No. 207
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you,” is the counsel of the Apostle Peter in 1 Pet. 4:12; and in v. 16 he appeals further, “If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.” It is often most helpful to the proper understanding of any text to discern its background, the basis which prompted its expression; and such is definitely true in the present instance. It will be noted in v. 1, chapter 1, that the Apostle is addressing his letter to “the strangers” of the Black Sea Provinces. The Diaglott expresses it much clearer “Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, to the sojourners of the dispersion.” Who were these “sojourners of the dispersion”? Apparently, they were such Jews as had been exiled from or about Jerusalem, or those who had left because conditions there were more or less unbearable for them. It would seem these are the same ones mentioned in John 7:35, when the Jews who were hearing Jesus, “said among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? Will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles?”
Among such dispersed ones, those who had suffered afflictions for some cause or other, there would certainly be found some who were ready listeners to the message that Jesus was indeed the Christ, their Messiah; and it would seem St. Peter had been among them, had convinced some, and was striving to “establish them in the Present Truth.” Of a certainty, those Jews had never seen Jesus personally; therefore, their acceptance of Him had been prompted by the testimonies of St. Peter or others. (1 Pet. 1:8) The prophecy (Isa. 8:14) that “He shall be for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel” was not without purpose. Those Jews who received Him gladly did so from the heart; but those Jews who rejected Him likewise hated Him from the heart ‑ hated also their former brethren who then accepted Him. To some He was the savor of life unto life; to some the savor of death unto death; and the latter snarled the opprobrious name ‘“Christian” at their former fellows, as they spat upon the ground in the same breath, the worst of all insults they could express toward the new converts. Thus, St. Peter was telling such who had become His disciples that if they suffered under the offensive name “Christian” to be not ashamed, but to “Glorify God in this name.”
The expression “fiery trial” in our text is from the Greek purosis, meaning literally “a burning,” being the same word found also in Rev. 18:9 and 18:18 ( the word occurs but three times in the Bible), where the “burning” of that Great City which is called, spiritually, Sodom, is described. This may be regarded as a fitting sarcasm in contrast that the same word should be used to describe the “sweet‑smelling savor unto the Lord” which comes from the “burning” – the sharp and faith‑developing trials of the true Christians on the one hand, and the “burning” – the utter destruction of the “vine of the earth” on the other hand. And all of this is emphasized further by St. Peter in v. 17 of chapter 4: “Because the season is coming for the judgment to begin from the house of God; and if it begin first from us, what the end of those who are disobedient to the glad tidings?”
Today the name Christian is often spoken with respect, even by many Jews in the more enlightened countries; the name itself is no longer “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” Now Christians in name only must find other insulting terms for “Christians indeed” (“Israelites indeed” – John 1:47). To some, who believed Brother Johnson and his ardent adherents were in the second death, the epithet “Johnson‑ite” would bear similar meaning to their fellows as did the name “Christian” in Apostolic times. Thus, we might substitute the words, “If any man suffer as a Johnson‑ite, let him not be ashamed” – that is, if he suffers such epithets as a faithful footstep follower of Jesus Christ. Let us keep in mind that if we “suffer as a Christian,” because of the Truth, we need never be ashamed – whether it be labeled Russellism, Hoefleism, or whatever opprobrium erstwhile brethren may use in contempt – the same as did the Jewish brethren of Jesus in contemptuous use of the name “Christian.” a He was in this world, so are we.”
“THAT OLD SERPENT THE DEVIL”
All of the “burning” – fiery trials – of God’s people under the reign of evil have been instigated by “the God of this world,” the evil one; and this has been markedly true of the difficulties of all new creatures during this Gospel Age. This is apparent at the very outset of the Age, when “The Apostle and High Priest of our Profession, Christ Jesus” was “led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil.” (Matt. 4 1) The word here translated “Devil” is from the Greek ‘diaboles,’ and is a specific name for the individual Satan – the Devil. It is the same word as found in Rev. 20:2: “He laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan.”
We believe the words dragon, serpent, Devil and Satan portray the four unholy attributes of Azazel – the personification of evil in completeness – just as Power, Wisdom, Justice and Love describe the four character attributes of Jehovah – the personification of Goodness and true Holiness in perfection. As the “dragon,’“ the Evil One, has attempted to devour the Gospel‑Age saints by the unholy use of power, just as he through Pagan Rome actually did “devour the child”– Rev. 12:4. Honest opponents are devoured and crushed by the unholy use of power, just as that great apostate “woman Jezebel” used unholy power to become “drunken with the blood of the saints”– Rev. 17:6. But in all of this seeming victory, God’s holy use of power has preserved the fully faithful, has “laid up for them a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge will give them in that day... to all those who love His appearing.” As the “serpent,” the evil one has been the deceiver, the beguiling tempter, of the Age in a perverted use of wisdom – Azazel means perverter. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any living thing” – Gen. 3:1, Rotherham; and “The woman was deceived” – 1 Tim. 2:14. But the “pure wisdom which is from above” has kept the fully faithful during the Age from being “hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”
As the “devil,” the Evil One has been the false accuser, the calumniator (so the Greek) of God’s people, especially so in the Parousia‑Epiphany in the persons of antitypical Jannes and Jambres, the slanderous false‑accusing sifters described by St. Paul in 2 Tim. 3:1‑9. And slander, lying, false statements, misrepresentations, bad conscience manifested toward the fully faithful, are they not all an abuse of justice, i.e., “in”‑justice? But here again, the “justice that is laid to the line’s has spoken – or will eventually speak – in vindication of all those “whose righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.” Then, finally as “Satan,” the Evil One is the adversary, or opposer of God’s fully faithful people – often using the measurably faithful to oppose the fully faithful – the “buckwheat” class meddling in the affairs of the wheat class, attempting to usurp their office powers. They frequently use the Truth given by God through His faithful mouthpieces to their own advantage, often palming it off as their own – all motivated through a lack of love – those persons “who received not the Truth in the love of it,” and who have been given an “energy of delusion” in return. “Thou hast given them blood (error) to drink”! (Rev. 16:6) But the true love, coming from the One “altogether lovely” provokes to good works (Heb. 10:24) – just as the lack of it opposes such “good works,” and attempts to promote evil works. Thus, there is clearly depicted the “High and Lofty One, who inhabiteth eternity, whose Name is Holy,” as contrasted with the Evil One who will be “bound a thousand years, cast into the bottomless pit, that he should deceive the nations no more” – and eventually annihilated.
THE PATTERN OF TEMPTATIONS WELL DEFINED
If we “consider Him,” it becomes clear enough that Jesus had His most severe trials at the very outset, and then at the end of His walk on the “narrow way.” After His anointing “with the spirit without measure” at Jordan, He was possessed of a consuming zeal, which so engrossed Him He did not even stop to eat for forty days. It would seem reasonable to believe that, knowing the great import of His mission on earth, and that “the King’s business required haste,” He memorized the entire Old Testament in those forty days, as well as to “rightly divide the word of Truth” on the various Tabernacle types, etc., of which He Himself would be the central figure in the antitype. According to His own words a little later, He had instructed those who have followed Him during the Age that every Tabernacle type had to continue until its antitype appeared “Till Heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled.” (Matt. 5:18; Luke 16:17) Then, at the extreme end of His earthly ministry came the most severe trial of all – Gethsemane and the Cross; and this pattern is also clearly marked in the experiences of the Apostles – much persecution immediately after Pentecost, with greater climax toward the end of their lives. James was killed with the sword (Acts 12:2), Peter crucified head downward, John thrown into a vat of boiling oil, Paul having his head chopped off, etc. – with all of them having their most severe testings at the beginning and at the end of their narrow‑way experiences.
And Satan, master of psychology, makes his boldest and strongest attempts when his intended victims are weakest. This he did in the case of Jesus, when He was weakened from His fast and arduous concentration at the end of the forty days. And this he did by evidencing real concern for His physical welfare. “You are hungry and weak,” he had implied, “but You have received the Holy Spirit without measure; you have power to provide your every need; command that these stones be made bread.” This would not only try out the new power He had received, but would provide His temporal necessities at the same time. It might even decide Satan to repent and be converted, to join hands with him in the work He was about to undertake. Inasmuch as “He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin,” we may be certain His followers all during the Age would be similarly tried – tempted to use the power of the Truth to their own present advantage; yet accomplish just as readily the work given them to do. Numerous are the examples along this line: Balaam, who succumbed to the temptation (Num. 22); St. Peter “offered money” for the power he had; but emphatically responding that “the gift of God is not to be purchased with money” (Acts 8:18‑20); the Gospel‑Age builders of Great Babylon becoming “rich, and increased of goods, and in need of nothing,” as they foolishly determined to bring to earth the Kingdom of God before “due time” – “my Lord delayeth.” “Money is power,” says Solomon; but it does not bring the power that maketh wise unto salvation; yet it has deceived many into believing they could be the “rich man” in this world, and “Lazarus” in the next. Just a cursory look at our Lord’s course should convince them of their fallacious reasoning.
TEMPTATION TO USE UNLAWFUL METHODS
At Jesus’ prompt rejection of Satan’s first bit of sophistry, he took up a second mode of attack: “If thou be the son of God, cast thyself down” from the pinnacle of the temple. (Matt. 4:6) This task of redeeming, uplifting mankind from the mire of sin, from relieving the poverty and human frailty, so apparent on every hand, just could not be done without some sensational methods; and this has been the thinking of the minds of worldly men throughout the Age. One outstanding weakness of the “great multitude” all during the Age has been this very mistake; thus, they become “doubleminded” – a mind to serve the Lord while using Satan’s methods. They would do great works, win great numbers, gain great favor with their fellows, yet bask in the smile of Heaven at the same time – a combination always parried by the fully faithful, but readily grasped by those befuddled by Azazel, attempting to juggle the “pearl of great price” with one hand, as they juggle “the pleasures of sin for a season” with the other hand. “They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare” (1 Tim. 6:9) – “lifted up with pride they fall into condemnation of the Devil.” (1 Tim. 3:6) “The Kingdom of Heaven cometh not with outward show,” said Jesus, and He set us the example of being “meek and lowly of heart.” There can be no argument with the statement, “The entrance of thy word giveth light,” and the great “quickening” that comes upon entrance of the Truth into the human mind has caused the large majority to “think more highly of themselves than they ought to think.” But the jester spoke a great truth when he declared, “O, if you would only know how much you have to know to know that you don’t know nuthin.”
It is a common fallacy of professional men – doctors, lawyers, preachers, technicians – to consider others stupid because the general knowledge of their particular vocation is so limited in the general mind. This is a mistake, of course, because many uneducated people could have made excellent doctors, lawyers, etc., had they been given the opportunity. It is a sage observation that the big difference between the professors and the students is that the professors read the books first. Therefore, it is sound counsel to all, and especially to the leaders in the church, to consider St. Paul’s words: “Who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now, if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” (1 Cor. 4:7)
TEMPTATION TO COMPROMISE
With Jesus’ positive rejection of Satan’s suggestion, there came immediately the third temptation – the temptation of Combinationism, which has overcome vast multitudes throughout the Age, and especially so here in the end of the Age. Satan would have Jesus to join with Him to accomplish His mission. Could not the two of them do it better than one of them alone? Would not two heads be better than one? Satan made it clear, of course, that he himself would be chief of the two heads: “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” This temptation of Combinationism to God’s people has been among the most alluring all during the Age – not stated in exactly the same words, of course, but with the same underlying principle. “Money is power,” says Solomon; and this influence is stronger today than at any time in history, because there is so much more of it in the hands of so many more people of differing ideals and desires. The person today who contributes, say, $10,000 per year to his particular church, will not be lightly considered when he states his wishes to the preacher. One great source of strength with the last two Principal Men was their decision, SEATS FREE ‑ NO COLLECTIONS. Since they asked no one for money, they could afford to tell them the truth; there was no need to compromise. This revives the story of an Admiral from the American Navy: Deciding to go to church one Sunday morning as he returned from the sea, he walked to a pew near the front, occupied by one lone old man. As he joined the party, he was given reproachful glances, which, however, he ignored. The old man, not to be thus disregarded, took one of his personal cards from his pocket, wrote on it, “I paid $1,000 for this seat.” The Admiral turned the card to the other side, handed it back to its owner with the answer, “You paid too much.” And certainly Jesus would have “paid too much” had He succumbed to the tricky deceit of Satan.
TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION
It is a sound observation that truth is stranger than fiction; and this is illustrated all about us today. Who wishes to hear the Truth? Even some among former brethren – those who once claimed to love the Truth more than life itself – there is very little of the “hearing ear” any more. And this situation is very evident in Churchianity everywhere; they are willing to listen to and receive almost any kind of hocus-pocus just so long as it isn’t the Truth. Thus, to the vast majority, the Truth is indeed a “stranger,” which emphasizes the truth of Jesus’ inquiry: “When the Son of Man cometh, will He find the faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:18) And the Berean Comment is most fitting: “The question implies that at that time the true faith (the Truth) would be almost extinct.” (Luke 18:8 – Berean Comment) But for those who do have the faith – the Present Truth – there is the comforting assurance of Psa. 89:15: “Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound (that have an ear for the Truth); they walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.” Such have meat to eat that others know not of; to such the Aaronic blessing is sure: “The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace” – the peace of God, which passeth understanding.
All of the three temptations of Jesus, which He met and rejected without wavering, have come in principle to all of His followers during the Age, added to which they have also been tempted to sin. It is well to bear in mind that temptation is an appealing suggestion. Without appeal, there can be no temptation. Thus, the statement, “God cannot be tempted of evil” ‑ evil is distasteful to every pore of His Being; just the reverse of Satan, whose characterization of The Evil One is indicative of the full corruption of evil that pervades every pore of his being. Nor is it any sin to be tempted; sin enters only when we are “overcome of evil.” Therefore, “be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” In all of their temptations, the fully faithful eventuate as “more than conquerors” – they gain the “crown of righteousness” which wins for them a throne. “He that overcometh shall sit with me in my throne, even as I overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne,” is the sure promise of the fully faithful new creatures.
But the Scriptures are very clear that the new creatures who are measurably faithful a “great multitude” – are not such overcomers; they will never gain a throne. At best, they will serve “before the throne” – the throne being the heritage of their fully faithful brethren. After they have “washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” it will also be their privilege to become a kind of police force in the spiritual realm. And we believe it is sound and just observation that every one of the Great Multitude leaders today has failed in at least two, and probably in all three, of those temptations which came especially upon Jesus – selfishness, error, worldliness – with the additional charge against some of them that they also fall under the fourth temptation, Sin. As the Epiphany Messenger has taught, Sectarianism is a great sin. During the Gospel Age Great Company leaders have built the sects in Big Babylon, and have perverted the Star Members’ teachings they embraced for their sects. The Great Company is one of the elect classes, but as a class they are not counted as overcomers of sectarianism and clericalism, even though they all must overcome their sins of teaching and practice as individuals if they receive the “palms” of victory. (Rev. 7:9) Thus, we offer St. Paul’s counsel: “Exhort each other every day, while it is called Today, so that no one among you may be hardened by a delusion of sin.” (Heb. 3:13, Dia.)
Another class of faithful overcomers are those who consecrate between the Ages, after the “door is shut” to the High Calling and before the full opening of the Millennium – that is, before the New Covenant is inaugurated, and opportunity to consecrate for restitution purposes is available. That Servant taught there would be such class in the end of the Age when no more crowns would be available – a class that would be similar to the Ancient Worthies, and would receive a “better resurrection” (Heb. 11:35) and be rewarded in partnership with the Ancient Worthies. He also saw in later years that they would be rewarded with spirit nature at the end of the Kingdom reign. The following respecting “Those Consecrating Between The Ages” is from That Servant’s writings in the September 1, 1915 Watch Tower, Reprint 5761:
“It is our thought that with the closing of the ‘door’ of this Gospel Age there will be no more begetting of the Holy Spirit to the spirit nature. Any afterward coming to God through consecration, before the inauguration of the restitution work, will be accepted by Him, not to the spirit plane of being, but to the earthly plane. Such would come in under the same conditions as the Ancient Worthies who were accepted of God. The Ancient Worthies came in, no call being opened to them – the High Calling not being yet open. But they freely gave themselves up to God without knowing what blessings their consecration would bring, except that they had the intimation that they would, in the future life, have a ‘better resurrection’ than would the remainder of the world.
“Our thought is that whoever under such conditions as these (during the time when sin and evil are in the ascendancy ‑ such as in this our day – JJH), will make a full consecration to the Lord, to leave all to follow in His ways, and will live up faithfully, loyally, to that consecration, may be privileged to be counted as a similar class to those who preceded this Gospel Age. We know of no reason why the Lord would refuse to receive those who make a consecration after the close of the Gospel Age High Calling and before the full opening of the Millennial.”
The Epiphany Messenger accepted That Servant’s teaching and was privileged to bring out additional light and much convincing Scriptural support for such a class; and we also “continue in what we have learned and been assured Of” and heartily believe that such consecrators between the Ages – after the “door is shut” and before opportunity for consecration for the non‑elect – will, if faithful, be rewarded with the Ancient Worthies with a “better resurrection” and become “princes in all the earth.” Like the Ancient Worthies, the Youthful Worthies are on trial for faith and obedience, and not for life, but they will tested and proved worthy if they achieve their goal – the visible rulers of the Kingdom, under the invisible Kings and Priests of God. (Rev. 20: 6) “Then cometh the end, 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. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor. 15:24‑26)
J. F. Rutherford taught in harmony with That Servant at the outset of his career, but later reversed himself. He produced a class of his own imagination, calling them Jonadabs, which later became the “great multitude.” RGJ also continued in the Truth on Youthful Worthies in the beginning of his career, but has now replaced such consecrators with a non‑existent class of his own imagination, which he calls consecrated Epiphany Campers. Both of these groups are now enmeshed in a “quagmire of error” because they have “rebelled against the words of God” (Psa. 107:11) ‑ revolutionized against the truth they once received and taught. We believe that all the Lord’s people would be greatly benefited if they would take heed to That Servant’s admonitions and warning in the Feb. 15, 1912 Watch Tower, Reprint 4970:
“The Lord’s followers are to note how these same temptations are the very ones by which the adversary assails them: (1) He would be their friend and helper and would thereby induce them to violate their covenant of sacrifice by requests for physical healing, physical blessings, which they have agreed to sacrifice. (2) He would suggest to them some wild, foolish way of capturing the world for God by some great exploits or prayer tests. (3) He would have them compromise with the world and its spirit and its methods of church federation and otherwise. We are to resist the adversary courageously that he may leave us permanently, seeing no hope of winning us.”
“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.” (Eph. 6:13,14,24)
THE MAY‑JUNE 1972 PRESENT TRUTH – “THE YOUTHFUL WORTHIES”
Several requests have come to us for our opinion on the above Present Truth; and we would observe at the outset that this is one of the better articles that has appeared in this magazine in recent years. And it is better because large parts of it are the teachings of the Epiphany Messenger. Pages 34,35,36 and 37 are almost an exact reprint of E‑4:317‑327.
But it seems just too much to expect RGJ to give the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth in anything he offers his readers; and this is true in the present instance. Half truths are often more misleading than whole errors; and in this article he not only injects some of his errors into his quotations, but he omits major points that should be included to make the whole Truth clear to all. And this prompts us to quote Jesus’ words: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.” (Matt. 23:15) As recorded of him in E‑10: 646, he is quite adept at Azazelian deception; and he gives us a good sample of it in this magazine, in which he sandwiches his errors in crafty fashion to trap the unwary and casual reader.
It seems he has especially designed this Present Truth to engage the attention of other Truth Groups; but, if everything he presents therein on the Youthful Worthies is entirely the Truth, it still is nothing more than informative ‑ because he now teaches that since 1954 there is no opportunity for any one to enter that Elect Class. And, since he also teaches that the High Calling is now no longer available, and no entrance to the Court, he is forced to invent a class of his own, walking a “narrow way” in the Camp, thus grossly revolutionizing against the Messengers’ teaching. (See Psa. 107:10,11)
His situation is identical with that of the Foolish, Unprofitable Shepherd of Zech. 11:15‑17. All familiar with the situation know that Brother Russell taught a class of consecrators would appear between the Ages that would stand in the Household in similar manner as the Ancient Worthies served God. After That Servant’s death the Society labeled such people as Modern Worthies; but, when they rejected Tentative Justification, they were forced to deny the existence of such a Class. Then they, too, had to invent a Class for present‑day purposes – because they likewise declared the High Calling closed – so they came forth with their Jonadabs – the same being presently their “great multitude” of Revelation Seven. Substantially the only difference between these latter and RGJ’s Consecrated Epiphany Campers is the name.
It will be noted that the Foolish Shepherd was guilty of four errors of omission: (1) He shall not visit those that be cut off; (2) Shall not seek the young one; (3) Shall not heal that that is broken; (4) Shall not feed that that standeth still. In due time we may offer comment on all of these points, but for now we consider only No. 2: “Shall not seek the young one’s ‑ literally, the growing person. All who come into the Household through “justification by faith...peace with God” (Rom. 5:1) could properly be described as “growing persons” ‑ that is, they have accepted Christ as their Saviour, and repented of sin. Thus, they advance from the Camp into the Court of the Tabernacle – they “grow” to that extent. And, when we do not attempt to help such people to advance further to the Door of the Tabernacle (the place of consecration), it would properly be stated that we fail to “seek the growing person.” Such is now RGJ’s position. He has his “consecrated” in the Camp outside the Court since 1954 – although he offers them some lame Millennial promises, weaker even than what the Witnesses now offer their Great Multitude.
Certainly, we are still in the ”ends of the Ages”; but with this comes the logical conclusion that there must come a time when the “growing persons” could not advance beyond their condition. As of now, we do not have a solid date for that event; but we have a Scripture which tells us the condition that will prevail when that time comes: “Neither peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction.” (Zech. 8:10)
The peace in this text might properly be classified as the “peace with God,” which will be impossible to obtain once Rev. 2:27 is fulfilling – “As the vessels of a potter shall the nations be broken to shivers.” Then will also be fulfilled the text in Rev. 22:10,11, “when no more persons will enter the tentatively justified state.” (See E‑10:114) And once more we cite what That Servant and the Epiphany Messenger taught about “growing persons” in the ends of the Ages – a basic quotation that should have been included in RGJ’s treatise, if he had been honestly motivated, and wanted properly to instruct his readers:
“Z ‘20, 21‑28 flatly denies our dear Pastor’s thought that those who consecrate and prove faithful in the interval between the close of the General Call in 1881 and the inauguration of the earthly phase of the Kingdom, will become associated in reward and service with the Ancient Worthies in the Kingdom.” (E‑4:337 – also see E‑4:342)
Since Brother Johnson is stressing the opportunity for Youthful Worthies as taught by That Servant, to refute J. F. Rutherford’s error of a non‑existent class to replace the true class, we need “think it not strange” that RGJ failed to include these quotations in his Youthful Worthy treatise. He couldn’t do that because he himself now has an identical twin for the Jonadabs, or Great Multitude, in his Campers Consecrated!
RGJ omits this basic teaching for Youthful Worthies, even as he inserts errors of his own to bolster his “strange fire” and displace the true Scriptural class the Messengers have taught us would be the consecrators “between the Ages.” On p. 38, colt 2, par. 1, he tells us of “Miriam the prophetess,’ coupled with Aaron in v. 20 as his sister, suggests that mouthpieces subordinate to the Ancient and Youthful Worthies are typed by Miriam....The first of them to consecrate as such (his Campers Consecrated, of course! – JJH) do so early in the Basileia, or Kingdom, period, as it begins lappingly in the ending of the Epiphany period; and, if faithful, they will become the chief leaders in the Miriam class.”
In the above statement, RGJ apparently willfully disregards the teaching of the Apostle Paul and the two Messengers, that the Jews will be first and chief in the Kingdom arrangement ‑ and will be the first to receive the New Covenant blessings. And how clear this revolutionism becomes to all who have a “love of the truth” when we consider the fact that all Restitutionists will have to become Jews if they get the blessings, and receive eternal life. All know, too, that all Restitutionists will not become Epiphany Campers Consecrated, or quasi‑elect consecrated. The Scriptures are very clear, too, that there is a class all during this Age, and especially so in its Epiphany ending, who “receive not the truth in the love of it” (2 Thes. 2:10,11), and because of that they have received “strong delusions,” such as non‑existent classes supplanting the true class taught by God’s faithful Mouthpieces. So we repeat, RGJ spoils the truths on Youthful Worthies he does present by his sins of omissions and commissions – omitting basic truths and inserting destructive errors. The warning in 2 Tim. 4:3,4 is pertinent to such jugglery: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine... and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
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ANNOUNCEMENT OF GENERAL INTEREST
In harmony with the arrangements for the Epiphany, we suggest Sunday, Oct. 15 through Sunday, Nov. 12 for our Special Effort in Antitypical Gideon’s Second Battle – the battle against Eternal Torment and Consciousness of the Dead (see Epiphany Vol. 5, pp. 236‑245). This is in memory of That Servant, for his faithful pursuit of these two King errors – and also in memory of the Epiphany Messenger who continued in that “good fight.” Our tracts, Where are the Dead, What is the Soul, and The Resurrection of the Dead, as well as the books, Life‑Death Hereafter and The Divine Plan of the Ages, are especially adapted for this service. We suggest to all who wish to participate with us, that they order the literature in time. Our literature is free, postage paid. We invite all of like mind to join with us in the prayer, “God bless their memory!” (1 Tim. 5:17)