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THE CHRISTIAN-PAGAN NATIONS.

The paradox of the twentieth century is that everywhere Christian relationships prevail between individuals, but pagan relationships between the nations to which these individuals belong. This is the observation of Dr. Frederick Lynch of The Congregationalist (Boston) from the vantage point of a summer holiday at Lucerne, Switzerland. In this summer meeting-place of Europe he has seen English and Germans grouped together, “their talk full of the utmost good-will,” the .relations “Christian through and through.” “The German would never think of stealing the Englishman’s purse, and the Englishman would never suspect the German of murderous designs upon him.” If they differed in a dispute, they would not fly at each other’s throat; they w ould refer the judgment to the nearest friend, or if it were a serious quarrel, to an impartial jury. “As a matter of fact, nationality is not uppermost in their talk.” “But the moment the German Government and the English Government exchange words, the whole atmosphere changes from Christian to pagan.” In fact,

“It is as if Christianity had never ex-*■ e’se had no part in the relation-

The talk is all of lerous assault of one ar. Each declares the gns of invasion, and elieve that the other nd at once did it dare, viil there is recrimina-in pre-Christian Europe eif against a fellow man these nations is arming the other. Should the .e arise, these nations are . each other’s throats, and :ause the few who believe ics should prevail between influential enough to be se days that these two great e kept from flying at each

.-bats last, year.__Lt., stews. too .

be believed, but it is true; and .till are all the codes of national spite of Hague conferences and igresses. that it would take little e these two nations into war.

e are a good many Italians in ; and a good many Italian papers d here. . I have been interested in ; the Italian point of view on the ith Turkey. The simplicity of that is the most striking thing about it, )t its barefaced paganism. It is ly this: Italy needed Tripoli and want-it, and, having become strong enough take it from Turkey, proceeded to take

The beauty of it all is that no one ees anything wrong in doing it.

“It would be wrong and un-Christian for an Italian to steal a Turk’s purse or to kill a Turk on the street. But there is nothing wrong in Italy’s stealing Turkey’s purse or destroying Turks in so doing. (The only man I have met whose conscience troubled him a little, justified Italy’s act on the ground that she was simply taking back what once was hers, for ancient Rome once owned North Africa.)

“Even the Church has fallen in with the Government and is blessing the armies—to little avail. • The most encouraging thing has been the unprecedented condemnation of Italy’s act by the European press. A German said to me that 25 years ago no daily paper in Europe would have seen anything wrong in a nation robbing or destroying another nation.”

Dr. Lynch finds a “rather striking instance of how this pagan ethics for nations persists right in the midst of our Christian ethics” in the daily avocations Of his Lucerne neighbors, which he reports with these comments:

“Opposite our terrace, across the lake, is the station of the airships. Every afternoon at five there come out a great yellow dirigible balloon, fish-shaped, with sweeping propellers, and a monoplane whose resemblance to a great bird is startlingly striking. They circle around the city several times, the big Zeppelin ship slowly, the monoplane with the .wiftness of an eagle. Now the people who sip tea on our terrace are the most estimable people. They go to church and ’hey are full of brotherly kindness to sach other. But all the talk as these new adventurers of the heavens fly above 's is of their use in killing somebody. It ts of the possibility of dropping bombs on cities, of building up aerial navies.

“Already France has gone crazy over a navy in the air, and even the children.of the nation have contributed their pennies and a new outburst of so-called patriotism. Of course Germany and England &~e endeavoring to outstrip her, and so a new, mad race of armament has begun. Lucerne is full of military officers studying their airships.”—Literary Digest.

(Continued from 1st page, 1th column.) the Scriptures put it, the Lord will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh—a heart of sympathy. All under that favorable condition who will refuse to return to harmony with God, and to the likeness of God, will be destroyed from amongst the people in the Second Death.—Acts 3:19-23.

But while such a restitution under the favorable conditions of the Messianic Kingdom is God’s provision for the world, He has a different provision for the Church, now being called, tested, proven. By nature our hearts are hard and selfish; and, as the Apostle says, “We were children of wrath, even as others.” The fact that God has called us to joint-heirship with His Son in the glorious Kingdom that is shortly to bless the world does not signify that He will accept us in our present condition of hard-heartedness and selfishness.

On the contrary, if we are to be the kings, priests and judges of the world, in association with our Lord and Head, the great King, we can readily see that we ourselves must get rid of this condition before being capable of helping the world up out of its hard-heartedness.

“We Walk by Faith.”

In various respects the Lord’s dealings with His called Church at the present time are different from what His dealings will be with the world by and by. This is'because ours is so high an honor; and, correspondingly, it is appropriate that we should manifest the more love, the more zeal than will be expected of the world.

To illustrate: We must walk by faith and not by sight, and voluntarily accept the Lord’s providences, and voluntarily undertake to co-operate in putting away the stony heart, accepting instead the Spirit of the Lord, and the Spirit of the Father—a spirit of love, kindness, gentleness, meekness, patience and long suffering toward all. Moreover, during the thousand years of the world’s recovery from sin and selfishness and hard-heartedness, doubtless each individual will have several centuries for his gradual development, but the Father seeks in the Church class such as will manifest so much zeal for Him, and such as will give such heed to His instructions, and show such earnestness to copy His character, that they will succeed in attaining a heart condition of tenderness, sympathy and love like unto the Heavenly Father’s, in the present years of their Christian experience.

And if we shall ultimately demonstrate this fixity of our hearts, the Lord will own us as His children in the First Resurrection and grant us perfect bodies on the spirit plane, when it will be possible for us to be absolutely like Him. That is the glorious condition for which we are waiting, hoping, praying, striving. And it is within our reach, for the Lord has not called us in vain: “Faithful is He who hath called us.”

So, then, dear fellow-Bible students, let us gird up the loins of our minds, determining that with the Lord’s help we will be rich toward God. Let us think less and less of earthly riches, and more and more prize the Kingdom which the Lord has promised to His faithful ones. All who shall attain to it will be rich in the highest sense, rich toward God. Not only will they be rich in the possession of the highest prize that God has to give—His very best—but following the process and lessons of our Great Teacher we shall be rich in His character-likeness, rich in experience, rich in faith, rich in benevolence, rich in all that is good and great, however poor we may be in earthly goods, at the finish of our course.

veneration, faith and conscience. For the natural man to approach the Lord in prayer, with the selfish motives and instincts of the old will, would mean that his prayers would be of a wrong kind, from the selfish standpoint.

Our Lord clearly marks out the kind of petition which His people will offer, the kind of petition which He will be pleased to entertain and surely grant and answer at some time. Describing this proper prayer He says: “If ye abide ,in Me and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you.” (John 15:7.) Ah, yes! If the Lord’s words abide in us it will imply our love for them, and diligent study to know the words of the Lord and the will of the Lord expressed in those words; and if we abide in Him it will mean that we abide loyal to His will, and are desirous of having His will done in us and not our own wills.

This will signify in turn that not only will the Lord’s disciples abiding in Him be searching to know His will through His Word, but that they will be striving to apply that will and Word according to His guidance and direction—according to His will and not according to their own wills, according to the spirit of the Truth and not according to the spirit of the world, according to the spirit of love and not according to the spirit of selfishness.

Thus those who are truly the Lord’s will petition Him in their prayers, “Not mj' will but Thine be done,” in everything, in matters temporal and spiritual.

Prayers, Public and Private.

Some may ask, Did not the publican pray and was he not heard? Yes; but he prayed as a sinner and merely asked for Divine mercy, and his request Implied his desire to escape from sin, his resolution to do so, and his desire for the Lord’s assistance in this matter. Moreover, the publican belonged to the nation that God had accepted through faith, belonged to His adopted nation, Israel after the flesh, and to this publican therefore pertained the promises and blessings which up to that time had been extended by the Almighty to that one nation alone. For the publican to return to God was represented in the return of the prodigal son in the parable; the relationship was already there and he had merely disregarded it for a time.

What and Why We Watch.

Let us now look at the other ingredient in this prescription which the Lord gave for our benefit and which so many of us have proven to be beyond price. If we pray why should we watch? For what should we watch? On another occasion our Lord intimated that the reason, the necessity for watching as well as praying, lies in the fact that we have an Adversary, an invisible foe, who seeks to seduce us, turn us aside from our vows of consecration to the Lord and His way of righteousness./

Our Lord says that this Adversary is the Devil, and we understand that the Devil is not only a personal being, but that he has many minions or associates, the fallen angels, who kept not their first estate when on trial before the flood. .(Jude 6.) Not only so, but Satan has' millions of representatives and agents in the world—millions who are his agents without really being aware of the fact. According to our Lord’s testimony on one occasion, we may understand that the whole world of mankind is divided into two hostile camps, the one a little flock, under the guidance and control of Jesus, their invisible Lord and Head, whose will they seek to do; the other the remainder of the world, who unwittingly are in the , service of sin, because they are in the service of sin. and because, as the Apostle expressed it, “His servants you are to whom you render service.”—Rom. 6:16.

From this standpoint, with this view before our minds, how many agents our great Adversary has who unconsciously are working for him, working for sin, working against the Lord, and hence are the opponents of the few who have tasted of the grace of God, who have accepted the Divine conditions and who have consecrated themselves to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. No wonder we are urged to “watch” as well as to “pray,” to watch against these various seductive influences of the Adversary, through the world and its spirit operating through social, financial and churchianity channels, to draw us away from that full consecration to the Lord and to the Truth to which we have already pledged our lives.

True, the Lord could answer our prayers by defending us from every adverse influence, by shielding us from every temptation by making us immune to all manner of temptations. But for Him to do this would be to change His own plans, and hence He will not do it. And when we come to understand what the Divine plans are, and how the watching and resistance of sin are a necessity to our proper development as the Lord’s people, we will no longer be expecting to be “carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas.”

Character Development.

Jehovah’s object in the special call of the Church during this Gospel Age is the development of a class of people into the character-likeness of His dear Son, our Redeemer. This means a condition of heart that will be in opposition to sin, that will have its special delight in opposing sin, that would die rather than yield to sin. We must remember, however, that we have this treasure of a new mind in earthen vessels, our mortal bodies (2 Cor. 4:7); we must remember that to will is present with us, but that the performance is another matter.

To will right is of absolute necessity from the very beginning of our Christian course. He who wills adverse to righteousness and truth and goodness and the Lord is-rrot begottrm ~rfi ttre'Hoty ’Spirlt. Everyone that is begotten again wills to do right, wills to follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. But with all our willing we have difficulty in performing, because of the adverse conditions of our own flesh and because also of the adverse conditions of the world about us. So, then, the present life, with its praying and watching, is the Lord’s time; in it He tests us respecting our faith and our obedience to Him and His principles.

If we realize the temptations about us and have faith we will surely appeal to the Lord for His promised assistance. We will surely not neglect the throne of grace. If we do neglect it, it is a sign that we are lacking in faith, that we are in that respect not fit for the Kingdom, because all who are inheritors of the Kingdom must have faith. “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even your faith.”—Heb. 11:6; 1 John 5:4.

The New Nature’s Pickets.

Our obedience, while it cannot be perfect because we are still in the flesh, and because we have only the imperfect mortal bodies through which to act, nevertheless our efforts toward obedience must fully demonstrate the positiveness of our will for righteousness, must fully demonstrate that if we had perfect bodies there would be no question whatever respecting the perfection of our word, thought and deed. The realization, then, of our weaknesses and imperfections, and that the whole world and its spirit are adverse to the Lord and His Spirit and His Message, will lead the Lord’s faithful people not only to appeal to Him, but also to watch against the snares of the Adversary.

They watch themselves not only by taking heed to the admonitions of the Lord’s Word for the resistance of these temptations, but also they watch their own weaknesses, failures, shortcomings, that they may protect themselves along the lines of their weaknesses—that, as the Apostle says, they may make straight paths for their feet, lest that which is weak or lame be turned out of the way. They may be overtaken in a fault, because attacked from some new quarter; they may discover a weakness in their own natural make-up of which they had not previously been aware; but with these to discover their weakness will mean not only an appeal to the Lord for assistance at that point, but also energetic endeavors for defense against the inroads, the seductions, the snares of the Adversary.

The point known to be a weak one should be doubly picketed by the new mind, lest it should be overtaken unawares and should again meet defeat. To this class of true disciples, watching and praying, a temporary defeat at some point does not spell disaster, but rather

renewed energy and a stronger character because of the setting up of defenses at the point found to be weak. Thus, throughout life, those who watch and pray are gradually making stronger their characters along every line of defense, and in thus building up character they are demonstrating to the Lord the transformation of their hearts, their minds, the sincerity of their vows, and their loyalty to the principles of righteousness set before them in His Word and in the glorious example of their Redeemer and Leader.

The Lord’s Jewels.

These eventually will constitute the Lord’s jewels. At the beginning of their course their hearts were honest and loyal for righteousness, but character had not been developed. The trials, the difficulties, the contacts with the world, the flesh and the Adversary, all developed character by leading them to exercise faith, which manifests itself in prayer, and loyalty to righteousness, which manifests itself in watching against the various temptations and besetments to which they are exposed.

The latter part of our text is in full accord with the foregoing: “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” This does not apply to the world, but only to those who have accepted the Lord and turned their backs on sin.

We must surely expect that from every standpoint of opposition there will be more or less seductive allurements on the part of the flesh seeking gratification. Our safety is in watching and in praying, not that we can hope that by watching and praying we can fully escape temptations, but that holding fast to the Lord and being covered with the mantle of His love and mercy, these temptations will all be overruled for our good, developing us in heart and character in the likeness of our glorious Master and thus will fit and prepare us for participation in the First Resurrection, “His Resurrection.”—Rom. 6:5; Phil. 3:10.

By that glorious change all those who constitute the very Elect will be made absolutely perfect, for they will there receive their perfect or spirit bodies, which will be in full harmony with the changed characters already attained by the Lord’s grace through obedience to the Word and the watching and praying which He directs. For that glorious attainment we are to strive, and the method is to be through the watching and praying—the watching of the Word, the watching of our hearts, the watching against temptations, the prayer of faith and the exercise of faith in Him who loved us and bought us with His precious blood.

MEN DARE TO THINK NOW.

Atlanta Constitution—Editorial.

The former Associate Editor of this well-known Journal of the South spent many sleepless nights in worry concerning the “Hell-Fire and Brimstone” theory. Later he came into ■ possession of “The Divine Plan of the Ages,” the first of a series of six volumes of “Studies in the Scriptures,” by Pastor Russell. After reading the book a great burden was lifted from his mind and he then said:

“It is impossible to read this book 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 her wandering child are forever separated?—forever and forever?

More Light the Watchword!

“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 upon which he throws a flood of light that dispels many dark and gloomy forebodings. I see that editors of leading journals, and many orthodox ministers of different denominations, have indorsed 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. Light—more light, is the watchword.”

Four Million copies of “The Divine Plan of the Ages” have been placed in the homes of Christian people. The book is published in fourteen different languages. Aside from the Bible itself, the demand for this book has been the greatest of any ever published. Students of the Bible have found that “The Divine Plan of the Ages” is indispensable to their studies. It removes the stumbling stones. The book of 384 pages, neatly bound in imported cloth and containing an interesting Chart of the Ages, is published and distributed by the Bible and Tract Society, No. 17 Hicks St., Brooklyn, N. Y., for the nominal sum of 35 cents per volume, any language. This book has made Pastor Russell famous, and has made thousands of Bible students strong in the faith of God’s Word and a mighty power in the battle for the Truth.

MO ONE can dispute that individual-ism, personal independence, personal responsibility, have done much for the development of our race. The serfdom and paternalism of the past were unfavorable to individual thought, responsibility and action. No wise and good man would desire to rob his fellows of independence of mind.

One Extreme, Then the Opposite.

We are in danger, however, of going to the opposite extreme—in danger of carrying the subject of personal independence too far—in danger of neglecting some who should have assistance— in danger of thinking of all men as being not only free but equal. While we all should have proper freedom of will, yet all are more or less handicapped in the exercise of the will. As St. Paul said, “We cannot do the things which we would.” We are slaves of sin and death, some more and some less. The Prophet David’s explanation applies to us all, “I was shapen in iniquity, in sin did my mother conceive me.”—Psalm 51:5.

It was in view of such inequalities of the flesh that St. Paul wrote to the Church, “We that are strong should bear with the infirmities of the weak, and not please ourselves” [merely]. (Rom. 15:1.) This principle, applied by the Apostle to the Church, would certainly be appropriate and beneficial in the natural family. And as our hearts enlarge we should all come to realize more and more the oneness, the solidarity of our race—the entire human family, of which St. Paul says, “Of one blood God created all men, to dwell upon the face of the whole earth.”—Acts 17:26.

“Where Is Thy Brother?”

God’s inquiry of Cain implied Cain’s responsibility, and teaches us a lesson respecting our responsibility in God’s sight for one another. We will begin with the Church, the highest type of brotherhood imaginable: We should not be content to split into sects and parties. Whatever was the ignorance of the past, which led to the formation of the various creeds and denominations, there can be no excuse for these now, because Christians of all denominations have come to discredit the old creeds. Should there not, then, be a movement toward heart unity and fellowship, outside of denominational and creedal lines, amongst those who recognize God as Father, the Lord Jesus Christ as the Redeemer, and the Bible as the Divine Revelation?

It is not proper to say as did Cain, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Every true Christian should realize that today Christianity is being assaulted in its own house and by its professed friends. In the universities, colleges and seminaries of all denominations a battle is raging, which threatens the destruction of our Christian faith. Possibly a few are blind to the situation, but the insurgents—the Higher Critics and Evolutionists—realize the situation and are craftily saying to the people, “We are the Watchmen upon the walls of Zion! Hearken to our cry: All is well!” These Higher Critics seem to have no conscience. They claim that the people must be gradually taken by guile. They encourage them to “sleep,” while they raise over them the banner of infidelity called Higher Criticism.

Many who see the killing of this anti-typical Abel shirk the responsibility by saying, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” not realizing that from the Divine standpoint they have a responsibility toward every other Christian with whom they are in contact. They should realize that loyalty to God means that they “should show forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

In a word, every true Christian who has made a full consecration of himself to the Lord, to walk in the footsteps of the Saviour, should waken to the fact that we are in a critical time. We are in the time mentioned by St. Paul, when “every man’s work shall be tried so as by fire.” (1 Cor. 3:13.) The testing will be along the lines both of faith and of works. Only those holding firmly to “the faith once delivered to the saints” will be able to bring forth such fruits, such good works, as the testings of this hour require. This class, awake to their responsibility toward God and the brethren and the Bible, and full of zeal, therefore, will thereby be kept in this “evil day.” God will bless them in their endeavors to glorify Him.

My Brother’s Keeper—Socially.

In the days of slavery and serfdom, every master, every feudal lord, recognized a responsibility for his servants or slaves. He was interested in their health and in their morals, for they were his property, and any depreciation meant financial loss to him. Thus selfish interest kept him alive to his responsibility, to a considerable degree. But now all that has changed. sSerfs and slaves, released from obligation, are without supervision and care. TheMess fit of our rate are in serious danger, of being crowded to the wall. Our lawmakers have recognized the fact and have thrown around the weaker sex and children safeguards in the laws, protecting them from designing people 'who would exploit them for selfish purposes.

totally depraved; but surely none are totally depraved except the idiotic. We

believe that there is an element favorable to righteousness in every member of our race, and that sin is largely the result of unfavorable environments; and that the majority of mankind would be glad, indeed, if some Divine interposition were to lift them and their affairs out of present conditions and put them upon a plane of absolute righteousness, justice, equity. This, we believe, is the desire of a large element in every’ nation, a predominating class. Such a reign of righteousness, justice, equity in the world, will speedily’ result from the establishment of Messiah’s Kingdom, for which we pray, “Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Most explicitly do the Scriptures declare this, saying, “The desire of all nations shall come.” (Hag. 2:7.) This declaration is in conjunction with the foretelling of the establishment of Messiah’s Kingdom. The reign of righteousness which it will inaugurate will be the ideal of the masses of mankind, although quite probably the overthrow of Trusts and Combines will, for a time, not be viewed sympathetically by the rich, the wise, the preferred, the favored class, under present conditions. As it required time for the slave holders of the past to become reconciled to loss of their slaves and to see the righteousness of their being freed, so it will be with those who at present are closely identified with great institutions which are bringing mankind into slavery. Our Lord sized up the situation, saying, Blessed are y’ou who weep and mourn, for you shall be comforted. Woe unto those who are full, for they shall have distress.—Luke 6:21, 25.

The reign of justice and righteousness will ultimately appeal to all in heart harmony with Jehovah, and all who fail to thus come into heart harmony with Him will be accounted as unworthy of His gift of everlasting life; for “He who loves not his brother whom he hath seen, how could he love God whom he hath not seen?”

The thousand years of Messiah’s reign, during which His Bride, the Elect Church, will be associated with Him, will be quite sufficient for the equalization of all of life’s affairs for the entire race. “In His day shall the righteous flourish,” and not merely the strong. In His day evil doers and not well doers will be crushed. It is written of His Kingdom that it “shall lift up the poor out of the dunghill, and shall bring down the mighty from their seats.”

The Disciplines According to Previous Character- Development.

The whole world of mankind will then be transferred into the hands of Messiah, who will take them just as they are. They will be in various conditions. Some will be more depraved, others less depraved; some will be more seared in their consciences and some less; and these deficiencies of character will depend upon the way in which each one accepted or rejected light and opportunity in the present time. Those who knew not His will and did it not will receive few stripes; those who knew His will and did it not will receive many stripes, because of previous hardening of character. Everybody will be required, eventually, to come up to the full standard of Divine requirements. Those more depraved will have greater difficulty and those less depraved will have less difficulty and receive fewer stripes, in the coming up to Divine requirements.

Those who most willingly and most gladly assent to the leveling process, will most quickly receive the Divine blessing, and make the most rapid progress along the Highway of Holiness, back to full human perfection and eternal life. And those who now in advance of the establishment of the Kingdom, love righteousness and hate iniquity, come at present into favor with the King of kings, and thus are specially favored with light and knowledge, and are invited to become associates with Messiah in His glorious Kingdom, which is to effect the long-promised, great reformation of earth’s affairs. Let us all take to heart and apply well this lesson, but especially those who have heard and who have responded to the Divine invitation to become heirs of God and joint-heirs with our Redeemer.

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3(ESUS had been preaching for more eM than a year when he appointed twelve of his followers to be specially his representatives sent forth—Apostles. He sent these two and two throughout Judea. They had not the Father’s appointment. They had not yet received, the holy Spirit from on high and did not receive it until Pentecost, some two years later. The holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:39). But by virtue of the holy Spirit given without measure to Jesus at the time of his baptism, he conferred upon these Apostles his own special powers that they might heal the sick, cast out demons, etc. But their special mission, like his own, was not that of healing physical ailments merely, nor chiefly. They were to proclaim the Lord Jesus to be the King, the long-expected Messiah, and to. tell the people that the time was at hand for the establishment of his Mediatorial Kingdom, in conjunction with their nation.

This message would be in harmony with the expectation of all the Jews. For centuries they had been waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promise made to Abraham that through them all the families of the earth would be blessed. The miracles of Jesus and the Apostles were to call attention to the proclamation, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2). This message, in harmony with that of John the Baptist, was expected to arouse all the “Israelites indeed” and to attract their attention to Jesus as the King. They were particularly warned that their message was not for the Gentiles, nor even for their neighbors, the mongrel people called Samaritans. True Jews, and these only, were called upon to make ready their hearts and minds that they might be participants in the Kingdom and its glories. Their message was only “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”—V. 6.

They were to make no provision for their journey—neither money nor extra clothing. They were to learn a lesson of absolute dependence upon the Master who sent them forth. They were not to be beggars seeking from house to house. On the contrary, they were to recognize the dignity of their mission and service for God and Messiah and were to inquire in each village for the most worthy, the most saintly, the most holy people, because these would be the ones who would be specially interested in their message—whether rich or poor. And such of these as received their message would be glad indeed to treat them as representatives of the King, whose Kingdom they announced. Their stay in each place was to be as guests until they were ready to depart to the next place. On entering into a house they were to salute the householder in a dignified manner, advising him of the object of their call. If received peacefully, cordially, their blessing would be upon that house. Otherwise they were not to lose their own confidence and iserenity, but to pass along and look for one more worthy of the message and of them as its representatives. Those receiving them would receive a blessing. Those rejecting them and their message would lose a great privilege.

The Gospel of the Kingdom

Many wonder greatly why it was proper for our Lord and the Apostles to declare the Kingdom of Heaven at hand when, as a matter of fact, it has not yet come and, by the Lord’s directions, his followers still pray, “Thy Kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.” The understanding of this furnishes the key to the appreciation of much of the Bible that is now misunderstood. We must, therefore, outline the matter in some detail.

For more than sixteen centuries Israel has been waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promise that they would become so great that through them the Divine blessing would extend to every nation. Our Lord through the Apostles signified that God’s time had come to fulfil all of his promises made to the Jewish nation if they were ready for them. To be ready they must be a holy nation. And to instruct them and prepare them their Law Covenant had been introduced to them through Moses centuries before. And now, just preceding Jesus, John the Baptist had preached to them reformation, repentance, getting into harmony with the that _f they. jnight be ..ready _;tp res-, tiie Messiah. While as a people they were the most religious nation in the world at that time, nevertheless ^ut few of them were “Israelites^ in-<fecd”—at heart fully consecrated to td; fully in accord with the prmci-ss of holiness. As a consequence, instead of the whole nation being ready fbr. God’s work, only a small remnant of them were saintly and received the message.

Kingdom Privileges Transferred to Spiritual Israel

God foreknew this, however, and through the prophets declared that a remnant only would be found worthy. To the nation as a whole our Lord declared, “The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given, to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matt. 21:43). Accordingly five days before his crucifixion our Lord said to them, “Your house is left unto you desolate. • Ye shall see me no more until that day when we shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”—Matt. 23:38, 39.

The Kingdom privileges or opportunities which were first offered to natural Israel were transferred to Spiritual Israel, whose existence began at Pentecost. All “Israelites indeed” of the fleshly house were privileged to become members of the spiritual house— to receive the begetting of the holy Spirit and adoption into the Body of Christ, which is the Church. Of this Church St. Peter says, “Ye are a Royal Priesthood, a Holy Nation, a peculiar people.”—1 Pet. 2:9.

After selecting as many Jews as were worthy a place in Spiritual Israel, nominal Israel was cast off from Divine favor until the completion of Spiritual Israel, when God promises that his favor shall return to them (Rom. 11:25, 26). Meantime the invitation has gone through the Lord’s faithful members to every nation, seeking such as have the spirit of loyalty to God, the spirit of “Israelites indeed.” All such are accepted with the Jews as members of the same Kingdom. Around these Spiritual Israelites have gathered all sorts, so that there is an outward or nominal body or Church numbering millions, as well as a real body or Church scattered amongst them.

As at the end of the Jewish Age Jesus came to inspect them and to set up his Kingdom if enough worthy ones were to be found, so he will do in the end of this Gospel Age; he will come to Spiritual Israel to find the saintly. The Scriptures assure us that from first to last, from _Pentecgst until the end of thisT^ige," a suTffOWSt number of saints will be found tot constitute the «lect Chu.j^i of Christ, designed: of God to b^his Queen and Joint-Heir in the Mediatorial Kingdom, which will then be set up and begin the work of blessing the world. After the spiritual Kingdom of God shall have been exalted, the Bible assures us. (Rom. 11:25-32), that God’s favor will return to natural Israel and they will be the first nation to be blessed under the New Order of things that will then prevail and through those of that people in harmony with God the blessing will extend to every nation.

“More Tolerable for Sodom” Than Capernaum

The Sodomites were wickedly immoral; yet, in the Master’s estimation, less wicked than those who, after hearing the Gospel, rejected it. This principle applies to many people and many cities of our day, as well as to Capernaum. The Master assures us that when the age to come, otherwise called the Day of Judgment, shall furnish opportunity for the whole world to be on trial for everlasting life or everlasting death, it will be more tolerable for the Sodomites than for many others. In proportion as anyone has come to a knowledge of Christ he has become responsible. The death of Christ secures for Adam and all of his race one full opportunity for salvation and no more. The majority have died in heathenish darkness without any opportunity; and many in Christian lands have disregarded their opportunity, as did the people of Capernaum. All must be brought to a full knowledge of their privileges in Christ and then all rejectors will be destroyed.—Act 3:23, 1 Tim. 2:4; Matt. 20:28.

“WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN

JESUS.”

“ ‘What a friend we have in Jesus,’ Sang a little child one day;

And a weary -woman listened To the darling’s happy lay.

“All her life seemed dark and gloomy, All her heart was sad with care;

Sweetly rang out baby’s treble— ‘All our sins and griefs to bear.’

“She was pointing out the Savior, Who could carry every woe;

And the one who sadly listened

Needed that dear Helper so!

“Sin and grief were heavy burdens

For a fainting soul to bear;

But the baby singer bade her ‘Take it to the Lord in prayer.’

“With a simple, trusting spirit,

Weak and worn, she turned to God, Asking Christ to take her burden, Owjiipg Him as. her dear Lord.

“Jesus was her only Refuge,

He could take her sin and care, And He blessed the weary woman When she came to Him in prayer.

“And the happy child, still singing, Little knew she had a part

In God’s wondrous work of bringing

Peace unto a troubled heart.”

—Unknown.

□fESUS had been preaching for more W than a year when he appointed twelve of his followers to be specially his representatives sent forth—Apostles. He sent these two and two throughout Judea. They had not the Father's appointment. They had not yet received the holy Spirit from on high and did not receive it until Pentecost, some two years later. The holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:39). But by virtue of the holy Spirit given without measure to Jesus at the time of his baptism, he conferred upon these Apostles his own special powers that they might heal the sick, cast out demons, etc. But their special mission, like his own, was not that of healing physical ailments merely, nor chiefly. They were to proclaim the Lord Jesus to be the King, the long-expected Messiah, and to tell the people that the time was at hand for the establishment of his Mediatorial Kingdom, in conjunction with their nation.

This message would be in harmony with the expectation of all the Jews. For centuries they had been waiting for the fulfillment of God's promise made to Abraham that through them all the families of the earth would be blessed. The miracles of Jesus and the Apostles were to call attention to the proclamation, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2). This message, in harmony with that of John the Baptist, was expected to arouse all the “Israelites indeed” and to attract their attention to Jesus as the King. They were particularly warned that their message was not for the Gentiles, nor even for their neighbors, the mongrel people called Samaritans. True Jews, and these only, were called upon to make ready their hearts and minds that they might be participants in the Kingdom and its glories. Their message was only "to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."—V. 6.

They were to make no provision for their journey—neither money nor extra clothing. They were to learn a lesson of absolute dependence upon the Master who sent them forth. They were not to be beggars seeking from house to house. On the contrary, they were to recognize the dignity of their mission and service for God and Messiah and w’ere to inquire in each village for the most worthy, the most saintly, the most holy people, because these would be the ones who would be specially interested in their message—whether rich or poor. And such of these as received their message would be glad indeed to treat them as representatives of the King, whose Kingdom they announced. Their stay in each place was to be as guests until they were ready to depart to the next place. On entering into a house they were to salute the householder in a dignified manner, advising him of the object of their call. If received peacefully, cordially, their blessing would be upon that house. Otherwise they were not to lose their own confidence and serenity, but to pass along and look for one more worthy of the message and of them as its representatives. Those receiving them would receive a blessing. Those rejecting them and their message would lose a great privilege.

The Gospel of the Kingdom

Many wonder greatly why it was proper for our Lord and the Apostles to declare the Kingdom of Heaven at hand when, as a matter of fact, it has not yet come and, by the Lord’s directions, his followers still pray, “Thy Kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.” The understanding of this furnishes the key to the appreciation of much of the Bible that is now misunderstood. We must, therefore, outline the matter in some detail.

For more than sixteen centuries Israel has been waiting for the fulfillment of God's promise that they would become so great that through them the Divine blessing would extend to every nation. Our Lord through the Apostles signified that God’s time had come to fulfil all of his promises made to the Jewish nation if they were ready for them. To be ready they must be a holy nation. And to instruct them and prepare them their Law Covenant had been Introduced to them through Moses centuries before. And now, just preceding Jesus, John the Baptist had preached to them reformation, repentance, getting Into harmony with the Jjaw, that they, might be ready to re-ce.ve the Messiah. While as a people they were the most religious nation in the world at that time, nevertheless t.vt few of them were “Israelites indeed”—at heart fully consecrated to God; fully in accord with the principles of holiness. As a consequence, instead of the whole nation being ready for God’s work, only a small remnant of them were saintly and received the message.

Kingdom Privileges Transferred to Spiritual Israel

God foreknew this, however, and through the prophets declared that a remnant only would be found worthy. To the nation as a whole our Lord declared, "The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matt. 21:43). Accordingly five days before his crucifixion our Lord said to them, “Your house is left unto you desolate. • Ye shall see me no more until that day when we shall say. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”—Matt. 23:38, 39.

The Kingdom privileges or opportunities which were first offered to natural Israel were transferred to Spiritual Israel, whose existence began at Pentecost. All "Israelites indeed” of the fleshly house were privileged to become members of the spiritual house— to receive the begetting of the holy Spirit and adoption into the Body of Christ, which is the Church. Of this Church St. Peter says, “Ye are a Royal Priesthood, a Holy Nation, a peculiar people.”—1 Pet. 2:9.

After selecting as many Jews as were worthy a place in Spiritual Israel, nominal Israel was cast off from Divine favor until the completion of Spiritual Israel, when God promises that his favor shall return to them (Rom. 11:25, 26). Meantime the invitation has gone through the Lord’s faithful members to every nation, seeking such as have the spirit of loyalty to God, the spirit of “Israelites indeed." All such are accepted with the Jews as members of the same Kingdom. Around these Spiritual Israelites have gathered all sorts, so that there is an outward or nominal body or Church numbering millions, as well as a real body or Church scattered amongst them.

As at the end of the Jewish Age Jesus came to inspect them and to set up his Kingdom if enough worthy ones were to be found, so he will do in the end of this Gospel Age; he will come to Spiritual Israel to find the saintly. The Scriptures assure us that from first to last, from Pentecost until the end of thi>‘ige, a sufficient number of saints will t>e found to constitute the elect Church of Christ, designed of God to I e his Queen and Joint-Heir in the Mediatorial Kingdom, which will then be set up and begin the work of blessing the world. After the spiritual Kingdom of God shall have been exalted, the Bible assures us (Rom. 11:25-32), that God’s favor will return to natural Israel and they will be the first nation to be blessed under the New Order of things that will then prevail and through those of that people in harmony with God the blessing will extend to every nation.

“More Tolerable for Sodom” Than Capernaum

The Sodomites were wickedly immoral; yet, in the Master’s estimation, less wicked than those who, after hearing the Gospel, rejected it. This principle applies to many people and many cities of our day, as well as to Capernaum. The Master assures us that when the age to come, otherwise called the Day of Judgment, shall furnish opportunity for the whole world to be on trial for everlasting life or everlasting death, it will be more tolerable for the Sodomites than for many others. In proportion as anyone has come to a knowledge of Christ he has become responsible. The death of Christ secures for Adam and all of his race one full opportunity for salvation and no more. The majority have died in heathenish darkness without any opportunity: and many in Christian lands have disregarded their opportunity, as did the people of Capernaum. All must be brought to a full knowledge of their privileges in Christ and then all rejectors will be destroyed.—Act 3:23, 1 Tim. 2:4; Matt. 20:28.

“WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN

JESUS."

“ ‘What a friend we have in Jesus,’ Sang a little child one day;

And a weary woman listened To the darling's happy lay.

“All her life seemed dark and gloomy. All her heart was sad with care;

Sweetly rang out baby's treble— ‘All our sins and griefs to bear.’

“She was pointing out the Savior, Who could carry every woe;

And the one who sadly listened Needed that dear Helper so!

“Sin and grief were heavy burdens For a fainting soul to bear;

But the baby singer bade her ‘Take it to the Lord in prayer.’

“With a simple, trusting spirit,

Weak and worn, she turned to God, Asking Christ to take her burden, Owuinir Him as her dear Lord.

“Jesus was her only Refuge,

He could take her sin and care. And He blessed the weary woman When she came to Him in prayer.

“And the happy child, still singing, Little knew she had a part

In God’s wondrous work of bringing Peace unto a troubled heart.”

—Unknown.