International BiFIe Stn^e'n^ AssociaiibnT\^?^3ZZ«^ezx* |

Vol. VIII.

NO. 8

BROOKLYN, ,N. Y.

Chiljermg tlj? toh’ja iewla

“What Son is He the Father Chasteneth Not”

*^lThey shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels—Mal. 3:17.

EWELS have a value of their own, an intrinsic quality, and no doubt 'Would be appreciated if they were very plentiful, but their appreciation is all the more marked because of their comparative scarcity. The figures and Similes used throughout the Scriptures jt>y the holy Spirit are full of significance, and this one as well as others. iWhen the Lord likens his faithful people to the precious stones, jewels, it signifies that there is an intrinsic value or beauty that he appreciates, and it implies also that such characters are, in comparison with the world, very pcarce—a “little flock.”

Our text points to the close of the IGospel Age, and not only tells us that the Lord will not gather his jewels Sooner, but implies also that the only class to be gathered at that time will he the jewel class—he comes to make Tip his jewels. We have here a contradiction of the ordinary thoughts on this subject: (1) That the Lord has heen gathering his jewels all along for

in seeking for those of the desirable kind, so the great Jewel-Gatherer operates according to a principle in seeking for his jewels.

“Even as Many as th© Lord Shall Call”

The hardness of the diamond may be used to represent character, and we are to remember that character belongs to the individual and not to God. Each of us must have his own character, and only in proportion as each has character can he hope to be accepted, finally as a jewel, for those without character will not endure the tests. As the diamond-seeker lays hold upon everything in his path that gives evidence of having the diamond, quality, so divine grace, operating in the diamond field of the world (Christendom, and wherever the Word' of the Lord has gone), lays hold upon all who have anything re-:

sembling character. The soft, the pli-: able, the uncrystallized, are not being sought now, and coming in contact with divine grace are passed by. Only such the past six thousand years; evidently as give evidence of character are B,n erroneous thought, since he has ap- thought even worthy of washing and ^pointed a day, in the end of this age, testing.

5n which he will gather, or make up, The hard crystallization of the dia-

-  —   --- --  <              o_Cv mo-*d cm resnopd willingness toward

■     iXxU.1V iU'ual, '        :

of the thought that e

respectable, half-way dece.-., gathered to the Lord, and share in his Kingdom; for it distinctly points out that a very exceptional class only will be sought for and gathered.

The class here described as jewels are contrasted with other classes in the context (v. 15), “the proud,” who have anuch of the success of the present time, and workers of wickedness, who tempt God, and are not; careful to please and serve him—and sach evidently are the majority of mankind. The jewel Class is described in v. 16 as “They that ffeared Jehovah”—that reverenced him, “and that thought upon his Word.”

But, we inquire, Where are jewels visually found? The answer of the fig-?ure is that jewels may be found in very ^unexpected places, as, for instance, the diamonds of South Africa are sometimes mingled with the ordinary gravel, p,nd sometimes imbedded in bluish-'black clay. They all require to be searched after, and generally require to be washed from the mire,' before being prepared to refract the light. So Home of these “jewels,” whom the Lord Ss now seeking out from the world, are Sound in the ordinary walks of life, and pome came from deep down in the mire of sin. In the world of mankind the Lord does not expect to find the jewels fin perfect order, shaped, cut, polished pnd ready for the setting in glory. On the contrary, by one class of his servants he lifts them out of the mire of pin and out of the horrible pit, and washes them, cleanses them from sin through the merit of his own precious blood, and through his Word; and then through other servants and providences (he polishes them with divine skill, to the intent that they may reflect and refract the light of the glory of God—* •the divine- character,—justice, wisdom, love.

As the diamond in its rough state, uncut, unpolished, would have no more value than any other common stone for 'Ordinary purposes, so those whom the Lord is selecting and preparing as his jewels are to derive their ultimate value from the cutting, shaping, polishing, of their characters under divine providence; as it is written, “We are his workmanship.” (Eph. 2:10.) We cannot suppose the illustration to be perfect in every particular, yet we may readily see that, while divine grace is to be credited with the entire outcome ♦—the beauty and grace of the finished

ninety

^: willingness toward

which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”—Rom. 5:3-5; 2 Cor. '4:17.

"Abandon Us Not In Temptation.”

The lapidarist takes firm hold upon! the jewel which he has already tested and proved to have the requisite jewel quality, and encasing it in a suitable instrument, he presses it against the friction, a lap-wheel, with just the required amount of pressure to cut away the roughness and unevenness, and to effect the necessary shaping and polishing. The process requires great skill, otherwise at times much of the value of the stone might be lost through misshaping; hence only skilled workmen are employed in this department.

For instance, 'the celebrated Kohinoor diamond originally weighed nearly 800 karats, but in the hands of a poor cutter was reduced to 280 karats. Yet so much of a diamond’s value depends on skilful cutting, that more than one-half of its size was (subsequently sacrificed in recutting it, to obtain symmetry, beauty, and refractive power, and now it weighs less than 107 karats.

S'o it is with the polishing of the Lord’s jewels; their value depends much on proper cutting; and this is entrusted only to the skilled hands of. our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom we are assured in advance that he was tempted in all points like as we are *—that he himself passed through similar experiences of testings, etc., at the Father’s hands. He knows just what we need to perfect us, so that we will be pleasing and ac-

his living jewels can “rejoice in tribu* lation,” knowing that it is working out in them the peaceable fruits of righteousness—of love, and that such expe-riences are essential, and that without them they could never be amongst th® gathered? jewels.

“What Son is He that th© Father,

Chasteneth Not?”

'Our text, after speaking of thegathi ering of the jewel class, drops the fig-i ure and refers to the same class as God’s sons, saying, “And I will spar® them, as a man spareth his own soa that serveth him.” Here we have the distinction always held out, as between those who are servants merely, and those who are serving sons. Moses was faithful as a servant over his house (natural Israel), but Christ is faithful as a Son, over his house (the elect Church)—the house or family of sons* who have received the spirit of adop-i tion, the holy Spirit. Although sons, yet they must learn obedience no les® thoroughly than if they were merely servants. Indeed, as sons, it is all th® more necessary that they learn the les-t -sons of obedience to the Father; more, much more, is to be expected of a son in his father’s service, than of one who is not a son. He is expected to engage in the service in the Spirit of his Father, moved by the same impulses of justice and love, because “begotterf again” by that spirit of holiness. As eu son he requires no less careful, but? more careful, training than a servant; more careful disciplining at the Fath-t

God and'righteousness there is non$ of the jewel quality which the Lord is now seeking. Those whose wills are formed, crystallized, set, determined for righteousness, are they whom the Lord is now seeking. And here we have the imperfection of the simile; for, while all diamonds are alike hard, the great Jewel-Seeker accepts some in whom the crystallizing process is incomplete, and “helps our infirmities,” developing in us by his providences the quality of firmness for righteousness, at the sama time that he polishes us.—Rom. 8:26.

But even when the rough diamond has been found, as before observed, it would be of no value, except as it could be cut—indeed, of less value than'other stones and clay for many purposes. So it is with those whom divine grace finds in the mire of sin, having, nevertheless, will or character desiring righteousness, truth, goodness, justice,—‘‘feeling after God” (Acts 17:27); the great

er’s hands; for is he not his represent

.         j-t. .i." j. a t j . tative and to be his heir?—Heb. 3:5. 6t!

ceptable to the Father, to reflect and 12-?• Rom 8-15 17                ’

refract the light of'his glory when it while theso ^’n** ars nnt tn shall fall upon us in o_;ur finished state. _from the polishing processes n!cSI™ .A trirt of our lesson :.i to rave faith m _+o make accentiblo wna **«®

^v,u°f ^Lf;^e cepted in

Father has appointed to shape and pol- ■-        ■ -        - -         xxx_Ci_OO^

ish us. We may require much more trimming¹ on some'sides of our charac-

they are to be spared from something, our text assures us. Other Scriptures

-- AT" r~“^rk K    —'W  show us that this class is to be spared,

the disposition (j) from the great time of tribulation, often is to drawback, to be not fully -^hich j_S to come upon the whole world submissive, to ..car that the Lord has _of mankind in the end of this age; in, forgotten and abandoned us in trial, harmonv with our Lord’s word's.

ters than

Jewel-Cutter, the great Lapidarist, must really give them all their value, by his wisdom and skill in shaping, cutting and polishing them. Yet, on the other hand, he could not cut, shape or polish that which had not the quality or character, the will for righteousness, essential to the receiving of such a polishing. Those, therefore, who are in the hands of the great Lapidarist, and undergoing his polishing process, must first have passed through the previous experience of having been found of divine grace—found of the Lord Jesus; must first have been washed; and must have been accepted as having wills desirous of harmony with the divine mind. Therefore, they may take pleasure in all the trying experiences and difficulties through which our Lord Jesus causes them to pa s as various parts of the grinding and polishing process, necessary to their completion as Jehovah’s jewels, to be made up by the close of the Gospel Age, and to be set in the gold of the divine nature, to reflect the beauties of the divine character forever. .

It is in harmony with this thought that the Apostle encourages us to rejoice in tribulation, knowing that it is working out for us patience, experience, hope, brotherly kindness, love,—the various facets of the jewel essential to it in the eyes of him who is shortly to gather his jewels. The Apostle again speaks of even the most trying and difficult experiences of the Christian life as being “light afflictions,” and he speaks of the present life as being, in comparison to the eternal future, but “a

But infinite wisdom assures us, guarantees us, that this is not so, and that to draw back would leave us “unfit for the Kingdom.”—Heb. 13:5; Luka 9:62.

The earthly lapidary Imbeds In cement the jewel he Is polishing, except the facet which he is grinding, so that neither he nor any other sees it during the operation, except as he lifts it, cools it and examines the progress of his work; but all the while he knows just what is being done, for he has an instrument called a “Lapidary’s Dial,” which indicates the position of the jewel exactly, and avoids the poor cut-< ting of olden times.

And just so it is with the Lord’s jew-« els: “The world knoweth us not”—it has seen the wheel of discipline which has been cutting th® Lord’s jewels for centuries, but it has not understood the necessity and value of the process. It may even have caught an occasional glimpse of the jewels, but not to any advantage—not so as to be able to know the real merit of their characters or the value of the cutting and polishing, for even the already finished facets are smeared with the cement and slim® from the grind wheel. But the great, loving Master-Workman and Lapidar-ist-in-Chief knows and has explained it all to the “jewels”; and they know in part now, and by faith ar® trusting all the remainder, singing in their hearts, “He knows, He knows!” “He will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able to bear, but will with the temptation provide also a way of escape.” Yes, the Lord knows just how much pressure to apply,—just how much friction is necessary—and will not willingly afflict us, or cause tribulation which he cannot and will not overrule for our good. And being thus assured that all things are working together for good to them that love God,

harmony with

“Watch ye, that ye may be accounted) worthy to escape ail these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (2) They are t® escape the thousand years of judgment, or trial, coming upon the world, which has its beginning in the time of trou-i ble of “the time of the end." Thus the Apostle declares that this class of faith-* ful sons, the jewel class, “shall not come into condemnation [judgment] with the world.”—Luke 21:36; 1 Cor. 11:32; John 5:24.

Nor does this imply that the world’s trial, or judgment, will be an unend'ura,-* ble one; for, quite to the contrary, we are assured that it will be most favora-* ble, that the Lord “will judge the world in righteousness” during the Millennial Age. But for the Church to have share in that trial would mean a prolongatiort of the period of trial; it would meant also a thousand years of delay in enter-* ing into the joys of the Lord in the fullest sense,—a thousand years of de-* lay in attaining to that which Is perfect. And not only so, but, as we have seen from other Scriptures, and aS is implied in this Scripture, the clasd now being selected is a jewel class, dif-* fering in many respects from the world, of mankind in general, all of whom have been redeemed, and for all of whom a way of escape will be provided* from th® inherited Adamic sin and' penalty, “in due time.”—1 Tim. 2:6.

“Afterward It Yieldeth the Peaceable Fruits of Righteousness”

Nor are we to suppose that those who are now pressed against the wheel of tribulation, difficulty, are thereby made miserable. Quite to the contrary, they realize, as the Scriptures point out they¹ should, a joy and peace which the world knows not of—which the world, can neither give nor take away. And.

jewel—yet nevertheless divine grace operates according to principles and conditions, under divine law. As the experienced diamond miners reject th© _____________ _

goft day afid various of the hard stoney moment/’ saying, “Qur light affliction,

t “WHERE ARE THE DEAD?” f os This sermon was published in a recent issue of THE BIBLE

STUDENTS MONTHLY. The interest aroused, and the great de-mand for copies of this sermon has been remarkable. A sample '^^> copy will be mailed to any one free.                                 $|>

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natural than a desire

I The RICH MAN in HELL t f LAZARUS IN ABRAHAM’S BOSOM f

A highly instructive and interesting sermon on this subject appeared

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THIS IS NOT AN ADVERTISEMENT BUT AN EDITORIAL.

“fyiitMw in Urrtpitrsw"

“MY PEOPLE PERISH FOR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE,” SAl'TH THE LORD., INFIDELITY. HIGHER CRITICISM, ETC., ARE DESTROYING FAITH.

The “People’s Pulpit/’ Seeking to Uphold God’s Word at Any Cost, Seeks to Shed Abroad “The Light of the

Knowledge of the Glory of God, as it Shines in the Face of Jesus Christ Our Lord”

We commend to the thousands of our readers’ the careful study of the Six Series of “Studies in th© Scriptures.” Many of you must already have them in your homes, for over three millions of the first series is announced by the publishers, The Bible and Tract Society of Brooklyn Tabernacle, Brooklyn, N. Y.

We urge that you read these Studies, yea that you study them, if you would have the greatest blessing imaginable by a Christian in the present life. Never mind the fact that some dear Christian people speak evil of this work as many spoke evil of our Master and his words. They are prejudiced, blinded, like Saul of Tarsus of old’. In ignorance they oppose., not having read. Hearken to the words of C. T. Smith

“It is impossible to read this book without loving the writer and pondering his wonderful solution of the great mysteries that have troubled us all our lives. There is hardly a family to be found that has not lost some loved one who died outside the church—outside the plan of salvation, and, if Galvanism be true, outside of all hope and inside of eternal torment and despair.

_ “This wonderful book makes no assertions that are not well sustained by the Scriptures. It is built up stone by stone, and upon every stone is the text, and it becomes a pyramid of God’s love and mercy and wisdom. There is nothing in the Bible that the author denies or doubts, but there are many texts that he throws a flood of light upon that seem to uncover its meaning.”

in futile

“The World that Was”—“The Present Evil World”—“The World to Come”

Text:—"Thrust in thy sickle, and reap; for the time is come for thee to reap.”—Rev. 14:15.

Intelligent people appear to reason upon every subject under the sun except on religion. Approach a man upon any matter of industry or social progress or political economy or finance and we find him reasonably alert to the general law of Cause and Effect, but when it comes to religion the same man refuses to recognize or follow such laws. To illustrate: If a thousand religious men and women were asked to give some general outline of the Divine Plan under which humanity is being dealt with by the Almighty, Nine Hundred and Ninety-' Nine of them would look at you in blank astonishment as though it were absurd to suppose that God would conduct his affairs along the lines of order, reason and common sense— Cause and Effect. On the contrary the Scriptures everywhere hold that our Creator is systematically ordering the affairs of earth and “working all things according to the counsel of his own will” (Ephesians, i, 11).

St. Peter divides the world’s history into three great epochs, which our common version Bible designates as “worlds.” The first of these, he says, lasted from the creation of our first parents to the flood. The flood was the harvest time, the reaping time, of that epoch. It was the conclusion to the course of sin which, he tells us, there prevailed. And only eight persons, Noah and his family, were carried over as a nucleus for another great epoch or “world,” which St. Peter calls, “^r"’ world that now is,” and which St. Paul calls, “This present evil world” or epoch, and of which Jesus states, “My kingdom is not of this world (epoch)” while again he informs us that Satan is “the ■ •--Prince-of-this-woHdr^^— **

Certain things have , ress—certain great instruction-m his blessings from the Almighty during this long period of over Forty-three Hundred years. “This present evil world” or epoch is to have a harvest time and its affairs are to be as thoroughly wound up, completed, as were the affairs of “the world before the flood.” Then a new epoch or “world to come” will dawn, the character of which is clearly delineated in the Scriptures as being very contrary in every way to that of “this present evil world.” It will be “The world to come, whereof we speak,” the new epoch, figuratively said to have “a new heavens and a new earth,” in which the Lord will dominate human affairs. His elect Church of the present time associated with him as his Bride, will constitute the “new heavens” or new spiritual domination under which human regeneration will bring the “new earth.” Under that new dispensation everything will be in accord with the character of its King, the Prince of Light and Righteousness, just as the conditions of “the present evil world” are in harmony with the characteristics of the “Prince of this world, who now work-eth in the hearts of the children of disobedience”—“the Prince of Darkness.”

“The World That Was.”

The “world” or epoch which ended at the flood accomplished a great work. It was during that period of Sixteen Hundred and Fifty-six years that God first tested Satan by permitting him to have an opportunuity to show the traitorous attitude of his heart in connection with our first parents. Desiring to establish himself as an Emperor over earth, separate and distinct from the Empire of Jehovah, Lucifer became Satan, God’s Adversary, and has since continued in his opposition to the Divine will. Our first parents, through Satan’s lie, were

What is man that Thou art mindful of him?' Psalm 8:4.

Notwithstanding all that the

Bible has to say respecting the nature of man few subjects seem to be more misunderstood. Science declares man to be an animal of the highest type or order. In this science is in absolute agreement with the Scriptures,

will tell you, at very most, that he be» lieves some of them are honest, or will telL you sorrowfully that some of them have lied to him time and again, and if he be an advances and expe-

the First-born," and again, “the first-fruits unto God of His creatures.” The elect of this Gospel Age are not, therefore, all who are to be saved, but merely ail who are to be saved to the spirit plane. With the completion of the elect Church and her glorification with our Lord in His resurrection, the “First Resurrection” (Phil. 3: 10; Re-v. 20: 6), the Kingdom will be established for

which we pray. The Kingdom,

rienced spiritualist he will tell that, ual, invisible to

at times some of these evil spirits

which declare of our first parents, “Th© have made all manner of vile sugges-flrst man was of the earth, earthy” Wons to him. But he win tell also

earthly agents

per se, will be spirit-men, but It will have and representatives,

(I Cor. 15: 47). Our text agrees with this, declaring that man was made a little lower than the angels—angels being the lowest form of spirit beings, man the highest type of earth beings. A particular account of man’s creation is given, and when we examine it we And it in full agreement with what we have seen to be the teachings of ©then parts of the Scriptures. That account declares that God formed man of the dust of the earth, and it tells us that after man’s transgression had brought him under the Divine condemnation of death, his Creator said to

that at first it was not so; instead, he was at first told that he should pray more and read the Scriptures more. Afterwards he was jeered at and mocked and told that the Scriptures

and its dealings will be with mankind, to uplift Adam and his race from sin and degradation—not to spirit conditions, not to the heavenly plane, not to make them like the angels, but, as the Scriptures declare, to restore them to human perfection—to perfection of

spirit had been received by any member of our race. The Lord Jesus Himself became the Captain and Forerunner of “the Church, which is His Body,” and which, during this Gospel Age, has been walking in His steps of self-sacrifice. The special privilege of this Gospel Age is the sacrifice of the earthly nature in order to the attainment, instead, of the heavenly nature.

This was an incomprehensible matter to those to whom it was preached at first. No Jew had ever thought of anything higher than the human plane

and 3 plane.

Divine service on the human

But the

were nonsense and that although there the earthly nature, in which Adam

pel was a call heavenly nature as the Bride of Heirs in glory, says that it is

message of the Gos-or invitation to the and heavenly service, Christ and His Joint-Of this call St. Paul a “Mystery that was

him, “Dust thou art, shalt thou return.”

Whence Came Onr

In view of the facts,

and unto dust

Confusion f which we now

have clearly before our minds, how strange it seems that most of the civilized world denies all and declares to the contrary—that man is a spirit being, and that his death is merely an evolutionary step by which he passes ®n to his real nature as a spirit. This Is supposed to be very scientific, because many presumably wise and scientific people thus assert themselves. However, according to these same people, such an evolution, from human nature to spirit nature, at death, instead of being a desirable progression or evolution, is a decided disadvantage, because, as they tell us, the majority of those thus graduated from, flesh conditions to spirit conditions will find themselves tortured, either purgatorlally or eternally. It would seem, if this be true, that this, at least to the majority, would be a step of de-volution rather than one of; evolution.

But upon what are these ’'scientific” and learned assumptions based? Who Will vouch for the change said to take place at death? Who will prove to us that a man in dying becomes a spirit being of a higher order than human?

There is no such proof; the wish is parent to the thought. Yet why should

is a God the inquirer is too renegade to hope for any blessing from God.

We have neglected our Bibles too much; we have trusted too much to worldly wisdom. The Bible alone gives the solution of the matter. It alone tells us respecting these spirits—that they are not humans and never were; that they are the fallen angels.

“A Man’s a Man For A’ That.”

The Bible is thoroughly consistent with itself; from first to last it maintains that man is an earthy being. According to the Greek and the Hebrew of the Bible he is an animal soul or animal being in contradistinction to a spirit soul or spirit being. “Man that is born of woman is of few

was created and from which by he fell and will be recovered by grace of God in Christ Jesus.

Begotten to a New Nature.

Very long ago the distinctions tween those two salvations was

sin the

be-lost

days and full of trouble”

and wasteth He shall not of his sleep more”—until things shall 14: 1-10).

“Man dieth

away, and where is he? awake nor be raised out until the heavens be no the present order of have passed away (Job

sight of—the Heavenly Calling for the Church and the Restitution for the world (Heb. 3: 1; Acts 3: 19-21). The Old Testament refers exclusively to the earthly and the fact that the New Testament tells almost exclusively of the heavenly and its promises was overlooked. Thenceforth no difference was recognized between the consecrated Church and mankind in general, and the words of the Apostle, addressed to the Church class only, were applied to all.

For instance, in first Corinthians, the fifteenth chapter, St. Paul discusses the general fact of death reigning

hidden from past Ages and Dispensations, but that it is now revealed unto the saints” (Col. 1: 26). It was not proper that any but the saints should fully appreciate and comprehend this. “To you it is given to know the things of the Kingdom, but to outsiders these things are spoken in parables and dark sayings that they might not understand.”

This Mystery was, therefore, never understood by many because the saints were never many, and thus, later on, when saintship was at a discount and when nominal Christians became numerous and influential and made th© creeds, it was but natural that the Mystery should become more or less befogged. But instead of going back to preach human restitution to the human plane, in a world-like Eden,

the misinformed

theologians hung

their own hopes and the hopes of the world upon the heavenly assurances—

through Adam and of the provision, • just where they did not belong.

men wish eo be spirit beings at death, “-if thsy-bdlev-e,--as-ths -creeds-4sela.r8, that tortures await them in the spirit Sand—await nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every thousand? Ah, here again humanity does not believe its own creeds. The devilish suggestions are allowed to remain in the creeds, unbelieved by the intelligent, to affright the unintelligent. But alas! these misrepresentations are really blasphemies against our Creator, which misrepresent His Wisdom, Justice, Love and Power. And these blasphemous thoughts are accredited to th© Bible, with the result that it is disbelieved and its great Author doubted or denied and thousands of the intelligent of our race are agnostics.

One Voice Only Answers.

Spiritism speaks up to assert that It, and it alone, can furnish proof that man, of th© earth earthy, is after death a spirit. It furnishes us mediums at whose Instance tables are tipped and rappings are heard and other evidences are given of unseen power; and these unseen powers, we are told, are the spirits of dead men seeking to prove to humans that they are not dead, but that in the moment of death they were transformed into spirit.

And now our scientific men are taking up th© subject. They decline to he identified with Spiritism and designate their findings Psychic Phenomena. Mediums and their demonstrations have been subjected to every imaginable scientific test to demonstrate that the results are not fraudulent—that there is really a spirit power, an Invisible power which can do and has dona remarkable things beyond the power of humanity. Accepting these investigations as scientific, and accepting the results as scientific proof that there Is a spirit power or fore© which can operate and has operated in conjunction with human affairs and especially through mediums, what does this prove? What scientific fact have we

Again we read respecting the death sentence and man’s hope of recovery out of death by a resurrection, “Thou turnest man to destruction; Thou say-est, return ye children of men”; “Cease ye from man, whose spirit (breath of life) is in his nostrils” (Psalm 90: 3; Isaiah 2: 22); “If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of mine appointed time will I await until my (resurrection) change come. Thou shalt call and I will answer Thee (awakening from the sleep of death), for Thou wilt have desire unto the work of Thy hands”; “There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of th© unjust” (Job 14: 14; Acts 24: 15).

They are dead, they are not alive as spirits nor in any other sense. They will be dead until God’s time for the

oj-t-he dead.- - Resurrection-of the living would be unnecessary, and if death brought to man a change to a higher plane of existence as a spirit being, then the resurrection of the dead would not be set before humanity as a blessed hope, for rather it would be a punishment, even to the holy.

here to evidence that powers have anything to friends who have died?

“Lying Spirits,” Says

these spirit do with our

Whence Came the Error?

It seems probable that this serious error, which has had so much to do with the world’s theological confusion, came about through the misunderstanding of the Bible teachings respecting the Church—the application of things said concerning the Church to the world, to whom they do not apply. Bible students are coming more and mor© to see, in the light which one passage of Scripture throws upon another, that the Church is a distinctive class, separate from the angels and the world of mankind in general.

The Divine Plan revealed in the Scriptures sets forth one salvation for the Church—on the spirit plane. It reveals to us two classes who will be blessed on that spirit plane. It shows us that one of these classes was typified la the priesthood of natural Israel and that the other class was typified in the Levites who assisted th© priests as servants. The remainder of the tribes of Israel represented, typically, the entire world of mankind wh© will ultimately be saved, not to a heavenly state or condition, but as men, to a restored earthly condition.

It will be remembered that th© Priests and Levites had no inheritance In the land, thus typically showing that they represented that portion of humanity which, by God’s grace, will obtain a heavenly inheritance and experience a change from human to spirit nature.

As the Levites and Priests represented the first-born of Israel saved at the Passover, so those who will attain a resurrection to the spirit plane ar© Scripturally designated “the Church of

through Christ, of a resurrection of the dead. Then he proceeds to speak specially of the Church class, saying, “this is the resurrection of the dead." Th® (emphatic) resurrection signifies the special or First-Resurrection class, and the dead similarly marks the special class of dead ones—-the saintly dead, the Church of Christ, begotten of the Holy Spirit to a new nature, th© heavenly nature.

Not noticing this, commentators and people in general have applied these words to humanity in general and understand them to teach that all that are sown in corruption will be raised in Incorruption; that all who die in weakness, will be raised in power; that all who die animal bodies, will be raised spi.                           ' a.uos-

tld is end 5 'nix SMQjqen) different If .-re^_s,i_U9 ©Auq emos 4qaJ^qi

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giveth to every seed its own body”; that is to say, if we sow wheat we expect to reap wheat, if we sow oats we expect to reap oats. The Apostle’s argument is that none need expect to be of the wheat class, the spirit class, unless they are of that class when sown in death. In other words, he would have them understand that a natural man, an animal man, in the resurrection, will be an animal man, but those who accept the Divine offer of this Gospel Age, to become New Creatures in Christ Jesus, begotten again by the Holy Spirit—these will not come forth in the resurrection human beings, but, being in full harmony with the begetting of the Spirit which they have received, will in the resurrection be born of the Spirit,

Th® Hidden Mystery Revealed.

Up to the time of Christ no promise of a change of nature from human to

Thus it is that, despite our five senses and every plain statement of the Bible, It has become the prevalent belief that humanity is of spirit nature and not earthly, human; that dying is but getting one either to Heaven, Purgatory or Hell. With this confusion the danger all along theological lines has become great, so that practically every doctrine of the Church is more or less confused thereby. This is the secret, this is the reason why the Bible is misunderstood and being cast aside with the creeds of the Dark Ages as no longer worthy of consideration, while the bulk of Churchiani ty rushes madly toward the ditch of “Higher Criticism, Evolution, Agnosticism”—with little faith in a personal God and no definite hope, prre JC’eek Ye the Old Paths.”

ur        we seek the old paths,

__•. \nd that we seek them . reverently and hon-uas been much searching ue pi<- <j.,ble to find proofs of what we believe and to entrench ourselves in errors handed to us from the past by well-meaning but deceived forefathers. It is time for us to be honest and to search that we may know God’s Message to us through His Inspired Prophets and His Son and the Apostles.

It will not do to say that doctrines are unnecessary. The Bible puts faith, proper faith, at the very foundation of Christian character. “We believe and therefore speak.”

Let us do this; let us not be content until we know exactly what the Bible teaches concerning "What is man” and respecting the hope, man’s restitution, and respecting the high calling, th© heavenly calling of the Church. When we begin to see these matters clearly th© entire Bible shines as never before, our faith becomes strong as never before. And then, if w© ar© honest,

our love for service must ately.

God and our zeal for Hie also Increase proportion-

THE LOVE TO BE DESIRED

’Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the Truth through the Spirit, unto wk-feigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart

fervently.”—1 Pet. x tea.

*t»HE word "souls” in this text stands, as usual, for the being, and not merely for the physical being, which is included. The purifying, therefore, refers to a thorough cleansing of the heart (the mind, the will, the actuating intentions, or motives), as the effect of such purification will be manifest in the outward life and conduct.

We purify our souls—that is, our souls are purified (have been purified if we

are saints)—by obedience to through the spirit; that is that it is necessary for us to Truth; not necessarily that

the Truth to imply know the we know

St. Paul.

These spirits operate through mediums, sometimes in trance, somtlmes answering by written notes from "nowhere,” sometimes mechanically grasping the hand of the writing-medium and using it without her volition; sometimes by tappings and sometimes by ouija-boards, declaring themselves truthful, sincere, honest, desirous of assisting humanity, etc.

But does this prove, scientifically, that they are honest, that they are true? Ask any spiritualist! He

The Hope of Immortality

This subject, which has been so misunderstood, is convincingly and Scripturally treated in Vol. 2, No. 4.

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all truth, but necessary for us to know the great truth on this subject—the truth that God condemned sin; to know the truth that the whole world of mankind came under this condemnation; to know the truth that God has provided a way of escape from the condemnation that is upon the world; to know the truth that there is but one particular way in which any can avail themselves of this Divine provision, namely, that of being justified by faith in Christ, and taking up the cross and following in His footsteps. When we presented ourselves in spirit and in

truth, through faith, our sins were forgiven; we were accepted as New Creatures in Christ; our souls were purified; we were started in a new career.

In our text the Apostle proceeds to say that, having had this glorious transformation of character, through the knowledge of and obedience to the spirit of the Truth, we have learned to love the brethren with an “unfeigned love,” a love that is genuine, without pretence—not merely an outward profession, to have a smile upon the face or to give a cordial grasp of the hand, but that through this spirit we have recognized that all who trust in the precious blood and are consecrated to the dear Redeemer, and are seeking to follow His leadings, are “brethren,” regardless of race or color or education or poverty or homeliness. We have reached the point where our hearts are so full of the Spirit of the Master that we can truthfully say we love all the brethren with a love which is sincere and not at all feigned. We must not only regard them as brethren and give them “unfeigned love,” but this should give us great sympathy and a desire to do everything we can to encourage them, to help them.