Religious and Scientific Gleanings.

HOLY ROLLER FOOLISHNESS.

“So thoroughly intrenched is the doctrine of religious freedom that the puoiic has tolerated practices which have caused the innocent to suffer in many instances. An illustration comes from Newton, 111., where an epileptic youth was beaten by so-called Holy Rollers with the hope that the beating might exorcise the devils supposed to be responsible for the condition of the unfortunate lad. A still more striking illustration was the wholesale slaughter by "Adam God” and his crew of fanatics at Kansas City. The Holy Rollers base most of their claims on a portion of the last chapter in Mark, which does not appear in the Vatican and other old manuscripts. They profess power to heal any illness, the ability to speak in an unknown tongue and many other miraculous gifts. In their public services they have various forms of nervous spasms and jump up and down in ecstasy, giving rise to one of their appellations, Holy Jumpers. At other times they roll on the floor and babble. Some occasionally go into trances. They surround the sick and carry on their babbling, singing and shouting, creating a condition that aggravates nervous disorders and could not be beneficial to a patient ill of any malady.

“In dozens of communities the victims of this religious mania allow children to die of ailments that are seldom fatal when treated by physicians. Yet because of the sincerity of parents and the fact that the children might have died, even if given proper attention, jurors are reluctant co return verdicts of guilty in criminal prosecutions. Criminal prosecutions do not stay the mania. When the leaders are committed to jail they compare themselves to Peter, Silas, Paul and other early Christians and count their imprisonment persecution and take a glory in it. They hold services in jail and impress r-How-prisoners and jail officials with their sincerity. Ir is useless to argue with them. If a person over whom they hold their prayers and services recovers, it is proof of' their divine influence ; if the person dies, it is a sign that his appointed time had come. Any event is interpreted as a mark of favor or an indication of the Lord’s displeasure. Few of them are impostors and their criminal prosecution would not be just.”—>St. Louis Globe-Democrat.

CALIFORNIA STAR GAZERS MAKE FINDS.

Information sent out from the Lick Observatory in California is that the particular universe of stars in which we dwell is half again as large.in scale as the world has been supposing. Our own sun is still youthful, and keeps traveling northwardly through space at the comparatively leisurely pace of twelve miles per second, or only two-thirds the average speed of stars of its own class. The ’North Star is not really a single star, but triple, consisting of three suns revolving about a common center.

PREACHERS HAVE POOR OPINIONS OF EACH OTHER.

“The trouble with the church of today is the fact that it has too many pinheads.” said the Rev. .1. Whitcomb Brougher, of the Temple Baptist Church, Los Angeles, before the National Baptists Association in convention here today. Dr. Brougher’s statement caused somewhat of a stir among the delegates. Dr. Brougher said further:

“The church is hindered in its progress by a bunch of weazened, hammered-down tightwads, and is the greatest congregating place for downright backwoods people. The only comparison I can emphasize as to its progress is a woman wearing an encumbering hobble skirt.”—■ Sacramento Union.

Mr. Marconi says that he believes the day is not far off when the human voice will cross the Atlantic by wifeless telephone ; that the results of his recent experiments are conclusive of this prophecy.

AS TO the origin of different species, if Charles Darwin was after that he would have found in the microscopic world the most ancient, stable and specific living forms that exist on earth. Thus, we have known historically tuberculosis ever since Hippocrates described it 2,300 years ago, and it is plainly alluded to in Eber’s Egyptian papyrus, 1,700 years before Hippocrates.

“Now, as the life cycle of the tubercle bacillus is only twenty or thirty minutes, instead of being three score years and ten, it follows that counting only venerable bacilli, half an hour old, we have 7,240,000 generations through which it has descended without once changing in its evil ways.

An Elephant First Microscopic.

“It would seem that according to the original plan all life must at first be microscopic, and so it is. Thus at one fima in ifa iTirlivid’iol              nn pin-

phant is a barely perceptible microscopic dot. We cannot be at all sure that the real elephant is not as much smaller than that dot, as that in turn is smaller than the full-grown beast himself. _ Size or bulk has no necessary connection with life, however formidable it be.

“The living agent which causes hydrophobia, or yellow fever, easily slips through the pores of a Berkfield filter, which stops the larger bodies in the virus of smallpox. They are too small to be seen by any microscope yet made. Prof. Simon Flexner doubts if the human eye is constructed to catch sight of them, however it be aided by a high-power microscope. Yet these little agents are more dangerous to man than either a lion or a rhinoceros, while each remains after its own kind. Yellow fever [bacilli] no more resembles hydrophobia [bacilli] than a horse resembles a fish.

“Therefore the biologist, or student of life, finds himself in the realm of the inconceivably little. In that single cell with which the elephant has to begin his physical life there is a vast collection of necessary things.

“First, every one of the millions of cells of his future body must develop from that first cell. They are all constructed on the elephant-cell pattern, and according to no other pattern. Each cell must contain an even, never an odd number, in its nucleus of those little bodies called chromosemes, and upon which heredity depends, because finally that .first cell contains something which determines that it will grow into an elephant and not into a frog, according to its hereditary descent.

“As a result, the absolute absurdity of the supposition of the spontaneous generation of life appears when we consider that it is not a living substance or thing which we are investigating, but a thing which can be a dot and then an animal, and then a dot again for any number of times. It would be easier to imagine a watch spontaneously generating itself than for an oak to become an acorn and then an oak again, and so on through all its geological period.

“Inorganic chemistry, or that which deals with non-living substances, is simplicity itself by the side of organic life-originated chemistry. Thus one atom of hydrogen, one atom of chlorine, and one atom of sodium, will make one molecule of sodium chloride or common salt. These three separate atoms might come together by chance—that only deity of the materialist—-anywhere where these atoms exist, say in the planet Saturn. But for any animal on this earth with red blood it must, in order to live, have in its blood cells that definite substance called hemoglobin.

Heredity in the Blood.

“Now a molecule of hemoglobin must contain the following number of different atoms in their due proportions, namely, of hydrogen atoms, 1,130; of carbon atoms, 712; of nitrogen, 214; of oxygen, 245; of sulphur, 2, and of iron, 1. or 2.304 atoms in all. Moreover, if that one atom of iron, in its peculiar relation to the rest (“masked,” as some physiologists say) were left out, the animal could neither absorb oxygen nor give off carbonic acid ; it could not breathe.

“I once a-sked a well-known physiological chemist, himself of German extraction and educated in Germany, how could these atoms in a molecule of hemo-alohin thus come toaether b» chance. His brief reply was, ‘A’o chance.''

“But the complexity of hemoglobin is thrown into the shade by those chemical substances which medical research has discovered in the investigation of the mechanism of immunity against infectious diseases. Thus some serious infectious diseases, such as smallpox, yellow fever and typhoid fever, usually attack the same person only once. Hence he is said to be thereafter immune against them. With other infections, like pneumonia, the reverse is true, for the first attack often appears to predispose to subsequent attacks. Of four children exposed simultaneously to scarlet fever, one soon succumbs to a malignant development of the disease; the second is made very sick by it, but recovers; the third has it so lightly that it wants to play all the while, while the fourth escapes altogether. Now the medical profession very properly wishes to know the ‘how’ of this varying susceptibility and immunity, because such knowledge would lead to an immense saving of life.

“Modern science noiv finds that the problem of the origin of life becomes more and more inscrutable in proportion to the progress of investigations of the subject. One fact alone, among many others of like import, suffices to illustrate this statement, and that is the infinite complexity of the chemistry of any living thing or of anything which has been produced by vital agency compared with the chemistry of things with which life has nothing to do.

"Thus, in the precipitins alone we encounter one of those biological marvels

EVEN a perfect man would need Divine guidance, because of not knowing the Father’s will respecting Him; much more would an imperfect man need this! All classes of mankind need instruction. but the only class now in the proper attitude of mind to receive it is Scripturally called the meek.

It is not Scripturally stated that the Heavenly Father is meek, yet Jesus was meek, and He is the express image of the Father’s person. Hence we would assume ■ that the Heavenly Father possesses meekness.

Our Lord^- learned obedience through the things which He suffered. It was by which science has recently revealed the fact that the blood is the most hereditary thing about us, for its hereditary elements override everything in the makeup of the physical animal body, whether it be the shape of the skeleton, of the lungs, of the alimentary canal, or of the skin. It even overrides ancestral habits as to the great food question—Darwin’s chief creator, which works by the strife in nature about how to eat or keep from being eaten.

“This discovery of the hereditariness of the blood came about in this way:

“Some of the most recondite investigations in the history of medicine have been about the mechanism of immunity, or why a single attack of certain infectious diseases renders a person immune from a second attack. It was through these investigations that some valuable antitoxins were discovered in the immunized blood serum, which raises hope that we may yet find the antitoxins for the worst forms of our deadly infections just as an anti-venom has been found for the cobra’s poison, and another for that of the rattlesnake. But each of these antitoxins is specific in that it does not afford any protection except just aeainst its own poison. This led Prof. Wasserman, of Vienna, to investigate whether the blood of each kind of ■animal did not contain some ingredients which would be specific to that animal, that is, not to be found in any other animal, a fact which, if found, might be of use in medico-legal cases.

Natures Quite Distinct.

“His results made this so probable that Prof. George H. F. Nuttall, of the University of Cambridge, took the subject up, and has so extended its application that a single drop of blood, from any animal now suffices not only to show by its peculiar chemical reactions what animal it comes from, but also how nearly related, or the opposite, an animal is by his blood to other animals.

“It begins, therefore, to look as if the whole classification of zoology may have to be rearranged according to these blood tests. Thus, a drop of the blood of a walrus shows no relation with a drop of whale's blood, or of the blood of any other cetacean, such as seals or porpoises, which, like the walrus, are mammals that have taken to the sea. Instead of that, the blood of the walrus immediately reacts with the blood of horses, asses and zebras, thus proving that he is an equine that no longer crops grass, but goes where he can live on an exclusively fish diet. Likewise, the hippopotamus is shown to be a modified pig.

“Where blood relationship exists, but is distant, these reactions are proportionately faint, but where no reactions occur there is no relationship at all. Thus, geology indicates that birds are descended, from reptiles, and. oddly enough, the blood of a bird shows a distinct, though very faint, reaction with the blood of a snake, but none whatever with that of a winged bat or the fiying squirrel, for these are mammals.

“These facts are quite sufficient to indicate how inconceivably complex the problems of life arc. It may seem strange that we cannot know what life is until we also know what death is. Thus a stone never dies; but a flower, an insect, or a man dies simply because they once lived, and for no other reason.”

25 :9.

because He had this quality of meekness, teachableness, that the offer was made to Him to be our Saviour.

The Lord resists the proud. Even if they become His children they are kept at a distance that they may become teachable, and avail themselves of His offer of guidance. If they continue to be meek, He is able to make them joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. “The meek shall inherit the earth,” under the terms of the original Covenant, as the Seed of Abraham. From these the blessing will go to all who will be obedient during the Millennial Reign. After the final test the whole world will be teachable.,

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“WITHIN THE LAW.”

“I have listened to nearly all the great preachers of the world, but I never heard from any one of them so powerful a sermon as was preached to me in ‘Within the Law.’ It was an eye-opener, a soul-rouser, a heart-warmer! It made you feel good; it made you feel bad; it threw you down to the bottom of the abyss, it lifted you to the glorious heights; it made you cry, it made you shout for joy.

“Poor humanity, what a hard time you have had of it down through the long, sad, weary ages I How your saviors have crucified you, how your governments and laws have robbed and oppressed you ; how your institutions, professions, sanctities, have bled you, brutalized you, degraded and damned you! . You are still very sad and miserable, after thousands of years of honest struggle for uplift and progress. Squalor, wretchedness, degradation, almost despair, are written very plainly in your looks and still more plainly in your deeds.

Hypocrisy and Greed.

“Yes, you have had a hard time of it. It is because the whole fabric of Society, the whole machinery of State, of Business, of Politics, of the Law, has been dominated by the spirit of the twindevils of Hypocrisy and Greed.

“The politicians and statesmen have been talking of reform; the legal gentlemen have been shouting about justice; the preachers have been bombarding their congregations with beautiful platitudes on Heaven and the rapture of the saints; and all the while. the canker of Greed and Indifference to the great Natural Law of Right, which should ever prevail between man and man, has been eating away at the heart of human joy and human good.

“If Richard Gilder can but make his millions he doCs not care a continental what becomes of Mary Turner and Helen Morris.

“If Inspector Burke can only ‘convict’ somebody, he doesn’t care the toss of a. copper whether the person convicted is guilty or innocent.

The Main Thing.

“If you can only get wealth and power, it makes no difference hqw you get them, they will make you a ‘big one, and that is the main thing.

“If you are only ‘orthodox’ in religion, then a fig for such idle questions as ‘Is this orthodoxy true or false? Does it emancipate and uplift the mind or enslave and degrade it? Is it a blessing or a curse?’

“If the outside of things is all right no matter about the inside. Keep up the Appearances. Make a good bluff. Be a hypocrite, and act your part so damnably dine that no one will be able to ‘catch on’ to the game.

“It is a wide-reaching, lynx-eyed, all-searching, remorseless inquisition, that drags out into the light of day, and mercilessly flays, the double-dealing, insincerity and cold-blooded selfishness and brutality of institutional society.

“Livery of Heaven.”

^<<lIt shows us what a terrible thing it is for a man to forget the right of his fellowmen. It makes, us feel how supremely necessary it is that we should all feel a loving interest in one another, and be willing—-gladly, joyfully willing —to find our happiness in the happiness of others, if possible, in the happiness of all. It makes us ashamed of the sharktoothed greed which gloats over the gain that involves the misery and ruin of other human ■ beings. It makes us hate with all our heart the suave, oily, decorous hypocrisy that prates of . good while it is working evil, and that in its flawless livery of heaven is doing what it can to turn earth into a hell.

“Is it not about time that those ‘in authority’ had taken off their masks and looked their fellows squarely in the face? Isn’t it about time that we had begun to love simple truth, and to love one another more than we love place, and power, and gold? Isn’t it high time we had come to the conclusion that there is nothing holier than human loye and happiness, just as there is nothing un-fiolier. than the brutal selfishness or spic-and-span hypocrisy which would sacrifice these things to their personal upbuilding?”—Rev. T. B. Gregory in New Norio American. ■

'On the shore of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus broiled some fish one fine morning upwards of 1900 years ago, a sardine canning factory is planned.

'T’HE promise of a New Day has long * been before God’s people—in the Bible. It was hinted to our first parents, six thousand years ago, that eventually the Seed of the woman should bruise the Serpent’s head. This, interpreted, is understood to mean that the power of

Satan will be crushed, and mankind will be delivered from the reign of Sin and Death which has prevailed since the disobedience in Eden. ,

A second promise, still more explicit, made by God to Abraham of old, says, “In thy Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” For centuries Abraham’s posterity waited for the Messiah of promise, with the anticipation that He would use them in connection with His work of blessing all peoples. The .Prophets of Israel foretold the coming King of the line of David—that He should be a great Priest, a reigning Priest, after the order of Melchizedec. To Him “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess,” and through Him a blessing will extend to all nations as “a feast of fat things full of marrow, and wines on the lees.”—Isaiah 45 :23; 25 :6.

Even the disciples of Jesus, who recognized Him as the “Sent of God,” were disappointed that His glorious Kingdom, of which He spoke, was not immediately revealed, and -shat in answer to their question he declared, “It is not for you to know the times and the seasons which the Father hath put in His own Power.” Still the prophecies respecting Messiah’s Kingdom were repeated and amplified in the parables of Jesus, in the teachings of His Apostles, and finally and graphically, in the last Book of the Bible, in the Revelation which Jesus gave the Church through St. John.

Our text is a quotation from this 'Revelation, respecting the Kingdom of Messiah. Through it God is to wipe away all tears from off all faces; and the King of kings and Lord of lords, whom Jehovah has established as the great Messiah, assures us that He Himself will “make all things new.”

Even the heathen poets sang of the Golden Age to come—quite probably borrowing their thought from the Hebrew Scriptures and quite probably realizing in some measure that a gracious God would not forever permit a reign of Sin and Death, but would somehow, some time, and through some agent, bring to earth blessings to supplant the curse.

“Arise, Look Around Thee.”

After all these centuries of waiting and hoping and praying, “Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth, as 'in Heaven,” God’s people to-day are more and more awakening to a realization of the fact that we are living in the very dawn of the glorious Epoch for which all have waited, prayed and hoped. These blessings have come down like a gentle shower, so quietly that we can scarcely realize that the earth has entered upon the foretold ' Times of Refreshing and Restitution mentiofied by St. Peter.—> Acts 3:19-21.

Many are still asleep. Some are confused, and know not to what the blessings should be attributed. Having lost faith in the Bible and its promises, many are seeking a solution of the wonderful things of our day along the lines of evolution, claiming that a Nature god operates by blind force_t under a law of the survival of the fittest. 'Surely they overlook the fact that there were great characters in the past with whom few of the present day may be compared—-such as Shakespeare, Bacon, Socrates, Plato, St. Paul, King Solomon, King David the poet, Job, Moses, etc.

A far better explanation is furnished us in the Bible. It explains that the wonders of to-day are the foregleams of Messiah’s Kingdom and its blessings, the foregleams of the Golden Age. It explains that we are in the Day of Jehovah’s Preparation for the Kingdom of His Son. We have the numerous Scriptural declarations pointing to the end of this Age and the dawning of a new Age, and assuring us that at this time many would run to and fro, knowledge should be increased, and the wise should understand.—Dan. 12 :l-10.

“In the Time of the End.”

This prophecy of Daniel is worthy of careful note, not only because Daniel was a Prophet greatly beloved by the Lord, but because Jesus, the Redeemer, specially quoted a portion of this prophecy, and thus attested its genuineness. The many running to and fro could seemingly refer to nothing else than the wonderful traveling which is a feature of our day and no other.

In no other time was running to and fro a possibility to any extent. It is less than a century since the first crude locomotive was built. It is only one hundred and six years since the first steamboat by Fulton was tried. It might be said that there was no opportunity for running to and fro until within the past fifty years. Now, the world is gridironed with rails. Now, the ocean voyage of four months is cut down practically to as many days by mammoth vessels carrying three thousand to four thousand at a time.

Who knew, at the time of Daniel’s prophecy, of these . wonderful facilities for running to and fro? Who knew that these facilities would be so generally used in this our day? Only the Almighty! And He gave this as one of the particular signs of the ending of the present Age—the dawning of the New Dispensation—'the long-promised Messianic Kingdom.

Look also at the second proof furnished us by this Prophet—the increase of knowledge. Who would ever have dreamed, a century ago, of conditions as they are at this moment—when practically every human being in civilized lands, from ten years old and upward, is able to read and write? Who would have dreamed of such persistency to fulfil the prophecy as would lead to laws of compulsory education in all civilized lands? Verily, the increase of knowledge is a positive proof of the inspiration of Daniel’s prophecy, and equally proves that the New Age is dawning, and that we are now in the day of God’s preparation for it.

The next statement of the Prophet Daniel is that the wise of God’s people shall understand. And now, in . the appropriate time, all over the world, classes of Bible students are coming together, regardless of denominational lines, to study the Heavenly Father’s Word. And true to the prophecy, the wise, trimming their Bible lamps and being well supplied with the oil of the Holy Spirit, are receiving light —■ are understanding the things kept secret from past ages and generations.

“The mystery of God shall be finished” is another of the promises of the Bible respecting the present time; and surely it is having fulfilment! Not all are yet awake. But the joy of those who are awake, and their singing of the song of Moses and the Lamb, tend more and more to awaken all the virgin class.

'One more token of the end of this Age and the dawning of the New Age: God declared to the Prophet Daniel that “There shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation.” Let us not especially dwell on this sad feature. Let us regret that unpreparedness for God’s mercies and blessings makes necessary a great day of trouble, to prepare the hearts of men for the blessings God is about to pour upon them.

'The Redeemer mentioned the present time, and the Time of Trouble which we see looming up on every hand and threatening . the very foundations of society—political, social and religious. He hade His followers rejoice even amidst the trouble, because it marks the Day of deliverance from the power of 'Sin and Death. He said, “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads and rejoice, knowing that your deliverance draweth nigh.”—'Luke 21:28.

Knowledge of God’s Glory.

The Bible declares that a prominent ■feature connected with the New Age will be the binding of Satan, the Prince of Darkness, the father of lies, who has been deceiving poor humanity for these six thousand years. Continually he has been misrepresenting God’s character and Plan so as to turn humanity away from God in fear and distrust. Thus he has blinded their minds to God’s glorious goodness, which, to His people, is now shining clearly, in the personal character of our Redeemer and in the promises of the Bible.

Every preparation is being made for the dissemination of knowledge worldwide. Telegraph wires and cables connect the civilized world, and now additionally the wireless telegraphy; and the later improvements upon this means of communication seem destined to bring it shortly to a plane of world-wide economy and usefulness. - The printing-press is one of the most wonderful preparations of God for the general dissemination of knowledge. And already the world is learning that many of the things considered absolute certainties by our forefathers are really absurdities. Amongst others are the various creeds which we and other civilized peoples have worshiped as idols—idols which have seriously misrepresented the character of our Heavenly Father.

In agriculture other wonders are being performed, fulfilling the Scriptures, and seeming, in the light of the past, almost as miracles. Vast areas of wilderness and arid lands are being fertilized. Artesian wells are fulfilling the prophecy of springs coming forth from the desert. The promise of the Lord through the Prophet, that the earth should yield her increase, is also being fulfilled. New varieties of wheat, of oats, of cotton, etc., are being discovered, and the yield is being .multiplied. At the same time the quality is being advanced. Fruits and vegetables are reaching a'perfection not dreamed of even twenty-five years ago.

The same Divine providence which has lifted the veil before the eyes of mechanics has also lifted the veil before the eyes of agriculturists, and Mr. Burbank is giving the world wonderful lessons in agriculture and horticulture. These blessings of our day are none the less wonderful because they are coming in a seemingly natural way. If once we expected these things to be fulfilled in a miraculous manner, it was because we forgot that

“God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders io perform.”

Everything in nature is really a miracle until we come to understand it, and then it is no less a. wonder, but merely seems less so because commonplace and usual.

“Send Out thy Light.”

While we have been singing, “Send Out Thy Light and Truth, O Lord,” perhaps comparatively few who sang have appreciated the fact that, while we were asking, God was fulfilling our request, not only along spiritual lines, but also along natural lines. The increase of light, knowledge, understanding, appreciation of God’s Word, has merely been keeping pace with the natural light.

Think of it! even fifty years ago the making of tallow candles was an industry in nearly one-half the homes of humanity ! Only then did petroleum begin to enlighten the world. Then came coal gas; and now this is rapidly giving way to the electric light, in which one form after another is increasing its usefulness and cheapness. Indeed, when we speak of electricity we are speaking of one of • the wonders of the world, of which we understand so little. It would appear as though the Lord has in this hidden treasures of wisdom, power and blessing.

Already the hours of labor are greatly decreased. Already time for study, improvement and pleasure is at our disposal. And yet we are only in the infancy of these blessings. We are only nearing the dawn of that glorious Day when sin and sorrow shall pass away forever.

At one time we might have feared that the rapid increase in the consumption of coal would soon leave the world destitute of fuel. Statisticians declare that the supply of the whole earth at the present rate of consumption and increase will be exhausted in less than two centuries. But w^Te need not fear. A better means of comfort, than by the drudgery of our fellow-creatures in the bowels of the earth, will undoubtedly be provided by the great King of kings, who has undertaken by His Kingdom to bring ■to our race blessings, instead of the curse under which we have labored six thousand years—six great Days.

How He will do it is, of course, a mystery. Nevertheless, we do know that in the water which is so abundant and in the air which we breathe there are elements of combustion far more than sufficient for every need, Man needs the key of knowledge on this subject, and it will doubtless be furnished by' the Lord in the very same way that He has already given us the key to our other blessings which are preparing for the perfectness of His Millennial Kingdom,

Forgiveness, Reconciliation, Peace.

But Messiah’s Kingdom will be much more than a beneficent Reign giving mankind temporal blessings and knowledge. In connection with the knowledge of God, the way of reconciliation will be paved for the sinner. He who redeemed the world with the sacrifice of His own life is to be the great Mediator between God and men. Forgiveness of sins and help out of the weaknesses of the fall are the glorious promises of the Scriptures.

Inherited weaknesses, surrounding temptations and ignorance of God, undoubtedly have more to do with the rel£n of Sin in the world than any real preference for sin on the part of the majority. When temptation to sin shall have been removed, when Satan shall be bound, when the True Light shall shine, when God’s true character shall have been manifested, when His loving pity for the race shall have been demonstrated, we have every reason to suppose that then, the majority of mankind will be glad to return to the Father’s House, to serve Him with true contrition of heart and loyalty. We are fully content, however, with the Scriptural proposition that when the light of that glorious Day shall bring blessings to every member of our race, the inexorable law will be that whoever loves sin shall perish in the Second Death, without hope of recovery.

S?  WHERE ARE THE BEAD?  A

A    This article was published in Vol. &

N 1, .No. 3.. The great demand for Jk copies of it has been remarkable. A y? X sample copy will be . mailed to any yt A one free. Address, Bible Society, 13 V A Hicks Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.         V

THIS text, which differentiates between holy and unholy infants, was probably the basis for much of the confusion which has prevailed in all denominations on the. subject of infant salvation and infant damnation.

Some months ago the Presbyterian ^General Assembly in the United States took a very advanced theological step on this subject. According to telegraphic •dispatches, it has altered the Presbyterian Confession of Faith so as to save the non-elect infants as well as the elect ones.

The thought that God had arranged a Plan by which some infants would go to Heaven at death and other infants would go to eternal torture nas for centuries greatly troubled the minds of all Christian people—Catholic and Protestant. Some said that the elect infants would be saved and the non-elect infants would be tortured. Others had it that any infant by baptism would be brought into the Church and be saved, while infants not thus baptized or sprinkled would go to eternal torture. ■Others had it that none could be saved without regeneration, and these were perplexed to know how infants could be said to be regenerated. Therefore how could they hope that any infants would be saved? The hearts and the heads of all .good people have suffered terribly for many centuries because of these confused ideas.

It is gratifying to see that with the Presbyterians, at least, love and sympathy have triumphed, and that, so far as they are concerned, 30,000 infants daily go to Heaven, instead of going to Hell. Certainly this is a missionary project of no mean proportions I At this rate they no doubt Believe that Heaven will soon begin to have reasonable proportions as compared with Hell. We regret that the brethren did not take any measures looking toward the relief of the non-elect infants of the -past, who now must number thousands of. millions. This point is worthy of consideration, and we trust will have their attention.

And since the matter is so easily adjusted, why would it not be the proper thing for all Christian denominations to follow the lead and example of the Presbyterians? We fear that not many of the other denominations will join the Presbyterians in their generous work of helping the infants. They might reason that if all infants dying in infancy are saved, it might be the safes: thing that parents could do for their children to insure their eternal salvation by killing them in infancy. Then baby incubators and various device- —medicines, foods, etc.—intended for the preservation of infants’ lives might come to be considered detrimental to the eternal interests of the children I

But how foolish all such theories seem! How beautiful 'by contrast is the simple teaching of the Bible, that the salvation for all—old and young, of heathen lands as well as of Christian lands —is through the resurrection power of Messiah’s Kingdom—through its enlightening and uplifting, or resurrecting influences ! Why should we longer trouble ourselves with the errors of the Dark Ages, where God’s Message, the Bible,, is now opening up tor His people, shining as an electric lamp, in contrast with the tallow-candle darkness of the creeds?

Unable to Agree.

We feel great sympathy for the move made by the Presbyterian brethren, but, nevertheless, we are unable to agree with their conclusions, believing that the Bible teaches otherwise. We realize that the Presbyterian view of Election makes it difficult for them to deal with the non-elect, both adults and infants. We find the Scriptures declaring that God is selecting, or electing, the Church from amongst the world. We concede that those not elected would be properly termed non-elect. But we find nothing jn the Bible to indicate that non-election to joint-heirship in Messiah’s Kingdom means predestination to an eternity of torture.

We realize, too, that the Presbyterian friends must feel considerable embarrassment in trying to adjust. themselves to their changed creed. For if there are no non-elect infants, then all infants are elect; and if elect when infants, how could their predestination change with advancing years? Our advice to Presbyterian brethren is that the entire creed he recast; or, better still, that it and all other creeds be abandoned, and the Bible as a whole be accepted. Then all Bible students could come together without prejudice for mutual assistance and untrammeled growth, in grace along Bible lines.

While we .mention Presbyterians, our thought includes all Christians. For surely many others 'than Presbyterians have been consigning adults and infants to the number of at least 90,000 every day, or 32,000,000 every year, to eternal torture, if not because non-elect, then because unregenerate, or unbaptized. Surely all intelligent people are out of accord with such a proposition. Surely all must agree that some great mistake has been made during the Dark Ages, and that under the influence of that mistake, as expressed in our creeds, our God has been slandered. Surely to-day every thinking person will concede that a human being planning such atrocities would be a thousand times more devilish than any one known in history, and surely our great God, our Creator, could not be worse than the worst and most depraved of all His creatures!

On the contrary, God must of necessity be the very personification of all the graces—Justice, Wisdom, Love and Power. Evidently a 'God who foreknew and determined to send these 32,-000,000 human beings per year to an eternity of torture would not only not be a God at all, but would be the most terrible devil that the human mind could conceive!

Bible students are realizing that a great mistake has occurred, and that the Bible teaches nothing of the kind we had supposed. More and more, as the eyes of their understanding open to proper interpretations of God’s Word, they are appreciating the Divine character and the Bible as never before.

Difficulties Still Ahead.

As we understand it, our Presbyterian friends have changed the statement of the creed, which formerly read, “Elect infants dying in infancy are saved”—taking out the word “elect” and letting it read, “Infants dying in infancy are saved.” But is this true? Do our Presbyterian fri-"ds believe this?

Come, let us reason together: Are not the children as well as tne more matured members of Adam’s family born in sin and misshapen in iniquity? Are not all of these by nature “children of wrath?” Did not every member of Adam’s family come under his sentence and participate in the penalty, or curse, of his sin—■ “Dying, thou shalt die”? Is not this the reason that infants die at all? Will not all concede that had there been no sin there would have been no death in the human family? Does not St. Paul distinctly state this, saying, “By one man’s disobedience sin entered the world, and death as the result of sin, and thus death passed upon all men, because all are sinners”?—Bomans 5 :12; Psalm 51:5.

All Condemned Need Redemption.

Surely all Christian people, Presbyterians especially, will agree that the sentence of death, passed upon Father Adam and inherited by his race, must needs be settled, cancelled, before any of his posterity, old or young, could be released from the penalty. True, we all agree that the death of the Lord Jesus Christ is the redemption price and that He provided it more than eighteen centuries ago. But do we not also agree that J esus’ death, of itself, saves nobody; that His merit becomes applicable even to us of the Church only at such time as we believe in it and accept it, appropriating it to ourselves?

Is not this the proclamation of the Gospel Age—“Believe!” “Believe!” Do we not remember the. Bible declaration that we are justified by faith, not by being infants? And do we not all agree that faith cannot be exercised except by a more or less developed mind ? Hence all should agree that the Scriptural proposition is, that all infants shared in Adam’s sentence of death, and have provision also in the redemptive work of Jesus. Nevertheless, they can be saved only by coming to a knowledge of God and of Jesus, and by then exercising faith and Obedience to the extent of ability. We believe this to be an unde-batable proposition.

If this be so, then our Presbyterian brethren overstate the matter when they declare that all infants dying in infancy are saved. They might very properly say, All infants dying in infancy, and everybody else, come under the provision of Divine grace in Christ, and must all be brought to a knowledge o_ the Truth, that they may be saved; and then when thus brought to know the Lord and the terms of salvation, the results will depend upon themselves. If they accept, they may have the everlasting life provided ; if they reject, they will experience the Second Death.

What Say the Scriptures?

We have already intimated the teaching of the Bible. All mankind came under the Divine curse, or sentence of death—not eternal torment. “In due time Christ died for the ungodly”—for every one of them—-for all those who lived before His crucifixion, and for all born since—for white and black, old and young—of every nation. Because of this general redemption, co-extensive with the curse, or sentence of death, there is to be a recovery from the curse of death. All mankind are thus to be made amenable to the release from the death penalty—to have the opportunity of a resurrection out of s.n and death conditions back to perfect life conditions. Only those who wilfully and intelligently reject this grace of God will die the Second Death—be blotted out as though they had never been—perish like natural brute beasts.—2 Peter 2 :12.

From this standpoint we see that nobody is saved yet. All—both infants and adults, heathen and Christians—go to Sheol, Hades, the tomb, the state of death. All are said to sleep in Sheol, Hades, the tomb, until the glorious Morning of the New Dispensation. Messiah’s Kingdom of glory. Then the Church will constitute the First Resurrection class, to Heavenly glories and honors and Divine nature. Following this, the Church with her Lord will reign as kings and priests, for the blessing of the entire human family, of all ages, nationalities and colors.

In other words, according to the Bible none has gone to Heaven. As Jesus said, “No man hath ascended into Heaven.” (John 3:13.) Hence there are no infants in Heaven. All infants who have died have gone to the Bible Hell, the tomb, and “know not anything.” They merely await the time when the Kingdom shall be in power, and the awakening processes shall begin to operate; and they shall come forth from death—each in his own band, or company.—1 Corinthians 15 :23 ; John 5 :28, 29. R. V.

Hope for All Children.

There is another theological theory, which has no Scriptural foundation, but which claims that every infant is immortal, and that the present life, long or shout, favorable or unfavorable, constitutes the only opportunity ever to be enjoyed for reforming character and becoming fit for a happy eternity. Hence, according to this unscriptural theory, the children of unbelievers—conceived and born in sin and depravity as are all mankind, more or less—are unprepared for an eternity of bliss, and consequently must spend that eternity in pain and horror.

But let us rid the mind of this false theory, and go by Scripture alone. As the Word of God declares, “God only hath immortality.” Therefore no infants are immortal. When God said, “The soul that sinneth it. shall die,” He meant it. When He declared, “All the wicked will I destroy,” He meant it. The penalty upon Adam and his race is death; and therefore children and ail others die because of Adam’s sin. The worst that can befall the children of unbelievers would be death.

What; then, is the Scriptural hope for the children of unbelievers? It is exactly the same as for the children of saints; namely, that Christ Jesus our Lord

QUESTION.—Is it correct to speak of. the condition in Hades as being a condition of oblivion, or of annihilation?

Answer.—The word annihilation would be a very improper one to use in respect to the condition of a man in death, except it be the Second Death. The thouglft connected with annihilation is that of being absolutely wiped out of existence. Hence annihilation is an improper term in respect to the Hadean condition. The word oblivion is not the same as annihilation. Oblivion means the condition of absolute unconsciousness; for instance, when a man falls into a sound sleep he goes into oblivion. He might say, I was wholly oblivious for an hour. He was ignorant of the things taking place.

It is well for us, so far as possible, especially in speaking along the lines of the Bible, to use the right term, to avoid any possible confusion. The Bible is written in very good form. Our Common Version contains very beautiful language. It is a marvel in the purity of its English. We do well to keep ourselves within the terms of the Bible and to use the language which the Bible uses, and thus we shall not be in danger of misunderstanding or of being misunderstood. And if any one thinks we have not a wide enough range, we shall know at least that we are avoiding misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the Word of the Lord. In the case of Hades, Sheol, these words are not in the Common Version Bible, but they have been brought into the English language during the past few decades. Therefore it is proper that we should use these words, because they have become naturalized—■ common words.

Question.—What is the difference between the expressions used in the Old Testament: “They shall be as though they had not been,” and “They shall be utterly destroyed,” and the word annihilation?

Answer.—>We understand them to have tasted death for every man when he tasted death for Adam; for all are under Adam’s sentence of condemnation to death. One man’s sin brought the death penalty upon all; therefore the one man’s Ransom was the Ransom for all. The children of the unbelievers were redeemed in the most absolute sense from the entire condemnation of death. Indeed, none but sinners were redeemed. “Christ died for the ungodly.” All are ungodly: all are sinners. Hence, all die; and all need to be redeemed, else they would have no hope of a resurrection.

In the Messianic Kingdom, the Resurrection Age, children of believers will have a little advantage over the children of unbelievers, in that they will have less depraved organisms when awakened. But under the grand resurrection processes then at work such disadvantages will soon be overcome. All who are willing and obedient shall be brought to a full know>dge of the Truth and full opportunities for complete Restitution, back to all that was lost to Adam, for himself and his posterity. In that day it will no more be said, “The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” “Every one shall die for his own iniquity.” “The soul that sinneth it shall die.”—Jeremiah 31:29, 30 ; Ezekiel 18:2-4.

How reasonable are the ways of God! How plainly are they stated in the Word! Those who have the eye and the ear of faith, who are harkening to the Word of the living God rather than to the. dead creeds of the Dark Ages, have a joy and peace of mind which is a source of strength unknown to others.

According to the Divine arrangement, parents are responsible in respect to their children. The conscientious parent has a wonderful opportunity to train his children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The Christian parent should earnestly seek for the wisdom from above, that he. may be able to rightly discharge his duties under all circumstances, even the most trying.

Notice Our Text Again.

The Apostle clearly distinguishes between the children of believers and the children of unbelievers. His argument is. that the children of unbelievers are without any relationship to God, and without any. supervision from Him; while the children of believers, because of parental relationship, are subjects of Divine supervision and care. For these, as for their parents, all things work together for good—for their welfare. This Divine supervision on account of their parents will, of course, terminate when the individual child comes to years of discretion and responsibility. Then he must enter into personal relationship with God, or, like the remainder of the world, be outside of any relationship with Him, until the Day of Christ, a thousand years long. Then whosoever will may come.

the same meaning. These Scriptures have reference to the Second Death only. They might be used as showing what the first death would have been had there been no redemption from it. But God’s proposition was otherwise from the beginning; and the Redemption-price has been given. But the expression, “They shall be as though they had not been,” is used in connection with certain systems of the present time, which shall utterly fall, shall go down completely. The same expression might be applicable to humanity. Those who sin wilfully now and die the Second Death, and those who will sin wilfully during the Millennium and die the Second Death—these will be blotted out of existence, annihilated.

But to use any of these terms in respect to the first death is a mistake. The most we can say is, that as it is with the brute, so would it be with man, if God had not provided something better. God assured our first parents that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head. Thus early He gave a vague promise of a future redemption. There is no recovery from annihilation; it is the end of all hope.

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P EW of the Master’s words have been * so misunderstood as has this text, and few have produced so terrible a fruitage of sin. The influence of the text is greatly increased by the unscriptural thought that the dying sinner passes into everlasting torture. Those under the spell of that false doctrine cannot be reproved for wishing to escape from its terrifying influence. As the drowning man grasps at a straw, so those whose hopes for their dead are. being held up

experienced a momentary repentance, said, “Jesus, forgive me,” and straightway was carried to Paradise. The absurdity of the proposition is crowded out by the mingling of the hope with their love for the deceased.

Well do we remember conducting a funeral service which was interrupted by the wails of the widow. The husband had been shot by an assassin’s bullet in a distant mining region. He had died not being a member of a church, and by no means a saint. The poor widow’s wails, we afterward learned, were caused by the thought that not having had a moment’s warning, the murdered man had failed to say, “God forgive me,” and thus to gain Paradise.

Who can blame the poor woman for the absurdity of her reasoning? Had she not been taught so to think by all the great creeds of Christendom? Had not her husband and she been taking that very chance of having a moment for repentance before expiring? It is a shame that this wrong thought has been so long allowed to keep people back from making their peace with God in earlier life. Repentance Always Proper, of Course.

Let us not be misunderstood. We would not discourage a death-bed repentance, or any other. We would, however, have all to recognize that there are fixed rules of Divine Justice which forbid us to think that there is a hell full of unfortunates who died suddenly, with no opportunity for repentance; that there is a Heaven full of lucky murderers, thieves and vagabonds, who were carried to glory without any real change of heart, or character, but merely as a reward for momentary prayer. “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Whoever sows a life of sin and self-indulgence will not reap glory, honor, immortality, but a more depraved disposition than that with which he was born.

The Dying Thief’s Prayer.

The supposition that the dying thief asked to go to Heaven with Jesus as a reward for a few kindly words is a mistake. The supposition that Jesus promised that he would go to Heaven that same day is also a mistake. Jesus did not go to Heaven that day. Instead, He went to the Bible Hell—Hades, Sheol, the tomb. He remained dead, St. Peter tells us, until the third day, when .God raised Him from the dead by Divine Power. It was after His resurrection on the third day that He appeared to Mary and said, “I have not yet ascended to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.”—John 20:17.

The Bible tells that Paradise was lost ■through Adam’s sin, six thousand years ago; that it is to be restored as a result of Jesus’ death; and the time of its restoration will be during the thousand years of Messiah’s Kingdom. Since there was no Paradise when Jesus died, He could not have meant that the thief would be there with Him that day. The claim made by Jesus was that He was to be a King. ’The thieves had heard Pilate’s question, “Art Thou a King, then?” They had heard Jesus’ reply, that to this end was He born. But He added, “My Kingdom is not of this Age.”

The thief caught the thought that the grand, kingly 'Character beside him was probably the Messiah, the King of Israel. How to explain the circumstances of that dark hour he knew not, but he defended Jesus. Then with a measure of hope he said, “Lord, when Thou comest into Thy (Kingdom remember me.” In other words, I believe that you are a King, and that somehow you will yet have a Kingdom. I have sufficient faith to ask you to grant a poor thief a blessing when you reach that Kingdom.

Misplacement of Comma by Translators.

Jesus’ reply should be carefuly studied. In substance it was, Poor thief, I appreciate your words; and when My Kingdom shall be established, I will remember your kindness and will reward it. 'Notwithstanding this dark day with, its unfavorable setting, I am really a King, and these experiences are necessary for Me, that I may enter into My Kingdom. Thus Jesus said, Be it as you have asked ■—I will remember you when I come into possession of My Kingdom. “Verily I say unto thee t^bis day, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.”

The difficulty has been with the wrong thought of the translators, and the misplacement of the comma. Punctuation is a modern convenience in all languages. There is none in the original Scriptures. The translators put the comma where they thought it should be, but evidently they made a great mistake. It would be thoroughly inconsistent to say that Jesus went to Paradise, when He had not yet ascended to the Father, and when the

Christ, as a result of His Millennial Reign.—Revelation 21:3-5.

Placing the comma where we have done leaves the passage thoroughly in accord with all the Bible. That passage, properly understood, leaves not a shadow of Scriptural support to the thought that a prayer a moment before death would change the eternal destiny of anybody.

Both Thieves in Bible Heil.

Let us get back to the Bible. Let us get rid of the foolishness of the creeds. Let us remember that a dead man is dead, as the Bible declares. “His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; they come to dishonor, but he perceiveth it not of them.” “There is neither device nor knowledge nor wisdom' in Sheol [Hades, the tomb], whither thou goest” —whither all go.

But nothing in the Bible suggests that man dies in the same sense as the brute. There is no hope for a future life for the brute, but God’s ■ Word stands pledged for a future life for humanity. “There shall be a resurrection of the ■dead, both of the just and of the unrifice of His own life, there would have been no resurrection of the dead. But from the foundation of the world God purposed a resurrection; and that Jesus should eventually be the Lamb of God, to take away the sin of the world. “As by a man [Adam] came death, by a man [Jesus] comes the resurrection of ■the dead; for as all in Adam die, even so all in Christ shall be made alive”— “every man in his own order.”—1 Corinthians 15 :21-23.

Jesus Himself, we read, was the first to rise from the dead—to be fully released from the power of death. Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter, etc., were not resurrected in full, but merely awakened temporarily. They fell asleep in death again, and will have in their own due time the Divinely appointed opportunity for a resurrection.

According to the Bible, the Church will be the next in order, and will have a resurrection to spirit nature, similar to that of Jesus; hence the Apostle’s desire to share in Christ’s resurrection by having a share in His sacrificial death. “For if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him.”—2 Timothy 2:11.

Next after the Church will come the resurrection of the Ancient Worthies, of whom John the Baptist was the last. Their resurrection was referred to by St. Paul in Hebrews 11, where he declares that “God has reserved some better thing for us [the Church], that they without us should not be made perfect.”

Each in His Own Order.

St. Paul declares that in the resurrection every man will come forth in his own order, or band, or company. When the due time shall come for the awakening of the generation which crucified Jesus, quite probably both the thieves will come forth from.death at or about the same time. Both thieves will receive the blessing purchased for them by the Redeemer’s death—to be brought to a knowledge of the Truth, to be helped up out of ignorance, superstition, blindness—by rewards, stripes, punishments—> if they will, to human perfection, lost in Adam, redeemed by Jesus.

But there will be a difference between the conditions of the two thieves. Both will be in Paradise; for the whole earth is to be a Paradise. The hardened thief may have had a less favorable birth, or a less favorable environment in life. Only the Lord, the great Judge, is able to know how much excuse should be made for him and how much penalty should attach to him.

The penitent thief will be much more favorably conditioned, not merely because he spoke some kindly words to the Master in His hour of tribulation, but especially because those words indicate that his heart was in a more just and tender condition. Additionally we are to remember that the Lord has especially promised that every good deed done to Himself, or any of His followers, shall receive a special reward. Any such sympathy or kindness would imply a condition of heart not far from the Kingdom; hence the promise of a special blessing for such good deeds bespeaks Divine recognition of principle and character.

“There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy, Like the Wideness of the Sea.”

It seems difficult to many to think of God’s having a provision for the majority of our race in the future. Somehow the impression has gone abroad that everlasting destinies are fixed at death. The only text ever quoted in support of this thought is a statement that “where a tree falleth there shall it lie.” (Ecclesiastes 11:3.) Sure enough the fallen tree cannot raise itself. And sure enough man, fallen into death, is equally powerless. There he would be forever were it not for the Divine arrangement for his awakening by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Many of us have been too free to believe that the penalty for sin may be entirely escaped by a simple word of prayer, and yet reversely have believed that there could be no forgiveness of sins after death. The only explanation of this persistent thought in the minds of the masses is that they were taught that destinies were fixed at death by the taking of the dying one over to a fiery •Hell, or to a blazing Purgatory, or to a blissful Heaven.

After all, in confusion did we not once say that everybody, for a time at least, would be brought out of Heaven, Purgatory and Hell to attend a Judgment scene—quite contrary to reason and the Bible—■& Judgment to determine whether any mistake had been made in regard to who had Heaven, who had Hell and who had Purgatory? How foolish we have been—how stupid, how inconsistent, how unscriptural!

“Every Knee Snail Bow.”

Now we see that the dead are simply sleeping until . the Morning, when all the sleepers will be awakened by Him who died for all. Now we see_z that no changes take place in the moral status of the dead, nor in the Divine standards. He who forgave us our sins when we confessed them and forsook them is “the same yesterday, to-day and forever,” and will be just as ready to forgive the world of mankind, when in due time He shall send them light and they shall believe and repent.

'Surely there is no more reason why a sinner could not be forgiven in the future than that a sinner could not be forgiven in the present. When sinners are forgiven now, it does not mean that they obtain full release from some proper penalty for their sins—sickness, sorrow, pain. Nor will the forgiveness of sins in the future Age mean that no stripes will be put upon the transgressors. Jesus distinctly tells us respecting that future Age that then those who have sinned against knowledge, light, will be punished with many stripes, while those who have sinned with less light will be punished with few stripes.—Luke 12 :47, 48.

Take for example the son of the widow of Nain, or others of those awakened by our Lord. We know little respecting their relationship to God. This widow’s son may have been a good man or a

XX7TIIILE this Scripture teaches a uni-’’ versal salvation, yet there are other Scriptures which speak of the ulti-seeking to harmonize these Scriptures we note that there are various salvations. For illustration: A man might be saved from, a burning building in the morning, and in the afternoon from drowning in a pond of water. The next day he might be saved from financial disaster, from bankruptcy, and later from something and Death by Sin; and so Death passed upon all men, because all are sinners.” This, then is the great disaster. The Scriptures tell us that God has provided Jesus to be a Life-giver to all mankind, and that He died, the Just for the unjust. “.Since by man came death, by man comes also the resurrection of the dead.” “The hour is coming when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and

world, will at the beginning of the Mil-liennial Age establish His Mediatorial Kingdom, which will be for the very purpose. of liberating man from the bondage of Sin and Death. Then whoever chooses Sin will be choosing the wages of Sin—■ death. And whoever chooses righteousness will be choosing the reward that goes with it—everlasting life. Each will be granted the opportunity of everlasting life, because saved by Ghrist from the condemnation upon Adam. But first he must be set free before having either a. punishment of everlasting death, or a reward of everlasting life.

God “will have all men' to be saved (recovered, out of the death-state, the tomb), and to come to an accurate knowledge of.the Truth; for there is one God_? and one Mediator between God and men; namely, the Man Ghrist Jesus, who gave Himself a Ransom (corresponding price) for all, to be testified in due time.” The due time for the world in general, here spoken of, will be during Messiah’s Reign. The knowledge of the Lord will cover the whole earth as the waters cover the great deep. But there is in this Age a. class being specially blessed—“Blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.” Having this blessing now, these have the gracious opportunity of attaining joint-heirship with our Lord in glory, honor and immortality •—the Divine nature.

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