NO. 814: “THE DAY OF VENGEANCE”

No. 814

Part Six – Preparation of the Elements

“Wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy [wrath]. For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.” (Zeph. 3:8-9)

This is a continuation from our May 2025 paper on “The Day of Vengeance.”

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The gathering of the nations in these last days, in fulfilment of the above prophecy, is very notable. The nations are “assembled” in the only manner in which they could be assembled – in common interest and activity – but sadly, not in brotherly love. Selfishness regulates every energy and enterprise, except the preaching of the gospel and the establishment of benevolent institutions. Even in these undertakings, one fears that much that is done is inspired by motives other than pure love for God and humanity. Selfishness has gathered the nations and has been steadily preparing them for the predicted, and now fast approaching, retribution – anarchy – which is so graphically described as the “fire” of God’s “jealousy” (anger), which is about to consume utterly the present social order – the world that now is. (2 Pet. 3:7)

While man is permitted the exercise of his free agency, God, by His overruling providence, is shaping human affairs for the accom­plishment of His own wise purposes. While men and their works are the agents and agencies, God is the great Commander who now gathers the nations and assembles the kingdoms preparatory to the transfer of earth’s dominion to Him “whose right it is,” Immanuel. (Ezek. 21:27)

This message of the Prophet would bring us only sorrow and anguish were it not for the assurance that the results will work good to the world, overthrowing the reign of selfishness and establishing, through Christ’s Millennial Kingdom, the reign of righteousness. A “pure language” indicates that men’s communica­tions with each other will no longer be selfish, but pure, truthful and loving, that they may all “serve the Lord with one consent.” The gathering of the nations will not only contribute to the severity of the judgment, but it will also make it impossible for any to escape it; and it will thus make the great tribulation a short and decisive conflict, as it is written: “For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.” (Rom. 9:28; Isa. 28:22)

Looking about us, we see the “elements” preparing for the fire of this day – the fire of God’s wrath. Selfishness, knowledge, wealth, ambition, hope, discontent, fear and despair are the ingredients whose friction will shortly set aflame the angry passions of the world and cause its various social “elements” to melt in the fervent heat. The contentment of the past is gone from all classes – all are dissatisfied. All are selfishly and increasingly grasping for “rights” or bemoaning “wrongs.” True, there are grievous wrongs which should be righted, and rights that should be enjoyed and respected; but the tendency of our time, with its increase of knowledge and independence, is to look only at the side of questions closest to self-interest, and to fail to appreciate the opposite side. The effect foretold by the Prophets will be ultimately to set every man’s hand against his neighbor, which will be the immediate cause of the great final catastrophe.

All classes will suffer terribly in this trouble, but the Scriptures inform us that the rich will suffer most. While the rich are diligently heaping up fabulous treasure for these last days, God, through the Prophets, is saying, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” (Luke 12:15-20) In the distress of the hour, “They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord: . . .  because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.” (Ezek. 7:19)

THE HEAPING OF TREASURES

It is evident that we are in a time preeminent above all others for the accumulation of wealth, and for “wanton” or extravagant living on the part of the rich. (Jas. 5:3, 5) Of course only a minority of those who seek wealth find it. The rush and strife for wealth is not always rewarded. As the Apostle said, “But they that will be rich [who are determined to be rich at all hazards] fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts [desires], which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money [wealth] is the root of all evil.” (1 Tim. 6:9-10) The majority, being inexperi­enced, take the risks and find disappoint­ment and loss, while the few, worldly-wise and keen, take few risks and reap most of the gains.

But is it true that there are poor and needy people in this land of plenty, in which so many are heaping together such fabulous wealth? Is it not his or her own fault if any healthy man or woman cannot get along comfortably? Would it not tend to cultivate dependence if the “well-to-do” should undertake to “paddle the canoes” of the poorer classes? The subject is regarded this way by many of the wealthy, who in many instances were once poor themselves, and who remember that then all who were able and willing to work could find plenty to do. They do not realize that great changes have taken place, and while their fortunes have improved wonderfully, the condition of the masses has gotten worse.

The wealthy and comfortable often find it difficult to realize the destitution of the poor, who are rapidly becoming more numerous. Even among those of the middle and wealthy classes who do think and feel for the distresses of the very poor, there is the realization of the utter impossibility of changing the present social order so as to bring any permanent relief to them. Thus, each does what little he thinks to be his ability and duty for those nearest to him, and tries to discredit or ignore the reports of misery.

It may be explained to the poor that the wealthy never were so charitable as now, that society has more ample provision for the disadvantaged than ever before, and that immense revenues are raised annually by taxation for the maintenance of these provisions. These explana­tions will surely not satisfy working people, however, because it is not charity that they want. They want a chance to honestly and decently earn a living. While they struggle harder than ever for an honest living, they read of the prosperity of the rich, the growing number of millionaires and billion­aires, and the concentrations of capital controlling the various industries. They see also that these monopolies control the machinery and technology of the world, causing the value of their labor to depreciate. Can we wonder that many are envious, angry, and embittered when they contrast the extravagant lifestyles and wastefulness of the wealthy with their own family’s deprivation? We cannot doubt that such matters awaken in the hearts of the masses feelings of envy, hatred, malice, and strife, which will ripen into open revolt during the great trouble-time impending.

The Lord, whose judgment against the rich as a class is so severe, will nevertheless be merciful to them as individuals. When in His wisdom He has destroyed their idols of silver and gold, and brought down their high looks, and humbled their pride, He will then be gracious to comfort and to heal such as renounce their selfishness and pride. To temper our judgement, it is well for us to remember that the term “rich” is a very broad one, and includes not only the immensely wealthy, but in many minds others who might be considered poor in comparison. We should also remember that many of the best and most benevolent people are among those considered to be rich by the very poor. Many of the rich not only justly pay heavy taxes to support public education and public charities, etc., but they also cheerfully contribute otherwise to the relief of the poor and to institutions they esteem worthy. Those who do these things out of good and honest hearts, and not (as we must admit is sometimes the case) for show and praise of men, will not lose their reward. And all such should be justly esteemed.

We do not in any sense justify the selfish extravagance of the rich, which the Lord condemns as wrong (Jas. 5:5), but considering these various sides we can be more sympathetic toward those who have been blinded with riches by the “god of this world,” who also blinds the poor upon some issues. He is thus leading both sides into the great “battle.”

We realize that some of the rich are very benevolent, and that they gain their wealth under the operation of the very same laws that govern all. We also realize that some of the poor are less generous naturally, and less disposed to be just than some of the rich, and that if places were changed, they would often prove more exacting and tyrannical than the rich. Nevertheless, the Lord declares that the possessors of wealth are about to be called into judgment, because they did not seek at their own cost a more equitable and generous plan, for instance, along the lines of Socialism.

However, not much is to be expected of the worldly; for selfishness is the spirit of the world. We have more reason to look to the prominent and wealthy who profess to be Christians, but they lay neither their lives nor their wealth upon God’s altar in the service of the gospel, nor do they give them in the service of humanity’s temporal welfare. Although many of the rich profess Christianity, like the remainder of the world, they know nothing about true Christianity – faith in Christ as a personal Redeemer, and full consecration of every talent to His service.

Truly, God’s Word testifies that God has not chosen many mighty or rich or worldly wise to be heirs of the Kingdom (1 Cor. 1:26); but chiefly the poor and despised according to the course and wisdom and estimate of this world. (Jas. 2:5) How hardly (with what difficulty) shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven.[1] (Matt. 19:23-24)

The “poor rich” will pass through terrible experiences. “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you . . . Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.” (Jas. 5:1-3) The weeping and howling of the rich will be heard shortly; and the knowledge of this should remove all envy and covetousness from all hearts, and fill them instead with sympathy for the “poor rich.”

SELFISHNESS IN COMBINATION WITH LIBERTY

But why cannot conditions be so altered as to gradually bring the equalization of wealth and comfort? The answer is, because the world is not governed by the royal law of love, but by the law of depravity – selfishness. While Christian doctrines promote liberty, and liberty leads to knowledge and education, “Christendom” has accepted Christian liberty and gained knowledge without having adopted Christ’s law. It has instead grafted its knowledge and liberty upon the fallen, selfish disposition, and has merely learned the better how to exercise its selfishness.

The Bible – the Old Testament as well as the New – has fostered the spirit of liberty, not directly, but indirectly. The Law indeed provided that servants be subject to their masters, but it also restricted the masters in the interests of the servants, assuring them that injustice would certainly be recompensed by the great Master of all – Jehovah. The Gospel, the New Testament, also does the same. (See Col. 3:22-25; 4:1) But the Bible assures us that while men differ in mental, moral and physical powers, God has made provision for a full restitution. By faith in Christ all may return to divine favor on a common level – rich and poor, bond and free, male and female, wise and unwise – “accepted in the Beloved.” 

The enlightening and freeing influences of the Bible have been acknowledged by statesmen (even those not Christian) and accepted by Christendom, but its law of love (the law of perfect liberty – Jas. 1:25) has been generally ignored. Thinking people are just waking to the fact that knowledge and liberty united constitute a mighty power which may be exerted for either good or evil. If knowledge and liberty as a lever move upon the fulcrum of love, the results will be powerful for good. If they move upon the fulcrum of selfishness, the results are evil – powerful and far-reaching evil. This is the condition which confronts Christendom today, and which is now rapidly preparing the social elements for the “fire” of “the day of vengeance” and recompenses.

In chemistry it is frequently found that some useful and beneficial compounds suddenly become poisonous by the change of proportions. So it is with the blessings of knowledge and liberty when compounded with selfishness. In certain propor­tions this combination has rendered valuable service to humanity, but the recent great increase of knowledge, instead of exalting knowledge to the seat of power, has enthroned selfishness. Selfish­ness dominates, and uses knowledge and liberty as its servants. This combination is now ruling the world; and even its valuable elements are rendered enemies of righteousness and peace by reason of selfishness being in control. Under present conditions therefore, selfishness, know­ledge, and liberty, with selfishness in control, constitute a triumvirate of evil power which is now ruling and crushing Christendom.

INDEPENDENCE AS VIEWED BY THE RICH AND POOR

The masses have only recently escaped from slavery and serfdom into liberty and independence, the shackles being forcibly broken by knowledge. Political equality has not been granted willingly, but inch by inch under compulsion. A new battle has begun on the part of the rich and well-to-do for the maintenance and increase of their wealth and power, and on the part of the lower classes for the right to labor and enjoy the moderate comforts of life. (See Amos 8:4-8)

If we accept the premise that all men are independent of each other, and that each should selfishly do the best he can for his own interest, regardless of the interests and welfare of others, then we could not object to these antagonistic positions. The fact is that neither the rich nor the poor can afford to be selfishly independent of one another. Mankind is one family: “And [God] hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.” (Acts 17:26) Each member of the human family is a human brother to every other human being. All are children of the one father, Adam, a son of God (Luke 3:38), to whose joint-care the earth with its fulness was committed by God as a stewardship. All are therefore beneficiaries of the divine provision: “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” (Psa. 24:1) The fall into sin, and its penalty, death, accomplished by a gradual decline – physical, mental and moral – has left all men more or less impaired, and each should have the others’ sympathy and aid as needed.

If love were the controlling motive in the hearts of all men, each would delight to do his part for the common welfare, and all would be on an equal footing as respects the common necessities and some of the comforts of life. This would imply a measure of Socialism. But love is not the controlling motive among mankind, and conse­quently such a plan cannot operate now. Selfishness is the controlling principle with nearly all Christendom, and is bearing its own bitter fruit and ripening it now rapidly for the great vintage of Revelation. (Rev. 14:19-20)

Nothing short of a complete conversion of the world or the intervention of superhuman power could now change the course of the world from the channel of selfishness to that of love. Such a conversion is not dreamed of even by the most optimistic. Nominal Christianity has succeeded in outwardly converting a few of the earth’s billions, but true conversions – from the selfish spirit of the world to the loving, generous spirit of Christ – can be counted only in very small numbers. Hence, hope for this solution may as well be abandoned.

That leaves the intervention of superhuman power as the only hope, and just such a change is what God has promised in and through Christ’s Millennial Kingdom. God foresaw that it would require a thousand years to banish selfishness and re-establish love in full control of even the willing; hence He provided for just such “times of restitution.” (Acts 3:21) In the meantime, however, the few who really appreciate and long for the rule of love can generally see the impossibility of securing it by earthly means. The rich will not give up their advantages willingly, and the remainder of mankind are unable to provide sufficiently for themselves without the stimulus provided by either necessity or covetousness.

WHY PRESENT CONDITIONS CANNOT CONTINUE

One might suggest that there is no more danger of impending calamity now than in the past – no more danger now of the rich crushing the poor or the poor destroying the rich through anarchy. But this is a mistake; there is greater danger than ever before from both sides. It would require centuries of gradual oppression to make the masses again submit to the old order of things, in which they were the vassals of the landed nobility. The very suspicion of a tendency toward such a future for their children would lead to a revolution, and it is this fear which is helping to goad the poor to stronger protests than ever before attempted.

To expect a continuation or even an increase of the general prosperity would be unreasonable, for several reasons. The prosperity of recent history has been directly the result of the mental awakening of the world under divine supervision. (Dan. 12:4) This awakening has brought increased demands for goods from increasing numbers of people. Coming suddenly, the increase of demand exceeded the production, and hence wages in general advanced. All classes benefited for a time, and all civilized nations suddenly became much wealthier and more comfortable than ever before. Invention was stimulated by the demand, creating one labor-saving device after another. This has kept things going prosperously for the laboring classes, while making the capitalists of Christendom fabulously rich.

But now we are nearing the end of the lane of prosperity. While wages have reached an unprecedented height in recent years, the rise in the prices of the necessities of life has more than kept pace with the increase, thus exercising more than a counter-balancing influence. The collapse will come with a rush. Humanity, lifted high above any former level, has reached a place where (by reason of selfishness) it can lift no more – where something is giving way. It will catch and steady for a time before the cogs and levers which can go no farther break under the strain.

The operation of the law of supply and demand is sure, and can be made plain to any reasonable mind. The demand for human labor and skill was only temporarily increased in preparing the yet more abundant supply of machinery to take labor’s place, and the climax once reached, the reaction cannot be otherwise than sudden, and crushing to those upon whom the displaced weight falls.

Who cannot see that, under the present selfish system, as soon as the supply exceeds the demand (as soon as we have over-production) the race between people and machinery (technology) must be a short one, and one very disadvantageous to men. Machines cannot only do more work, but better work, than human workers can do. And they have no minds to cultivate, no perverse dispositions to control, no families to think of and provide for; they are not ambitious; they do not form unions and they are ready to work extra hours without serious complaint or extra pay. As slaves, therefore, machines are far more desirable than human slaves, and human labor and skill are therefore being dispensed with as far as possible.

The workers of the world are not blind. They see that competition among workers is becoming sharper every year. Every indication speaks of a greater press for work, by a yet larger army of unemployed, and consequently lower and yet lower wages. To avert this, Labor Unions have been formed, which surely have helped somewhat to maintain dignity and pay and to preserve many from the crushing power of monopoly. But these have had their bad as well as their good effects. They have led men to trust in themselves and their Unions for counsel and relief from the dilemma, instead of looking to God and seeking to learn from His Word what is His way, that they might walk therein and not stumble.

The theory of labor is correct when it claims that, under the divine law of love for the neighbor, the blessings and inventions incident to the dawning of the Millennial morning should inure to the benefit of all mankind, and not merely to the wealthy. They support their claims by the teachings of the Lord Jesus, and frequently quote His precepts. However, they seem to forget that they are asking the more fortunate to live by the rule of love for the benefit of those less fortunate, who still wish to live by the law of selfishness. Those who demand most loudly that those more fortunate than they should share with them are quite unwilling to share with those less fortunate than themselves.

ELEMENTS BEING PREPARED

The operation of the “Law of Supply and Demand” is absolute: no one can ignore it entirely and live under present social arrangements. For instance, if the farmer refuses to sell his wheat at the market price instead demanding a price adequate to compensate his own labor and that of those he employed, the result would be that his wheat would rot, his family and hired help would be in need, and the bank would foreclose on his debt. Likewise, if the farmer decided to pay his farm laborers more that the going rate, he would probably soon find himself in debt. If all farmers in the United States paid the same wages, and if all sold at fair prices, the elevators would be full of wheat, for foreign buyers would buy elsewhere at lower prices. Foreign wheat growers would then ship their wheat here, supplying the poor with cheap bread. This same law controls every other product of human labor or skill.

Another important element in preparation for the coming “fire” has been the organization of large corporations. These large concerns are forming conglomerates or trusts which are rapidly crowding out small enterprises which can neither buy nor sell as profitably as the large concerns. Not all conglomerates have abused their power, but no one will dispute that “the common people,” the masses, are in serious danger of injury at the hands of such giant corporations. Power and selfishness in an individual are dangerous, but these giant trusts not only have immensely more power and influence than individuals, they also have no consciences.

These combinations or trusts are indeed “giants” and they will soon control the world with their financial levers. Mankind is helplessly at the mercy of these giant outgrowths of the present selfish social system, and the only hope is in God. These giants threaten the human family now as literal giants threatened it during Noah’s time. These modern corporate giants are so great, powerful, and cunning, they cannot be conquered without divine interference. These giants are also hybrid beings: they are begotten by a wisdom that owes its existence to Christian civilization and enlightenment acting in combina­tion with the selfish hearts of fallen men.

As the giants of “the world that then was” before the flood were swept away in the flood of waters (2 Pet. 3:6), so these corporate giants are to be swept away in the coming flood of fire – the symbolic “fire” of God’s indignation, already kindling; “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation.” (Dan. 12:1) All the giants of vice and selfishness will be consumed in that fire; they will fall, and will never rise again. (Isa. 26:13-14; Zeph. 3:8-9)

The divide between the rich and the poor is increasing. It is not possible that such a condition of things can continue forever; even the operation of the natural law of cause and effect would eventually bring retribution. Nor could we expect that the justice of God, which arranged that law, would permit such conditions forever. God, through Christ, has redeemed, and has espoused the cause of our unworthy humanity, and the time for its deliverance from selfishness and the general power of the evil one is at hand. (Rom. 8:19-23)

It is evident that no one man or company of men can change the present order of society; but by the Lord’s power and in the Lord’s way, as pointed out in the Scriptures, it can and will be changed for a perfect system, based not upon selfishness, but upon love and justice. To introduce this, the present conditions must be entirely overthrown. The new wine will not be put into the old bottles, nor a new patch upon the old garment. Hence, with sympathy for both rich and poor in the woes near at hand, we can pray, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven,” even though it be introduced with the “fire” of God’s indignation, for which we see the elements already being prepared.

(Excerpts from Studies in the Scriptures, Volume IV, Chapter VII, condensed and edited. Lengthy quotations have been omitted.)

[1] The “Needle’s Eye” was said to be a small gateway in the walls of ancient cities, used after sundown and described as being so small that a camel could pass through only on his knees, after his load had been removed. The illustration would seem to imply that a rich man would need to unload and kneel before he could make his calling and election sure to a place in the Kingdom.

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NO. 813: “THE DAY OF VENGEANCE”

No. 813

Part Five – Babylon’s Confusion – National and Ecclesiastical

“For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled . . . upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” (Luke 21:22-27)

This is a continuation of our series on “The Day of Vengeance” in our July through October 2024 papers.

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That the civil powers of Christendom perceive that the judgment is going against them, and that the stability of their power is by no means assured, is very manifest. Disraeli, when Prime Minister of England, addressed the British Parliament, July 2, 1874 (just in the beginning of this harvest period or judgment day), saying, “The great crisis of the world is nearer than some suppose. Why is Christendom so menaced? I fear civilization is about to collapse.” Again, he said, “Turn whatever way we like, there is an uncomfortable feeling abroad, a distress of nations, men’s hearts failing them for fear . . . we are upon times of unusual ghastliness. We are approaching the end!” If such was the outlook as seen in the very beginning of the judgment, how much more ominous are the signs of the times today!

The position of the United States of America among the nations is unique in almost every respect; and so much so that some are inclined to regard this country as the special child of divine providence, and to think that in the event of world-wide revolution it will escape. But such fancied security is not consistent with sound judgment, in view of either the signs of the times or the certain operations of those just laws of retribution by which nations, as well as individuals, are judged.

That the peculiar circumstances of the discovery of this continent and the planting of this nation on its virgin soil, to breathe its free air and develop its wonderful resources, was a step in the course of divine providence, the thoughtful and unbiased cannot doubt. The time and circumstances all indicate it. Emerson once said, “Our whole history looks like the last effort by divine providence in behalf of the human race.” He would not have said that, however, had he understood the divine plan of the ages, in the light of which it is quite clear that it is not a “last effort of divine providence,” but a well-defined link in the chain of providential circumstances for the accomplishment of the divine purpose. Here has been afforded a refuge for the oppressed of all lands from the tyranny of civil and ecclesiastical despotism. Here, separated from the old despotisms by the vast ocean wilderness, the spirit of liberty found a breathing place, and the experiment of popular government became a reality. Under these favoring circum­stances the great work of the Gospel Age – the selecting of the true Church – has been greatly facilitated; and here we have every reason to believe the greatest harvest of the age will be gathered.

In no other country could the blessed harvest message – the plan of the ages and its times and seasons and privileges – have been so untrammeled in its proclamation and so widely and freely heralded. And nowhere, except under the free institutions of this favored land, have so many minds been sufficiently released from the fetters of superstition and religious dogmatism as to be able to receive the Truth now due, and in turn to bear its good tidings abroad. It was, we believe, for this very purpose that the providence of God has been, in a measure, over this country. There was a work to be done here for His people which could not so well be done elsewhere, and therefore when the hand of oppression sought to throttle the spirit of liberty, a Washington was raised up to lead the impoverished but daring liberty-lovers on to national independence. And again, when disruption threatened the nation, and when the time had come for the liberation of millions of slaves, God raised up another brave and noble spirit in the person of Abraham Lincoln, who struck off the shackles of the enslaved and preserved the unity of the nation.

Yet the nation has never had any claims upon divine providence. The providential overruling in some of its affairs has been only in the interests of the people of God. The nation, as a nation, is without God and without hope of perpetuity when, through it, God shall have served His own wise purposes for His people – when He shall have gathered “his elect.” Then the winds of the great tribulation may blow upon it, as upon the other nations, because, like them, it is one of the “kingdoms of this world” which must give place to the Kingdom of God’s dear Son.

While the conditions of the masses here are much more favorable than those of any other land, there is an appreciation of comfort and of individual rights and privileges here among the poorer classes which does not exist to the same extent in any other land. In this country, from the ranks of its humblest citizens, imbued with the spirit of its institutions – the spirit of liberty, of ambition, of industry and intelligence – have come many of the wisest and best statesmen – presidents, legislators, lawyers, jurists and distinguished men in every station. No hereditary aristocracy here has enjoyed a monopoly of offices of trust or profit, but the child of the humblest wayfarer might aspire to and win the prizes of honor, wealth and preferment. The influence of these open avenues to the highest and to all the intermediate positions of honor and trust in the nation has been to the elevation of the whole people, from the lowest strata upward. It has stimulated the demand for education and culture. The free school system has largely met this demand, bringing all classes into intelligent communication through the daily press, books, periodicals, etc., thus enabling them, as individuals, to compare notes and to judge for themselves on all questions of interest, and accordingly to wield their influence in national matters by the use of the ballot.

A sovereign people, thus dignified and brought to an appreciation of human rights, is therefore naturally one of the first to resist, and that most determinedly, any apparent tendencies to curb its ambition or to restrain its operations. Even now, notwithstanding the liberal spirit of its institutions and the immense advantages they have conferred upon all classes of the nation, the intelligence of the masses begins to discern influences at work which are destined before long to bring them into bondage, to rob them of their freedom, and to deprive them of the blessings of bountiful natural resources.

The American people are being aroused to a sense of danger to their liberties, and to action in view of such danger, with the energy which has been their marked characteristic in every branch of industry and every avenue of trade, though the real causes of their danger are not clearly enough discerned by the masses to direct their energies wisely. They only see that congested wealth is impoverishing the many, influencing legislation so as to still further amass wealth and power in the hands of the few, and so creating an aristocracy of wealth whose power will in time prove as despotic and relentless as any despotism of the Old World.

While this is only too true, it is not the only danger. A religious despotism, whose hateful tyranny can best be judged by the records of the past days of its power, also threatens this country. That danger is Romanism. [See editor’s comment on page 6.] Yet this danger is not generally discerned, because Rome is making her conquests here by cunning art and base flattery. She professes great admiration for the free institutions and self-government of the United States; she courts and flatters the Protestant “heretics” who form so large a proportion of the educated population, and now calls them her “separated brethren,” for whom she has an “undying affection.” Yet, at the same time, she lays her clammy hand upon the public school system, which she is anxious to turn into an agent for the further propagation of her doctrines and the extension of her influence. She is making her influence felt in both political and religious circles, and the continuous tide of immigration to this country is largely of her subjects. Thus, from congested wealth, from Romanism and from immigration, we see great dangers.

But the remedy which the masses will eventually apply will be worse than the disease. When the social revolution does come here, it will come with all the turbulence and violence which American energy and love of liberty can throw into it. It is by no means reasonable, therefore, to expect that this country will escape the fate of all the nations of Christendom. Like all the rest, it is doomed to disruption, overthrow and anarchy. It also is a part of Babylon. The spirit of liberty fostered here already threatens to run riot with a vehemence and speed unequaled in the old world.

But protection and security will be sought in vain under any of the kingdoms of this world. All are now trembling with fear and alarm, and realize their inability to cope with the mighty, pent-up forces with which they will have to deal when the terrible crisis arrives. “And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low . . . In that day [now so very close at hand – ‘even at the door’] a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” (Isa. 2:17-21)

Then, “All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads. They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord.” (Ezek. 7:17-19)

The protection which any government can provide will be of little avail when the judgments of the Lord and the fruits of their folly are precipitated upon them all. In their pride of power, they have treasured up “wrath against the day of wrath.” (Rom. 2:5) They have selfishly sought the aggrandizement of the few, and have been heedless of the cries of the poor and needy. Their cries have entered into the ears of the Lord of armies, and He has espoused their cause; and He declares, “I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.” (Isa. 13:11-12) We are thus assured that the Lord’s overruling providence in the final catastrophe will bring deliverance to the oppressed. The lives of multitudes will not then be sacrificed nor will the inequalities of society that now exist be perpetuated.

Truly this is the predicted time of “distress of nations, with perplexity.” The voice of the discontented masses is aptly symbolized by the roaring of the sea, and the hearts of thinking men are failing them for fear of the dread calamity which all can now see rapidly approaching; for the powers of heaven (the present ruling powers) are being terribly shaken. Indeed some, instructed by these signs, and calling to mind that scripture, “Behold, he cometh with clouds.” (Rev. 1:7) They are already beginning to suggest the presence of the Son of man, although they greatly misapprehend the subject and God’s remedy.

But amidst all the shaking of the earth (organized society) and of the heavens (the ecclesiastical powers), those who discern in it the outworking of the divine plan of the ages rejoice in the assurance that this terrible shaking will be the last that the earth will ever have or need. As the Apostle Paul assures us, it signifies the removing of those things that are shaken – the overturning of the whole present order of things – in order that those things which cannot be shaken may remain – the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of light and peace. Our God is a consuming fire, and in His wrath, He will consume every system of evil and oppression, and He will firmly establish truth and righteousness in the earth. (Heb. 12:27-29)

“PEACE! PEACE! WHEN THERE IS NO PEACE”

But notwithstanding the manifest judgment of God upon all nations, notwithstanding the fact that the volume of testimony from multitudes of witnesses is pressing with resistless logic against the whole present order of things, and that the verdict and penalty are anticipated with an almost universal dread, there are those who poorly conceal their fears by cries of “Peace! Peace!” when there is no peace. This loud and united cry of the nations, through their representatives, calls forcibly to mind the Word of the Lord through the Prophet Jeremiah, who says:

“For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.” (Jer. 6:13-15)

“OUT OF THINE OWN MOUTH WILL I JUDGE THEE”

If the civil powers of Christendom are in perplexity and distress, the religious situation presents no hopeful contrast of peace and security, for modern ecclesiasticism is also ensnared in a net of its own weaving. If the nations, having sown to the wind the seeds of unrighteousness, are about to reap an abundant harvest in a whirlwind of affliction, the great nominal church, ecclesiastical Christendom, which has shared in the sowing, shall also share in the reaping.

The great nominal church has long taught for doctrines the precepts of men. Largely ignoring the Word of God as the only rule of faith and godly living, it has boldly announced many conflicting and God-dishonoring doctrines, and has been unfaithful to the measure of truth it has retained. It has failed to cultivate and manifest the spirit of Christ, and has freely imbibed the spirit of the world.

Conflicting doctrines long ago divided the church nominal into numerous antagonistic sects, each claiming to be the one true Church which the Lord and the Apostles planted. Together, they have succeeded in giving to the world such a distorted misrepresentation of our Heavenly Father’s character and plan, that many intelligent people turn away with disgust, either despising their Creator or disbelieving His existence.

The Church of Rome, with assumed infallibility, claims it to be the divine purpose to eternally torment in fire and brimstone all “heretics” who reject her doctrines. For others she provides a limited torment called Purgatory, from which a release may be secured by penances, fasts, prayers, holy candles, incense and well-paid-for “sacrifices” of the mass. She thus sets aside the efficacy of the atoning sacrifice of Christ.

The “Reformation” movement discarded some of the false doctrines of Papacy, but before long that good work of protest against the iniquitous, antichristian, counterfeit Church of Rome was overcome by the spirit of the world. Soon the “Protestants” formed new organizations, which, together with the truths they had found, perpetuated many of the old errors and added some new ones, although each continued to hold on to a little truth. The result was a medley of conflicting creeds. As the investigative energy of the Reformation period soon died out, these creeds quickly became fossilized, and have so remained to the present day. Theological seminaries have been established and generously endowed; and from these, young clergy, instructed in their errors, have gone out to teach and to confirm the people in them.

But now the harvest of all this sowing has come, the day of reckoning is here, and great is the confusion and perplexity of the whole nominal church of every denomination, and particularly of the clergy. In this critical hour it is a lamentable fact that the wholesome spirit of “The Great Reformation” is dead. Protestantism is no longer a protest against the spirit of antichrist, nor against the world, the flesh or the devil. They seek to hide from public scrutiny creeds that are at war with the Word of God, with reason, and with each other. They seek a closer affiliation with, and imitation of, the Church of Rome. They court her favor, praise her methods, and conceal her crimes. In so doing they become confederate with her in spirit. They are also in close and increasing conformity to the spirit of the world in everything.

In much of this the masses of nominal church members have become the willing tools of the clergy, and the clergy in turn have freely pandered to the tastes and preferences of worldly and influential members. The people have surrendered their right and duty of private judgment, and have ceased to search the Scriptures to prove what is truth, and to meditate upon God’s law to discern what is righteousness. They are indifferent, worldly, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. (2 Tim. 3:4) They are blinded by the god of this world and willing to be led into any schemes which minister to present worldly desires and ambitions. (2 Cor. 4:4)

The clergy foster this spirit and pander to it for their own temporal advantage. Should these religious organizations go down, the offices and salaries, the prestige and honors of the self-exalted clergy must all go with them. They are therefore just as anxious now to perpetuate the institutions of nominal Christianity as the Scribes and Pharisees and Doctors of the law were anxious to perpetuate Judaism, and for the same reasons. (John 11:47-48; Acts 4:15-18) Because of their prejudices and worldly ambitions, Christians are as blind to the light of the new dispensation now dawning as the Jews in the days of the Lord’s first advent were blind to the light of the Gospel dispensation then dawning.

THE CHARGES AGAINST ECCLESIASTICISM

The nominal Christian church is charged with three things:

(1) Inconsistency. The wide distinction between her claimed standard of doctrine, the Bible, and her conflicting (and in many respects absurd) creeds is noted even by the world. The blasphemous doctrine of eternal torment has been examined and no longer serves to drive people into the church through fear.

(2) Lack of piety and godliness. Although the fact is admitted that a few truly pious souls are found here and there in the church, sham and hypocrisy are indeed prominent, and wealth and arrogance make very manifest that the poor are not welcome in the earthly temples erected in the name of Christ.

(3) Failure to convert the world. The nominal church professed it to be her mission to convert the world to Christianity. It seems unaccountable how the world has discovered that the time has come when the work of the church should show some signs of completion. Nevertheless, just as all men were in expectation of some great change about to take place in the end of the Jewish Age (Luke 3:15), all are now in similar expectation in the end of the Gospel Age.

The nominal church cannot deny the conflict of her creeds, so she resorts to various methods to meet the charge of inconsistency of doctrine, which thinking people are not slow to mark as evidences of her great confusion. The clergy are quite content to say as little about doctrines as possible. Some are so ashamed of them that they favor discarding them altogether. Others are more conservative, and think it more prudent to let them go gradually, inserting new doctrines in their place. Then there is another large class of clergymen who favor an eclectic, or compromise, theology, which must of necessity be very brief and very liberal. Its object is to waive objections of all religionists, both Christian and heathen, and if possible, to “bring them all into one camp,” as some have expressed it. They boast of great things about to be accomplished through Christian union or cooperation.

The charge of lack of piety and godly living is also met with boasting of “many wonderful works,” which often suggest the reproving words of the Lord. (Matt. 7:22-23) But these boastings do little to promote the interests of Babylon, because the lack of the spirit of God’s law of love is too painfully manifest to be concealed, making the deplorable condition of the fallen church all the more deplorable. If this great ecclesiasticism were really the true Church of God, the divine plan to choose out “a people for His name” would be a manifest failure!

The nominal church knows the time has arrived when the work of converting the world should be almost, if not fully, accomplished, and that she differs little from the world, except in profession. She has lost sight of the real purpose of this Gospel Age: to preach the gospel of the Kingdom in all the world for a witness, and to aid in the calling and preparing of a “little flock.” (Matt. 24:14; Acts 15:14) She is confronted with the fact that, after nineteen centuries, she is further from accomplishing the commission which her claims would demand than she was at the close of the first century.

THE “CHRISTIAN UNION” MOVEMENT

But while various excuses, apologies, promises and boasts are made by the nominal church, her leaders see very clearly that they cannot long preserve her in her present divided, distracted, and confused condition. They see that disintegra­tion and overthrow are sure to follow soon unless some mighty effort unites her sects and thus gives her a better standing before the world and increased power to enforce her authority. We therefore hear much talk of “Christian Union.” [See editor’s comment on page 6.] Efforts for its accomplishment are proclaimed as evidence of growth in the spirit of love and Christian fellowship. The movement, however, is not begotten of increasing love and Christian fellowship, but of fear. The foretold storm of indignation and wrath is seen to be fast approaching, and the various sects seriously doubt their ability to stand alone in the tempest shock.

Consequently, all the sects favor union. One method suggested to accomplish it is to first unite those sects most alike in doctrine, such as Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, etc. in preparation for the proposed larger union. Another method is to cultivate a desire for union, and a disposition to ignore doctrine, extending fellowship to all morally disposed people, seeking their cooperation in what they call “Christian work.” By ignoring many of the disputed doctrines of the past, a class who largely represent the “union” sentiment has been developed. Ignorant of the sectarian battles of the past, many of these have indeed “a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” (Rom. 10:2)

They plan an immediate “social uplift” of the world. It is commendable that their efforts are not for evil, but for good. Their great mistake is in pursuing their own plans, which however benevolent or wise in human estimation, must of necessity fall short of the divine wisdom and the divine plan, which alone will be crowned with success. All others are doomed to failure. Being ignorant of doctrine and church history, they readily adopt the idea of “union,” deciding that it was the doctrines that caused divisions, so doctrines should be ignored. They fail to see that certain doctrines, proven and corrected by the Word of God, are all-important to true union among true Christians.

The proposed union, which ignores Bible doctrine but holds firmly to human doctrines respecting eternal torment, natural immortality, etc., and which is dominated merely by human judgment, is the most dangerous thing that could happen. It is sure to run into extreme error, because it rejects the “doctrines of Christ” and “the wisdom from above,” and instead relies upon the wisdom of its own wise men, which is foolishness when opposed to the divine counsel and methods. “For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.” (Isa. 29:14)

It would indeed be strange if the spirit of Christ and the spirit of the world would suddenly prove to be in harmony, that those filled with the opposite spirits should see eye to eye. But such is not the case. It is still true that the spirit of the world is enmity to God. (Jas. 4:4)

To be continued in our June 2025 paper.

(Excerpts from Studies in the Scriptures, Volume IV, Chapters V and VI, condensed and edited. Lengthy quotations have been omitted.)

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Editor’s comment on Romanism: The Roman Catholic Church today is still considered one of the most powerful institutions in the world. However, other kinds of religious extremism are also a threat. For example, the evangelical movement within the Protestant denominations appears to seek political power, hoping to control public education and impose a common standard of religious belief.

Editor’s comment on “union” movement: Volume IV was written in 1897, but the union movement continues today. This is a quotation from the website Christian Union: “Since 2002, Christian Union has worked to help bring sweeping spiritual change to America. The ministry’s work is focused in two areas: developing bold Christian leaders at the most strategic and profoundly influential universities in America; and building networks of Christian leaders and promoting national revival through Christian Union America.” (Christian Union, accessed 3/31/2025)

Here is more from the current movement: “Through fervent prayer, humility in fasting, repentance, evangelism and dedication to His ways as revealed in His Word, Christians around our country are banding together to ask God to have mercy and bring about the greatest revival the nation has ever seen. CU America is a movement of Christian leaders spanning multiple Christian traditions, including evangelicals, pentecostals, and Catholics, who jointly desire increased Christian vitality and national transformation.” (About Christian Union America, accessed 3/31/2025)

Write to us at: epiphanybiblestudents@gmail.com

NO. 812: CHRIST’S RESURRECTION ESSENTIAL

No. 812

“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” (1 Cor. 15:19-20)

The name “Easter” is of heathen origin, Easter being the name of a goddess of olden times. For Christian people today, Easter Sunday commemorates the resurrection of our Lord Jesus from the dead on the third day after His death. To those that appreciate Him as the “true Light” (John 1:9) and the “Sun of righteousness” (Mal. 4:2) which shall ultimately shine forth to the blessing of all the families of the earth, there could be no more appropriate day named than Sunday to mark the day when He rose from the dead, and entered upon the new life which will bring that blessing to all mankind.

Christians generally celebrate Easter as the memorial of Jesus’ resurrection, but today resurrection is considered of little significance by the vast majority of Christians. A change in theological beliefs has made the Bible teachings on the subject of the resurrection meaningless. During the days of our Lord and the Apostles, believing Jews and Christian converts alike generally held the view that death was as real with mankind as with the brute creation, and that man’s hope of a future life consisted not in his possession of an indestructible nature, but in the promise of a resurrection. It was clearly understood that death not only affected the body, but the entire person; the penalty for original sin was death in the full, complete sense of the word, in harmony with the decree: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Ezek. 18:4)

Among the Jews there were two principal classes: (1) the Sadducees and agnostics who denied a resurrection and future life, and (2) the Pharisees who believed the resurrection hope taught in the Scriptures. Our Lord Jesus refuted the arguments of the Sadducees that the dead were hopelessly dead and would have no resurrection by quoting God’s words to Moses at the bush, pointing out that it would have been inconsistent for God to say that He was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob if they were hopelessly dead as are the beasts that perish. These words proved the resurrection of the dead; from the divine standpoint, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were not dead in the sense of being extinct. (Mark 12:26-27) Our Lord further declared that the hour was coming when these Ancient Worthies and all in the grave would hear His voice and come forth. (John 5:28-29)

RESURRECTION INDISPENSABLE

St. Paul presented the strongest possible arguments proving the resurrection in chapter 15 of First Corinthians, where he declared that none could be Christians who denied the resurrection. The chapter opens with the declaration that the foundation for the Gospel lies in the fact that Christ died for our sins and arose again on the third day. He recites that this fact is well attested by the words of reliable witnesses. Then he says: “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised.” (1 Cor. 15:12-16)

How clear and distinct this argument is. The Apostle in so many words shows that anyone who denies the possibility of a resurrection of the dead must deny the resurrection of Christ from the dead, and if this be denied, the entire bottom falls out of the Christian faith. And if we acknowledge that Christ rose from the dead, and thus admit the power of God for the resurrection of the dead, then we have the foundation upon which to build a hope of resurrection for ourselves and others in due time.

Paul was not one to quibble or dodge issues because some of his hearers were lacking in faith. Mark the force of his argument when he says, “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” (1 Cor. 15:17-18) Note his argument: Christian faith is vain without the resurrection of Christ. Why would that be the case, if it be true that good men go at once to heaven in the moment of death? How could faith in Christ’s resurrection affect their interests either one way or another? How could the Apostle say that those who have fallen asleep in Christ are perished, if He did not rise from the dead?

The problem is that during the Dark Ages the Lord’s people seriously departed from the Scriptures and from facts, following false, heathen doctrine that implied that when people die, they are not dead, but more alive than ever before, and hence they need no resurrection from death. This heathen error, engrafted upon Christian theology long ago, has become so interwoven with the body of Christian faith and hope that it has gradually perverted it and nullified the scriptural teaching of the necessity for the death of Christ, the necessity for His resurrection, the necessity for His coming again, and the necessity for the resurrection of both the just and the unjust.

Surely no one can thoughtfully read this argument of the Apostle without being convinced that the writer believed that those who go into the tomb must “sleep” until the resurrection morning. Moreover, they must see that this sleep is a figure of speech signifying that the dead are really dead, but are reckoned to be asleep because of the promise of a resurrection. Mark the Apostle’s statement: if Christ has not risen from the dead, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. They are eternally dead if there has been no redemption accomplished for them, if He who died at Calvary stayed dead and did not rise from the dead on the third day.

Our opening text sums up the Apostle’s argument. He says in effect: We Christians acknowledge the fact that Christ did rise from the dead – this is the very foundation of our faith. And more than this, we believe that He was the first-fruits of those that have fallen asleep. Note carefully the thought here expressed that Christ’s resurrection was a first-fruits of a resurrection that is to apply to others. The meaning is plain: Adam and all his posterity would have been hopelessly dead, extinct, as the brute beasts, had it not been for divine grace.

Intimations of the coming redemption and deliverance were given as far back as Eden when the Lord said that ultimately the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head, implying that the victory of sin and death over Adam and his race would not be perpetual but would be reversed. (Gen. 3:15) The same divine grace was still more clearly stated to father Abraham in the words, “In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 28:14) Upon these words, further corroborated and reiterated through the Prophets, the people of Israel came to have hope in a resurrection of the dead, building their hopes upon Messiah’s power. The Apostle’s argument is that Jesus is the Messiah, who by His death paid the ransom price for father Adam and redeemed him from his death penalty, thus redeeming all of his race, since all were condemned in Adam while in his loins. (Rom. 5:19)

THEM THAT ARE ASLEEP

The words “them that slept” are more properly translated as “them that are asleep.” (see the ASV) This should leave no doubt as to what the Apostle meant. The sleeping ones, the dead, were still dead, still asleep, when he wrote this, although this was years after Jesus had died for our sins and risen from the dead. Later on in this same wonderful resurrection chapter, the Apostle shows clearly both how and when all these sleeping ones shall be called forth from the tomb. He points out a first resurrection of holy blessed ones who shall come forth in the resurrection as spirit beings, heavenly beings. (1 Cor. 15:43-44) This class will constitute the first resurrection or, as the Apostle puts it, they will share in “His resurrection” because they have shared also in His sufferings and in His death. (2 Tim. 2:11-12; Rom. 6:5) Here is further corroboration that our Lord was not risen from the dead a man, but was “put to death in the flesh” and made alive as a spirit being. (1 Pet. 3:18)

The Apostle assures us that our Lord was manifest in the flesh at His first advent in order that He might suffer death on our behalf, in order that He might pay the ransom price for Adam and his race by dying the just for the unjust, to sacrifice Himself as the man Christ Jesus. His resurrection was a reward for His obedience unto death and placed Him back again on the spirit plane, “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.” (Eph. 1:21) He became the “express image” of His Father’s person. (Heb. 1:3)

FIRST-FRUITS AND AFTER-FRUITS

Jesus was the first-fruits of all who ever died in the sense that He was the first to rise from the dead, as the Scriptures so plainly declare. Some are confused on this point when they think of three cases in the Old Testament and three in the New Testament in which the dead were brought back to life before our Lord’s death and resurrection. The explanation of how Christ could be the first to rise from the dead, without ignoring these Scriptural cases, is a very simple one. According to the Scriptures, life and death are opposites; hence the very beginning of the working of death and imperfection in any being vitiates his life to that extent. He is no longer a living being but a dying being. From this standpoint Adam’s dying (and the dying of his posterity) began the moment the death sentence was pronounced against him.

Christ Jesus Himself was the first one to come under the power of death and be raised completely out from under that power to full perfection of life and being. He was therefore in the highest and fullest sense of the word, as our opening text states, the first-fruits of them that are asleep, and the first to rise from the dead. (Acts 26:23) This expression “first-fruits” surely implies there are “after-fruits.” As Jesus was the first to come completely out from under the power of death, so eventually others will be fully delivered from its power.

The Apostle James gives an elaboration of the same thought when he says that in God’s plan the Church “should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” (Jas. 1:18) If Jesus as the Head is of the first-fruits, the Church, adopted and begotten of the Holy Spirit as His Body, must be of the first-fruits as well. This shows most distinctly that there are others besides the Church for whom a blessing is in reserve, a blessing of rescue from the power of sin and death by a resurrection.

The Apostle Paul refers to this same participation of the Church with her Lord a little later on in his argument. After pointing out that the blessing of the Lord is to be upon two classes, a heavenly class and an earthly class (the one as the stars of heaven the other as the sand upon the seashore – Gen. 22:17), and after pointing out that the Church, the elect, is to constitute this heavenly class of the first resurrection (1 Cor. 15:40-44), the Apostle proceeds to indicate that the resurrection of the Church will bring the elect into the image and likeness of their Lord and Redeemer as spirit beings, while the resurrection of the world will bring them to the standard of human perfection represented in father Adam. He says, “As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.” (1 Cor. 15:48)

Continuing to speak of this heavenly class, the elect Church, he says, “And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” (1 Cor. 15:49) He proceeds then to point out a mystery or secret, assuring the Church that in the resurrection the Lord will complete that work of “change” already begun in them in the renewing of their minds and wills. The Apostle further shows that after the Church shall have experienced this change from mortal to immortal conditions, from earthly to heavenly conditions, the promise of God through the Prophet will have fulfillment, namely, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, [hades] where is thy victory?” (1 Cor. 15:54-55; Isa. 25:8)

The death of Christ, operating first for the deliverance of the elect to the heavenly conditions, will thus be made available to the world of mankind during the Millennial Age to deliver them to perfect earthly conditions, so that death itself may be swallowed up in victory. The power of the grave shall no longer prevail against the human family who have been bought with “the precious blood of Christ.” (1 Pet. 1:19) All who will accept the divine favor then extended to them may come to a full victory through Christ over sin and over death.

The Apostle refers to Christ as the first-fruits twice in this connection, but evidently with a difference. In 1 Cor. 15:20 he speaks of Christ Jesus as the first-fruits of them that are asleep, while in 1 Cor. 15:22-23 he draws a different picture in which he again speaks of Christ as the first-fruits, here, however, signifying the entire Christ: Jesus the head and the Church His body. He says, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits [Christ the head and the Church His body, gathered during the Gospel Age]; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming [presence].”

With the completion of these first-fruits will come the great harvesting of the world, the great ingathering from all the families of the earth the great time of blessing to all who were cursed in Adam and redeemed by the blood of Christ. Those who will be saved during the Millennial Age are here briefly referred to as “they that are Christ’s at his coming,” that is to say those who will become His during His presence, His Parousia during the Millennial Age under the mediatorial Kingdom. That this is the Apostle’s argument is evident from the verse following which says, “Then cometh the end [of the plan of salvation], when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.” (1 Cor. 15:24)

INTELLIGENT EASTER JOYS

Those of God’s people most clear in their knowledge of His Word have the greatest joy and blessing in connection with every feature of His Truth, including those precious things represented by Easter Sunday. To them the significance of the day is one of spiritual exhilaration and refreshment. Their faith grasps the fact that the human race, condemned to death because of sin, has been provided by the heavenly Father with a great Savior. This Savior has already given His life as our ransom price, and been raised from the dead by the power of God to that high glorious station in which we recognize Him as King of kings and Lord of lords, possessed of glory, honor, and immortality. We hail Him as the one who is to be the Lord of all in His coming Kingdom and who is already the Lord of our hearts – Lord of all those who have heard and tasted of the grace of God, by faith, in advance of the world.

Easter Sunday bids us wait with patience for our share in the resurrection. The “Sun of righteousness” will then “arise with healing in his wings” (Mal. 4:2) to bless the sin-benighted world of mankind, “to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning;” (Isa. 61:3) to bid them to look up, and to help them rise up in the glorious restitution, which the Lord has promised to all the families of the earth. (Acts 3:19-21)

Not only Easter Sunday but every Sunday celebrates the resurrection of our Lord and head. Let us be assured by the words of the Apostle, “God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed toward his name.” (Heb. 6:10) Let us be assured that every sacrifice made in the interest of the Lord’s name and honor and cause and for the brethren’s sake will be appreciated by Him who knows the secrets of the heart and who knows those that are His. (Psa. 44:21; 2 Tim. 2:19)

(Based on a sermon given by Pastor Russell in 1907 and printed in Harvest Gleanings, Volume 3.)

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THE SUPREMACY OF GOD’S KINGDOM

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.” (Isa. 2:2)

It would be a mistake to suppose that these words imply the end of time or the end of the world, in the ordinary sense. The Bible declares that “the earth abideth forever,” (Eccl. 1:4) and it tells of the wonderful blessings of Restitution, when the Lord’s footstool shall blossom as the rose – Paradise restored. (Isa. 35:1; Isa. 60:13) All this is to come in the “last days” or “last day.” The Jews understood that the seven days of the week, six of labor and the seventh of rest, were typical of seven greater days of a thousand years each. In harmony with this thought, one might say we are living in the Friday night of the world’s history, which means the great Sabbath of rest, the thousand years of Messiah’s reign, is about to begin (the Jewish day beginning in the evening).

The New Testament writers seem to have had the same thought. Our Lord declared, “The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” (John 12:48) Similarly, Martha declared her faith in the resurrection of her brother, saying, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” (John 11:24) The “last day” is the Millennial Day, the Day of Christ, the great Day which will witness the overthrow of sin and death and the uplifting of humanity. Of that Great Day we read that the righteous will flourish and evil-doers will be cut off. (Psa. 72:7; Psa. 37:9) During this Day the Messiah will put down all things opposed to righteousness: “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor. 15:26)

The resurrection process will be in operation throughout that glorious Day; mankind will be rising out of its meanness, sin, sickness and death, back to all that was lost in Eden, and redeemed by the Cross. “After those days” (after the days of the reign of sin), God promises to make a New Covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah, through which they shall be uplifted; and the blessings will flow from them to all nations. (Jer. 31:31, 33) After those days God also promises, “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.” (Joel 2:28) The Mountain of the Lord’s House shall be established in the very top of the mountains above all other kingdoms. A mountain symbolizes a kingdom and God’s Kingdom will be the highest Mountain; it will be over the top of all other kingdoms. It will be established or fixed permanently above all others.

Messiah, the great King, with His Elect Bride and Associate with Him, will exercise His divine power, Satan shall be bound for a thousand years, and sin will no longer be permitted. (Rev. 20:2) Justice will be executed in the earth; every good word, thought, and deed will be rewarded, and every evil thought, word, and deed will be punished. (Isa. 26:9) “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isa. 11:9)

The world now doubts the very existence of God, and declares that if He does exist, He pays little or no heed to wrong-doers: “And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.” (Mal. 3:15) But the New Day will change all this: “Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.” (Isa. 28:17) “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.” (Isa. 35:5) “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them.” (Jer. 31:34; Heb. 8:11)

The present downward tendency will be reversed. All nations shall then “flow” or gravitate upward toward the righteous Kingdom of Messiah. The Kingdom, in its original establishment, will be Israelitish; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets will be made “princes in all the earth.” (Psa. 45:16) The Jews will begin to recognize the fulfillment of prophecy and other nationalities will gradually see the Restitution blessings coming to Israel, in harmony with the divine arrangements of the Kingdom. Then, as the scripture declares, “Many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us [as well as the Jews] of his ways, and we [as well as they] will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” (Isa. 2:3)

Both Spiritual and Natural Israel are in the picture. The law shall go forth from Zion (the Spiritual Kingdom, the Messiah Head and Body, Bridegroom and Bride) while the Word of the Lord, the directing and instructing, will go forth from Jerusalem (the Earthly Kingdom, represented by the Patriarchal Princes).

The new King, Messiah, will judge the people, first as nations and later as individuals. The national judgments will mean calamities upon the nations, their great institutions and armies proving powerless as peacemakers. On the contrary, those who put their trust in these institutions will suffer most severely. All must learn the lesson that Messiah’s Kingdom comes not by human might or power, but by the power of the Lord, at His own appointed time. The lesson will be so thoroughly learned in that Day of Trouble that war will forever cease. (Psa. 46:9) Thereafter, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isa. 2:4) Human energy will be fully employed in conquering sin, sickness and death.

WHO SHALL STAND?

Idolatry to gold and silver will be ended, and the great trouble of that Day will cause many to hide themselves in the “rocks” for fear: “The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.” (Isa. 2:11) “And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” (Isa. 2:18-20)

The same picture is presented in Revelation where the great ones of earth are represented as calling upon the mountain to fall on them and to hide them from the presence of the Lord: “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men . . . hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.” (Rev. 6:15-16) As the Prophet Malachi asks, “But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth?” (Mal. 3:2) The mountains and rocks of society (social, financial, and political institutions and alliances, etc.), will all fail in that great Day of trial and judging; the result will be the overthrow of every human institution, in accordance with the divine requirements of Justice and Righteousness.

Let us ask ourselves, where is our treasure? Where is our security? The long-foretold Day of the Lord is near and the great Time of Trouble is upon us. (Dan. 12:1) If our treasures are upon the earth and our confidence rests in human organizations, the time is near when we may seek protection in these “holes” –  these social and financial arrangements – but there will be no protection possible. The Apostle declares that everything that can be shaken will be shaken; everything that is not in full alignment with the divine standards will go down. (Heb. 12:26-27)

Knowing this, we should set our affections on spiritual things, not on earthly things. If we have been careless in this matter in the past, it is time for us to invest what little we have of time, influence, talent, and money in the service of the King of kings, promoting the interests of the great Kingdom wherein we trust, which will be on earth as well as in heaven. We are not counseling foolishness or the throwing away of money, time, or influence. On the contrary, we counsel the spirit of a sound mind, that every hour, every talent, every penny be used, not as our own, but as the Lord’s; not according to our selfish desires, but according to the divine will, so far as we are able to understand it.

Jesus said, “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” (Luke 21:36) This watching means faithfulness in how we use our talents, knowing that we will be called upon to give an account of our stewardship.

It is impossible for us, or for anyone, to avert the great catastrophe which is surely bearing down upon the world. The Lord’s people are to have nothing whatever to do with bringing about the great catastrophe, any more than had the Prophets who foretold it. It is for us to be faithful to our consecration and, as far as possible, to send out the divine Message to all of God’s people, assisting them in the faithful use of their pounds and talents. As the Apostle says, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” (Eph. 5:15-17)

Many dear Christians realize that we are living in strange times, but do not realize that we are in the transition period between the reign of sin, sickness, and death, and the reign of Messiah’s Kingdom of righteousness and light. We see that the world has gone pleasure mad. (2 Tim. 3:4) The spirit of the world surrounds us, threatens to engulf us and destroy our spirituality. There never was a greater need than now for the soldiers of the cross to arise, to put on the whole armor of God, to watch and pray, and to fight a good fight against their own weaknesses and against the darts and snares of the Adversary. (Eph. 6:13)

(Based on a sermon given by Pastor Russell in 1911 and printed in Harvest Gleanings, Volume 3.)

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NO. 811: “LET US KEEP THE FEAST”

No. 811

Some Thoughts for the Memorial

“For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast.” (1 Cor. 5:7-8)

The annual observance of our Lord’s death occurs this year after six p.m., April 10. The date is determined by this method: The moon nearest the Vernal Equinox becomes new in Jerusalem on March 29 at 1:57 p.m., thus establishing 6 p.m. March 28 as Nisan 1, Bible reckoning. Counting forward to Nisan 14, we arrive at 6 p.m. April 10. Any time that evening after 6 p.m. would be proper for the celebration.

The date for the observance of the Jewish Passover should be the same as for our observance of the Memorial of Christ our Passover. The reason the dates are not the same is because the Jews often allow the condition of the moon to govern their reckoning of the date, whereas the Bible is very positive that the date should be Nisan 14, regardless of the condition of the moon on that date. We calculate the date using Jerusalem time because the Bible was written in that district. However, any errors in calculating the date, by Jews or by any others, should not be regarded as a crime or sacrilege on their part. If we should err in calculating the date, through ignorance or misun­derstanding, we believe the Lord would accept our good intentions, forgive the error, and grant His blessing.

There was only one real Passover; the annual observance of the Jewish Passover is simply a memorial for that awesome event in Egypt. The Israelites were commanded to celebrate the Passover as the first feature of the Law and as one of their greatest memorials as a nation: “And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.” (Exod. 12:24) This has been done by Jews in all parts of the world, even by renegades and agnostics. Respect for this ancient service is in their very blood, so it is one feature of the Law that has not been violated.

They were told to keep this memorial joyfully, and they concluded that nothing could cheer them better than wine. Conse­quently, four cups of wine were used during the evening, the first before any food was eaten, and the last after the meal had been completed. At the time Jesus ate the last Passover with His disciples, this custom was followed so seriously that poor Jews were provided wine from the public coffer if they could not afford it, because it was not to be just wine, but good wine, the best to be had.

Of course, in the original Passover in Egypt there is no record that wine was used. If any was used at all, we may be sure it was not done to the same degree that subsequent memorials did. That night was a very solemn night; there was no rejoicing, but instead a sober readiness for departure from Egypt the next morning. God had specifically instructed how they were to eat the lamb, with bitter herbs and unleavened bread: “And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s passover.” (Exod. 12:11)

All the instructions of a reasonable God must be reasonable; and while many do not now understand the reasonableness of the various features of the Passover, in “due time” they will be taught to all in a clear and under­standable manner. The Jews do now realize that some features of their Law carried great significance. For instance, their Sabbath day foreshadowed a time of rest from the labor of sin and death. They were told that those who kept the Law would live in it. The Jews did not want to die any more than the gentiles, so they speedily answered, “All these things will we do, and live!”

As we keep the Lord’s Supper as a Memorial of the antitype of the Great Passover, it is well that we keep in mind that we commemorate the greatest event of all history, the sacrificial death of the Savior of the world. And while there is extensive and elaborate observance of Passover and Easter, few people engaging in those observances appreciate their real significance. St. Paul wrote, “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.” (2 Cor. 4:4) St. Peter says that even those who are partially awake are “blind, and cannot see afar off.” (2 Pet. 1:9) They do not fully appreciate things related to this ceremony, which has been observed now in type and antitype for more than three thousand years.

CHRIST OUR PASSOVER

We are told, “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” (1 Cor. 5:7) However, instead of using the lamb and unleavened bread, we use the symbols that Jesus Himself instituted the night before He died, the unleavened bread and the wine being substi­tuted for the lamb and bread. Some may object to this course, but there is no record at all that the early Christians ever again used the lamb and bread; it was always the bread and wine!

Blessed are those whose eyes can see that Jesus was indeed “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) Blessed are those who can see that the cancellation of the world’s sin is to be effected by the payment of man’s penalty, by the application of Jesus’ sacrificial merit in due time for the sins of all mankind. Only faithful believers have as yet received of the merit of Jesus’ death. Greatly favored are those who can see that as the whole world lost divine favor and came under divine sentence of death, with its accompanying sorrow and pain, so it was necessary that a satisfaction of justice be made before this sentence, or curse, could be removed. Therefore, as the Apostles declare, “Christ died for our sins” – “the just for the unjust.” (1 Cor. 15:3; 1 Pet. 3:18) Thus He opened up a new and living way – a way of life everlasting, not only for us, but for the whole world of mankind in that glorious Kingdom.

The Scriptures refer to the Church of Christ as the “church of the firstborn;” “a kind of firstfruits of his creatures;” and “the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.” (Heb. 12:23; Jas. 1:18; Rev. 14:4) These expressions imply that ultimately there will be others of God’s family who are later born; they imply after-fruits. Christian people in general seem to have overlooked these Scriptures, and have generally come to believe that only those who are designated in the Bible as the first-fruits will ever be saved – that there will be no after-fruits.

But the Passover type indicates that it was God’s purpose to save all Israelites, and that as a nation they represented all among man­kind who will ultimately come into harmony with God and be granted everlasting life in the Land of Promise. Note that there was more than one passing over: the one in which only the first-born were passed over, and another greater one at the Red Sea, when by divine power the whole nation of Israel was miraculously delivered and led across the channel of the sea specially prepared for them by the accentuation of winds and tides. These passed over dry-shod and were saved, while the hosts of Pharaoh, representing all who will eventually go into annihilation, were overwhelmed in the Sea.

The passing over at the Red Sea pictures the ultimate deliverance from the power of sin and death of every member of Adam’s race who desires to come into accord with the Lord and to render Him worship, all who will ever become a part of Israel, for not one Israelite was left behind in Egyptian bondage. Note that not one first-born Jew in Egypt died that night, and not one first-born Egyptian escaped death. The same was true in the Red Sea: not one Jew died; and not one Egyptian remained alive. Little wonder that Moses and Miriam sang their songs of victory after that phenomenal performance! (Exod. 15:1-21) And in the Kingdom only Israelites will live, as all who refuse the Kingdom blessings will die.

But the secondary passing over is not the one we are about to celebrate. We celebrate the antitype of the passing over of the first-born of Israel by the angel of death that night in Egypt. Only the first-born ones of Israel were in danger that night, though the deliverance of the entire nation depended upon the salvation, the passing over, of those first-born. And of the first-born there is no record that anyone of them died that night; they were safe so long as they remained “under the blood.”

Thus the firstborn of the human family, the true Church, were to be “passed over” during this night of the Gospel Age. Only these would be in danger of the destroying angel, but they would be safe so long as they remained under the blood of Jesus; they were all under the sprinkled blood.

In harmony with all the Scriptures, we see that the first-fruits alone were to be spared, passed over, during the present age. But the remainder of mankind who may desire to follow the great antitypical Moses in the age to follow this one will be led forth from the bondage of sin and death, typified by the bondage of the Jews while they were in Egypt. As the Jews were told to remain under the blood that night, or they too would suffer death, so the first-born of this age have also been told to remain under the blood of Jesus, or they will suffer death. Some of them have gone out from under the blood, and have suffered extinction as, for instance, Judas. “Good were it for that man if he had never been born.” (Mark 14:21) Divine mercy no longer applies to them.

In “due time” the night of sin and death will merge into the Millennial morning. Then the Christ, the antitypical Moses, will lead forth, will deliver, all the people of God – all who, when they shall come to know, will be glad to reverence, honor and obey the will of God. That “day” of deliverance will be the entire Millennial Age, at the close of which all evil and evil-doers, symbolized by the hosts of Egypt, will be utterly cut off in the Second Death – annihilation. “They shall be as though they had not been.” (Obad. 1:16) They will be cut off in the antitypical Red Sea.

Having clearly and positively identified the Passover Lamb with our Lord Jesus, the Apostle Paul informs us that we all need the blood of sprinkling, not upon our houses, but upon our hearts. (Heb. 10:22) We are to partake of the Lamb, and we must also eat of the unleavened Bread of Truth, if we would be strong and prepared for the deliverance in the morning of the new dispensation. Thus we “put on Christ” – not merely by faith, but more and more we put on His character and are transformed into His glorious image in our hearts and lives. (Gal. 3:27)

We feed on Christ as the Jews fed on the literal lamb. Instead of bitter herbs, which aided and whetted their appetites, we have bitter experiences and trials which the Lord prepares for us, and which help to wean our affections from earthly things and give us increased appetites to feed upon the Lamb and the unleavened Bread of Truth. We too are to remember: “For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.” (Heb. 13:14) As pilgrims and strangers, staff in hand, we are to gird ourselves for our journey to the Kingdom.

Our Lord Jesus also fully identified Himself with the Passover Lamb. On the same night of His betrayal, just preceding His crucifixion, He gathered His Apostles in the upper room, saying, “With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer.” (Luke 22:15) As Jews it was necessary that they celebrate the Passover Supper on that night, the night of the anniversary of the slaying of the Passover lamb of Egypt. It was the anniversary of the saving of the typical first-borns from the typical “prince of this world,” Pharaoh. On this same date the real Passover Lamb was to be slain. But as soon as the requirements of the type had been fulfilled by the eating of the Passover Supper, our Lord Jesus instituted a new Memorial upon the old foundation: “And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19)

EAT THE FLESH, DRINK THE BLOOD

Jesus had previously delivered a deep lesson to the Jews: “Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove amongst themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (John 6:49-52)

Jesus then added: “I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.” (John 6:53-55)

These words of Jesus aroused dismay: “These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” (John 6:59-60) To realize the full impact of Jesus’ words, we must keep in mind that the diet of the religious Jews at that time was much more rigid than it is today; they then adhered scrupulously to the ritual given them through Moses. This is forcefully revealed when we read how Peter, while in a trance, saw a great sheet lowered to the earth from Heaven. On the sheet were all manner of beasts, and he was commanded to rise, kill and eat. His answer was quick and positive: “Not so Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.” (Acts 10:9-16) The majority of Jesus’ listeners that day would have felt exactly the same way.

Thus their sensibilities were shocked when “this man” said they must eat Him if they would gain life. The very thought of it would nauseate and repel them. His comments offer no problem to us since we know that He clarified this matter on the night in which He was betrayed by offering the loaf and the cup as representing His flesh and His blood. However, it is little wonder that the disciples complained that it was a hard saying, and little wonder what happened afterward: “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.” (John 6:66)

Yet Jesus, knowing that His disciples were murmuring, made no effort to explain; He made no effort at all to soothe their abhorrence at His suggested cannibalism. But this also is explained: “For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.” (John 6:64) They were probably some of those who would believe only if they saw one of the Prophets return from the dead. They were not of the leadable and teachable that Jesus was seeking to be “heirs of the Kingdom,” so it was just as well that they should leave.

As these walked away, Jesus said to those remaining, “Will ye also go away?” Although Peter, being thoroughly schooled in the Law, was undoubtedly puzzled by what Jesus had told them, he was quick to respond, “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” (John 6:67-69)

The lesson was too deep for those who walked away, but it is the fundamental teaching of the Gospel of Christ. Whoever cannot receive this lesson (hear this “hard saying”) cannot receive the other lessons which are built upon it. Jesus had not yet given His flesh, though He was in the process of giving it; He was drawing out its vitality, its strength, and would complete the work of His sacrifice by surrendering His all to death – even the death of the cross.

WE ARE JUSTIFIED BY EATING

We do not eat the flesh of Jesus literally – we eat it by faith; that is to say, by faith we appropriate to ourselves the merit, the efficacy which was in His flesh and which He surrendered to death on our behalf. But why was this, and what did He surrender, and how do we partake of it? We answer that Adam as the head of the race had forfeited his life through disobedience. Hence, instead of being able to propagate a race of perfect beings in harmony with God and privileged to have eternal life, his offspring were as he was: dying and unworthy of eternal life.

Under God’s arrangement, a redemptive sacrifice was necessary. Someone must take Adam’s place, suffering death for him in order to release him and to justify his race from the original sentence. No human being could be found who was perfect and who could give to Justice a ransom – for all were sinners, coming short of the glory, the perfection, which God recognizes as essential to eternal life: “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.” (Psa. 49:7) It was to meet these requirements that God made the arrangement with His Son by which the latter died, freely and gladly, for the joy set before Him, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. (Heb. 12:2; 1 Pet. 3:18)

It was our Lord’s flesh – His human nature – that was given for Adam and his race, and hence given for the life of the world, that the world of mankind might be recovered from under the sentence of death. Thus Jesus, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man and we are all redeemed, not with corruptible things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood (life) of Christ, as a lamb without spot or blemish. (Heb. 2:9; 1 Pet. 1:18-19)

Now that we see how it was necessary for Christ to be made flesh and how it was necessary for Him to give His flesh (His perfect human life) for the life of the world by going into death, how do we eat His flesh? The answer, as put in that figurative form, is beautifully simple and meaningful when we understand it. The eating of the Lord’s flesh must be an individual matter on the part of all those who would benefit by His sacrifice. To eat means to appro­priate by faith. Thus when one comes to understand the fact of the redemption and believes in it, and goes to God in prayer and by faith accepts the forgiveness of his sins and reconciliation with God, he in so doing is eating the flesh of the Son of man; he is partaking of those benefits or advantages which our Lord’s flesh or sacrifice secured.

The result of such eating by faith signifies the appropriation to one’s self of all the blessings and privileges which our Lord possessed as a perfect human being; it implies our justification on the human plane, our relationship to God as those whose sins are graciously overlooked or covered and who have joy and peace and fellowship with God through faith in the precious blood. We are to continue to eat that we may grow stronger and stronger – that we may be able to appropriate more and more the wonderful blessings and privileges, relationships and divine favors which belonged to our Lord, but which He surrendered on our behalf and on behalf of all the members of Adam’s race.

THE INVITATION TO DRINK

Those who are rightly influenced by the eating – those who are drawn nearer to the Lord and led to a full consecration of their all to Him – these additionally have received a special invitation during this Gospel Age to drink of His blood. The blood is the life in Scriptural language, and hence ordinarily the Jews were not to drink blood; to do so would make them guilty or responsible for the death of the person or creature. Thus the Jews said of our Lord, “His blood be on us.” (Matt. 27:25) That is, we assume the responsibility of His death.

The Apostle also explains that unless those who partake of the blood of Christ symbolically in the communion cup do so with the proper appreciation of its meaning, they are symbolically representing themselves as being guilty of the blood – the death – of Christ. (1 Cor. 11:27) Our Lord stated the meaning of the cup at the last Supper, saying to His disciples, “This cup is the new testament in my blood.” (1 Cor. 11:25) That is to say, the cup of the fruit of the vine represents His blood, His death; by it the New Covenant will eventually be sealed. He invited believers to partake of it with Him, not as those who caused His death, but as those who voluntarily join with Him in this self-sacrifice.

Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit given through the words of the Apostle, we may see a depth of meaning in our Lord’s words which the people whom He addressed did not comprehend. Indeed, we believe that while our Lord addressed these words to the Jews, He intended them more particularly for us to whom they have been communicated and by whom they have been more fully understood.

We rejoice in the justification we have through partaking of His flesh – His sacrificed humanity. By partaking of it we appropriate our share of human justification. We rejoice also that eventually the whole world will have the opportunity to eat of that flesh – to accept the grace of God in the cancellation of their human sins and weaknesses. They will then realize that all the blessings of the Millennium, the Restitution Times, will come to them because Christ died for their sins, because He gave them His flesh to eat.

The whole world will then eat of that Bread. As the Apostle intimates, the Church has been privileged to be a part with the Lord in the broken Loaf, as well as to be participants in the cup of ignominy and self-sacrifice which the Father poured for Him, to suffer with Him that they may also reign with Him. (2 Tim. 2:12)

“TILL HE COME”

The Jews were commanded to keep the Passover each year on the 14th day of Nisan as a memorial forever. (Exod. 12:14) Christians have also been instructed to keep the Memorial “in remembrance” of Christ our Passover each year “till he come.” (1 Cor. 11:25-26) From this statement by St. Paul some have raised the question: Should we continue to keep the Memorial if our Lord has returned? However, when we consider that both the Little Flock and the Great Company are a part of the Church of the Firstborn, and that partaking of the bread and the wine symbolizes their participation in the merit of the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, then it should require no argument about them continuing to “show the Lord’s death till he come” – until the last one has come to their journey’s end.

But we believe the command would apply also to those faithful ones here in the end of the age who are not a part of the spirit-begotten Church of the Firstborn, because the merit of our Lamb has been tentatively imputed to all such – to the extent that the New Covenant cannot begin to operate toward the world until that embargo against Christ’s merit has been removed. While the primary participants in the Lord’s Supper were to be the Little Flock, it is also appropriate for these “Youthful Worthies” to partake. This is what Brother Johnson wrote on this subject:

“They are not privileged in the Lord’s Supper to symbolize death with Christ; for they are not dying as a part of The Christ. But they may partake of the Lord’s Supper to symbolize His death as the Lamb of God, and to symbolize their faith, tentatively appropriating justification through His death. We have two reasons for believing that it is appropriate for the Youthful Worthies to partake of the Lord’s Supper . . . : (1) Not only the firstborns, but all Israelites by divine command and approval (Exod. 12:25-27; Josh. 5:10; 2 Chron. 35:1-19) partook of the annual Passover, the type of the Lord’s Supper. This types that all ultimate believers – the Youthful Worthies, as well as all new creatures – may celebrate the Lord’s Supper. (2) The Apostles partook of the first Lord’s Supper while consecrated but in a tentatively justified condition. At that time their condition was very much the same as that of the Youthful Worthies, though they had a prospect of membership in the Body of Christ denied the Youthful Worthies.” (By Brother Paul Johnson, E-4, page 409)

And, as we partake of our Lamb “in newness of life,” so we also partake of His sufferings, each according to the class in which he finds himself. If we are rightly exercised by such experiences, we then receive “the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment” (their good character qualities – Exod. 12:35) – which they in turn lose by reason of their unjust acts against God’s faithful people.

Dear Brethren, if we will consider our trying experiences with Satan’s deluded servants as opportunities of obtaining divine Truth and grace, receiving them in the Lord’s spirit, we will thus receive the symbolic articles of gold, silver and raiment. Let us view these experiences from this standpoint and act accordingly amid them; and we will emerge from them greatly enriched spiritually. This consideration will keep us from murmuring and complaining amid such experiences and will enable us to take them joyfully. (1 Pet. 4:12‑14)

As the Israelites fled from the Egyptians after being told to be gone the morning after the tenth plague, the morning after the Passover had been eaten, the cloudy fiery pillar set a barrier between them and the pursuing Egyptians, casting a light ahead of it to lighten the path of Israel, but working a thick darkness to the Egyptians. Likewise, during this Harvest period, and especially during this Epiphany night, the Truth (the fiery pillar) has been the means of separating the faithful from the measurably faithful and from the unfaithful. That which brings about deliverance for the faithful is the very thing that entraps the unfaithful and brings them to a fall.

Much the same thought was portrayed when Moses was told to take water (typifying the Truth) from the river and pour it upon the dry land (typifying society) where it would become blood. (Exod. 4:9) The refreshing water of Harvest Truth would appear to be bloody repulsive error to those for whom it was not intended. “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him.” (1 Cor. 2:14) And so the Apostle counsels all to faithfulness and growth: “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” (2 Pet. 3:18)

As has been our custom, we shall keep the feast in quietness and confidence, decently, orderly, quietly, without much form or cere­mony, even as did Jesus and His disciples that last night. It is our prayer that this year’s remem­brance may be profitable to all who partake in sincerity and in Truth.

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(Reprint of No. 727, March, 2018. This paper was derived from writings of Brothers Russell, Johnson, and Hoefle.)

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NO. 810: “TEACH US TO PRAY”

No. 810

“And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1)

We are not to suppose that the disciples had never prayed when they asked the Lord to instruct them in the matter. On the contrary, we can assume that, in harmony with our Lord’s example and like the Jews in general, they were accustomed to going to God in prayer. They seemed to realize that as our Lord’s teachings differed from those of the Scribes and Pharisees on various points, so also His conception of prayer was probably different.

Several instances are recorded in which our Lord Jesus prayed in the presence and in the hearing of His disciples, refuting the claims of some that public prayer is improper. Nevertheless, our Lord’s usual method was to go to the Father privately, as He instructed His disciples to do: “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” (Matt. 6:6)

In the spirit of this injunction, our Lord withdrew from His disciples into a mountain alone for prayer, and we have several accounts of Him spending a considerable portion of the night thus in communion with the heavenly Father. If our Lord Jesus in His perfection needed to have spiritual fellowship and communion with the Father in order to carry on His assigned work, we who are imperfect have much more need to look continually to the Father for the guidance, comfort, and sustenance needed in all the trials and difficulties of life. It is in accordance with this that the Apostle exhorted: “Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks.” (1 Thess. 5:17-18)

We do not understand this to mean that the Lord’s people are to be continually upon their knees, but rather that their hearts are to be constantly in an attitude of prayer, mentally and spiritually, looking to the Lord for guidance in all the affairs of life. This perpetual communion with the Lord is the attitude of the advanced Christian, to whom every day and every hour is a time of fellowship with the Lord. Whenever the cares of everyday life interfere with such communion, it is evidence that we are being overcharged with the cares of this life, and we should rectify matters by diminishing our responsibilities, etc. If this is impossible, we should counterbalance the cares of life with the more earnest and frequent turning over of our hearts to the Lord for guidance.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

It was probably on our Lord’s return to His disciples from such a season of private fellowship with God that they asked Him to teach them to pray. Had He been in the frequent habit of praying with them audibly, we may presume that they would have known to take His style of praying as a proper example for their own.

The account of our Lord’s lesson on prayer as given by Luke differs somewhat from the account given by Matthew, the latter apparently being a much more complete statement. Luke’s account begins, “When ye pray, say . . .” (Luke 11:2) We are not to understand that our Lord meant that the exact words that followed were required. Matthew’s account states the instruction more properly: “After this manner therefore pray ye.” (Matt. 6:9) In other words, our Lord was not giving the words for our prayers, but rather a general sample of style. We are inclined to think that our Lord’s followers have, to a considerable degree, neglected the style, and instead of the brief, orderly petition, all seem inclined to adopt more or less the manner which our Lord ascribed to the improper prayer – namely, vain repetitions, as though it were expected that the prayer would be accepted only if it were of certain length. We are not to suppose that our Lord spent hours in prayer, and yet used so brief a form as the one here given to the Apostles, but we may reasonably expect that the order which He here set forth would be the one which He observed, namely:

(1) “Our Father which art in heaven.” The term “Our Father” would be new to the Jews, for they were a house of servants. By using this term, the Apostles were to understand that they had become identified with the Lord Jesus and were now privileged to consider themselves sons of God. If they had heard the Lord Jesus addressing God as His father, they may have wondered whether or not they would be so privileged to address Him. This prayer would assure them that God recognized them, not as servants merely, but as sons. This is in accordance with the statement made by the Apostle John, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12)

The affection of a true father for his child, being one of the most precious in the world, is used to illustrate the relationship of the Lord’s consecrated members to the Creator. It is necessary to be some time in the school of Christ as disciples, learners, before we are able properly to appreciate the meaning of this word Father as applied to God, but the more we come to know of the love of God, which passes all understanding, and the more we are enabled to draw near to Him through faith and obedience, the more precious will this term “Father” become.

(2) “Hallowed be thy name.” This expresses adoration and appreciation of divine goodness and greatness, and a corresponding reverence. In addressing the Father, our first thought is not to be a selfish one respecting ourselves or the interests of others precious to us. God is to be first in all of our thoughts, aims, and calculations. We are to pray for nothing that would not be in accordance with the honor of our heavenly Father’s name. We are to wish for nothing for ourselves, or for our dear ones, that He would not fully approve. There is perhaps no quality of heart in greater danger of being blotted out among professing Christians today than this thought of reverence for God. However much we have grown in knowledge and have gotten free from superstitions and errors, we fear that reverence has been losing ground, not only in the nominal church, but with many of the Household of Faith as well. Such loss of reverence is a distinct disadvantage, both to the Lord’s people and to the world, paving the way to various evils, and ultimately to anarchy.

Ignorance and superstition were the foundation for much of the reverence of the past. As the light of Truth has dispelled the error, only a few have received the precious Truth instead of the error, replacing the false reverence of superstition and fear with the real reverence of love. The Lord’s people will be helped in cultivating this reverence of love by following the order of prayer which our Lord Jesus laid down – considering first the will and honor of God as superior to their own and every other interest.

(3) “Thy kingdom come.” As God and His glory and honor are to be first in the minds of His children, so their next thought should be for the glorious Kingdom, which He has promised will bless the world. Our own personal interests and affairs, and our desire to have the Lord’s blessing and guidance in them, are not to outrank our appreciation of the beneficent arrangements He has so clearly promised in His Word. We are to remember that when the Kingdom comes, it will be a panacea for every ill and every trouble, not only for us, but for the whole world of mankind. We are not, therefore, to permit our own personal needs to be too prominent, but are to remember that the whole creation is groaning and travailing in pain together, waiting for this glorious Kingdom.

These thoughts of the Kingdom, its necessity, and the blessings that it will bring will keep our own consecration prominently before our minds. If the hope for the Kingdom is clearly before our minds, it will be, as the Apostle expressed it, “as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.” (Heb. 6:19) This anchor of hope in the future Kingdom will enable us to pass safely, and with comparative quiet, through the trials and storms of this present evil world. While praying for the Kingdom to come, our hearts will naturally turn to our hope that we may be participators in its great work of blessing the world. Then will come the thought that the present trials and difficulties are preparing us for the Kingdom. Thus, the very offering of this prayer in its proper order will bring us a measure of relief from our trials and disappointments.

(4) “Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.” This petition offered from the heart implies that the one offering it has made a full consecration of his will, his heart, to the Lord. He hopes for the Kingdom to soon come, establishing the divine will from sea to sea, and from pole to pole. Being thus in accord with the Lord’s will, and thus wishing that it might be universally in control, he will see to it that this will is ruling in his own heart – that in his own affairs God’s will is done to the best of his ability in his earthly condition, even as he hopes to have it perfected in the Kingdom. No one can intelligently and honestly offer this petition and not desire and endeavor to have the Lord’s will done in himself while on earth. A blessing comes to the one who offers this petition before he has asked any special blessing upon himself or others. The mere thought of the divine arrangement brings a blessing, a peace, a rest, a sanctification of heart.

(5) “Give us day by day our daily bread.” The thought here seems to be that of continual dependence upon the Lord, day by day, for the things needed – accepting for each day the Lord’s providential care and direction of our affairs. Daily bread should be understood in the broad sense of things that are necessary. The Lord’s people, who recognize Him as their Father, must trust Him as children, while seeking to use the various instrumentalities and opportunities within their reach. They are to provide the things necessary for themselves, yet to recognize the divine provision and care which has pre-arranged matters so as to make their present conditions and blessings attainable. Agnosticism and higher criticism in general may deny divine providence in suppling for man’s necessities, but the eye of faith sees behind these supplies the love, wisdom, and power of God in giving the things necessary in such a manner as will be for the advantage of mankind.

This petition does not warrant us in asking for particular kinds of food or comforts. We are to leave to the Lord’s providence to direct whether our careful management of life’s affairs results in material prosperity or whether we must toil unceasingly to provide barely what is sufficient. The Scriptures admonish that we are to be: “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.” (Rom. 12:11) We are not to be avaricious, but as the Apostle admonishes, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Heb. 13:5)

The children of God who live in modest circumstances may really be much happier than are some who are much more prosperous in temporal matters. Their contentment with inferior conditions arises, not from less ambitious minds, but rather from their faith, hope, and love. Under the guidance of the Lord’s Word, they discern that the present life is merely a vestibule to eternity, and that the Lord is supervising the affairs of His people. The trials, persecutions, discouragements and disadvan­tages in the present time will work in them and for them the preparation of heart and the development of character which will make them fit for the Kingdom.

(6) “And forgive us our sins.” Those who come to God in prayer acceptably must approach Him with a realization of their own insufficiency and unworthiness. They must realize that they are by nature sinners, and that their flesh is both fallen and weak. As the Apostle said, “So that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” (Gal. 5:17) It is not the Adamic sin, but personal transgressions that are here referenced. Adamic sin, unrepented of and unforgiven, would stand as a barrier so that the supplicant would have no right to go to God in prayer at all, until he had thus repented and been forgiven through the merit of the Mediator. He would have no right whatever to call God his Father, but would still be one of the unregenerated Adamic race. Our coming to God in prayer and calling Him Father implies that we have accepted the mediation of the great Redeemer, through the merit of His sacrifice. It implies that our sins have been forgiven, and that we have been covered with the robe of Christ’s righteousness, and that the Lord is no longer dealing with us as sinners.

What sins, then, have we to confess? We reply that all should recognize that their very best efforts in the flesh necessarily come short of perfection – short of the glory of God. Although the forgiveness of sins is not here mentioned as being through the merit of our Lord Jesus Christ, yet other Scriptures clearly show us that this is the only ground for our fellowship with God: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

To petition the Lord for forgiveness of sins implies that we are at heart opposed to the sins, and that any sins committed have not been willful ones. The Lord, according to His covenant of grace with us, agrees to accept the intention of our hearts in place of the actual, full, complete, perfect obedience to the divine requirement in thought, word, and act. This petition signifies that we recognize that the robe of Christ’s righteousness granted to us has become spotted or sullied, and that we desire to be cleansed, so that we may again be without spot or wrinkle.

The Lord expresses His willingness to cancel the wrong upon its being properly repented of, but He reserves to Himself the giving of stripes, or chastisements appropriate and necessary to His child as an instruction in righteousness, and correction of weaknesses, etc. Happy are they who, with growth in grace and knowledge, find their hearts so fully in accord with the principles of the divine arrangement that they will never transgress with any measure of willfulness. But blessed also are those who, finding some measure of willfulness in their deflections from the divine rule, are pained thereby, and who, as the Apostle said, are led to discipline or correct themselves that they may the more quickly learn the lessons, and bring their bodies more completely into subjection to the new mind – “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” (1 Cor. 9:27) “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” (1 Cor. 11:31)

(7) “For we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us.” Matthew’s rendering expounds on this statement: “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matt. 6:14-15) As we are imperfect and cannot keep the divine law, so likewise others are imperfect. As we realize that we have received, and will still need, divine compassion and mercy with respect to our shortcomings, so the Lord teaches us that we must exercise similar benevolence toward others. Our Lord would thus develop in His consecrated people the spirit of the Father, even as He instructed us, saying: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48)

That is to be the standard. However far short of it we may come, we can have no lower standard than that; and in proportion as we are striving for that standard and realize our own weaknesses and imperfections, we should have proportionate compassion upon fellow-creatures and their shortcomings toward us. This is love, sympathy, compassion, and whoever attains this degree of love will have compassion upon others and their weaknesses, and will be ready to forgive them and glad to forgive them. Whoever does not attain this degree of love to the extent of being able to love his enemies, so as to even pray for them, that person fails to reach the mark of character which the Lord demands. He may be sure that his own shortcomings will not be overlooked, because he is lacking the one important quality of love, which covers a multitude of sins of every kind. None will gain a place in the Kingdom unless they have this forgiving quality, this quality of love.

(8) “And lead us not into temptation.” We are to remember the words of the Apostle: “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.” (Jas. 1:13) The prayer does not signify that we fear God will tempt us, but that we entreat Him that He may guide our steps, our cares in life, so that no temptation or trial will come upon us that would be too severe for us.

The Apostle assures us that this is the divine will, and that such a prayer would be in accordance with it. God will not allow us to be tempted above what we are able to withstand, but will with every temptation provide also a way of escape. The temptations are of the Adversary, and of our own fallen natures, through our own flesh, and through the weaknesses of others. God is not responsible for these, but He is able to so guide the way of His people that they will not be overwhelmed by these natural difficulties and weaknesses, nor by the wiles of the Adversary.

(9) “But deliver us from evil.” These words are not found in the original of Luke’s account, but corresponding words are found in Matthew’s record, which would properly read, “Deliver us from the Evil One.” There never was a time when there was greater need of this petition than now, as the Evil One is especially seeking to trap and ensnare the Lord’s people in the present time. The Scriptures inform us that God is sending “strong delusion” – that is, He is permitting the Adversary to bring strong delusions upon the world and upon the nominal church. Our Father is permitting this because the time has come for a complete separation of the wheat from the tares. He has promised, however, that those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, who are seeking to walk in His steps, will not be stumbled and will never fall, but will enter into the everlasting Kingdom. The question, then, is one of loyalty of heart to the Lord.

The trial of this day will try the work of the Lord’s people “of what sort it is.” (1 Cor. 3:13) The trial will be so severe that, if it were possible, the very elect would be deceived: “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” (Matt. 24:24) But this will not be possible, because the Lord will give them special care. The Lord’s people will nonetheless seek assistance of the Lord about these matters and they will be preserved through His power. It is our expectation that very shortly now the forces of evil will gain much greater strength than at present. In the meantime, the Lord is staying the adverse forces so that His true people may put on the armor of God and be able to stand when the evil day comes.

The words included in Matthew’s account, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, Amen,” are not found in the oldest Greek manuscripts, and are therefore properly omitted in the Revised Standard Version, and many other translations, as being no part of the Scriptures. The kingdom or rule of the present time is not of God. His Kingdom and power and glory are nowhere evident. We await the ushering in of the divine Kingdom and power and glory with the establishment of Messiah’s Kingdom and the overthrow of Satan’s Empire.

WHY THE DELAY?

Our Lord then gave a parable showing the importance of “importunity” – that is, persistence – when making a request. (Luke 11:5-8) In the parable, a man goes to a neighbor’s house in the middle of the night to ask to borrow three loaves of bread to feed an unexpected guest. The neighbor at first refuses the request. But, the Lord said, if the man were to persist long enough, his friend would get up and give him what he needed. Our Lord did not use this illustration to imply that God is opposed to His people’s requests and will only grant them when they become tedious to Him. He instead used it to show that if a person can be that persistent regarding some slight earthly favor he desires, the Lord’s people need to be much more persistent and earnest with respect to the divine blessings that they desire.

Our heavenly Father has promised us good things, and He delights in giving them to us, yet some of them are far off. For instance, He has allowed His dear people to pray for the Kingdom to come on earth as in heaven for nearly twenty centuries. Why has He not answered the petition sooner? Why did He suggest that we should so pray, if the answer were to be so long delayed?

We reply: The Lord had a plan, including the time for the Kingdom, already mapped out before He taught us to pray for it. That prayer of now nearly twenty centuries, going up from the hearts of His people, has brought blessings to their hearts, and has led them to appreciate and long for the Kingdom far more than if they had not thus prayed. The longing for the Kingdom has been a blessing of itself and has been an encouragement, and so we are praying today for the Kingdom to come, more earnestly perhaps than ever before, because we appreciate the need of God’s Kingdom more and more as we get down to the time when it will be ready to be given to us.

ASKING, SEEKING, KNOCKING

Our Lord’s words in the conclusion of the lesson are very soul-satisfying to those who have faith: “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” (Luke 11:9-10) In considering these words of the Master, we are to remember the order He had just given us in prayer. We are to ask nothing that is not hallowing and honoring to our heavenly Father’s name; we are to ask for nothing that would in any way interfere with the coming of His Kingdom, or the doing of His will on earth as in heaven. We are to ask only for what is in harmony with the divine plan, as revealed in the Word and prayed for by us, having faith that it will ultimately be fully accomplished, and that it will fully satisfy our hearts.

The asking, seeking, and knocking are to be done by us individually. We may ask the Lord for a share in the Kingdom, and may labor for it, praying His blessing upon our labors; but we may not attempt to direct the divine arrangement and to ask the Lord to especially favor others in connection with the Kingdom, however dear to us they may be. On the contrary, we are to preach the Word to such dear ones, telling them of God’s goodness and grace, and of the Kingdom and its blessings, and encourage them to make a consecration of themselves to the Lord. In connection with that consecration, we are to urge them to ask for themselves, to seek for themselves, and to know for themselves that they may receive and find and enter into the blessed favors of the Lord.

EVERY GOOD AND PERFECT GIFT

Our Lord’s words appeal to the fatherly spirit in man, reminding His hearers of how earthly fathers would delight to give good things to their children: “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?” (Luke 11:11-12) Not only will a loving father not give his child something injurious when he asks for something good, he would not give the injurious things even if he were asked for them.

How much more is our heavenly Father good, kind, benevolent, and disposed to bless His children. How much more will He give to us the right things. We have thought of this frequently when hearing some of our dear friends praying that the Lord would baptize them with fire, as He promised in the Scriptures. (Matt. 3:11) We are rejoiced to think that God, in His goodness, would not answer that prayer, would not take advantage of the misunderstanding of the matter, and answer a prayer which would be so injurious to the petitioner. What they desired was a measure of divine blessing; what they were asking for was the curse, or trouble which came upon the chaff in the end of the Jewish Age, and which is again to come upon the tares in the end of the Gospel Age.

We trust that the Lord’s people will more and more cultivate a spirit of prayer, and that in so doing they will more and more appreciate their relationship to God as children, and come to Him as to a father, with simplicity, with sincerity.

We are not at all advocating the thought, so prevalent today, of “the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.” That false doctrine finds no place in the Word of God. God does not stand as a sponsor for the human race in its current depraved condition. He was the father of Adam in his perfection, but our Lord declares the imperfections in Adam’s posterity to be of the Adversary. He said to the Pharisees of His day, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.” (John 8:44)

In order to get back again into the family of God, as Adam was a son of God before he sinned, it is necessary for us to go by the appointed way – through the merit of Jesus, the merit of His sacrifice for our sins. It is from this standpoint that we come to the Father, from this standpoint that we have our fellowship, and from this standpoint that we are hoping, trusting, and believing that all things are working together for good to us, because we love God. As the Apostle said, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (Jas. 1:17)

(Based on Reprint 3351.)

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