Vol. II

NEW YORK CITY

N O . 2

No other book treats the matter of human woe and sorrow in the wise, tender, sympathetic, helpful manner of the Bible. It assures us that however cold, heartless and disappointing the world may be and our friends may be, or those from whom we may have expected better things, we have, nevertheless, a God of sympathy—a God of love. No heathen religion knows anything of such a God. With them God’s attributes are merely more or less of ferocity. Their gods are to be placated and worshipped from fear of what they otherwise would do to their creatures. The God of the Bible assures us of his love, his sympathy, in all of our distresses—his interest in our af-' fairs and his provision for the ulti-i mate welfare of all those who will come into the attitude of loving righteousness and hating iniquity—the only ■ proper attitude of heart, the only one which he can approve and bless with everlasting life.

A Night of Sorrow and Death.

The Scriptures point out to us what we recognize to be the truth—that the World has been under a pall and blight and curse of death for six thousand years. Appropriately our text describes this period as a dark time of hard, blighting experiences, a night of weeping—of sorrow. In harmony with this figure it declares that “darkness covers the (civilized) earth and gross darkness the heathen.”

Not alone does this condition affect those who are in alienation from God through ignorance and superstition and the power of sin, but it affects also those who have accepted the grace of God, who have turned their backs upon sin and who are seeking to walk in the narrow way, in the footsteps of Jesus. Well does the Apostle say, “The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption; to wit, the redemption of our Body,”—the Body of which Jesus is the Head or Chief and we are symbolical members or an under-priesthood (Romans viii, 22, 23).

There is a difference, however, between the Church and the world in this groaning, as suggested by the Apostle’s words. The world groans aloud without alleviation, and even its waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God is a waiting in ignorance; for, being out of touch with the Eternal One, they know not of his gracious purposes and arrangements—for these are kept secret from all except his sanctified ones. “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear (reverence) him and he will show them his Covenant” (Psalm xxv, 14). These [who possess the secret of the Lord “sorrow not as others who have no hope” (I Thessalonians iv, 13). They “groan inwardly” and wait for the glorification of themselves and all the brethren, members of the symbolical Body of Christ, by participation in the r'irst Resurrection. The hopes of these ; must be realized first, before the blessing can come to the “groaning creation” in general. The latter are waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God; namely, the Church in glory.

A Light in a Dark Place.

The Bible represents itself as being the candle of the Lord, the lamp of Divine Truth and enlightenment. But it tells us that its light is not for the world—either now or at any time future. Its light is only for those who by faith and obedience unto consecration seek to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. They need the light. God provides it for them. These are represented by the Prophet as saying to the Lord, “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (footsteps) (Psalm cxix, 105). This light evidently does not shine far into the future, but enough for each onward step as it becomes due.

St. Peter amplifies the same thought. After telling us of the assurance which he himself and his associates had upon the Mount of Transfiguration when they beheld “the vision” (Matthew xvii, 1-9) of the Lord miraculously transformed and with him Moses and Elijah and heard the voice from heaven, it was forceful to their minds as teaching the coming of our Lord in glory, in due time. Nevertheless, says the Apostle, honoring the Bible above any vision, “We have a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise” (II Peter i, 9), indicating that the morning is at hand and that the Sun of Righteousness will soon fulfil its mission of blessing all the families of the earth.

But Why Ie This Thus?

Why does God permit the reign of sin and death, injustice, unrighteousness, sorrow, trouble, pain, headaches, heartaches, etc.? Why does he not deal with humanity graciously, kindly, lovingly, as a Father—as he deals with the angelic sons of God? Is it just or loving on the part of our Creator to bring forth millions of his creatures under these admittedly unfavorable conditions—beset by weaknesses and sinwardness from their birth and surrounded by others similarly weak, and beset by Satan and his minions—wicked spirits? Is it just that we should thus be in an unequal fight subjected to weaknesses and dying and imperfect conditions on account of the sin of our first parents and then, on the same account, be in danger of an eternity of torture with nine hundred and ninety-nine chances out of a thousand against us?

No, thank God, that thought of eternal torture which came down to us from the dark ages, and which we for a time supposed to be Biblical, we find now is quite unscriptural, when judged in the light of the Bible’s own testimony. The eternal torment doctrine assuredly is not of God, not of the Bible, but, as St. Paul declares, one of the “doctrines of devils.”

The inheritance of weaknesses, blemishes, sorrows, pain and trouble, to which we were born, is quite sufficient and, according to the Scriptures, these are all part of death, and all reach their culmination in death, which is the real penalty for sin prescribed by our Creator. The fact that these blemishes still continue with the race proves that their sins are not yet blotted out, and to this agree thr Scriptures which point us to the oncoming glorious day of blessing a thousand years long, the Millennium, in which Divine blessing will be bestowed upon every member of Adam’s race. The merit of Christ’s sacrifice, the ransom-price for sinners which he laid down, will by that time be made available “for the sins of the whole world.”

The merit of that sacrifice has already been applied to the Church— “The household of faith”—since Pentecost. It has brought to this class very special privileges, though very different ones from those it will bring to the world during the Millennium. The willing and obedient of the world will then get restitution gradually (Acts iii, 20), back to human perfection and a world-wide Edenic home. The blessing upon the Church is different. The promise now made to those who can and will walk by faith and not by sight is a heavenly one. They are to have a heavenly or spiritual reward and in their resurrection become partakers of the divine nature and have no share thereafter in human nature. The conditions of the present time are severe, proportionately to the greatness and grandeur of their heavenly calling. The terms of acceptance to the divine nature include not only faith and love, but a self-sacrificing will. These sacrifice their earthly res-tit'/ion rights and privileges for the privilege of suffering with Christ, that they may also reign with him in his Millennial Kingdom.

Learning by Suffering.

The same thought is elsewhere expressed. Only those who hear his voice and obey him as the Teacher sent of God will be successful in their endeavor to become members of the “Royal Priesthood,” now being selected from the world. Only those who, during the Millennial Age, will hear and obey will there receive this great blessing of eternal salvation—eternal life under Divine favor, free from the curse. The reward to the world in the close of the Millennium and the reward to the Church in the close of this Gospel Age will each be eternal salvation; but the Church’s reward will include eternal glory, heavenly glory and Joint-heirship with the Redeemer himself in his great work of administering God’s blessings to the world of mankind, as Mediator of the New Covenant between God and men—the world.

It seemed wise to our Heavenly Father that our Lord Jesus should learn obedience through sufferings and be tested in respect to his willingness to endure suffering for righteousness* sake. How appropriate it is that the same Father should make similar arrangements for all of the Church, whom he will receive from amongst the race of Adam to be members of the Royal Priesthood under Jesus, the High Priest of our order. We see a necessity for this, not only as respects our own testings and a thorough proof of our own heart-loyalty to the Lord, but additionally we see a wisdom on God’s part in thus preparing a priesthood of the future. The term priest as recognized amongst the Jews was not merely one who offered sacrifices, although every priest was of necessity a sacrificer. The special mission of the priestly tribe amongst the other tribes was that of instructing, helping, healing, teaching. And so God is preparing a Royal Priesthood for the Millennial Age to bless, to heal, to teach, to uplift all the willing and obedient

The royalty of the priesthood signifies that it will no longer be a sacrificing class, for all sacrificing will be at an end. It will be a glorious class, royal, of the divine nature, and representatives with our Lord Jesus of ths Divine power. As priests who will have to do with judging and chasten-. Ing, healing and helping humanity, how much sympathy do we suppose that these Royal Priests should have? Are they not to be on the Divine plane of glory, “members of the Body” of Messiah, the great kingly priest after the order of Melchizedek? And of him has not the Apostle written that he must be a faithful and merciful High Priest, able also to sympathize with the people in their infirmities? Does he not declare that it was for this reason that our Lord was touched,with a feeling for humanity’s infirmities? And is it not in perfect keeping with this that all those accepted as “members of his Body” should have such experiences in this sacrificing time as would demonstrate their loyalty to the Lord and guarantee their deep sympathetic interest in the world, then committed to their c^re? To such will be committed the work of human restitution, uplift out of sin and death conditions—mental, moral and physical?

The Morning of Joy.

How glad we should be that our Heavenly Father’s sympathy for us will provide “a morning of joy” to be ushered in, in his “due time!” Additionally he sympathizes with us to the extent that he ’-as given us in advance a message and Revelation and explanation to comfort us, to sustain us in the way! We have already seen that this Revelation is only for those who have the eyes of faith and the ears of faith at the present time. “Blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.” “He that hath an ear let him hear.”

We recognize the wisdom of God in withholding the secret of his plan from the world in general. We recognize that for the world to know the deep things of God at the present time would be injurious rather than helpful to them. It might possibly work an interference with the Divine Program. Nevertheless we are bound to sympathize with the poor groaning creation in its blindness and ignorance. The poor world knows not why it came into being. In an animal fashion, eating, drinking, etc., it seeks to use the opportunities of present life and, after a few short years full of trouble, it goes down into the tomb, ignorant of the purposes of its creation, and usually considerably enthralled by fear respecting the future beyond the portals of death.

How we may rejoice in spirit as we

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The Rich Man in Hell: Lazarusin

Abraham’s Bosom

This greatly misunderstood ! parable made plain in Vol. I, I No. 4, of Peoples Pulpit. 1 Send for free sample copy.

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perceive the length and breadth and height and depth of the Divine Program for the future and the blessings which it will bring to this “groaning creation!” How we long for the time to come when the Church shall be made ready through the sufferings of this present time for the glories of the future—of the Kingdom! No wonder the Apostle declares, “He that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he [the Lord] is pure (I John iii, 13). He is our exemplar, our pattern.

We seek to copy him. Although we ; cannot hope to be like him in the .flesh, we can be like him in the spirit 1 of our minds and thus be of the character-likeness which the Father will be pleased to honor with a share in the “First Resurrection.” By that glorious “change” we shall be made like him actually and see him as he is and share his glory.

The morning of joy, the Millennial Morning, of course, cannot be ushered In until the rising of the Sun of Righteousness. Its beams of grace and Truth will flood the earth with the light of the knowledge of the glory of God to such a degree that it will drive out, expel, all ignorance, superstition and sin, which have worked such havoc in our race.

But what is this Sun of Righteousness? Whence comes it? The Bible answers the question by telling us that It symbolically represents the Lord himself and the elect Church of this Gospel Age. The Sun of Righteousness is a synonym for the Seed of Abraham, of whom it is written, “In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” The Mystery hidden for a time from many is the fact that the Church is to share with her Lord in every feature of his glorious work, not only in suffering, but also in reigning. Thus we have St. Paul’s assurance that the overcomers will be members of the Seed of Abraham (Galatians iii, 29). And we have our Lord’s own words that this faithful class will be represented in the great Sun of Righteousness, the great Messiah, the great Prophet, Priest, King and Mediator between God and men (Matthew xiii, 43).

“What Manner of Persons.”

St. Peter, in viewing the prospects of (he Church, inquires as to “what manner of persons we ought to be in all manner of holy living and godliness.” Ue refers to us, who know that the present order of things is the reign of sin and death from which our Lord died to deliver us. What manner of persons ought we to be, who have heard the Lord’s invitation to joint-heirship in his Kingdom, and who know that we are now on trial to determine by our voluntary course our worthiness or unworthiness of that glorious position to which we have been called by God’s favor! How paltry, how insignificant, do all the affairs of the world appear in comparison to this great prize set before us in the gospel!

And what should be our attitude towards the world, seeing from this inside standpoint of Divine Revelation the real condition of the world and God’s sympathy for it? Its ignorance should make us very sympathetic, and very much disposed to lend a helping hand of relief in every possible manner. We should be ever ready to remove the scales of blindness from the mental vision of all who give indication of a desire for God—any who seem to be “feeling after God, if haply they might find him” (Acts xvii, 27). Only such will be ready for the Kingdom, fit for the Royal Priesthood, every member of which must be “touched grith a feeling” for earth’s infirmities,.

the Millennial Day of judgment (trial) find himself so much lower in the human scale and have so much further to advance out of sin and death conditions into the condition of perfection and everlasting life.

The Church has her judgment day in the present life—during this Gospel Age. All consecrated believers, begotten of the holy Spirit, are now on trial for everlasting life or for everlasting death as “new creatures in Christ Jesus.” If such do not comply with the conditions of their consecration, but draw back to sin, their trial will be in one sense useless and the sentence of utter destruction will res' upon them—“the SSCond Death.”

Idle Words—Pernicious Words.

The context shows that our Lord in our text addressed, not his disciples, but the worldly, the Pharisees, Doubtless the same principle applies to the Church. Every idle or pernicious word of ours has its weight, has its influence with ourselves and with others. Those who are rightly informed respecting the Lord’s will in such matters, the Lord’s consecrated people, have a great responsibility—a responsibility of what effect their words and influence have upon others. Our words, whether written or spoken, exercise an influence upon the minds and thoughts of others. Frequently they go from one to another and thus, if pernicious, evil is spread far and near and the word once uttered cannot be recalled. Some one has wisely said that Error can get around the world while Truth is getting its boots on. Oh, the power of a slanderous word! Oh, the power of an insinuation! Yea, even of a shrug of the shoulder! Who does not know it? Who is unaware of the fact that this is the practice of the world daily; and alas, the practice also of many of God’s people—professing Christians! The bitter word of sarcasm or insinuation is shot out often unthinkingly, but the terrible poison goes from heart to heart and fresh roots of bitterness are scattered abroad, which a lifetime of holy living cannot fully counteract.

On the contrary, what a power the tongue has for good, using the word tongue here in its broad sense, representing not only words spoken, but the words written and printed. As an illustration: What speaker or writer has ever done more to help poor humanity than the Prophet David in the inspired Psalms which he wrote? Truly, as Solomon has said, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver (Proverbs xxv, 11). As for the Church, the Lord has indeed agreed that he will not judge the Church according to their words and their deeds entirely, but according to their spirit, their intention, their will, their energy, their zeal for him and his Truth. Nevertheless, he assures the Church that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak, and that they may thus judge or test themselves. If their hearts are right—full of love for God. for the brethren, for mankind, for their enemies, they will speak accordingly, manifesting their love and kindness in words as well as in deeds. The good heart out of its good treasure will shower blessings—fruits and flowers of refreshment and kindness, while the evil heart will send forth bitter words, poisoned arrows, injurious to all with whom they come in contact.

Whoever, therefore, finds that he is continually stirring up strife and wounding his friends should promptly make an examination of his helirt to ascertain the trouble there. He should not be content to say, “I meant no harm.” The heart that is not full of goodness, kindness, generosity, love, will likely not control the tongue properly. We must reach the place where not only we do not will to do harm to our neighbors, but where we sincerely wish to do them good. Then that good heart, out of its treasure of goodness, will speak words of kindness, of love.

Men Shall Give an Account.

But now, considering the words of our text as applicable to the Millennium, how will the world render its account in the future respecting the words of the present life? Not surely in line with the teachings of the dark ages that, during a twenty-four-hour-day, the whole world could be ranged in line and each individual remember each pernicious word and evil act and give an account of the same to the great Judge? Quite different will the reality be. The judgment day will be the thousand year period of the Millennium and the account of every evil act, of every sinful deed, and of every pernicious word will be recorded in the individual’s own character, just as a towel bears the mark of every unclean wash dried upon it. In other words, the wrong-doer not only injures others, but specially injures and marks himself by the wrong he has practiced in evil speaking and evil-doing and the more deeply has he marked his character accordingly. It is in line with this that the Scriptures assure us that in the resurrection time many will come forth to shame and lasting contempt. It is a time in which characters will be shown up. How terribly ashamed some will be of their showing! Some who now appear to be honorable indeed, some who now rank fairly high amongst men, will then be seen in truer colors. Their shame and the contempt in which they will be held by mankind in general will be a part of their punishment for their wrong course. The shame will last until gradually they will be able to demonstrate a more noble character. Their contempt will continue until, under the blessed, uplifting influences of the Millennial Kingdom, they will have attained the way of the Lord more perfectly.

By Thy Words Justified.

We are not to think that this signifies that every man will be justified from the Adamic death condemnation by any words that he could utter. Nor are we to think of the expression, “By thy words thou shalt be condemned,” that any man could come under a second condemnation until first freed (through Christ) from the condemnation of original sin. Nothing but the merit of Christ’s sacrifice can justify, any. Nothing but the blood of Christi can justify those who come to God¹ by faith, in this Age, or those who will assure him of their loyalty for righteousness by works, in the next Age. We are not to understand our Lord as here contradicting the general testimony of the Scriptures.

The lesson is in harmony with the Scriptural declaration, “Blessed is the man who is not condemned by that which he alloweth.” That is to say,( The ungenerous, the unkind, are very apt to blame others strongly tor mis-, demeanors of which they themselves are guilty. The man whose words respecting others do not condemn himself is to be congratulated as a happy man indeed. The person whose criti-', cism of others is so kindly, so generous, so merciful as to not involve a' condemnation of his own course is certainly an exceptional man or woman. We call to remembrance our Lord’s words, “With whatsoever measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again,” and, interpreting our text in harmony with this, if our words are

generous and kind, loving and benevolent we shall receive similarly kind treatment of the Lord. If our language respecting others be harsh, cynical, critical, unkind, we may expect reproofs from the Lord. Why? Because all mankind are by nature fallen, imperfect, depraved; and the person who sees the faults of others and fails to see his own, needs the correcting chastisements of the Lord to show him his true condition reflected in his course of conduct and language toward and respecting others: he indicates that he himself needs to be taught some very important lessons without which he will not be prepared to make progress toward the Divine standards of character.

On the contrary, the person who is kind, gentle, forgiving, forbearing, sympathetic, disposed to make allowances for others shows that he has learned an important lesson already and that, to a considerable extent, his heart is right. Whatever there is wrong with such a generous soul is unintentionally wrong, a wrong which Is intrenched in his flesh, but with which his heart is not in accord. By his kindly words respecting others he marks himself, indicates his character as of the kind which God can approve; as one of the class who at least love their neighbor as themselves and thus Imply also that they love God. because, as the Apostle points out, “He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” Contrariwise he who loves his neighbor speaks generously of him, is merciful toward him, and compassionate, undoubtedly would greatly respect and love the Divine character in its perfection of Justice. Wisdom and Love.

Blessed Are the Merciful. *

This brings us to another Scripture of similar tenor: “Blessed are the met-’ ciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” It Is true that God gave to natural Israel a code of laws which defined the course of life for them, saying, Thou shalt not do this and that. Yet that Law was Intended in great measure to show to Israel and to the world the impossibility of an imperfect man or woman keeping perfectly the Divine requirements. When the Lord would state his Law from the other standpoint—positively and not negatively, he sums the ‘ matter up in few words, Thou shalt love the Lord supremely and thy neighbor as thyself. He who is merciful is in the condition to be blessed of the Lord, because he more than others approximates the standard of the Divine Law—Love; for mercy is the expression of love.

We see, then, that the Divine prom-! Ise that he who is merciful to his neighbor will receive the more mercy ” from the Lord is not a mere ipse dixit, > nor a mere rewarding of such a proper ^course. Rather it is in harmony with p the principles and essence of the divine government, because the more gener-^ous and loving the heart, the nearer to i the perfect condition.

If this principle could be rightly seen I by Christian people it would work an ‘almost instantaneous revolution in the .hearts and conduct of all who desire 'Divine approval and favor. Instead of burning one another at the stake; instead of putting on thumb screws; Instead of condemning one another to eternal torment, Christians would be seeking to bless one another, to think and feel kindly respecting one another and disposed to pray God’s blessing upon those who despitefully use them and persecute them. Instead of slander and misrepresentation and envious insinuations, the spirit of love and kindness and mercy and godlikeness Would more and more prevail amongst those who have named the name of Christ and have professedly enlisted under his banner and covenanted to walk in his footsteps.

Nor would the blessing stop with the Church. The world, seeing such an example of love and kindness, would t>e ready to take knowledge of the followers of Jesus, as they did in the days of the apostles, saying, “Behold, how these Christians love one another!” Then our Lord’s words would haye a practical illustration, “A new Commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another, as I have loved you”—to the extent of laying down our lives for each other. As the Apostle declares, “We ought also to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

It has seemed at times as though some of those who profess relationship to Christ as members of his Church do even more of petty evil-speaking and slandering and busy-bodying than do the worldly who make no profession whatever. According to the standards set forth in our text the worldly, If they have more of the quality of

The Lord through the Prophet Jeremiah sends a message of consolation for the heart of every bereaved parent trusting in him. We read, “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children because they were not. Thus saith the Lord: Refrain thy voice from weeping and thine eyes from tears, for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.”—Jeremiah 31:15-17.

Five items in our text fasten our attention :

First. Sorrow for the dead, which is universal; as the Apostle declares, “The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together.”

Second. The nature of the comfort described—the hope of a resurrection, the hope of the recovery of the dead— “They shall come again,” they shall be restored to life.

Third. That in death our dear ones are in “the land of the enemy”; in harmony with the Apostle’s declaration, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”—I Cor. 15:26.

Fourth. That the labors of the parents in endeavoring to properly rear their children are not lost, “Thy work shall be rewarded.”

Fifth. Last but not least in importance in this text is the declaration that this is the Word of the Lord, which cannot be broken—the Word which is sure of fulfilment, however different it may be from the word of man on this subject.

Tears Not Weakness—“Jesus Wept.”

Sorrow for the dead is not a sign of weakness, but rather the reverse— a sign of love and sympathy, of something more than selfishness. If any demonstration of this thought were pecessary it is furnished us in the statement of the shortest verse in the Bible—“Jesus wept.” Our Lord’s tears were shed on a funeral occasion, too; Lazarus, his friend, the brother of Martha and Mary, was dead. Our Lord entered fully into the spirit of the occasion, with a deeper appreciation of the awful meaning of the word death than could possibly be entertained by those about him. He appreciated more than any of the fallen, dying race the great blessing and privilege of living, and what a terrible affliction was death—destruction, annihilation.

On the other hand, however, he understood more clearly than any of his hearers the gracious plan of God for the rescue of the race from annihilation. He realized that for thia purpose he had come into the world, that he might give his life as the ransom price for Father Adam, and thus incidentally for every member of the Adamic race involved in death through the first transgression in Eden. The Master realized from the mercy in their hearts will evidently be more pleasing to God than those who have made much proiession and neglected the Master’s commands and failed to cultivate his spirit of love and mercy, in word and deed.

Let us all remember our text and apply it. “By thy words shalt thou be justified, and by thy words shalt thou be condemned.” As we think of the fact that these sermons reach the eyes of about seven millions of readers weekly, we feel the weight of our responsibility. It is our desire that they be just su<-h as the Lord can approve, and such as will be helpful to all.

standpoint of faith in the Father’s plan, and his confident intention to carry out his own part in that plan and to lay down his life as our redemption price, that thus resurrection blessings would come to every member of the race.

“Not Dead but Sleeping.”

Let us note carefully the nature of the consolation which our Lord tendered to the sorrowing ones about him on this occasion. Let us be assured that “He who spake as never man spake” gave the soundest and best comfort. The consolation which he gave was that “Lazarus is not dead, but sleepeth.” He neither spake of him nor thought of him as being dead in the sense of annihilation, because he had full confidence in the divine plan of redemption and in the resurrection blessings resulting. Hence the interim of death he spoke of as sleep—quiet, restful, waiting sleep.

What a wonderful figure is this, so frequently used throughout the Scriptures by all those who trusted in the divine plan of a resurrection morning. In the Old Testament Scriptures we read frequently of sleep. Abraham slept with his fathers, so did Isaac, so did Jacob, so did all the Prophets, so did all Israel.

In the New Testament it is the same. Not only did our Lord speak of Lazarus sleeping, but the Apostles frequently used this same figure of sleep to represent their hope in a resurrection— that the dear ones who went down into death were not annihilated, but, as our text declares, “Will come again from the land of the enemy”—will awaken in the resurrection morning.

Thus, too, of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, it is written that though stoned to death, he “fell asleep,” sweetly, restfully, trusting in Jesus and the great power which he ultimately would exercise to call forth from the power of death all redeemed by the precious blood. This, too, we remember, was the comfort the Apostle set before the early Church, saying, “Comfort one another with these words”—“They that sleep in Jesus shall God bring from the dead by him.”—I Thess. 4:14-18.) Referring to the matter on one occasion the Apostle remarked, “We shall not all sleep, but we must all be changed.” He referred to those who would be living at the second coming of Christ, whose resurrection “change” will not be preceded by a period of unconsciousness in death.

Let us go back to Jesus and the sorrowing sisters at Bethany, and hearken to the words of comfort extended to the bereaved on that occasion. We cannot improve upon the great Teacher and the lessons which he presented. Let us hearken to his conversation with Martha. He says: “Thy brother shall live again.” He does not say thy brother is living now. He did not say, as some erroneously teach to-day, thy brother is more alive In death than he was before he died. No! No! The Lord would not thus mock the common sense and reason of ' his hearers, nor could he thus violate the truth and declare the dead, not dead.

Hearken! The Lord admits that & calamity has befallen the household. He says not a word about his friend Lazarus having gone to heaven—not an intimation of the sort. On the contrary, he has tears of sympathy, and holds out as the strongest and only truthful solution of the sorrow, the hope of a resurrection—"Thy brother shall live again.” “I am the resurrection and the life!” The hope of all the dead centers in me. My death will effect the cancellation of the original Adamic condemnation, and I shall have the right then in harmony with the Father’s plan to call forth all the dead from the great prison-house of death, from the tomb. “Marvel not at this, for the hour Is coming in which all who are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of Man and shall come forth.”—John 5:23.

The Resurrection Morning.

At the close of his conversation with Martha, explaining that her hope must center in a resurrectioh of the dead and that he was the center of that resurrection hope, our Lord asked for the tomb, intent upon giving an illustration of the power which by and by In the resurrection morning will be exercised toward the whole world of mankind. Standing at the door of the tomb our Lord cried 1* a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” and the dead came forth—he had been dead, he was quickened by our Lord’s power and authority.

This, like other miracles performed by our dear Redeemer at his first advent, we are particularly told, was a fore-manifestation of his coming glory and power, an advance exhibit of what he will do at his second advent, only that the work at the second advent will be universal, higher, deeper, broader every way, "All the blind eyes shall be opened and all the deaf ears shall be unstopped;” all that are in their graves shall come forth, not merely to relapse again into blindness and death, but a permanent recovery ■—not only recovery from the loss of natural sight and hearing, but the eyes and ears of their understanding will be opened also; not merely aroused from a sleep of death to a few years more under present conditions, but aroused to the intent that by obedience of the Divine arrangement of the Millennial Age all the awakaned ones may attain to all the glorious perfections, mental, moral and physical, lost by Adam’s disobedience.

“Tinies of Refreshing Shall Come.”

Glorious hope of a glorious time. ₍ What wonder that the Apostle speaks of it as “times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord when he shall send Jesus Christ.” What wonder that ¹ he speaks of those years of the Millen- , nial Age as “times of restitution of all , things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all the holy Prophets since the world began.”—Acts 3:19-21.

Lazarus died again, Jairus’ daughter died again, the son of the widow of Nain died again. Their awakening from the tomb was merely a temporary matter, merely an illustration of the Lord’s power; as it is written, “These things did Jesus and manifested forth his glory.” These were merely foregleams of the coming power and glory and blessed work of the gracious Prophet, Priest and King whom God has appointed not only to redeem the world, but in due time to grant to all the opportunities secured by that redemption sacrifice.

We cannot here go into details, but we doubt not that a majority of you have our full thought on this sub-

ject as presented in the “Studies in the Scriptures,” in which we endeavor to show amongst other things that the great blessing which will ultimately be lor the world of mankind, as well as for the Church, centers in the coming of our Lord and Master, our Redeemer and King, and that the great blessings centering in him are not merely temporary, but designed of God to be everlasting and eternal to those who . accept Divine favors in the right spirit, reverently, thankfully, obediently.

Death “The Land of the Enemy.”

Why should death be called “The land of the enemy”? Why should it be written, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death”? All because, disguise the facts as we may, death is an enemy. The suggestion that it is a friend comes not from the Word of God, but from heathen philosophies. The suggestion that it is unreal comes not from the Scriptures, but from heathendom. The suggestion that the dead are more alive than they were before they died is totally out of harmony with the Scriptural declaration—“The dead know not anything; their sons come to honor and they know it not, and to dishonor and they perceive it not of them,” because “there is neither wisdom nor knowledge nor device in the grave whither thou goest.” (Job 14:21; Eccl. 9:10.) The suggestion that we deceive ourselves and imagine without reason that the moment of death is the moment of greater life, is of the Adversary, who contradicted the Lord’s statement in Eden to our first parents, and when the Lord had declared, “Ye shall surely die” for your sin, declared tn contradiction, “Ye shall not surely die.”—Gen. 3:2-4.

The Adversary has kept up this false teaching for 6,000 years, and at last not only heathendom is deceived by his misrepresentation of facts, but ▼ery, very many of Christendom likewise trust to the word of Satan, “Ye shall not surely die,” and believe that the dead are not dead, and reject the testimony of God’s Word that “the wages of sin is death,” that “the soul that sinneth, it shall die,” that “death has passed upon all men because all are sinners,” and that the hope of the Church as well as the hope for the world lies in the fact that Christ died for our sins and redeemed us from the death sentence, and in the Father’s due time is to effect a resurrection of the dead.

The Key of Death’s Prison.

Let us comfort our hearts with the true comfort, the substantial comfort of the Word of God—there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust. All that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of Man and shall come forth. The thousands of millions who have gone down into the great prison-house of death shall be released, because the Great Redeemer has the key, the power, the authority, to bid the prisoners come forth, even as the Scriptures declare.

What a glorious resurrection morning that will be! What a glorious reunion! We understand the Scriptural teaching to be that the awakening processes will continue throughout a considerable portion of the Millennial Age, the thousand-year day of resurrection and restitution. First will come the resurrection of the Church, the “Bride,” the “Lamb’s Wife,” the >Body of Christ.” These, as the , Scriptures declare, will constitute the First Resurrection—not only first in order of time, but first in the sense of chief. In that company will be none except the saints; as it is written, “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the First Resurrection; on such the i Second Death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, ? and shall reign with Him a thousand ^! years.” (Rev. 20:6.) Nevertheless ' that will be but a little flock, as the Scriptures declare, including “not many wise, not many great, not many learned, but chiefly the poor of this world, rich in faith, heirs of the Kingdom.”—I Cor. 1:26, 27; Jas. 2:5.

Not long after the First Resurrection (the glorification of the Church), will come the resurrection of the Ancient Worthies—the overcomers of olden times prior to the Gospel Age. The assurance is that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the holy prophets —yes, all who were approved to God by their faith and their efforts to obedience—will come forth from the tomb to human conditions, glorious, grand, earthly illustrations of the heavenly Creator, to constitute the earthly representatives of the Kingdom, the instructors of mankind.

The instruction of the world will forthwith proceed. We are assured that “the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the whole earth as the waters cover the great deep”—to such an extent that “They shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord.” We cannot stop to describe that glorious time and the grand opportunities it will give to every creature to know the Lord, to obey him, to attain to resurrection in its full significance—a raising up to mental, moral and physical perfection.

The Last First, the First Last.

After the Kingdom of God shall have been fully established in the earth, and Satan shall have been bound, after the darkness shall have rolled away and the true light shall have lightened every creature, the time will come for the awakening of all the families of the earth—not all at once, but gradually, “they shall come again from the land of ths enemy.” The Scriptures do not go into details on this subject, they leave much to faith; but give us a firm foundation for that faith, nevertheless, in the positive promise of the Lord’s Word.

To our understanding those who have fallen asleep last, will be among the first to be called back from the land of the enemy, to be awakened, and thus the work of awakening the sleeping ones will progress backward, as we might express it; the living ones will prepare for their brothers and sisters and parents, and they in turn for their brothers and sister? and parents, and so on all the way back, until finally father Adam and mother Eve shall come forth to see the world filled with their progeny, in accord with the Lord’s original commission that they multiply and fill the earth.

They will behold with astonishment the showers of blessing that have come upon the race from the Heavenly Father and through the Heavenly Saviour; they will see what havoc was wrought by their disobedience, but that God in his wisdom and power was both able and willing to overrule the matter and to bring order out of confusion and resurrection out of death. They and all will realize something of the lengths and breadths and heights and depths of the Love of God. The grand plan of salvation shall loom up before them; they will see how Abel, their son, who suffered for righteousness, was a type and picture of the great Son of God who suffered for righteousness and for our deliverance, and they will see how his blood speaks peace for all for whom it is shed, speaks forgiveness and renewed harmony with God.

The Tragedy of Sin and Death.

They will learn, too, of the terrible degradation which came upon their race subsequently to their death; they will read with appalled hearts and bated breath of the terrible, famines and pestilences which came upon the race as a part of the original sentence or death curse; they wi&l learn about the mental aberrations which afflicted the world, so that men thought they were doing God service in persecuting one another because of religious differences of opinion, and how others, more or less consumed with selfishness, land hunger, etc., warred and fought and devised engines of destruction against each other, and killed one another by the thousands in battle. They will wonder at the patience of God in so long permitting the evil.

Then truly they will see what God has wrought: First, his justice, which provided the great redemption price and would not otherwise clear the guilty. Second, his love, manifested in the same connection in the giving of his Son. Third, they will come to understand how that during this Gospel Age God has been selecting his Church to be the Bride of Christ and joint-heir with him in the Kingdom. Fourth, they will perceive that when this election was complete and the members of the glorified company had all been tried and polished and tested and glorified, then the blessing of the world through the glorified Christ, Head and Body, came upon all mankind in the restitution of all things spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began.—Acts 3:20.

“Thy Work Shall Be Rewarded.”

Finally, consider the Lord’s Word to us all as a race, and particularly his word to parents, “Thy work shall be rewarded.” What a blessing and comfort! What a consolation and encouragement are in these words to those parents who, seeking to train up their children in the way they should go, are sadly wounded and discouraged when the arrow of death smites down the dear ones they had so loved and cherished. They are disposed at first to say, Ah, my love, my counsel, my motherly care, my fatherly provision, were wasted. But not so, saith the Lord; thy works shall be rewarded.

How Rewarded?

You shall see the fruit of your labor In the future; we shall know as w® are known by and by. Our dear ones will be with us, and to whatever extent time and effort will have been expended upon them to mold and fashion them along the lines of righteousness and truth, uprightness and godliness, these surely have not been spent in vain. The child shall come forth that much more advanced in its mental and moral development; to that much more easy attainment of the grand heights which the Lord will then open up before it.

On the other hand, the parent who has been careless of his children, neglectful of his privileges and obligations as a parent, will undoubtedly have his negligence rewarded in the future as he shall see what he might have done for his children but did not*

And more than this. By a Divine law of reaction, every parent who is faithful in the discharge of his parental duties shall have his work rewarded in himself, and likewise every parent neglectful of his duties shall have his work rewarded in himself. For who does not realize that there is no greater privilege or opportunity for self-development than comes to the parent in his endeavor to train up his children in the way they should go, in the reverence and. admonition of the Lord.

Character Building Is Included.

Undoubtedly it is true, too, that every effort to do good unto others, especially to your own children, has its compensating blessings upon your own hearts. May this blessing deepen as the years go on.

In conclusion I say to you, not only for to-day, but for the future days’* “Comfort one another with these words” of our Lord to the effect that your little ones shall come again from “the land of the enemy,” and that their return shall be even much more blessed, under much more favorable conditions than at present. Then, the great King reigning, all evil will be in subjection, all evil doers will be under restraint, all the influences of righteousness will be let loose, and the whole earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the great deep. Blessed prospects are these before us, and to him who loved us and bought us, and to the Heavenly Father, who designed the great plan, we give everlasting thanks and praises, and show this by our daily lives!

without loving the writer and pondering his wonderful solution of the great mysteries that have troubled us all our lives. There is hardly a family to be found that has not lost some loved one who died outside the church—outside the plan of salvation, and, if Calvinism, be true, outside of all hope and inside of eternal torment and despair. We smother our feelings and turn away from the horrible picture. We dare not deny the faith of our fathers, and yet can it be possible that the good mother and the wandering child are forever separated?—forever and forever?

“I believe it is the rigidity of these teachings that makes atheists and infidels and skeptics—makes Christiana unhappy and brings their gray hairs down in sorrow to the grave—a lost, child, a lost soul! . . .

“This wonderful book makes no assertions that are not well sustained by* the Scriptures. It is built up stone by stone, and upon every stone is the text, and it becomes a pyramid of God’s love, and mercy, and wisdom.

“There is nothing in the Bible that the author denies or doubts, but there are many texts that he throws a flood of light upon that seem to remove from them the dark and gloomy meaning. I see that editors of leading journals and many orthodox ministers of different denominations have endorsed it and have confessed to this new and comforting light that has dawned upon the interpretation of God’s book. Then let every man read and ponder and take comfort, for we are all prisoners of hope. This is an age of advanced thought, and more thinking is done than ever before-men dare to think now.