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Religious and Scientific Gleanings
TO MAKE EDEN BLOOM AGAIN.
■pOLLOWlNG in the footsteps of our a fathers, who handed down to us our present day creeds, we have misunderstood our gracious Creator. We studied astronomy and declared the Creator Almighty; we studied geology and confirmed the decision. We studied zoology and anthropology and declared that the Creator was All-Wise, as we came to appreciate Him. We noted the adaptation of our various organs to our use and comfort—the hand, the foot, the eye, the ear, the circulatory system, the nervous system, and the power of the will over these.
We said to ourselves, Truly man is fearfully and wonderfully made, truly his Maker is a God infinite in wisdom and skill. We examined the subject of man’s moral sense, and although we found it impaired we have been astonished to note how even the mosj: selfish and depraved have an instinct of justice, a sense of right, whether they follow it or not.
“Love Divine All Love Excelling.”
Then we said, Whence came this noble principle of Justice as the backbone or moral quality In our race;? The only reply was that in this particular God originally created man in His own moral likeness, and that , -a measure of this moral quality has persisted notwithstanding the fall through disobedience into death and its consih quent demoralization through sin ana weakness.
Looking further we perceived that the noblest specimens of our race possess still other qualities closely associated with Justice, but outranking it. The noble quality which overtops all the rest we term Love. It is Love which makes the heart tender, sympathetic, helpful and happy; it is Love that makes home, whether exercised in a palace or a hovel. It is Love which backs up Justice and insists that no ill shall be worked toward a neighbor. It is Love that is on the alert to assist by word or act all of those needing aid. It is Love that inspires us to the boldest acts of heroism. It is Love that prompts the giving of time and strength, of means and even life itself on behalf of its object.
All freely admit that Love is the greatest, the most blessed quality possessed by humanity, and that without it even Paradise could, not bring happiness. We ask, Whence came this quality of Love, and from what fountain can we receive the fresh supplies so much needed by so many of our race? The anstver is that the great Creator Himself is the Fountain. “God is Love.” This All-Wise and All-Powerful and All-Just One is pre-eminently the “God of all grace,” “The Father of mercies,” “The Fountain of blessing.”
“Love Divine, all love excelling,
Joy of heaven, to earth come down; Fix in us Thy humble dwelling,
All Thy faithful mercies crown.” “Show Me Thy Glory.”
The ancients had the correct thought, that they had caught but a glimpse of the Divine character and its glory; hence their prayer, “Show me Thy glory.” The same should be our sentiment. In the clear light now shining upon God’s Word we perceive that it will require the entire outworking of the Divine Plan of the Ages to illustrate or make known to humanity the real character of the Heavenly Father. Only the very few can by faith accept the Divine promises and trust in their ultimate fulfilment and see far down into the future the full shining forth of God’s character, perfect in its Wisdom, Justice, Power and Love.
We may not judge the Infinite love in all respects by human comparison, but we may know that our difficulty in the matter is that the human comparisons can only imperfectly represent the Infinite. We see the excavation or perhaps the foundation walls, or perhaps the first story of a structure; but if we were to judge wholly by these imperfect parts it would be
Sir John Jackson has obtained the contract for the construction of the first dam in the irrigation works designed by Sir William Willcox for the Turkish Government, with the object of again making an Eden of Mesopotamia.
Sir William Willcox, who has been engaged in surveying the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates, in 1908 predicted that this vast territory, now an arid waste infested by swamps, but showing traces of ancient irrigation canals, would again blossom as the rose, provided that works, of which this dam is the first, be carried out.
THE COST OF SOUL-SAVING.
It is quite in line with the commercial spirit of the age to have Billy Sunday, the evangelist, estimate the cost of saving souls in various cities. In Atlanta, he says, it requires an outlay of only $75 to rescue a soul; in New York city, $545; in Boston, $450; In Denver, $425; in Chicago, $395; in New Orleans, $78, and in Indianapolis $620.
While it would be interesting to know just how the evangelist reached his interesting results, it would not be easy to accept them even with an itemized account at hand. It is not conceivable that it costs more to save a soul in Indianapolis than in New York.
Moreover-, - the expenditures of .Mr^. Sunday cannot be taken as a criterion of the price of saving souls. His hotel bills may be higher than those of other so-called soul-savers. As a baseball player, which was his former occupation, he may have contracted the habit of staying at the best hotels.
Soul-saving is scarcely a commercial business.- Evangelists, however, find it a much more profitable business than do the average preachers in home churches. Many evangelists have become rich. Those who use dramatic methods make more money than the conservative ones.—Exchange.
THEY SHALL SAY PEACE! PEACE!
How the promise of peace grows! Even Japan is ready for a peace pact, and has taken the initiative toward reaching a general arbitration treaty with the United States. No formal proposition has yet been made, but through diplomatic channels the Japanese government has made it known that it is willing to submit proposals if invited. This is progress for the peace campaign, surely. Japan has been popularly looked upon as the most pugnacious nation of the Orient, and of the world—spoiling for a fight and swelling with military ambition. Now, we are told, the only obstacle to the initiation of negotiations between the United States and Japan for a general arbitration treaty is that “the Japanese government hesitates to make the first advances because it has no official intimation that such a movement would be welcome in the United States.” All doubt en that point should be speedily removed, Col. Roosevelt to the contrary notwithstanding.
After the foregoing was written, but before it was put in type, came the extraordinary information from Washington that “the German government has sent a most sympathetic answer to the United States government’s inquiry as to whether Germany had any interest in a general arbitration treaty. The answer requests the Washington government to communicate the full details of the proposed treaties with Great Britain and France and promises that Germany will subject them to most careful and friendly scrutiny with & view to declaring later how far the proposals, appear acceptable.” Germany, •with her war-lord Emperor, has been supposed least favorable of all the nations of Europe to the general arbitration movement. Should that nation give the matter favorable consideration, the permanent peace of the world would surely be in sight.—Michigan ■Christian Advocate.
GREATEST THING IN THE UNIVERSE
"'That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His loving-kindness toward us
in Jesus
—Eph. 2:7.
manifestly unfair and we should be deceiving ourselves. The only way to judge of the builder’s capacity and intentions would be to see the architectural drawing and to study the details —and then we could but very imperfectly appreciate the whole. Is it not thus in respect to the great Maker’s present work and ultimate designs?
If we stand beside a great sculptor with his freshly chosen block of mar* ble, we may at first feel shocked to note the apparent roughness and carelessness with which he smites off large pieces of the stone, as though bent on its destruction. But let patience have her perfect work, and gradually we will see that the sculptor has not been careless or indifferent in respect to a single blow.
All the while that he seemed so reckless he was working according to the ideal before his own mind. With his mind’s eye he saw his ideal in the stone, and blow after blow, chip after chip merely revealed to our eyes what he had purposed in himself from the beginning of his work. Not until his work was finished could we comprehend fully the ideal. Is not this principle still more true of our Creator? He tells us that He is “working all things according to the counsel of His own will,” which He purposed in Himself “before the world was.”—Eph. 1: 11; 3: 10, 11.)
The great Master Workman of the Universe will eventually show both to angels and men all the various attributes of His perfection—His Wisdom, Justice, Power and Love. Meantime, “None of the wicked shall understand,” but in the End of this Age the wise will increasingly understand His purposes, hidden from all except His saints, of whom it is written, “The secret of the Lord is with them that reverence Him”; “He will show you things to come.”—Psalm 25: 14; John 16: 13.
Now Apply the Principle.
Let us apply this principle to the work of our great Creator. Let us see how far it has already progressed. In what state of development is the Divine Plan today? What will be required to complete it and to manifest Divine Wisdom, Justice, Love and Power? Only by a careful examination of the Great Architect’s revealed plan can we judge at all of the degree to which His purposes have already attained perfection.
The wreck and blight of human interests resulting from Father Adam’s disobedience progressed for twenty-five hundred years before the first step was taken in the Divine Program on man’s behalf. That first step was merely the making of a rough outline drawing with various crude illustrations which merely hinted at one or another of the Creator’s glorious purposes.
Israel as a nation pictured all the world of mankind who will ultimately come into fellowship with God. Their one tribe of Levi typified the Household of Faith, “the Church of the First-born” of this Gospel Age, through whom all blessings will come to the remainder. The select Levites, the priests, typified the Royal Priesthood—the better Mediator. The sacrifices by which that Covenant was established, and that people brought into harmony with God, typified the better sacrifices of Christ, which began with our Lord and have continued in His faithful followers who present their bodies living sacrifices, wholly and acceptable to God through Him. —Rom. 12: 1.
Israel’s Jubilee year typified the
*»* WHAT IS THE SOUL? X A postal-card request will se-
Y cure for you a free copy of Y Y this paper in which this inter-X esting subject is treated in a A X manner that will satisfy the Y most exacting. y great Times of Jubilation soon to come, “the blessing of all the families of the earth”—the “Times of Restitution of all things,” to be inaugurated at the second coming of Christ and the establishment of His Kingdom. Manifestly only those who could understand those roughly sketched drawings could comprehend to any degree the great Divine Plan of the Ages.
With this Gospel Age God began a great work which is yet far from finished and which as yet does not show forth fully to mankind in general His Justice, Wisdom, Power or Love. The vzork of this Age, according to the Scriptures, is the selection of both the Church, which is “The Bride, the Lamb’s Wife,” and “the virgins, her companions, who follow her.”—Psalm 45: 8-18.
The Bible declares that Jesus, the Redeemer, having finished His sacrifice, passed into glory—beyond the veil ■—to the right hand of Divine Majesty. It declares also that when this Age .shall be completed all the faithful followers of Jesus will pass to Him beyond the' veil and share His glory and His Kingdom and immortality on the heavenly plane. But how few there are who see this much of the Divine Plan; and if they cannot see this much how could they be expected to see still further into the future developments of the Divine Program?
As the sentence of death came as the result of one transgression,, but involved the race, so one sacrifice for sin, by the “Man Christ Jesus,” was sufficient to be a Ransom-Price for the sins of the whole world—a man’s life for a man’s life. Thus as condemnation came through one man unto death, so justification is provided through this other Man unto everlasting life.—-Rom. 5: 16, 18.
Christ’s Sacrifice Offsets Adam’s Sin.
But although so broad a foundation for human salvation was laid by the great Master Workman, the Message and the blessing therein have not been granted as yet to the majority, but to the few-—-“He that hath an ear to near, let him hear”; “As many as the Lord your God shall call”; “No man can come unto Me, except the Father which sent Me draw him.” And this calling and drawing, though in one sense free, is in another sense restricted to those who are in the heart condition of being drawn a'nd of hearing the call. All others remain blinded to the Divine invitation by the god of this world.—2 Cor. 4: 4.
Evidently those now being drawn and “called” are not the whole world, but a select class. Those who prove themselves faithful to the end are styled “the very elect.” These are the Royal Priesthood who, as priestly Kings, will be associated with Messiah in His glorious, world-wide Empire which “shall rule from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth,” for the binding of Satan, the overthrow of sin, and the uplifting of sinners. But we are to clearly distinguish between the present work of selecting the Royal Priests, the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife, and the work for the world, which these will accomplish after their glorification on the spirit plane.
We must thus distinguish, because looking upon the revealed plans of the great Architect of the Universe, we, perceive that thus He has arranged— the Church, as the Bride of Christ, is to constitute “a New Creation,” “partakers of the divine nature—like unto her Lord. These on the plane of glory will have a station “far above principalities and powers and every name that is named.”—Eph. 1: 21; Rev. 3: 21.
Whoever can see this to be the Divine Plan must with the eye of faith look down to the future and behold the Church—“changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” because “flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.” Here is love, wondrous love, in lifting up members of the sinner race to glory, honor and immortality. Who can comprehend such love as this which the Father- has bestowed upon Jesus and the “little flock” of His followers who walk in His steps?
Human Restitution In the Future.
The earthly sculptor seemed waste-(Continued on 2d page, 2d column.)
(Continued from first page.) ful to prodigality when he broke off one portion of his stone and dealt merely with it, but when subsequently he explained that he intended to deal also with the large remainder of the stone, and to make thereof a wonder-
While now only those who have the hearing ear can hear, and these are few, the saintly, the Scriptures declare that the full knowledge of God shall fill
An Independent, Unsectarian Religious Newspaper, Specially Devoted to the Forwarding of the Laymen’s Home Missionary Movement for the Glory of God and Good of Humanity-
ful group, him better, showing to now being
fruits their work begin.
The
we began to understand
So the Almighty is now His people that the Church selected is merely “a flrst-
of His creatures” and that, after perfection in glory, His great for the masses of mankind will
the earth “in due time.” We have patience for God’s time, as as for God’s blessing.
“Blind unbelief is sure to err And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter, And He will make it plain.”
Consider the Text.
Throughout the discourse we
must well
the earthly seed, is to receive its blessing from the Heavenly Seed, hence^ everything waits now until the Church shall have been completed—until the “very elect” shall have been gathered “from the four winds of heaven”—until all the followers of Jesus shall have been changed, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” as participants in the First Resurrection.
Then, oh, glorious Day! the Sun of Righteousness will shine forth—Christ
fact that only a few of earth’s
THINKS 1915 SIGNIFICANT.
“The real cause of the crime that Is being committed today is that 95 per cent of the people don’t care what .harm comes to the other fellow so long as it doesn’t happen to them.
“If a change does not take place in the existing conditions, which will stop the rapid increase in the number of unemployed, I predict, with all sincerity, that by 1915 there will be such a revolution as will make the millionaire afraid to step outside his home for fear of having his brains blown out by the starving man who Awaits him.”—Dr. George W. Galvin, In Boston (Mass.) Post.
families were recognized of God for twenty-five hundred years and that only one nation was recognized for the following sixteen hundred years, and that only a small proportion have had any recognition during this Gospel Age, seems strange to us until we learn that God has not intended to put the world on trial for life or death everlasting, until first He shall have selected the “Church of the First-borns, whose names are written in heaven.” These now are required to prove and perfect their loyalty by walking by faith and not by sight. Soon, we
been working our way toward the glorious fulness of God’s love declared in our text. We have traced the Divine Program in full harmony with the Apostle’s statement—into the “Ages to come.” Not until those Ages shall have come will the Divine Plan have been fully shown forth nor the riches of Divine Love.
In the thousand years’ reign of Messiah’s glorious Empire, colaboring with Him in tne overthow of Sin and Death, in the release of humanity from
have an$ His faithful Bride—to chase away
the darkness, ignorance and superstition from the world and to fully enlighten mankind of every nation, people, kindred and tongue. In that glorious work of enlightenment the natural seed of Abraham will have a blessed share, and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets shall be “Princes in all the earth” (Psalm 45: 16), perfect men, representatives of the glori-
ous Messiah and His Bride
earth,
administrators of the
in the Law,
trust, and
the Church will be completed
these powers of evil, to human perfection, (the Church) will share. Glory, honor will be her portion.
by restoring them the Bride of Jesus have a glorious and immortality The Great Archi-
the
New Dispensation, already
CHURCH FEDERATION PROGRESSING
It is announced that one or more conferences of the Methodist Church of Canada have voted favorably upon the proposed union of Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational churches in the country. Several branches of these and other denominations in the United States have decided to withdraw from fields already occupied by another branch, uniting the congregations, and also have agreed not to enter a field in
dawning, will be fully inaugurated. “He that shall come will come and will not tarry.” Soon our prayer, “Thy Kingdom come,” will be answered. Then for a thousand years the conquering of the world will progress until God’s will shall be done as thoroughly on earth as now in heaven.
tect has not further revealed His plans in respect to the work of Christ and His Bride during the eternity beyond His Messianic reign. We merely know that when He shall have finished that work He will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father.—1. Cor. 15: 24.
But then, in the “Ages to come,”
Well may the glorified ‘Who shall not come and
fore eous Then tion, ture,
Thee, O Lord, when dealings are made
saints sing, worship be-Thy right-manifest?"
God will
show forth the exceeding
riches of His grace and His loving-kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
Oh! how
much is meant by those
which will go forth from the glorious Christ, invisible to men.
Ah! that will be Earth’s Jubilee! As in olden time, in the Jubilee year, the Israelites returned to their own possessions, to their own homesteads, so in the Antitypp, only the latter will be still more grand: The human family will come back into possession of its own—that which was lost by .sin and its penalty, that which was recovered by Jesus, that which will be restored by resurrection power during the Messianic reign.
The Nation Born in a Day.
But what about our text? Did we misinterpret the Divine statement
the clouds of ignorance, supersti-doctrines of devils, fire and tor-horrors which have beclouded
competition with another church unless the eyes of our understanding and.
a second church is needed. Local churchmen regard these decisions as pointing toward a more general church union in the future.
driven so many of the best specimens of humanity away from God and from
words, “exceeding riches of His grace”! Mind, heart nor tongue can measure the depths of those words, when we remember the infinite greatness of the Father’s mercy which guarantees His promise. Can any one imagine any-
when we applied of civilization by we made a very wish was father
it to the acceptance a people? Ah! yes; foolish mistake; the to the thought. Our
His
thing more mighty, more influential all the Universe than Love Divine?
misconceptions blinded us to the proper interpretation of that Scripture. sWhat then does it mean? How should our text be applied? Ah, beloved.
INTEREST IN CHURCHES FAST WANING.
“Church authorities in Berlin are in consternation at what they regard as the deplorable shrinkage in the ‘Sunday collections throughout the city.
Paradise Better Than Honolulu
"Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such a thing? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? Shall a nation
be born at once?"—Isa. 66:8.
that Nation to be Church, the Holy Peter spoke, “Ye hood, a peculiar
born in a day is the Nation, of which St. are a Royal Priestpeople, a Holy Na
tion.” (1 Pet. 2: 9.) The begetting of this Holy Nation began at Pentecost, and has continued down through the
succeedin;
eighteen centuries and
Congregations and callous to for missionary or abroad, and
remain unresponsive the most fervid appeals work, whether at home other branches of home
work such as church extension are treated with the same indifference.
“It often happens that even in the richest and most fashionable districts special offertories do not exceed $25, and not a few congregations are content to contribute as many shillings.
“In view of these facts a large section of the population of Berlin are protesting against the building of new churches when those already existing are not half full, and when so many citizens show, by their absence and lack of participation, how indifferent they are to the claims of the national church on their attention.”—Exchange.
IN OUR childhood days every penny we could save was devoted to Foreign Missions. The Hawaiian Islands and the Fiji Islands were prominent before the Christian world as mission-
ary fields. We establishment ment in these the fulfilment
remember well that the of a civilized govern-Islands was hailed as of the text.—“A nation
born in a day.” The thought then was that thus speedily the world would be converted and the glorious promises of the Hebrew prophets fulfilled. How earnestly we labored and prayed, “Thy Kingdom come,” thinking all the while
What Say the Scriptures?
The disillusion respecting great works of our own humbled us before God and made us realize our depend-<^ce upon Him for the fulfilment of the glorious prophecies. We have read our Bibles afresh. We have taken from our minds the spectacles of our forefathers with the color and gloss which they handed down to us. We are now reading God’s Book in its own light, allowing God to be His own Interpreter, and Himself to make it
more. The birth will be the resurrection.
All who now receive the begetting of the Holy Spirit are reckoned as
members of this Holy Nation,
but
their membership in it is dependent
upon their faithfulness; as we “To him that overcometh will I to sit with Me in My Throne.” present life is to every one of Royal Priests, or Priestly Kings,
read, grant
The these as we
Ah’ the and
THE RAINTREE OF PERU.
Concerning a peculiar tree, which grows in Peru and which becomes an indispensable aid to the populace and to agriculture in days of drought, a
contributor to the “Espana
furnishes tion:—•
“The
some interesting'
Peruvian Indians
Moderna” informa-
“Tamaicaspi," which signifies Rain-tree. It is a thick tree, exceptionally rich in foliage whose leaves possess the unusual faculty of absorbing the watery vapors of the atmosphere and of passing it on to the earth in the form of raindrops.
plain. And what do we find? wonder of wonders! We find that we were bringing the Kingdom of Divine Plan wider and deeper God to earth and fulfilling the Lord’s higher than we had ever dreamed. Prayer! We dnd that the present Age, from
Alas! we are having a rude awaken- Calvary and Pentecost to the second ing from such dreams. We are finding COming of Jesus, is not God’s time for that if the Kingdom of God must be dealing with the world, opening their established by human power it will blind eyes, unstopping their deaf ears never be established. We are finding and making every knee to bow and that the world’s population is doubling every tongue to confess. It is merely every century. If we double our mis- His time for the gathering out from sionary enterprises every century we every nation, people, kindred and would only be keeping pace with the tongue a “little flock” of such as have natural increase of the human family, the hearing ear and the appreciative c.„ us that there are heart, to become the Bride of Christ
millions of heathen and His joint-heirs
today and that a century ago there Kingdom the ioULhoumcm.
were only half as many. Alas! those will mean the blessing of all the fami-missionary hopes of ours have gone ues of the earth, as was promised to glimmering. Father
Well
show
twelve hundred
in His glorious
the establishment of which
may choose to express it, a period of probation. Will we or will we not “make our calling and election sure?” Not at the beginning nor at the time of our consecration is the matter, decided, but after we “have fought the good fight and finished the course” and won the crown, by obedience even un,to death.
For nearly nineteen centuries these Royal Priests have been testifying for the Lord, each in his turn. For all the faithful there is a crown of righteousness laid up; as St. Paul said, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me in that day”—early in that Day of Messiah, in the resurrection morning. All these have a part in the First Resurrection, and will be members of that Holy Nation, that Royal Priest-
hood; as we read,
‘Blessed and holy
But the awakening has done us good;
“The ground of the foliage
swampy
from
under the main part is almost continually large quantities of seems specially strik-
it has taught us to think a little. We waited
ing is that right in the dry season of the year the secretions of the tree are the greatest. Then whole pools form around about the tree, little rivulets flow in the vicinity and saturate the parched earth with productive moisture.
“If the natives would utilize the properties of the raintree in a rational way they could without much difficulty irrigate and cultivate entire districts, which during the hot season lie dry and almost entirely unproductive. It has been figured out that a single one of these trees furnishes on an average about nine gallons of water every twenty-four hours. Ten thousand of these trees could easily • be planted on one square mile at a distance of eighteen yards apart. The entire district would thus get 85,000 gallons of water; and even admitting that a large part of it immediately soaks into the earth or evaporates there would
still remain 30;000 gallons for benefit of the parched ground, raintree is at the same time very •pretentious and thrives even upon favorable soil, grows unusually
the The
W-un-fast
and survives the greatest, fluctuations of temperature unhurt.”
That this wonderful tree secretes •such large quantites of water might be very significant for the Restitution and ■eultivat®®®! <otf the desert lands.
are all they that have part in the Chief Resurrection; on such the Second Death hath no power; but they shall be kings and priests unto God and unto Christ, and shall reigh with Him a thousand years.”
Thus will that. Holy Nation which God has been gathering and electing during the nineteen centuries, out of all nations, peoples, kindreds and tongues, from Jews and Gentiles, bond plans and arrangements foretell a an^ frae> be born in a day—come forth grand and glorious outcome. Evident- p®r.£®ct and complete, the Holy Nation ly God’s Word shall be .fulfilled, which ?.f D,lvIne Prom.lse• which, as God s spiritual Empire, is to take over the con-
Abraham.
may we reason, that if our God for four thousand years before
are now sensibly inquiring: Suppose He'sent* His~Son”to redeem "the world’, we should convert all the heathen and and has since waited two thousand more for the selecting of the Bride of Christ, He must intend that the great Kingdom of His Son, the Messianic reign of a thousand years, is to do a great work for mankind in general. Such broad foundations, such deep laid
make the whole world a Christendom of the same sort that we have in Europe and America! What then? Would God’s will be done on earth as it is done in heaven—perfectly? Could we thus hope to bring in the glorious con-
ditions prophesied,
in which not only
the knowledge of God would fill the
whole earth, but knee should bow
additlonally every and every tongue
■confess in such a manner as to be to the glory of God? We see that such hopes would be worse than foolish; they would be ludicrous. Thus our awakening has done us good, and sent us again to God’s Book to see wherein we erred in our expectations.
•copies of this paper.'. Some of the teresting subjects you may have asking are:—
•Calamities—Why Permitted?
•Creed Idols Smashed! The Rich Man in' Hell. Thieves in Paradise. Spiritism is Demonism! Cardinal Gibbons’ Sermon.
Prince Lucifer of Old Now Prince of Demons.
The Hope of Immortality.
Do You Believe in the Resurrection?
Most Precious Text.
•Our Lord’s Return.
Which Is the True Gospel?
He spoke, saying, “My Word that go-eth forth out of My mouth shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and shall prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it.”
The Message went forth in a primary sense in Eden, when God declared that eventually “the Seed of the woman should bruise the Serpent’s head”—-should crush evil. His Word went forth still more distinctly to Father Abraham, assuring him that he would have two seeds, two posterities, one “as the stairs of heaven” and the other “as the sands of the seashore.” The Church, with Christ her Head, constitutes this heavenly, starry Seed of Abraham, as saith the Apostle (Galatians 3: 16, 29); and with the completion
trol of the and rule it from the death, and
world for a thousand years in righteousness, to free all power of Satan, sin and to lift up again as many
as are willing- to the image and likeness of God, and to destroy all who
love unrighteousness and iquity.
This is the Kingdom <
work in-
ot Messiah,
whose dominion is to be established on the earth, and for which Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is done in heaven.” It will require the entire work of a thousand years to fully accomplish all of this glorious prophecy, but we have the Divine assurance that by that time God’s will shall be as per-
fectly done on this earth as done in heaven itself.
it is now
of the Church will come the secondary
blessing—the development of the earth- Restitution Will Bring Real Paradise.
ly seed of Abraham, as the sand of the
Much as Honolulu may
seashore for multitude, every knee the Garden of Eden, it is not Paradise, bowing and every tongue confessing, and cannot be Paradise so long as there
to the glory of God.
But this secondary seed of Abraham,
is sin and sorrow, pain and death there. One of the first objects that greets
one.’s sight
as.
he lands is the
cemetery. Oh! yes, death is there, and everywhere—God’s curse, declaring that no imperfect being may live. Well, we thank God for that, too. Centuries of life with imperfection would doubtless be too much for us. Far better Is it as Divine Wisdom has arranged it—a birth, a struggle for existence, a , battle with self and sin, the world, , the flesh and the Devil, and then a {falling asleep in death, until the morn-, Ing of the resurrection. There will be ' no consciousness of even a moment’s Intervening until the glorious day Shall have dawned, and the new order of things shall have been introduced and established; and then the sleepers will come forth to see a brighter side Shan any that they have previously experienced or ever heard of.
The Kingdom of God’s dear Son and His elect Bride will be in power and nothing shall hurt or destroy in all His holy Kingdom. The blessing of the Lord shall be upon man, and his earthly dominion. Restitution influences will be at work for the bringing of everything to perfection—especially for the bringing of man up, up, up out of sin, weakness, degradation and death to the full glory of perfection of mind and body and vitality—the image and likeness of God, as at first, before sin entered.
■, Rich and Poor and Socialism.
dissatisfaction with the present conditions. In many respects what we have today is the very best possible thing under present conditions—man’s fallen nature and selfish temperament taken into consideration. The counsel of God’s Word is that all who trust in Him are to wait for Him to bring in the better conditions. Some very well intentioned people are making a sad mistake; just as the morning is about to dawn— about to bring in the great blessings
of restitution,
socialism, etc., they
Honolulu still has its rich there still is caste amongst dren of the one parentage; the uplifting influences of
and poor; the chil-but when Messiah’s
reign shall have done their work, these things will all be in the past. “He that sitteth upon the Throne shall say, “Behold, I make all things new!” In that glorious time there will not be rich and poor, there will be socialism in the proper sense, as the Scriptures clearly point out; they say, “Every man shall sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree; and none shall make them afraid.” And again, “They shall- not build and another inhabit, they shall not plant and another eat
blindly look in another direction and declare that unless they bring socialism to pass it will never come. We grant, indeed, that it would be foolish to expect that the rich would bring about the wonderful changes which the Bible foretells—it would be contrary to human fiature to so expect. But we do say that those who think to bring about socialism by human wisdom and human strength are deficient in wisdom. They do not see that what they propose is absolutely impossible— their eyes are holden.
The* Bible alone shows us what will be the outcome of the present unrest and selfishness and dissatisfaction. The Bible tells that what will start as socialism will eventually develop into anarchy. The Bible shows that those who think they .can bring in the Messianic blessings by carnal weapons are deluding themselves^—they will instead bring upon themselves, as Well as upon the rich, the great and awful trouble which the Scriptures foretell as being now imminent—“a time of trouble such as was not since there was a nation.” (Dan 12: 1.) Our Lord Jesus quoted this passage and added to it the words, “No, nor ever shall be.”
(Matthew 24: 21.) Thank God!
this one, great, awful
conflict,
that in
the fruit tenantry, Do hot
thereof.” There will be no no landlordism then.
understand us to be inciting
which every man’s hand shall be a-gainst his neighbor and against his brother, will be the last. It will be so awful as to make the entire world sick of strife, of selfishness, of sin. Thus it will act as a great plowshare in the hearts of mankind in general, to break the hard-hearted and to turn all hearts in expectation to the Lord and His glorious Kingdom.
'''‘For ike life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for
your souls.”—Lev. 17:11.
> A LL the trend of religious scholar-xx ship in recent years is away from the Bible and in line with the Evolution theory. The Bible sets forth that the first man was created perfect, in the image and likeness of his Creator, and that when on trial for life or death everlasting he was disobedient, and came under the sentence of death; and that all trouble, all sin and sorrow, pain and death, for the past six thousand years, is the penalty, the result, of that fall from obedience and harmony with God. The Bible teaches the necessity for an Atonement for sin, and this lesson was shown in the typical sacrifices of bullocks and goats,
for it would be higher infidelity—infidelity amongst the high ones of all Christendom. These Higher Critics are doing the same work exactly that Thomas Paine and Robert Ingersoll did, ' only that they are carrying on their work on a higher plane—-appealing not to the gross and the vile, but
to the refined,
intelligent and truth
seeking. As a result their influence
is
thousand
fold more
Those to whom Paine and
injurious. Ingersoll
which Israelites for centuries memorated, especially upon
com-their
Atonement Day, .at the beginning of
each year.
The Bible
Evolution as a cousin
instead of falling into sin and death, an evolution process has been bringing him up, up, up to his present high elevation. This theory, having no place for sin or a fall, finds, of course,
no place or need for
recovery,
through a Redeemer, a Savior. The two theories are absolutely opposed. Whoever believes the Darwinian theory cannot, logically, be a Christian. Whoever is a Christian cannot, logically, hold to the Darwin theory. And yet the pulpits of Christendom are well stocked with Higher Critics and Evolutionists, and all of our colleges and theological seminaries are graduating
others, all antagonistic to and its presentations. For fight has been conducted on
The
unbelievers hold the
most influential pulpits and
the Bible years the the quiet, best and professor-
ships in Christendom, and insidiously, craftily, undermine the faith of those who are paying them their salaries.
It is time that the battle between truth and error should come out into the open,, because the majority of those Who are. being misled do not realize ‘the situation until their faith is entirely undermined—until their minds are So entrenched in error that the verities of God’s Word, including the words of Jesus and the Apostles, have passed With them into the list of absurdities,
amongst these, the stories and the whale, Noah and etc., endorsed by Jesus and ties.
Higher Criticism Means Infidelity.
of Jonah the flood, the Apos-
Today every college, every theological seminary throughout the whole civilized world, is teaching what is commonly known as Higher Criticism of the Bible—though the proper name
• “This is our kind minister, polished in s manner and well educated, and he ; surely would not lead us astray, he i surely would not deceive us. If he had i ceased to believe the Bible and become i an infidel he surely would have left ■ the pulpit.” Poor innocents!
Blood Atonement For Sin.
Our text refers to a blood-atone-' ment for sin. The Law Covenant required the death of a bullock and a goat, but the repetition of these sacrifices every year indicated that no cancellation was effected thereby—-merely a typical covering of sin for a year. The Law required an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a man’s life for a man’s life, which implies that a perfect man must of necessity die in order to be the Redeemer of Adam and the race which shared his cohdemnation. The bullock of the sin-offering, therefore, was merely a type of a better sacrifice. The true sacri-
a law of nature, which applies both, to animal and vegetable life. We are-informed that all such breedings return to their original species in the third or fourth generation. It is even pointed out now that diseases of the ’■ blood proceed no further than the third or fourth generation, and thia most fortunately, otherwise the physical health of humanity might be much more impaired than it is.
Is not this a direct corroboration of that Bible statement which some of us
once
■ht so ungracious—God’s
flee was provided in the death of Man Christ Jesus. He was a man
yet not
sinful man, because,
though born of a woman, His life from above. Had He received His
the and
al-was life
from an earthly father, He would have been a blemished, imperfect, sinful man, and as such could not have paid the ransom-price for another.
As in the type the blood of the bullock was used to make a typical atonement, so in the antitype the blood of Jesus is efficacious to make atonement for the sins of the whole world. In the type an earthly priest offered the blood in an earthly tabernacle; in the antitype, He who became the Sin-Offering, begotten of the Holy Spirit, at the time of His consecration, was therefore recognized as the great Antitypical High Priest. After His resurrection He ascended on high, “to appear in the presence of God for us”—for the Church —first; and when the Church shall be completed, He will appear for the world. He will seal the New Covenant for Israel, applicable to all the families of the earth, through Israel. Then, as the great Mediator of that New Covenant [Jer. 31: 31], He will, for a thousand years, reign as King of earth, the Antitype of Melchisedec—-a Priest
throne—a Royal Priest, pos-the necessary power to put and to uplift humanity.
Regain Paradise Lost.
appealed were very rarely Christians at all; hence they destroyed very little faith—they merely made the unbelief more rank and foul.
But these Higher Critic infidels of this “evil day” are making use of all the vast machinery of Christendom in all denominations, especially through theological seminaries, to undermine and overthrow the faith of all who have named the name of Christ, great and small, rich and poor, cultured and ignorant. It is being done systematically, too, craftily, deceitfully, in a manner that the masses of the people would scarcely credit. It is safe to say that fully four out of five who graduate from theological seminaries of all denominations are Higher Critic infidels, who are instructed that their main business is to promote morality amongst the people, especially to build up Churchianity, particularly their own denomination, and to gradually, stealthily, craftily wean the people from the faith of the Bible to their higher critical dogmas. And they are succeeding most wonderfully. A “pestilence” is the only figure of speech which really fits to this pernicious influence.
“Out of Thine Own Mouth Will I Judge Thee,”
said the Lord, and in harmony with this we find that in the Lord’s providence these Higher Critics are gradually more and more telling on themselves. But the nominal Christian is quite obtuse, and many of the true Christians, as the Apostle explains, are merely “babes in Christ,” unable to use the strong meat of the Word, and capable only of enjoying or using the “milk of the Word,”—incapable of assimilating its strong meat. Hence the open declarations of these wolves in sheep’s clothing, who masquerade as sheep, are not taken seriously. If the sheep are startled by the words, they are soothed again by the thought,
The Paradise lost when Adam sinned was a miniature one. It is to be restored and to be world-wide in extent. “G£>d will make His earthly footstool glorious.” He has promised to make His footstool glorious—-“He formed it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited.”—Isa. 60: 13; 66: 1; 45: 18.
As the earthly Eden it will be inhabited by its master, man; the restored earth would be naught without its master restored. And this is the Divine provision, that as by a man came death, sin, sorrow, pain, trouble, “by a Man also shall come the resurrection of the dead,” the uplifting of Adam’s race, mentally, morally, physically, to human perfection, happiness and everlasting life. Earth’s blessings will be
for all except two who love sin and after having been knowledge of both
classes: (1) Those hate righteousness, brought to a full good and evil, will
have no further Divine favor, but will die the Second Death. (2) The others
declaration that He would “visit” the sins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation?” (Ex. 20: 5.) It now appears that, instead of being a mark of Divine disfavor, it is a mark of Divine mercy that hereditary taint in the blood is limited to the third or fourth generation.
A celebrated physician and scientist, Dr. William Hanna Thomson, promulgating this theory, said:—
“Professor George H. F. Nuttall, of ' the University of Cambridge, took up the subject and has so extended its application that a single drop of blood from any animal now suffices, not only to show by its own peculiar chemical reaction what animal it comes from, but also how nearly related an animal is by his blood to other animals. It begins, therefore, to look as if the whole classification of zoology might have to be re-arranged according to these blood tests. Thus a drop of blood fronf a walrus shows no relation to a drop of whale’s blood, or the blood of any other cetacean, such as seals or poi-poises, which, like the walrus, are mammals that have taken to the sea.”
We may be sure that those who hold fast to the teachings of the Bible will come out on the right side of the argument in the long run. The endeavor of worldly-wise men to get away from God’s Book has led many of them to extremes of thought and of statement, which some day will be fully rectified to their shame. The Bible foretells this, saying, “The wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.” (Isa. 29: 14.) St. Paul refers to science, falsely so-called, which will ultimately be proven entirely wrong.
Complete Sin-Atonement.
For nearly six thousand years .tia reign of sin and death has prevailed. It is nearly two thousand years since the Redeemer came to give His life as man’s redemption price, yet still the reign of sin and death continues. It Is not because the blood of Christ was insufficient to satisfy the claims of Justice for the sins of the world, but because, before the merit of the blood of Christ could be given to Adam and his race, it must have a previous use. That use has been in progress for the past eighteen centuries, during which it has been the basis of the Church’s justification by faith.
Atonement For the Soul.
In our text the word soul is * synonym for person or being. Father Adam was a human soul, a human being, so also his children. He alone, however, had a standing before Justice. He alone was perfect, he alone
. ... . . . . . was on trial, and through his disobe-
who wni not get human perfection and^ dience and fall his children are in-
earth’s blessings will be a spiritual
class, a saintly class whom God is now selecting from among mankind to be His co-laborers with Christ in the uplifting and restitution of humanity.
Unquestionably the Almighty could have arranged a plan for dealing with humanity differently—He could have put a different penalty upon Father Adam. The present arrangement was made so as to display (1) Divine Justice, (2) Divine Love, (3) Divine Power, (4) Divine, Wisdom. Man’s fall and degradation under the death sentence
volved. Jesus was, originally, a spirit being, personality or soul, the Logo*. He became a partaker of flesh and blood; He was not, previously, a h»-
man soul, hence it was that it necessary for Him to lay aside
was the
witnessed downward Justice in
vine Love
to men and to angels the tendency of sin and Divine man’s condemnation. Di-is manifested in the work
glory of His higher nature or order of being and become a human soul, “that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for every man.” (Hebrews 2: 9.) He gave His blood, His life, a Ransom for all, and thus we see the .fulfilment of our text, the exhibition of Divine favor and love, with the resultant blessing to the world during Messiah’s reign, and the exaltation of the Church, which must precede.
"WHERE ARE THE DEAD?”
This article was published in Vol. 1, No. 3. The. interest aroused and the great demand for copies of it have been remarkable. A sample copy will be mailed to any one free.
of redemption. Divine Power will be manifested, during the reign of Messiah, in the uplifting of humanity from sin and death—the resurrection of the dead. Divine Wisdom will finally be seen by all when the great work . of reconciliation and regeneration shall have been effected.
The Life Is in the Blood.
We have always known that in a very important sense the life of every creature is in its blood, as our text declares. But we are continually finding that the Bible contains such a superhuman wisdom that many of its statements grow in importance as our knowledge increases. Our text is no exception to this rule. The latest findings of science are to the effect that life and nature are more particularly represented in the blood than in any other manner.
If the theory of Evolution seemed supported by Mr. Darwin’s careful inter-breeding of his pigeons, we are not to forget the difficulty he encountered in maintaining his fancy breeds. The constant tendency appeared to be to turn back to the original stock. We are now informed that this is a rule,
PASTOR RUSSELL’S SCRIPTURE STUDIES.
These volumes deserve a careful study by all who are not thoroughly satisfied with the Bible interpretations
of the “dark ages.” bought for a trifle oi' Address us.
Respecting the first
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that that
mercy and wisdom, in the Bible that the doubts, but there are he throws a flood of seems to uncover its
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THE ALL-SEEING EYE
"Whither shall I Hee from Thy presence? If I ascend into Heaven Thou art there; if I make my bed in hell behold, Thou art
there."—Psalm 139:7, 8.
WE ARE living1 in a day when money, Scriptures give us the proper concep-pleasure and pain seem to be the tion of the Almighty. As with the teleassets of the masses. The Evolution scope, the microscope, the telephone, theory and Higher Criticism of the etc., man can enlarge his range of Bible have fostered unbelief to such vision and hearing, so by powers still an extent that everything intangible more wonderful the Almighty is cog-is doubted. Beginning with the col- nizant .of all the affairs of the Uni-lege professor and the majority of the verse. We grant that our feeble minds educated ministers this skepticism has are unable to comprehend so great, so embraced the wealthy, who are sa- universal an Intelligence.
tiated with the blessings of prosperi- We cannot know in what manner the ty. To these heaven and heavenly angels, the spirit servants of God, are, things seem vagaries as compared as His eyes, in every place, to take with present enjoyments and hopes, cognizance of our affairs. We cannot Not for a long time have these be- know in what manner the electric or
lieved in and feared eternal torment. And their present attitude is one of doubt respecting everything connected with the Bible. They well know that outside the Bible there is nothing but guess work, and they prefer their own guesses to those of other people. Very many of them speak candidly and tell that they are agnostics, that they are uncertain and would like to be informed respecting the future.
A very similar condition growingly prevails amongst the poorer classes and the uneducated, who say, We believed the scholars when they told us the Bible was inspired. Why should we not believe them now when they declare that it is a ffaud? As the wealthy doubt that God will specially' favor them, so the poor doubt whether God will specially disfavor them. Both classes are reaching the conclusion that fortune or disaster rests, not with the Lord, but with themselves.
The World’s Need—a God.
The- effect of all this loss of faith in an Almighty God is seen on every hand and is felt by many. One of the consequences is that the religious element of man’s nature is becoming numb and the masses, rich and poor, are seeking1 a substitute in pleasure; as the Apostle’s words foretold, they are “lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.” - Additionally, many of the wealthy carry on a kind of brigandage along commercial lines. Desirous of imitating them, but unable so to do, others are fining the world with violence to an extent that is alarming to everybody. Were it not for our elaborate and costly police protection life and property would be far less secure in civilized lands than amongst the heathen. With all the protection afforded by telephone, telegraph, police, etc., etc., our rulers and officials tell us that they are often bewildered in their attempts to preserve law and order.
Many learned men believe that there is ho other God than Nature; and many of the unlearned are following their lead. They reason that Nature served them as both father and mother, that Nature is pitiless, unsympathetic, cruel. Indeed, this is one of their special arguments against a personal God, for they say that such a God would not permit the sufferings we witness on every hand and the still, more terrible sufferings which the creeds of Christendom have taught them are in store for all except the saintly few.
It is time that we return to the Bible proposition and see the truth of the statement, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” Surely there is something wrong .with the brain which, after noting the wonders of nature, seen in the surrounding worlds and systems and attested in all matters earthly, sees not an intelligent Creator! The wonderful adaptability of Our own bodies tells of a wise Creator.
If we compare the human eye, adapted to its purposes and conditions, with the eye of a fish, adapted to its different conditions, and with the eye of a beetle, adapted to. still different conditions, we see the most indubitable proofs of profoundest wisdom and superhuman skill. When we think of man’s wonderful powers and, of his great achievements in the world and rhen consider his inability to make a single living thing, from a microbe to an elephant, from a tiny seed to a tree, surely we should concede that the One who ordered nature in the production of these wonderful variations, and created man himself, must be an Almighty, intelligent God. Surely “Day unto day uttereth speech and night unto night showeth knowledge” along these lines, to those who have the eyes of understanding to see. It is time that these great truths were being emphasized and that the boastful gentlemen who ignore them should have their true measure taken, regardless of how many titles may follow their names. The moderately educated as well as the illiterate need such a testimony to come from every pulpit. And if it does not soon come our civilization will be wrecked.
All-Seeing Eye Not Omnipresence.
“Thou, God, seest me;” “The eye of the Lord is in every place.” These
lightning flash serves as a Divine messenger. But we can believe that a Soul so Infinitely high above us possesses powers of information as far beyond our comprehension as the telephone and wireless telegraphy and electric light were beyond the comprehension which our forefathers had of these things in their day. It is easier to believe that so great a Being as the One who formed man should have All-Wisdom and All-Power than to believe Him deficient of these. The Scriptural argument is a good one; “He that formed the eye, shall He.not see? He that formed the ear, shall He not hear?”
God In Heaven and In Hell.
The creeds handed down to us from the dark past declare that God is everywhere present—omnipresent. This is as unthinkable as it is foolish and unscriptural. Taking advantage of this error of “orthodoxy,” 'the Adversary has turned many away from a belief in a personal God. He who is everywhere is nowhere. The result is the absurd view which has taken hold on some otherwise intelligent people, to the effect that good and God are synonymous: Hence a log of wood that is good for something, that can be made into something useful, is said to have good in it, and, hence, to have God in it—ditto, a piece of iron, a bed, a chair, a table. The folly grows into saying that God is everywhere and is in everything. Thus faith in a god of nature and happen-so takes the place of faith in the God of the Bible, whose residence is in heaven, but whose intelligence and power extend throughout the Universe, in thousands of ways of which we are only learning —through electricity, radio activity, etc., besides angelic messengers that can come and go like the wind.
Our text, misunderstood, is supposed to teach Divine omnipresence, whereas it really teaches Divine Omniscience and Almighty power. The Lord’s presence, as represented in His intelligence and power, are everywhere. Nowhere could we go to be beyond His reach and beyond His knowledge. Were this thought thoroughly impressed upon every human mind, what a vast difference it would make in human conduct from that now seen—in Wall Street, in banks, in palaces, in hovels, in saloons, in gambling houses—everywhere. It is the great lesson needed by the whole world. Everyone who believes this should join with nature in attesting Divine Wisdom,' Power, Justice and Love.
But really the undermining of faith in the God of the Bible has been accomplished largely by the misrepresentation of the Bible’s teaching. Our text, for instance, is supposed to teach that God is in heaven with the saintly, rejoicing with them and enjoying their' pleasure and that He also is in hell with the unsaintly, looking upon their sufferings and tortures and planning with devils for their everlasting 'continuance. Thinking minds are rejecting such nonsense, but, alas, they are rejecting the Bible, too, hence have no foundation for a better, truer faith.
Every educated minister knows that we tell the Truth to the common people when we say that the word hell in our text has not the slightest reference to a place of torture, or even of consciousness. Indeed this is true of every occurrence of the word hell, from Genesis to Malachi. In every instance the translation is from the same Hebrew word, sheol, which signifies the grave, the tomb, and is thus most frequently translated.
We urge upon all ministers of education to join with us in explaining to the public the true meaning of the Hebrew word sheol and the Greek word hades. Whatever may have been their thought of expediency in the past they should see that the mistaken views of the meaning of these words are undermining the faith of Christendom.
The Psalmist really said, “If I ascend up into the sky, Thou art there: if I make my bed in sheol (the grave), behold, thou art there. * * * In the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Thy hand lead me and Thy right hand shall hold me.” The thought is that the Divine Power is everywhere, that whether we live or die, nothing can separate us from God’s Wisdom
yokes, have any knowledge of the Mystery of the Cross of Christ, the Mystery of the Gospel, “The Mystery which hath been hid from ages and generations, but now is made manifest to His saints.”—Col. 1: 26.
Alas, the majority seem content to have merely a “name to live” and wish merely to be called Christians and to wear a jeweled cross. It is but the few of those who have tasted that the Lord is gracious and have felt an earnest desire to know and to do the Father’s will at the cost of self-sacrifice. With the majority the intimation that a certain course in life is the “narrow way,” the way of the Cross, is sufficient to turn them in an opposite direction; for, while they would like to share the heavenly glories and honors of the Lord, they are unwilling to be sharers in His ignominy, sufferings and death.
These, without relinquishing their desire for righteousness, are disinclined to go to such lengths as the Master and the Apostles taught and exemplified. Hence, they are not interested in the “deep things” of God’s Word, but merely in the more superficial. In the language of the Scriptures, they are willing to say, “We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by Thy name, to take away our reproach” (Isa. 4: 1). The fault lies largely with many of the clergy, who are .not leading the people to “the faith once delivered to the saints,” but away from it.
The Scriptures most distinctly teach that we are under the reign of the “Prince of this world,” Satan, and that our Lord at His Second Coming-in power and great glory will bind or restrain this strong one and overthrow his empire, which is not of Divine authorization but built upon human weaknesses, ignorance and superstition. We are distinctly told that Satan shall be bound for that thousand years (the Millennium) that he may deceive the people no more until the thousand years shall be finished.
Surely, then, the Lord has used the great Adversary to assist in the accomplishing of the Divine purposes. Satan may have supposed that he was frustrating God’s plans, but just as surely he was mistaken. The Divine Word is . sure which declares, “My Word that goeth forth out of My mouth shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in that whereunto I sent it.”
It is time that all who really believe in the Bible, who really believe that Jesus left the glory of the Father and humbled Himself even unto death, thus providing the redemptive price for the Church and for the world, should proclaim these facts clearly, positively. They should also declare, as do the Scriptures, the Second Coming of the Redeemer and the establishment of His Kingdom in Divine power and majesty, for the putting down of sin and the lifting up of mankind to glorious privileges of Restitution, with a just penalty against every form of sin, and the Second Death as the penalty for wilful, persistent disobedience,
and Power and from the ultimate accomplishment of our rescue from the power of the grave, which God has purposed and has promised shall be done through the great Messiah. For His Kingdom we wait and pray.
Is This View Unorthodox?
The word orthodox signifies “correct in doctrine.” We are ready to admit that our presentation is not the ordinary one—but we claim that it is correct, that it is the true doctrine of the Word of God. If so, it is orthodox, in the highest sense of that term, and everything to the contrary, being opposed to the standards of God’s Word, must be unorthodox. Everything depends upon our standard. We stand for the Bible, its ’. aching, its doctrines, and therefore are < "thodox. On the contrary, ' .gher Critics and Evolutionists and those who hold the creeds of the “Dark Ages,” contradictory to the Bible, are proportionately unorthodox— heretical.
What Christendom needs today is a return to the Bible, an investigation of its teachings and, correspondingly, a rejection of all human creeds, which are admittedly more or less defective. Let us “stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.” Let us accept the Bible as the only Standard. Let us study it and understand it to the extent of our ability. Let us rejoice in every degree of harmony we all attain in the correct understanding of it. Let us fellowship as Christians all who acknowledge its Divine authenticity and who, in harmony with its presentation, are trusting in Jesus as their Redeemer; and who, in acceptance of His invitation, have forsaken all to be His footstep followers.
These are the real Christians, with whatever sect or party they may have become identified, through the supposition that they were doing the will of God. These alone are the saints; these alone are running in the race course; these alone have the opportunity of making their “calling and election sure.” The masses known as Christ-tendom are unchristian in every sense of the word. They are civilized heathen, in the sense that they do not recognize any more than do the. heathen, a personal God of glorious character, perfect in His Wisdom, Justice, Love and Power. They realize not His All-' seeing Eye. And their general lives show their lack of this knowledge and this faith.
More than this (shall we say it?) the majority of professed church members, so far as we can understand their sentiments as privately expressed and publicly declared by the ministers of their choice, are no more Christians than are the Jews. They neither believe the Bible to be the Divine Revelation nor do they accept the Lord Jesus Christ as the world’s Redeemer from sin and death. Of course, therefore, they do not profess to consecrate their lives to sacrificially follow One in whose redemptive work they do not believe.
The Mystery of the Cross,
Comparatively few of the hundreds of thousands of those who have named the name of Christ, and who have come under various denominational
Making a Covenant With the Lord
"Choose ye this day whom ye will serve; as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."—Joshua 24:15,
THE Children of Israel had crossed Jordan. Moses was depd and Joshua was their Leader. They were having no difficulty at that time; but Joshua thought that it was proper just then for them to make their decision—proper for them to decide
whether or not they would be faithful to the Lord, or would allow themselves to be led away by the idolatry of the people who lived in Canaan. Joshua had called them together and had recounted to them the Lord’s blessings and favor which they had thus far enjoyed, and then expressed himself in the grand and noble sentiments of our text.
So, we who realize that the Lord has been blessing, guiding and sustaining us in the past, should come to a full, positive decision as respects our course of life. The very fact of coming to a positive decision is a great help in the formation of character. Every time we come to a wise decision on any question, it strengthens mind and character, and makes us much more ready for another test —along some other line, perhaps.
We well recognize the fact that the entire consecration which the Christian makes, leaves nothing out; but we need to have some touchstone, something which will enable the mind to reach a decision quickly, and this touchstone should be God’s will, so that to perceive the Lord’s will on any subject would be to settle it without any temporizing. Again, it is highly proper that we should reiterate our consecration, and thus make it prominent before others.
For instance, there would be noth
ing wrong in saying, “Whatever any one else may do, I acknowledge God and will serve him!”—not as a new vow, but as a fresh acknowledgment of the consecration Vow we have already taken.
Every day we should renew our covenant with the Lord—renew it and make it fresh in our minds, thus showing that there has been no change on our part; that we are still in the saiqe attitude. We are exhorted to make this review of our lives and renewal of our consecration daily; to continue to keep this before our minds and hearts; to render our sacrifice to the Lord.
If the Lord’s consecrated people could be brought to the point where the chief aim in life, the burden of all their prayers, would be that they might have a larger measure of the Spirit of the Lord, the spirit of holiness, the spirit of the Truth, the spirit of Christ, the spirit of a sound mind, what a blessing it would mean! If then they should wrestle with him until the breaking of day, their hold upon him would be sure to bring the desired Dless-ing. The Lord reveals Himself for the purpose of giving this blessing; but He withholds it until we learn to appreciate and desire it.
What Say the Scriptures About Sheol— Hades—Hell?
A very interesting pamphlet, explaining every verse in the Bible in which the original words are found that are translated into the English as “Hell,” will be sent on postal card request, free of charge, to any one.
