Religious and Scientific Gleanings

MINISTER ATTACKS ORTHODOX BELIEF

•‘The ordinary orthodox minister makes out that God is less just, less loving and less merciful than the people who worship Him, if you pick up a man iff the street he deserves more respect and admiration than the brutelike God worshipped by' the orthodox church, which believes in eternal damnation.”

Hearty applause greeted this expression made from the pulpit by the Rev. Dr. John H. Dietrich, pastor of the St. jAark’s Memorial Reformed Church, North Highland avenue. Dr. Dietrich’s congregation gave vent to its feelings by applauding his attack on the idea of eternal punishment.

Continuing along the same line of thought and dwelling on the way in which the orthodox church. speaks of God as being blasphemous, Dr. Dietrich said:

“Its members give to Him who is supposed to be all-wise, all-powerful and all-loving, attributes which impeach His character and make Him a Being not only unworthy of worship but unworthy of respect. I hope you will pardon me for speaking thus vehemently; my only reason is that I want to save the name of our Father, whom I love, admire and worship, from the blasphemy of those who would make Him such a brute as to eternally damn His children.”—Pittsburg Chronicle-Telegraph.

THE PRESERVATION OF THE BIBLE

With what wonder should we gaze upon a fortress that had withstood the assaults of succeeding generations for thousands of years! Thus has it been with the Word of God during all its history. Men have made it their enemy by their bad lives, and then have become its enemies and hated it, and sought to destroy it.

Jehoiakim, as we read, cut to pieces the Divine Roll, and threw it into the fire. About 170 years before Christ, Antiochus caused all the copies of the Jewish Scriptures to be burned. Three hundred and three years after, Diocletian, by an edict, ordered all the ■ Scriptures to be committed to the flames; and Eusebius, the historian, tells us he saw large heaps of them burning in the market place. Nor has this spirit ever failed to show itself.

The Bible has, all along its course, ■ had to struggle against opposition, visible and latent, artful and violent. ^; It has had to contend with the prevalence of error, the tyranny of passion, and the cruelty of persecution. Numerous foes have risen up against it— s some, who have aimed to destroy it, others who have striven to monopolize it, and ungodly men, who have hated it Tor its purity and its penalties.

But from all these assaults it has been preserved. It has survived the shocks of all its enemies, and withstood the ravages of time. The very monuments of man’s power have been converted into the mockery of his weakness. His eternal cities moulder in their ruins, and the serpent hisses in the cabinet where he planned his empire.

Yet, notwithstanding all this desolation, the stream which first bubbled up at the foot of the Eternal Throne has continued to roll on with silent majesty and might, bearing down each opposing barrier, and declaring to perishing multitudes on its brink, that, while “all flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass, the Word of the Lord endureth forever.”

No weapon that has ever been formed against the Bible has prospered. It has survived the power of secret treachery and open violence. The time has been when to read it was death. Infidelity has fought against it with relentless malignity, but it has successfully resisted all its potency. The identical press, indeed, which was employed by Voltaire and the French Institute to disseminate their attacks upon the

book more bitterly hated. Most malevolent efforts have been put forth for its annihilation. Kings and emperors and generals, philosophers, statesmen, and legislators, have all aimed at its extirpation. Yet has it flourished, while its adversaries have been blasted one after another.—Alfred Nevin.

* * *

The great Adversary’s latest attack is through creedal misrepresentations on the one hand and “Higher Criticism” and Evolution theory on the other hand. Only the few really understand it; because “The secret of the Lord is with them that reverence Him, and He will show them His Covenant.”

BAPTISTS ENDORSE HIGHER CRITICISM

Amongst the most staunch adherents to the Bible are the Baptists. It, therefore, caused all the more astonishment that at their Convention in Canada they endorsed Higher Criticism—Infidelity.- In their Toronto Educational Institution the Bible and its so-called Higher Critics had a contest. When the decision went against the Bible, an appeal was made to the Convention. The Convention upheld Higher Criticism in its endorsement of the continued _ teaching^jjf Higher . .Criticism in Baptist Theological Schools.

For about twenty years Higher Criticism has been taking a more and more pronounced stand in all the Baptist Theological Seminaries, as well as in all other Protestant Seminaries. The surprising thing about the proceedings of the Convention is that this brand of infidelity has gained such strength and such courage that it is willing to announce itself publicly to the whole world as Anti-Biblical. Here we see reflected what we have fqr some years been pointing out, namely, that all the young ministers of all denominations are being graduated as Higher Critics, Infidels, with exactly the same view of the Bible as Robt. Ingersoll and Thos. Paine held and advocated.

The only difference is that these young ministers pose as Christians and belivers in a personal God and in His revelation of His character and Plan in the Bible, whereas they are totally unbelievers. Christianity is losing its hold when its very foundation is laughed at by its most prominent representatives. He who disbelieves the Bible record of Adam and Eve and the fall must also disbelieve any necessity for a redemption of the fallen race.

Those who believe that Adam fell upward, instead of downward, cannot have sympathy or appreciation for the words of the Master, that He came to seek and to recover that which was lost. They do not believe that we were redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. They totally deny the Master’s own words that He came into the world to give Himself a ransom-price, a corresponding offset, for human sin and condemnation. What Gospel have such ministers to preach and how few ministers there are in any denomination that are not Higher Critics—Infidels? The remainder are classed as old fogies and are not in demand.

Thus we see fulfilling before our eyes the Master’s words, “When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith in the earth?” The faith once delivered to the saints is certainly not very generally held to-day, even amongst those who profess to be the special advocates, mouthpieces and champions of true religion.

Thieves In Paradise

Luke 23:43.—This greatly misunderstood text explained in a recent issue of The Bible Students Monthly.

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WHEN we remember that the word “resurrection” is used no less than thirty-seven times in the New Testament, besides various other words of similar import; and when we remember that all the prominent creeds of Christendom declare faith in a resurrection as an integral and essential part of Scriptural doctrine and of the hope of eternal life—in view of these facts, and of the strong language of the texts above quoted, whose inspiration is conceded by all Christians, it may seem strange that we should ask any Christian the question, Do you believe in the resurrection of the dead?

Nevertheless, we have serious reason to doubt that a belief in the resurrection of the dead prevails amongst Christians to any considerable extent; and it is because we believe the resurrection to be a very important doctrine in its connection with other doctrines of Scripture (throwing light upon other doctrines), that we desire to call general attention to this subject and to invite an examination of our question in the light of facts and of Scripture; our hope being that after a careful examination of the subject many more of God’s people will come to believe—consistently, logically, Scripturally—in a resurrection.

Resurrection Rarely Chosen Now As a Subject for Sermons.

“Like priest, like people,” is an old adage, which implies that the views of the teaching or clerical .class on any subject may safely be considered an index to the views of their parishioners. It is not difficult to ascertain the views of the clergy of all denominations on the subject of the resurrection of the dead; for, although that topic is rarely chosen for discourse, except upon Easter Sunday, it is, nevertheless, indissolubly attached to every funeral service; and these numerous occasions, we believe, amply justify us in the statement that both the clergy of all denominations and their people have little or no faith in a resurrection of the dead.

True, it is customary on every funeral occasion to read the words of the Apostle Paul, in which he sets forth the resurrection as the Christian’s hope (I Cor. 15), but this seems to be a mere concession on the part of the officiating minister. He feels it to be his duty to read something^ on the subject, but his remarks following the reading, prove most conclusively that, so far from believing that the person whose corpse is about to be buried is dead, he believes, and instructs his hearers that they should believe that their friend and neighbor is “more alive than he ever was.” Frequently, indeed, he plays directly into the hands of the “Spiritualists” and “Christian Scientists,” by telling the audience that the spirit of their dead friend is with them in the room, hovering over them; and that if permitted to speak he would say to- them, “Dry your tears: weep not for me; I am far better off in glory.”

To Many Death Has Become a Delusion and Not a Reality

Indeed, it has come to be the general belief among Christian people that death is a delusion, and not a reality; that people merely seem to die, and do not die; that they merely experience a change to a higher form of being; that so-called “Christian Scientists” are quite correct in saying, “There is no death.”

Whoever holds such views does not, cannot consistently. believe in “the resurrection of the dead;” because if no one is dead, how can there be a resurrection of the dead? Wherein would be the sense in speaking of a resurrection of the dead to life, if they already have life more abundantly than they possessed it before they seemingly died?

But thousands of ministers would answer us. saying. “When speaking of the resurrection, we merely mean a resurrection of the body—the bodies which we bury are all to come forth again from the grave, and the spirits which parted from them in death are to be rehabilitated in those bodies in the resurrection. This is what we mean by resurrection.”

Well, well! Who would have supposed such inconsistency on the. part of so many learned and well-meaning men! Before taking up the Scriptural side of the question, to show that such expectations are at variance with the Scripture teaching, let us examine the proposition of these ministers in the light of its own inconsistency.

“Consistency, Thou Art a Jewel.”

• (1) They tell us that the deceased is “far better off,” in that he has gotten free from the “fetters of the flesh,” and that now “his free spirit wings its flight to God, no longer hampered and hindered by the mortal dust.” They go into ecstasies in describing the grandeur and liberty and blessedness of the one who has died, and who, by reason of getting rid of the body, has attained to life more abundant, knowledge a hundredfold, and blessings indescribable.

• (2) In the same breath they quote the Scriptures referring to the resurrection and (wholly misconstruing those Scriptures) tell us that by and by, at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the same bodies of flesh that were buried will be reorganized (Dr. Talmage, in his famous resurrection sermon pictured the resurrection morning, and the entire sky darkened with the fragments of human bodies coming together from various parts of the earth, where a finger, a foot, or a hand had been lost by accident, disease or amputation); they tell us that then the spirit beings which, they say, left those bodies at death, wil] return to them, as their everlasting habitations. Then, inasmuch as the resurrection is Scripturally set forth to be the grand and glorious result and consummation of our salvation, they feel compelled to go into ecstasies over their erroneous presentation of the resurrection, and to tell how glorious and grand will be the result.

The Man 50 Would Be Sadly Handicapped.

They seem to overlook entirely the inconsistency of these two propositions; and they expect that their hearers will be similarly inconsistent and illogical (and apparently their expectations are fully justified, for the majority of their hearers swallow the inconsistency without difficulty); yea, many of them seem to think that the more inconsistent and unreasonable their belief may be, the more reason they have to congratulate themselves that they have a very strong faith. However, the real fact is that they have a very strong credulity. But they will have no reward for believing unreasonable things which God’s Word has not taught, but has contradicted.

Who cannot see, if he will, that the man who dies fifty years old, if in dying he obtains life more abundant and knowledge a hundredfold, and a freedom to “wing his flight,” etc., would be sadly disappointed by a resurrection—if it should mean to him reimprisonment in a tenement of clay, with physical restrictions and human limitations? And then, if he had thus for centuries been a “free spirit,” roaming at liberty throughout the Universe, untrammeled by a body and bodily limitations, where would be the consistency on God’s part of reimprisoning such an one in a human body, whose powers and uses would be entirely forgotten during those centuries of liberty? And if to be without a body is “perfect bliss.” as the funeral orators tell, how could there be anything added to perfect bliss by a resurrection of the body, and a reincarceration therein?

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From the foregoing- considerations we feel that we are justified in our assumption that the vast majority of Christian people do not believe in a resurrection—neither the Scriptural kind (“a resurrection of the dead”), nor in the kind they themselves teach, namely, a resurrection of the body. The Scriptures Hold Out the Only

Hope, the Blessed Hope, the Consistent Hope.

■With this preface to our subject we go to the Scriptures to learn from them what is meant by ‘‘the resurrection of the dead,” and in what manner and why the Scriptures speak of the resurrection as the hope, the only hope, the blessed hope, not only of the Lord’s people, who are to have part in the “first resurrection,” but of the world in general, who are to have an opportunity to share in the resurrection of judgment, improperly translated, “the resurrection of damnation.”—John 5:29.

Whoever would believe the Scriptural doctrine of the resurrection must also believe the Scriptural doctrine respecting death—that death is death, the cessation of life. Then, and not until then, will he be able to understand the Apostle’s words in our text, “If there be no resurrection of the dead, . . . then they which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.”

Nor is this statement by the great Apostle Paul an exception to or indifferent from the teaching of the Scriptures elsewhere. Their unanimous testimony is that the dead are dead; that “in that very day their thoughts perish.” (Psa. 146:4.) Of the dead the Scriptures further declare, “His sons come to honor and he knoweth it not; to dishonor, and he pcrceiveth it not. of them;” “for there is neither wisdom,, nor knowledge, nor device in the grave Whither thou goest.”—Job 14:21; Eccl. 9:10.

Which Shall We Believe—God or Satan ?

Here is a direct conflict between modern teachers and the inspired Word, the Scriptures claiming that the dead know not anything, the modern theologians claiming that they know everything. The Bible claims that the dead are really dead, and have really suf-

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' International Bible Students Association Brooklyn, N. Y.» U. S- A. fered according to the Divine penalty for sin pronounced against our race— “Dying thou shalt die.” The opposers take up with Satan’s delusive statement to Mother Eve, “Ye shall not surely die,” and attempt to prove that the dead are not dead; that God’s penalty against sin did not go into effect, and that death, so far from being the sentence or curse upon our race, is a blessing, a step in a general process of evolution. The two theories are as far apart as the poles, and the two teachers of these two theories, as we have shown, are God, on the one hand, and Satan, “a liar from the beginning,” on the other hand. Which shall we believe?

The entire Plan of Salvation is connected with this question. If death was not the penalty of sin, incurred through Adam, then “life and that more abundant” is not the reward and blessing of God secured through Christ by a resurrection. Satan’s proposition, which has been so widely accepted by the Lord’s people, and which exercises so blinding an influence upon their minds, is the reversal, in every sense of the word, of the Divine proposition that death is the curse or penalty of sin; that Christ died to release man from, this sentence or curse, and that the release comes by the resurrection of the dead, who otherwise .would never have future life, as says the Apostle in our text. Satan’s theory declares death a blessing which brings the fulness of life and liberty and joy, and would make of the resurrection a curse, bringing imprisonment and difficulty and restriction and pain and trouble.

The Apostle Preached Jesus and the Resurrection.

No wonder that, blinded by this deception of the Adversary, the majority of the great theologians of Christendom—and rapidly their many followers—are leaving the doctrine of the Atonement, which declares that “as by a man [Adam] came death, so also by a man [the man Christ Jesus] comes the resurrection of the dead; that as all in Adam die, even so all in Christ shall be made alive.—I Cor. 15:21, 22.

If the reality of death is denied, it is no more difficult to deny the reality of sin. If it is claimed that Father Adam was not created in the image and likeness of God, but was created a very close image and likeness of the monkey, it follows that in that low condition of intelligence he was unfit for trial for eternal life; and it .is only a further step to deny that he ever had a trial, and that he ever failed and fell from grace. And if the fall is denied, and, instead, the claim is put forward that man has really been advancing even to the present time—■ losing his likeness to the monkey and gaining in likeness to God, then it will be consistent also to take the next step, and declare that since man did not fall he did not need to be redeemed from the fall.

And hence, with all such reasoning upon false Scriptural basis, it appears logical to deny the oft-repeated declaration of God’s Word, that our Lord Jesus is our Redeemer, and that “He is the propitiation for our sins [the Church’s sins], and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world,” giving for us, as our ransom or corresponding price, His own life, that He might buy back the forfeited life of Adam.

We thus see that the leading lights of Christendom today, repudiate both of the cardinal features of the Gospel, which the Apostle preached of old: “He preached Jesus and the resurrection”—Jesus as the Redeemer of mankind from sin and its curse—death—-and the resurrection as the grand result of that redemptive work, by which the blessing secured by the Ransom-sacrifice will be made applicable to and available for whosoever wills to accept eternal life upon the terms of this Age. We are reminded here of our Lord’s own words respecting unbelief at the present time: He says, “When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find the faith on the earth?”—Luke 18:8.

The Five Senses in Full Accord with the Scriptures.

The Scripture declarations respecting death are in full accord with the testimony of the five senses given us as men by our Creator; and this is what we should expect, though we Should be ready to admit the possibility of pur senses being in error if the Divine revelation contradicts our senses. But when our senses are contradicted by a human theory, contrary to Scriptural, statements, the theory should be rejected and the testimony of the senses held to be true; and when the Scriptures and our senses together unite in one testimony, it is certainly wrong to hold to a theory of human dissolution, which is contradicted by Divine revelation and by our own senses as well. And whoever thus repudiates his God-given (though sin-impaired) senses and the Divine testimony, need expect nothing else than to be led into darkness and stumbling.

Today, as eighteen centuries ago, the blind are leading the blind into the ditch of unbelief and error.

“As Dieth the One, So Dieth the Other; They Have All One

Breath.”

The testimony of our senses, like the testimony of God’s Word, is that death means the loss of life, and not an increase of life. Watch the dying one and note his weakening powers, mental and physical, until the spark of life becomes extinct. You have seen nothing go from him, you have heard nothing but the death-rattle; you have felt the gradual cessation of the pulse, and noted the gasping for breath; and all of your senses which you can exercise upon the subject tell you that your friend, your loved one, is dead—alive no longer. You look about you and study the subject and inquire of others, “What next?” The answer to your senses is, “The next thing is corruption; when the spark of life has gone the corpse must be buried; ‘dust to dust, ashes to ashes.’ ” You note the similarity between the death of your friend and loved one and the death of the brute beast, and your senses can discern no difference between them; and the Scriptures declare, “As dieth the one, so dieth the other; they have all one [spirit of life] breath.”—Eccl. 3:19.

But with a longing for a future life, implanted in your nature by our Creator, you inquire, Is tnere no hope; hath a man no pre-eminence above a beast? The Scriptures answer your question, assuring us that, physically speaxing, man “hath no pre-eminence above a beast.” But the Scriptures assure us that although mankind is not possessed of any power of life beyond that of the beast, the Creator has, nevertheless, made a provision for man that He did not make for the beast; and that provision is the very thing for which we long, namely, everlasting life. The Scriptures point out to us that this provision for man’s ever-lasting life was made by the Lord in the beginning—not by implanting a deathless quality in the man’s constitution, but by providing in the life-sustaining trees of the Garden of Eden, the means of continuing his life everlastingly; nevertheless, this provision was conditional, dependent upon man’s obedience to his Creator.

The Scriptures point out that man’s disobedience brought upon him the sentence of death, and that the execution of that sentence was effected by driving him out of the Garden and away from the life-sustaining fruit of its trees. Thus driven out, the sentence, ‘Dying, thou shalt die,” took effect unon Father Adam gradually, and he lived out nearly to the end of the first thousand-year day. His posterity, becoming weaker and weaker as generations rolled by, are to-day (notwithstanding the many advancements in science, and medicine and sanitary arrangements), reduced to an average of about thirty-five years—“and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor a,nd sorrow” and they are soon “cut off from the land of th. living,” to go into “the land of the enemy”—into the great prison-house of death, in which it is estimated that over twenty thousand millions of our race are already—■ “where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest.”—Job 3:17-19.

“Jesus Died, the Just for the Unjust.”

The Scriptures answer our inquiries respecting the dead. While assuring us of the justice of the Divine sentence of death, they nevertheless declare that our Creator is a God of mercy and of pity, and that when, there was no eye to pity and no arm to deliver us, His Arm brought salvation to us. The Scriptures, moreover, point out to us the Lord Jesus Christ as the Arm of Jehovah, stretched down for our relief from sin and sickness and pain and trouble, and for our deliverance from the prison-house of death, and for our restoration to the liberties and privileges of sons of God.

It was in harmony with this Divine sympathy that, in due time, God sent His only begotten Son into the world, for our redemption—to give for us the ransom-price, and ultimately to recover all who will accept of Divine mercy, from all the consequences of the fall by a resurrection from the dead. But Divine Love could not make void Divine Justice; it was necessary that God should be just, if He would be the justifier of them that believe in Jesus; hence the demands of Justice—the penalty for sin—must be paid by our Redeemer, before the work of release and restitution could begin. And here we have the best of evidence respecting what is the penalty of sin, and what is not; because, since our Lord Jesus pays for us the just penalty of sin, what He laid down for us will prove what was the penalty against us. What did He do for us? The Scriptures answer: He laid down His life for us; “He died for our sins;” “He died, the Just for the unjust:” “He poured out His soul unto death;” He “made His soul an offering for [our] sin,” and “by His stripes we are healed.”—Rom. 5:8; I Pet. 3:18; Isa. 53:4, 6, 10.

Nothing is more evident than that our Lord Jesus did not suffer an eternity of torment as the price of our redemption; and hence, if the matter needed proof we have here the proof that eternal torment was not the penalty for our sins. On the contrary, the fact that our Lord Jesus died for our sins, and that the Heavenly Father accepted of that sacrifice of His life on our behalf, proves that it was our lives that were forfeited by sin; that the full penalty of the Divine Law against us as a race was the deprivation of life. The whole race, under sentence of death, has gone do ven to the great prison-house of death—the grave, sheol, hades. And so our dear Redeemer, when He gave up His life for us, went also to sheol, hades, the grave. He took our place, and suffered for us the penalty for our sins.

But as Jesus’ death ransoms man from the sentence of death, so His resurrection from death became the assurance of the justification of all who accept and obey Him. The Heavenly Father gave evidence that the Ransom price was entirely satisfactory; and our Lord, who was thus obedient to the Father, was raised from the de^.d and, as the Father's Agent and Representative, will soon begin the work of blessing the entire world redeemed by His precious blood.

The Prison-House of Death to Be Opened and the Prisoners

Set Free.

The blessing of the world means the breaking open of the prison-house and the setting at liberty of the captives, who for six thousand years have been going into the prison-house of death. For this reason our Lord is called the Life-giver, because His great work will be to give back life to the world of mankind, who lost life in Adam. And since the restoration of life to mankind will mean the removal of pains and sicknesses and troubles, which are a part of the dying process, our Redeemer is styled the Great Physician.

The prophecy which mentions the breaking onen of the prison-house of death, and the setting at liberty of its captives (Isa. 42:7), was applied, and unquestionably correctly, by our Lord to Himself; but He did not break open the prison-house of death, and set all the captives free by resurrection immediately upon His own resurrection. He tells us when this work will be done, saying (John .5:25-29), “The hour cometh in which all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of Man, and come forth;” “and they that hoar [obey His voice then, Acts 3:22] shall live.”

Our Lord thus passed over the interim of the Gospel Age, and pointed to the grand consummation of His work in the incoming Age because such was the Father’s prearranged Plan. “The Father sent the Son,” and the Son willingly undertook the work of redemption, at a time sufficiently in advance of the “Times of Restitution,” or resurrection, and the general blessing of the world during the Reign of Messiah, to leave the interim of this Gospel Age for another work, namely, for selecting from the world a “little flock,” a “royal priesthood,” a “peculiar peofole,” a “holy nation,” to be joint-heirs with Christ Jesus their Lord in the honors of the Mediatorial Kingdom. These shall be associated, with the Redeemer in the grand arid glorious work of destroying the Prince of Darkness and breaking open the prison-house of death, and setting at liberty the captives of sin and ignorance and superstition; and in fulfilling generally all the provisions of the gracious promises of God made to Father Abraham, that in his Seed (Christ, and His elect Body, the Church), “all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”—Gal. 3:8, 16, 29.

“Blessed and Holy Are They Who Have Part in the First Resurrection.”

This brings us to the Scriptural proposition, that there is a first, a chief or special resurrection, and a general one later. The first or superior resurrection includes the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the entire elect “Church which is His Body”— no more, no less. “Blessed and holy are all they that have part in the First Resurrection; on such the Second Death hath no power, but they shall

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be kings and priests unto God and shall reign on the earth”—the Messianic Kingdom class. Those who will share in this First Resurrection will experience an instantaneous “change” from the human nature to the Divine nature—the highest of the spirit natures; not human, not flesh and blood, for “flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.” * Their trial and perfecting of heart takes place beforehand, and only the “overcomers” will receive this blessing. Some of the characteristics of their change are indicated by the Apostle as a change from weakness to power, from dishonor to glory, from corruption to incorruption, from a natural [human] body to a spirit body.

The time for this best, or chief resurrection, is everywhere in Scripture indicated to be at the close of the Gps-pel Age, at a time when the entire Gospel Church will be completed. This includes the living members, whose “change” to spirit nature will be instantaneous, so that the moment of their dying as human beings will be the moment of their “change” to perfect spirit beings. Meantime, the Scriptures declare that the Lord’s people who have died, like the rest of mankind, are really dead, as human beings, and know not anything; but inasmuch as God has provided for their resurrection, and inasmuch as they have been informed respecting it, and' have hopes therein, therefore they are spoken of as being merely asleep— resting from their labors; waiting for “the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only,” as the Apostle declares.

The General Resurrection to Be a Raising Up By Judgment.

And, likewise the world of mankind, <even though they know not of the Lord as yet, are spoken of as being “asleep in Jesus,” because, as the whole world was under condemnation of death through Adam, and that without knowledge or volition on their part, at the time of the sentence, for they were then in the loins of their father, Adam, so now, since Jesus laid down His life a Ransom for all, and because they all shall be awakened from death, therefore it is proper for all those who are aware of the Divine provision for the awakening, by faith to speak of the interim figuratively as a sleep.

Thus the Apostle exhorts us to trust and hope in the resurrection as respects all our dear friends who go down into the prison-house of death, and not merely as respects those who were sanctified in Christ Jesus, which would include, as a rule, only a small proportion of those for whom we would be inclined to sorrow. He says, “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep [all our sleeping friends], that ye sorrow not even as others, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died [a Ransom for all] and rose again [that He might be Lord and Life-giver to all] even so [let us believe as truly that] those also which sleep in Jesus [all whom He purchases with His precious blood] will God bring by Him [from the prison-house of death].”

But as the First Resurrection is the resurrection of the blessed and holy, of the sanctified in Christ Jesus, His Body, so the general resurrection, which is for the world, is designated as “a resurrection of judgment,” mistranslated in our common version “resurrection of damnation.” It is styled a “resurrection of judgment” because, while all the preparation has been made, so far as God is concerned, for granting to the world of mankind a full resurrection or restitution back to all that was first given to Adam, and lost by his disobedience, to be recovered by our Savior’s precious blood, yet there are certain conditions attached to this blessing upon which it depends, namely, the conditions of the New Covenant.

God does not propose to give eternal life through Christ to any others than those who earnestly desire it, and who are in heart sympathy with the principles of righteousness which must always be the Law of the Divine Government. Hence when the world is awakened from the sleep of death, it will not signify resurrection, but much less; for resurrection, in its full, complete, Scriptural sense, signifies a complete raising up, out of sin and out

* Some are confused by this expression, “flesh and blood”; they fail to see that it signifies human nature; we therefore invite such to examine the use of the same phrase elsewhere, by the same New Testament writers. In so doing they will be convinced that our definition, human nature, is the correct one, the Scriptural one. See the following uses of the phrase: Matt. 16:17; John 3:5, 6; I. Cor. 15:50.

of death, to perfection of being, perfection of life.

The first work of Christ and the Church in the world, for those who have gone down into death, the prison, will be their awakening to physical conditions, similar to those in which they died. The surrounding conditions of society will then be greatly improved; knowledge will have taken the place of ignorance, and the reign of righteousness and the law of love will at that time have superceded the rule of sin under the law of selfishness; and Satan will be bound, that he shall deceive the nations no more for the thousand years. Under the favorable conditions of that Mediatorial Kingdom, all mankind will be required to make progress in the knowledge of the Lord and in the bringing of their own hearts and lives into accord with His law of Love. Whosoever then will make no effort in the right direction will be cut off from life, in the Second Death, after one hundred years of trial (Isa. 65:20), although he would then, under the changed conditions, be properly reckoned as only a lad.

But while judgment will thus pass against one who fails to make progress, and will cut short his further opportunity, the same judgment, by the same Judge, will operate favorably to all who will seek righteousness, and make progress in harmony with the laws of the Kingdom; so that year by year, they will be growing mentally, physically and morally stronger—approximating gradually the full, complete standard of perfect manhood, the image and likeness of the Creator, as first represented in Father Adam. Thus the resurrection, so far as the world is concerned, will be a gradual work; its first step an awakening from the sleep of unconsciousness and nonentity; its succeeding steps will be along the lines of judgment, the conduct of those who are on trial being either approved or disapproved; and culminating either in their sentence to the Second Death, incorrigible, and unworthy of the gift of God, eternal life—or in their perfection, and their final adjudgment of worthiness to have and enjoy the great boon.of Life Eternal, under the blessed conditions which are then promised to prevail—when there shall be no more sighing, no more dying, no more crying, because there will be no more sin and none of the penalties for sin, for all the former things shall have passed away.—Rev. 21:4.

The Condition of the Dead Spoken of As a Sleep.

The condition of all the dead, up to the time when the resurrection work begins, is one of total ^unconsciousness; “There is neither wisdom, nor knowledge, nor device in the grave whither thou goest”; “His sons come to honor and he knoweth it not, to dishonor, and he perceiveth it not of them.” Of each of the Patriarchs of the past it is written, “He slept with his fathers”; “He fell asleep.” And so also in the New Testament we have a similar record: “Stephen fell asleep.” The Apostle Paul speaks of those who saw the Lord after His resurrection and says, “He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to this present time, but some are fallen asleep.” Again he speaks of some which are “fallen asleep in Christ,” here distinguishing between the Church, who are in Christ,* as members of His Body, and the world of mankind in general, who “sleep in Jesus.”—Eccl. 9:10; Job 14:21; I. Kings 2:10; 11:43; Acts 7:60; I Cor. 15:6, 18; 1 Thess. 4:14.

The Apostle shows that this sleepcondition will prevail, even as respects the Church, until the time of the second coming of Christ, assuring us that the living members of the Church at the time of the Lord’s Second Advent will not be blessed prior to those that have fallen asleep, but contrariwise, the living “shall not prevent [hinder] them that are asleep,” for the dead in Christ shall arise first; then we who are alive and remain will be blessed, and ultimately experience our “change.” “Thou Sowest Not that Body Which

Shall Be.”

The moment of reawakening will seem to the awakened ones to be the next moment after their death—“for there is neither wisdom, knowledge nor device in the grave.” The bodies in which the world will be awakened will be practically the same as those which died, though not the same atoms of matter; for in the hands of our Creator one atom of dust is as good as another in this great work. Thus the learned to have confidence in Him through the revelation of His Word could we exercise faith in such a stupendous miracle as He has promised shall be performed.

Nor need we expect that the world of mankind will all be awakened simultaneously, but rather that the great work of the Messianic Kingdom will begin with those who have not gone down to the tomb, but who are nevertheless in death, in the sense that they are not alive in the complete, full measure of freedom from the power ot death. When the work of restitution shall have progressed to some extent with these, we may expect that some of those who have previously fallen asleep in death will be awakened, and share in the blessings of that glorious Day. Later, others, and still others, will arise, until eventually it will be true that, in that Day, the Day of Christ, “all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of Man”—shall obey the mandate, “Come forth”—and shall be brought to a knowledge of the goodness and love and mercy of God; and, if they will, ultimately to the full perfection of human nature—the earth, meanwhile, being fitted and prepared as a-Paradise of God for His restored family.

Meantime, the exhortation to all the “called” in the present Age is that we should seek to make our “calling and election sure” to a place in the Kingdom class, to a change of nature, from human to divine, and thus have a right, under the Divine arrangement, to have a part in the “first resurrection”—the chief resurrection, the resurrection to the perfection of the Divina nature with its glory and its honor.

der. We may be sure, however, that our great Adversary, Satan, will not advocate any measure of the Truth except for the purpose of injuring it or to take advantage of seeds of Truth, which the Lord has been permitting us to plant through millions of copies of the press. It is a part of his policy, as the Apostle explains, to put light for darkness and darkness for light. At every presentation of the Truth' of the past, Satan has more or less successfully introduced grievous errors under its cloak.

We give the following extracts from the New York “World”: —

Augusta E. Stetson’s Declarations

“I know, and every true believer in Christian Science must know, that Mrs. Eddy will make a manifestation, will reveal herself to me and to others, to the outside world, the unbelievers, too.

“The same situation exists to-day as when Jesus of Nazareth died and was buried. After three days He manifested Himself, to prove that there is life after death. Mrs. Eddy will do the same, for she occupies in the world of to-day precisely the same position that Jesus occupied in His day.

“It may take, will take, longer for Mrs. Eddy to pass through the experience of material death to the stage of demonstration of everlasting life. It may not occur for years, or it may occur to-morrow or next wehk. But she will manifest herself, and ail men shall know of it.

“Those in the church who profess doubt of such a demonstration are like the disciples who doubted till they saw and felt of Jesus. I shall see Mrs. Eddy again, and I shall walk by her side, holding her hand, along the path that leads to life which has no dearh. All men who will believe will be shown how they may, by spiritual means, demonstrate over death, but first they must await Mrs. Eddy’s manifestation.

“Yesterday I would not answer questions relating to the expected dem-, onstration by Mrs. Eddy—her resurrection, as some call it I felt then that the hour for me to speak had not come. To-day I am convinced the time is proper. From all quarters I am receiving reports of demoralization and sadness in the field of Christian Science because of the delay in the demonstration and because of the spreading abroad of declarations that Mrs. Eddy will not manifest herself, i

“To say that Mrs. Eddy is gone forever is to deny the very principles of Christian Science and to refute the teachings of her life and her works.

“The age of the gospel is closed,” went on Mrs. Stetson, speaking in the most earnest way. “A new era is opening, the era of the one thousand years which the Bible tells us will follow the second appearance of Christ, the opening of the Millennium. Christ means Truth, and Mary Baker Eddy was Truth on earth again. I am waiting and. watching, and my students are waiting and watching, for we know the moment is at hand when God will prove, in the person of Mrs. Eddy, that she was His inspired mouthpiece, to teach and unfold the glories of Truth and Love and Life which are represented by Christian Science.”

OUR TEXT assures us that the called ones of this Gospel Age are many in comparison with the few who will eventually be chosen as the “very elect”—who are elected or chosen to be the joint-heirs with Christ in the Messianic Kingdom, which is to bless the world of mankind in general— the non-elect. We now consider the call or invitation which has been made during this Gospel Age—the class to whom it has been extended.

It should be carefully noted that the Scriptures do not say that all are called. On the contrary they tell us that many are blind and deaf to God’s message now being circulated—the Gospel. Such cannot be said to be called In any proper sense of the word. A call is an invitation which is heard. As we look out over the world in general we see the vast majority in heathen darkness, as the Apostle expresses it, “having no hope and without God in the world.” (Eph. 2:12.) They have never heard of “the only Name given under heaven and amongst men whereby men must be saved.”

Scriptures Misunderstood.

At the present  time  we  have

1,200,000,000 that   in   no   sense

of the word    are   called by

the Lord, and   therefore   have

had no opportunity of responding to that call. With the thought that has prevailed for centuries, that these uncalled millions are doomed to eternal torture, the hearts of God’s people have been very sorely troubled, and Infidelity has been very greatly assisted into a denial of everything pertaining to Christian faith. All agree that it would be very unreasonable for the Creator of those 1,200,000,000' to expose them to the danger of eternal torment, and not give them the slightest opportunity for hearing of the only terms of salvation from it. But when we get the correct, the Scriptural view of the matter, we see that the penalty upon those 1,200,-000,000 is, “Dying thou shalt die,” and that in this particular they are not different from their fathers, who were under the same curse, or sentence of death—the Adamic condemnation. We see from the Scriptures, too, that our Lord Jesus “by the grace of God tasted death for every man”—“to be testified in due time.” (Heb. 2:9; 1 Tim. 2:6.) Jesus, therefore, tasted death for all these 1,200,000,000 and for all their forefathers. He has given the ransom price for their sins as well as for ours, the Church’s, and a resultant blessing must come to them as well as to us. The coming blessing is a rescue from the sin-and-death conditions in which they were born; an opportunity for rising out of those conditions of degradation, up, up, up, to full perfection of nature, and all that was lost through Adam’s disobedience. This work of Divine Grace we see is to be accomplished for the world during the Messianic Age, when Christ and the Elect Church will constitute God’s Kingdom, with power and great glory for the blessing of the world.

The Advantage of the Hearing Ear.

We who have heard the Lord’s voice calling us, inviting us during this Age to joint-heirship in the Kingdom, have an advantage over the heathen, as knowledge is always an advantage. No injustice is done the heathen in leaving them without this knowledge, but a favor is conferred upon those who have the hearing ear. Our salvation, like the world’s, waits for the New Age. In the morning of that glorious thousand-year-day the Church is to be rescued first, as it is written, “God will help her early in the morning.” (Psa. 46:5.) These He will use here as His instrumentalities in blessing the heathen and all the families of the earth, as says the Apostle John, “The Spirit and the Bride shall say come, and whosoever will may come and take of the water of life freely.” (Rev. 22:17.) The Bride must be developed before she can join with the Spirit in inviting the world to the blessing which God has in reservation, and this Gospel Age is for the very purpose of calling and testing, proving and selecting the Bride class; and at the close of this Age the marriage of the Lamb will come, and the faithful Church will thenceforth be the Bride in glory, and in association with the Bridegroom in His Kingdom work. Thus our second blessing is the privilege of accepting God’s gracious arrangement and becoming his “very elect.”

Christendom’s 400,000,000.

Having disposed of the 1,200.000,000 of heathendom, and finding that they have no call, but are under gross darkness, blindness, we now turn our attention to the estimated 400,000.000 called Christendom, and ask to what extent have these seen, heard and understood respecting the grace of God in Christ. Many of them have heard church bells ring, many of them have been inside edifices consecrated to the worship of God, but a comparatively small number have ever really heard, in the sense of truly understanding or knowing the meaning of the Gospel message. These few who have some understanding of the message are generally confused by it, and by reason of this confusion and misunderstanding of the call they are split into an hundred parties and sects. Some lay most stress upon election, others upon free grace, others upon immersion, others upon various forms' of church government, etc. Out of the whole number only a comparatively small proportion have any clear conception of the Truth—of how we became sinners, of what the penalty against the race is, of how Christ paid the penalty, of how His death was the satisfaction for our sins, of how God could be just and justify those who believe in Jesus, or how the call began at Pentecost and continued down during the Age, of the purpose and object of the call, what the called are called to and what are the terms and conditions of the call, and what will be the result to the majority after, from amongst the called ones, a few shall have been chosen to be' the Bride: of Christ, the “very elect.”

Light for the Righteous.

This is certainly a fair statement of the world’s ignorance, and it is corroborated by the Apostle, who tells us in so many words that “The God of this world hath blinded the minds of those who believe not,” and he again intimates that even believers see only in part. (2 Cor. 4:4; 1 Cor. 13:12.) Again he assures us that we who are believers should desire increasing light, and be assured that God intended the light for the Church only—“Light is sown for the righteous, truth for the upright in heart”; and again, “Thy Word is a lamp to my feet, a lantern to my footsteps”; and again, “The path of the just is as a shining light, which shineth more and more until the perfect day.” (Psa. 97:11; 119:105; Prov. 4:18.) The Apostle prays for the Church along the same lines, intimating a measure of blindness continuing with us for some time after we have accepted Christ and have become His followers. His words are, “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jeusus Chiist—that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the length and breadth and height and depth; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowlege.”—Eph. 3:14, 17, 18.

Many, Yet Few.

Do w^re not see, then, that the called ones mentioned by our Lord as “many called” are merely many in proportion to the few who will constitute the elect? and that the number of called is not many as respects the whole number of our race, but, on the contrary, few? So then, our Lord’s words, interpreted by other Scriptures, signify that a few of the world are called during this Gospel Age, whereas none of the world were called prior to this Gospel Age, during the 4,000 years from Adam to Jesus. (Eph. 2:12.) Only the Jewish nation was then dealt with by the Lord at all, and they were not called under the terms of this Gospel Age. As we see the selection which the Lord is making, we should appreciate the more the value of our knowledge of Him, and whatever we have heard of His Call, that by using the same we may greatly profit ourselves and secure the “pearl of great price,” joint-heirship with our Lord in His Kingdom. We should make our calling and election sure by diligent faithfulness to the terms and conditions regulating this selection.

Is Poverty a Blessing?

Why did not our Lord say, “Come ye righteous, come ye educated, come ye wise, come ye rich?” Why did He on the contrary say, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden”? Why did he so frequently intimate that His chosen ones would be composed chiefly of the poor of this world, rich in faith? Why did he say through His Apostles, “Not many rich, not many great, not many learned, not many noble, not many wise hath God chosen, but chiefly the poor of this world”? (1 Cor. 1:26, 27; Jas. 2:5.) The answer is not far to seek: The rich, the noble, the learned, the self-satisfied righteous are not in the condition of heart to hunger and thirst after the things which God has to give now. And God is so presenting His Truth now that it will appeal only to those of a certain character, a certain kind of disposition. As for the righteous He informs us that there are none such, that all have sinned and come short, all have violated the Divine Law, and all are under the sentence of that Law, even though some have sinned much more egregiously than otners.—Rom. 3:10.

As for education and wisdom, these do not enter into the Lord’s call, because, as the Apostle declares, much of it is foolishness in God’s sight, because much of it is error; and when God gets ready to give knowlege and wisdom to His “very elect” he can give them, the pure article. (1. Cor. 13:10).

Why the Poor?

But why should he seek the poor? Has he need of poverty? We answer, No! and He is not seeking all of the poor; but the poor in purse, poor in influence, poor in education and poor in character, with all their disadvantages, have the great advantage that their condition is favorable to humility—it is easier for them to accept the Lord’s terms and conditions and to give their all than it is for others who have more to give up and who feel less their complete dependence. So, then, without despising greatness, nobility, riches, honors, but while rightly appreciating and valuing these, let us learn to appreciate the advantages we have if we are humble, poor and lowly. And those who are rich in any of these particulars must learn the same lesson, that in order to be of the Lord’s followers they must become poor—that faithfulness to Him will cost them their influence in the world; faithfulness to Him will lead them to lay at His feet all of their wealth, financial, intellectual and moral—all to be used in joyful service of the King.

Come, Ye Laboring and Heavy Laden.

But the real pith of our '.Lord’s words lies in the terms, “Ye that labor and are heavy laden.” This may have a measure of application to farm labor, counting house labor, factory labor, etc., but its special significance is to a labor of heart, heavy laden with its appreciation of sin and degradation. Some of us. in our ignorance of the true standards of righteousness, may at one time have had very self-satisfied sentiments before coming to the Lord and entering into a covenant with Him and accepting His favor and the covering of His Robe. We perhaps have been thoughtless respecting what should be the true standard before the human heart, what should be the true standard of responsibility to God and to our fellow men; but as the eyes of our understanding become opened to the facts, as we struggle with ourselves for mastery over inherited weaknesses and frailties, as we obtain high ideals and seek to measure up to them, we find ourselves weary and heavy laden in the attempt. Happy is the man who has reached this condition of realizing his own meanness by nature, and of getting a glimpse of the grandeur of Divine perfection, the standard, the ideal.

“And I Will Give You Rest.”

Those who have come to Jesus in response to His invitation find in Him, in His Fellowship, in His Word, in His peace, which comes from believing His promises, a blessing far beyond anything they could at first understand.-— (1 Cor. 2:9, 10.)

They find that they have assistances in the assurance of their Master that the present rest of faith will by and by be succeeded by the actual rest of the Kingdom; that what they have by faith now in anticipation, they are to more than realize by and by when in the resurrection they shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and be like their Redeemer— see Him as He is and share His glory. To the extent that they can exercise this faith in the Lord and in His promises present and future, in that same proportion they have cause for rejoicing, and experience the rest, the peace, the blessing, which the Master assures us will be theirs when He said, “I will give you rest.”

“According to Thy Faith.”

But some one will say, We cannot exercise this , faith; we must hold on to the things of this present life; we cannot sacrifice social position, or wealth, or honor of men, or time, or influence—we cannot sacrifice these on a bare hope of a better resurrection and an everlasting glory in the Kingdom. We must walk by sight not by faith. Why should God make a test of faith? Ah, we answer, that is the very point: The Lord is making, an election according to faith, as we read, “According to your faith be it unto you.” Not every person is able to exercise this faith, and those who cannot do so are not to be eternally tortured because of their inability. Nevertheless their failure to exercise faith demonstrates that they cannot belong to the class whicn the Lord is now electing or selecting.

Their blessing will come in the Messianic Age, where knowledge and sight will give place to faith and trust. Blessed therefore are the poor in spirit; it is easier for them to exercise faith— easier, therefore, for them to come into alignment with the Divine conditions. Let all of us who have been laboring and heavy laden with an appreciation of our own weaknesses and imperfections, and who have heard the Master’s voice assuring us that He has paid the penalty and that He appropriates to us of His merit to give us a standing before the Father, count all things but loss and dross that we may win Christ—a place in the anointed, glorified Church; that we may be heirs of God, joint-heirs with Jesus Christ our Lord in the incorruptible inheritance which, under the great .Abrahamic Covenant, the Oath-Bound Covenant, is to bless the world.

A CREED.

This is my creed: To live as I would If I knew that today were my last;

To strive to do all that I can that is good,

To forgive the wrong done in the past.

As I’d close up my life, I would close up each day,

So that as I lie down to my rest, I could go to the Master and truthfully say,

I have tried to do, truly, my best.

Tomorrow's too distant for me to repair

Any harm I have heedlessly done;

My record today must be spotless and fair.

My race must be openly run;

I must leave none behind at the close of the day,

As I’d leave none behind when I die, Who would think of my work and then bitterly say

That I had been living a "lie.

If tonight I’m required to lay down my life,

In the midst of the struggle and strife,

I should like Him to know, through my struggles and strife,

That I made the most out of my life. That I carried my burdens as far as I could,

And I have no excuses to give;

That I toiled to the full of my powers for good,

And up to my best tried to live.

D. A. C.

THOSE TO WHOM THE

KINGDOM WILL BE GIVEN.

Our Lord made it quite plain as to who would be granted the Kingdom of Heaven when it is established in great power and glory on the earth. These are His charming words; “Fear not, little flock, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”

|>      FREE LITERATURE.      &

s> Send post-card request to the X & editor for free copies of this paper. X & Some of the interesting subjects X & you may have for asking, are:    X

X Where are the Dead?

X What is the Soul?

X Calamities—Why Permitted?

X Spiritism, Mormonism, etc., their X X Mysteries Explained.

X Card. Gibbons on Church Unity. X X Do you believe in the Resurrection? X X Our Lord’s P.eturn.

X Is Christian Science Scriptural? X |^vz Church of the Living God.

Why Financiers Tremble.

Clergy Ordination Fraudulent. X Distress of Nations preceding Ar- X mageddon.

The Battle of Armageddon.

God’s Message to the Jews. X Great Prophecy of Matt. 24.

Earthquakes in Prophecy.

God’s Law Universal and Eternal. X Thieves in Paradise.

The Handwriting on the Wall. X Great Pyramid a Divine Oracle. X Philosophy of the Deluge.

What is Baptism?

Fire and Brimstone Repudiated. X Purgatory Fires not Now but Soon! X Emp’r Constantine Trinity-Maker. X The Law of Retribution.           X

Immortality of the Soul.

Rebel Satan Doomed to Death. X Sheep and Goats Parable.

The Rich Man in Hell.

What is a Christian.

Ancient Garden of Eden.

Some Foreign Mission Facts. X How Jesus Preached to the Spirits X in Prison.

Social Conditions beyond Human X Control.

Thousand-Year Day of Judgment. X Existence of a Supreme Intelligent X Creator Established.

A Great Prophecy Nearing Fulfil- X ment.

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PASTOR RUSSELL’S STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES.

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