluch as we enjoy these conventions and realize that they

THY
They shdl

SAINTS SHALL

GLORIFY

THEE
acts, and

sprak of the glory of thy Kingdom, and talk of thy pozoer; to make known to the sons of men his mighty ltce glorluus majesty of his Kingdom.-Psa. 145:5-H?.

Various 11c the view-1)oint.s from which mankind regards Its CI cntnr. The world of mankind in general notes merely 1~1smrghtg nrtq, u rthout appreciating his glorious character. This is sugge-ted by the Prophet, saying, I will speak of [nwtlrtatc on 1 the glotrou\ honor of thy majesty, and of thy \I orId Oil? tltwl~, ant1 mc*n shall speak of thy terrible acts: but 1 \\ ill tl~clare tlry grratnrss. (Vss. 5, 0) The world spt~.rl;et II trf It* o\ln, and nccorcling to its intelli,gence respec111~ tllr .\llrri::lrt>~: but the Iao~ds pcoph, specially instructed hy horn :~ntl taught of tile holy spirit, know of the Lord and 111sgrratnes5 III a SCIW that the remainder of mankind know
t,hlll 11ot

As the Apoitle dcclnrea. The natural man receive01 not the tlt:rrz\ of the \pirrt (If (:ntl, neither can he know them, beca~i-r tllcsv arc spiiitually tlisccrncd. . . . But God hath (1Cor. 2:14, 10) AS rrvc~:rl~,rl tllciri unto ui hy his sprrit. our 1.01tl again tlccl.~i ed, To you it is given to know the Blessed arc your eyes. for they rn> sterlr q of the kingdom. (Mark 4:ll; Matt. SW : and your ears, for they hcnr. 13 16) \\.(a are not, thrn, to be ~urpriscd at the wide differPOW of rr;rtl(~rst:rntlrng of God and of his mightiness and of his char :rc.tcar, as vicncd by the eaints and by the world; rn t1~c.r \\ (a :iic* to eXpcc+ srlc*h a differrnce of view. The Apostlr> (-YI~~:IIII\ tllr re:rson. telling us that the god of this world h;tlr hlintl~~tl tilt mind< of th&r that believg not, so that the glow inIl\ light of Gotls gootlnrss, shinin<g in the face of Jesus Cllri\t l,rrr l,nrtl. does not shine into their hearts, to give the liylrt of the l~no~:letlg:c of the divine character and plan. (2 CI:r. 4 -11 And 11~ esplains again that we who were at one tiincx rn tlni kn6s, are- now enlightened by the Lord, having bcrn tr:rn~l,rtetl nrrt of the dominion of the prince of darkncb\. Into the tlomininn of Gods dear Son. (Col. 1:13) And It i\ tlli< enli~l~t~nctl class that the Apostle urges should m.11,~ progrrss in the knc~wletlgc of the Lord, growing in p :I cr. pi o\? i:ic in knn~vl~~~l~c. nnd thus growing in the love of He urges this, Got! :rn%l In thcl anpreci:rtron of his character. s:l\in:! tll:lt it is r~&rs~rv, to the intent that me mavcomprehentl \\ rtir ~11 %:rirrts. tho lcn~ths nntl hreydths. and the heights :II~CI (l( l)ths, :rntl tc~ knc~w the lr,vc of Christ, which passeth all [hurn:~nl iir!tlcr4t:lncliit~.-151,11. Z.17-19. Al:1 -1 tlrr g:rcs:li mc~ lnritg of Christian people, mhilc they I>avr c~~l~(l from murh of the blindness of the Advrrscrry. arca \trll ~1111lc~c.t his ronfri\ing rrrors and misreprese;ratations to nf 111fh tilrtlr nil11 ark tlrus I~l~i:~lcd still in great measure to tllr tiit ifir 11l:cn; looking at things more tram the human and framing st:lnrlllc,int th:rrr from the divine standpoint, Ah, they forget tlitarr ri ecxtli and cnnf(>s\inns nccnrtlingly~ ho\\- 1110 T.nrd has tlcclnrctl. hlv nlnns arc not vour nlans. neitllc*r are your ways my ivays: $aith the Lord,for as the hc.,lvcsns arc h!z:)rer than the earth, so arc my ways higher than (Isa. 5.5:8, 9) ;, olrr 1,n 1I: nnd niv pl,lns than pour plans. I!c~c~nrrcrnf thiq TII(*:~~~IIC l~lindn~ss that rests upon the mass of of tlicb norriinal cliurrll-rven nmomgc;t Protestants-it follows that. nrlt \tLring thr divine rhnrnrter and plan in their true light and I~~rrty. thr vast majority of Christian people cannot tnI;(~ tlrc ~tnntlpoint of the saints in this prophetic testimony hrforc uq, hut thcly Cake rather the standpoint of the they think nntlir:ll man. when thug think of the Almighty ratlrrr nf hi3 wonderful and terrible acts than of his own gr(~:rtrt(~~q. hrcausc they know comparatively little of the glorinrr< hnnqr of his mnirsty, and do not see how his wonderful tlc~l~ declare his greatness. From thr stnndpomt of the average Christian, God is anvthing hut gloriously hnnorahle in his majesty; indeed, thinkrng of thr Almighty from the standpoint of their creeds, the majorrty of nnhle-minded Christian people feel ashamed of God and of his plan. One class declares that his glorious honor and majesty is manifested in his election nf thr church

to glory and eternal life, and in the passing by of the great mnjnrity of others, condemning them to an etcrnitv of torture -and that since known unto the T,ord are all his works God fnrekncw and foreordained whatsoever crimes t.n na& and thus purposed the eternal tormc,nt of the vast rnnjbrity of his hundreds of millions of human creatures before creating them. Can these dear Christian friends derlare the honor and majeqtp, the greatness and goodness, of their Creator? No Hindered hy such a false view of Gods plan and of his mighty works, they cannot discern in such a course either justice. or love, or any other great or honorable quality, that they should honor or reverence it. Hence, like the world, they merely take note of the mighty powrr of ,Tehovah. and fear him, but are unable to take-the position of the saints and to .glorifv his name and declare his riehtenusnrss. Another large body of Christian people repudiate the foreaoinz fnlco view, asserting another cqunlly untrue, and :~lmnqt equally dishonoring-tho their thought is to glorify God. and to relieve his character of the stain of injustice. inrqrlitr and lovelessness with whirh the fnrezning view wnultl b& smirch it. These, therefore, claim that, God loves evrrv rnrrnher of the rare, and is doing and has been doing since the fall everything within his power to rescue Adams fallen race from their tlifhrulties. But with such a view how could thry extol the greatness and the honnrahle majesty of the Aln;ightv If for six thousand years he has been unahlc to accomplish anvthing, where is the power, where is the honor and majest) to he seen 1 Surrly all would confess that any bright, honorable man if prantrd the one-hundreth p?rt of the omnipotrnt power of the Creator could accomplish more in one hundred years than all that has been accomplishrd in six thousand yrnrs. toward the rescue of the race from ignorance, supcarstition and sin! How, then, could thesr dear Christian friends who. wit11 pond pnrpo*c of Ilc:lrt dig t:~*\c~rtltrlrcs I~llntlcrl l)v it false tlrrclrv-how could thev tell forth the glorious honor of the tliline majesty, and show this and hi3 ~grentneqs from his wondrous deeds? Surolv thy wonld hr tlumh in any such effort. THE SONG OF MOSES AND THE LAXB Only those who sre tlir tlivinr plan of tho ages, and the relationship hetwc~c~n t?rcx ljaht tllc pre*-cnt. ;!II*] tllr futnrc,. are in anv degree able to make known t,hc grcntness of our God, his gloribus power, and his hnnorable majesty. This clsqs is referred to by the Revelator as singing the song of &loses. sing in the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb-they the sense of declaring in harmonious and beautiful cadrncee the relationship of the types and figures of the Law and the Prophets of the Mosaic dispensation with the antitypes of these of the Gospel dispensation; showing that all things written in the Law and in the Prophets are finding glorious fulfilments in the Lamb of God and in the great plnn which the heavenly Father is working out through him.-Rev. 15:3, 4. The Revelntor tells us the substance of this song: nameIv, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are thv wavs. thou Kine of saints! But what great and marvelouswork has God p&formed, and how shall we see that he is both just and true in all his ways and dealings? From the standpoint of those who can sing this song evervthing must be clear as noonday! First amongst the great and marvelous works of the Almighty was the sentence of death upon father Adam and his posteritv hecause of disobedience-not a sentence of eternal torment. which would be as uniust, and unreasonable, as it is untrue and contrary to the tord. of God-not the false presentation respecting this divine act that is held forth in all the creeds of Christendom,-but the great and marvelous act

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WATCH

TOWER

(310-312,

which God declares he accomplished when he let fall upon our race the sentence of death, which has brought in its train all the various disasters and difficulties mental and physical, to which our fallen flesh is heir. ail of which are tending to, and resulting in death, the penalty. As we look at-this marvelous work, we must concede that it was just (in that it was merited), that it is true (in the sense of not being an unreasonable penalty), true in the sense that it was evactly what God forwarned father Adam the penalty of disobedience would be. Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. But Jehovahs first great and marvelous work of condemnation was. after four thousand years, followed by another great and marvelous work; viz.: the work of redempHow stuncndous this wnrk of the ransominc of all tion. Adams race of hundreds of millions by the sacrifice of one man! How great and wonderful indeed this act, and how just and true. and how fully in harmonv with every feature of divine illstirp and love! Even the ndilosonhv of the ransom is explained to the Lord9 peopl&--how that all mnnkind were inrluded in one mans sentence, to the intent that in due time the penalty of sin could be paid on behalf of all mankind bv the one sacrifice for sins. the man Christ Jesus. who pre himself i ransom for all. (1 -Tim. 2.5. 6; Ram: .i*l2, 1s. 19) 1Vas not thiq n zreqt and marvelous work? Who tltlt rrali7cs the lengths and brendthq, and h+hts and dcnthc of this manifeqtatinn of divine - iurtire and divine love. pan tlo gurht c,?r;ethan sing this sonz of ?IIww and the L~lr.11). decllrinr to all who have enrs to hear it, Grrat and marvclnu<, luct nnrl trllc ~111 thv WYF. T,nrrl Gnrl Alrni~htr B11+ few WC it clcnrly ; and hcncc few can qing this wonderful star? to nthrr5. But there iq still another feature to this song, and it is ,$orinns also thn it pertains not to thP thing4 that are nxst, hut to thr thinps vet to come. Tt declare*. 1Vl~o shqll not revercnpc thee. 0 Lord. and glorifv thv name? It lnokq fnrward tn thr timp when this rrryt redemption. accomplished hv the l)l~d of the T,nmh. shall he made available to evcrv rnPnll~Pr of thr human familv. Tt looks forward to the plnrious Jlillenni.11 age. to the time when. under divine providence, tllc knnwlcrl~c of the T,nrd. eqsentiql to faith, snd to anv accentanrc of hiq favor and rnprev thrnu~h Christ. shill he PYtcndccl tcl rvcrv crclturc-who indeed will not reverence the T,oltl :rnd Flnrifv his namp7 Snrelv. as the Pcriptureq have dcclnrrd, at that time, Everv knee shnll how and every tnnrriir cnnfrcs. and while thiq hnwinp and confossinp m.>v at tirqt hr cnnlplllcnrv. and not with all the volition nf the hrnrt. yet the Scriptures ascure us thnt nltimntelv all who will not rnmc into heart hnrmnnv with the T,ord Rnd with all hi< crnrinns arrnngempnts and provisions, sh311 be cut off frnnl nmnn_nqt the pennle,--in the aecnnd death. (Acts .?.?I Sn thlt ultimntclv. insteqd of the universe being filled with hundreds of millinnq who to all &rnitv will wail and Fnl411 thrir t&h and hlasphpme Gods hnlv name in a,conr--inqtcnd of thin, the time shall cnmc when every ton,rruc In hc~nven qnrl in earth qhlll bc hrnrd nraisinc God. nnd oivinz honor to him that sitteth on the throne and to the Lqrnh: forrver: for hv thnt tipe ~11 evildoers. all lnverq of unrightcousnecs chill be cut off from amongst the pennle. Rut thiq qnn,o continues. and hq9 vet anothrr strain. It declares, Thou onlv art holy-all holiness, all perfection. it is found, must prorced from God. the crpat wherevrr fnunt.rin of holiness. How stranre, then, that any of Gods dear ~wnl~ (and we ourselves were nnce amnnpst this number) should so misnnderstqnd the divine rhnrarter and plan as to misrenrcqent thp Same as being the verv essence of unholisens. iniustice, unkindness. inequity, lnvelpssneqs. toward the rrrat miss of Gods crentureq!It will indeed be R glad dav when 311 shall reverence Gods name. and when all shall recneni7e that he is indeed the fountain of holiness. But thrrp is still nnnthrr strain in th;c qon~~ and it iq n grpntl nnr nlqo, like all the athers.-reachinz down info the Millennial a_ne. It declares, All nations shall come and worship before thee: for thy judgments are made manifest. All nations will inrlude, not only all the nations then living, but all the nations of the dead. iust as does the uromise which God made to Abraham, saiing. In thy seed [the Christ, Head and body] shall all the families of the earth he hIpsqcd--all nations. How few, how extremelv few, are able to 2enm this song! How extremelv few learn it so well as to be able to sing this song to the glorv of God! How many who sunposedl; were trained to sing the good tidinqs of great joy. for all people, are in the pulpits today singing total!y different songs; snme of them songs of Evolution declaring that there was

no fall, consequentlv no redemption from a fall, and consequently that there i$ to be no recovery from a fall; but that man is grandly climbing up, up, up, and proving to he his own Savior, and hoping to attain they know not what.they know not when.- Others are singing the song of Calvinism, predestination, foreordination and election. Others are sinping the sonzz of Arminianism, and hoping that God will be able to n&omilish much in the future throuRb their assistance,-which they hold he has unsuccessfully been trying to do for six thousand years. Others are singing the song, In union there is strength, and seeking to combine for whnt they term a socinl uplift, or the salvntion of society. Othrrs are But how singing the song of works and universal salvation. few nre able to sing this song of hfnses and the Lamb, or to see how Gods great and marvelous works of the past reflect gloriously upon his character, both for iusticr and love, and give us the best of all asquranrrs fnr the working out in the future of the glorious plan which hc has alrend\ outlined and begun! And we are told the reason. why so few can sing this song -that it is only for those to sing who hnve potten the victorv river the beast and his imnqe and his mnrk ant1 the earthly These symhnls, representing number of his name. institutions 11 hich nom hinder and hind and enclave the Lords people ~tn creeds, must be overrnme bv everv 30111tilnt would hope to he able to appreciate this qnng, and to sine it in his Those daily life to others according to his nppnrtunitiPs. who try to sing this song while yet in Babylon find their mistake.
PROCLAIM LOUDLY THE MEMORIAL

re<prrtmg the Corning bark to the lrnphr>ts trrtininny messape. showing forth thcx T,nrds honor an<1 majchtv. wr lint1 in the 7th verse a nondcrful teqtimnnv to the central fcntrirct and greatest manifestation of the tlixiinc rhnrncter and plan. 111~ memorial of The Iqnlmist. says (Lresers translation), thy ahnndant rnndnesq shqll thev lol~tllv prnrlnim, and they What menzorzcll shall sing joyfully of thy riqhtenusness. has God given us of ahllndant crodncqq? Which of all his erent and wonderful work4 could hr thuq termed a mcnlo) IQZ 11-e answer that this mcmnrinl. this prrat of divine favor? act. was nnne other than the rift qf God9 dear Son. to be our redemption price, as the Apnqtlc dcrlarcs, Tn thiq was manifested the love of God toward 119 bernuse that God sent his onlv begotten Son into the nnrld. that \VC might live Bllt as very few rrnlize the through him. (1 John 4.9) great art of Justice nrcnmpliqhcd in the sentencing of father Adam and his rare to death. $0 very few ran appreciate, a? a sperinl manifestation of Gods ahllndant Cnodncss, the death ot Christ aq the full offset for Adams sin, the full ransom, thp full pnyment of his penalty and that of hi* rare. The reason for this is that thrv pstccm that tllr ransom was paid only for the rhurrh, a llttle flock. From this standof the ahuntlant ::rare and point it was not a manifestation goodness of God, hut of a verv limited grace and favor for a ;erv limited number, a handful. a+ it were nut of the grrnt mais of humanity. But when nc cnmr to bee t?lat our T,nrd for our sinq [the churchs JPSUS sacrifice was a propitiation of sinql and not for niir5 onlr, but trIso for tlrc .~I117 the ?rllolP world, and that thiq mnso~ fnr ~21 is to hr tcqtifird in all due time to all and m?de available to all, that ultimately mav benefit therrhv if they will, 2nd return to harmony with Gnh and to rternil life.Lfrnm this standpoint only ran WC see the greatness of that trani-action. finiqhrtl at Calvary, and hnw it is a n:emorinZ of Gods nhund:lnt pnndnrqs. And onlv such as see this can hpxrtily 2nd loudly proclaim it. and sing joyfully of the rightpnnqness of God, which not only was manifested in the righteous ponaltv afninst sin. but whirh again manifested itself in the righteous payment of that pennlty on behalf of everv creature. The Lord is frncinuq and full The Psalmist continnrs, The Lord of compassion ; slow to anger and of great mcrcv. 0 is good to all, and his tender mercies nrc nvcr all his works Iq not this just what \re should cvncrt in our (vs. 8). Creator, II we reropni7e him to be the full emhndiment of And yet justirp and of love and of wisdom nnd of power? how different is this description of the divine character from the general view, as held by the masses of Christian people, Tnblinded bv the adversalv and misled by their crccdq! stead of thinking of the Lord as grbciouq, do thev not think of him as nwfullv ungracious, and have they not pictured him, not only in their creeds hut nlqn in their hymns of bitter and malignant agamst his praise, as being awfullv creatures, ungracious, pitiless, full of anger and of no mercy?

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ALLEGHENY, PA.

Have they not, on the contrary, represented that Jesus our dear Redeemer must plead with the Father, and show his wounds and appeal for us, ere any compassion could be exhibited, and then only in the most limited degree? But not thus false was the Prophets view of Jehovah, given by inspiration. Jehovah is gracious and full of compassion; he knows that the motions of sin are in our flesh, tending downward, and in his great mercy and compassion he has provided in Jesus for our every difficulty, our every trial, for the covering of our every weakness and imperfections, and with those who become his people, and who even haltinalv seek to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, he is slow to an,& and of great mercy. False ideas of the divine character and the livine dealings with the world of mankind have not only perverted the hopes of Gods people as respects the world, but have also inculcated in their hearts misconceptions of Gods sentiments toward his church, so that the majority of his people do not appreciate the kindness, the mercy, the love, the compassion of our Father in heaven, and failing to appreciate these they have more or less of the fear of which the Apostle speaks, saving, Fear hath torment, and correspondingly they lack the peace of God which passeth all understanding to rule in their hearts. It is only when by the grace of God the eyes of our understanding are opened to see how our heavenly Father is not against us. but for us. and how under his providential arrangement all thines are working together for good to those w.ho love, and who are seeking to attain to the gracious things which he has offered them in his Word,-only then are we enabled to know him, appreciate him, and to offer him, in the best and fullest sense of the word, the tribute of our hearts and the praise of our lips. Now we come to the climax, as it were, of our text, and note that while the Lords saints see his greatness and honorable majesty connected with every feature of the divine plan, and ~5 hile they are telling these good tidings to others, and speaking of his mightv doings in the past, their message would not be complete without a testimony respecting his glorious kingdom. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom-the Millennial kingdom. Thev cannot tell of the majesty of the divine plan and not tell-about the kingdom. To tell of the fall, and to tell of the righteous sentence upon the fallen race, and to tell of the redemation accomnlished through the precious blood of Christ, and that it wzspaid on behalf of every member of the Adamic race, would not finish the good tidings of great ioy. It is necessary, therefore, to speak of the glory of Gods kingdom, and to talk of his power as it will be manifested in that kingdom. As the sentence and the execution of the sentence manifest the justice of God: and the redemption through Jesus manifests the love of God, so the kingdom of the Lord will manifest his power to save to the uttermost all those who come unto the Father through the Son. The glory of the Lords kingdom will not consist, as some have snppo~e~l, of some saints sitting with the Savior on a bright cloud and looking over the battlements of heaven to see the remainder, the numberless millions of mankind, writhing in agony. 0 no! If this were all that we could say of the kingdom of our God we should rather prefer to say nothing. There would be no glory in such a kingdom; it would be an everlasting reproach to the King that he had conceived a plan which had resulted so horribly, so indescribably bad, that it should mean the eternal torment of hundreds of millions of his creatures. Nor will the glory of the kingdom consist, as some others of Gods dear people suppose, in a manifestation of a handful of saints, the glorified church, with the Lord, and with the remainder of the race blotted out of existence without ever having had knowledge and a full opportunity under favorable ronditions to avail thcmselves -of the great memoru.xZ Gods lcve, the redemption. of 0 no! There would be no glory, but a discredit to such a kingdom and to so mengre an outcome to the great memorial. Nor fill the kingdom be, as some others of Gods dear people have conceived it to be, one in which Christ and his church shall, during the Millennial age, bless merely the living nations of the world, and bring to them the blessings which God has promised, but leave all the remainder of the race who have died for six thousand years. from Adam down to the present time, in darkness, in ignorance, in death, without any opportunity under that kinedom. 0 no! A human plan might-thus favor the millions living at the time of the establishment of the kingdom, but forget or ignore or pass by the hundreds and thousands of millions who have gone down

into the great prison-house of death; but Gods ways are not as mans ways nor his plans as mans plans. The glory of the kingdom of which we are authorized to speak, is a king dom which is to bless all nations, the dead who have gone down into the tomb, as well as those who have not yet gone into death. It is a kingdom in which Gods power will be most marvelously manifested. I.& us talk together now of his power as the Prophet It will be a mighty newer which will overhas suggested. throw the reign of sin, which ~111-bind the power of Satan that he shall deceive the nation no more. and which will establish the Lord Jesus and his glorious church in power and great glory, with dominion over all the earth, with authority to execute judgment,-to punish sin and to reward every effort toward righteousness. But the power of God as it will be manifested, will be still greater than all this: it will be a power which will lift up out-of the miry pit of sin; out of the weaknesses of the flesh. out of his imnerfections. mental. moral and physical, every member of thehuman family who desires to make progress and to return to the grand perfection of human nature represented originally in father -Adam, and from which he and all in him fell. through disobedience. In this sense of the word it is a resurrectionpower, raising up, up, up, from the low conditions of sin and death to the high conditions of perfection and righteousness. It not only will thus take hold of the people who will not at that time have fallen asleep in death, but this mighty power of the kingdom will take hold also of those who have gone down into the tomb, and who are in the great prison-house of death; even as our Lord declared, that he will open the prison-doors and say to the prisoners, Show yourselves; come forth. And all that are in their graves shall hear his voice and come forth (John 5:39). and the coming forth shall be unto a resurrection by judgmentthat so many as will, may avail themselves of the blessed privileges and opportunitirs of that great judgment day (the Millennial age), and profit by the stripes and corrections in righteousness which will then be administered, and grow in &ace, grow in knowledge, grow in love and erow in nerfection of beine. until bv the close of the Millenniil age, if they will, they &all have- arrived back again into full harmony with God, and received fully all the perfections of human nature lost through the fall, and redeemed by the great memorial of divine favor. No wonder, then, that the saints, when they glorify God, speak of the glory of his kingdom and talk of the mighty Dower of God which shall then be manifested, and how then &all be made known to the sons of men Gods mighty acts; how they shall then see clearly the meaning of the original sentence as they do not now see it; how they shall then see clearly the meaning of the great redemption, as they do not now see it, and how they shall then see clearly the provision of divine .power in the kingdom for their blessing ;-that seeing these mighty acts of God in their true light, they also may glorify the Father which is in heaven, and they may appreciate the majesty of his kingdom.
THY SAINTS

SHALL

BLESS

THEE

The Prophet intimates that al2 the saints shall have the privilege of&thus declaring the kingdom, and of thus honoring the name of our God; and this seems to be literally fulfilled today, for the Lord seems to be bringing to the attention of all of his saints (his consecrated people everywhere) the present truth; to the intent that they may have its light upon their pathway, making manifest unto them the glorious character of our God. throueh a knowledge of his great plan it of the ages. Moreover, thv Lord seems to be putting within the power of every one of his saints to thus glorify his name and to sneak forte the truth to others. To some he- has granted the talent of oratory and opportunity to use it and to speak forth his praises in this way; to others he has granted a talent for private conversation, that they may thus tell of his kingdom and speak of his glorious majesty and make known his plans to such as have hearing ears. To others still he has given the privilege of declaring his message through the circulation of the printed page: and to some he seems to have given opportunities for using all of these various methods of tinging the song of Moses and the Lamb. And we may rest assured that none can be of the company of the Lords saints in this time, and know of his goodness and his wonderful honor and majesty, and not have a desire to tell the good tidings of great JOY to all who have an ear to hear; and those who are most earnest, most zealous in proclaiming the message, are sure to have the most blessing in their own hearts, and in their own experiences, and to grow the most in grace, in knowledge and in love.

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I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous deeds. Thy saints shall glorify thee; they shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy

power, to make known unto the sons of men thy mighty and the glorious majesty of thy kingdom.

acts,

FOLLOWING

THE VOICE OF CONSCIENCE

scientiously say this of the Presbyterian church as I know it: In practice it is the best of the denominations and sects, but in doctrinal teachings it is nearly as bad as the Roman Catholic system. Not one word of comment in reply! Instead he gave me this item of confidential information: Brother I will tell you something by which you can see how most of our brother ministers stand on the Westminster Confession : At our last meeting a young man from the German Theological Seminary in Iowa came to us for esamination and ordination. Dr. -, our Stated Clerk of Presbytery, was chairman of the examining committee, and I was also on the same. After Dr. got through with him and exnressed hnuself as satisfied. I took the 6001;. and turning tothe statements on election &d reprobation I ;ead the wholi chapter to him. ant1 then askc,d h;m solrmnlp. Do vou believe this? He looked at me a minute. and then said: If YOU will let me explain it, I will show in what sense I beiieve it. No, no, I said, you cannot and you must not try to explain it; you must belleve it or you are not entitled to ordination according to our form of government. Now let me ask vou once more, Do vou accept this doctrine as it stands ! Brother, that you@ man answered very emphatiL 4nd 1 also said. And neither do II rallv. So Dr. said. Xelther do I ! Did the Presbytery ordain him on such a confession as that? I asked. Sot one dissenting vote in the committee. and wrong before Such inconsistency is inexcusable, God I qqid . It is only another strong argument in favor . Then we parted, he of & decision to get out and be free. cordially oRering me his assistance if needed, as above stated. Tour counsel with reference to the spirit of my letter of request for dismissal, is appreciated and fully approved. I believe the Lord will suggest to my mind the words he would have me say. I will send you a copy of the letter when I I think of you daily, and mv love goes out to write again. you as a brother high above a brother by birth.

A brother writes us interestingly as follows: We omit names for obvious reasons. I want to thank you for your last letter. The Lord has poured out upon my distracted mind a great blessing since I fully and unreservedly gave up all. So far as I understand my present attitude toward the dear Master, I am now beheaded, having bowed reverently and joyfully to his will. It seems that the mere unconditional resolve to separate wholly from Babylon brought me a blessing. But I have not yet sent in my contemplated letter to the Presbytery. The same meets in regular session the 9th of Oct. I shall endeavor to have it ready to go before that meeting for action. The pastor of the local church (Presbyterian) here has promised to help the matter along and to defend my case, should a defencc be called out. This promise he made after I had explained to him, one day t!lis week, my reasons for the step. At first he tried. 1,~ arguments and nersuxslon, to induce me to chance my mind. vou see the outcome of Walt a while. he said. until the revision movement. Thk Confession of Faith will, and must be changed. I am out of harmony with several of its doctrinal statements myself, and the brethren of the Presbyfery know it too, and some of them hate me for it like polron. Let us stand by our guns and fight the thing out, bl other. SO," I said, I cannot follow your advice, brother, tho I know it is well meant. My mind is so fully made up that I cannot be induced to take a backward step. Well then, if that is the case, where do you wish to be dismissed to-what church, or association? We cannot dismiss you at large or at random, you know. Our book makes no provision for such a case. In fact. I have never heard of such a case before. ,lly request is, and must be, for unconditional dismissal I answered. I wish to be absolutely free from ecclesiastical bondage. I recognize no human organization as the church of Christ. All of them exist without the authority or rerognition of the Lord Jesus Christ; hence none of them His church has no name on earth. But I can conare his.

THE UNJUST STEWARD

LUKE 16 : I-13.-Nov.
Ye cannot serve God and

4.
Kammon.

While the previous parables of this dinner-table talk were addressed specially to the?Pharisees, this parable, and the one following it, concerning a rich man and a poor man (Dives and Lazarus), were addressed not so exclusively to the Phariseeq. but, as the first verse of our lesson declares, to the diszipleq also, as wrll as to the Pharisees at the same table. The rcsnbon why the fir-t thrre parables were addressed to the Pharisees only, and not to the disciples, is evident-the disciples needed no such instruction, having no preiudice against classes, recognizing theYnaelvks as among4 t6e poorer the lost who were clad to be found bv the Good SheDherd. The steward of tlzs parablk corresponds to the elder son of the preceding parable, and to the rich man of the succeedinq parable ; it applies specially to the scribes and Pharisees, who. as our Lord declared, on another occasion, sat in Moses sent-represented >Ioses, and the Law Covenant of which Moses W& the I\Irdlator; and the blessing obtained through that covenant. of which Moses was the orieinal steward. and they now the steward, as his representatiuves. In what did this stewardship consist? The Apostle Paul asks this question, and answers it, saying, What advantage then hath a Jew? Much every way: chiefly because to them were committed the oraclei of God, the knowledge of God, with tvpical justification and at-one-ment with him, and an interest ih the promises made to the fathers. The Jews, as represented in Moses and his successors, failed of their stewardship-failed to use in a manner satisfactory to God the favors committed to their care. Nor, indeed, were they wholly to blame for this, as the Apostle Paul points out; they were weak through the fall, incompetent to be administrators of so great a trust; and God kiew this when he eave them the stewardshin-he knew that thev would fail to kiep the Law perfectly. He had fully intended that

in due time he would depose them from the stewardship and give it to the one whom he had foreknown--to Me-slab. Now the time had come when this change of administration was about to be effected, and God was calling upon the representatives of Israel to give an account of their stewa&hip, and informing them- that. a new dispensation was a.bout to be ushered in. Our Lord Jesus in this narable L wished to point out to them what would be the wisest course for them to pursue under the circumstances. He shows them what an earthly steward would do under such circumstances, and tells them there is wisdom in such a course, saying, The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light : you, as Gods people, more favored than any others with light on the divine character and plan, are not acting as wisely as you would do if you were earthly stewards. Here we are met with the difficulty that the majority of people do not clearly comprehend-the scope of a stewards privileges in olden times. 11e have no such office today office was a condamongst civilized people. A stewards dential one; he had the liberty and full authority to do any thing and everything that the owner himself could do with his goods. He could make prcqents. or vanwl debts, or use in any manner he chose the goods under his care, and could not be held responsible as a culprit before the law, because the nature of his office as a steward was such that he fully The latter could represented and acted for his employer. discharge him from the stewardship as a penalty for unfaithfulness, but this would be his only punishment, because in making him steward he fully authorized him to use his judgment. In the parable the unjust steward-u?just in his previous use of his masters affairs, that is, unrighteous, unsatisfac-

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WATCH

TOWER

ALLEGHENY,

PA

tory, imperfect-as soon as he realized the situation, made no attempt to defend himself, nor to claim that he had done perfect]?; but before rendering up his accounts he dealt lenicbntly with some of his lords creditors, remitting parts of their indcbtetlneis. (This may haye been a wise course, as, for instance, today bankruptcy laws similarly release debtors from obligations which they could not pay; and similarly CI edit01 .I fi c~clutintlv. II: Ilicir owu intcsre<t, a1 (213to acccbl)t sixty per c&t, tifty per cent, forty per cent, or some other proportion of the original sum as for the whole of a debt, werll~ tll.Lt tll~~ tlt,l)tut 15 unable to l,&tv tlie xc count in tull. :~ntl I\ itI1 :I \ ~cw to 111, encouiacement to (11)tllc llr+t Ii<. cnn. The Je\:ish Jubilee ycnr of full release from all debts was alon,o the same line of leniency and wise business policy rep rctsentetl in the Eankruptcv Law of today.) It-13 not 6ecallhe of tllis lil\t conduct oi the steward that he is called unju\t (unrlghtcous) in the parable, but because of his previous strwnrtlslr~p, not haling come up to the full, perfect demands of Iris master. Now, applying the parable to all of the Jewish nation, esprclallg to thtiyc H ho sat in Moses seat and had the control of matters, :mtl ~110 derided what Itas and what was not the proper lntc~rpretatlon of the law, our Lord intimated that If they. \VPI~ as \\ise as earthly stewards they would make use caf their opportunltic~s in a somewhat similar manner. NOW 110~ could thev ha\c done this-supposmg that. they recognl/ed the iact that thcg had not f;ifilled the requ~remen& of God undt*r the Law. and sunnosincr also that thcv realized th.lt the time hat1 ro;nc for achagge of dispensition. and that God uas demanding an account of them and informing them that a ne\s steward would take possession of mattersilnt:cr N( h rlrcllmst:inc( s how shoultl these in Noses sent
1 *

enough to confess inability to keep the perfect law, these scribes and Pharisees, on the contrary, bound upon the people heavy burdens which they would not assist to lift with their little finger.-Matt. 23 : 1-4. Thus -doing they became more and more hypocritical and case-hardened, until, in his later descriptions of them, our Lord declared them to be whited sepulchres, outwardly fair and beautiful, inwardly full of corrtiption, dishonesty, hypocrisv: knowinp themselves to be infractors of the law thcv This ndt were outwardlay claiming and boasting perfection. being said to the Pharisees alone, but to the disciples also, implies that they were to notice how the parable fitted and how unwisely this steward class was acting. Even at thr table the Pharisees, perceiving to some estent at least the, covetous. But 0111 trend of the parable, derided-being Lord Dressed the lesson home to them savin_rr. Ye are thev . %,. which justifg yourselves before men; but God knoweth you1 hearts. You are the unjust steward and soon all will wit The law and the prophets [of which ne3s your rejection. you are the representatives1 was [recognized of God1 until John rthe Baptist] ; since that time the kingdom of God is prearhcd [the new, the Gospel dispensation], and every one (Verses 14-16) You, lrnders of [should] press toward it. the people. however, not only will not enter ynursrlves, but those desiring to enter you hinder. (&iatt. 23 :13) You should see that vour inqtitition is bound to Mose3 2nd the law It is needful as a wife to he; hushnnd-qo lone as it liveth. therefore, that the law which go71 represent shnuld die, that Israel may be liberated and thus be prrpared to be united (married) to Messiah by a new covenant.-Verses 17, 1s. Rom. 7 : 1-4. We are not informed that this parable had spcrinl applic.1 tllcct 111 Ili~lntOll~ \Vlt!l tllc t!\.SOll (It Il.l\t~ wtlvl~ \\ t .\ll\\~l, tinn in the end of this Gospel age. but sinccs we know from thr parable, tllcy should have said to themselves: We realize other Scriptures that natural Israel and its harvest tirnc, that we oursetccs have nut kept the law of God perfectly; were a pattern or illustration of spiritual Irrncl and this ngr intlt~cd, th.lt It 15 not \\itbln our power to do so. We realize and the nresent harvest time. therefore we nrp justified in that a change of dlspcn+ation is impending, and that we arp looking fdr some parallel a3 between the cnnrlitinn of the un ratled upon to mahc an accountmg. and that we can only just steward in our Lords dav and a similar claqs in tbih :ldltllt b(sforc God that I\( made a failure as respects the present time. And looking about 113 today for a elnss cork cn~r!ing out of tile demands of his Law and the gaining of responding to those who sat in Moses seat, we find a cl,~sq ctrrnnl life under it,-and as respects the use of the many t,orlav nittine in Christs seat, as resprrts thr C,o=~~~l (~llurc~h advantages every 1%~ which God has given us. We have used This class is composed of elders, Sunday School teachers and our advantages in sume re>pects well, but we failed on the superintendents, ministers. bishops, archbishops, etc. Thrsr whole to accomplish nnytbing in the world, or to gain eternal as a whole are representing a great stewardchip of divine life, either for ourselves or for any,-and we cannot dispute, favor as respects the Lords people today. Thev percrive therefolr, that liy the deeds of the law no flesh should be that a rhqnre of disnensntion is upon u<. that their creeds justlficd in Gods biglit. and traditions from the past are being called in queqtion. and Since, therefore, it must soon be evidenced to all that our that they are being required to render up an account. They stewaldshlp has resulted in failure and that we are disposperceive that the account will not br a verv fl?ttcBrinS onr, and sessed, the wise thing for us to do is to turn about at once, that if the whole truth were known to the people a3 it is and deal kindly and generously with these sinners (the prodiknown to Gnd. they would be found derelict, uofaithful to gal son class) and, instead of denouncing them as sinners their stewardship in many respects. They fear the crisis: We more than our3el\ es, we should say to them frankly, ther nut off the dav of reckoning a9 far as possible; they _... cannot keep this perfect law of God, and we know also that hush ihe murmurs if the people-and the qne&.inns respectyou cannot do so, but now, instead of being hopelessly dising creeds, and as the Lord said of the steward of his rlgv, so couraged and cast clown, do the best you can; we will remit That which is hizhlv esteemed it will be true of these: 1jart of the c\nction of the law, admitting that you are unamongst men is an abomination in the sight of God.-Versr able to keep it perfectly, and will merely require of you that 15. you keep it to the best of your ability-fifty per cent., or These renresentgtives of the nominal church, who hold a eighty per rrnt.. nccoldmg to your circumstances and condiposition of stewardship as respects the masses of the Lords tions--:lcccording as you are able, keep the law. people, are disposed, as were the Pharisees, their prntotvpes, Tlntl the scribes and Pharisees taken this position they to nut a bnld face unon matters, to brave it out rather than \\outd have healed the breach a3 between themselves and the to Confess the truth. As fnr instance, in the matter of creeds people, and their honesty in admitting that they themselves that are heing called in question: Many, even of those who rould not keep tne law would have been a distinct advantage werp at first disnosed to demand the revision of the Westto them, suh~e~~uently, in connection with the new dispens:minster Confess& of Faith, have concluded that this would tion. And this verv conduct of candid admission and of be showing the white feather, and admitting that they had sympattly for others. and assistance in lifting their burdens been in error in the past, and imperfect in their interpreta\\oultl have brought them into such a condition of heart that tion of the divine Word, and hence calculated to discredit thry would have been ready for the Gospel; and the lower them with the people: and now the tide is rapidly turning classes. from which thcv had hitberto held aloof as sinners, and the same ones who were demanding a revision are now \tould have bad a kintliv feeling toward them, and as a re: voting to the rontrarp, that the creed is good, thnrouahly satcult they \\outtl hn\c r&lined a me?surc of their sympathy. isfactorv to them, that they would not chanqe it for anyat least. in the time of trouble which came upon them when thing. They are so anxious to be highly esteemed of men their polity was overthrown. that they seem to forget altogether the one from whom they received their stewardship, and who is about to take it from Cut did the scribes and Pharisees follow any such course? them. By no mcans. On the other hand they put on a brassy front, made bro?d their nhvlncteries. made still louder cliims reWhat would be the proper course for this steward class specting their o\\n $fection of heart and life, deceiving their of the Gosnel ape? We answer. that the moper course would own selves probably as much as or more than they deceived be to do what c&r Lord recommended to the jewish stewards; others. They boasted that they should ever contmue to be viz., they should candidly confess to the people the errors of stewards of the manifold grace of God; and, as our Lord dethe creeds and their own imperfection in attempted exposiclares, so far from lifting the burdens and condemnations of tion of the divine Word, and their own failures in the past in the law from the shoulders of the people, who were honest respect to a proper use of the oracles of God and a proper
,
Y

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WATCH

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(317-318)

application of the exceeding great and precious promises. And while acknowledging their own errors and shortcommgs, they should modify the demands made of the people and bring them into conformity with their ability. For instance, they should say to the people, How much did we say that you owed to God, and what penalty did we say would be imposed upon you? If we said that you were to receive a penalty of eternal torment, count that now as being an error, and write down If we taught you instead, A just recompense of reward. that your obligations to God are according to the Jewish law, and as represented in the Ten Commandments, and that unless these were kept perfectly in letter and in spirit you would have no hope of eternal life, alter and amend that feature of your faith, and write instead that under thp *New Covenant God will accept the most imperfect works of those who have consecrated themselves to him, providing those imperfect works are the best that they are able to offer; and providing they are offered in the name and merit of him who loved US and who bought us with his own precious blood. If the present stewards would follow such a course they would undoubtedly be respected through the future. but following their present course, the time is surely coming when they will be despised as hypocrites and blind guides, who mislead their confiding flocks into the ditch of skepticism and the great time of trouble. This parable may be considered as ending with the eighth verse, the instructions which follow being separate and distinct, and along a somewhat different line, and addressed specially to those who accepted the Lords teaching, his disciples.
YE CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MAMIYTON

This after-lesson is on the subject of the impossibility of having t\vo masters, God and Mammon. Mammon represents cnrthly riches, not only financial wealth, but honor amongst men, etc.-the thing which was particularly hindering the Pharisees from takcng the proper course and acknowledging t,hcir error and seeking for and obtaining mercy. Mammon still is a great hindrance to all who desire to be the Lords disciples. Whoever worships Mammon-and it may be self or wealth or fame or position and honor amongst men, one or all of these-whoever worships JIammon cannot at the same time be n true worshiper of God. a trne follower of Christ. because God and Mammon are rivals before our hearts. If a-e attempt to divide our love and attention, and to give part of it to God and to his service, and part of it to Man?mon.- t!re results will he nnsatisfactorv to God, nnsatisfnrtorv to Mamman and nnsntiqf?ctory to oiirselrrs. We must, therefore, decide either to live for self and earthly things or to renounre and sacrifice these in the intnrst of God and of heavenly things. The worshipers of Mammon may have certain advantages as respects the present life, in the way of earthly prosperitv. but Mammon cannot give eternal life. It is the gift of God, and those who would have Gods gift must be Gods friends, Gods rlrildren; and he demands of such that they shall manifest their love and qlevotion to hint by renouncing Mammon, by joyfully sacrificing

earthly name and fame and favor and interest, thus showing their higher appreciation of hns love and favor. the riches of his grace, and-the exceeding great and precious things which he has nromised to rive them in the life to come. The& are to ma%e to themselves friends; in other words, to lay up treasures in heaven, by the sacrifice of the Mammon of unrignteousness;-that is to say, the sacrifice of the various interests of this present time of unrighteousness, this present evil world. Some may have very little of Mammon at their disposal to sacrifice; -but the Lord encourages us all by saying-that he that is faithful in that which is least. therebv gives cvidence of how faithful he would be if he had much,y and the Lord accepts the little sacrifices which we are able to make as tho they were greater ones. She hath done what she could is the best of testimony as respects the use of present opportunities in the Lords service, whether it refer to a mite or a million, a little influence or a great one. It is not the amount that God is seeking, but the character, the disposition of heart; and whoever has the right disposition of heart and is careful in the small affairs of life, to serve the Lord with all that he possesses and to the extent of his ability, such an one will have committed to him the true riches-the heavenly riches. Not merely may he expect to enter into the glories of the heavenly kingdom, but even in the present life be will begin to get a first-fruits of those riches in his own heart, in his own experiences; for it is unquestionably a fact that the heirs of glory, those who ore in the right, relationship with Qod alItI runn1n: f:1ltlrfnllv 11 the race, not only will get the prize at the end of the race. but already get blessing which the world can neither give nor take awav;-the jogs of thr Lord, the peace of God which passeth all understanding ruling in their hearts: SO that they can sing for joy, even in the hbuse of their pilgrima.ge+ven in the nresent unsatisfactorv tabernacle condition, in which we groan also, being burdened with its weaknesses. But if me are not faithful in the little things which confessedly are not our own, and merely given to us as a stewardahrp-the things, the opportunities. the talents, which are merely put within our grasp as stewards of the T>ord,-if we are not faithful in using these with an eye single to the Lords glory, how can we expect that he will ever give us true riches of grace, to he our own forever, either in the future or in the nresent life. The sum of this lesson to the disciples, then. is that as no man is able to sprvr two masters and satisfy both, and do justice to both, their interests ronflicting, no more can we serve Cod and righteousness, and at the same time be pleasing and acceptable to the adversary and those who are in harmnnv with him whn now rules in this present dispensation, the prince of this world. All of the Tords consrcrntrd peaple, those who would lay up treasures in heaven and be rich toward God, must be milling to become of no reputation amonpst those who are not rnnspcrntcd, and who. whatever their possessions, are real!? serving Gammon, sc~lfishness, thp present life, ant1 not sa(~rrln*in,rr thr*c* intCrl*.tq to flrcx :ltt.liq ment of the hearpnly kingdom.
Y

THE RICH MAN (DIVES) AND THE POOR MAN (LAZARUS)

LURE 16:19-31.-Nov. 11. This parahle is a continuation of the series, a part of the .md Lazarus, the fifth of the series brings the instruction to a table-talk at the banquet at the Pharisees house. It is the climax by picturing the favored class as the rirh man. mho c~ulminntinn, so to speak, of the entire series of parables. enjoyed. but did not rightly appreciate the blessings showered The first represents mankind in general. as the lost sheep, upon him,-selfishly shnttrng up hi? heart against the poor and the Lords interest therein, and its final recovery to the ainner at his gate; not nrkno\,led!$ng that he himsrlf also fold; the second respecting the lost coin, represents the same was imperfect and came short of the glory of God and ths thought. with the additional feature of the dilicent sweeping perfect keeping of his law. and bringing in of the light in order to the recovery or resti: he RR resperts This parable shows what the r(thults woultl tution of the lost race. The third applies this same principle both classes--the final outcome. WC will not deal with it to the Jewish nation, and reproves the Phnrisre class, the elder here, since we have already treated it with considerable elabbrother, for not having the Lords snirit of love and mercv oration in our issue of March 15 and April 1, 1900. Rut inin respect to the sinnercless, the prodigal. The fourth rep&asmuch as some mav have loaned or given away that copy. and Rents the unwisdom of this Pharisee class in hvuocriticallv since we have a good supply of them on hand, we conclude to pretending to others that they kent the Law and were aisend an extra copy of that one with this issue to supplement rentable stewards, whereas they themselves were well aware this lesson. Those who find themsplvrs possessed of two copthat they came short of the glory of God, came short of fulies will no donht have good opportunitv for using the extra filling their stewardship, and must therefore he ejected from one to the Lords praise and to the blessing of some who in it; and points out to them a proper course, which they did more or less darkness are feelin: affpr God [his plan]. if not, however, take. And now. finally. this parable of Dives haply they may find him.

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XXI

ALLEGHEXP,

PA., NOVEMBER

1, 1900

No. 21

VIEWS FROM THE WATCH

STILL DEBATING INFANT DAMNATION

TOWER

Jn debates on creed revision among Presbyterians no feature has called forth such heated discussion as that relatmg to elect infants dying in infancy. This clause of the Westminster Confession. with those clause: which have DODc L ularly been taken as interpreting it, follow:III. 3. By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestmed unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death. HT. 4. These angels and men thus predestined and foreordained are particularly and unchangeably designed, and their number is so certain and definite that It, can not either bc increased or diminished. s. 3. Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated and saved through the Spirit, who worketh when, where, and how he pleaseth; so also are all other elect persons who are incapable of being called by the ministry of the Word. s. 4. Others, not elected. although they may be called by the Word and may have some common operations of the Spirit, yet they never truly come to Christ and, therefore, can not be snrcd. Much less can men not professing the Christian religion be saved in any other way whatsoever, be they never so diligent to frame their lives according to the light of nature, and the law of that religion they do profess; and to assert and maintain that they may, is very pernicious and to be detested. From a remote period these statements have been popularly supposed to teach, by implication, that non-elect infants dying in infancy are damned. However, the recent General Assembly of the Presbyterian church (South) claimed that no such interpretation could rightly be put upon the clause, and refused to consider a proposition to alter it. For instance, Dr. Warfield. of Princeton, says, I think we may characterize the interpretation of Chapter X., section 3 [of the Westminster Confession], which finds a body of non-elect infants dying in infancy implied in its statements, as one of the most astonishing pieces of misrepresentation in literary history. Rev. Dr. Eugene Daniel alqo asserts that it is uniust to say that the Confession imphcitlp teaches the damnation of no;elect infants. He points out that it teaches posit,ilely the salvation of elect infants, but makes no attempt whatever to solve the Creators intentions with regard to no-n-elect infants. It seems peculiar indeed that anyone claiming to believe in Calvinistic predestination of adults could dispute that the same conditions prevailed in infancy. But he&ken to other internretcrs of the Westminster Confession. as follows:Rbv. Dr. Horace L. Singleton (The llokilctic Review, Septernher). states that prior to the Westminster Confession all of Chri~~tendom had believed that infants dying without baptism are dnmlrtd, but that Confession took a step forward in asserting that elect infants, even if unbaptized, are saved. He says :The sacramentarian doctrine of the papal and other prelatical churches. and the locical conclusion of Arminianism, left no other provision for i;fant salvation than baptism. Td die without it was to he lost forever. This detestable doctrine the Confession of Faith was designed to destroy. It does destroy it. The Christian church and the world are debtors to it for removing the gloom which surrounds the death of babes. The Assembly divines were all Calvinists, in entire accord with the second Scotch Confession, which on this subject abhors and detests among the doctrines of the Roman Antichrist his cruel judgment against infants dying without the sacrament. The Calvinists of the Westminster Assembly who indorsed or approved that Confession, would surely not frame an article on infant salvation which would imply that any dying in infancy were without the pale of Gods grace anh redemption. So they made provision for all by referring all to the sovereign will of him who worketh when and where and how he will. Only Calvinistic theology and a Calvinistic Confession can say that. The Dhrase contains the essence of Calvinism. What-is that? Whit the grace of God is sovereign both in its source and application. As to the device of the doctrine of infant damnation, not one of the other denominations can point at the Presbyterian church and say: Thou didst it. The Roman Catholic church in the Council of Trent decreed, and the decree still stands: If any denies that new-born children must be baptized, or says that they do not derive from Adam anything of original sin which makes the washing of regeneration necessary to cleanse. them for an entrance into everlasting life, let him be accursed. (323-324)

The Lutheran church did not rid itself altogether of Its Augsburg Confession teaches that Roman sacramentalism. Baptism is necessary to salvation. It condemns all who affirm that children are saved without baptism. Archbishop Cranmer, the first primate of the English If we should have heathen church, said in his Catechism: parents and die without baptism, we would be damned everlast>gly. Episcopal church, . . The founder of the Methodist John Wesley, in his Treatise on Baptism, 1756, says: If infants are guilty of original sin, then they are the proper subjects of baptism, seeing in the ordinary way they can not be saved unless this be washed away by baptism. It has already been proved ihat this original stain cleaves to every child of man, and that thev thereby are children of wrath and liable to eternal damnaiion. !ihe Independent (August 30) says:It is a mere evasion to assert that elect infants can It would be as easy to say all infants, RS mean all infants. elect infants if that were intended. and if it were not contradicted Fy the doctrine clearly expressed in the Confession. that onginal sin is worthy of eternal death. That the plain meaning of the Confession and its implications thron=hout includes infants among those who are lost, is suBicicntly proved from the lanaage of Dr. Twiss, prolocutor of the \Vestminstcr Assembly, who says distinctlr in 111s ~TISDIC.C I , -&s Manv infants dcnart frbm this life in oririnal sin, and conseqne&y are condimned to eternal death on account of of original sin alone. Therefore. from the sole transgression ffa;tsc;ndemnation to eternal death has followed upon many What Dr. Twips said was the belief of the rest and the teaching of the Confession. The Rev. Henry Frank quotes John Calvin himself, saying : John Calvin says with his accustomed clearness: The children of the reprobate [i e.. the non-elect] whnm Ihe curse of God follows, are cubiect to the same sentence (Oprra II.1 Again : You deny that it is lawful for God, except for misdeeds, to condemn any human being. . . . Put forth your evidence against God. who precipitates into efcltlal clcnfh harmtess, nefo-born. children torn from their mothers bosom. (De Occulta Dei Provfdentin) . As the eggs of the asp are deservedly crushed, and serpents just born are deserved1.y killed, though they have not yet poisoned any. one with their bite, so infants are justly obnoxious to penalties (Blolineaux of France). . . . Once again hear John Calvin: Very infants themselves bring in their own damnation with them from their mothers womb ; who. although thsy have not yet brought forth the fruits of their iniquity, yet have the seed thereof enclosed within them; yea, their whole nature is a certain seed of sin; and therefore it can not be otherwise than hateful and abominable to God. Now let us learn what the framers of the Confession themselves said concerning this damnable doctrine. William Twiss : If many thousands, even all the infants of Turks and Saracens, dying in original sin are tormented by him in hell-fire, is he to be accounted the father of cruelties for this? For a vivid picture of the disposition of these eternally damned infants by this mild and maudlin Presbvterian God, read Samuel Rutherford, one of the Scotch commifisioners whd assisted in framing the creed. Suppose we saw with our eyes a great furnace of fire, . , . . and all the damned as lumps of red fire, and they boiling and louping for pain in a dungeon of everlasting brimstone, and the black and terrible devils, with long and sharp-toothed whips of scorpions lashing out scourges on them; and if we saw our own neighbors, brethren, sisters; yea, our dear childrelt, wives, fathers, mothers, swimming and sinking in that black lake, and heard the yelling, shouting, crying of our young ones and fathers. . . .
* l +

It will now be quite in order for some very conscientious Presbyterian brother to tell us that John Calvin knew nothinn about Calvinism anyway; or to assure us that though ther: were damned non-elect infants in times past, there are none today, though God and his Word have not changed in the interim. If, instead of saying elect and non-elect infants, Brother Calvin had said the children of the non-elect are damned when they are born, he would have come much nearer statin the matter truthfully, however erroneous his conception o4 the facts. For the word damned in plain English simply signifies

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condemned, and the B&me is true of the Greek word translated in these two way8 in the Bible. No one can dispute that the Scripture8 plainly teach that condemnation (dakution.) passed ;pon ali me; because of father Adam8 transeression (Ram. 5: 12). and hence the declaration that manki;d are born in sin: (Psa. 51:5) The only exception8 to this rule of being born condemned (damned) being in the case of children one or both of whose parents are believers .-1 Cor. 7:14. But then. the great difficultv of Orthodoxv lies in the fact that it has acgepted theoriei respecting thii original COAdemnatzorc (damnation or curse of God) framed in the dark ages, that it means condemned (damned) to everlasting torture, either in fire and brimstone or something worse: a thought as opposed to the Scriptural teachings a8 to sound reason and common 8ense. If, however. the Scriptural thought be attached to the condemmakon (dn&ation) >nd it be seen. that all of Adam8 race are born aliens and strangers from God, his enemies and under condemnatzon (damnation) to death is imperfect being8 unworthy of Gods favors, including everlasting life,-then all is plain, all is reasonable.

It will then be seen that a8 Adams sin and its penalty were entailed upon his children, 80 the harmony with God of a believing parent would properly and consistently attach to his children until they shall have reached years of discretion and ability to accept or reject divine favor-for themselves. However, the children of unbelievers have the onnortunitv of accept& Gods mace when they come to years&of discretion, piovi&d they gave the necessary ears td hear-ears of the heart. And even such as. under Satans influence. are deaf to the voice of God now speaking to us through his bon-and who therefore continue through the present life under condemnation (damnation), we have the assurance will in the Millennial age have the ears of their understanding opened and then have opportunity to obey and be blessed with the gift of God-eternal life. N. B. We will send FREE, a8 a sample, on receipt of a Postal Card request, a ten cent pamphlet, What Say the It discusses every ocrurrence of the Scriptures Abont ITell? word hell and every passage generally supposed to teach eternal torment.

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man that I am: xho shall deliver me from this dead body ? Z thank God [for deliz-zrancel through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then wzth my mend I serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. R.om. 7:24, 25. had no more claim upon it than had the Gentiles, who had Much perplexity has been caused to many Christian minds less knowledge as well as less outward piety. He asks: Are hy the statements of the seventh chapter of Pauls Epistle to we [Jews] better than they [Gentiles, living according to the the Ronmns. Some have concluded that he here teaches that light that they possessed] ? No, in no wise; for we have he- lured a life of sin, accordmu to the flesh, but a life of before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that thry are all under righteousness according to his mbind; and yet they are ready sin; as it is written, There is none righteous, no? not one. to ConretIe that .this is rather a nerplexinn, unreasonable and The Apostles argument is that none being righteous, none unsatisfactory view of the matte;. -Others reach the conclucould be acquitted or aPprovcd before God, whether they had siou that the Apostle must here be describing his condition of the law or did not have it. Thus he proved that the Jcws as heart and mind before conversion, while he was still a sinner; well as the Gentiles. un to the time of Christ. were all under yet these also find difficulties, and confess that many features sin. afi under condem;atioi. and that none 03 them had any of such a view are quite inconsistent with the Apostles lanclaim upon eternal life, accordinS to divine arrangements this guage. We submit the following interpretation of the chapfar made. For Bv the deeds of the law there shall no flesh ter, as proving itself correct by its harmonizing with all the 2:13. 17; 3:9, 10, 19, 20. be justified in his &$t. -Chap. Apoktles statements in this chapter and elsewhere. Next the Apostle proceeds to show that whoever would be The Apostle is addressing believers at Rome, beloved of justified before God, whether he had previously been a Jew, God, called saints ( 1:7). Some of these were probably converts favored with the knowledge and advnnt:lses of the Law. or a from amongst the Gentiles. while unrloubtedfv a considerable Gentile, in blindness andiguornnce doink to the bcqt of his This is implied by DIODOrtiOn were converts from Judaism. knowledge, God has now provided for both, ooze way to be ihefact that the Apostle in this Epistle so particuK?rly exsaved and to rome into harmonv with him-namclv. thl o11~11 plains the Law, not as to Gentiles having no knowledge of He shows that the la&, so far from justifyina the Christ. the Law, but as to Jews having full knowledge of it. The Jews. showed them to he in a condition of sin. bv the?r inEpistie is a very compre!lensive statement of the entire plan u But this law w&h had conability to keep it perfectly. of God. The Apostle begins in the first chapter by showing demned the Jews, because of thrir failure and inalrillty to that God was not responslhle for the prevalent degradation, keep its conditions perfertlp, served the more abund:lntly to Ignorance, sin, etc., throughout the worid, and concludes with attest Gods iustice ; it became a witness to Gods riphtclousthe trushine of Satan under the feet of the saints during the ness-that he had been right in his decalnration that Israel >Iillennial ;bign of the Christ. He explains that at one-time had not kcnt the law. and that a11 maukind, bring in a fallen God gave to mankind in general certain knowledge and blesscondition, were unfit to receive his favors; and it witnessed ings, but that when they knew God they glorified him not a8 more than this: it witnessed to the Justice of Gad in proridGod, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imagiine: the ransom for sinners, in the person of his Son our Lord nations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing Leven the righteousness of God whic.1, is by faith of .Tcsus themselves to be wise they became fools. He explains that thui grnilually men came down to idolatry and bestiality, disChrist unto all and unon all them that brllcve rwhethrr ,Jcws honoring and degrading themselves, and perverting the truth or Gentiles] : for th&e is [now] no tlilference: for all have of God into a lie; for which cause God gave them up to vile sinned [and consequently all are unworthy of divine favor upon affrctions and to a reprobate mind. to do those things which anv basis of works of their own. and mnqt thrrrfore needs be redeemed with the precious blokd, nnd their penalty met for are not proper; and they became filled with all unri,ghteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, them, ere they could-he received back into har&onv wit!, God] ; envy, murder, dispute, deceit, malignity, etc., etc. Thus he being iustified freelv bv his crare. throunh tlr& rt>tl(,mntion accounts for the various degrees of degradation, ignorance and thatYis in Christ J&&. who$ God h:lthrr;ct forth tn he a superstition prevalent throughout the world.-Chap. 1:21, 22, propitiation [satisfaction] through faith in his blood.35, 26. 28, 20. Chap. 3 : 10-26. Proceeding, he shows that while Israel had received God8 Appealing to those who had formerly been Jews. and who law, under a special covenant, and with special favors at his had been inclined to hoast of thcmqrlvrs as Gods favored hands, they haa not been saved hy the law: any more than the people, and inclined to think that in some sense of the wild Gentiles had been saved without the law; and that therefore they were still more favored of God than those formerlv both Jews and Gentiles needed iU8t such a Savior as God Gentiles, the Apostle says, in view of the preceding fact;, had provided. Answering the suphosed argument of the Jews, Where is [the room for] boasting thrn? and he answprq. Tt he declares. Not the hearers of the law are iust before God. There is no room for boasting; the Jrw and the ~I is excluded. but the doers of the law, and he argues ihit the Jew who Gentile having come into Christ are on a common level-both rested in the law, and made his boast of being of Gods favored have been justified hy faith in Christ; neither was benefited or people, and who by reason of these favors knew the will of injured by his previous experience, whether under the law or God more particularly than the Gentiles, would not, by reason without the law, if now by Gods grace thrv had received of this knowledge and advantage, be justified under the law, adoption into his family through Christ. Boas&g on the part hut could only be acquitted hy a perfect keeping of that law; of those who previously had been Jews would certainly be and that since the Jews did not keep the law perfectly they excluded, for they had not been able to perform the works could not claim the reward promised by the law, namely, which their Law Covenant had demandl,d, and now being eternal life. Hence, so far as eternal life was concerned, they exempted of God, under the law of faith, it would hinder them 127191 0 wretched

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irom any bonstinc as rrspcrts tile law of works. lllcrefore surely that new mind would be out of harmony with sin, we ~nncl~~dc that i man is*dustltird by faith, without [necessity craving, hungering and thirsting after righteousn&s, truth, etc. for1 the deeds of Iworks denmndcd bvl the law. We are therefore to reckon ourselves dead to sin, but alive Ihc Apobtlc prirtrds to show thaithe Lords operation of to God through Christ; and we are not to let sin reign in us, favor 011 arc>nunt nf faith does not make \-old the law. with because we, as new creatures. are begotten of a different spirit, \\hIch tcfr ccnturirs he had dealt with Israel.---the law of that is at warfare with sin, as sin is at warfare against rightlilylltcnllillc~s. On the contrary, the fact that it was ncceseousness. Instead, therefore, of continuing to be servants of sirv to lustlfv tllr Jr\\. bv faith, and the fact that they sin, and yielthng our bodies to that serrirc, we alc to ( oul,l not bc Ji;stificd untlcr the law of works. proves, not thai: recognize ourselves as WOW creatures in Christ. servant+ th,, laxv (,i \\orh\ was bntl. Init that it wa< good. and that tbc of God, his ambassadors and reprcscntntives; and arc to .i(s\\ \\a+ Inlprrfc>ct through the f,lll, so thaihc ivas unable to seek to USC our members, our bod~cs and their talrnts. nilcb> the pi fc,ct law gi\ rn. Thus Cods dealings through thr in the new service of righteousness,-remembering our past II~>LV I,I\I (I! t~iltli rcallv llpllolcl~ atit1 maznifirs his old law of espcrlenc~e in sin, that its wages are degradation and ultimate .volhq. 1(8x the l.ltter llatl io 1)~ fulfilled bv Jesus on behalf of death, and that this privilege which we have now entered 1 .,I. IKWI~. in nrdrr that hr mi!zht be the Redeemer of the upon as new crratures, redeemed bv the precious blood. is Grids cnvcnnnt through Jrsus Chris< our L&d, and means to ~111)11,1tl IXY~I~ ulitlcr it. tllnt tlicv also, with the rcniaindci of ur eternal life, if we maintain it.-Ghan. 6. tll(b 1 01 Id. 11)1&t, be acccl)tcd of God under the law of faithHaving reached this cllmaa of the argument, and having drmonstratctl the process of our justification and our subsel:ltttr(L-.illr hii nr~lmimt. the Apostle shows that Abraham quent adoption into the divine family; and having shown the \$,I: 1101 Ill+tlfil>rl 1)~ ihc, l.l\r of \\m:kr, the Lnw Co\-rnant, but. ncwssity for maintaining our standing as new creatures, and i,v f:l!lll. and II~WC tllc~ calnlm advanced bv come that thr gaining victory over the weaknrsses of the flesh; and that all thrse pri\ilrges. nevertheless, are not of the Law but of grace and of faith-the Apostle next turns his attention to another phase of the subject in Chapter 7. He has in mind, and is spec~inlly adtlresslng the Christian hrctbrcn at Rome who were formerly Jew?, as he says, I write unto you who know the In w. He wishes to drmonstratc to them logically that although the Jews previously, through the Law Covenant, had much advantage every way, yet now since the introduction ot the New Covenant they were to some extent at a tlisnd\-niitngc-hindered or hound by the old dead covenant, unlrss they recognized it as dead. and cut loose from it. Thev were tightly bound by the Law given at Sinai; bcrause as a *nation they entered into a nositive covrnant with God. throurh llo:es, the mediator oi their covenant. St. Pnul &rc&s thiv as a marriage contract between that people and the Law Covenant. pictuilnr the JCVS as the wife, ant1 the Lnw 11~ Covenant as the h~~shand. He shows an incompatibility twcen them. but that neverthelrss the Jews would bc brunt1 bl, t,heir covenant. as a woman would bc botcnd by her marria& csontract, so long RS the husband would live. Hence the J&s, as a people, wcrc less at llbrrty to enter into a New Covenant with Christ than were the Gentiles. lwause they mere already bow~Z to the Law Covenant through \TOR(?S. The Apostle proceeds to pro\-e three things: (1) That the Liw CovenantT or husband of Israel, had not been abrogated. had not been executed. as a bad law. but of God [in the hope of sharing iu in th~~liope of thr, glory had died a nkturai death, through the fulfilment of the purGod4 glory and klngtlom with our Lord and Head]. T.he pose of its creation; and that hence, i\p~~~tle prnc*retls to prnle. not r~nly that the dc~th of Christ (2) Every Jew might properly consider himself as rc :vas ncc~t+~.trv as tllr off-Get to A\2tlanls transgrcsjlnn. and the leased from all ohligation to the (dead) Law Covenant and pnvment, of l;ie pc~ri,ilty, init hia demonstrates that, this penalty might properly be -united or married to another. Christ. iv,;4 fully P?ld, and that God has accepted it on behalf of the accentine the terms of the New Covenant, with its grace. and not of the .Jews only, and has transnnrld 111grnrral, mercy and peace through believing, now offered to them: fcIrrd all to Chrlqt: tnr as the judgment was by one to cnn(3) It was proper that they all should see how much tltmn:ltion, the free gift is of rn<l&- offences unto-justification. 4s nn~ office re,ultcd in a nronduncement which affected all belter was the New Covenant, into which they would enter by becoming united with Christ, than was the old covenant, which. to condc~rnnation, even so by oie righteous act a pronouncement hr declared. had died a natural death. was mnrl~ 1by the same Justice] which affects all men [permitting their attainment1 unto Justification of life. However, he would not have them think evil of the first On the contrary, he assures them husband. the Law Covenant. And. adds the Apostle. the Lam Covenant was introduced, that it was a good husband to them-The law is ho117 and not for tlie doing awar of sin. but that sin might be more disjust and good, all must speak well of the Jews fir& hustlnrtl\ fecn to he sin. and in its true colors; not, however, hsnd. Nevertheless. armes the Anostle. we all realize that we iiith ;t \iew to the injury of the Jews, with whom that Law did not receive from tile Law Cbvenant the blessings we so Co\cannnt was madr. ?or if sin abounded amongst them the earnestly coveted ; we did not receive an actual cancellation more by reason of their greater knowledge through the law, of our sins. but merelv a temporary covering of them. which then Gods grace abounded proportionately the more; for as required tobe renewedand mahe mention of iear by year conSIIL hnth rclgncd unto death, even so there is to be a reign of tinnallr (Heh. 10: 1). nor did we ohtain the lonacd-for everthrough grave IInto eternal life under righteous provisions lastingdlife. As Jew& we cannot blame the Law Cbvenant; we .Tv~II+ Christ ollr Lord.-Ram. 5: 12, 17-21. must only blame ourselves;-nor can we blame ourselvrs (for lhrb ncut point is, If Gods grace will be caused to abound I may consider myself a representative, in thought and conso that he who has many and in proportion to the sentence, duct. of all true Jews, and may speak for them, says the deep 4,713 can be ati fully and completely forgiven and released -4postle) ; and I can truly say that while living under thie .IS lrc who has fewer and smaller sins, shall we then argue Law Covenant I approved it with my mind, with my heart, tllat we mav as will delve deeply into sin, assured that Gods and I endeavored to serve it accordingly, but when I came to prape will t;e that much the mnre abundantly provided for us? perform its requirements I found another law, a law of sin ko ;a\-+ the Apostle; those who have come i;lto the position working in my members, which hindered me from rendering to ,w nnd comnrchend this much of divine mercy and favor the obedience I desired to render to that Law Covenant. &ust first hari made a consecration of themselires to God, Not that it hindered me entirely, for I certainly succeeded otherwlsr their eyes of understanding would not be opened in some degree in conforming life and conduct to its requirewidely enough to grasp the subject with clearness and definitements ; but since I could not render perfect obedience to its ness, and if one had made a consecration of himself, and imevery requirement I necessarily failed, because in that Law merspd his will into the will of God in Christ, and thus reckCovenant no provision was made for my weaknesses and imoned himself dead to the world and to sin, how could such perfections which I had inheritrd. and which were my share persons live lives of sin or take pleasure therein? So surely l Se.52 June 15, 1919, muc for critical examinatv.m of Covenants. as they have received the holy Spirit, the new mind, that
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of the fall of our race. I found, on the contrary, that even though I had been able to perform the requirements of the Law in nine points out of ten, and had failed in the tenth point, and even though that failure were properly attributable to inherited weaknesses, and was entirely contrary to my desires of heart, nevertheless it was jail~re, and my efforts as a whole were branded failure, and the great prize of eternal life was denied me under that covenant. Thur I found myself in a terrible predicament; my heart crying out for God gnd for righteousn&ss, and earnestly desiring to fclfil the requirements of my covenant and to gain life everlasting, but I found myself wholly unable to fully obey its reauirrments: I found them entirelv bevond my reach. Not that they were beyond the reach ;f rni mind,- for with my mind T grasped them and enjoyed them and appreciated them; nor that they would have been beyond the reach of obedience of my body, had my body been perfect; but, 0 wretched man ! I find that my body is a dead body, that sin has gained such a power over it and so chained it down to things that are evil, in fart and in intention, that I cannot do the things that I would,-that when I would do good and keep the perfect law, sin is present with me, and hinders,-being an integral part of my body; so that the good that I would do, the perfect life that I would live, I am unable to perform, and the evil things that I would not do, whlrh my mind, my will, rejects, and which I strive against. those things to some extent I find myself rmahlc to resist: and here was my helpless condition as bound to the Law Covenant. I realized that I never could gain, through its assistance and offers, the glorious perfections that, 1 desired, and the eternal life which could accompanv only these perfections. \Vhnt shall I do? How can I escape this condition of thincra? I thank God that a way of escapk has been provided; 1 think Cod that in his due time he has sent Jesus, as a grent Rrdcemcr. and that through his death the world of mankinrl haq bpen redeemed from the original sentence, and additionnlly that all we who were Jews and under the Law Covcnnnt are set at lzherty from that cocenant-that the drntlk of .TIWE on our behalf means the death of our Covenant, whirlI. though in some respects an advantage. was very unfavor:;hle to us because of onr inherited weaknesses. 1 thank God that now I am at libertv to bernme united to Christ, at liberty to consider my union with Moses and the Law Covenant as at an end, at lihrrty to take on me the vows and covenants reqnirrd of all call4 to be the bride of Christ. Thanks be unto God for this deliverance from the bondage of the law of works into the liberty of the law of faith in Christ Jesus! The advantage of this new position in Christ over the old nositinn in MOWS is that now God accepts my new mind, my hrart drsirea, acrnmpanied by my best, endeavors; and under this New Covenant, through the merits of the ransom, he jnstlv ignores and hides f;om his sight the imperfections of the flesh. which are contrary to my wish, and against which I am striving, It may be said of me, then, and of all such. that it is with our minds, with our hearts, that we are serving God-even if to some extent, contrary to our wish and endeavor, onr flesh should, either through weakness or ignorance, serve the law of sin at times.-Romans 7.

new creature, holv and acceptable to God, and our mortal bodies, which he calis this dead body-origmally dead, under divine sentence, because of sin, but redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, and justified, and than included in onr sacrifice. when we gave our little all in consecration to the Lord. as living sacri&es-to be dead with Christ, to suffer with him even unto death. He declares that it is to those who are wslking after the spirit, seeking to serve the Lord in spirit and in-truth, from-the.heart, That are freed from the *condemnation : and that this includes the thouaht that thev do not now walk after the flesh, desiring to fulfil its desires. And here we are to closely distinguish between the walking up to We should of course the spirit, and walking after the spirit. follow as closely to the spirit of truth and righteousness as possible, and yet we cannot hope, so long as we are in the imperfect flesh, that we could ever walk up to the spirit of the divine requirements, though we are to strive in this direcOne thing is positive, however.-we must tion continually. not walk ajtm- the flpsh. To do sn would imply that we had lost the new mind, the new disposition, the new will.-that we had become dead to those hopes and covenants which had led to our consecration. Any who get into this condition of walking after the flesh.--seckinp to serve the flesh. therein have the evidrnrc that their n&ds had become carnal, that they had lnqt much, if not all, of the new mind, the new dispokitinn. All such should know most unequivocally that the carnal mind is at enmity against God, and hence that God could not fellowship it or favor It in any sense or degree The Apostle ur,oes, then, that all remember that they who are in the flesh. who live in harmony with their fallen propensities. serving fhpir fallen fleshly natures, are not pleasing God and that snc41 an inclination or course leads toward, and, if persisted in, would end in death. He proceeds to reason that if the Spirit [mind, disposi tion] of God [the spirit of holiness] dwell in nq WP cannot be in sympathetic acenrd with the fallen fleshly nnturp nnrl its appetites and ambitions. We may know. on the rontrnry that if anv man have not the spirit of Christ he is nnt of the body of Christ at all, and not to be rnnsidpred as idcrttified with the elect church,-and Christs spirit is nnt a spirit of harmonv with sin, but of opposition to sin. fnr did hc not 1:)~ down &is life to vanquish sin, and to deliver us from its: power and dominion? Whoever, therefore, elnims to hare the spirit of Christ, but loves and wiZfttll?y practirrs qin, and with his mind serves sin, surb an one deceives himself ,for he hne neither part nor lot in Christ. The Apostle proceeds further along the same line. arplina that onr adnptinn into Gods family. our berettine: to new ness of heart and mind, and our arceptanre thns RS memhrre of the body of Christ, while it meanq, first of all. thnt the body is ignored and reckoned as dead, hecausc of sin, rnd only our spirits or minds are reckoned ri,zhtrnus and ali\c, the beginning of our eternal existenre, nevertheless this pond condition is not to be considered the limit of our ambition and On the rontrary. we are tn attainment in Christ-likeness. remember that the spirit of God in powerful: thnt in the rasp of our Lord Jesus it, was powerful enough to raise him from the dead: and as we become mnre and more imhucd with nnd THE NEW CREATURE ALIVE, THE OLD DXAD--Born. 8:1-11 controlled bv the holv snirit of God in our hearts, in our Under the covenant through which we are united to Christ, minds, divink power willcome gradually to us thrnnrh this our mortal bodies are reckoned as dead, as sacrificed, as no channel of the holy Spirit, which will permit a figurative longer us, and our minds are rtrknned as the new creature raising of our mortal bodies from their death-statr into artivi adopted into the family of God, and seeking to serve God and ties oispiritual life, in the service of the Lord. If the spirit to grow into his likeness, by being conformed to the image of of him that raised UD ,Jesus from the dead dwell in vou lin his dear Son. It is therefore according to the standpoint from sufficient measure, abonndinply], he that raised up Christ from which we view the matter that we could ssy of these new the dead shall also quicken [energize] your mortnl ho&w [not creatures that they are holy, and that the righteousness of the your immortal resurrection bodies] by his spirit that dwelleth Law is fulfilled in them, and that the wicked one toucheth in you. them not.-1 John 5: 18. It is our hope that in due time the Lord by his spirit, will In such espressions we are referring exclusively to the give us new bodies in the resurrection; and that thnsr new reckoned new creatures, and are ignoring entirely, as dead, bodies will be immortal, perfect in every respprt; and that But if we should speak from another their mortal bodies. then not only our minds, but our bodies also will be fully in standpoint, and attempt to say that we are actually perfect harmony with God and his every law and work of rightpouyin the flesh, it would be untrue. and not on!y so but would be ncss. That will he glorinu+--it is already a glorious prospect; an ignoring of the merit 01 Christs sacrifice, and our conbut the Apostle hhlds before us the thoneht that -even our tinued need (while in the fallen flesh) of a share in the justifiThose who would thus speak of nresent mortal bodies. sentenced. then iustified. then reckoned cation which it provides. bead because of sin; consecrated, may be so quickened or their flesh as perfect, should hear the Apostle speaking to the energized now, that instead of heing any longer servants of reverse, saymg, Jn my flesh dwelleth no good thing,-no qin, or even merely dend to it, thry may, undrr thr rarc~ful is un-right, and all unrightperfection ; and all imperfection watrhfulness of the new mind, be used as servants of righteousnrqs is sin. Hence, says the Apostle John, If we say eonsness, of truth. This means, of course, a high Christian [speaking of our flesh, and ignoring the justification provided development, a large attainment of the mrasure of the stature in Christ to cover its blemishes] that we have no sin, we It is the measure or attainment, of the fulness of Christ. deceive ourselves. and the truth is not in us.--1 John 1:s. nevertheless, which every one of the Lords prnple must conSt. Paul proceeds to clearly mark the distinction between tinually strive after, and their SUCCPSSwill be proportioned to the new mind, which consecrated in Christ is accepted as the
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their attainment of the mind [disposition] of Christ, holy conformity to the Fathers will in all things. And how comforting, in this connection, is the promise of our Lord, that

our heavenly Father is more willing to give the holy Spirit [spirit of holiness] to them that ask him, than are earthly parents to give good gifts unto their children!-Luke 11:13.

UNTHANKFUL,

UNHOLY

LUKE 17 : ll-19.-Nov. 18. Be ye than7cficZ.-Cal. 3 : 15. Lenrosv is a rerv nrevalent disease in eastern lands. and ceased its ravages, and that they might expect to be proamongst the Jews lepe;s were specially proscribed-separated nounced free from coutagion and permitted to return to their from others-not allowed to have intercourse with their own homes and families, even though the maiming and marring families nor to come near anybody, but obliged to keep at a occasioned bv the ravages of the disease would still be with distance, and on the approach of a stranger to cry out, Unthem. Thankful for su:h a release from their suffer&& the clean ! unclean ! From the standnoint of the Law it is entire ten obediently hastened to comply with the injunction, evident that leprosy was meant to represent sin and its loathbut in the wav thev discovered that the blessing thev had some, contagious and consuming character. received from the Lo<d was not merely a staying of%he disease, A traveler in the Orient writes: As our traveling party but a restoration to normal conditions. Their faith had passed out the western gate of Nablus, the site of ancient brought them far more than they had expected. Sechem, a group of repulsive lepers greeted us with calls for One of them turned back and prostrating himself before help. They showed various forms of that terrible disease: the Lord rendered homage and thanks to his deliverer, The the nose or the lips or a hand or a foot eaten away; the other nine passed on to comply with our Lords words, and to limbs distorted, and one case at least was a leper white as show themselves to the priests, not having a sufficiency of anow. When we were fairlv in our tents beyond the cit.7 love, appreciation and thankfulness to return in their cleansed westward, those lepers came,fifteen in all, and seated themcondition to, first of all, acknowledge the giver of the blessing selves afar off, in a semi-circle, facing our tents, with one of they had received. Our Lord remarked this, and called attentheir number a little in advance of the others. holding out a tion also to the fact that the one who did return was a Sadish for alms, and, as with one voice, they cried aloud to us maritan, and not one of the Jewish household of faith; saying, to have pity on them and give them aid., Another writer Were there none found that returned to give glory to God describes leprous conditions thus: The hair falls from the And he said unto him, Arise, and go save this stranger? head and eyebrows; the nails loosen, decay and drop off; thy wav; thy faith hath made thee whole. ioint after ioint of the fingers and toes shrink un and slowly Nothing is said in the record respecting any spiritual lfall -away; Othe gums are ibsorbed and the teeth disappear-; blessing or favor which came to the Samaritan whose thankthe nose, the eyes, the tongue and the palate are slowly confulness of heart led him to Jesus feet in acknowledgement. sumed. We are not told that Jesus invited him to become one of his The horrors and loathsomeness of leprosy and its confollowers, nor that he received any spiritual blessing; indeed, taminating qualities, both by heredity and infection, well we know that it was not possible that he could receive any illustrate the disease of sin, which has taken hold of the spiritual blessing, because, being a stranger, like all Genentire human family, and which separates and alienates from tiles, he was debarred from any share in divine favor until God and all that are nure and in harmonv with him. The the full measure of favor was granted to the Israelites-Corneisolation of lepers was Idistinctly enjoined in the Law, but no lius, three and a half years after our Lords crucifixion, being cure or remedy was prescribed. The disease was treated from the first Gentile to be received into favor, and that time being a religious standpoint, and in every case made amenable to the earliest at which the favor might go to the Gentiles-the end of the seventy weeks of favor promised to Israel.-See the judgment of the priests: they decided whether or not a case of leprosy had developed, they banished the leper, and MILLENNIAL DAWN, VOL. II., pp. 69-71. Neither are we told that the nine who received the favor in the event of anything occurring to cure him, the priests of God without being moved at heart to return and render must nass unon his cleansing before he would be readmitted to society. So, in the great-malady of sin, God commits to thanks were, because-of their unthankfulness, in any degree denrived of the blessing alreadv received. We can readily the hands of the antitvnical nriesthood-Christ and the faithimagine, however, that Their condition of heart would not bo ful under-priests now %ing sllected from the world-the work favorable to them in connection with a hearty acceptance of of pronouncing and making manifest what is sin, as distinct We may the Lord and the kingdom privileges he was offering. and separate from what is righteousness, and thus to separate reasonably suppose &at if- they were unmoved by-so great a between the clean and the unclean, between those who are in manifestation of divine love toward them, experienced in their harmony with God, and those who are out of harmony with own persons, they would be equally unmoved by any preaching him. And in the coming age, when the royal priesthood shall of the Gospel which they might hear at any future time, either be glorified and in official power to bless the world with the from the lips of Jesus or the apostles. We may even surmise knowledge of God and the knowledge of how to become free that those nine never came into the church of Christ. On the from sin and, through the merit of the precious blood, to contrary, we would have good reason to hope for the Samaripurity and perfection of mind attain to full restitution ,-to tan. whose gratitude manifested itself;-that his condition of and heart and bodv,-it will be this royal priesthood that will heart was nkarer to the kingdom requirement, and that when have the deciding of when the purification has been completesubseauentlv the eosnel of Christ was preached to Gentiles when sin has ceased to exist in the condemned, and thev have and &ma&tans, this bne would be a ready hearer and have a been brought back into full harmony with God and righteousready heart to receive the good message and to be healed from ness. the moral lenrosv of sin, and to come into harmonv with Travelers tell us that in the locality mentioned in our God by presenting himselfbefore the great High Priestof our lesson-the borders of Samaria and Galilee-leprosy still profession, who died for our sins and who accepts as clean abounds rather more than elsewhere; and that groups someall who come unto the Father through him. Though we have what like the one described in our lesson, are frequently to be no record of it, we believe that the Samaritan was of the kind seen. This group stood afar off, as they were compelled by the Lord is now drawing and calling to sacrifice with Christ, law to do; yet recognizing Jesus as the great Teacher, of and that receiving that message of the kingdom he would be whose miracles the had heard something, they conceived the readv to lav down his life and become dead with Christhope that he mig I t have compassion upon them and heal pres&ting his body a living sacrifice unto God.-1 John 3 : 16 ; them of their loathsome disease. Therefore, they lifted up Rom. 5:1, 2. their voices together, crying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on Viewed from this standpoint, thankfulness of heart is a us., There is no doubt as to the meaning of their cry; very sure sign of the character God is seeking,-especially in although they usually begged for money, they evidently now matters pertaining to our great salvation. And we find paralwere seeking for healing from the great Physician. lels to this illustration all about us. We find those who have Hearing their voices, Jesus turned compassionately toward suffered from the leprosy of sin, and who have appealed to them, and we can better imagine than describe the sympathy Jesus for mercy and help, and who have been justified by which he felt for them in their pitiable condition, and no faith-cleansed from their iniquities, covered with the rightdoubt also his mind at the same time took in the thought of eousness of Christ; and yet amongst all these who have expethe great malady of sin, from which the whole world was rienced such blessines and favors at our Lords hands how suffering, and whose sufferings he had come to relieve, whose few, comparatively, there are who return to him and prostrate bonds he had come to break, by giving his own life a ransom themselves before him, to offer thanks for release from the nrice for theirs. Our Lord merely said to them, Go show bondage of sin and condemnation, and lay themselves at his This implied that the leprosy had yo rselves to the priests.,, [2722]

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feet, living sacrifices-making a full consecration of themselves to the Lord, their reasonable service. (Rom. 12 : 1) Only the truly thankful are constrained thus to do,-only the truly appreciative. As the Apostle declares of himself and all such, it is true that The love of Christ constraineth [draweth, impelleth] us; for we thus judge that if one died for all then were all dead [yea, worse than dead in trespasses and sins and condemnation], and that we who live [justified to life through faith in his blood] should not henceforth live unto ourselves but unto him who died for us.-2 Cor. 5: 14. Unthankfulness is unholiness, lack of that proper appreciation which would lead to a full consecration of life and every interest and affair to the Lord-regardless of what reward he may bestow. The exceeding great and precious promises of Gods Word are not given to inspire thankful-

ness and consecration, for they are given only to the thankful and consecrated who already have presented themselves living sacrifices to God. To yozc it is given to know the mysteries God hath revealed them unto us by his of the kingdom, Spirit,,, which is granted only to the consecrated. These promises are to strengthen and nerve us and to enable us to overcome, in fulfilment of our covenant of consecration.2 Pet. 1:4; Matt. 13:ll; 1 Cor. 2:9, 10. Let us each and all seek and cultivate more and more the spirit of thankfulness, the reasonable spirit or disposition. Thankfulness will make every trial and sacrifice on our part seem small, and proportionately easy to be offered, and it will make all of Gods mercies and favors toward us proportionately grand and great and inspiring.

PROPER CHRISTIAN

DAILY

LIVING

TITUS 2 : 1-15.-Nov. 25. We should live soberly, righteously, godly, in this present world. of a spring, to the original condition of impatience. The The Apostle Paul penned the words of our lesson, instructpatience which will last and become an integral part of charine Titus. an overseer (bishon) of the church-ministering acter must result from a change of heart: the mainspring of to-the believers in the island bf Crete. The instructions are love must first replace the mainspring of selfishness. not intended for, nor applicable to others than consecrated How grand the characters thus portrayed ! We could not believers. and refer snecificallv to six classes in the church at wish for more amongst the Lords people of any place today ( 1) The elde;ly men&rot merely the aged, but rather Crete. than that the matured brethren should be sober-minded dignithe advanced, the matured, who doubtless oftenest would be fied and moderate, with their new minds well stored with the (2) The aged women-advanced, also advanced in years. sound faith of Gods Word, and their hearts full of love, matured. (3) The younger women. (4) The younger men. manifesting forth all of the various good qualities represented (5) Those who, though freemen in Christ, were bondmen by this word,-kindness, meekness, gentleness, all of which (6) To Titus himself. (7 ) according to the flesh,-servants. might briefly be summed up in the word patience. We exhort The lesson ends with an exhortation applicable to all classes all of the advanced brethren in the truth everywhere to note in the church. well this likeness of a matured man of God, well grown up Titus, as a nreacher, should have before his mind a certain into Christ, the living Head, and well conformed to his standard or ideal in respect to each class in the church, and image ; and we exhort that we all keep this image well before should as a wise workman labor to the attainment of that our minds, and make it our ideal in our Christian course. ideal, which the Apostle here brings clearly to his attention,The Aged Women, matured, developed, have also a model intimating that instructions along the lines here laid down are set before them by the Apostle. They should be reverent in in fullest accord with sound doctrine., It has been claimed demeanor (Revised Version). They are supposed to have by some that the people of Crete were specially degraded and professed holiness, full consecration to the Lord. full desire to lacking of good character, and that this thought is necessary know and to do his will, and such consecration is to show out to the Apostle in giving such an exhortation to those who had in their lives. The Apostle proreeds to mention a few of the left the world and joined themselves to the Lord as his church. ways in which it would be manifest. They will not be slanWe shall see, however, that every word of the exhortation is derers (Revised Version) -neither false accusers nor accusers quite applicable to the Lords people today, even though they in any slanderous sense of the word. On the contrary, as the live under the most enlightened conditions. Apostle shows further on, they will be examples in the matter The Elderly illon, the advanced, were to be sober, grave, frivolous and excitable. of minding their own business. Thev will not be enslaved to temperate (moderate) -not light, much wine, but be teachers of that which is good, by precept Not only their years of natural life, but also their years of as well as bv examnle. to all with whom they have an influexperience in Christian life, should bring them to conditions ence. Nat&ally their influence will be greatest over the of maturrty and sobriety. These three qualities would belong younger women, and it should be exercised as becometh to a large extent to their mortal bodies, exercised and influwomen professing godliness, professing to be guided by the enced b;.their new minds; but in addition to these there Word of the Lord, the spirit of the truth. should he three other graces, characteristic of their new The Younger FVomen should find ensamples in their elder natures: viz.. soundness in the faith, and in love, and in saintlv sisters, the influence of whom will not he in the direcpatience. It is of intention that the Apostle here emphasized tion of insubordination and a hattle between the husband and (in the Greek) the faith. the love and the patience, for there wife in the home: and their advire will very rarely be, Stand are various faiths, various loves and various kinds of patience, up for your rights; Give him a piece of your mind, etc. and he meant to be understood as inculcating the faith, the On the contrary, they will be peacemakers, and assist the love and the patience which are of God, and respecting which he is instructmg his people through his Word, as it is written, younger women with such advice as will help to make home They shall be all taught of God. happy bv obedience to the directions of the divine Word. In^_ _ stead of helping to cultivate in the younger women the spirit It was not by accident that the Apostle placed sound in of selfishness, which inheres naturally in every human being, the faith before sound in love, for since love is one of the through the fall, they will assist them, by both word and fruits or graces of the spirit of truth, and since one cannot example, to cultivate the opposite spirit, the spirit of lovereceive much more of the spirit of the truth than he receives to love their husbands and to love their children. of the truth itself, therefore the importance of the truth, in the having of the sound faith. If love were thus inculcated as the first law of every home, the chief of the Christian graces to he developed and pracOften we are told it matters not what a man believes. but matters all how he does; but to this we answer that a sound ticed, it would indeed make a wide distinction between Chrisfaith is all-important. not onlv in shaping conduct. but also tian homes and others; and thus, perhaps, better than in in inspiring it. It is only in proport& as we have the almost any other manner, the Christian mother can preach truth that we have the sanctifying power: in proportion as the glorious gospel of salvation, and illustrate in her own life we hold errors which vitiate or nullify the truths which we and home its power to deliver from the bondage of sin and hold, in that same proportion we will be lacking and deficient selfishness, even in this mortal state. in the sanctifying power; and hence deficient also in the aancThey will learn from them also to be discreet, or sobertification itself. We should ever remember and coijperate with minded-not too emotional;-to do some sober thinking along our dear Redeemers prayer to the Father on our behalf, sober lines, and thus to cultivate both heart and head, and to Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth. Bncrease their own joys in the Lord as well as to prepare Neither was it by accident that the Apostle placed love themselves the better for their family duties and privileges. before patience; because, although patience may be cultivated Chastity, modesty, purity, should also be learned-an instrucfrom a natural standpoint, as, for instance, in the interest of tion deep and powerful in its influence for good; not only to worldly aims and desires, nevertheless, such patience does not the younger women themselves, but also in their families. affect the heart, but is merely a forcing or curbing of the outThey should learn to be keepers at home,, or workers at side life, and when the force is removed there is a rebound as home,, as the Revised Version renders it, appreciating the 127231

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fact that the duties of a wife and mother are chiefly home duties: that the home is her workshon and her nuinit. where her in&ence should be greatest and *most valuabl6. They should also learn to be obedient to their own husbands. or. as the Diaalott renders this. submissive-not attempting to usurp thi place of the husband in the home, not keeping up a continual strife and battle about lifes affairs. sn that the husband will have one hattle of life to win their daily bread-and another battle while they eat it. By obedience and submission we do not understand the Apostle to mean btind obedience or dumb submission, nor in any sense of the word that the wife shall not enjoy fully ail but that while cnj&ing these proper iihrrtics and privileges; she shall use them with nronrietv. so as to makelije a hiessing and not a burden to he; h&band, with whom lie chiefly the responsibilities of the home, accorcling to both divine and human law. AS a Christian wife she should have a iudpment respecting the Lords will. as nrescnted in the Lords Word, resnectinp the affairs of the hbme, 2nd all the Interests of the tarnil< and tiww views she should exnress, in love and moderation, and kintiiv, however emnhaticaiiv: but having expressed her judgment respecting the T~nrtis will in the %attbr and the reacnns thcrrfnr. shy should bc Suhmisqive to the decision of the hllshanri (in an matters-not invoivinp her conscience) ; bernnqc. :lcrortiing t,o divine arrangement, ihe husband is the head of the wife a9 Christ is the Head of the church-the final ilrilitvr respecting family affairs. Shnlli~l thr Christian wife at times find that the pursuance reonrse bnd brought her disadvantages or of thl\ Srriptllrai were allnut to WCIk ill to the general interests of the family, let ilcr pIotc=k I\IIIIII~, and point nut to her husband. without harplnp, what she fnrrsecs to be the results, and urge a ch:l ncc ; pointing nut (c+pcc~iaiiy if the husband be not a Cliri;ti,,rij ti6lt tilt reqponhibiiities of the transaction lie wboiiv in lliq i~ariti~: and let her then console herself with tht> tl;o~~~ilt til:ct ~Iw, at ie;l<t, is following the divine direction, anti til:lt tbp uittmate r(quit is qure to be a spiritwd bicssing, in h:irmnnp with thr I,c;~ds promise that ail things shall work top(bthrr fnr ~nod to them that love him-and who demonstratr tlicir icrvc l)y nll~~tiirnc~e. Let her take the matter to the T,nrci iv pr,lycr and bear a qnng away. As the Spostie point\ nllt. 1his LO~IIW is the one least llkt>iy to bring reprn:lc,!lcas llpnI) tlke wusc WC!love and to which we have consecratclti c\en ilfts itseif. 70 tltr Ir~cc~.q 8lcn of the church the Apostle sends an e\l:ortatton tll.\t -1hry be snhcsr-mintieti-not rash, thnu~rhtlePs, conc.ctitcbc!---th:)t 111~ exrrcIs(* <elf control. And then. i& view of tIltA fat t tb;rt 71!~1-1 bimscif wxs a young man, he exhorts that IIC! %!::I11 Iw :I p Ittcbrn to ail the young men of the d~~Irl*h, ari~l 21111~ inri~ic~nt:liiv 11eexhorts ail of the young men of 111~ r+tlrl !I tc* Ilote c~arc~fuiiy atld to be rxrrclsed by the qua!i(lc~* ,~riti c.oli\ldrratlon+ then iii grd upon Titus. lop, 7 ll~/S tll? ,Zpl)stifk urzrs that he shall be a model man. :f i).~1!~~rn cjf ,~or~i work< and soundnrss of doctrine; not pr~rmltlirlg ill- t(~:ll~illng~ (tlnc+rine) to Ike corrupted either nit i: L:IIII iIIl~l$rl:lt ions of hla own or thoce of other people. FI,, llrzt\ 117,011illnl. and tlilis inc~i~lentaiiy upon ail young rn(n i~I~~* L;,IVII~, t11csopposite of friboiity, ievitv: as Cbri+ ti:rr!3 \v~ II I\+ ~~rr?~~l IlinK to ncacupy our minds t&t the world h:ts not; ;~nri 111~~rc~.ttnos~ anti ~ranticqr of their hopes and arnl~;tif~r~r !,:IwI~ II~I~J~: ilc (auc>caedin;: t great and preciou$ prnmIVL oi 111~11l\1nta \\ l>rtl. silouiti rive to their lives and oenerai condlIft :, \\Pi~llt \\h1r.h, ili<1~ ;t xnnd c:lryn in a 1 essc~l:~wouid k(kraiatlr:hnt tr+)rn IIOI~I~ top-b(~:~~y 1111tl pr&pzre them to outride i,lli. :-trlrni- antI tiltllc*ultie~ of life throurrh xbich thev must So11nr1 >;ICWh. M itil w111ri1 no fault could be found, is anlltilcr of ti)~~ cllt,l!itieq tilxt Titus aqd ail of the Lords neonie. tp( i,i:tii!j tllc* ~OIII~:: mcbn, are to strive for. Not niereiy~sn~1nd kpot( 11 rn tht, l n.-e of arcuratcb and grammatical expression, Illit WlIn~l 5prtbch c~~peciaiiy, in the bcnse of 1lilVing their con\('I \:ltlorl anti tllv irlfiIrl>nc-e which on? exerts through conversation, of :I truly bripfui, strengthening kind-to mind and ht+irt :tntl rli,lr:lcttLr. Aiati, how much of the conversation of ~~\~~n(Ilrl~lIan yourr~ men. 14 anvthing but sound anything hut hc*ipflll tu thmseivt9 and tikir companions. Young men in Cilrl~t xr(L to tjc copies of Gods dear Son, so that hv their common c,q>nvrsrs:ttion as well as 11y their general dekranor thy shll contlnuaiiy preach Christ and properly represent befort. th(* ~oriti 111s noble characteristics,-truth, riebtcousne54, piirity, g(~ntieIless, goorlness. lore. Sound speech cannot be c~nr&mnrd bv anvbodv, friend or foe. heathen or Christian. saint or sinner: anil, ai the Apostle suFg:ests, such a course will be a constant reproof to those enemies who must always be exprcted : in the face of such noble living they of tlte ron-

tr *ary part must surely be put to shame eventually.-Jas. 3 : 13 To Servants the Apostle sends a message also; and it waq a very different message from what some of Gods dear chil. dren, less wise than the Apostle in their understanding of the divine plan, would have given. Many of Gods people of today, instead of being peacemakers are peace-disturbers, because of a failure to see properly the principles which underlie the Gospel, and their proper application in the present time. They exhort servants to strike, to stand up for their rights, to see that they are not tramped upon, to demand iustice, and see that thev get it. The Anostie. on the contrary, understanding Gods pi&, knew not *ti expect full justice, not to expect human rights or any others to havt, great consideration in the present time, because we are still in what he designates this present evil world [dispensation] ; because the nrince of this world idisnensation I is Satan and hecause his kingdom of the p&en\ time is based upon neither love nor righteousness, hut upon selfishness.-Gal. 1:4, John 14:30. The Apostle knew not to expect the wr0ng.s to be righted and justice to be dispensed under Satans admmistration, and hence in ail of his teachings he points the behevers to the coming time when the Lord, the righteous King, shall take possession of earths governments, and fuifii that petition of our prayer, Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. Then justice may be expected, because justice is done in heaven; then all rights will be respected, as ail rights are respected in heaven: but before that glorious condition shall obtain Immanueis kingdom must II~, established and Satan, the prince of this world, must be bound, that he 5hnuid deceive the nations no more, and that his 1uic of unrighteousness and selfishness shall be set aside, sup planted by the laws of him who shall lay justice to the line and righteousness to the plummet.-Rev. 20:1-3; Dan. 2:44, Isa. 28 : 17. The Apostles exhortation to servants is in harmony with this, that they be obedient to their masters, and seek to pieasr They were nnt to be shiftless, earcicss, indIfferent them cell. as to the prosperity of their masters intrrests and tile carf of their masters goods. They were to take as n~uc~h interest in those things as tiiough they were their own;-as the Apoatie elsewhere expresses it, they were to do their work as thouzrb thev were doing it to the Lord himself, fxithfrlilv, ~~11 (1 Cor. ld:31) Suciy service rendered to ai enrthly -master as unto the Lord. and hernuse of a desire to nlease tllr Lord. and berause of the indwelling of his truth. anti its spirit. will undoubtedly he accepted of &he Lord as though it \i.erc SOlnF service done dire&iv in the interest of his cauqr, bhouid the conditions of the &rvant hinder him from doinb any worh more particularly in the Lords service and the service of the, truth. Not only were servants to endeavor to please their masters and to please them well, but this WI nil tilings-in the littic things as well as in the great affairs; and thus Christian servants wnnid he recognized. wherever they miebt bP. as tlif ferent, distinct from others, too many of whom are eye merely under the eye of their employer. servn nts, faithful Such Christian servants will come to br rec#oKnizcd as iewe evrn hy those who have no sympathy with thhir reiipiour convictions, and possibly would constitute the most weighty ser mons these could deliver. They might nbev their masters and yet continually protest and co&pi,lin; hence the Apostle adds a word on this noint. savinz. Not answering again-not qainsaying nor q;arreiingwith the master ov& his methods of sharing the rommon and ways and work; not complaining lot of other servants, whatever that might he; preferabiv. indeed, letting others complain, and holding their peice, rather than stirring UD strife.-and rather than have the cause the\I lo& and selk tb serve ill thought of. Not purioinlng-secretly appropriating to themselves the masters goods, etc., contrary to his known wishes. And it might he not inappropriate here for us to remember that if the mastrr should desire the servant to engape in snme work that would he dishonest, morally wrong. this would be a proper vound upon which the servant should ohjert and protest. His conscience must he preserved in every matter that properly belongs to his consci&ce; but he may-not busybody himself with the masters affairs in matters which belong to the masters cnnsrience, and with which the servant <hae nothing to do. By his own strict integrity even in the smallest things he shall do his preaching and exercise his influence upon his master, showing ail fidelity, faithfulness to his masters interests. The effect of all knowledge is to render the intelligent restive under restraints, and as Christian knowledge is the highest form of knowledge, it more than any other tends to

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1900

ZIONS

WATCH

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(33%936)

It inculcates the thought that however widely restlessness. different the conditions between the kine and the neasant as s respects men and earthly things, they really are on a par as respects morals,-on the same level from the standpoint of divine justice. This thought once received into the humblest mind destroys very much of the veneration which otherwise might be felt toward those in earthly authority. It is an uplifting thought to the poor, that before the great King of all the earth they stand on the same footing with the richest, the most learned and the most powerful of earth;-that whether rich or noor A man is a man for all that. It causes them to realize that a man has a mans rights, and that these are more than animal rights, that thev include liberty of mind and conscience and certain liberties of conduct. It is this very enlightenment which Christianity has brought to the world which is about to cause it the great convulsion and revolution which shall overthrow all present inatitutions in anarchy. The Christian servant is to be more than merelv an enliehtened man: he is a man consecrated to God as well; on? who has surrendered his rights to the will of God, and who, having placed himself in the Lords hands to be taueht of God. and to be fitted and prepared for the heavenlv kingdom, is full of faith that the Lord is both able and willmg to keep the trust, to safeguard his interests, and to permit nothing to come upon him that shall not be overr&d for his spi&ual development and welfare. TJle true Christian servant (and all Christians must be servants if like their Master-Phil. 2:7) thus consecrated, realizrs that under divine providence he is not to expert his rights in the present time, nor to strive for them; but that, on thr rontrnrp, he sacrifices them to the will of God-to the doing of the Lords will so far as he may have opportunity, and to tile having of the Lords will done in him according to the Lords wisdom and providence. If cppresspd and dealt with uniustly he will loolc to the Lord for deliverance, and whatrver wnp it shall come wi!l accept it as of divine arrangement: and whatever God does not provide in the way of deliveranrc along rrasoJIaJ)le and just lines he will accept as the rulings nf his provitlence, and render to the Lord thanks for his wsltrh-care and seclr to learn the lessons of patience and esneriencc and Jona-suffering, which these trials may inculin such a case that these trial:, from pate : recognizing whomLocver thev tome. are nermitted of the Lord if not ordcrcd by him: and intended for his welfare and spiritual dcve?oJnnrnt. SurJr Chrictinn servants, and such Christians in any walk of life, art the only ones who know what contentment really iq. Others arca strivinrr for the attainment of riehts and for the * correction-of wron&, and are only cultivating more and more the spirit of ~cliishness in their own heart% and generally causinz thcamsclvcs the more trouble and discontent. Onlv. the Chri&n ran say, <!ontent. wlintcrer lot I see, Since tis Gods hand that leadeth me, and 11~can only talce this position by the exercise of a living fditJi. and can onJv exrrrise such a Jivin!? faith in lifes affairs after hc has mad& a consecration of himself to the Lord, and can only malte aurh a consecration of himself after he has come to some knnwledec of the divine character and plsn. Sucah servants, the Apostle assures us, adorn the doctrine of (:od our Savior. Thtv show that it is not a doctrine of strife, but of pence and of good-will toward men, not a doctrine rnrrcly of personal riglits and of selfish strife for their attninnlrhnt, hut a doctrine of love, joy and peace in the holy Spirit.
WHY THE CHRISTIAN SHOULD LIVE WORLD SEPARATE PROM THE

four-tifths of the human family are totally blind to this grace, in heathen darkness. todav. and of the one-fifth who have seen something of this grace divine, the vast majority have seen it so obscurely. so dimly, as not to be able to discern its beauties or appreciate its value. Blessed are our eves if thev have seen.- -In the Apostles day, and stall in our day, this g>ace of God has appeared to all men, in the sense that it is no longer in any sense of the word confined to the Jew, but is now open to Jew and to Gentile alike, the middle wall of partition having been broken down, as the Apostle explains. In whnt does this grace of God consist? We answer with Apostle, It is Gods favor that has been announced and manifested as the basis of reconciliation--not mans righteousness. God tells us through his Word that he himself has provided the great sacrifice-for sins, demanded by his own law, that Jesus has met the nenaltv in full on our behalf: and that as a result we may be reconciled to God now, and he can justly and without violence to his laws receive us whom he had previously condemned to deatlr. And this receiving of ua signifies a restoration of his favor; and the restoration of his favor, if rightly received by us, mill. under his providence, bring us to such conditions as will effect our salvation. our full -delivery from sin and death, and imperfection, into the full life and perfection and liberty of the sons of God. This applies to the church being elected from the world during this Gospel age, and the same will apply to the world of mankind in general as they shall be blessed of God through the elect church in the Millennial ace. Gods grace in thP present time is manifested in connection with the high calling to the divine nature and the life immortal connected therewith. His grace in the Millennial azc will be manifested in connection with the restitution blcssinrs which will be offrred to all mankind, and the earthly life-&rlasting which will br granted to all whose who then come into harmony with the terms of that grace. Whut 1~0sthe grace of God to do with us? And w11v should it lead to suCh a revolution in our conduct 2nd rharact& as the Anostle has iust intimated? Because. snvs the Anostlc. tliie t&hcs grace of God, 1)~ which WC are called to salvation. us sometIling: it teaches us that tlte way of rcconcilintion back to Gods favor is a way of self-denial.-denvinn evervthing that is ungodliness, ev&vthing that is contrarv to our hiehest contention of the divine character and will: the denvina also df every worldly lore or desire or smhition-ambition for worldly influenc6, for the rirllcs of this world; and thclt instead of aimine and strivine for tllese thin~a. we who desire the salvation which God prnmi5cs are to J;vb to the rontrarg of thrse. soberly. righteously. nnclly [Cod-like], world--not esnectlng aorldlv honors and in this DieWIlt advantagbs under the reins of thr Jnincc of tllis world who not nnlv h?d no interest i;l our Mnstcr. hut liJ<cwisc no frirndJy iniere+ in any who follow in his fdotstrps. Rut if we arr thus to 1iTe self denyingly in this world (ape) that we may att,iin to thr grnc.r of God in the nrst world (age)--the world to come--what are wc to hare before our minds in the nature of a prospect or hope toward whicah we are to look witll Jonuin i and intrrest and r*omfort of heart? Ah! thp Apostle tellk us what. He J~oJds up I,eforc us the ,-and consideration toward whirh all of our nmljitions are to turn. in which all of our hopes arr to rcnirc, and in which our hearts are to find tlrcir trcnqur(J. outwc~igl~ing and on+ valuing every eart1iJ.v Con-i~lc~ration. JJtb tJllr* dv<c-rllvthis hope,LOOKING FOR THAT OF THE GLORY BLESSED OF OUR HOPE GREAT AND THE APPEARING GOD AND SAVIOR

After recounting to us as above the proper course for the various classes in the Church, the Apostle proceeds to give the loeical reason for the above advice. saving: For [because1 tl; prare of God bath appeared, bringing salvation to all men.-Revised Version. Jl*hen did Gods orflce anpew ths? We answer, Not until the Gospel began to be pr&hrd after our Redeemers death and resurrection. For four thousand vears the erace of God did not appear, was not manifest in any sense >f the word. The Law Covenant was to the Jew only, and it was not of grace but the reverse-of law and of justice. At very most this grace of God was prophesied of, that it would appear later, and that blessings would follow upon all the families of the earth. It has not yet appeared to all men, but more properly this would be rendered for all men, since Gods grace is intended to apply to every man-as widely as did the curse apply. In the present time the majority of mankind do not see the grace of God,-it does not appear to them. More than
III-52

Tllis is to be the cenLre of 0111expc&~tions. lYc are not to Irope for blessing this sid c: of tllc ni,lnifeststion of GotJa kingdnrn. We are to note that this kinntlnnl n:u\t corn<> befort Gods will can be done on earth as yt is done in heaven. We are to know that this kingdom must bind Satan and over throw his institutions, Jjasetl upon selfislrness, before it (an supplant tlrese with new institutions of Justice and truth b&d upon the grand prineiplc of lnve. Whnercr, tburcfore, has been Jrlrssed with the grace of God, and has had the ryes of his unrlrrstanding opened by the 1Vortl of truth, and its spirit, finds its tc,nchings to be that thrse blessings of snlva tion are to be broueht unto us at the revelntlon of our Lord and Savior *Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 1:13), and tllat our c!lief object in the present life is to fight a good fight against self and against sin. and in defcncc of rizhteousness and in the assistance of the bouscbold of faith:c and not to fight for earthly rights nor to strive for earthlg honors and riches,the warfare and strife in which the whole world, except ourselves, is almost exclusively engaged. If the Lords saints possess talents or influence or wealth, these are not their treasures, but merely their servants. and they are not tht>

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TOWER

ALLZCHENY,

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possessors of these, but merely the stewards, whose privilege it is to use them as best thev mav know how. in the Masters service. and to the forwarding of the interests of righteousness in the preparation of themselves and others for his appearing and kingdom. The Apostle speaks of our Lord Jesus as our great God and Sari&, anti this is in full accord with th;! general tearhlnes of the Scrintures. Our Lord Jesus is a mightv one, a great one amongstthe mighty ones, and as our L&d him: self clechtreq. all should honor the Son even as they honor the Father.-John 1 : 1; 5 :22. Tbc Apostle presents in another consideration why we should be exercised by this blessed hope of the Lords second rom~ng and o:lr gathering toprthcr to him as his elect church. It iq not mt,rrly that we should think of life everlasting and glory In which we might share; but that we should think also that this One romlng in glory, and to whom we hope to be ioined crcrlnstinglv, as mcmberq of the bride, to the Brldciroom.-is no n&r than he who gave himself for us, who sacrificed his own life in our redemption. We are to remembt,r, too. that hc not only rrdccmed us from the penalty of sin. tlc;lth. but that the redemption which he purpoces and prn\1(1(3 iti more tllan a redemption from iniquity, from sin. 11-c :IIC to rrmrmllc>r aI90 that this purging away of sin and the instruction and cleansing which the 13ord of truth is to
1 Y

do for us, as the Apostle has foregoing set forth, is to the intent that bv these means the Lord mav nurifv unto himself a peculiar people-a people differe& from others, possessed of a special love for that which is just, that which is pure, that which is noble, that which is good; and who, despite the imperfections of their mortal bodies, are striving to cultivate these graces more and more in their hearts, and to keep their bodies in subiection. Moreover. savs the Anostle. these peculiar people wili be zealous of gobd works, eirnest: Iv desirous and striving to do nood unto all men as thcv have opportunity, physicall< mentaiiy, morally,-and esp&Lliy to do pood to the household of faith. The Apostles exhortation, in conclusion, is that Titus shall speak and exhort the church along these lines which he has laid down, reproving them, whenever necessary (in love and gentleness, and vet with full authoritv, not doubting as to ihe meaning of the divine instruction \. ire was to let ho man despise him, in the sense that he was to declare these principles of righteousness governing the Lords people in a plain, positive and authoritative manner. He was to speak with authority and not as with uncertainty and questioning. And so lrt us speak, each and all, to ourselves and to others, setting forth the nrincloles of this salvation which has anneared to . us. with nh unceLrtain sound, that thus we may minister grace to the hearers and glorify our Father in heaven and our Redeemer and Deliverer.
Y

VOL.

XXI

ALLEGIIENY,

PA.,

NOVEMBER

15, 1900

VIEWS FROM THE WATCH

IS NATURE CRUEL?

TOWER

This question has already been answered by some eminent autllor:tics in tbc! aff~rmatlvc. and the belief that such an Sir Samuel Baker nni\\rr i* the correct one is &csprcnd. from the beclccl,~rcs that n,lture 1s n system of terrorism ginnll:L: to the end, and J&n Stuart Mill asserts that if there are marks of dcsinn in creation. one of the thinars most eritlrntly tl(+i,cned is &t a large proportion of all animals s!~o!lltl pass tllcir existence in tormenting and devouring other animals. If ne assume nature to be the work of a Being of ir:Rnl:e newer. he concludes that the most atrocious enolmiticxs of the &or& men will be more than justified by the al,l,,ll (-iIt 111tc ntion of lio\ itlcrlce that throughout all animated mlturc the stronz should nrev on the weak. These radical i,.s,~ 11,111.art, caoEtlcl\ crtoci 1,; J. C. Iii&, of Liverpool, England. in a book whose title & the same as the head of this the experiences of a1 tlvlc (Lorltl~:Il, l!)OO). After examining hulltt~i s of bi;: granite, he concludes in the first place that Sir \T-e quote from a review S;lmi~r,l 1(;11;~~1 dictum is untrue. h in O/:t .l,rc/,rofed J,-tL/rds (October) the following al&act of 111q II ( lllll~!lt ..\\i~vc thctre is tcl-rol-isnz there must be terror, and terror is o!1( of tlw most horrible of sufferings. Is it true, then, tlla! il:cs :IIIIIII:~~\ lil0.t r\l)osed to the attacks of the carnivor:L c~llr(nr grc ltly from terror? \ve believe that it is al1l~o.t (~lll, .I\ uli!llIc. Terror in human beicgs is largely due to the irtl:r~limtion. . . . . Have we any reason to believe 11nrc n similar teiior of iinagin.~tlon? tll It tllc lr,~\(s~ :IIIIIIIP.~* Mr. J. D. I\-c 11.1Yt~ yc~,l rc<t.on to believe tile contrary. in\ (: :II it\. TV II. tl:cb follo\\inr: incitlent. A l&r donkey war tlv-n11l: tllnt is. 8s a bait for a lion. The lion annroached. I L IlIlt, tlrr lllli:ir~r, loo!;:n~ throu,rrh his peephole, saw the donkey St ~illl~*!o~ ililll:i~lll~~l, nllilc tile lion wrnt cln jirowlinc. It was nttc, J<1111(!~~r(:vrlr~l tktt the lion h:ld actually tried to throw (\* t1ic. 11111: 0vc.r Ivitli his nzw and had failed. altho it had
~v11ivh s110~cd its ncrres w&e not affected. effort to escape I\ :*i!ncc m;liilt:lins that the constant rn:ini(.q. tllc rl;rr-i-c,currinK striigOle againc,t the forces of IlXtlllC~. :JiP the rerv means by which much of the beauty and hlrltir.nv o/id o?io!/~ne~~t of nnturc are produced. To what el..r ii it t!l:lt the flcctnp+s of the horse and of the many ql,eei(+ of tl(sc*r and nntc~lopes is due? To what else, indeed, hut the perpc+u:ll stimulus to exert tl:rir utmost qpred, which is r:i~iml 1:~ thr fr:lr of enemies? But is not t& fenr the wry furor \\hl(h Sir Snmuel Baker afiirms? Bv nr means. 1Ir. Frnnciq Galton nr,t only agrees with Mr. kallaee, but maintains that the pclil in which they live is a source of
r Ill:11 sr

1.

c ~t;n~

plf~:l~llre.

. . . . tooth

lrincr
of the

the

Kronntkin points out the ennrmous exapcemtinn and rlnw view of nature. The Prince refers to families of elephants, rhinoceroses, and the numberless

societies of monkeys to be found in the lower latitudes of Asia and Africa; the -numberless herds of reindeer in the far North, the herds of musk-oxen and the innumerable bands of polar foxes still farther north; the flocks of seals and morses and sociable cetnceans which inhabit the ocean; the hertls of wild horses, donkeys, camels and sheep which range the steppes of Central ,4sia. He says: How trifling, in comparison with them, are the numhers of carnivorn; And h&v false, therefore,. is the view of those who speak of the animal world as if nothing were to be seen in it but lions and hyenas plunging their bleeding teeth into the flesh of the victims! On m.lght as well imagine that the whole of human life is nothing but a succession of Trl-el Kebir and Geok Tene masqacres. Unless, then, death is an inescusable incident in animal life, it would seem that the terror of denth to be inflicted by the cnrnivora is really a figment of the imngimltion: and one might reasonably adopt the language of Mr. Wallace, that the supposed torments and misenrs ot nnimnlq have little real existence, but are the reflection of the imagined sensations of cultivated men and women in similar circumstances, and that the amount of nctlrctl sufferillq caused b11 tlie strltqyle for existence amo??g a~linzcrls is altdgether insigGficant.ij Mr. Hi& does not. of course. denv that there is a pood deal of esltlng and bci& eaten in the anlmnl kingdom. $111~ however, he saya, is not cruelty, and he devotes much space to showing that in their attacks wild creatures cause t%eir victims little nain. altho he does not PO so far as to sav that thr mnnrrlecl dnes enjnv it, as Wallacg maintained of t& fleein= antelope. The fax&liar case of Dr. Livingstone, on whom n lions jaw crunching through his shoulder acted as an anesthetic. is of course cited, and sunnorted bv much evidrnce along the same line. The reviewe; regards the case as having been made out, and concludes as follows: So then, as the result of this most interesting investigation, we may reasonably come to the conclusion that nature is by no means the system of terrorism that Sir Samuel Baker maties it out to be:- that it does not justifv the pessimistic and almost atheistic conclusions of Mr. J. S. Mill. and that it is not the horrible enmminglinq of devourers and devoured that a superexcited imagination is predisposed to paint it. On the contrary, we may believe that the various carnivorous enemies of the gentle; races of animals are much more serviceable in traininc them to the finest exercise of skill and fleetness than the+ are destructive of their numbers or OPpressivclp noxiousto their happiness of animal life, and that in a world in which death is necessary, deat,h bv the assault of carnivorous enemies is no more dreadful but is. in fnct. much lwq painful. than manv other methods by which life mav he rxtinauished.-Ifiternrv Diaest. Tbe abovcis in full accordwithY our presentation on the qubject in our issue of June 1, page 165; which please note again.

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NOVEMBER

15. 1900

ZIONS
CATHOLIOISM IN POLITIUS

WATCH

TOWER

(340-346:

BObfAN

At the annual meeting of the Catholic Young Mens National Union in Brooklyn, September 26, a resolution was adopted to form a greai federation of all-the societies of the Roman Catholic church in the United States for wlitical Last spring Bishop McFaul of Trenton, N.-J., told purposes. the Ancient Order of Hibernians that the Roman Catholics of America were fools not to organize into one solid mass and make their Dower felt in the nolitics of this countrv: there were 2,000,~00 Roman Catholic&voters, and if they w&e united for political action they could make this country a Roman Catholic nation. This federation has now been formed by the following societies : The Knights of Columbus. the Kninhts of St. John, the Catholic Benevolent Legion, the Ancieit Order of Hibernians, the Irish Catholic Benevolent Union, the IrishAmerican Societies, the German-American Societies, the Catholic Knights of America, the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America; and, as the Brooklyn Eagle of Sept. 26, 1900 Besides these organizations (from which we quote), says: there are scores of others of less prominence. The federation is formed, says the Eagle, for the avowed purpose of influencing legislation and securing what the Catholics claim are their rights. The convention, which met in the Park Theater, Brooklyn, was t,he largest gathering in the history of the Young Mens National Union. and it was addressed bv leading priests and jaymen from ali parts of the country. %ather &<elle, rector of St. Patricks Cathedral in this city, Mom&nor Doane of Newark, N. J., Sheriff Buttling of Brooklyn, Congressman Fitzgerald, of Boston, and Father Wall of Holy Rosary church, this city, made stirring addresses. The latter was elected president of the union. The convention, continues the EagZe, which is one of the foremost metropolitan daily journals, unanimously approved the plan of federation and appointed committees to carry it into effect. By this means tens of thousands of men of the Catholic faith will be brought under one national head, and this stalwart body of men- will have a strong influence on national legislation? The New York Herald and other Dapers had zmilar reports. This is the most important siep ever taken by the Roman Catholics in the United States. They now have New York City in their possession, and many of the other large cities of our republic are under their control: all, like Tammany Hall, worked for all their worth, in the interests of the Roman Catholic church, and incidentally for In politics I work for my own the benefit of the workers. pocket all the time, said Richard Croker, the Boss of Tammany. He might have added that a large share of the municipal plunder goes to Roman Catholic institutions.

Having possession of the cities, the Romanists now reach out to gain control in national affairs. We must make America Catholic, said Archbishop Ireland at the hundredtb anniversary of the establishment of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in the United States, which was held in Baltimore, Nov. 10, 1889. We must make America Catholic. As we love our church, it suffices to mention the work and our cry shall be, God wills it, and our hearts shall leap towards it with Crusader enthusiasm. He was wildly applauded by the eighty bishops, one thousand priests and five thousand laymen present. Why should we fear or hesitate? he continued, with glowing fervor and proud boasting. We number ten millions-a powerful army if the forces be well marshaled and their latent strength be brought into action. Catholics in America are loyal to their church and devoted to her leaders. Their labors and their victories in the first century of their history show what they are capable of in the coming century, when they are conscious of their power and are under complete hierarchical organization. And so, even before the century has begun, they are preparing by a complete organization to conquer this country and turn it over to the pope ! What have the Protestants of America to say to this? says The Converted Cut~olic of New York.
SOCIALISM GROWING IN GERMANY

The election of a member of the Reichstag for Brandenburg has caused considerable political excitement throughout Germany, as it has resulted in a signal victory for the Socialist candidate, Herr Peus, by a majority of 648 votes. This constituency has had a varied history, having returned within the past twenty years Conservatives, Radicals and National Liberals; but throughout all its fluctuations one fact was prominent, namely, the growth of Socialism there. The number of Socialist members now in the Reichstag is fifty-eight; in 1885 there were only twenty-three; in 1890 the number rose to thirty-five. At the general election of 1893 there were forty-four Socialists returned. At the last general election in 1895 the number was fifty-six. Subsequent byelections have added two members. If we turn to the number of recorded votes we find that in 1885 over half a million Socialist votes were eiven: in 0 1887 three-quarters of a million; in 1890 nearly one million and a half; in 1893 one million and three-quarters: and at the last general elections two and a quart& millions. The calculation which nlaces the strength of the Socialist aartv at the next election at three million votes, and 100 seats in the Reichstag out of a total of 397 seats, would not appear excessive.-London Daily Chronicle, Oct. 29.

MAKE

SURE OF WINNING
[Reprinted in issue of July

IN GODS ELECTION
please see.]

1, 1905, which

SORROWFUL, FOR HE HAD

MATT.

GREAT POSSESSIONS

19 : 16-26.-DEC. 2. Children, how hard it is for them that trot in riches to enter into the Kingdom of God!-Mark 10.24. appreciate it the more. Our Lords words might be paraOur lesson relates to what for centuries has been called phrased thus : Are you addressing me as Good Master from The rich young ruler, whose name is The Great Refusal. the heart, or only as a CompIimentary salutation? If you not given, altho possessed of an-abuidance of the things of really believe me to be good, you must believe in me as a this life loneed fcr an assurance of everlasting life. As a Jew teacher sent of God-the All-Good. More than this, you must he knew th:- Law; he understood that God- had made with believe my testimony, that I proceeded forth and came from this nation, and with no other, through Moses the mediator, God, that I am the Son of God. If my testimony is untrue a covenant; under which everlasting iife might be attained. in any particular I am not good at aII, but a faIsifier, a hypoHe nerceived. however. that even the best men of his nation crite, a blasphemer. If, then, you call me Good Master from had=iailed to gain eternal life under this covenantthat all the heart, and believe that I am the sent of God, the Meshad died. He Iad heard of Jesus, and that never man spake siah, you will be the better prepared to receive my reply as like this man. and he knew that in many respects his teachthe divine answer to that question. &gs were of >a very positive character, and that his manner Without waiting to require that the young man should and instruction were not like those of the scribes and Pharicommit himself definitely on the point involved; but conhe taught as one having sees, uncertain and equivocal ;-that tent with merely raising the issue in his mind, our Lord proauthoritv. and knowing what he taught to be true. He hesiceeded to answer the iuestion. &ted tzio to this TGcher, but finaly seeing him leaving a We are not to understand our Lords answer to this voune house in his own neighborhood, he ran out hastily and pointJew, at a time when the Law Covenant was still in force9 Good master, what good thing hIank put the question: to be the same that he would give, or that we should give shall I do that I may have eternal [everlasting] life? in his name, today, in reply to a similar inquiry. The young his question directly our Lord inInstead of answerin man was living under a covenant of works, of which the Aposquired why he thus ad 8 ressed him as good. Jesus words tle declares, quotiq from the Law itself, He that doetk do not imply, as some have surmised, a denial of being good. these things shall Eve by them. (Lev. 18:5 ; Ram. 10 :5) Rather, he wouId impress upon the young ruler the import The New Covenant had not yet been sealed with our Lords of his own language, that when he got his answer he might

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precious blood, and hence it was not operative toward this young ruler or anybody else at this time. Our Lord could not properly direct the young mans attention to any other procedure than the keeping of the conditions of the Law Covenant which was still in iorce. Anyway, this was what the young man inquired: What good thing must I do that I may have everlasting life? It was for this reason that our Lord did not say, a8 we should say today in answer to such a question. Relieve on the Lord Jesus Christ-believe that he died for your sins, and arose for your justification, and accepting him as ynnr Snviour. as the Mediator of the New Covcnlnt. presmt your life in full consecration of all its talmts, powers and opportunities to the Lords service. Ollr T.nrrl did point out to the voun,q man the only way to lifr c~:~~rl~<tin~ then open-the kerpiny of the T,aw. He well knew tJ]lt thr vnllnr, mnn could not kerp this Law perfectly. and hrncc ~n~lltl not nhtnin pverlnstin,rr life through it; but hr w~nlld hrin_n thp mxtter heforc his attent,ion in the most f,jvor:!hh for& to 1~ rnmpr(,h~nclpd--mithnnt preaching the X:cw Cnvmlnt nr nny other feature of the divine plan not yet tlur to hP announcr4. Tfpncc the form of his renly. The l~>w WRY tllvitlprl into two partc or tahlex the first and thr irronrl to the neinhhor. Our rrblntincr to .Trhr~~~h Lord imnnrctl thr fir\t of thrse, rpali7ing that the vnuno; man, -0 f lr frnnl tlp\iriny to m ~hr or worship idol5 or anotller cod, 1~24 ,;fel;inc to kno\\ nn11 to do the will of the trlle God. &lr T,nrd w-ol~ld briny il.: nnSw(ar down to the simplr%t po+ sit!, prnpoqitinn. anrl hcsncscrrfcrrcd mcrcly to the commandmcqtq rc3Vrtinn l1llt.y toxvard hiq fpllom-cr~,ntiir~s, and got thr rc>(tnncu tll:;t w fzr 2,: the young rnau hid diqrerned the rnattcr h(x h9d !irrjt thrb InI: ; hut nlthn hr kept its outward fnrln bra rc?li7crl thslt ~mc thirl:r WI\ still lackin?. HP hid no r~vitlrnr~ s thnt 11~ 1~3~1rcsrrivod :lny spPria1 hlcssing of eternal lift. ~nrl \f ichc*rJ to k~low of thtx Maqter whit hindered, what hr l~rl.c~l of hrinr n prrfrc.t man. keepinr_r the law and meritin? thr rc>wnrd of that, law. life everln%tiny. No wonder .TPQ~I~,lnnkinrr Irnon llim. loved him: cvervhndv . who loves . ri~h+rolrsnr~s lnveu thnsc who nre rightcons, or who are strivini to the hrst of their ability to come up to the mark of ri~htrr:~li;ncss.-J)erf~(.tinn.
THE GRACE OF ALL GRACES

lhrn .l(qns told him pl~~inlv. Onp thing thou lackest. You have I~rn ~ntlr~nrnrinp t,o keep Gods lax, and have done wrll. FO for :qq (hc olltw:jrd is concerned; hut the spirit of the law you h?ve not :~pprehentled at all----the spirit of the law is low. T11~ whole law is cnmprchended briefly in one word. T,nvr iti thp fulfilling of the law. (Rnm. l?:R, 10) You h:lvc hren @tiny tile nut-itle, or shell of the divine command. hut hlvca rntirrlv orcrlor)krd the precious thinrr in it. the TRUST NOT IN UNCERTAIN RIOHES kprnrl. thp rvsenct.-love to Gnd &prrmcly. andlove toward ymir ft>llnwmntt as toward yourself. Our Lord took advantage of this episode to impart a leqson Let me prove this to vnn, 1,~ qurrcrit,in: thnt you demonstrate pour love for to his disciples, showing &cm the danyrr of rich&-anv kind vonr nrirrhlmrs 1,~ disposing of your propertv for the assistof riches, honor of men. nolitical influence. mnnv and l:lrge :tnce of 1~) brer nncq. Thrn ronsrcrate your life in lovine detalents 0; abilities, social standinz. fine e;lurati& :1m1 m:votion to C.011 qervircl. *Ind enme with me as my disciple, R tPria1 wealth-for one may be rich in anv of these senses. taking up thp prnss of self-denial thus involved. It is harcl for a rich man to enter into the kinndnm of heaven. (Revised Version. ) Our Lord does- nnt hrre underThe tc4 waq a crnrill one, and manifrstpd cleslrly the distinrtlon h(%\vrrn thr lettrr and thr spirit of the lam. The take to explain whv there would be greater difficulties for crnqq ~8 too he*lvy for the rirh vnunq ruler. those possessing riches to enter into his kingdom. but from HP h&d gotten thr :tnsn(xr to his qneqtion. but oh! it, was so different from other scriptures we learn the reasnns, and whv it is that the \xhnt he 1~34 nnticipntetl. heir8 of the kingdom mill he chiefly found amongst thP poorer He h9d felt comparatively well a:ltisficcl 1, ith himsrlf, althn realizing that something must classes. Ye see pour calling, brethren, how that not many wive men after the flesh, not many mirrhty, not many noble are still he lacking He had rather expected MessiThs commendation. antI perhans qnme further advice. but nothine so radicalled: hut God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the mighty. (1 Cor. 1:20, 27; Ja;. 2:s) The rich Cal. 1t, waq ton much for him; he w&t away e&eedingly are kRiipa,'* qorro:\ furl. savs J.nkr: hi4 countenance fell, says Mnrk; it was in &eaense of the word, but not in another; the? are enuallv invited but thev are much lesq likelv .I (than others a core tli4xp1)nintment. For tile time being he could not think nf ;~~~+nt~n~ t11cb?I.lctcarq prescription. the dnq(b WRY ton hitter, who ire pborer) to accept the Lords invitation and to present themselves according to the terms of the kingdom call. In ant1 hts mnst at least think the matter over well. rlhntever course t,his young ruler mny have subsequently this sense of the word called only those who accept the call hut of one thinq we may be sure; are meant: and thev then divide themselves into two classes t:rken WP are not infnrmrd: hr h:ld Icarnc~d n grrnt, lesson respecting the scope and signifi-those who make their calling and election sure, and ohtain rnnrr of thrs law. He hntl ascertained the impossibility of his the kingdom, obtain a part in-the first resurrection to glory. att,nininr rtermll life unrlrr the TAW Covenant. honor and immortalitv. obtain a nlnce with Messiah in his throne, to share wit6 him in his Millennial kingdom; and Tt will he seen that we totally disagree with those who others who do not make their calling and election sure, either rl~irrl tllxt the rnndit,inn of this young man and our Lords by becoming reprobates, and suhie& of the second death, or words to him npplv to all vounp men or to those possessing hv a failure to manifest a sufflcimrv of zeal in the race for wealth---the the spirit of thr matter is nnplirable to all, unt6e prize, and on this acrount being remanded to the class drr tllr tlilferrnt conditions of the New Cnvennnt. The New known as the great company, who must come through great (nvrsnant clavq to 114. rich and ionr, Christ dird for us, actribulation. washing their robrq in the blood of the T~~>TII~I cortlinc to the Seriptllrex He not only met the requiremrntq of the lnw, and fulfilled that Covenant and annulled it. It is well that we note carefullv what are the hindrances bllt :Idtlitic~n:llly he rrnl~l and ratified the *Nrw Covenant of these rich. nreventinp them from havine so favorable an opportunity as their (in zarthly respects) l&s favored hrethl Ser Tune 15, 1919, issue for critical examination of Covenants [2728J

under which he, its Mediator, can apply to all who come under ,ts provisions through faith whatever share of his merit is necessary to make good the weaknesses and imperfection8 of our flesh to which our hearts, our minds, do not assent. Accordingly, even if when some come to Jesus to inquire the way of eternal life, they should be unable to say, as did this young ruler, All these things have I done from my ynuth UP. -if it should he even necessary for such to confess with shame, All these commandments have I violated, nevertheless, the provisions of the New Covenant are such that even the vilest sinner who has turned from sin and who at heart desires henceforth to walk in the way of righteousness, and who. repenting of the sins of the pnst, gladly makes. such rcastitution as is within his Dower-all such are acceoted in the Beloved One, and recko;ed a8 justified freely from all things, from which the Law could not justify them. Then such nle invited. as was the young ruler to come. take up their cross, and follow Jesu&x&e, prove. demonstrate, their love for righteousness, thrir devotion to God and every feature of his will; come, crucify srlf and selfishness, and receive into their hearts instead the Spirit of God, the spirit of holiness. the spirit of love. Not m&ely to love their neiphbors in word. but in deed and in trutll. so thnt so far fro& wishin,n to &al from them, or to kill thim, or hear fnlse witness again4 them, or to do any other evil toward them. their hearts desire would be the reverse of these, to do them good, to bleqq them. God is love: the spirit of his law is love, and the spirit of his faithful Son, ,Teqrlq, is Jove. l;ovc is thp holy Spirit, of nhi& the Apostle declares. If any man hnvr not the snirit of Christ rlnre. in some measure1 he ic; nonr of his. VTnder the New Cov&nt. if the heart lie full of lnvc, it is acceptable with God rven thn the heart rnlv not 1)~ nhlr at all times to control the flesh in re?poct to (*v(ry ih1~12ht and word and act. and to shnw forth throulI it this hnli spirit of love which rules paramount in thr heart. The New Covenant is Gods agreement, under which hr accepts, through Christ, the intentions of our hearts :,q the the same were actually and fully demonstrated in our lives: and certainly our hen& desires will find expression through the flesh in large measure. thn not nlwa,vs perfectlv. Thus our heartq may to some extent be rend hv our frllnwmen. thn not perfectly. while to our heavenly Father they are an open hook. Moreover, the love which enters and fills our hearts expands them and crowds out mnre and more of the natural aml srlfish propensitirs, crossing this natural, or earthly will with the heavenly one, the new mind. Thus gradually msking progress in the new way, the Lords snintq are growing in knowledge and in grace. and more and more are having the love of God s&x? abroad in their hearts.

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ren. (1) The possession of earthly good things, riches, is less favorable to the develonment of faith. without which it is impossible to be -plea&i to God. (i) These earthly advantages are more likely to develop pride, a serious barrier to ,-very grace and an impossible barrier as respects the kingdom, which can be attained only through humility. (3) Riches of any kind bring with them friends and associates of the earth, whose hearts being generally out of sympathy with the Lord and the kingdom will constitute them adversaries to the new mind, from whose influence it will be the more difficult to break completely away. (4) And summing up all of the foregoing, those possessed of such earthly riches have proportionately more to sacrifice than those who are poorer in these respects; and thca Frenter the thin9 caciificed the greater the difficulty in performing the sacrifice. However, on the other hand, it may be said that whenever one who is rich in this worlds goods (talents, etc.) does prc~~~ h:m.sc~lf a lirino: sncrifirp to thp Lorrl and hii srrvicc it witnesses to a deeper heart-loyalty than if he were poorer. It implies a greater sacrifice, and it implies also the exercise of greyter opportunities in the Lords service. The servant who has five talents and who uses them faithfully, and doubles them, accomplishes a greater work than the servant who, having one talent, use5 it faithfully and doubles it, and our Lords nnderstantling of thiq matter i4 shown in the fact that acrortling to the parable the one will have granted to him authority over ten citit.3, and the other authority over two, altho both will be commended-Well done, good, faithful Per\-nnt.-Mntt. 2.5: 14-30. If lye would look for illustration showing wherein the rich (in tnlerlts, etc.\ have been faithful. we would find at the hend of the list onr Lord himself, who waq rich, but for our As he was richer than all others in 3nkcs brczme poor. every sense of the word. so proportionately his sacrifice was grentcr than that of all others in every sense of the word, &d hi4 honor, glory and power arc greater. He is Lord of 311. 11i,n bath God lri_nhlv exalted and eiven a name that Similarly the Apost& Paul was richis above every name. :~ntl prop,c*rtv. h? \vlq at lrnst rirh in Wlncfini F r!o! ill 111011fI tion. in serial advan&g& and privileges, and in lifes opportllnitlrr: and we mav sav that since the Annstle so faithfully qarrificrd nil theqp enrthip riches for the sake of the privileie of preaching the Gospel of Christ, his must have been a much larger s:lrrifice than that of the majority of men: and propnrtionntelv we anticipate that his reward in the kingdom

will be great because he counted these earthly riches but loss and dross that he might win Christ and be found in him [a member of the Anointed One] .Phil. 3:8, 9. So then while we call attention to the fact that few will be in the kingdom who have had great opportunities, privileges, property or other riches of this world, we nevertheless encourage those who possess this worlds goods of any kind, to consider that they thus hold within their grasp grand opportunities which rightly used will yield riches of grace, not only in the life that now is but also in the life that is to come; working out for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, proportionate to their sacrifices and faithfulness in their stewardship. We cannot wonder that the disciples were astonished to learn that few of the rich would enter the kingdom, for did they not see on every hand that the rich had the more important places in the synagogues and in the offices of the Jewish system ? Did they not see that comparatively few of the poor-in this worlds goods wele rated amongst the slints? No wonder they inquired, where would the kingdom class be found, if the rich were excluded? How, then, could the salvation which God had promlsea should come through his kinpdom ever be attained? The time for explaining these features of the divine plan havin,rr lint vet come, 0111 l,oltl c*oiltrntc*tl I~lms(~lt wit11 itir~l~.ly assuring the disciples that they must leave such a question to the Father: that the truth of his statement t11d not imnlv that no kingdom could be formed, but that with God the maiter was possible. and that his orizinxl promise to Abraham would be fulfilled, a kingdom class be selected, and the blrqsinrc of salvation be communicated thrnurh it. To hqvc t,old th& of the rejection of the .Jewish nition, all except the of believers, mainly the poor, and to have ex. remnant plnined to them that the elect church, the elect seed of Abraham, would be completed from nmongat the Gc,ntiles, of a similarly poor class as respects tlliq worlds iidvnntagrq, would have be&-going bevond what was then due to be e&lainetl,bevond what the discinles would have been able to romnrchend at that time; and hence our Lord, using the true wisdom from above, refrained from saving more than would he to their advantage to know--leaving* such information, as he elnlnined to them subsecluentlv. for unfoldment to them bv holy spiritwhich would come upon the; thk Comforter -the at Pentecost.-John 14 :26.

ENTREATY

ANSlVERED,-BLIND
MARK

EYES OPENED

10 :46-52.-D&c. 9. Lord, that I might receive my sight. good cheer! arise; he ralleth thee. And he sprang up, castWhile passing along a road in the vicinity of Jericho, ing away his outer robe that he might go the more quickly possibly going from the old city to the newer one of the same to Jesus for the blessing. name, a great multitude following him, our Lord passed by Everything connected \vith the case sho\\q uq that Wlrtitwo blind men, sitting begging by the wayside. (Mark menmeus p&qcs~~d a large amount of faith, and thnt he \T:IF tions only one, the chief subJect of the lesson, but Matthew desirous of the blrssinn which he rrceived. Kirtimc~u4. one of tlin two. :I4 !I( verv enrnestlv mentions a eonip:lnion.) Whbn he cam; to .Jesus, altho the latter-knew well his desire; heard the mnltitnde paqsing and learned from some of them he inqniretl respecting it. HP would have the blind mnn e?r. that they accompanied .Jequs, the reputed Messiah, of whom press himself respecting his hopcq and tlcqireq. He answered, he hnd no doubt heard hefore. was struck with the fact that Rabboni, that I may receive my sight! The word lnrd his onportnnitv for a blessing was ne2r at hand and rapidly here is rnbboni, the most reverential term of four titles passin< frnm him. He began to cry out, his voice rising above usrd Rmon& the .Jcas at that time (rab. rahbi. r:lbbml. the din nf the mnltitude. saying, .Jesus, thou Son of David, rabbnni ). Then Jesus tonrherl his eyes (hlatt. 20:34), sayhave merry on me! ing, Go thv way; thy faith hath made thee whole. Sight Onr T.ortl paid no heed at first, but passed on. The multicame immediately, and nartimeus became one of the followtude rebuked the blind man, so to speak, saying, YOU, poor ers nf .Jesnn. beggar. F;hould not thus cry out and annoy and seek to take The lrssnn itself is a verv beautiful one in demonstration the attention of so rrent a one as this, whom we verilv beof the T,nrds tender compassion and divine power: and from lieve to he the hTe&nh, and whose miqqion is the e~t~hlishits incitlrnts ne might ;lrnw other lessons, pnrnllelq, as it ment nf Gods kingdom; keen quiet! But sn much the more were. For instance. sin brnunht alienation from God. and did he rry out for mercy. He longed for sight, and had faith moral blindness, which prevails today in every land and on to hplirve that the grpnt Messiah might he prevailcad upon to everv hand. The Apostle thus pictures somr of the heathen, rescue him from dnikness. Jesns stopped and gave the word desiious of having the light of-truth, as blind mrn grnping to the nlultitude tn hrinz the blind man to him. He mizht He snenks of such as crvinp out to after thinzs desired. have gnne to the blind &an, or he might have lifted up his the Lord in prnver, and feeling after God, if* hdply they voire nnd spoken to the blind man, hitlding him to come; but might find him; just a? Hartimeus had cried out to the instead he chose to use instrumentalities-tn give those about Lord and then went to him. And as Rnrtimeus cast away him an opportunitv of sharing in the work of hlessinx. So the his outer robe that hr might go to the Lord the more speedword wns pnsqed from one te another pnd the blind rnqn was ily, so the sinnrr should cast away evervthing found to be a helped forward and thus greater attention way brought to the hindrance-he shnnld mnke nrknnwledpment and rrpentnnce whole mir:lcle and to the divine power which it msnifeqted. of cinq. and he should mnke restitution also as far as possible, Thoqp who had but a moment before uphraided the blind man and thus approach the Lord. for his temerity in expecting a blessing from the Messiah, And such, when their eyes are opened to see the blessings now gladly bore the message of hope to him, saying, Be of l-27291

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of God bestowed upon them, should look, as Bartimeus looked, first into the face of the Saviour with gratitude and appreciation, and look unto the Father through him. Indeed, their eyes being opened by the word of truth, they will gradually come to see everything in a new light, and be able to say, Old things [of darkness and sin] are passed away; all thmgs are become new---lighted by the knowledge of God; for we have been translated out of darkness into marvelous light. It is unnecessary to add that such transformed sinners should thenceforth follow Jesus as his disciples, seeking to walk in his steps. Another lesson might profitably be drawn from this narrative. Bartimeus was not a sinner, in the sense of being foreigner and outcast from the divine an alien, stranger, favor. He was- a memtier of the household of faith, an Israelite, to whom belonged the nromises and the covenants. And so there are todav etc. (l%om. 9 :4) ; yet hg was blihd. in spiritual Israel- many who are not sinners, stranger& aliens from God. but members of the household of faith and heirs of the promises, who are dentally, spiritually, blind. Thev are blind to the goodcess of God as it shines in the face of Jesus Christ our Lord: they do not appreciate the love of God, having been blinded thereto by false theories and traditions of men. Because of their blindness thev are unable to comprehend with all saints the lengths and breadths and heirhts and dcnths and to know the love of Christ. as thev shoild do. Plrhaps some of them are accountable to some extent for their own blindness, and quite possibly others are in no measure responsible. We notice that in the case of Bartimeus Jesus did not inquire respecting his responsibility for his condition. It was sufficient that he realized that he was blind, and that he earnestly desired from the heart to receive his sight, and that he demonstrated this by his prayers and his efforts to obtain sight. So today, to those spiritual Israelites who are blind to the beauties and harmonies of the divine character and plan, if they are willing to admit their blindness, and so anxious for the light that they will cry aloud and not be dissuaded from their good desires, they will undoubtedly get the blessing they crave, the opening of their eyes of understanding, that they may be able to understand the deep things of God. We see many blind people of this latter sort today. Nearly all of the nominal churches are full of them. But alas! the vast majority are unlike Bartlmeus-they do not realize their condition nor hunger and thirst for the light, nor come to

the Master in the humble attitude necessary to receive it. Their pitiable condition is described by the Lord himself (Rev. 3 : 17 ) under the name Laodicea. He tells why they do not receive their sight-why they cannot comprehend the lengths Because thou and breadths and depths of divine love: sayest, I am rich and increased in goods, and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. As it was not within the power of the multitude to give Bartimeus his sight, neither is it within our power to give sight to the spiritually blind. All we can do is to let the blind ones know that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by-that the great Physician is able and willing to grant them the opening of the eyes of their understanding. Those who long for sight, who love the truth, who hate darkness and error, and n&e others, will be attracted by the information, and lift UD their voices in sunnlication for assistance. But. alas! when-they do cry aloudXfbr help there are sure to be some, even amongst the Lords friends, to rebuke them for their However, such opearnestness, instead of encouraging it. nositions onlv serve to demonstrate the amount of faith and ihe measure of love for the light, and the Lord evidently intends that only those who seek for truth as men search for silver shall find the knowledge of God.-Prov. 2 :4. When the faith and earnestness of the seeker for light have been suWciently demonstrated the Master will grant him the opportunities he desires. Nevertheless he will require that even in their blindness all shall manifest and exercise faith, and come to him through evil report as well as through good- report, to receive the e%lightenm&t sought. And wh& thev obev thus thev surelv receive a eood reward in their From this appreciaGon of the Lords character and plan. new standpoint they can sing with the spirit and with the understanding also,How happy and blessed the hours, Since Jesus I always can see; Sweet prospects, sweet birds and sweet flowers Have all gained new sweetness for me. They will surely acknowledge that whatever their joys in the Lord previously they are multiplied by the opening of the eves of their understandings. And is it surprising that such will follow the Lord? Nay, verily! How could we do otherwise than show forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvelous light?-1 Pet. 2 :9.
u *

ILL-GOTTEN
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WEALTH

RESTORED

19:1-lo.-DEC. 16. The Son of Man is come to seek and to save thut which was lozt. Zacchaeus was a Jew and a chief publican, which signifies Zacchaeus soon resolved what to do, for he was a rethat he was in the employ of the Roman government as a sourceful man; he would run ahead and climb into a tree, and tax-gatherer, a very lucrative office, but one greatly despised thus get a good view of the Master. We cannot help adled miring the courage of this little rich man, ordinarily probamongst the Jews, because ( 1) their views of patriotism them to resent the service of their conquerors; (2) their ably dignified enough in his bearing, but now his heart tax-gatherers rollected for a percentage of the tax, and were swelling with feelings of interest in righteousness and a deat the same time assessors of the amount of the tax, and sire for reconciliation with God, and ran along like a boy charged (probably generally with good reason), with gross and climbed the tree. When Jesus and the multitude came violations of justice--taking advantage of their position and to the place the Lord addressed Zacchaeus by name, possibly of the necessities of their neighbors to reap large usury by by that power of knowledge which is beyond our comprehenadvancing them money for the tax and requiring supersion ; or possibly by reason of hearing the crowd jeer and abundant security for both tax and usury. Publicans, then, it laugh at the little rich publican in his lugubrious position. will be seen, were a disreputable class amongst their own How astonished he must have been when the Master said, people, esteemed as financially immoral, and unworthy the Zacchaeus, come down, for I must lodge at thy house! confidence and honor of faithful Jews. Zacchaeus as a chief So great an honor as this Zacchaeus had not dreamed of, and probably employed under-collectors to assist him in his conthe multitude of Jews were likewise surprised. The latter tract, a?d for this reason was designated chief publican. murmured against Jesus because he, as a holy man, should He had heard of Jesus evidently, and curiosity and poshave nothing whatever to do with this publican. Perhaps it sibly other nobler sentiments operated in his heart and led him was in part to give the Pharisees a lesson, as well as to to desire to see the great Teacher. Possibly indeed he had provide for his own entertainment or to put himself in the qualms of conscience respecting his business and business way of Zacchaeus, that our Lord proposed this visit to the methods, and a longing for peace with God, which his riches publicans house. In any event, nothing could have pleased the could not take the place of. These nobler and better thoughts serious thinking little man more. He came down from the tree and aspirations were quickened as he found himself in-the immediately, and joyfully took Jesus (and the desciples also presence of the celebrated Nazarene. of whose holiness and we may presume) to his home for entertainment. Thus does kxalted teachings he had heard. Quite probably, too, he had the Lord look for and care for and assist those who are of a heard that, unlike the Pharisees, this great Teacher did not contrite heart-those who are feeling after God, and longing, spurn publicans and sinners, but on the contrary, treated them as prodigals, to return to the Fathers house. Had Zacchaeus kindly. Zacchaeus sought a glimpse of the Masters face. but been of other condition of heart we may reasonably presumo there being a throng in the w&y, and he being of small stature, that our Lord would have paid no attention to him whatever. could not discern him. There was a throng anvwav at this What a surging of sentiment took place in the heart of season, going up to the Passover, and so \otaYble a person His name in the Hebrew comes from a root little Zacchaus! as Jesus would always be an attraction. signifying pure, and the inference is not unreasonable that 12730]

NOVEMBER 1900 15,

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(352-338)

his ancestors haa been noble and holy people, and that back of his love for money and dishonest practices lay good principles, which now, under favorable conditions, were asserting themselves and clamoring for a change of life,-worrying hns conscience and embittering all his pleasures and causing him to long for righteousness in his own heart and life. In no other way can we account for his sudden determination to reform. -Nor was he content merely to determine upon reform in his heart: he would seal the matter bv a nublic confession. As we read, he stood forth in the? prisence of his own family, in the presence of Jesus and his disciples, and probably numerous friends and neighbors who had gone along, and publicly acknowledged that he had gained part of his wealth by unjust exactions, and pledged himself to restore all such wrongfully obtained money,lto the extent of his abilitv. fourfold. More than this. realizinn that there were probably many cases of small injustices which it would be impossible for him to ever correct in detail, he publicly pledged one-half of all his possessions to the poor in off-set of these. Noble Zacchaeus! Well did his conduct show that the Master knew what he was doing when he went to lodge with this little man. so much desnised bv some of the Pharisees. Jesus knew that notwithstanding his- wrong course of life he was much nearer to the right attitude of heart than some of the self-righteous who denounced him-altho outwardly they were living a cleaner life and a more moral one-making clean the outside of the cup while inwardly it was full of vile affections and selfishness, abominations in Gods sight. Our Lords reply is striking: This day is salvation come to this house; forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham. While it is true that salvation is to be brought unto us at the revelation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christat his second advent-it is nevertheless true also that this salvation begins in the present life to all who are of the spiritual house of Israel, who, repenting of their sins, come into harmony with the Lord, and seek to walk according to his it from sin ways. It is a salvation of the heart, reclaiming and belfishness and meanness-filthiness of the flesh and of thr spirit -2 Cor. 7:l. This salvation means reformation and transformation;

and while the Lord can read the heart and see there more than men can see respecting the change, yet, as Brother D. L. Moody suggests, the change, the conversion, the transformation of life, must have been appreciable even by the most unsympathetic of Zacchseus neighbors when, the next morning after this event, Zacchaus servant nresented himself to the neighbor with a.purse of money, and-when asked what it was for replied, My master says that he extorted from you a sum of money years ago, and now returns it fourfold. The conversion that includes recompense-and that not merely in a skimped manner but abundantly-four-fold-undoubtedly signifies a true conversion, one that is not likely soon to be forgotten or ignored. We might find parallels to this incident, which belonged to the end of the Jewish age and to fleshlv Israel, in the end of this age and to Spiritual-Israel. We find today some backsliders from the Lords Covenant of Grace. as Zacchrens was a backslider from the Lords Covenant of the Law. We may perhaps find them living in a measure of sin, in business which they admit is unjust -and in violation of their consciences. We are not. therefore. to nass bv them with the Gosnel message, the good tidings of great joy; but if any such manifest an interest in the present truth we are to seek to assist them And there is an as our Lord and Head assisted Zacchaeus. encouragement to this class in Zacchaeus case, for tho they may feel themselves sadly short of the stature of a man in Christ, if they have in their hearts a longing desire for righteousness and to behold the Lords face, they will find opportunity to do so, if they will but humble themselves to take the necessary steps. And sincere reformation today must be like that of Zaccheus; it must make some outward manifestation expressive of contrition and of a desire to make reparation to the extent of ability. Some one has said, and quite truly, we think :No religious profession amounts to anything if it does not include a readiness to put ones property at the service of the Lord. It has been well said that a personal consecration should be spelled a purse-and-all consecration. And the full restitution of all that had been taken wrongfully must be made by a Christian disciple-even to the stripping of himself of all his earthly goods.

PILGRIM

ARRANGEMENTS

STILL MISUNDERSTOOD
-three to twelve months, according to circumstances ;-and sometimes reach very out-of-the-way places where we know that the interest and arrangements will justify the expense We rarely give more than two days to any place and time. unless more is specially reqztested and good reasons @en. We will be making up new routes for 1901 and therefore requested replies to our questions from all who desire to be remembered and visited. See TOWER Aug. 1, 1900.

We find that quite a number of our readers did not respond to our queries respecting Pilgrim visits because they thought themselves too far from Allegheny to ask or expect a visit. Others who did respond have wondered that a Pilgrim was not started to them at once. For these reasons we explain again, as follows:The Society sends forth a number of these Pilgrims-according as the Societys funds will permit and the interests of the flock seem to demand. These are sent out on long tours

CHRISTIAN

HOME EMBELLISHMENTS
saving time, etc., by packing them in this way, we can afford to supply these bundles for the price named, one dollar. We would not offer them were we not sure that our readers will appreciate them and thank us for bringing them to their attention. The card marked above, To Us the Scriptures Clearly Teach, is our own get up, of rose pink color printed in maroon ink, size 11x14 inches, with silk cord hanger. On one side is the statement which appears at top of page 2 of each WATCH TOWER in good sized type. It is a statement of Bible faith which none need feel ashamed of; and which should be seen in the homes of all WATCH TOWER readers. We have gotten out a large quantity and can therefore supply them very cheaply,-at five cents each (plus five cents In lots of 20 for $1.00 postage free. for tube and postage). I will tell the wondrous story. How. my lost estate to save, In his boundless love and mercy, He the ransom freely gave. I will praise my dear Redeemer, HIS triumphant power to save, How the victory be gireth Over sin and death and grave. I will sing of my And my call to He from death to Heavenly glory Redeemer, glory too; life hat11 brought brought to view.

We have a choice assortment of Scripture and Motto Text Cards of our own importation from London. Some are of dark red and dark green color, assorted shapes and sizes, embossed with silver lettering and with hanaine cords: others on lieht tinted cards with &wers or other %&nation, etc. The mottoes are too numerous to specify but all good. The prices range from five cents to twenty cents each and these prices are considerably less than the usual. Another drawback has been the difficulty in preparing small quantities for mail, so as to prevent their getting damaged. We believe we can best surmount all these difficulties by putting them up in $1.00 packages as follows:2 mottoes dark, 5c each.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .lO 2 light, 5c . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . .lO I 2 dark, 10~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 I 20~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 3 2 To Us the Scriptures Teach. . . . . . . . , . . . .lO 2 Text Easels, 2c each. . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .04 4 Text Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .08 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...1.22

Postage and packing free. We will put these up in four different -A, B, C, D,assortments, so that persons ordering more than one package need not get duplicates except the fifth item. If you order more than one package and want variety. say so. Importing these ourselves and saving jobbers profits and 127311

me,

____

_-. __.--~. VOL. xx1

~~--. ~~-.~
- ==--=---

-__ ALLEGHENY,

--__-PA., DECEMBER

--1, 1900
___. z-No. 23

~~------.-~----

WHAT

HOPE FOR THE INNUMERABLE

NON-ELECT?

[Continued from our last issue, Make In our last issue we found abundant Scripture evidence that God is selecting a little flock from amongst mankind to be joint heirs with our Lord Jesus in the Millennial kingdom. That fact being proven, it cannot be questioned that The question now all the remainder of mankmtl are non-elect. is. 1Vhat provision has the great Creator made for this class -number&g at least fifty thousands of millions of all the families of the earth? Is this condition honeless or not? According to orthodoxy it is hopeless--the theory being that all the non-elect of mankind were predestinated by God to be sufferers of eternal torment; but we find no Scripture whatever in support of such a theory. So surely as God did elect or predestinate an elect clas? he must equally have predestinatctd and foreordained that there would be a non-elect chss. And to suppose that he foreordained that this non-elect class should suffer eternal torment nould be to suppose God a 111011~tr1 tl~~voitl of (\(1 v .P~I~II~JCII~ 01 iuiticsc. not to It1c11tion lode. And if God did not foreordain the non-elect to rtcrnal torment, neither could III have authorized any to use c+rnal tolmcnt a5 a threat ngain9t the non-elect-neither to mtimidatc thrm nor foi any other purposcl. Indeed, what object could there br on (:ods part in endeavoring to scare the w:~~~ltl of m:rnkintl into strivin,, * to be of the elect little.llock, D hen hc had a11ently Inrcdrqtinatcc! that only a small number r~rlnpa ratively coul~l be of this elect flock? The whole matter, \ ic ~ctl from any sue11 st.lndpoint, i4 unreasonable. Let ux notic?, on the contrary, that this eternal torment th~~ory may properly 1x cliargcd with ne:Lrly every deflection f :(,*:I tll!h (lo~.ttlllc t:t tilf. n(t(.p-.ity toy hoI1nt3;i OF lift on tIlc il.!1 t, Of C:O!!* IPCOlllf. K\ (zr)one nho has read with care ths t 1~1 i?i a very bi:h ~tanI1:iid. and that comparatively few:

Sure of Winning in Gods Election.] respecting the eternal torment, but also respecting the eternal bliss: and additionally it casts serious doubt upon the Book of divine revelation which is the only foundation for heavenly hopes, because they believe it to be also the authority for their hellish fears.
WHAT SAY THE SCRIPTURES RESPECTING THE NON-ELECT?

.~WOI~I~L'

t::i\ I (II, fl, ~oirltl hnvc :II,~ 11~1pe l)eing in the elect claqs, of -1:1n11.1 for that clnsq set in tile Scrinr.l to th llinl!

lHE

GENEROSITY

COMMENDABLE

BUT

THE

THEORY

WRONG

\\.v cannot lb111 LJ mIxi tlii/.:b ~iith the grrattr gencrositr of r.,lr day wllic~l~ 1~ q:rn~l~~.~lIy conlit]? to c!irn?vn such a theory, tlni/cb with th:tt sentiment which ha+ arid \va mr1st aI?0 ,.xv~~;x: 9ought to I ~ruc from ~ch an a\\ ful future the loved one9 of the lbreqellt life, Iio\vcvel evil :tnd inIuriou9 they may have Rut, while thi- incrcbn\c of benevolence is commend. tren. It is able it is bringing t!l,: letnedy from the wrong quarter. bringing a remedy lchich, nllllc it is tn some extent consoling to the heart momrntnrlly. nrverthelc~s leaves a terrible fear, lest peradventuro the high stands& of the Scripture and th:lt, all not coming up to thrm will may be rrquircd, In othcrn it lcads to dorrbtr, not only hnffer excrutintin@p
c.755.356)

In the Scriptures the non-elect arc of two classes: First. Those who in the present life mere (1) enlightened, (2) justified through faith, (3) called, and accepting the call were sanctified and begotten of the holy spirit, and started on the course with a view to making their calling and election sure -but who have not made it sure, but on the contrafy havP failed, by not coming fully up to the requirements. This class in turn is Scripturally divided into two parties:(a) Tnose who sin toilfully after that they have received a knowledge of the truth, and been made partakers of the holy spirit, etc. For those there remaineth no more a share in the sacrifice of Christ-no further mercy, opportunity or hope I0 tlirm the result i-. thr ercongl dr:i1ll---rlc~tlc~ritit~. trv:, G:-l-0; 10.26, 27. (b) The other class consists of those who, while at heart preferring righteousness and truth, and loving the T,ord, have not become copies of Gods dear Son, in that thev fail to attain to his Spirit of full devotion of heart to the doing of tht> Fathers will-rather they permit themselves to bcromc overc>hnrged with thr cares of this life and the deceitfulncs9 of riches, and thuw fail to complete that sacrifice accordin~~ tc : their (01cnant. aud hrncnc tsil to mitli~ thtqr (~~illitl; .lilti :nt, 1. CLlectinn sure. For these the Lord ha5 a q,icioil ~~rov1sic~n :IS 9uznested in Cev. 7 :I%15. COTI They will not bc utterly f.mnded, bccxusc they have trustrd in him (1~ 2~ 5) . :1uc! he will surely carry them through. Yet the Lord5 intervfzi t-ion on their behalf must be strictly along the line9 of Ilic csnvrnant and general plan-he cannot intcrferr with their free moral agency; hc will not coerce thrir wills. but he c:ln and will brine them to such a i>lacr of e\;nerirnc%c ai \\ill trst them and compel them eith& to renni;ncr tht,ir lnv:jlLv- to him or to seal that loyalty with their live+ Tho~wh; rep nounce the Lord will, of course. in so doina brinn unon them -dves the penalty of the srcond death. 1111:thocc who, under iuch compulsory circumstances, are faithful. cxnnnot br counte,! 3s of the same likeness with God9 dear Son. who, without compulsion, voluntarily gave up his life in the F.ithers sorvice. The little flock of the elect church will contain all of this class, and to them will hr granted the kingdom, and TV sit with Christ in his throne, and to he the temple of God and to have the crowns. (Rev. 3.21 ; 1 Pet. 5:4) But thP otherq, who will come up out of great tribulation, hiving washed their robes and made them white in the blond of this Lamb, altho they will have suffered equnlly as much a9 the elect (more indeed, if the mental conditions are tnkrn into consideration) will not. get a crown of virtolv, Imt :: palm oi victorv : will not eet a seat in the throne with their Lord. a~ his br&, but neve&eless an honorable place before the throne as servants. They will not become pillars and stones in the living temple of cod. but they mill have the honorable privilece of servinp God in his temnle, the church. v This class?9 not prominently referred to in the Scripturea. nor in the fy.pes and symbol9 even; because none were called to this poSitIon, but, as the Apostle declare9, Ye were all ral!ed in one hope of your calling--to the highest place of (Eph. 4:4) The position attained by these joint heirship. is an unpromised one, of the Lords abundant mercy. Second : The second class of non-elect from the Scriptural viewpoint is the world of mankind. including three classes:(a) It includes those who h:tre never had any knowledge of Gods provision of grace in Christ, and who consequentl\ could not have gone on fnrther to be of the called elect claaof this age. (b) It inrludes those who have heard of the grace of God. but in that indistinct, indefinite manner which does not bring conviction-those who have seen in Jesus something wonderful and great and admirable, but who have never-seers him from the Lords standnoint of Redeemer and Saviour-their eyes being blinded to the manifold evil lufluenuencrn the Yost of of this world, business or pleasure or love of money or distracting religiolv-. dogmas. These, not having seen and not having accepted Christ as the Redeemer, could go no further
I

[ 27321

~)ECEYBER

1, 1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(357-358)

and by no possibility could they have been amongst those called to the election of this Gospel age. (c) It includes those who have heard of Christ as the Redeemer, and have appreciated him as such, and have accepted him as their Saviour; but who like the nine of the ten lepers cleansed by our Lord at his first advent, thought not to return to give glory to God-thought not to- prese$, their bodies living sacrifices in his service. These havine reached the point of- justification were, undoubtedly, amongst the ones called; but they failed to make their calli?g and election sure, not caring to respond to the call. Of this class, apparently, are the thousands, the masses of church members of the various sects. They are glad for what they see, but not anxious to see any more, as, intuitively, they realize that further knowledge would bring greater responsibilities, which they desire to avoid and not even to think much about. These last mentioned receive the grace of God [the privilege of justification] in vain. (2 Cor. 6: 1) The intention of this reckoned or faith justification of the present time is to enable the justified onrs to present their bodies living sacrifices, holy, and acceptable to God,, their reasonable service; because they could not be acceptable to God as sacrifices, nor in any sense of the word come to his altar, while still they were sinners. Since to permit this sanctification and sacrifire is the only objcrt of tjle giving of this grace in the present time. thev have received it in vain. in that thev have not used It as God designed it to be used by those who are appreciative. Amongst this second class of non-elect, we may say that the vilest are too good to be turned over to devils for an eternity of torment, either mental or physical, and God their Creator was too wise to have ever made them in such a condition as to necessitate such an abominable result, so inharmonious with his character and with every sense of right and lustice, and necessitating the everlasting perpetuation of evil, upheld, and therefore sanctioned, by dlvme power. And Gods Word, rightlv understood, teaches no such thing. It is only where the false theory has corrupted and perverted the judgment that it is able and willing to construe such a theory from the parables, symbols and dark sayings of our Fnviour, instead of understanding and construmg them much more Ieaacnnhlv and in full accord with the divine character of Insticc, &sdom and lnvc.*
NO CONDEMNATION POSSIBLE UNTIL AFTER TRIAL

mstal card request

If the worst class of non-elect do not deserve eternal torment, the less degraded certainly would not deserve it; and Indeed we are to remember that none of them can deserve any punishment until first of all they have had their trial. True, the whole race had a trial in father Adam, in Eden, and when he lost in that trial the whole race lost life and came under But in harmony with the divine plan, the sentence of death. our Lord Jesus redeemed Adam and all his race by giving himself as the ransom-price for Adam and thus incidentally for all. We are to remember that Jesus was not only the Redeemer of the church, but also the Redeemer of the w-orld, He is a propitiation for our sins, and not 1s it is written: for ours [the churchs] only. but also for the sips of the ~lrolt loorld.-1 John 2.2 . . - See Whnt Say the Scriptures About Hell?-Sample sent free on

If then all these non-elect have been redeemed from the first trial and its sentince with the same precious blood which redeemed the elect church; and if the church, by the grace of God, has had her trial in advance of the world in general, and if the churchs trial was the result of the redemption, and without that redemption she could have no further trial for eternal life, is it not manifest that the same redemption has provided a trial for the whole world of mankind, as well as for the church of this Gospel aqe? And what matters it that the trial of the world did not take place at the sall~e time as the trial of the church? Has not the great God, our Saviour, the full right to arrange this matter of salvation according to his own wisdom? Who amongst fallen men is competent to direct him? And yet this is what Christian people have been doing; they have been attempting to arange the divine plan, instead of hearkening to Gods own revelation respecting the same. They have said, but he has not said, that the present life is the onlv onportunity for trial, and that this trial-time will end with the end of the Gospel age. He, on the contrary, has foreseen their misrppresentatinns of his plan, and haq rnused it to be written afnretime thrnuah the prophet: Mv thoughts [plans] are not your thoughts [plans], neither artvour wqv~ my ways, saith the Lord; for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my wavs hisher than vnur ways and my thoughts [plans] than your thoughts [plans].-Isa. X5:8, 9. The Scriptures tell us specificallv reqpecting the Lords plan for these non-elect. WC will give it first in our own language. phraseology, and then we will give the Scriptural They tell us that the church is being selected from the world in advance, in order that this little flock. thorounhlp trained in the school of euneriencr. thornupblv nolished and in full conformity to the Head, Ch;.ist Jeans.* i:, with their Hend and Lord, to constitute the Royal Priesthood, whose work will only begin after its election has heen completed and it has been received into glory; and that its work will be the j?&+g of the world of mankind, not in the sense of pronouncing condemnation upon them, but in the sense of granting to each member of the non-elect a trinl f iud_rrmentl for eternal life. That trial of the non-elect is euarnht&d. based u&n the great ransom-sacrifice wherewith all mankind were piirchaspd from And that the death-sentence that came unon all tbrouch Adam this trial-time, or day of thg worlds ju&ment, will be the Millennial day (a thousand genrs long). in the which full opportunity shall come to all. full knowledge of the Lord shall fill the whole earth, as the waters covpr the great deep, and a full blessing of eternal life mav be attained by whoever wills and obeys, of those then on trial ; and that the remainder (the unwilling and disobedient) will be destroyed in the second death. Among the many Scriptures supporting this presentation we cite two which are very pointed and should be fully satisfactory if there mere no others. God hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world [future] in ri&tenusness, by that man whom he hath ordained---&be Christ, Head and body.-Acts 17 : 31. Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world? -1 Cor. 6:2.

THE ULTIMATE

END OF THE COMMANDMENT IS LOVE FROM A PURE HEART AND A GOOD CONSCIENCE

Now the end [ultimate object] of the commandment is love from a pure heart and a good conscience, aud an undlssembled farth -which some, having failed [to discern] have turned aside to foolish talking.--l Tim. 1 :5. Not only in the Apostles day did many fail to get the true justice, and (2) because the doctrine, instead of cultivating idea of rehgion-the Lords commandments to his people, etc. or promoting holiness cultivates and promotes the reverse of -but many, probably an increasing number, have since simithis, as we shall show. larly failed. We may suppose that the method of the great The theory that the present life is merely to decide who are worthy of eternal joy. and whn ale wnrthv of c~ternal IOI,Ltlverqaru is to confuse the minds of those who arc fc>ellng after God and righteousness. It is thus, as the Scriptures merits, resolves itself finally In the general thought as signideclare, that he deceives the whole world-putting forms, cerfying that all fiendish characters may perhaps be worthy of emonies, theories and confessions instead of heart religion. some kind of ill-treatment to all eternity, provided they shall Those who teach the monstrous false doctrine that the presnot breathe a prayer of penitence at some time before they ent life decides the fate of every human being, either for eterexpire; but that all half-uav decent people are too rcsprctabl(> nal misery or for eternal jov, consider this doctrine the very or too good to justly merit an eternity of torture, and hence bulwark of pure Christianity and of holiness, consequently must be of the kind who will receive an eternity of hliss. many who really do not believe it tacitly give it their conThus this hell-fire doctrine, instead of promoting holiness, jent and approval, believing that in so doing they are forpurity of heart, promotes the reverse,-+arelessness as respects warding the cause of bolineqs. But this is a great mistake: anything except out and nut. murder and qeneral devilishness. this is one of the preat adversarys delusions, by which he On the contrary, the Scriptural doctrine makes no threat would make the piety of Gods people serve his cause, ( 1) beof eternal torment, and promlnes 9. full opportunity for every caause this doctrine dims the divine glory as respects love and human creature to come to a knowledge of the truth, either in [2733]

(359-360)

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

ALLEGHENY,

Pa.

the present life or in the next life, and thus, under the terme of the New Covenant, to avail themselves of the oDoortunitv for eternal life through the great atonement sacrifich finishe& at Calvary. This Scriptural doctrine is replete with the highest incentives to holiness, Duritv of heart and of life: because, instead of holtlmg fortl; a ieneral penalty of torture, it holds forth a just recompense of reward, a reward of blessing or of stripes which will be proportionate to the individual efforts of each to come into harmony with God and his holiness. First we hare the call of the Gospel church to become heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, in the Millennial kingdom, upon the condition of holiness of heart, and subsequently will come the offer of restitution and everlasting life in human perfection, to those of the world who similarly return to heart-harmony with the Lord. The Scriptures hold out no suggestion anywhere that eternal life will ever be given to any creature on any plane of esistence, except upon this condition of full. coml~lete heart-harmonv with the Lord. Anvthing contrarv to. or even short of, this perfect harmony with the Lord, nill. from the Scriptural standpoint mean the second death. Here then in the divine offer we have the highest inducement to strive for our closest possible attainment to perfection: and we are assured that such striving will ultimately, accordin,rr to divine favor. be rewarded with nerfect conditions I (in which absolute perfection will be possible)-in the resurrection. Manv there are who hare I-erv errnnenllr views of what is signified by the expression pure in heart ; one class considers this impossible of attainment in the present life; another class, no less mistakenly, considers this to mean absolute perfection in every thought, word and deed: and in believing that they fulfil these conditions, and in teaching others similarly, they are making a grave mistake. Answermg the la3t error first. we remark that it is possible for one-to deceive hlmself respecting his own heart and his own condition, RS for instance. annarentlv. the Pharisees i&feet, and that of our Lords day: claiming that theiwere they kept the whole lam, they were merely deceiving themselves, but not the Lord: by their self-deception, a form of hypocrisy, which blinding them to their own need of the robe of Christs righteousneqs, left them in the filthy rags of their own righteousness, unfit for the kinpdom. And so with some today, who claim perfection of thought, word and deed. They have blinded themselves to their own weaknesses. imnerfections and errors, and are in a far worse conditidn &an he who, tho outwardly less moral, is at heart better in the Lords sight, because honest in confessing his unworthiness. because foi s&h the Lord has provided f&giveness of sins,>overing with the robe of Christs righteousness. Nevertheless, those who think that purity of heart is an impossibility in the present life are likewise mistaken. Their mistake arises from-not seeing a wide distinction between a purity of heart and a Derfection or righteousness of all the &or& and deeds of life.- The heart, as &Sea in this text, refers to the mind, the will, the actuating intentions or motives of the man. With this thought before the mind, it is easv to see that one might he pure of heart. that is of pure intentions, and yet confrss himself unable to do and to be all that his good intentions desire and endeavor. He \vhoqe heart is pure toward the Lord in Christ is the same one whose eve is sinele. the same one who is not dnuhle-minded but single-minded: &h&e mind. nill. heart. seeks first, last and alwavs the will of God. Henre the eyhortntion of the Bpostle, Purify your hearts, ye double-minded.--+Jas. 4 : 8. Rut how can this condition of puritv of heart be attained? Is this to be our message to sinners--purifv vour hearts? No the Gospel does not call sinners to nuriivtheir hearts: on the cnntrnrr it declareq it to he an impossihle thing for the sinner to purify his heart; a fullers soap, which the sinner does not posseqs. is needed to cleanse the heart and bring it into that attitl!de of relationship with God and his will which will be pure and acceptable in his sight. On the contrary, sinners are called to repentance-called upon to confess that not only their outward lives are imperfect, short of the glory of God. hnt that their hearts also are rebellious, impure and in sympathy with impurity. After the sinner is repentant for sin, desirmg to come into harmony with the Lord and his righteousness, he is pointed to the great atonement for sin, and is drawn to the great Redeemer, through a desire to be made free from sin and to come into harmony with God. When this step has been taken-when the sinner having repented of his sinq, and having made restitution so far as possible, accepts Christ and the pardon he offers, and seeks to walk in the way [2734]

of righteousness, then he is justified,-justified freely from all things, from which the law could not justify him-justified by faith through the blood of Christ-brought nigh to God, into relationship with him, and caused to know the joy and peace of his forgiving love. When this is accomplished, when justification by faith has been established, when the sinner is reckoned and treated as no longer a sinner, but as reconciled to the Father, then his heart may be said to be pure, cleansed from the sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. But now arises a new question with the reformed one: while past sins are graciously covered, weaknesses of the flesh are present, and temptations of the adversary are on every hand. He starts to walk forward, but finds himself beset by the world, the flesh and the devil; what shall he do? A heart searching probably begins there: finding himself incapable of guiding himself, or of keep ing himself, his proper course is to accept another offer of divine grace, namely. the second step in our great salvation. He hea& the voiceof the Lord, through the Apostle, saying, I beseech vou. therefore, brethren. bv the mercies of God [manifested in the covering of your sins], that ye present your bodies living sacrifices, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. The reformed one, if rightlv instructed. realizes his inability to stand in his own strength. realizes that his only hope of maintaining justification granted to him lies in getting the Lord to take charge of him. At first he may think to go into partnership with the Lord, and to say, Some of self and some of thee, some of mv own will and some of the Lords will; but rightly in&u&d he finds that this will not be satisfactorv to the Lord: that the Lord will accept him, and become >esponsible fo; him, and guarantee h<m glorious victory and eternal reward, only upon this one condition, namely, a full self-surrender, a full consecration of heart. It is after the Pinner has come through all this process and has made a full consecration of his heart to the Lord. that he is of the class described in our text, one of the pure in heart, under the law of love, the law of the New Covenant. But notwithstanding the purity of his heart, his motives, his intentions. his will, to fulfil the Lords great commandment, which is briefly comprehended in one word, love,-he will find that he has a battle to wage. that the law of his members, depraved through heredity in sin, is a strong law of selfishness. in onnosition to the new law. to which he has pledged himself, t6e law of his pure heart br new heart or will,--the law of love. Hence, as the Apostle suggests in our text, we must learn that the ultimate end or object of the divine commandment or law, means LOVE,-even tho we do not find ourselves thorouehlv able to live UD to everv minute particular and requireto-live up to the requireme& bf that law. Yet our &ability ments of that law must be through no lack of the will. or intentions of the loyal and pure h&-t toward the law, and toward the Lord whose law it is: whatever failure we make, however short we may come of the grand ultimate object before us, it must be solely because of weaknesses of the flesh, and benetments of the adversary which our pure hearts, or wills failed to resist. And here the Lords promises are helpful, assuring us that he knows our weaknesses and frailties, and the wiles of our great adversary, the devil, and the influence of the spirit of the world. which is contrarv to the spirit of love: he tells us that we may go freely to %he throne of the heavenly grace, and obtain mercy in respect to our failures to live up to the grand standards ahich our hearts acknowledge, and seek to conform to; and that we may also find grace to help us in every time of need. And, availing ourselves of these mercies and privileges provided through our great High Priest, we are enabled to fight a good fight against sin. to repulse its attacks upon our hearts and to drive it off if it shall succeed in invading our flesh. Thus, and thus only, may the Christian keep himself pure in heart, preserving his stand as one of the fighters of the good fight, one of the overcomers of the world and its spirit. There will be a tendency on the part of the flesh, and the mind of the flesh, to deceive us in respect to this commandment of love. The mind of the flesh wiil seek to go into partnershiD with the new mind. and will be verv readv to recoenize I&e as the rule and law of life: under cUerteinconditio& The mind of the flesh would recognize love in words, in profession, in manners-a form of godliness. without its Dower. Gentle-manners, such as love wo;ld demand, may be exercised bv a selfish heart deceivinn itself. and seekineto deceive others ; on the lip may be the0 smile; the word orpraise, of kindness, of gentleness, while in the heart may be feelings of seldsh-

DBCEMBEII

1. 1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(360-361)

ness, of grudge, of bitterness? of animosity, which, under favorable conditions, may manifest themselves in more or less carefully worded slander, or backbiting, or reproaches. Or these, continuing in the heart and rankling, may, under favorable conditions, bring forth anger, hatred, malice, strife and other wicked works of the flesh and of the devil, wholly contrary to the proper course of a pure heart, and an utter variance with the commandment of the law of the New Covenant --love. We are, therefore, to have clearly before our minds the fact that the ultimate object of all the divine dealings for us and with us, and the ultimate significance of all the divine romises made to us is the development of love, which is godEkeness for God is iove. And to have this love developed in us, in the sense and to the degree intended by the Lord, it is necessary that it shall come from a pure heart, in full accord with the Lord, and his law of love, and wholly antagonistic to the adversary and his law of selfishness. To have this kind of love in its proper development requires also a good conscience: for be it remembered that there are bad consciences, -our consciences require regulating, as do all the other features of our fallen nature. If our consciences are to be regulated we must have some standard by which to set and regulate them. The conscience is like a watch whose dial is properlv marked with the hours, but whose correctness as a timekeeper depends upon the proper regulating of its mainspring, so that it mav point out the hours truthfully: so our consciences are reidi to indicate right and wrong to us, but they can only be relied upon to tell us truly what is right and what is wrong after being regulated in connection with the new mainspring, the new heart, the pure will, brought into full harmony with the law of love, as presented to us in the Word of God.~ Our text also points out the necessity for an undissembled faith. And here, we believe, is one of the important difficul-

ties besetting many who are in the nominal churches: they are not honest; they are not conscientious in respect to their faith. If they believe differently from the denomination they have been connected with, they are willing to dissemble their faith, to misrepresent it, because they fear a disturbance in the church; they fear to be thought peculiar; they iear to lose the esteem of fellow-Christians ( wheat) who might understand them, and of fellow-associates (tares1 who would be sure to misunderstand them, and speak evil love the praise of men more than they love the else thev would not risk the disfavor of God lation of conscience, and a dissembling of their faithrin order to maintain the friendship of the world and of the nominal church. We urge that all our readers consider carefully, studiously, the words of our text, remembering it is those who miss this true thought who are not only missing the opportunity of the present time to be overcomers of the world. and the opportunity of the future, to be joint-heirs with Christ in his kingdom, but who, additionally, are lending influence now in the wrong direction! and are likely to be turned aside to foolish talking, preaching and teaching and discussing matters which are illoeical. irrational. nonsensical : because their hearts have becvme darkened through neglect -of the principles which the Lord has set forth for the government of those who are new creatures in Christ Jesus. And sometimes the matter goes bevond foolish talking. and the heart becomes embitt&ed and corrupted: love ?s cast out of the heart. and selfishness takes its nlace. and from it flows words of bitterness, anger and evil,instcad of words of love, kindness, gentleness, mercy and goodness. Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the Blessed are the mere in heart, issues of life -life or death. for they shall see God.

CLAIMING, RECEIVING

AND ADMINISTERING
LUKE

A KINGDOM

19: 11-27.-DEC. 23. Every one of us shall give account of himself to (fool.-Ram. 14:12. sition. Thus we see that those who heard this parable were Naturally enough the fact that Jesus was on his way to much more likely to be appreciative of its significance than Jerusalem, the city of the great King, and that he had deflthe maioritv of the neople of todav would be. because cusnitely acknowledged himself as the Messiah, and that he was toms oi the present time are so different exercising a great influence amongst the people, and that It was understood by those who heard the parable that the under this influence the rich Zacchaeus had been soundly conLord referred to himself as the nobleman. that heaven was verted, led the disciples to believe that when they reached the far country, that Jehovah himself was the great King, Jesusalem, then only fifteen or twenty miles distant, they whose commission was essential to the establishment of the would immediately see tangible evidences of the establishMessianic kingdom, and that Jesus disciples were the servment of Gods kindgom-that they would see Jesus assume ants to be entrusted with the Pounds, and that those who regal robes, power and authority, and that they themselves would not have him rule over them were more or less in love would be associated with him in the throne of power, and and in league with the darkness of sin. Everyone who opthat sneedilv Israel would arise from t,he dust to be the dominant nation of the world, and through its laws, at the mouth poses righteousness, or who loves and serves unrighteousness, is thereby declaring his opposition to the reign of righteousof Messiah, supported by his dlvme powers, would bring blessing to every nation, people, kindred and tongue. ness, which the Lord proposes to establish in the earth in due It was in view of this erroneous expectation that our time,-when his kingdom shall come and his will shall be Lord gave the narable of this lesson-to noint out to the done on earth as it is done in heaven. discipl&, and viguely to others, that kingdom glories were There is in this lesson a severe rebuke (which alaq 1 is yet a considerable distance in the future, and that before not often recognized) to those who claim that the kingdom they could be expected he must leave them and go to the of God was set UP at Pentecost. Thev must see. unless thev central seat of government and deceive his commission from with more or less wilfulness close the eyes of their undeiJehovah, the Father, and return; and that meantime he standing, that this parable is against their theory, and teaches would give to some of his servants a work to do in his name that the kingdom is not to he espected to be set up until which would prove their loyalty, their love, by their faiththe return of Messiah at his second advent. It is also a refulness. buke to those who claim that in some manner, incomprehenThe figure used as the basis of the narable was one with sible to themselves or anybody else, the second advent took which the people of Jericho were quite familiar. place IS00 years ago, at the time of Israels overthrow, about They had in their city the palace of Herod, and knew that when his A. D. 70. They must see, unless with a certain amount of father, Herod the Great, died, Herod Archelaus, then king, wilfulness they close their eyes of understanding against it, set out on a mission to Rome, to the court of the Csesars, that nothing at all corresponding to a second advent of Christ the rulers of the world;-the object of the mission being to took place at that time-nothing corresponding to the setting obtain Cesars authority an investiture of government as up of his kingdom occurred there: nothing corresponding to the king of Judea instead of his deceased father. Thev knew the calling of those of his servants and reckoning with them that Hzrod returned, fully equipped with authority, a;d was and rewarding them with places in the kingdom took place in consequence the ruler. They knew also that when he there; nothing corresponding to the calling of his enemies went to Rome a deputation of citizens of Judea was sent who would not have him rule over them, and the punishment after him to make complaint against him, and to urge that of them, took place there-in A. D. 70. he be not appointed;-and to inform Caesar that the govIndeed, the parable is opposed to everv theory respecting ernment of the Herods was no longer desired by the people the kingdom except for right theory, and it is in full accord of Judea. Josephus savs that this deputation of opponents with it; because the right theory is not a human wish or who went to Rome numbered 500. The people probably also whim or conjecture to help substantiate some human proremembered that when Herod Archelaus returned with kinelv gram of events, but is the sum and substance of all the teachpower he first of all rewarded his faithful retainers with ings of the divine Word brought into harmonious unison and various offices throughout the kingdom, and subsequently interpreted thus, Scripture throwing light upon Scripture, dealt harshly with those who had manifested their oppoby the holy spirit. c27351

(36: 363)

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

ALLEG~IEYY, 1~

Those who heard the parable might have conjectured that it reouired months. or nossiblv years for its fulfilment; but probably none of them Aexpectkd that it would require more than eighteen centuries-because, as natural men, they would bc disposed to look at matters from the natural standpoint, from the standpoint of seventy to a hundred years as being the limit of human life. Snr did the tll~ciples even know ~IOW to view matters from the divine standpoint until after they Under its enlightenment, howhnd rrreivcd thr holy spirit. +v(r. thp ApoTtlc tcllq 119 plainly that A day with the Lord I$ as a tlJoll<and years.--2 Pet. 3:8 .qs tIJe Rc~ise,l Iersion points out, the ten servants to \vhrlrn the pnu~~ds were given were only a part of all the no-

preceding those who are alive and remain at the present time. But the living ones pass through an experience of testing (the ending of their trial) before thev die; thev must give an account; judgment must pass respekting .them; they must either be gathered. as wheat into the barn or be left in the field where the tares are shortly to be burned. Fortunately for us, the reckoning is not one of an instant,, but time is granted to II~ to make up our account. and blessed is he who, finding that he has not been as faithful ac he might have been in-the past, is now putting forth rednuhled energies-redeeming the time (grasping opportunitie+-Eph. 6: Ifi), in order to make as favorable an account as possible while our King is waiting to receive them and willing to show us all the favor that could be desired. tJlPln:lIJ~ Wrv:lnts: thy \\Ywld Seem to represent the co%w Tci servants were chosen as a generaI number to repre~c~trt! (~I:LHL: who 11a\e profeh<;cd full tlc\otion to the Lord, and qcnt all of the ronqerrated. but only three of t,hePc are men to WI 11 of \\lJorn Jc CI\ CTJ :i ~I~ecJal gift or blessing, not given tioned as illustrations of faithfulness and unfaithfulness to oihl~rc of fhe q(Lr\ants of thr hoJJsehold of faith. This Thus the Lord avoids even intimating how many of the whole z;~r~:~l gift or IJ~C\~III~ v(I~+ to be rctferred to by the Apostle, number of consecrated will prove faithful to t,hcir mnsecraHlICIl IIC %lys, -1 IIJ(~;IYI~~C of the spirit is given to every tion and enter into the lays* of the Lord-into the kingdom 117.111 (1~ tlke tlll(t. (c il-lsc.r,rtcLll c+ll~lrclll to profit with:il. (I and to share with him in the throne: and how manv of them Car I2 7 I It 1. the iani~~ gift to all, the &me spirit amongst will fail to he accounted worthy of theqe honors and blcas.~ll. \\orI,JnL in ail of till5 rlaqs. and the dntv of each onr is ings: and how many of the latter may be counted worthy of to 11~ thiq zifi Of tile Lortl for its increase; and thP more thr sernnd death: and how many of them will crimp, through ::n(l tbc mot c 111s faithfulness the larger may IllU dc\ot~on f;litlJfnlneF.~ in tribulation. to bc honored servants in tltl tJC the rc5Jllt.. kingdom.-Rev. 7 :!I-1 5. of the \\ 1 <I I r to Ill11 I( 0 :I tlilrc~rcJJcc between this paratlle The cnrmics of the King are all to be &in. after he takel~~ill<l. a11ci :I v)J~J(\\II,I~ ,lmilar one of the Ta!enti. The 1~) ltimsrlf hi4 great nnwer and hcrins his reien; Thr last enemy that shill be &stroyed is death. Snnle ~woiild hli~ pest that this qlayinl; will be with thr sword of the spllit. and in-plv a universal salvation; bnf to Our untlrr&Jntlin: such ai interprctatinii woiild lie &tcrl,v at variance with thc Rnirit of the narnblc. and hence sonhi~tic:~l. and unworthr nt any one c~l&in~ rither hnnestv or abilitv as n tcClr*?!rr in tJJnitit%q .\I C to Ire: ~JJ;,lcrstoc,,l aq irnplir~t, bec,lusP the T:ortl I&WI. ThGlre ol;qht to he a r&JsnnxlJI~ rcl~ltionchil~ brtwrrn oi 111, 011e nlin rained foul c~\prc+rtl :I\ IIWII~~ :rl~p~owl tltf. fipure of the narnhl(b and the rralitr. :I< it WIII 1~ fill]llllls 2. IJP (Ii.1 111<,,II,~ \XIi0 ~aJii(~11 nine. Both did well, filkd. To our u;derstnnding the qlagir;g of the rncrniclImt IJ w1rc p~,c,tl 11ot?1 \\cre IalthfJtl. Thr one with greater represents clearly and di<tinctlv the puni,hmcnt wlJirlJ thr t,llcnf< in of~lrr to 11(-~v~II~III\ i,lithful witlJ the one of fewer Lord prrsrribes for the e!JcnJics of ri~lJt,Y?lJsncis. 7 I: . tlJ( t,llVJltS. .~hol/~tl I*( u7,ir: I<, :~nrl ~tinulrl hl1ow larger rrqults: serond death. However, this by no mcanr \iKnificlq th:Jt ali auf1 tlic rc\\aJ11. pi\ (II v ~~ultl wm to inlply the same thingthe people (aside from the specially tructetl servants) arc that CrwtcxI s.10rltic*es in 111~ plescnt timp work out a far enexmrq. It was not so in the parable, which rathrr implie+ tnorf1 r~~~c~liu~ .Jntl c~t(~rri,ll weight of glory. And this em(1 \ The kingls servants; (2 1 those sprcinll? four classes: ph:Jcizcv tlJc> III-11 IIC~IOII-: +)f :I previous lr~-~)n. rhowiny th,lt tllW( WllO ilJ(t ) If /I 111 t,lt~Wt-. c!]Jpf~i tulllfi(.S :Itld pri\ilt.g(% Jt granted the pounds for use 111his service; (3) the ritizcns (4) the class of the latter opposed to the king, his laws, rtr f:lJlIJfJJl :rc*lJic\c ;I 1:1rcrr \ic tory and a still grander reward thxrl the+< who :I,, poort*r and who thrretorr sacrifice less, After the kingdom has been estalJlishrd under the King tll*) tllP +Jc.rJfic*irJ:: 1~ rlon~ in IJoth cases with the same spirit, and his then exalted servants, we may bc sure thclt all in whicnll in IJnth ii tllnroJl~hlv acrcptnblc to God, pronounced harmony with him will hsre cause to rejoice in his favor and well Ilone. nlrrl tlJt* s(aJ \:lnt f:1itllfiil and rrootl. the IJltqqincrs of the kingdom: and if some of the citizens had misunderstood thr Kinks rharnctcr. hayin? ll(~nrtl 111nl tJ:J du(aed and slandered. they will soon perceive, under the blessed conditions of the ?clJllrnnial day. how groqslv the Prince of this World had misrepresented the chararier o? the Prince of Peace. tellincr them that he (the Iattcr) had a alace of eternal torment irepared for them, into whirh he would surelv cast nine-tenths oi their number, etc.. etc. When these berrinto have the eveq of their understantlinrz oprncd so that the hpht of the &nowledpe of the gondnpsq of God. 3liining in the fare of the new King. will bring thrm enlight enment and iorful nrivileges hitherto undreamed of, many of ingtead of longer beinq enemies and than. 1lnqlleQtYonxbiv. hating the King and hating hiq rule, will become staunch friends and snunorters. and will rejoice greatlv that they arc freed from the yoke of thp former prinre. Sitan. anh will reioice in his binding, which makes possible their liberation from the bondage of ignorance, superstition, fear and calumny. It will require all of the thousand years to demonstrate who are thP friends of truth and righteousness and who tbeil cncmies. The e?~en~ies of righteousness, are enemies of God and of Christ. and of all who are in harmony with I ighteousnrss ; and this separation from the Kings friends ib to t:li,(> 10 lli~rJ.r~~r III; grcs,lt l,ow(r and r,liCn; RI,~ whrn. preSrriptural!p representrd as the separating of the goats p:~i:ltor+v 111111:1t. Ilizrt. Ilc I\ r<7l-.oning with his crrvnnts now that Mil from thr sheep. whirh will progress throughout to plnrcq in the II\ l!lI. \! Ill :, \ I( I to tll+ilr nIlp,Jintmcnt lrnnial period, and eventuate in the gathering of all the k,!1~~0111IIV I. :~Ix,~it to iJJ.lJJ~~uratc. It i? from this standsheep to the right-hand of the Kings favor, and the gathpoint flt.it \\I Ji~l~~~lJr~~l111~- ibting3 ant1 sifting9 now in erinp of all thr goats, of contrary dispositions. to the left}JrClL(rWY aml~llg-t tIgab ~~on~c~ralc~l oIJc9 in and out of all the hand of his disfavor,-where, because of their wilful and inEPV~U of (l~r~.tc~J~tl~~r~J.TII~~ Lord your God provcth you, reiertion of the principles of righteousness (the wllclllc~r v: tlo III\? 1111) l.ortl \oJ:r God or 110. Ircscnl tJ 11111 telligent 1:~~s of his kingdom), they will be counted not his servants ant1 1)7~~~~ntr~r,rrtlitJon~ :IJi tc.tirJg and showing to wh:tt exor messengers, but the servants or messengers of Satan, and t*anf tllr,c.cs tvho II.I\ c JcL**cxi\ tllc T,rtrd, f,Jvnr iirc f;l itliful clrl in the symbolical IIIIS clock not inJl)ly tlJat nthrrs of this class who have died n 9 surh thev will meet their de+urtion is the second death.-Rev. 20:14: Matt Jn tl~c p:r+t of tIJi\ :~~,tc :Ir( ignored : on the c*nntl?rv tlJr Scarinlake of fire, %hich ?.T.:x 1--IfI.* tur(hq ac\urr? II\ tlJat they would be dealt with first, ant1 that thaw nrcnl1ntrd worthy hnv11 a share in the first resurrtxf+ion -9 See our issue of March 15 and April 1. 1900, page 101. 127361
d
I I

11

THOU

CROWNEST THE

YEAR

WITH

THY

GOODNESS

PSALM 65 : 1 l.-DEC. 30. who protess the name of Christ enjoy these precious experiWhat more appropriate lesson could have been chosen for ences, or will be able to look back upon the year with satisIt is fitting that the Lords people the close of the year! faction of this kind, realizing that God has crowned the year should continually keep trace of the mercies and blessings Many who cannot rejoice in the goodwith his goodness! they enjoy-otherwise the pressure of the cares of this life ness which we have enumerated foregoing, will nevertheless and the deceitfulness of riches would so crowd in upon our return thanks for temporal good things- and mercies, and minds and hearts a? to rover from our ohqervations and ultistrive to neer into the darkness with which an in<ufFicient mately choke up completely the springs of divine grace, knowlrdge-and an insufficient faith enshrouds the trialq and whlcah, kept oncn. minister continually to our jov and redifficulties of life, which to them are incomprehensible and freshment in the holv Spirit. sources of no joy, and generally of little advant~agc; because To this end it is ippiopriate that we have a dally review they have not taken the necessary step of full consecration to of the blessings we enjoy-that every evening we call to the Lord. to bring them under his proterting care and under mincl the privileges enioyed, the providcnces which have the enlightening influence of his \Vo~d through 111sspirit: or, guided our way, and the blessings, both temporal and spirithaving taken the step of consecration, they have not been perual, whicah have come to us; some of them in common with fornnng their vows, but seeking to serve both (:otl and Mamthe world in general and others of a special kind. known to mon. without pteaqlnrr either, and without receivmg satisfacand appreciatkd by those only who knbw the Shepherd and tory blessing from either. arp known of him:- who hear his voice and to whom the rod and staff, his rhastenings and guidance, are continually The class which can and does look back through the pear ,I romfort and a iov. from the standpoint that we have desc~ribc,c!--the .rlaqs which It is apnropriiti,. too, that we take weekly reviews, look looking back can see that Gods nootlneqq has crowned every Inp nt thP \amc mercies and blessings from a still broader feat& of life thron,ohout the y&;r. is the little flo~*k. thk true Church, whose names are written in heaven,-the body &ndpoint of observation. reminding & of the rest into which wo hnvc entered through faith in the precious blood. and of Christ the hrlde class. Thev arc tlosr~ibrd hv the Prophet Thev arc the true Zion, of God. whereof alqo of thr rpst that remains for the wonle in preceding verses of this Psalm. God his ,oi\rn 11~ aqsurance in thqt dn ihe first day of the which sh?ll shortlv br set up, fillc~l with divine glo~v. the joy week he raised up Jesus from the dead.-Heb. 4:3, 9. of the whole earth. and the divine channel of hlessinr to 41 For out of Zion A111 ~0 the Law, the famllirs of mankind; R11t it is with special appropriateness that at the close and the word of the Lord from Jelusalenl.-TTt;~r the ~)i tllc still larcrr rvclr ot a ve?r WC should t,lke a ctill hrontlcl Prophet :aml morp cnmprphcnsive vie& of our experiences. looking rirrum~pwtly at the way we h?re traveled- and considerinf well which It LW been the s;tcps which hindered progress, and which Praise waitetli for thee, 0 God, in Zion: ha\r hc,cn proper strpq in the footprints of Jesus, brinqing Ant1 unto thee <hall the vow he perfnrmed. II~ nrlrrr to the goa!-the mark which we must surely at0 thou that hcarest prayer, unto thee shall all Acsh tain if VP wnl:ld be accounted worthy of a share in the promcome ! ised kinfzdom. Iniquities prevail aeainqt me: as for my transgrcssionq, thou shalt purgr them away. A vcsar mav stem a lonzer or a shorter period. according Blessed is the man whom thou choosest. and causeat to to the ~*irc~lim\tance~. To the mind of childhood it is a vm-9 approach unto thee. Ion!! p+r)tl while to n:orC tlcrelop~d minds. filled with the That he mav dwell in thv rnurts. artivitic< of life. it seems mllrh shorter--ppeedina all too rapUe shall beUsatisfierl with thr goodness of thy IIOIW. idly to ptlrmit the accomplishment of all the things desired The holy place of thy temple. to IIC achieved. Then again. the vear will seem Dronortion1 I atrlv lnncr a? it has coitainrd driu,rrhts of bitter experience nr &ffninp, of the rlrct churc~h. of which mental or phvsical;--proportionately short, as Here we have a description Christ i< the Head, and all the faithful royal prieqfq who, it 11~4 cnntninrd inrs and nleasures whirh seem to SliD awav now fulfilling their vows of snc,rifirr. are companions in the all too quicltlv. T n n certain extent such experienreq are sufferin? of Christ, as hv and hv thry shall bc hiq compancommon to ail mankind: yet the Christian. especiallp if he havr Ijl>rn for qome time in the ~hnol of Christ and is someions AJW in the glory that shall be revealed. (Ram. 8:17, what drlc~loprd hnth in knowledge and in grace, bus a larger 18) Thrp are Gods choice. or 111s rlr&. for, as the Aposthat this c*lacs whom he cnp,lrsiiv th,ln othrrs for graspin: and appreciating life: be- tle informs 119. God JIIS predestinated C~WC no matter how unqnnnrl hiq natural mind may have will rhnncr qhall all be copieq of his Son. (Ram. 8.29) They heen IIC II~$ now the mind of Christ, the spirit of a sound shqll dwrll in hiq house-lhev will htl mrmber~ of thp treat stones, mind. whic~h is far better ahir th?n the natural mind to es- temple which the J,ord God is lmil~lin~ of qpiritunl tim:ltc> matter-; nt their true worth. in and throunh whirh he will blesq t,hp world with a knowledge of himself and hiq grace.-1 Prt 2.4-S. Such nn advanred Christian looks back throug! the year and rprnlls lifts storms RS well as its sunchine, its snrrnws Is it any wonder that these can reioicr in spirit. saving. as well as its joys, is tears as well as its SmileS, and sorrows Praiqe thrb Lord. 0 mv soul. and fnrgrt not all hi< hcnrfits? not as ntllers who have no hope (but who. instead. hire more He hath put a npw song into mv mouth. rvrn the lnbingkindness of nllr God. IS it, anv wonder tltqt three lookina or lcus of vague frnr and dreirl of the future, both of present life :lnd that which is to come). His troubles have heen dibark can qee in the year that isl)PSt that wl1ic.h 1i:l-q hJr~qq& vestctl of thrir hobgohlin features. and minimized hv the spirit and reioiced them in every srnse of the wortl 11:1% hrrn of diof a w1111~1 nlinrl, and the lnrtrurtinns of Gods \\ortl. whirh vinr Fnodncss, and that thus Got1 11-1~: ciownrtl the whnlr vcar .iq:sur(c all such that the trials, diffirultieq and adversities of with hiq flrnr tomnrd thrm? Tlio;r ca.ln s?v with faithful life rlLrhtlv nrrepted as lessons, are hlesqings in disguise.,Joihuq Not one thin? hnth f;lilrrl of all the good things which the T,nrd your God spalw --.JO~~IIII 23.1-k. whir*\) will wnrk out a far more exceprling and an- eternal w.tliLht of glory in the life to come.-2 Cor. 4:10, 17. Thcsc arc a<qured hv thrir J,nrtl that in the F:ttiler? hnuce art: mnnv mansions. manv cnnclitinnq, Suit:lbl(* HQ will perceive too. that his joys havr been of a purer to the lpnnv kinds of hiq intrllicrnt rrrntnrp<: nrvand :I more Golid kind than anv hc ever knew hrfore he was erthrlr<s thrrr was no mnnqion for thc,m hccanuqr thrv were he:rottrn of thp holy Spirit. They have not had commingled to be a new nltiire. partakrrs of tli(l divinr n:lturr. and with t!lem the hlttrrncss of envy, malice and hatred hut have hencBc it would hr nrrrqsnrv for him to YO awPv ansi prehave not heen rejoirinps in bern nnallovetl : hecause thrv pflrca n )~lncp for thcnz-a hr:i\-rnlv rontlition TJlrcc. I\nnw iniquity. hut rejnicinrs in thr truth. Moreover, thev have that thc,v must hr 1)rcpared for thr plarr. nq wrll :I< the%place been much mnre numernus than ever brforc: hccausr hr not onlv is able to joy in the Lord, joy in his Word? joy iI1 t.11~~ hp prrljarcrl for tJlc;m . arc rn:rl,lcad to rc,lniczr llntlcr rvrlv blow of tllc ti~r~ni(~r of diqrinlinr. t)er:luir tllcv r(La117c 11i.lt it i? a holv spirit. iov in frllowqhip with brethrrn of 111~~ prllollpart of thr Matters work in thrir prc,pnr:rtion to fill the faith. but bv the crate of God hc has hren enlhled addltionbl?Cr to whirl1 thrp havr hcPn rnllrd in lhr Falhcrs hour-allv to iov *in trihulation also;-not because he loved trihuwhirh ll.ill he the nllre of Gods temnlr. in which thev arc laijon, hui because he loved the patirnce, the experienre. the to hr livinr stones.LEph. 2:lO. character, which God assures u$ are a fruitage which all tribulatlnns mud yield us under his providence. if we are rightlv And if the evnrrienrrq and wntimentq of thiq little flock nre heyontl the ken of thr natural man, hiq nrichbors and exercised thereby.-James 1:3, 4; Rom. 5 :3. Of whom are all those things true? Not of every man, Drspisrd and rejrcxted of men friends, is it anv wonder? surely for alaql we know many who have no surh esperithrv are nevertheless God9 rovll prie~thnntl ; as deceivers, ence-the world that lieth in darkness knows not God. Nor and vf+ true: as unknown and vet wrll known: aq dving, are these experiences true of all people of intelligence-nomand behold thev live-a life more ahnndant. In nll these inally Christians. Surely but comparatively few of those thinq they ha& cause to rejoice. realizing that the path
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Pa.

in which they tread has in it the footprints of him who redeemed them and became the leader and forerunner of this priesthood. The world knows us not, even as it knew him not. As we thus review the leadings of divine providence during the year that is past, let Gods goodness and mercy stimulate our faith and confidence in him as respects the New Year coming in. A proper retrospect on the part of a proper

child of God will enable him not only to render thanks for the past, but to look up an lift up his head, realizing that our deliverance is nearer than when we first believed; and that he that began a good work in us is both able and willing to complete it, if we will but continue to submit our wills, our lives, our all, to his wisdom and loving care.-Rom, 13: 11; Phil. 1:6; 1 Pet. 5:5, 6.

NO WEAPON

FORMED AGAINST
ISAIAH 54 : 17.

THEE

SHALL PROSPER
by th,e errors of Mr. A. 8. WOBRELL. GA., Aug. 14, 1899.

Our publications have many able enemies, yet one and ~111 they are powerless in their opposition. As ii the harvest of the Jewish age the Scribes, Pharisees and Doctors of the Law, when they could not resist the truths then due, gnashed upon him with their teeth, but could not answer him, so it is now in the harvest of the Gosnel ane. Their rage is impotent except as it resorts to misrepiesenration and sophistical trickery which the Lord assures us cannot decelve the very elect. about ten years ago a certain Professor Morehead (himself tabooed by many as a heretic because of his advocacy of pre-millennarian views) wrote an article for the United Presbyterian in which he did his worst to defame MILLENh-r& DAWN. The article was reprinted as a tract in various quarters by persons laboring under similar misconceptions of divine and human justice. These are published by some three or four parties-none of whom, probably, ever read the books he seeks to defame. We did not consider Prof. Moreheads tirade worthy an answer, believing as we still do, that honest people (of whom alone we need expect to find the saints whom we seek) would be quite able to discern the professors sophistry. The below correspondence will be interesting to our readers as showing the correctness of our supposition that honest children of God are not misled by the Adversary and his agents.
CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN TWO MINISTERS RE MILLENNIAL DAWN AND THE MOREHEAD SMOKE

May you, my dear sir, not be ruined Respectfully, Russell.

ATLANTA, REV. A. S. WORRELL, receiving DEAR SIR- .-On

(Brother Seddon, as we understand it, was at the time Recording Secretary of the Southern Chautauqua Assembly of Atlanta, Ga., and Bro. Worrell a visiting speaker at its Evangelical Alliance prayer service. The matter has been held over for some time now in order to permit Bro. Worrell to find time for a reply justifying his position, but all in vain.)
ATLANTA, DEAR BR~THEII GA., Aug. 11, 1899.

RUSSELL:-You will probably be interested in the enclosed. which will exnlain itself. Kindlv return to me the letter tb Bro. Worrellre the Morehead &act. Keep the latter, however, if you can use it in any way. [The letters follow in their order.] Yours fraternally,
ATLANTA, REV. A. S. WORRFJ.L, DEAR BROTIIER:-1 GA., A. E. SEDDON. Aug. 2, 1899.

was in the Alliance prayer-meeting afternoon when, in the close of your address, you denounced ah unscriptural the teachings of C. T. R&sell of Allegheny City, Pa. I regret that the necessity of your having Immediately to patch a train deprived me of an opportunlty I greatly desirrd to ask you in what particulars in vour oninlon the tearhinca of the MILLENNIAL Dawn series I have read four volumes of that jf books are nnscripturalr serleq, and other writings of Bro. Russells, and am not only interested but also impressed bv his presentation of Gods ~VOI 11. If there are some points in wliich he is at variance with Gods \1*ord. I should esteem it a sreat kindness and an act of extreme brothrrly service to ha;; them pointd out. Hoping you will kindly reply, I am, A. E. BEDDON. Yours fraternally, LOUISVILLE, KY., Aug. 12, 1899. this
MR. -4. R. Smnor,

DE.%R Sm :--Tours of the 2nd inst. has been received and noted, in reply to which I enclose a tract touching on some of the evils of the MILL~W?;IAL DAWN. Much more could be -,aid, but my time is taken up in other work that falls to my lot in my regular husiness. It amazesme that anyone who really knows the Christ of the Bible should have ever been ensnared bv the writings of Mr. Russell. The Christ of Mr. Russell i; altogethera different character from the Christ of the Bible. See Isa. 9.6 : *John 1 . 1, 2, etc., etc. I trust that his writings do not truly represent him.
[2738]

today yours of the 12th inst., in reply to my request of an earlier date, that you should specify charges that you make against the writings of Bro. Chas. T. Russell (in justification of your denunciation of those writings at the Evangelical Alliance prayer meeting), I regret I cannot accept it as a satisfactory reply. I cannot resist the impression either that you ranked my intelligence very low in supposing I could accept such a reply as having any weight at all, or that, giving me credit for average intelligence, you trifled with my sincere and even anxious inquiries by sending an answer which would not have satisfied you, had our positions been reversed. The only charge you made against the MILLENNIAL DAWN doctrines in your address was that you had known cases where Christian character had wilted under their influence. But you surely cannot use that as a proof that the doctrines are <nscriptur&l, since such wilting is pdssible and frequent. 1~ happened under Apostolic teaching. See Heb. 6:4-6 ; iO:28-ii; 1 John 5:16. - I wrote you in-all sincerity asking for a specification of charges. I understood from your own statement that vou were wholly given UD to the Lords work. It was as a si&erely inquiring &sciple *who supposed it possible that vou could clearlv see some asnect of truth that had escaped rni notice that I felt such an inquiry was rightly made of the Lords servant, and that in the Lords name I had a right to expect a candid statement of specific charges. What do you send me? A statement that your time is taken up in other work that falls to your lot m the course of your Regular business; but you find time to express amazement that anv one who reallv knows the Christ of the Bible should ever cave been ensna;ed bv the writings of Mr. Russell. You make the assertion, The Christ of-Mr. Russell is altogether a different character from the Christ of the Bible; but you do not specify one single item of the alleged difference. You express a hope that his writings do not truly represent him and that I mav not be ruined bv his errors. but you do not pen one sentekce calculated to *avert that &in, nor do you suggest any explanation of your extraordinary hope that Mr. Russell mav think one wav and write another. Is-that something to be hoped for? If a man teach errors, it surely were better for him that he believe that he is teaching the truth, than that, knowing the truth, he nevertheless teaches error with seeming sincerity in wrltinpq that do not truly represent him. It seems to me that could your hope for Bro. Russell be realized, it would place him in a very low plane of moral obliquity. In addition to this you enclose two tracts, one an excellent homily on Luke 2:10, 11, in which, after carefully reading it twice, I cannot discern the remotest connection with Personally I would say Amen to every senmy inquiries. tence of that tract-and I believe that Brother Russell would do the same. You also enclose a tract which is a direct attack upon the MILLENNIAL DAWN books. To this I will now refer. You express a hope that Bro. Russells writings do not trulv represent him. I think it will be the kindest thing I cansay-to you that I trust this attack on the MILLENNIAL DAWN books bv Prof W. G. Morehead does not trulv rcnresent what you &s a Christian brother, would say aho& those books if your regular business allowed you ;ufficient leisure to read them-and you certainly ought to read them before you attack them again. Your first attack may be excused on the ground of misinformation, but that excuse should never avail you again. Can you as a fair minded man approve an attack which cites the price of a book as an argument against it, that cites the missionary zeal displayed in advocating its teachings as

DECEMBER

1. 1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(367-368)

argument against it; that calls names-nocturnal hallucierror, hvdronhobic, nacked full of fundamental nations, product of insanity, co&pared with the infidel Renan? controversy! I think too well This is not honest Christian of you to suppose that you really endorse this kind of attack; yet by charitable estimate of you is sorely tried when I reflect that you evidently thought this kind of argument good enough for me. As regards the teachings of the MILLENNIAL DAWN books on the human and divine in the nature of Christ, can you state a presentation of Scripture teaching on that imnortant subject ihat more satisfactorily answers to all the- Scriptural statements than Bro. Russells? If vou can. then for Christs sake I earnestly and reverently- a>k--you to do it; and I am convinced that Bro. Russell will receive it no less gratefully than I. I was recommended to write to vou as a scholar. I would now ask you candidly as a Greekscholar and a Scriptural exegete: Can you find fault with Bro. Russells exegesis of keEusma [shout] ? If you can, what is the error? If you cannot, why do you make use of the Morehead attack? If Prof. Morehead himself could assail the MILLENNIAL DAWN teachings on the two points above referred to, why did he not do it? If he cannot assail them, is he not guilty of shameful insincerity in making believe that he can? With regard to Bro. Russells opinions respecting the dates 1873 and 1914, time, of course, will alone prove how far he is right. But surely you do not endorse Prof. Morehead in suggesting these opinions are in the nature of deadly heresy. I have read a vast quantity of Millennial literature, pre and post, have listened to a great deal of platform and pulpit talk on the same subject, and am utterly unable to conjecture what, out of all the bewildering mass, has a right to the name of orthodox premillenarianism by the side of which all other opinions are to be denounced as nocturnal hallucination. Your own recent exposition of 2 Tim. 3 led me to infer that you regard these as the closing days of this present dispensation. Has your study of prophecy led you to detect deadly heresy in Brother Russells conclusions? If so. what is it? I understand the hlorehead attack to assert that Bro. Russell teaches that the resurrection will be simultaneous for all the dead. My simple answer is that in MILLENNLAL DAWN, VOL. IV., pp. 640, 641, Prof. Morehead can find concluqive proof that he is incorrect. If the bracketed words (simultaneous for all the dead) are not intended to indicate the writers understanding of Brother Russells teachings, but his own conception of Scripture teaching, he had better consult his hew Testament before he attacks a Christian brother again. The emphasis placed on a first resurrection of necessity implies subsequent resurrection. All that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of

but not all of these will have Man and shall come forth; part in the first resurrection. Prof. Morehead, in section 7 of his attack, ignores, possibly does not know enough Greek to distinguish between, the parousla and the epiphania. I was referred to you as a As such I cannot imagine that you can enGreek scholar. dorse the Morehead attack or apparent attack. Are you, as a student of the Greek ruew Testament, prepared to deny and disprove from Scripture that the Lords second coming will at &first be discerned by only a comparatively few fa?thful watchers? Do vou re-rrard the word %ominc in our Enelish version as .idequa?te to embrace the ide& embodied cy both parousza and epiphanm? I have detained you so long in criticism of the Morehead attack because I am inclined to believe that vou made use of it hastily. I want you to read it carefully, to discern its its innuendo, its crafty appeal to the odiun;s dishonesty, theoli~iczcm. its essential weakness. its unchristian rituperation. -Lav it aside, Bro. Worrell. Dont fight for tbe Lord with the &devils weapons. If Bro. Russell errs there is Scripture to show it. If Scripture is on hiQ side then I am convinced that after you have shaken off the tbeologlcal prejudice with which vou are anaarentlv nossessed. vou will have grace enough to idmit thatBro. R;siell has a ;ight to speak and to be judged by the Word; and that denunciation about ensnaring souls, ruin, expressions of amazement? etc., have really more of bluff about them than of the spirit of Christ. Your statement about wilting of character under the influence of Bro. Russells teaching proves that your opportunities of observation have not been wide enough to qualify you to form an accurate estimate; certainly not wide enough to iustifv vou in assuming the office of Dublic censor as YOU and pkrsistent zeal of -the did on the 2nd inst. The-humble PilgrimQ, engaged in teaching the views advocated by Bro. Russell. comes nearer to apostolic zeal and self-abnegation than most Christian work now-a-days. I have known many who. like vou. seem to be afraid of Bro. Russells teachinas, yet who pgy well deserved tribute of admiration to the de;otion and consecration of those who accept it. As for Bro. Russell himself, I do not know him personally, have never met him, never seen his portrait even; yet I cannot help admiring the absence of tGe ego in his- ministry. I have several times written to him concernine difficulties I have encountered in reading his works. He a&ays replies personally; he presents reasons lucidly and never indulges in denunciation or exclamations of amazement. He never uses the trickery practiced by Prof. Morehead, nor resorts to innuendo. I am, dear Brother Worrell, Yours in the love and pursuit of the truth as it is in ALFRED E. SEDDON. Christ Jesus,

THE BEGINNING AND ENDING OF TI& MILLENNIUM Question.-1 understand from Rev. 20:4-6, that Christ will reign one thousand years, and from verses 2 and 7 that Satan will be bound during that period. If Christ began to reion in 1878, and Satan will not be bound until 1915, the tso periods do not seem to synchronize; and furthermore, both extend beyond the seventh-thousand year period which, according to our Bible chronology, began in the Autumn of 1872. How is this? Can you assist me? Answer.-The Lord has evidentlv arranged for the gradual closing of the Gospel age and opeiing of the Millennial age, in such a manner that the one laps upon the other, with some particular purpose in view; but just what his purposes are he has not been pleased to inform us; and since this extends into the future we may reasonably suppose that it is not now meat in due season for the household of faith. LVhen the end has been reached and accomplished. we have no doubt whatever that it will be manifested to all of the Lords people that his Word has been accurately fulfilled. Until then a certain amount of faith is required and expected from those who have so many evidences of the Lords wisdom and exactness in the features of his plan already accomplished *We can trust him where we cannot trace him. Apparently this matter of when the thousand-year period should be reckoned as fully beginning and fully ending will be an open question until the close of the Millennial ape. It is our expectation, from Rev. 20:s. 9. that the obscurity of this question will have something to do with the final test of loyaltv and obedience to God, which will come upon the whole wo;ld of mankind who will have enjoyed the blessings of restitution throughout the Millennial age, and have atiained perfection

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

at its close. The indefiniteness of the end of the period would feature of their testini. Apparentappear to be an important reign ly they will think the period of Christs mediatorial of ended befol e the Lords time; and some of them, impatient delay, ~111 make a demonstration, and demand of the earthly representatives of the kingdom that full dominion be at once restored to perfect man, according to their understanding of the divine plan and its times and seasons. In so doing these will be demonstrating their own unworthiness to enter the age of perfection which ~111 follow the Millennium and will be desiroyed in the second death. For. while such an attitude of mind mav be forgivable in imperfect men of today, those perfect bein& who shall have had a full restitution and large experience will be required to exercise a full faith, an unwavering confidence in the wisdom, love and promises of the Creator. And their failure to manifeit implicit faith and obedience to the divine program after all their experience will be proof sufficient that they are unworthy of If permitted to go beyond into the full the eternal state. liberties of sons of God they would always be liable to sin and its consequences; and Gods promise is that there shall be no more sigtiing, nd more dying, no more crying, no more pain there, the equivalent of a promise that there shall be no more sin. Hence all who shall not have developed characters in full accord with, and fully submitted to the divine will, will be esteemed as having enjoyed all the blessings and privileges divine mercy ha5 to offer. The fire, the judgment from heaven, will destroy such from among the people, in the second deatb, as unworthy of life-eternal. The Scripture declaration respecting the saints, the overcomers is, They lived and reigned a thousand years. The

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reign of the h:lIlit\ cannot Ijc properly said to begin before ail the newels ha \ e IxBen gathered, nor before lhe times of the Gentiles end. III i!)lJ. Kor is it said that their reign \\ili he no long:cr than a thouband years. After thca thousand , t):tl \ ,,I11 h,lt ,I, ~11;l11 Iw iotrsc~tl and lllC aho\c t1 Ia1 .I1 \II ~nsuc: bu; tIi(s i c*ipri of Clirict and the church will rvidenti:, I~ontlnnr ion:: c~~~ougl~ xftcr tl~e thousand years to tlcstroy ail found nn\vo) t Iiy 111that final te<t and to thui c*olnpIetr tlir work for wIkic*li tliis r(qn 1: i~l~titutrtl ;-for, ah r\prckA 1~v
t11r A]"'-tlr, .'IIts rrlllit l('lL'11 1111 Iw lr;ltIl ill< ftet. . .\r~tl ulivn ,lil tI(ing. 111111 [Wlll,~ ly (IPI,\ ('lhlO1, nr1tl COII~C by llllll, I,(. .l,lll'~'.t t IL<, #Sl~ll II.0 llllll.:lf WHO CONSTITUTE THE put r/l/ ~/f,)tI!cs lllltl,~r

shall IN, :~i~l~tliiwl unto d(+trllr%ir,rl 1, I/,( n shall

11:111 / tllc~ l~'dlllt~~ I .. OF FAITH

HOUSEHOLD

Answer.-We understand that the church of Christ, tw vlewed from the divine standpoint, and as addressed 111the Scriptures. includes only the sanctified in Christ Jesus;-those who have taken the step of justification through faith and. additIonally, the second step of consecration to the Lord. But the household of faith takes in a much larger numiJcr.--all who have faith in the Lord as their Rcdeemcr from ti1n and its penalty,-ail who are trusting in the preciou+ blood of Chrlbt, and seeking in any degree to be in harmony The lo\ mg nlth the Lord and his rules of righteousness. interr5t anti care of all the saints (the consrcrated) is to 1~ excrciscd, not only toward each other, but also espec1aliy toward these members of the household of faith who are sup in righteousness, helping them posed to I,e undel instruction forward to take the position of full consecrntlon and bcromc rc-chonedly dead to the world, and IIPW creaturrs in Christ ,leius. r~z;cn with him. to walk in newness of 11i~ and to br c*omc his joint-heirs ~1 the promised kingdom.

\-(:I.

ssi

.\1,1.1~:(111~:\\,

I.\.,

I)ECEMBER

15, 1900

NCL 34

VVA-JCH TOWER

BIBLE AND TRACT

DECEMBER 1, 1899, TO

SOCIETYS YEARLY
1. 1900

REPORT

DECEMBER

can only hope tliat ali under-cuIrciit of inllncllrc 1i mob 1t1g, of which we hate little outward nini(ifestatinn: and that In the all of Ihc truer Lords own time and w,ly during this barx& wheat will be rexc.h~d and ril)eiied and gal nc~rc~d. the work tllcs iirht place 111 1hr Report, consnler ing that those who :II~ rn;znmeti in it nrcb n and remrnil)t~r ing 111:1t.tl1e doing the work of evangelists, l,nrtI 11:~s rncc~inliv hlrs:.ed thic service to 111(, I c~xc~l11n~ot many who are now rcjoicin, (r in the light no\v <hliiing upnl; thr \Vord. \I c ran think of no branch of thcl uolk in this harve;it that more ne,irIy corresponds to thr styli 0C -cbrricc instltu!~~ti lay our Lord in the Jewish har\cst. than ~lnv, tl1e c~olport,,ul \VOlk. l-he (Idporteurs 119u:ilIy go in couples. as tlita t\\cl\c \\ctnt forth,-from tuwll apostles, and afterw-::rd the xventv. t; town and city to pity. Llkcl them, also, they ~0 from house to house, and likewise their rnt\sag:c i+. The kingdom The timr is fnlfilied; rcpcnt. ant1 Iw of heavrn is al, hand! the good tidings! Goin? in tllis manner into all the lieve home.; of the civilized world. tlic,se colnortcllr brcthrrn nlld sisters have opportunities for finding thetruth-hunglv ii8 well. perhaps better; than if the pulpits-of the land werE open to them. and thev all are comnetent to _nive able tliscourses up011 th? divine plin. Because in surh :I ?za\e they would be dhir rithcr to preach hut few discourses. or else to rcxch corn p:atively few hearers : whereas CR& cnlporteur ran rearh more than an average church nudienrcl errry week; and with those whom he can interest he lcarcq reading mattrr rcpre srnting many discourses, upon which the reader may feed for months. l*lierc enough interest may not be awakened to lead to a purchase of the books, :I tract in left, which some times bears Rood fruitage; and even tho some who purchasr may neglect and fail to rend at the time, experience shows 113 that the books thus scattered are often blessctl of the Lord to the reaching of others, and sometimes years after, under more favorable conditions, the purchaser may also be blessed through conditionr, the purchaser may also be blessed through them. You will be pleased to learn that the sale of the DAWNP and booklets during the year (chiefly through the colporteurs 1 was as follows :84,2*51 ,. In the English language 9.137 In the German lannunpe . . 6,712 In the Scandinavi& yongues 543 In the French language (estlm~tt~tl \
\\e THE COLPORTEUR BRANCH ~,pi\-(~ t]jjc department of OF THE SERVICE

to dr\ q~ in tl:is doubled when it, i* seen how gxtt a wall,. ~iritl~~r tllcb l.ortln hles-in:, h:lq lbrcn xccompiishctl 1, it11 this coi1iI1:11:1ti\ 15Iy hnirlll Sum oi nioncy, which, lw caonsidrrcd only sufiiamongst the i10n~in:11 ~IIIII clipi, woulil cicnt to pay tl1(, s:llaric~s of a f(dw ollic~c~r-, an11 pra~%icnlly xccomplish notliin!~ III the way of ll)1.~~1(1:1. And our nqtonishmcnt htlil inc~10;1\(~+ we reflect that the as c~irrnlxtion ot thiy amount of llt~~r,1lllrc, accompanied by this clmonnt (Jf 11lrr1 im preac*Iiin~, etc., supporting the most zlortous mc~~-:lg~;~that coultl poislbly bc heralded lo mankind. 5hows ho niraqrc I c5uIti ; th.it so i-WV linve car;; to hear and eyes to NC thehe thinEs which enrapture our llrarts. Let us, liowc\c9. rcsflcct tl1at c;ur Lnrcl iuforA5 u9 that 111select will he hut a little ilork-and in it, not many great, mighty or wihe; but ch1eflg the poor of this world, rich in faith. The c~omp:~rni~vcly small results of our efforts to reach the ripe whcnt iii lIal,vlon convinrc ns. all the more. that the wheat 1s vcrg scarce in comparison with the tares; that we arc living in the time of 6hich the Apostle dcclarcs that the churc*h nominal will have it&in2 ears. and be turned awavd from the truth. turned to f,1ble,, :.lnd respfxting which our Lord haid, \\h(bn the Son of 3Inn cometh shall hc find the faith on the earth? implying that it would be difficult to fintl--2 Tim. 4.3; TAuke 18:s. 'i'rur', the rcsultq may be more than we can at present rlicprrn: for \\c c:ln cYtlmnte the widening influences of the truth deadly l,v the growth of the WATCH TOWER subscription liqtq Thrs<cl ~Ilc~w c~on~~tlcrnblc grnwth for the gear,-but not nonrlp co much a4 we had hoped for: and our offer of credit. :Ind of special terms to the poor, should bring to our lists the nxmrq of all who have tasted that the Lord is gracious ,I~cI are hnngrrinx and thirsting for hip righteousness. We
IS 0,"'" 1;; Cll<.ll ;;,I )r :llll,~

,i'lCl

\\ 111111g

manner.

7IIP :1~totli,linlent

1, :I1

IJC

Total BOOKLETS : English . .. Foreign language-

100.04:~ 39,047 1,323

40,370 .............................. ... Total It should be remembered that altho we endeavor to keep this branch of the work on a self-supporting basih. it nevertheless comes short of this, by reason of the fact th,:t our wholesale prices are very low: in the case of the foreign translations considerably less than cost. We feel snre that this showing will jireatlv enrourage the dear brethren and sisters who are giving their lives in this department of the Harvest work ; a.nd we trust that it will

127401

T~ZCEMBEP 1.5.

1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(37Z37.3,

act as an incentive to others who have been contemulatina The friends in various quarters who have engaged in this engaging in this work-to lead such of them a5 are of good work during the past two years, are writing us hoping that address and without family and financial encumbrances, to the Lord may open the opportunity for further volunteer servgive themselves freely to this evangelistic work. It is a deice during the coming year, beginning early in the spring. partment which the Lord has greatly owned and blessed; The evidence is that where the entire company of the Lords it is a preaching of the Word in a most practical manner,, people at any point have entered into the work a great spiritlikely to leave a lasting impress; one which will undoubtedly, ual blessing has resulted. We will bear their reauests in * we believe, bring forth much fruitage during the great time mind, and see what can be done as respects a future service of trouble, as well as serving to find and to perfect those for the soldiers of the Cross. of the Lords saints who shall be accounted worthy to escape The total number of Volunteer issue of the WATCH TOWEB those things coming upon the world. We will be glad to hear circulated during the year was 948,459. from, and to co-operate with all who desire to enter this ORAL PREAOHING- PILGRIM DEPABTMENT branch of the service. Write to us freely of your wishes, hopes, difficulties, etc., in respect to this, and we will do what It is not long since this department was inaugurated, and we can to open the way before you. There is still plenty of yet, as this Report shows, it has already reached considerable room for the work in this land as well as in Great Britain. proportions. While we are in direct contact with the Lords The fields are white for the harvest, and the laborers are few; people through correspondence by mail, it became evident to and if we are praying for laborers let us see that we are dous about four years ago that if competent brethren could ing what we can to fulfil our own petitions. visit amongst the little groups of those who have come into Some who cannot give their entire time to colporteuring present truth through the ministry of the printed page, they are doing valiantly in their spare moments and hours; for incould be of great service and encouragement to them; and at stance, one dear brother, an architect. not slothful in his the same time might through nublic meetings be able to reach business, is nevertheless so fervent in spirit and in serving the and further inteyest man? who were already partially inLord that during the past six months he has disposed of 650 terested through the printed page and through private conversation, etc. These traveling copies of the DAWN to mechanics and tradesmen with whom his oral preachers we designate ln&iness brings him in contact. Others hare lehz opportunitirh. pilgrims, because they are nearly always on the go, their but the same zeal, and are doing what they can;--some by stops with the various little groups or churches being very giving, some by loaning, some bv selling the literature. We brief (two or three days, as may seem to be warranted by We make out the routes for these, and send reJoi% that in any and- all of these wais there is an oppor- conditions.) tunltu for all of the Lords dear flock to show their love for notification ahead of them, so that no time need be lost the tiuth, and their zeal in laying down their lives for- the An evening meeting is always in order for the day of their brethren still in Babylon and darkness. arrival, and afternoon and evening meetings for the sueceeding days. THE VOLUNTEER WORK All who labor for the truth do 50 of their free will and We endeavor., as far as possible, to select for this service without compensation, and hence might properly be termed brethren who give evidence, first, of character, and of faith volunteers: under this head we might include in a general way in the Lord, in his Word and in his plan; second, such as all the efforts that have been uut forth during the vear in the seem to nive evidence of abilitv in uresentina the truth to way of free circulation of WATCH TOWEB lite&,ure,-bearing on the mind; of others-as the ipost& express& it, apt to the harvest themes-but the snecial use of the word with us teach-and, so far as possible, those who are mighty in the has been confined to a partiiular feature of this free disScriptures (1 Tim. 3:2; Acts 18.2-1) : and of ability in tribution ; viz., that done systematically at or near churches rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Tim. 2:15) These, st the time of their dismission on Sundays. so far as worldly judgment would be concerned, would all be This Sunday church-distribution by those who volunteered classed as plain men; and we trust also would be classed as for the service was begun in 1899, and reached good protrue Christian men, humble-minded and modest, both 111 portions and accomplished good results that year, and was language and deportment--men who do not have the faire tontlnued during the past year with excellent eflc at. When we idea that they are great ones, or lords of Gods heritage, oi speak of results- we have chiefly in mind that which is within superior caste or order above the household of faith, but who our power, and not the ultimate results, of which no man can simply and humbly acknowledge that they are brethren.* now know, and which time alone will show. The results, so servants of the Lord and of the household of faith,--men far as the distribution of the Volunteer WATCH TOWER was who are very thankful for the privilege granted them of concerned, were a success, large numbers being circulated in heincr enaaeed in such a service. and who look for theii In handing all parts of this country and in Great Britain. reward, norin luxuries of the present. life, but in the Father:. literature to church attendants we had no thought whatever house, beyond the veil-in the kingdom. These pilgrims that thev were all eoina into the hands of saints: but we do are not paid salaries; and tho ample provision is made fox hope that some of them reached the hands of thelords contheir comfortable maintenance, everything connected with secrated people; and we still believe that it would be difficult this is expected to be done on the reasonable and economical to find a more effective wav of reachine this class than bv lines which we believe the Lord and apostles followed, and reaching the church-goers. In nroportionYto the circulation we respecting which we regard them as rnqamples. No colcannot say that we -have had large returns; on the contrary, lections are taken up bv-these pilgrims, nor -do t?~cv in any tbev have been small. so far as letters. WATCH TOWEB submanner, directlv or ind<rrctlv. reauest aid nri-atelv. Nor nerd But in various ways we scrfptions, etc., are concerned. we request their mtrrtainn?ent, Aknowing- full w; I1 that any learn that they are making an impression upon the minds and we thus send to you in the Masters name will be welcomed hearts of manv of those who have received them and who, by you and granted a share of such things XLI you have,-while not ready to accept and endorse, nevertheless have been wcacording to the Scriptural injunction.-Heh. 13 :2. influenced by what they have read, and to some extent brought In following the plan here indicated we have been enabled nearer to the truth and are better prepared for further into reach some of the Lords scattered ones in various parts struction in the right way, when the Lord in due time may of this broad land, who ne\-er expected to hear preaching again send it to them. along these lines; for it will be readily seen that the exWe incline to think that the greatest blessing of all in pense connected with this traveling ministry is proportionately connection with this part of the work has come to those much less than it would he by any other method which would who engaged in it as volunteers, and who, all over the Beside, this reach the same number of the Lords people. These have repeatedly testicountrv. numbered hundreds. method assists, rather than discourages, the development (1 fied that no part of their Christian experience-had ever been talent amongst the brethren of the various little groups. It more helpful to them in the development of true character, is our thought that, generally speaking, the Lord is- pleased to in committing them fully to the Lord and to his truth and to u3e some in each little company for the instruction and aathem strong in him,-not ashamed to his service ; making sistance of the other5 in the same: inderd, WC encourage the Those who have own hi5 name. nor to defend his cause. thought advised by the Apostle, that each member of the had the opportunity to engage in this work, and who have Lords consecrated church should strive to huild one trlallowed the fear of man which bringeth a snare to hinder other up in the most holy faith. from engaging in it, and thus being ministers of the true We believe that an immense amount of good has hccn Gospel, and co-workers with the great Chief Reaper in this done through this pilgrim service during this past year, anti harvest-time., have missed a great deal-how much they may that quite a number of the Lords dear people. as they read never know in the present life, unless some further opportunity this part of the report, will offer prayer on behalf of thih for the Volunteer work should occur and they should then feature of the Lords 5ervice asking for us wisdom and grace engage in it and ascertain how great the blessing and charThe fipure~ in respect to the matter for the coming year. acter-development they have already missed. [2741] III-53

(374-375)

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

In tlm lute also, we belleve, ~111 astound many of our readers. They are as follows: Nun1ber of persons who gave more or less of their 14 time to the Pilgrims work during the year.. . . . ~11mher of 1111lcq traveled in connection with the 48,845 ......................... BCrrlCe 649 ................. \-1s11s to churcheh 1,287 l11hl1c meetlugs held. ...................... 876 Private or parlor meeti11ge held. ............ $3 J57.59 (odt or this branch of the work. .......... One point alone in this report seems unsatisfactory to US, .111dthat 1s tl1e number of private or parlor meetings. These, XC tl1111k should have been mucl1 more 11umerous in proportion to the public meetings. It 1s our thought that tl1e chief good 111these pilgrim visits is for the household of faith: while, rhcrefore, we urge the holding of some public services to which all classes of Christian and earnest people may be inv1ted by advertisement ond otherwise, we urge that during the J-car beginning the parlor meetings be given the chief attention. At these, subjects can be discussed which would not be so fully appreciated by the public, nor by any except those who had been studyzng along the lines of the WATCH TOWEK literature. We take this opportunity, then, to offer this sugcrestion to the dear friends,---that wl1en notified that a Pilgrin1 . ~111 be with them they may make proportionately larger arrangements for their parlor meetings and proportionately less arrangements for public discourses in halls, churches, etc.
CONVENTIONS OF THE YEAR

The Conventions are a part of the Pilgrim work, but deserve a word of special notice. Three general conventions were held duri11g the year-at Philadel hia, Chicago and Dallas; these were interesting and profita 7)le, but were reported Besides these tl1e President of the Society on at the time. (the Editor) attended several Zocal, one-&y conventions, it different nolnts-Toronto. Canada : Saratoga. N. Y. : Houston, Tes., Sa; Antonio, Tex. ; Columbus, 0. ; Cleveland, 0.; Phila: delphm, Pa. ; Washington, D. C.; New York City; Wilmington, N. C. ; Roseboro, N. C. ; Hayne, N. C.; and the Florida Chautauqua Assen1bly. We have good reasons for believing that these gatherings were all profitable to the Lords flock, seasons of refreshing and ~oyour fellowship i11 spiritual things; nevertheless we feel that i11 the conling year we must be more economical of our we will be glad to follow his time. May the Lord direct; leadings in the matter. THE GENERAL TRAUT DISTRIBUTION The circulation of tracts du1ing the year has been highly 3,ttisfastory to us. They have not been sown in a broadcast 111a11ner,but rather handed out with a measure of discretion, .o far as we are able to judge; and this is the plan whicl1 WC co1nniend. Of course, in a majority of instances we merely know that tracts have been ordered and have been sent; but 1nany give us an intimation of how they use what they receive: son1e visit hotels. where thev hand them to the matrons: other3 seek oppo1 tunity for handing tracts to intelligent looking people at railway stations; others mail the tracts with their letters, perhaps wit11 a little comment, and a request that some report be given after the reading; others keep a va11cty on hand, and make a selection for those with whom they co1ne in contact. Thue there are various methods in vogue 1n this department, the colporteurs using a considerable number, leaving one at every house where they fail to take a11 older.--the tract sometimes having an influence where the wo1ds of the colporteur failed. The total number of tracts sent out during the year was 1,468,900. Of these a large 11umber we11t direct from the WATCI~ Tow1:n office through the mails, to lists of addresses which we procured in various ways-many of them those of persons known to be religiously inclined, holy people, lovers of rigbtcou\ness ; and some of the best of these lists are sent to US, wr1tten upon proper-sized wrappers, bg WATCH TOWER readers. You are all welcon1e to avail yourselves of this opportunity for service. Besides the tracts, we sent out as tracts large We request numbers of WATCH Towxas to g:oo~l addresses. that no addressed wrappers be sent us for either tracts or WATCH TOWERS except such as are known to you in some way to represent intelligent and religiously inclined people. It ie only *a waste of money and labor to cast the pearls of truth before those who are swinish: whose CI is their belly pod or their apparel or their pocket book. What blessed oonortunities God has nrovided for his neoole at the present time! What an opportinity it affords ior ill 111 of his dear children to have fellowship and communion! this manner, as well as through the printed page, those afar
II

as well as those nearby may have the privilege of complying with the Anostles words, to forget not the assembling of ourselves tog&her, and so. much-the more as we see- the day drawine on. (Heb. 10 :25) Manv letters assure us of the blessin& which the wonderful mail service of our day has brought to them; and on our part we can testify that great blessings and encouragement have come to us through this While some of the letters received are cold same channel. and business-like, and others bitterly antagonistic, others, and the maioritv. are laden with rich nerfume of Christian love. sympathy &d deep appreciation o? present truth. Through these we are kept in touch with the spirit of the Lords dear flock in all parts of the world; and we can assure you that the touch is profitable to us, as we trust that our responses are profitable to you, and comforting and helpful. As the work in general has grown, so this feature of it has expanded, so that the figures below are far in advance of those in any previous year in our history: Letters and postal cards received during the year. . . . .37,357 Letters and postal cards sent out.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38,609 CONDENSED STATEMENT Copies of MILLENNIAL DAWN circulated at cost. . . . .100,643 Copies of booklets circulated at cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,370 Circulated at Expense to Tract Fund Copies of ZIONS WATCH TO~VER.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,247,960 1,468,!1!10 Copies of Old lheology 1rrcrt.s . . . . .. These amounts expressed in the usual form represent in tract pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :.131,891,340. Whenever figures get into the millions they are quite beyond the average mind to comprehend. We have therefore estimated the matter in pounds,-206,710 pounds, or over one hundred and three and a half tons, weight. Trace Fund Expenditure Cost of the above 1031/2 tons matter, includi11g freight, postage, gas, help, etc.. . . . . . . . . . . . .$15,350.21 Pilgrim Expenses, etc.. . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,357.59 Total ..................................
Tract Fund Receipts THE FINANCIAL SIDE-TEEASUBERS REPORT

..$21,707.8 0 $ 871.54 13,337.72 4,472.63

SERVICE

Balance on hand Dec. 1, 1899. ....... From Good Hopes Donations ........ From Other Sources. .......... Shortage
THE BLESSED PRIVILEGE

$18,681.89

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..$ 3,025.91
OF THIS

The Editor (who is President of the Society), in closing this last report of the century, congratulates all the dear friends of the cause upon the above showing, and trust that it will more than meet the expectations of all who contributed to the funds thus scattered as leaves of spiritual healing all over the civilized world. Especially do we trust that tl1e God of all grace, the Father of mercies, may accept and approve our stewardship-the merit of our Redeemer making i;;;irnwhatever unintentional errors the all-seeing eye may Do we urge the dear co-laborers to make still greater sacrifices for thi work in the year just beginning? -Not at all. We have never solicited in the past, and we do not expect to do so in the future. Even of the Lord we make no requests for money. His will, not ours, be done in this and in all matters. If he throuah his oeonle or otherwise sees fit to entrust to us financial mea-m?, we will endeavor to use the same to his praise, and seek for this the wisdom which cometh from above. We esteem it a privilege to have any share in any department of this harvest work, and its ac companying- blowing of the Jubilee Trumpets proclaiming restitution times at hand. And this Y .I in the Lords serviov ice is fully appreciated also by the twelve dear brethren who, as office assistants, have so ably and so patiently lent their best endeavors to make the work a success; and their efforts under God have contributed largely to the securing of the above results. The Lord will reward them as we can not. Brethren, pray for us, as your representatives and the Lords, in this defense of the truth. Below we give some interesting figures from two of the Societys foreign branches (the reports from the other two are not yet at hand.) Both of these reports are included in the totals given above.
REPORT OF MANAGER OF BRITISH BRANCH From May 7 to Nov. 16. 1900 Loknorr, NOV. 16, 1900.

- *THE

CORRESPONDENCE

DEPARTMENT

DEAR BROTHER RUSSELL:-I have the honor to submit the following report of the Tract Fund receipts and expenditures for the British Branch of the Society, May I-November 15, 1900 :-

[2742]

DECEMBER

15, 1900

ZIONS

WATCH

TOWER

(376-377)

EXPENDITUBES: Paper and printing.. . . . . . ,. Carriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Share of expense for labor, etc.. . . . . . Expenses in Pilgrim work . . . . . . . . . . Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Receipts from Great Britain. . . Deficit, supplied Copies Copies Tracts Sample from Home Office ... ..

.55 . 24 .45 .465 40 .425

10
5

4
9 2

:; 1

10
4

Report of Literature Circulated of MILLENNIAL DAWN circulated.. ........ .... ........... of booklets sent out frc?....:..::.. .. .. ... ....... WATCH TOWERS sent out free . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... .....

3,224 667

77,835 171,850

Total sent free. . . . . . . . . These represent in tract pages

. . . . . . . 249,685 . . . . . 19,189,684

1,184 Letters and cards received ..... ...... ........ . . . . . 9,294 Tetters and cards sent out.. . . . . . . . , . . . The volunteer work has been ouite zealouslv oursued here this year; how much so you may-judge by comparison of the amounts distributed in america and here, and reckoning that there are about twentv times as manv TOWER readers in America as we have in Great Britain. Volunteer work has been done in 39 cities and towns in Great Britain, and with home encouraging results. More than 50,000 copies were distributed in London. Tract distribution has also had considerable attention from the friends here, and with such results as to warrant its continuance. To bc sure, we must often put tracts in many houses before reaching one which contains persons ready for the truth; but sometimes the one tract in the right place has a very far-reaching influence, as has been indicated in

this city, where one tract under a door has thus far reached four persons, on the principle of John 1.41, 45, and is still working. The colporteur work has not fared so well, not having had so many workers as have been able to participate in the work in other ways; but thr few who have had this privilege have been industrious, and have also been permitted to see some fruit of their labors which has caused their and our hearts to rejoice. We are praying and hoping for more laborers in every branch of service, but particularly in the colporteur department, which experience has demonstrated to be by far the most efficient means of reaching hearing ears with the truth, as it is also the most practical, being selfsustainina. The exuerience of those who have eneaned in the service of the truth by the colporteur method in Great Britain in the last six months shows that the worker can sustain himself in this serricc. It is a most attractive opportunity for those who have time to spend in the harvest work, and we shall be glad to hear from many on the subject. The financial asnect of the work here ih nrescnted in the figures foregoing, which plainly tell their ownlstory. It would have been impossible for the British Binnch to do as it has clone. except for the financial coGperation of the head office to the large amount of $2,000. We pray daily for ourselves, and for all of Gods saints. that we mav be nlentifullv sunnlied with heavenlv wisdom. with strength andgrace, fo; thedischarge of each days duties in such a manner RR will redound to the glory of God and the upbuilding of his people. Biethrcn, pray for us. Respectfully submitted. Yours faithfully in Christ, E. C. HEY~IN(:I $ REPORT OF OUR C;ERMAN WORK Sister Giesecke reports 448 letters received and 494 letters sent out; 2,899 copies of the German WATCH TOWER circulated as samples, and 10,108 tracts distributed, reprrsrnting 232,460 pages.
I

A PERFUME OF SWEET ODOR

MATT. 26:6-16.~JAN. 6. She h&h done what she could, She had either purchased the vase, and manu. kWXdl!lg kSSOnS SllOWd US incidents in OUT J,Ordb jOUrchoice perfume. IICY tow,lrd Jerusalem, via Jericho-the healing of the blind factured the perfume herself, at great expense of time. etc., men by the wayside, the conversion of Zacchzeus, and the or had spent-for its purchase a <onsiderablblc sum of money: She had anticinated our Lords coming. and had fullv J arparable of the young nobleman, given because they were nigh Y> ~~ unto Jerusalem, and because the disciples and many of thr ranged matterss0 that at this feast she might treat him in multitude expected that the kingdom of God would ima manner in which very few except the worldly great were mediately be manifested,-set up in earthly grandeur, etc. The ever treated;-kings, emperors, etc., were thus anointed with distance from Jericho to Jerusalem was only about twenty perfume, but very rarely indeed could others afford such a miles, and Bethany, the home-city of Lazarus (whom our Lord luxury, for the facilities for manufacturing perfume then raised from the dead) and his two sisters, Martha and Mary, were quite inferior to what they are now, and even if the perwas quite near to Jerusalem, and with them Jesus decided to fume were of home manufacture and of fine aualitv the cost in qpend his last Sabbath-dav in the flesh. We mav nresume th:tt time, etc., would be great, and the perfume would be so valthe day was happily spent according to the obse&ance of the uable that it was usual to sell it to thr verv wealthv. Sabbath required by the Jewish law; but the narrative, The feast had begun, and Jesus. with the din&ples and passing over the events of the day unnoticed, draws special other guests, were at the table, which, according to eastern attention to the feast or supper made for our Lord in the custom, was long and narrow. the guests not sitting upon rrening, after sundown. when the Sabbath was considered chairs, but reclining full length upon roucnhes or divans, with ended. and the first day of the week beginning. the head extendini over the table. and the feet extending This feast was at the house of Simon the leper, vet back to the rear, the weight of the shoulders noised uoon the Simon is not mentioned in connection with the narrative, and left elbow, while the right hand was used :n partaking of it is quite probable that he was then dead. It is coniectured the food. that Simon was either the father of Lazarus, Martha and While Martha and her associates were serving. Mary came ,\larv. or else that Martha was the widow of Simon, and that forward and. breaking the seal upon htr alabaster vase. shr Lilznrus and Mary were younper tllan she. These items, bowbegan to pour the precious perfume upon our Lords head. ever. are merely tradition, nothing in the Scriptures throwing and subsequentlv, as Johns record of the matters informs us. any light upon the matter. We remember that on the ocgoing to our Lords feet she poured some of it upon them. casion of a previous visit to this home, our Lord was enterand wiped them with the hair of her head Marvs affertion tained ; and Mary berame so absorbed in listening to the for our Lord was so deep and so strong that it could not gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth that for the be satisfied with any of the ordinary methods of expression. Tf the kings of earth were perfumed ant1 anointed, much time she neglected the ordinary affairs of life, until her more did she esteem it fitting that her friend. her Lord, the more practical, but possibly less spiritually-inclined. hiqter Messiah. should be anointed with the best that, she could procommented upon the fact, which brought forth our Lords deccure for him. Her love was so intense that it knew no pronomv laration to the effect that while service is quite acceptable -nothing could be too good for her Beloved. am1 appreciated, veneration and fellowship are still more apShe would rive expression to the rich sentiments of her heart by giving him preciated-Wary hath chosen the better part. The two sisters had the enviable privilege of serving the the finest and most costlv of sweet natural odor;. Our Lord Lord and ministering to his comfort in the feast of our lesappreciated the matter fully-the sweet odor of the heart which qon. iust before the agonies which closed his carthlv life prompted the act, still more t.han thr sweat odors which filled As before, so now, the-service of the two sisters took some. the entire house. what different form, but probably this time by mutual agreeBut the disciples, more selfish and less able to appreciate ment and pr&rrangement; Martha herself served the table Marys true sentiments. and the proprietv of their expression with others assisting, and Mary was left free to render hei in this form, found fault with her. and the records show that peculiar service, of which this lesson is a memorial. From their leader- and mouthpiece, who inrited thp fault-finding some source she had procured a valuable alabaster vase of spirit amongst the otherb. was Judas. the treasurer of the
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lrttle c*ompany, whose disappointment was great that the value of this ointment did not find its way into his moneybag, and thus a part of it, at least, to his own private uses; for we are told, He was a thief, and carried the bag. His objection seems-to favor the thought that Mary may have preDared the nerfume herself. for he does not oblect to its havfor a large sum, but that it might have been ing been pkhasecl sold for three hundred pence. (Mark 14: 5) Estimating the value at 300 Roman pence. or denarzi. worth about 16 cents each, the value of the-ointment would de about forty-eight dollars, but much more than this amount would be represented in todays values; for we are to remember that a denarius represented a workmans wages for a day, and hence that 300 denaraz would practically represent a workmans wages for It was indeed an extravagant action, but it represented ~nye~travagant love, and was expended upon one whom God and the angels delighted to honor, and whom Mary seems to have appreciated much more nearly at his true value than did his other aqsociates of the hour. Beloved Mary! We can, perhaps, imagine to borne extent the emotions which filled her heart as she prepared this costly expression of her devotion, the sentiment of which she hoped But now, on the contrary, she be&hers would appreciate. holds the indignation of her friends and guests, the Masters nearest companions ; and her heart sinks within her as she fears that the Lord himself will view the matter in a similar light, and reject and disapprove her libation. What a load is lifted from her heart, when she hears our Lord pronouncing her work a noble deed, and renrovinn his discinles for lark of sympathy in her scntimenc telliig them that this perfuming of his body was in preparation for his burial. It was probably in the midst of this discussion of the matter between Jesus anti the apostles that Mary, having anointed his head with the perfume, went to his feet, and began anointing them also, wiping them with her hair. as an evidence that the most p&i&s thing of her personal adornment was gladly at the service of her Lord. Probably Maiy had no thought of perfuming our Lords body for burial, and 111r words to this effect would be as astonishing to her as to the others who heard them. It was cuytomniy u rth the anr,rc*utr. to spend consrderablc care and money upon the persons of their dead in preparing them for hurial ; swcbet spices and perfumes, etc., were lavishly bestowed, just as today it is the custom to provide handsome caskets and many and expensive flowers and fine monuments, as esprrssive of the love and appreciation in which the dead are held lay thc,ir friends. In Marys conduct in the pouring of the precious perfume upon the Saviour while he was yet living, we have ;I moit excellent suggestion in respect to the proper course to be pursued toward those we love. It is far far better that we shauld unstop our alabaster vases of perfume. and pour them ul)on the heads and upon the weary feet of our friend\, whih- still thev live. than that we should wait until tlnv have cxljircd, and theu give our attention to the cold. IllilliIIlRtt~ nut1 nuappreciative corpse. Our alabaste] l~o~o~ ale 0111 II(~.III<. which should be full of the richest and +\!eetest perfiim(a\ of good wi+cs, kindne<, ant1 love towartl all. but csnrciallv toward the Christ-toward the Head of Chiiqt. our* Lord.Jcsl~s, and toward all tbcx members of his body. the churc~h; and c~pecinlly on om part toward the feet members who arr now with us, and on whom we now have the p~ivllege of pounrng out the sweet odors of Iovc and devotion III the name of the Lnrtl, nud because WC are his. The poet writes : How oft me, careless, wait till lifes sweet activities are past. .\ud break 0111 nlaba~ter box of ointment at the very last! 0, let us heed the liling fricud, who walks with us lifes common ways, \Vatchinp our ryes for lonks of love. and hungering for a word of praise! The heart of eacli trrllg (onseci atcd child of God is like th,, alabaster vaqe,--a rrrrptacle for the holy Spirit, the spirit of love, the choicest pelfrime and most 1JrCCiOUS to the Lord and to men. It is expcnsive. because it cxannot be gathered rapidly, hut requires patient perseverance in well-doing to be filled with all thr fulnc++ of God Again, it is like Marvs vase in that it gives forth its odor not before, but after the seal is broken and the contents poured forth. It differs from hers, however, in the fact that. it mar be continuallv * Doured old 1 and yet its fulnesa all the while increase. Our hearts and their holy love are like Marys vase again. in that they should be poured upon the Lord himself-upon the Head first, but subsequently upon the members of his bodv, even the humblest. the lowliest. the feet. And this should be our servicr. even the it be unappreciated by others, who instead would think that WP should pour our love and

devotion upon sinners, or upon the poor heathen world. They realize not what abundant opportunities there will be for blessing the heathen world in 66 future, in the Millennial age, which God has set anart for their blessinn. and in which his disciples will have a6undant opportunity %r co-working with him in the general uplifting of the world of mankind. Those who upbraid us for pouring out our heart-treasures upon the members of Christ, the church, do so through ignorance, and if at tunes it has caused some discouragement to us, let us hearken to the words of the Master, declaring that such is a noble course that has his approval. and that it is proper as J prelude to the burial of the entire church, the body ,-that it will be appropriate that this shall be done to the church rather than for the poor world, UP to the time when the church shall have finished the earthly pilgrimage;-up to the time when the sufferings of Christ having been fulfilled there shall be no longer opportunitv to bless and refresh and comfort the body of Chrjst, r(~hp&tlng whom our Lord derlarcs that what is done to them is douc to him.-Matt. 25:40. Sn then. let the Martha:, ~trvc the I,ortl iu one wav. and the Xarys poui out their most precious spikerlard perfume, assured that neither service will be foreotten: for both are told and have been told for eighteen cgnturien, a$ memorials to their praise, testimonies of their love, whirb the Lord appreriated and accepted, however they were viewed hy others.
u

OPPOSITION

FROM

SELFISH

HEARTS

Jn this connection it is well to notice sharply that the one who made the greatest ado on behalf of the noor. and who 1 objected most to Marys expression of her devotion, was the thief and murderer, Judas. Snd the principle, to a considerable estrnt, seems to hold good all down throughout this Gospel age. that those who make the greatest outcrv on behalf of mission work and in opposition.to the expenditure of costly time in tlu, anointing and hlessine of the consecrated members of the ho+ of Christ, are not always those who have the interests of the hcathcn exclusively at heart, but are frequently those who have an axe to grind. a selfish interest- in some way to serve. And not inufrequcntly these hypocrites mislead others of the Lords dear neonle. who are thoroughly conscientious, even as Judas. by h;s sophistry, for a time mislead the other apostles into indignation against Mary for the doing of the very thing which was pleasing to the Lord, and on account of which hc decreed that wherever this Gospel should be preached her conduct should be mentioned as a memorial. And so it is today: this Gospel is preached III more than 350 languages-to every important nation in the world. But we presume that it was not merely Mary that our Lord wished to memoralize, but especially her deed: hc wished that all who should know the good tidings should know also of his appreciation of such devotion to him. to his bodv. and that the more it costs us the more he appreciates it. In view of this, let each one who would be pleasing in the Lords sight seek continually to pour the perfume from his heart and life upon other membersof the bobv of Christ, and let him realize that in so doing he will not -onlv be pleasing to the Lord. but will be receiving also a bleasinr himself: for as no alabaster vase could pour forth perfume upon others without Itself being thoroughly involved in the perfume, so our hearts, as they pour forth upon others of the members of the body the sweet perfume of love and devotion to the Lord and his #ause, will be sure to bring a blessing to nursel\es, even In the present life-our Lords approval and benediction now ,ind everlastingly. Some of the methods employed in connection with present endeavor to anoint the members of the Lords body for burial,-with the perfume of his truth and grace-call down the condemnation of fellow-disciples. As for instance, the expenditure of time. energy, and large sums of money this present year in the volunteer work has been. and will be misunderstood by many of the Lords dear children,-and be bitterly reproved by those who are of the Judas stripe. Tet realizing the Lords approval we have quite sufficient to make our rup of joy over&w. Fellow-disciples tell us that we should not be handing the meat in due season to the household of faith, but to iinners; that we should not be seeking to anoint the saints with the sweet perfume of present truth. but should, on the contrary, be going to the outcasts of society, engaging in slum-work or in foreign-mission work. The real difficulty with the Judas class, however, is that they fear that the circulation of the truth amongst the Lords people would cut off the revenue whirh other&se might flow into their coffers: they fear the loss of numbers and influence in sectarianism But their fears are largely imaginary; for the

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perfume of the truth is only designed to fall upon the members of the body of Christ,, and our expectations are that the Lord will guide it to these, and that to others it will be of no effect. And since the members of the body of Christ, the consecrated ones, are so few, their anointing and their separation from Babylon, and their burial, will be comparatively unnoticed so far as numbers are concerned,-tho their taking away as the salt and the light of those systems, will &deed-be a serious loss, conspiring to their downfall in the great time of trouble approaching.-Matt. 5:13, 14. Let us not forget to note clearly and distinctlv the wide difference between love and selfishness, as exemplcfied in the Mary, full of burning opposite courses of Mary and Judas. devotion, was willing to sacrifice much to honor, comfort and please her Lord. Judas not only was unwilling to sacrifice on his behalf, but on the contrary was willing to sell him to his enemies for thirty shekels-the price of a slave. Not only so, but the devotion of the one seemed not to impress the other favorably, but rather the reverse; the devotion of Mary, and our Lords approval of it, seem to have aroused the 01,. posite spirit in Judas, for he went straightway to negotiate with the chief priests for our Lords betrayal into their hand*. It would appear from the Greek text, and the renderlng of the same in the Revised Version, that Judas received the money for his work in advance: They weighed unto him thirty pieces of silver. He completed the contract; 1~ \old himself to work evil, and that against his benefactor. his Lord, of whose power he was fully conversant, and (It whirh, indeed, he had received so abundantly that he himself had been enabled to heal the sick and cast out devils. How htranae that anv could be so nerverse! No doubt he had a WH\ of reasoning the matter to-himself which made his crime appear to him less heinous than it does to us. No doubt, also. others who today are willing less directly to sell the

Lord for earthly advantages or influence or money And ways of excusing their perfidy; but in proportion as our hearts are loyal and devoted, as was Marys, in that same proportion will the Judas course appear heinous and impossible to us. Yet these climaxes of character are not reached suddenly. Marys love had been growing from the first; it was greatly strengthened by her course in sitting at the Masters feet and reeciving from him spiritual nourishment, which our Lord declared to be a still better part or course than that pursued by her sister, tho the latter was not disapproved. Marys faith and love had been still further increased as she witnessed the Lords power in various ways, and especially at her brothers awakening from the tomb. She h3d cultivated this love and appreciatyon for the Lord until it filled her entire heart, and f&d its expression in the costly libation which she had iust noured unon his head and his feet. Judas. on the other hand: had lo& been permitting the spirit of selfishness to more- and more-intrude-upon his-heart; he had permitted himhelf to think of what monev would do. and had eiven his thought largely toward its a&umulation. It had fertered his -0~1, so that he was unable to appreciate the Lords character. even tho he knew him intimately from daily association. w that he was unable to measure anything except from a monetary standpoint. And these bands of selfishness graduallv grew so hard and tight about his heart that thev squee&d out everything of >haracter, of love, devotion and friendship, and thus gradually he came to be the representative of, and his name the synonym for, the grossest of ingratitude and meanness, selfishness and treachery. One lesson for us here is, to cultivate love and the appreciation of whatsoever things are just, good, lovely and pure; and to fight down and eradicate so far as possible (especially from our own hearts and lives) everything selfish, mean. ignoble, dishonorable.

HOSANNA!
Blessed

BLESSED IS HE THAT
MATT.
is he that

COMETH!

21: l-l7.-J~~.
cometh in the

13.
name

of the Lord.

After the feast of our last lesson, the next morning, the first day of the week (our Sunday), our Lord early began his preparations for his triumphal entry into Jerusalem as a King. -Altho he well knew that his own people would not receive him, but, as he had already testified to his disciples, that he would be put to death by the rulers, and intimated the night before that Marys anointing was for his burial, it was nevertheless necessary as a part of the divine plan that he should formally offer himself as King to the Jews, and thus fulfill to that people Gods promise that his favor should be to the Jew first. Our Lord had previously resisted the disposition of some of the people to take him by force and make him King, withdrawing from their midst, etc. (John 6: 15) ; but now the time, the due time, having come, and that to the very hour, he deliberately planned his triumphal procession, instead of, 8s nrrviouslv. hindering it. He sent some of his disciples for the ass and colt, manifesting his superhuman power by designntine where and how the animals would be found. An ass \ras {ised rather than a horse, and tradition tells us that so all the kings of Israel were accustomed to ride to their coronation. When the animal arrived the disciples and the whole multitude seemed to entrr into the spirit of the arrangement; for it would appear that quite a number of those who came up from Jericho, and who had witnessed our Lords Dower and teachings en robte to the Holy City and the PassoGer, lodged at Bethanv over the Sabbath. as he did. These. with the disciples, constituted quite a little band, who began to hail Jesus as the King, and to do him homage, as was customary with notables at that time. bv snreadine their outer earments in the way for his beast to* trkad up&; and by plucking grass and flowers, and branches of palm trees and strewing these also in the way. Jesus, in the honored position. riding at the head, was followed by this multitude on the road toward Jerusalem. Then another multitude from the citv. havine heard that the great Prophet and Teacher was at Bkthany, came forth to seesboth him and Lazarus, and these, meeting the Lord and the shouting companv behind him, turned about and became a vanguard, shouting like the rest, Hosanna to the Son of David, which meant the King, one of the royal line. They probably were deterred from using the word king lest thev should bring upon themselves charges of treason against King Herod, and against the Roman empire, which sustained him in power. It was a grand or a ludicrous triumphal entry into the

city of the Great King, according to the standpoint from which From the standpoint of the disciples and the it was viewed. multitude, full of Messianic enthusiasm and hopes that the longed-for blessings upon Israel were about to be realized, and full of faith that this great Prophet, who had the power to raise the dead and heal the sick, could in his own time and way make himself and them invincible against all enemies, and amplv fulfill all the glorious things foretold by the prophets-for these it was a grand occasion, a lea1 triumph.poor, notwithstandino the fact that Jesus had nreviouslv told them repeatedly of h& death, and had even reprived Peter for speaking to the contrary, nevertheless his disciples and others went to have been unable to receive his words in their true meanthem merely a pal t of 111< ing, and to have interpreted dark sayings which would undoubtedly later become luminous in some grand significance. This is attested by their language, even after his death and resurrection-We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel.TJuke 24 :21. From the standpoint of Herod, Pilate, the chief priests and scribes, this triumphal proression was merely the parade of a fanatical leader and his ignorant and fanatical dupes. They saw in it evidently no more than this. King Herod and Pilate evidently had no fear that this despised Nazarene and his comnanv would ever be able to organize and equip an army which would be of any force as against the order of things of which thev were the heads. The religious leaders feared merely that the fanaticism might spread in some manner, and bring down upon them the wrath and further oppression of the secular powers, who might make them an excuse for furthei Quite evidentlg interference with the liberties of the Jews. none of these chief rulers believed in Jesus as the Messiah sent of God for the fulfilment of the gracious promises of their Scriptures. To this the apostles testify, saying, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers; If they had known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. -Acts 3:17: 1 Cor. 2:s. That procession was viewed from still another standpoint 1~ our Lord himself and hy the invisible multitude of angels. ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who shall These joined in the enthusiasm of the be heirs of salvation. multitude, but from a totally different standpoint-realizing this triumph as merely a psrt of the divine plan, and merely .t prelude to a greater triumph on our Lords part through the completion of the sacrifice of himself and the attainment thus of all power in heaven and in earth; and as a fore-

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14

shadowing, too, of 111s coming glory and his triumphal entry upon the kingdom on his return from the far countrv (heaven) armed with a plenitude of power and authority, t; put down sin and to bring all things into subjection to God; and to lift up out of the horrible uit of sin and disease and death all desirous of coming back iuto full harmony with the Father and the laws of JUS empire. This, the most glorious standpoint of view of that triumphal march, it is our privilege, by the grace of God, to enjoy; and we may well say in our Lords words, Blessed are our eyes, for they see; and our ears, for they hear.
RESPONSIBILITY OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS

loss-the profit of the money changers. We are not to understand that our Lord was interferine with the nroner laws of the land nor of the Temple-he was %r every sense faw-abiding. On the contrary, he was thoroughly authorized, as was any Jew, under the directions of the law. to use so much force as was necessary in the maintenance of the sanctity of the Temple.
DIVINE FAVOR DEPARTED FROM ISRAEL

Lukes account of tlris matter informs us that certain of the Pharisees who were with the multitude at the beginning, altho they could not object to anything which our Lord said or did, complained that he should nermit his discinlcs and others.of the multitude to hall him as a King, shouting Horanna! (Salvation, Blessing, Praise! ) Then it was tlrat #Jesus, knowing of the prophery bearing upon this subject (Zcch. 9.9) ( not only refused to rebuke the drsciples and hinder their acclaims; but informed the Pharisees that since God himself, throuaJ1 the Prouhet. had said. Shout. 0 dauehter of Jerusalem,> therefore Athcre must be some ahoutings; and that if the people had not arisen to that amount of enthusiasm to give such shoutingc, the very storms would have tried out. so that the propbery should not be unfulfilled. Tho the distance is quite short to Jerusalem from Bethpliage, where the Lord mounted the ass. nevertheless the city was hidden from rirw bp the nlount of Olives, and it was when the Lord had rc~ac~hcdtire tol of Olivct. and the city of ~Jerusalem came suddenly into view. that he halted the procession and wept over the cite. saving. If thou hadst known. even thou. ai least in this, thy da\;. the things which belong unto tbv Deace! But now thev are hid from thine eves . . . beCR% thou kneweyt not ih;nc time of thy visitation. (Luke 19:41-44) From tlris language it, iq evident that our Lord did not consider the multitudes who were with him, as in any sense of the word, representing the ritv and nation; for altho these who were with him were shdutinp the very words, Blessed is he that rometh in the name of Jehovah! our Lords language indicates that a time is vet to come when the heads of Israel. the chief ones representing the people, shall gladly acknowledge him as Kina of kings and Lord of lords. at his siccond advent: but in tlic meantime their failure to recognize the time of their visitation meant to them a great loss of privilege : meant to them that their house must be left desoiate. abandoned of the Lord during this Gospel age, during which he would gather from amongst the Gentiles a sufficient number to complete the elect number. in ronjunction with the faithful ones of Israel, the remnant who had or would receive him -See Matt. 23 : 39. The objertive point of tlnq triumphal march was the Holv City. the capital citv, the Citv of the Great King. But ou; Lord did not go to Herods unlare. to demand nossession of it: nor to Pilates palace. to dbmand recoanitionof Jrim; but as the representative of Jehovah. as the Mrssiah. sent of God to be the Saviour of Israel and tire world, he went appropriately lo the Fathers house or palace-to the Temple.
JESUS EXERCISING KINGLY AUTHORITY

Blind and lame people came to our Lord in the Temple and were relieved of their infirmities, and then he taught the people-continuing the healing and the teaching for several days, returning at nights to Bethany and coming the next morning to the Temple, but without any further demonstration, as a King, for that one demonstration had served the purpose intended. It had given to the officials of the citv and nation the opportunity to formally accept him as k&g, but their contrarv snirit is shown bv their comina to him while the clrildre; in-the Temple courts were crying YHosanna! requesting that he should put a stop to the matter; but our Lord answered them, quoting from the Scriptures that this was in harmony with the divine ulan: Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise. The worldly-wise did not annreciate this. and were blinded bv self-interest: but little chilxen, and especially those who inisimplicity of heart and meekness became like little children, should be the instru ments the Lord would use in shouting his praises. Many of our Lords parables and snecial teachings were uttered during those days-in the Temple, between his trcumphal entrv and nresentation on the tenth dav of the month Nisan andhis c&ciflxion on the fourteenth, as the Passover Lamb. (See Exod. 12:3, 6) These parables, etc., are recorded in Mattllew. chanters 23-25: in Mark. chanters 11-13. and in John, chkpter~ 12-16 -4mong other things he declared that the favor of God was, there and then, taken from fleshly Israel. saying : 0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem. that killest the nronhets and stonest them which are sent unto thee! How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under Irer wings, and ye would not! Behold. your house is left unto you desolate!-hiatt. O-3:37-39.
TYPICAL NATURE OF OUR LORD'S ACTS

The scene in the Temple must Jiave been a peculiar one. It was undoubtedly crowded with pilgrims from all parts of the civilized world. who at this season of the vear came. to the number of Jmndreds of thousands. to worship the Lord and to observe the Passover, according to the Law. Probably manv of them J~ntl hpnrd something ahout Jesus of Nazareth. mirht.v in word and deed. Manv of them Jlad been healed JIV him. or had friends who were th;ls hlesstd; and we can well Imagine the commotion created bv the multitudes coming with .JPSUS and crying. Hosanna in the highest. etc. The Phari-ces. scribes and chief nricst3. who were used to dominate the people in rclipioiis matters. an d especially in the Temple, altho filled with anger against Jrsus. recognized themselves powerlcic: tn do him injury under the cirrnmstanres. for he was doing unthinp contrarv in any sense of the word to the Law, and this On the contrary, as tJm to show would be manifest to all that he was only rloina wllat was in his power, our Lord began to exercise it a~ would he befitting a spiritual King-bv reproving tllnsp who were violating the holv Temple and its prerinctn. driving out of it those who sold doves for offerings. and the money changers. who were reaping a profitable harvest from the necessities of the worshipers from a distance, wlrm~ monev. not b&m .Tcwi*h. could not be accented at the Temple, and which they must therefore have exchanged at a

In considering the best lessons we at the present time can draw from these incidents. we sugrrest that their tvnical fed-. I ture be not forgotten-that all shall rememhcr that-the events in the close of our Lords ministry, and everything pertaining to the rejection and dissolution of the fleshlv house of Israel. is typical and illustrative of the things which are to be expected to transpire in the present time, in the end of the Gospel age-in the reiection and dissolution of nominal Israel of t&lay,-Babylon. DAWN, -AASalreadv shown in MILLENNIAL Vol. II., page 235. the time which corresponded to the Lords formal offering of himself to fleshlv Israel and his reiection was the year-1878. There nominal spiritual Israel was reiected. as nreviouslv the first or flesblv house had been rejected; yet-in both >ases all Israelites indeed receive him and receive corresponding blessings at his hand. It is since this date (1878) we understand that our Lord has been in his sniritual temnle. the true church. teaching in an especial ma&,* all those who have an ear to hear, ope&ng the blinded eyes and helping those who are spiritually lame to walk in his wavs. It is since that time that all who belong to the temple clais of true worshipers are permitted to hear and see wonderful thines out of the divine Word: and it is during this time also ihat the Lord is casting out of his temple all those who make merchandise of the truth, and who are not true worshipers-the money-changers and dove-sellers, et,r.; and it is during this time that out of the mouth of babes and sucklings the truth is being proclaimed so often to the offense of the scribes and Pharisees of today. Shortly, the last memhers of the hodv of Christ, the feet. already being anointed for burial with the sweet odors of the truth, will comnlete their sacrifice: shortlv, the first resurrection will be complete and all the members of the bodv of Christ be glorified together with him; and then, the sufferings of Christ being ended, the glory will speedily follow. But meantime, before the glory is revealed, there will come a great time of trouble. symbolically a time of fire (trouble) and smoke f confusion) UDOn the world. and esneciallv upon rejected Babylon. and all who do not escape *from her* before the grea< tribulation comes, even as similar fiery vengeance came unon Israel after the flesh, and all who had not escaped from h&.-Luke 3:16, 17; Matt. 13:38-43.

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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

DUTY TO THE HEAVENLY AND TO THE EARTHLY HUSBAND

Questaon.-1 am the wife of a minister in one of the denominations. I have been studying the truth for now several years, and feel convinced that the WATCH TOWEB publications represent the true Gospel. I desire to be faithful to my Lord, no matter what the consequences; but I am in a measure of perplexity to know just what my duty is. As the ministers wife I am, of course, a member of the church; I am the organist for the congregation, and a teacher in the Sunday School. My question is, Should I, or should I not, come out of Babylon-withdraw from worship and coijperation in that which I believe is in many important respects a misrepresentation of the Gospel-of Gods truth and character? I do not wish to weiah earthlv interests so far as I am myself concerned, being quite willing to suffer whatever the Lords nrovidence mav nermit. Mv hesitation is more on account Gf others whow&ld necesiarily suffer with me. My husband, who would undoubtedly lose his position and its small salary, is not in sympathy with the truth; my best efforts to awaken his interest in it having proved unavailing. He would suffer, and our two children would suffer, as well as myself; and my query is-To what extent is it right for me to involve others? And what would be the proper course for me to take that would be pleasing to our Lord ? Answer.-Yours is a peculiar case, dear sister. We will suggest what we would consider to be the Lords will in the matter, and give the reasons, and then leave it for your own conscience to decide upon. It is your duty to do what you understand to be the Lords will, according to the best light which you possess or can obtain. First then, we advise that you explain the whole situation fully and frankly to your husband, and tender to him, as the minister and representative of the congregation, a letter requesting that your name be stricken from the list, etc.,-one of the printed letters which we supply free would answer this Your husband, as the representative of the congrei,fiPo,,ecan, if he choose, erase your name from the roll. You may request him to make the matter public, but he will not be bound to follow your request, and under your peculiar circumstances we advise (differently from usual) that you do not send the Withdrawal Letters to all the members of the congregation unless your husband is willing. Leave the responsibility with him. As for the teaching of a class in the Sunday School, we advise that you continue it, especially if it be a class of adult scholars-teaching, however, not any sectarian theory, but the true theoloev of the Bible. Let vour husband. as the Dastor of the chur:h, know that it is the only condition upon -which it would be possible for you to retain your class. As for the playing of the organ, we recommend that you continue it also, explaining. however, to vour husband vour objection to certain faise hyn&-book thkology, that (you bklieve tb be contrary to the Scrintures. and reauesting that if he desire vou to continue tobe th; organ&t he GilI give you some little liberty and consideration ii the matter oFth selection of the hymns. But we advise that vou be not too particular, not hypercritical, in this matter. Wk reason that Gods people are justified in praising God with any words from which it would be possible to take a uroner thou&-even tho others might from the L same words- take an &proper thought. Our reasons for advising in this-case differently from what we would ordinarilv are two-fold: I1 ) Your husband is nominally, and perhap; really, a Chri&i& and hence it would be proper for you to render some deference to his judgment in any matter not compromising your own conscience-as, for instance, along the lines above suggested, (2) There is a little difference between the position of a husband and of a wife in such a matter: the wife may throw some responsibility upon the husband, but the husband could throw no responsibility upon the wife. We are not under the law, but nevertheless the law in a shadowy way gives to us some conception of the Lords view of matters; as for instance, see Leviticus 30. Your husband was aware of your vow unto the Lord whereby you consecrated your all to him, and made

no dissent thereto. It would appear, therefore, that he could not in any way interfere with the proper liberty of your conscience without doing violence to his own.
WHO ONLY HATH IMMORTALITY-WHO?

Question.-How should we understand 1 Tim. 6:14-161 IS it the Father or the Son who is referred to as the King of kings and Lord of lords. who onlv hath immortalitv. dwelline a in rhe light which no man can acproach unto, etc.? illlswer.-We understand that the Apostle here refers to our Lord Jesus. Our reasons for so concluding are as follows : (1) While immortality belongs exclusively to the divine nature, we are to remember that the Apostle Paul declares that the entire church is called to glory, honor and immortality, and the Apostle Peter says that God has given us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these we might become partakers of the divine nature. This implies, therefore, that, the church of God is to possess this divine attribute of immortalitv or deathlessness. But onlv our Lord Jesus had yet been made partaker of this qualit *at the time of the Apostles writing. The church! his bo 19 would not be thus y, honored and glorified until their due time, in the first resurrection, when they shall be like him, sharing his divine nature, glory, honor and immortality, etc. (2) That our Lord Jesus already possessed this divine nature, and therefore possessed immortalitv at the time of the Apostles writing, is ^fully attested by thk Scriptures, which assure us that as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life ilz himself. This describes immortality, for no other conditon of life is inherent life; all other conditions are derived or imnarted life. The statement here that our Lord will give this& same inherent life to his followers, is in agreement with the Apostles assurance that all who have part in the first resurrection are raised in incorruption, in immortalitv (1 Cor. 15:52, 53) ; and remember that our Lords resurrection was the beginning of this first resurrection, and that it could have meant no less to him, the Head, than it is by and by to signify to the members of his body. We are to remember the same Apostles declaration that our Lord Jesus resurrection was as a first-fruits; that thus he became the first-born among many brethren. We are to remember also that the Apostle, in harmony with the above, expressed the desire that he might have a share in his resurrection, the resurrection, the first resurrection, in which all the overcomers are to share.-Phil. 3: 10, 11; 1 Cor. 15:20, James 1: 18. (3) If, therefore, sharing in his resurrection is to bring his faithful members to immortality, our Lords own resurrection can have been to no inferior condition. Hence, to appl? the text in question to the heavenly Father would not be consistent with the testimony of Scripture, t,hat the heavenly Son possessed immortality at the time as weil as the heavenly Father. (4) That the passage in question relates to our Lord Jesus and designates him the onlv Potentate. Kine and Lord. does not impi$ any disregard ordisrespect of the-heavenly Father and his attributes, kingship, etc., as the same writer (St. Paul) elsewhere Doints out. When sDeakine in similar strain about Christs kiigdom and the subjugationbf all things under him, he says, It is manifest that he is excepted who did put all things under him. In other words, comparisons which show dignity and honor pertaining to Christ, Head or body, are never understood to be comparisons with Jehovah, who I& beyond all comparison.-See 1 Cor. 15:27, 28. (5) The correctness of this application is further attested by our Lords own application to himself of the same titles. -See Rev. 17:14 and 19:16. (6) The Apostles entire discourse is along the line of showing the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus, his humility and high exaltation, and how servants and all of us should be likewise humble and lowly and faithful to the truth as servants of God. and in due time be exalted-manifested to the world -in glory, honor and immortality in the kingdom.

HOME EMBEL.LISHMENTS
The mention, in our Nov. 15 issue, of the motto and text cards for home decoration brought us a flood of orders, for which we were only partially prepared. More mottoes are on their way to us from London, and all orders will be filled as quickly as possible. We arc glad to think that these good words, meeting the eyes of your families, will continually exercise a silent yet potent influence for good. All orders will be filled soon as possible. (382-383)

127471

Pastor Russells Sermons

Are Now Obtainable

IN BOOK
A choice collection of discourses of the past ing every phase doctrine and

FORM
his most important 40 years, coverof Christian practice.

ALL
MANY

DIFFERENT
NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED

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What

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For forty-two years Pastor Russell preached the Glad Tidings of Great Joy -a message which must yet be heard by all mankind. Thousands whose hearts were gladdened by his preaching passed the good news on to others. A public demand was thus created for his sermons, until eventually over 2,000 newspapers were led to publish his discourses weekly. Since the venerable Pastors demise multitudes have hungered for more of that mental and spiritual food which his discourses supplied. To meet the demand this selection of his sermons is issued in book form.

816 pages, clear type.

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