International Bible Students Association, Publishers.

VOL. V.                                                       B R O O K L Y N, N. Y.                                                          No. 1.

Religious and Scientific Gleanings

THIS WONDERFUL PERIOD.

There never was . ich a wonderful period! We never before knew so much or could do so much. We never experienced an age of equal comfort. No part of yesterday was as glorious as this hour.

The hundred years behind • us are jammed and crammed with achievements that outbalance the sum total of progress since the signing of the Magna Charta.

The average mechanic enjoys luxuries that Midas, with all his wealth, could not command. The college freshman has more real information in his little finger than the. erudition of the foremost scholar of the Renaissance. We have done more to put existence on a sane, logical and definite basis than did all of our ancestors.

A mere hundred years ago even the scientist thought that the atmosphere was simply space—gas was only a smell.

The first microbe hadn’t disclosed his identity.

Metchnikoff’s announcement of battling hosts in every drop of human blood would haVe earned him a padded cell.

The best illumination George Washington could secure came from tallow dips, lighted by a spark from flint and steel.

Every piece of fabric was woven by hand.

The only horse-power was four-legged, and wore a tail.

The steamboat was still building on the ways of Fulton’s brain, and the wheels of the steam engine had only moved in Stephenson’s head.

It took Benjamin Franklin two weeks tv        < ... ill r ..cm Bistoix ixiiil get a

reply from Baltimore.

Abraham Lincoln’s angular frame never reposed in a Pullman berth.

Garfield called a 20-day “liner” an “ocean greyhound.”

It is hardly a year since the father of antiseptic surgery was gathered to his fathers.

Electric light, trolley cars, bicycles, automobiles, department stores, skyscrapers, 10-cent collars, tinned salmon, airships, penny newspapers, appendicitis and power cranes are still infant ideas.

Thirty years ago electricity had never been hitched to a wheel; gunpowder was the most powerful explosive; subways weren’t considered within possibility.

“Impossibility” is now an old-fashioned word with a definition, but not a meaning. Almost every dream of the past is a reality today.

The magic cities and the fairy kingdoms of your grandmother aren’t half so wonderful as the world in which you live. —The Cincinnati Post.

* * *

Present-Day Inventions Foregleams of Messiah’s Kingdom.

The above is surely not exaggeration! What thanks should be rising from all our hearts to God, the Giver of every good and perfect gift! How energetic we all should be to rightly use present blessings and opportunities for our own good, for the, good of our families and neighbors—all men!

Thinking people cannot help wondering why so many blessings have been crowded into our day. There is but one answer, and remarkably few seem to realize it. Some are disposed to say that all of these blessings come as a result of another onward step of Evolution! Is this reasonable? Do we see signs of excessive wisdom in ourselves or others? How many people do any of us know personally who have ever invented any great, wonderful or useful article of the many which go to make up our wonderful day?

Examining carefully the personality and history of individuals through whom present-day blessings come, we may well be astonished. We find that very few of them have been men of great education, and many of them are by no means great men in any sense of the word, except in the one particular of their invention. It is by no means sure that the prodigies of today are any more numerous than those of previous periods, but our facilities for knowing about them have increased a thousand-fold.

Through , the printed page the knowledge of an invention, carried before the civilized world, becomes a stimulant to others, furnishing, perhaps, a connecting link for another invention. Many of our great inventors tell us that they merely (Continued on page 2, column 1.)

E" VIDENTLY the time has come for tell-*“• ing the common people what the Bible teaches respecting clergy and laity, titles of ministers, and ordination to teach and preach. We have previously pointed out that the doctrine of Apostolic Succession started in the second century, A. D. The bishops claimed that they had the same authority that Jesus had originally given exclusively to the Twelve Apostles. On the strength of this claim they appointed and ordained the inferior clergy.

This custom still prevails in what are known as Catholic Churches—Roman, Anglican and Greek. The principle is wholly wrong, unscriptural. According to the Bible, the Church of Christ is not composed of two parts, clergy and laity. Jesus declared, “One is your Master, Christ; and all ye are brethren.” Therefore, “Call no man [Master or] Father.” St. Paul’s writings clearly show that in the early Church the ministers were the

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ent, lordly caste. They were of the people; and when chosen by the Ecclesia by the stretching forth of the hand (Greek, cheirotoneo), they were recognized as of Divine appointment to the ministry—through the Church.

The customs of centuries were so difficult to throw off that many of the reformers coveted the titles accorded the Catholic clergy. Nor did they care to tell the congregation that its word was supreme in the matter and that its ministers were merely by the grace of God its servants. Others of the reformers, realizing that Jesus and His disciples were not styled Reverend, Doctor, etc., declined to use these titles, preferring to be called pastbrs. This custom still prevails very generally in Protestant Germany and Scandinavia. My Christian friends and Bible Student associates well know my objections to the title “Reverend,” and hence address me as “Pastor” —shepherd. Furthermore, I am the elected pastor of the Washington Temple congregation, the Brooklyn Tabernacle congregation, and also of the London Tabernacle congregation. I fail to see any ground for criticism of my course in this respect; nor do I make any attack upon Christian brethren who accept other and unscriptural titles.

Must Pastors Be Ordained?

There is no question that ordination is necessary to the proper holding of the office of pastor. The whole question is: What constitutes an ordination to preach, teach and be pastor amongst God’s people?

This question has received a wide variety of answers. The Roman, Anglican and Greek Churches, claiming Apostolic succession, declare that the authorization to preach must come through their apostle-bishops. For this reason Protestant ministers have not been allowed to enter the pulpits of these denominations —until the Episcopalians a year ago granted this concession. Their charge has been that. Protestant ministers are unordained. Of course, if their proposition

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Send postal-card request to Bible !•* & Tract Society, 13 Hicks St., Brook- k lyn, N. Y., for free copies of this F* paper. Some of the interesting sub- £ jects you may have for asking are: **

The Hope of Immortality. Do You Believe in the Resurrec-tion?

Most Precious Text.

Our Lord’s Return.

Which Is the True Gospel? be correct, I am just as much unordained as all other Protestant ministers-—and no more so.

Only since the organization of the Evangelical Alliance (1846) have the different sects of Christendom acknowledged each other and each other’s ordinations. Some of them recognize the word ordination in its true light, as meaning simply authorization; and others of less spiritual discernment see merely an outward ceremony. Each denomination does its own ordaining, and makes such ceremonies as it deems proper. If, therefore, the congregation of Christian believers in Washington or in Brooklyn or in London or elsewhere choose to ordain or appoint me their pastor, it is wholly a matter of their own what ceremonies, if any, shall accompany that ordination or appointment. Who can dispute this? No Protestant denomination, surely; for their own ordinations are on this basis.

‘‘Not of Men, Nor by Man.”

The entire subject of ordination of ministers of the Gospel seems to have fallen into confusion during the shufflings of the Dark Ages; and few seem to have gotten fully back to the Bible teachings on this subject or on other subjects. St. Paul is particular in emphasizing the fact that he did not receive his commission as preacher and Apostle ’of Christ from his brother Apostles. He distinctly declares himself an Apostle by Divine authorization. This is the general Scriptural principle underlying Divine Ordination to the ministry of Christ.

A YEAR AGO the International Bible Students Association, perplexed by the conflicting reports, resolved to send a Committee of Seven to investigate and give a candid report on missionary prospects in foreign lands—especially in South India, where it is making a special effort. Pastor Russell was chairman of that committee, which otherwise was composed of four successful business men, one doctor, and General Hall, of the U. S. A. The Committee performed its duties conscientiously, and made its Report to one of the largest Christian gatherings ever held in New York City—in the Hippodrome, March 31st, 1912. Its Report, published in pamphlet form, reached a very wide circulation amongst Christian people. We are authorized to offer the remainder free, one copy each, to all interested in Foreign Mission work. A postcard addressed to “I. B. S. A., Brooklyn, N. Y.,” requesting a copy of the Missionary Report, will receive prompt attention as long as the supply holds out.

The Committee, in preparing this Report, felt sure that it would be discouraging to some loyal Christian people; and they therefore laid bare the facts in as kindly and Christian a manner as possible. Every one of them being deeply interested in the heathen, every one of them a sincere Christian, what else could they do?

Before we proceed with an exposition of the Bible teaching on Divine Ordination, it will not be improper for us to note the practical operation of the different human organizations—of men and by men merely.

Have all bishops of the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, and the Greek Church been models of propriety, patterns to the flock? Have all given evidence of Divine authorization to teach and to preach the True Gospel? Their staunchest votaries must admit that many of them have been unworthy; and that from these very ones have proceeded doctrines and practices contrary to the Word of God. Of what value, then, are their ordinations by men and of man? None whatever! On the contrary, the claim that they were Divinely authorized, and guided and inspired to be,teachers of the Church, helped forward the errors which they promulgated. By reason of their claimed authority to teaqM- the people believed them too implicitly and did not sufficiently criticize their utterances and practices in the light of the Bible.

How is it today in the various Protestant denominations of Christendom? Are all those who receive sectarian ordination, of men and by man, benefited thereby? Has such ordination kept them free from weaknesses of the flesh to which others were exposed? Has it not, on the other hand, exposed them to greater temptations, because they were pedestaled by the people and thereby injured with pride, haughtiness, etc. ? Has (Continued on page 2, column 2.)

Now, as the Committee feared, the truthfulness of their Report, which so many Christian people gratefully acknowledge, has irritated a few persons. These evidently fear that we have shattered their idol and discredited their fairy tales respecting the immediate conversion of the world by human instrumentality and more millions of money. We sympathize with these enthusiasts, who seem to deceive themselves as well as others and who shut their eyes to facts, while hoping against hope to maintain exploded theories.

One of these, Mr. W. T. Ellis, alias the “Religious Rambler,” attacks the report after the style of Don Quixote. Falsely he declares that we journeyed on the same vessel from San Francisco to Shanghai, giving the impression that we had not visited Japan at all. Then he declares that we merely raced through the country, did not visit all the mission stations, nor talk with all the missionaries; and he wants to know how we could know anything on the subject of our Report. Our Report tells the facts. The Committee of Seven scattered, and spent six days in Japan, or a total of 42 days of investigation. Our 23 days spent in , India, similarly recorded, would be the equivalent of nearly six months’ investigation by one person.

(Continued on page 3, column 1.)

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(Continued from page 1, column 1.) stumbled on their invention. Our successful air-brake pateht, for instance, is merely the development of the cruder thought that water, hydraulic power, could be used to operate brakes. A still brighter mind caught the thought, and realized that air would serve the purpose better.

As an illustration of the fact that mental illumination may be along some one particular line, we remind our readers of “Blind Tom.” He was noted for his wonderful skill in playing any tune that he might hear. He had no education; in fact, he was almost idiotic, incapable of receiving an education. But he had an ear for music which made him famous. Can we claim that we or others of our day stand so high intellectually as to be able to look down upon some of the bright minds of the past? Have we many Shakespeares, many Byrons, many St. Pauls, many Ciceros? Have we many Solomons? or are there many who could compare with Moses?

The Millennium Has Come.

We must look in another direction if we would rightly understand and properly appreciate the meaning of the wonderful inventions of our day. They are coming to us because we are living in the dawning of a New Dispensation! They are the foregleams of an epoch so wonderful as to be beyond our most vivid imagination. Evidently God has been gradually lifting the veil of ignorance from the eyes of human understanding. Gradually He has allowed us to see the power of steam—gradually to learn how to apply it. Later He lifted the veil in respect to electricity. Now its marvels are enlightening the world.

Shortly chemistry will be accomplishing wonders for'us—no doubt making unnecessary the mining of coal. From the air that we breathe and the water that we drink We shall doubtless shortly know how to separate the elements necessary to furnish us the light and the heat indispensable to the world’s progress. Everything is getting ready for the Millennium! Not only is it coming, but it is here! We are not, indeed, enjoying its full blessings yet; but what we are enjoying is a foretaste of them.

All of our hearts should be attracted more and more to the Lord in thankfulness for His wonderful mercies. More and more we should be studying His Divine Word, the Bible. From it we should be coming daily to a clearer understanding of the Divine Character and Plan. This alone Will chase away our ignorance and superstition, and bring us love, joy and peace.

The blessings of God now coming to the world will center in Christ’s sacrifice at, Calvary. During the past eighteen centuries His redemptive work has been the gathering of the Church, and now it is to mean the blessing of all the families of the earth, as the Scriptures have promised. Yea, the Scriptures clearly show that these blessings are intended for those who are in their graves, as well as for the living.

HOME RELIGION.

Home religion is as important as personal religion, and is essential to it. The relationship between parents and children grows pure and dear when they all kneel together and ask the peace of God to rest on their home. Many of us remember the dear old days when at the family altar morning and evening prayers were offered together, and the Sunday evening hour, when we sang hymns, each choosing his favorite.

Through the whole community the influence of a Christian home spreads. The town seems purer, the birds sing more sweetly, the flowers bloom more radiantly. Joy sings its anthems in such a home as it sings in no other place. And if this blessedness is to continue, we must shut out all unkindness, bitterness and injustice.—Floyd W. Tompkins, D.D.

GONG OF TROLLEY CARS TO CLANG IN OLD JERUSALEM.

The ancient capital of the Jebusites, whose known history runs back to 1400 B. C., is to resound with the gongs of the trolley car and the fire engine.

The narrow, tortuous and dirty streets which the naked feet of the crusaders trod, are to be asphalted and drained and kept clean, and will be washed down by an up-to-date water supply.

The city, which was the seat of David’s kingdom, will be lighted by electricity.

Doubtless the Jericho and Jerusalem, and the Zion and Dead Sea electric railways will be operated.—N. Y. American.

(Continued from 1st page, 4th column.)

Many Ministers Should Stop Preaching

such ordination in any denomination preserved its ministers from doctrinal errors more than the people who did not have a similar ordination of men and by man?

The answer is found in the numbers who have left various denominations and ordinations to go into other denominations and ordinations. It is answered also in the fact that today the great majority of ordained ministers in all denominations entirely repudiate the Bible as a Divine Revelation. Their ordination did not protect them from our modern infidelity, called Higher Criticism. Under its influence they have ceased to be teachers of Bible Christianity, and have become merely essayists, leaders in political and social reform and in humanitarian work. Manifestly their ordination of men and by man did not hold them to the “faith once delivered to the saints.” (Jude 3.) It did not assist them to appreciate the Bible as being sufficient “that the man of God might be thoroughly furnished unto every good word and work.”

Let us consider the matter again, from another standpoint. Did any of these human ordinations of men and by man impart the Holy Spirit or give a mental illumination by which any of these humanly ordained ministers were qualified for preaching and teaching the Lord’s people? The answer is, No! As deep spirituality and as deep insight into the teachings of the Scriptures are to be found outside of the pulpit as inside. The ordination, evidently, brought no enlightenment, no gift of the Holy Spirit—the thing above all needed by those who would teach others and expound the Gospel.

Has Served a Bad Purpose.

The Ordination of ministers, of men and by man, has been injurious in that it has perpetuated the misconception that the Church is divided into two classes— clergy and laity. The ordained have been injured by being puffed up to suppose themselves of a higher caste than their brethren. The unordained have been injured in that human ordination has helped to befog their minds in respect to the real ordination. Thus the “laity” have been hindered from entering upon the very service which God intended should be their chief aim and object. In the early Church, the Elders were considered merely elder brothers of the Church—not elders in years necessarily, but advanced ones in spiritual things, able to help the brethren properly to understand the Word of God and to attend to all the duties and privileges inculcated by the Gospel for their preparation for a share in Messiah’s Kingdom. The ordination of reverend men to be : rulers, and in some cases dictators of a Church, has taken away from the Elders the very services that the Apostle tells them were to be theirs. Instead, it appoints them the empty honor of passing the collection plate and the. communion service. St. Paul, in his address to the Elders of the congregation at Ephesus, said, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the Flock, over which the Holy Spirit hath made ybu overseers [Greek, episko-pos, literally, bishops], to feed the Church of God.” (Acts 20:28.) All of those Elders were under-shepherds, pastors, bishops, overseers. All of them had the commission to feed the Flock. All of them had opportunity for teaching the Church.

Divine Ordination to Preach.

All will admit that if preachers are 'representatives of God, if they speak in

His name, they must have some ordination frdm Him. Whoever has not Divine authority is usurping a holy office and placing himself in antagonism to God. As St. Paul suggests, “No man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.” (Hebrews 5:4.) The Apostle’s argument is that the Aaronic priesthood was typical of the higher Priesthood of Jesus—the Melchize-dek Priesthood. Aaron and his sons belonged to the tribe specially called to the Divine service; and they were specially called out of that tribe to be the priests. The antitype is Jesus, the High Priest or Head Priest, over the under Priesthood—all the true members of the Church of Christ. This St. Peter shows, saying, not to the clerics, but to all the Church, “Ye are a Royal Priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”—1 Peter 2:9.

As Aaron received an anointing, qualifying him for the typical priesthood, so J.esus received an anointing of the Holy Spirit, qualifying Him to be the Head or Chief Priest over all the Church, the under-priesthood. The begetting' of the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus at His baptism. That anointing gave Him authority to preach and teach in the Father’s name. There His ministry began, as He tells us Himself in His sermon in the Nazareth synagogue, where He read the opening verses of Isaiah 61, and declared that their fulfilment had been reached in His own person: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek.”—Luke 4:17-21.

The Church Anointed to Preach.

While Jesus was with His disciples, He sent them forth to preach in His name, not in the Father’s name; for the Father had not yet acknowledged them by giving them the anointing of the Holy Spirit, as we read: “The Holy Spirit was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:39.) But when Jesus, having finished His ministry and sacrifice, was leaving His disciples, He directed them not to preach, but to tarry at Jerusalem “until ye be endued with power from on High.”—Luke 24:49.

The promised power from on High came at Pentecost. Immediately they began to preach and to teach; for they had received the Divine anointing, as Jesus had received it at the time of His baptism. This Divine anointing constituted their ordination, their authority from the Father as members of the Body of Christ, the Royal Priesthood, to be His mouthpieces. This Divine anointing came not merely upon the twelve Apostles; but it has all through this Gospel Age constituted the blessed recognition of the Father and of the Son to all who receive it. In the typical picture, Aaron had the holy anointing oil poured upon his head, and it ran down to the skirts of his garment. All the members of his body thus came under the anointing. So Jesus, the Head of the Church, received the anointing at the beginning of His ministry; and from Him at Pentecost by the Divine appointment it has flowed down over all the members of His Church. Every one receiving the anointing of the Holy Spirit is a qualified ambassador of God to speak in His name. As St. Peter says, every such one is a Royal Priest. St. John refers to this same anointing, saying, “Ye have an unction [anointing] from the Holy One, and ye all know it.”

Who Lack Divine Ordination?

From what we have said it must be clear that no one is entitled to speak for the Almighty unless he have this Divine Ordination of the Holy Spirit. Human titles and human ordinations are wholly inadequate to make a real preacher and teacher in the Church of Christ. But the spirit-begotten are fully authorized to use their every opportunity under all circumstances and conditions. There is no division of these spirit-begotten ones along the lines of clergy and laity. God never recognized such distinctions and divisions. His ambassadors bear the marks of identification that none others have. They have a knowledge of the real Gospel, and of the real character of God. They are guided by the Holy Spirit, step by step into the deep things of God.

We submit that if a knowledge of the Truth be an indication of an enlightening influence of the Holy Spirit, then not every preacher in the world gives evidence of a Divine Ordination to teach and to speak as a Divine Ambassador. We must put away the foolishness of the

THE Bible tells of three notable men ⁴ who disappeared—God took them. One of these, Enoch, we are told, did not die. Another of them, Moses, we are told, died and was buried. Of the third one, Elijah, it is' not stated whether he died or not. But it is our understanding that he died.

The “heaven” to which Elijah was taken by a whirlwind was the aerial heaven, in which the birds fly. His taking away after this manner was in order to complete the typical features of his life, as we shall see. That neither he nor Enoch went to Heaven, in the sense of passing into the heavenly or spiritual state, and into the presence of God, is clearly testified to by Jesus, who declared, “No man hath ascended up to Heaven, save He who came down from Heaven, even the Son of Man.” (John 3:13.) Although of Enoch it is declared that he was translated that he should not see death, it is not stated that he was translated to Heaven. And our Lord’s words assure us that he was not. Where he now is no man knows. We can merely by faith accept the fact.

The object served in the translation of Enoch probably is to show by and by that it was quite possible for God to have maintained our race in life perpetually—that only because of sin was it necessary for Adam and his family to die; that when sin and death shall be abolished by Messiah, during His Kingdom, and when the willing and obedient of mankind shall have been brought to human perfection again, they will never need to die. The preservation of Enoch, an imperfect man, for five thousand years, by Divine power, will be an evidence to mankind and an assistance to their faith while the work of restitution will be progressing. Enoch himself is one of those Ancient Worthies who, during the Millennium, will be one of the “Princes” or rulers in the earth, representatives of Messiah’s invisible Kingdom. “Instead of Thy fathers shall be Thy children, whom Thou mayest make Princes in all the earth.”—Psalm 45:16.

Elijah a Type of the Church.

As Melchizedek (a king and priest at the time) represented or typified the Church in glory, so Bible students understand that Elijah, the Prophet, typified or represented the Church in the flesh—this Dark Ages, and the misconception that a few mumbled phrases were ever the Divine method of inducting the Royal Priesthood into their service as ministers of the Truth.

“Preach the Word.”

All of God’s people are preachers. All are ordained to preach His Word. The begetting influence of the Holy Spirit is the only ordination necessary, and without it no one has Divine authority to preach. Preaching, in the broad sense of the word, means to declare, to make known. The Word of God makes no division of His people into clergy and laity. “He that hath My Word, let him preach My Word faithfully, saith the Lord.”—Jeremiah 23:28.

Let us declare God’s Message in its purity and simplicity, whoever may hear and whoever may forbear. Let us not be disappointed if the wor-ldly-wise will think it foolish, as in St. Paul’s day. Let us not be surprised if the preaching of God’s Message still brings odium, as it did upon the Master and His faithful Apostles. The world knows us not, even as it knew Him not. The world recognizes not the true Message today, even as it has always failed to recognize it in the past. In this , respect the “Christian world” today is like the “Jewish world” of our Lord’s day.

The essence of the true Message—the Gospel of Christ—is that Jesus died for sinners, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring mankind back to God; the false message denies that man ever fell from the Divine likeness, and therefore has no need of a Redeemer. Such spurious gospels are false; for they leave out the very core and essence" of the Divine Message. By whatever honorable channel they may come, we may be sure that they are of the Adversary himself. They make void the Word of God, the death of Jesus as man’s Ransom-price, the Resurrection, and the Second Advent, which is for the purpose of giving mankind the glorious blessings and privileges bought with the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.

The true Message contains not a word about an eternity of torture at the hands of fire-proof demons. On the contrary, it is a Message of “good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.” It does not contain even one word which, would discredit the Wisdom, Justice, Love and Power of the Almighty, whose tender mercies are over all His works, and whose salvation is yet to be extended to the ends of the earth. All shall be brought to a knowledge of the Truth. Those who persist in loving iniquity and hating righteousness shall eventually be destroyed in the Second Death. Then “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, to the glory of God.” side the vail—from Jesus to the present. Thus, long after Elijah’s death, God, through the Prophet, declared to Israel, Behold, I send you Elijah the Prophet before the great and notable Day of the Lord, and if he do not turn the hearts of the Fathers to the children, and the children to the Fathers, then the earth shall be smitten with a burse (Malachi 4:5, 6) •—“a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation.” John the Baptist, as the forerunner of Jesus in the flesh, typified this greater Elijah (the Church in the flesh), the forerunner of the Messiah of glory. As John the Baptist did not succeed in bringing the people into harmony with the Fathers (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, etc.), so likewise the Church in the flesh, as God foresaw, has not been successful in bringing peace to the world.

As John the Baptist’s failure with Israel was followed by the overthrow of their national polity in A. D. 70, so, we believe, the failure of his antitype, the Church in the flesh, to bring in harmony and righteousness, is by Divine intention to be followed by the world-wide trouble which will humble man and prepare the way for the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom in power and great glory.

Caught Up in a Whirlwind.

Many Christians have not noticed that there is not only a difference between the heavenly salvation, which God has provided for the Church, and the earthly restitution (Acts 3:19-21) which God has provided for the world, but additionally there are two distinct classes of the Church brought to our attention in the Bible. First, we have the faithful Royal Priesthood, styled “The Body of Christ,” of which Jesus is the Head. These have the promise that they shall sit with Christ in His throne and be judges of the world during the Messianic Reign. The other class of saved ones on the spirit plane, the Scriptures designate as a “great company, whose number no one knows.” (Rev. 7:9.) These are different from the “elect,” whose number is positively fixed by Divine predestination—one hundred and forty-four thousand. As that company is Scripturally styled a “little flock” and a “royal priesthood,” so the “great company,” in the Bible, are styled anti-typical Levites. While the “elect” sit upon the Throne with Christ, this secondary class of the saved will serve before the Throne. While the saintly few will wear crowns of glory, the greater company of their brethren, before the Throne, will have no crowns, but instead have palms of victory. While the “elect” are the living stones of the temple of God, soon to be brought together in the “first resurrection,” to be the meeting-place between God and men for a thousand years, the “great company,” the Levitical class, are neither living stones nor pillars in this Temple, though they will be blessed with the glorious opportunity of serving God in this Temple day and night.

Having located Elijah as the type of the “elect” class, Bible students are inclined to consider Elisha as probably a typical character; also a representative of the greater spiritual class, the antitypical Levites. It was toward the close of Elijah’s experience that Elisha became his servant and companion. The various instances in which Elijah suggested to Elisha that he should tarry behind are supposed to represent the trials and difficulties in the pathway of the Church here, which will suggest to the “great com

Our I. B. S. A. Committee were not commissioned to investigate missions, nor merely to ask missionaries to corroborate reports promulgated by missionary societies. We visited and interrogated the people, saw their conditions, attended meetings, etc. As for the chairman, this critic charges in one breath that he did not preach the sermons which appeared in the newspapers of the world; and in the next breath declares that he spent all his time in preaching and therefore had no time for investigation. A discerning public read between the lines of such criticism what the Bible symbolically describes as “gnashing of teeth.”

The Only Practical Method.

If millions of money were being spent to give instructions in French, if the teachers gave glowing reports of their success, and if a committee of business men were sent to investigate the success, would they ask the teachers and professors for a confirmation of the Reports they had already made, or would they go amongst the pupils, and seek to ascertain to what extent they had a knowledge of French? There can be but one answer to this question. The principle applied to Foreign Missions shows that our Committee took the only prober course for ascertaining the facts. They did obtain them, and we believe that every missionary and every other person who has been in foreign lands, within the last five years, will, on reading the Report, concede that it is very truthful, and at the same time extremely sympathetic.

Surely the Committee’s method and Report will commend themselves to unprejudiced intelligent minds. Probably Brother Ellis’ difficulty is fear that the hollowness of missionary claims is coming to the light.

“Not Understanding the Scriptures.”

Sympathy for the heathen and doctrinal errors respecting the everlasting future led Christianity astray in its missionary work. In full harmony with other nonsense received from the Dark Ages, we believed God intent upon hurling all the heathen to everlasting torture, unless they should hear about the Saviour in the present life and should accept Him and become saints. Frenzied by this misconception of the Divine Character and Plan, godly people hastened to give their lives and their money for the rescue of the heathen from the fate which they erroneously supposed an all-wise, alljust, all-loving and all-powerful God had foreordained for the Non-Elect.

Now our (former) darkness is departing. As we began to see the utter hopelessness of our claim that we could ever convert the world, we also saw that we had misunderstood our Heavenly Father’s Plan in respect to the heathen. We began to see that only the first part of the Divine Program has yet been put into operation; viz., the gathering of the Elect from all nations to constitute the Bride of Christ, to be Joint-heir with Him in the Abrahamic promise, “All the families of the earth shall be blessed in thy Seed.” Now we see that the saintly few from every nation and from every denomination of Christendom will constitute the True Church, the True Bride of Christ, the Queen of Glory, the Seed of Abraham.—Galatians 3:29.

“This Gospel of the Kingdom.”

Our hallucinations respecting eternal torment, which the Bible, rightly translated and properly understood, does not teach—as every scholar in the world will agree—has been the foundation of all our errors. Alas, that so many ministers and learned men should have cast away their Bible without ascertaining that it is in

G What Say the Scriptures About

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A very interesting pamphlet, ex-plaining every verse in the Bible in >*■ ■S which the word Hell is found, will $£ j be sent on postal-card request, free. ■JS Address, Bible & Tract Society, a. H Brooklyn, N. Y.                      **

XKW 5^ W7JR pany,” the Elisha class, that they continue not to follow their more zealous brethren of the Elijah class. These various stoppages and suggestions represent sifting or separating work, and all who continue on may be understood to belong to the Elisha class. Any falling away are not of either class.

Chariots and Horsemen of Fire.

If these interpretations of Elijah as a type be correct, the lesson is that the close of the Church’s career in the flesh will come suddenly, abruptly. The fiery chariot may prove to be fiery trials or sharp persecutions, separating between the Elijah and the Elisha classes. The whirlwind which carried up Elijah to heaven is a type or figure, very uniformly used in the Scriptures to represent great confusion and strife—a cyclone.

The denouement will not be entirely unexpected, either by the Elisha class or by “the sons of the prophets,” who would represent here a respectable class of Bible students who have not made a full consecration of their lives to the Lord, and who will not be eligible to the heavenly condition as members either of the Elijah or the Elisha class.

direct conflict with all otir creeds! Missionary labor has appealed to the most devout of God’s people, the most sympathetic. Even though they have misunderstood, we may be sure that God has granted a heart blessing to all lovers and supporters of missions. This is no reason, however, why we should continue to be blind to the true situation. We must no. longer delude ourselves with the thought that it is possible to convert the people even in our home lands, until God’s time, under Messiah’s Kingdom; for “Unto Him every knee shall bow.”—Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10.

Think not that the Bible has no message for heathen lands! Think not that we are opposed to the heathen or to good works done for them! We are opposed merely to misrepresentation of God and the Bible amongst the heathen, even as in the past we misrepresented both at home. We are deeply interested in the work which the Bible declares • should be done amongst the heathen—a work, however, which the missionaries have not been doing. “The Gospel of the Kingdom” was to be preached to all nations before the end of this Age should come—not for their conversion, but for a witness. to them—for the purpose of gathering out God’s Elect to be Messiah’s joint-heirs in His work of universal blessing.

The Gospel of the Kingdom means the good news respecting the Kingdom. The I. B. S. A. has missionary workers in India, China and Japan, informing such of the peoples there as have the intelligence to comprehend the Message. Many of them are rejoicing in the good news that Messiah’s Kingdom is about to be established; and that their friends, instead of being in either purgatory or eternal torture, are merely asleep in death, awaiting the blessing which Jesus promised, saying, “All that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of Man and come forth” to a resurrection of judgment, trial, testing, to prove who will accept the gift of eternal life and who will reject it and suffer the penalty—Second Death.—Romans 6:23.

To a certain extent, wherever the Bible has gone, this Gospel of the Kingdom has gone. If the missionaries had only read the Bible to the people and had not attempted to teach the creeds of the Dark Ages, many more in heathen lands today would 'know about Messiah’s Kingdom and appreciate the import of the prayer, “Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth, even as it is done in Heaven.” But the missionaries apparently for the last few years have been telling those would hear them at all, very little of anything religious. Their activities are chiefly with the children; and as our Report shows, the children get scarcely any religious information, and many of the denominational schools are being turned into civil or State schools, with the understanding that there shall be no religion taught with the money appropriated by the governments for secular instruction.

Missionary Effort Postmillennial.

The admitted failure of missions as respects religion and as shown by the fact that there are twice as many heathen today as there were a century ago means the fall of the Postmillennial theory—that the thousand years of Christ’s reign will precede His Second Coming; that the Second Coming of Christ cannot take place until after the world has been converted and has had a joyous reign of righteousness for a thousand years. Following this erroneous theory, all effort has been concentrated upon converting the world, and thus bringing in the Millennium.

Our Catholic brethren claim that this thousand-year reign of Christ ended in 1799; that we are now in the “little season” mentioned in Revelation 20:3; and that the success of Protestantism during the last 112 years is the loosing of Satan. This is the explanation given in the footnotes of some editions of the Catholic Bible. It must be discouraging to our Catholic brethren to see how many blessings have come to the world under what they claim is Satan’s regime. Surely some of them will contrast this with the superstition, bigotry, and the persecuting spirit which seemed to dominate both Protestants and Catholics during what they claim was the Millennium.

As for Protestants in general, the kindest statement of their position is that they are confused. They do not like to agree with Papacy that the Millennium is past; and yet they agree with Papacy in claiming that the great kingdoms of Europe are parts of Christ’s Kingdom, notwithstanding the fact that they are impoverishing themselves to prepare for blowing each other off the face of the earth.

Christ’s Kingdom Brings Millennium.

Premillennialists hold that Christ’s Second Advent precedes the establishment of His Kingdom; and that the Church during the Gospel Age is in preparation for the Kingdom honor, glory and service. Such believers in the teachings of the Bible alone are preaching that the coming of Messiah’s Kingdom is the hope of the world, and that the call of the present is for the Elect, to share in the Kingdom. Hark to the Master’s words, “Fear not, Little Flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”

To these it is not astounding that the heathen are not all converted, either at home or abroad; for they realize that God’s Word does not so teach. They find the Scriptures to tell that at the Second Coming of Christ “the nations will be angry,” and God’s wrath will come upon them. “There shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation.” They find that during that time Messiah’s Kingdom will be established, and that incidental to its establishment the First Resurrection will take place. They note Jesus’ words, “Blessed and holy are all they that have part in the First Resurrection; * * * they shall be priests unto God and unto Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years,” “upon the earth.”—Revelation 20:6; 5:10.

But Premillennialists very generally make two mistakes: (1) They think of His Kingdom as one in which Christ and the saints will hold earthly court. They fail to discern that the resurrection change raises both Christ and the Church fully out of the human nature into the Divine nature; and that God’s Kingdom, spiritual and all powerful, will bless mankind through earthly agents already prepared.. These will be the saints who died previous to Pentecost, and whose resurrection will be to human perfection—to which all of the Non-Elect world will have opportunity of attaining.

(2) Premillennialists fail generally to discern that the Bible teaches that blessings will be granted the Non-Elect who have died during the past six thousand years, without having full opportunity of attaining to life everlasting. They have overlooked the Scriptural statement that all the dead of Adam’s race sleep until the Resurrection; that the Morning of the Great Day of Messiah’s Kingdom will be the Resurrection Morning,. not only for the Church, but for the sleeping billions of humanity. Our un-scriptural conceptions of the dead, as alive in Paradise or in Purgatory or in a Hell of torture, came originally from the heathen; but we have used our greater enlightenment to intensify the joys of the heathen Paradise, and the sufferings of the heathen in the intermediate state. Hence it is that the most intelligent people

O zealous friend of missions and men! Thy questioning lines reveal

A Martha’s care for the Master’s cause Not needful for thee to feel.

Your verse declares that Heathendom wails,

And eagerly “pleads for light”;

While Christian prayer and denial fails To rescue their souls from blight.

You say, “They cry on misery’s brink For succor within our power”;

“Yet twenty-nine hundred heathen sink

Into Christless graves each hour.”

Are you more wise than the Father, who gave

To Justice His cherished Son?

Or has the Lord of a conquered grave Abandoned His work undone?

Doth God depend on fallible men To publish “The Only Name?”

And, if they fail, can His Love condemn The helpless to endless flame?

Hath He, who claims all silver and gold,

Ordained that my scanty store Must win a soul for the upper fold

Or sink it forevermore?

Hath He, before whose radiant face The heavens and earth shall flee, Consigned the fate of a blood-bought race

To mortals like you and me?

Tell us, O Christ, who suffered such loss;

Have billions of untaught slaves

Been wrecked in sight of thy bloodstained cross

And perished in hopeless graves? in the world, by neglecting God’s Message, the Bible, today believe things respecting God and His purposes more monstrous than any of the doctrines of demons which afflict the heathen world and drive them from God in fear.

Applying Now Our Text.

We note that the Lord did not say that the Gospel would convert the world, but merely that it would be a witness to them. The word here translated “witness” is in the Greek Marturion, from the root martus, the equivalent of our English word martyr. Thus seen, this text agrees with all of the Master’s testimonies to His followers that in becoming His disciples they would be sacrificing earthly friendships, honor, etc.; and that they would bring upon themselves sufferings. To be His disciples, therefore, they must be martyrs, witnesses for the Truth and the light, in the midst of darkness, bigotry and superstition. The additional light and Truth which the followers of Jesus would possess and testify to would make of them martyrs; and only such would be accounted worthy to share with Him in the coming Kingdom. “Marvel not * * * if the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love its own”; but now “ye are not of the world”; for “I have chosen you” out of the world, “and ordained you.” “Whosoever will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My Throne.”

Our text contains the Gospel in a nutshell. It tells of a coming Kingdom. It tells of a proclamation of that Kingdom during this Age, in advance. It tells that such a proclamation will be marturia—a witnessing through suffering. It implies that the sufferings of the witnesses will demonstrate their loyalty to God and their worthiness to be joint-heirs with Christ in that Kingdom for which they pray, “Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth, even as it is done in Heaven.”

THE MISSION FIELD

As Reported by Mr. W. T. Ellis in 1907:

“Up to the present foreign mission work has been a mere reconnaissance in force, and not a war. One of the hurtful delusions of the home churches concerning foreign missions (a delusion sometimes fostered by ILL-BALANCED REPORTS FROM THE FIELD) is that the whole heathen world is on the verge of conversion to Christianity. One of the commonest figures of missionary oratory represents the nations as crowding into the Church. Now, the unwelcome FACT is that heathendom, as a whole, has SCARCELY BEEN BUDGED by missions! Great as have been missionary triumphs in spots, the whole mass has hardly been touched by the Christian teachings. Even enlightened Japan, which many persons believed to have become almost Christianized, is still rankly heathen, except for a small percentage of the population which only the mind of faith can invest with conquering power. The overwhelming and, at first sight, Immovable and Impregnable heathenism of MISSION LANDS is a challenge to the Churches?’

FREE ILLUSTRATED REPORT.

Foreign Missions Investigating Committee’s Illustrated Report FREE upon postal-card request. Address, International Bible Students Association, Brooklyn, N. Y„ U. S. A.

Creeds answer—Yes! but reason cries— No!

And reason and Truth agree:

No jot can fail of that Word, I know, “I will draw all men unto Me!”

When all are drawn by wooings of love, And knowledge and duty blend, Then only they who rebellious prove

Will merit a traitor’s end.

God haste th not: the centuries sweep All obstacles from His path.

His gracious Plan worketh wide and deep,

While slow is His righteous wrath.

His glory yet shall cover the earth As waters o’erspread the sea:

Each soul shall learn of the Saviour’s worth

And blood of Atonement free.

“Good will to men!”—Blest echoes that thrill

His “first fruits” with rapture grand—

“Shall be to all,” when on Zion’s hill The “Bridegroom” and “Bride” shall stand.

God works by means, or worketh alone, As serveth His purpose best;

By infinite hands makes His power known,

Or sho we th His arm undressed.

O brother mine! no longer repine, Nor question God’s Love and might;

He sips the ctip of a joy Divine

Who readeth the lesson right.

—George M. Bills.

T’HIS Association sprang up spontane-* ously and gradually during the past thirty years, but particularly during the past ten years. It is composed of thinking Christian people of various ages who are studying the Bible reverently and profitably. There are no limitations as to membership, except such as could be properly applied to any true Christian: (1) Faith in God as the great Creator and Heavenly Father; (2) Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the world’s Redeemer; (3) Faith in the Bible—-that it is the inspired Message of God, respecting His will and purposes in connection with mankind; (4) A clean and honorable life.

Our Association finds this platform broad enough for all true Christians, regardless of all denominational lines, quirks and frills. We have no bondage, and any one is as free to leave the classes as to enter them. Indeed, following the example of the early Church in this, as well as in other matters, we avoid any special manner of joining these classes, or any special enrollment, or any special commitment as to faith and practice other than the broad principles already mentioned.

The International Bible Students Association has classes in nearly every city in many countries, and you may also desire to know about these and their relationship to each other and to the Association.

Each class of the International Bible Students Association is independent, manages its own affairs, conducts its own meetings, and provides for its own expenses. The Association provides public instructors and ministers to lecture on the Bible, and to give suggestions as to the methods of the primitive Church, and as to the best means of conducting Be-rean Bible Classes. No Class is obliged to have these lectures, nor to have the literature which the Association publishes for their assistance. They all do, however, find it very convenient to avail themselves of these helps to Bible study; and when requested, the Association provides the assistance to the extent of their ability—subject to the limitations and the accessibility of the Classes, and the condition of its treasury funds.

As for the personnel of the classes, they are from all walks of life—laborers and physicians, pupils and teachers, housewives and society people. They are mostly thoughtful, but have been dissatisfied for years, and have been feeling after God, and seeking to satisfy their hungry souls. They are from all denominations —Baptists, Presbyterians, Catholics, Episcopalians, Jews; and a large percentage were once agnostics. These include all nationalities, also: English, Scotch, Irish, French, Italians, Chinese, Japanese, etc. Indeed, we find that all over the world there is an intelligent class who hunger after God, righteousness and Truth, and who have nothing satisfactory in any of the creeds, but are now finding a soulsatisfying portion in the Bible itself.

Here, as elsewhere, we are asked if these classes are confined to America. We say, “No, indeed!”

Throughout Great Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, India, China, Japan, Australia, South Africa, these classes are to be found, as well as in Canada and the United States. Indeed, the ; original charter of the Association was a British one, the office being in London. The international character of the work is the reason for that feature of the Association’s name.

It is well understood that many of these Bible students were unsatisfied when they studied the Bible from various denominational standpoints, and that they are now satisfied, and we are asked how we account for this. Do we use the same Bible? or how comes it that Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, etc., can gain a clearer light in the International Bible Students Association Studies than in their own denominational lines and classes?

There is a difference. Each denomination seeks to uphold its own traditions of the past, some of which are true and some false. But in our methods all denominational predilections are ignored. We pause not to inquire what Brother Calvin or Brother Wesley taught, nor what others taught before them or since. We go back to the teachings of Christ and the Apostles and Prophets, and ignore every other teaching. True, all denominations claim more or less to do this, but they are more or less handicapped by their traditions and creeds. They look through colored spectacles. We ignore all these, and strive to view the Words of Inspiration in the light of the context only, or in the reflected light from other passages of Scripture.

There is another reason why our position is blessed of God—the time mentioned in the Scriptures when the wise ones of God’s people are to understand is here. The Scriptures show what all people are beginning to realize clearly—that we are in the dawn of the New Dispensation. All the wonderful inventions of the last eighty years corroborate the testimony that these are the foregleams of a New Dispensation; and that now, when these earthly blessings are increasing, is the time when God promised that He would give special enlightenment respecting His Word and Plan, which He declares He purposely kept under a veil, a partial mystery. The Mystery of God is to be finished, completed, and the full Plan of God is to be revealed in this New Dispensation already dawning.

We are also asked, “Is the International Bible Students Association affiliated with any of the regular organizations or creeds?’’

It is not. We purposely avoid all such trammels of thought. Nevertheless, we are sympathetic with all Christian people of every creed. We are realizing that the various denominations were organized, not for the purpose of dividing and distracting the Lord’s Flock, but each with an endeavor to find the light and Truth. We urge Christians to ignore all sectarian fetters and fancies, and point out that there is but one Church, and that there is but one Head of the Church.

Our public meetings are preferably held in large auditoriums, opera houses, etc., for these prove to be common meeting places for people of all faiths, and those without any denominational bias—all who are Truth seekers, not satisfied with the husks upon which they have been endeavoring for some time to feed.

We are often told that Considerable interest and comment attaches to the fact that our Association uniformly advertises its meetings with “Seats free and no collections.” This -has become quite a trademark with our Association, because it is so different from the usual practice; and an explanation was requested as to the object of this, and as to how we get along without money, or how money is raised to meet the expenses, which are often quite large.

As thinking people, we have for years noticed that the money question has been the burning question in nearly all religious meetings. The Church members are usually assessed up to the extent of their willingness, or more, and the public collections are specially taken to “milk the goats”—to get money from the worldly. We do not find this method to have Scriptural sanction, and we are seeking to follow the teachings and example of Jesus and the Apostles.

The work started along the lines of these examples thirty years ago seems to commend itself to all Bible students. They received help freely; they are glad to extend assistance to others without money, without price, without collections. Nor are collections found to be necessary. The Association receives whatever contributions are sent in to it for the carrying on Of the work. Such moneys are not put up as Foundation Funds, nor consumed in expensive buildings,, but are used promptly, freely, in the dissemination of free literature and in providing free public meetings.; The Association is content to spend what the Lord thus sends to it, and does not go into debt, nor make appeals for more money.

Each local class, in arranging for public meetings, follows the same course. Nevertheless, in the case of the new classes, or those financially weak, the general Association helps with the expenses. All meetings conducted by the Association’s representative speakers, and under its auspices, are strictly free.

“Since you are not gathering people into different denominations, and since your International Bible Students Association has no creed but the Bible, what would you say that your Association aims to gather the people into, and what reply would you make if one should charge you with trying to build up a^-new denomination at the expense of others?”

Our Association endeavors to bring all Christian people into relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, as His members. We recognize that the different denominations contain true people of God, and we are in full sympathy with such, and are glad to co-operate with them in any manner, for the furtherance of the Lord’s

MEN DARE

The former Associate Editor of a 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 a volume setting forth plainly an entirely different program of the Almighty God. After reading the book a great burden was lifted frbm 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 work in harmony with the Scriptures. Our only opposition to sectarianism is that it attempts to divide God's people, insists upon the theories of the Dark Ages, and refuses to recognize the Bible as paramount in authority. We urge Christian people to stand for the Divine Character, Plan and Word, even though this should mean opposition and persecution from those of the sectarian spirit.

The International Bible Students Association labors specially for Christian unity, on the Bible basis, in harmony with the words of the Apostle, that “By one Spirit we are all baptized into one Body.”

The Peoples Pulpit Association.

This is an affiliated association organized to conduct the interests and affairs

THE Scriptures tell us clearly that the ⁴ kingdoms of this world are not the kingdoms of our Lord. (Luke 19:11, 12.) They inform us in an indirect way that the world would not appreciate that the affairs of the present order of things are all under the supervision and care of Satan (Matthew 4:8, 9; John 14:30); that the Lord will not set up His Kingdom of righteousness until His appointed time. When that time shall come, all kings and priests and peoples shall serve and obey Him. (Daniel 7:27.) His reign will be the one that will be the “desire of all nations.”

But in the meantime, the Bible gives us to understand, these present kingdoms are given the opportunity of seeing what they can do under these conditions. (Daniel 2:37-44.) When the typical kingdom of Israel was destroyed and the kingdom was given to Nebuchadnezzar, it was for the opportunity of seeing what his kingdom could do. It might be righteous or unrighteous.

And so it has been from the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar down. They are all Gentile kingdoms, and not representatives of God. All these various kingdoms are demonstrating various principles of government. Mankind under these kingdoms are learning lessons of experience which will be valuable to them in the future. Under these kingdoms we have seen man battling for rights. Sometimes they have been defeated, and sometimes they have been victorious—as the case may have been. In the various battlings we have seen righteousness and unrighteousness striving together; but with all, policy rules.

Under all the kingdoms mankind has demonstrated that no government by imperfect man can rectify the difficulties which confront humanity. We cannot abolish sin and sorrow, crying and dying. Had only one king or one nation been permitted to experiment with the race, we would not have known whether or not other nations might not have been successful, had they had the opportunity. Each nation in turn seeks to be the universal power,. and each claims to be the better government; as, for instance, the American Government wants to give better government to the Filipinos, and Great Britain wants to give better government to the people of India and South Africa. What do civilized nations and tongues do in less civilized lands? What can they do for the betterment of conditions? In all these countries they show that selfishness dominates.

Power Used for Selfish Purposes.

We see the fact demonstrated that if one nation had really the power to bless others, it would not bless them without taking advantage of them. Our civilized nations in heathen lands use their power in a selfish way—taking money away from their fellow-creatures. Instead of leading them to higher and better conditions,

THINK NOW!

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. 13 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.

of the Household of Faith in New YorK State, and from that center, according to the requirement of the laws of that State. It guides the interests of the Bible students as respects the holding of public meetings, supplying speakers and literature freely.

The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society Is the Parent organization, through which the moneys for all parts of the work are supplied. To it all voluntary donations for the work should be made.

Brother Charles Taze Russell is President of all three of these organizations. Newspapers and the public frequently refer to him by the titles “Reverend,” "Mr." and “Doctor”; but he prefers to be known as “Brother” or “Pastor,” because these are Bible terms.

things have generally been conducted on a commercial basis. And these very peoples who have more or less taken advantage of others in their extremity and need, and those peoples who have been taken advantage of by fear, will all no doubt learn a good lesson from this experience.

God is permitting the nations to learn these various lessons, before setting up His Kingdom in great power and glory. When His Kingdom shall be established, the contrast between its government and all these other governments will be so marked that all will have a great deal to learn. No doubt many who suffered through injustice will be all the better prepared to appreciate the better government when it shall come in.

In the meantime, God’s people who are being called out to be members in the Body of The Messiah, are not told to say, “These kingdoms are not doing well, and our Kingdom will show this.” On the contrary, we should speak encouraging words: “Your nation is seeming to do about the best it knows how to do. As it gets more intelligent, it strives for a better government.”

Sympathy for Those in Authority.

We who belong to the new Kingdom are as citizens in a foreign country. We see that we are more or less influenced by the condition of the things of this world. We have sympathy with mankind. We are glad that a New Dispensation is coming in. We see that these who are striving to make things better have a Herculean task. If they were to give it up to us it would take all of our time; and under present evil conditions we could do no better than they are doing.* We have great sympathy for kings and princes. They do well to accomplish so much, with sin in every direction.

Our sympathy would lead us to consider them kindly in our minds. And we may pray for them such wisdom as God sees best. It would not be for us to request of God that one of them should be healed, if he were sick. If we had some means of helping, we should use that means; but as for the results, we should remember that these lie in the hands of God. We should help in any way we can. We are not to specify, but merely to pray God’s blessings upon these kingdoms.

We are interested in these kingdoms because we are interested in mankind in general. We wish to live a peaceful and godly life, that we may have that much more opportunity for reading and studying. (1 Timothy 2:1, 2.) We are glad if there is peace in the earth now; and we do not intend to quarrel. We intend to pray for these rulers; for we. do not believe that they are at heart black or evil-intentioned. Perhaps they are trying to do to the best of their knowledge what, would be the best for all. Most of the monarchs of Europe are not wishing to pull the people into war.

Present Day Blessings.

As to the people who are keeping such a wonderful government in our own land, we see how they are having persons to watch every building that is being erected; how they give special attention to the fire department and the ‘water department, that there may be a proper supply and purity of water; and how they care for the general health of the city, providing for quarantine, etc., etc. Those who have charge of the school systems for the education of the young, and of the hospital systems, are doing a great work.

We should reflect that ours is a happy day in comparison with what it would be if we were living as people did in the time of the barbarians. When we see the wonderful things which are being done today—the great buildings, bridges and other wonderful improvements—we say, “What is man! Surely a wonderful piece of Divine mechanism! What things he can do, even in his imperfect condition! And what will he not be able to accomplish when Messiah’s Kingdom is here, which will put stripes on the disobedient, and utterly destroy those who will not come into harmony with its rule of righteousness!”

We are glad that things are moving as well as they are. Instead of berating the people who are the leaders, we prefer to think that they are well-intentioned people. We can well pray for such without any difficulty in mind. And we can fee* glad and thank God that these people take care of us as well as they do.