NO. 611 MESSIAH'S FAST APPROACHING KINGDOM

“Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and Princes shall rule in judgment.” (Isaiah 32:1)

Coming events cast their shadows before. Startling shadows are all about us. A great change in the affairs of men is indicated and acknowledged by all thoughtful, intelligent people. The world’s pace during the past fifty years astonishes everybody. New conditions meet us on every hand. The majority of books written half a century ago along scientific lines are considered rubbish today. Rules and customs and theories of the past, supposed to be immovable and absolute, are abandoned as worthless ─ in chemistry, in manufactures, in art, in finance and commerce. All these changes necessitate a new view of social conditions and a re-examination of the relationship of religion and the Bible to man and his conditions, as seen from the present viewpoint.

The business and social world have been compelled to keep pace with the steps of progress; some of them have yielded gladly and some of them reluctantly. But religionists have been placed in a most awkward position. Religion and moral sense constitute the backbone and fiber of the best progress in civilization. The perplexity of religious thought, and its manifest inability to adjust itself to the changed conditions, is working a serious disadvantage to all disposed to look to the Almighty for guidance in life’s affairs.

The increase in worldly wisdom, the improved human conditions, the advancement along scientific lines, in material prosperity, have turned many of the world’s brightest intellects away from God and from the Bible. Many of these, still professing Christianity in an outward, formal manner, have really abandoned it in favor of a theory of “civilization.” They have wandered from the Divine Revelation, the Bible, into paths of speculation ─ their own and other men’s. They have cogitated that the reverse of the Bible statements is the Truth ─ that instead of man falling from the image of God into sin and death, he is rising from a brute or monkey plane upward, gradually, to Divine heights. Instead of looking for a great Deliverer, Messiah, Savior, Life-Giver, they are hoping to be let alone by any outside influence, that certain fancied laws of Evolution may help them upward and onward to glory, honor and immortality.

The result is that religious thought today everywhere and in all denominations, is chaotic. The whole of Christendom has practically become agnostic ─ admitting that they do not know the Truth nor how to adjust their reasoning faculties to present conditions. They are in an expectant attitude ─ seeking light. Nevertheless many fear the light lest it make manifest cherished errors or selfish hopes and ambitions which must be abandoned. But they are still pretending to know many things which we and they know that they do not know. Daily the strain becomes more intense. Gradually everybody is recognizing that a great crisis is impending along every line ─ that the people are awakening and thinking, and will no longer receive errors, as formerly.

CONVERTING THE WORLD TO GOD

 Fifty years ago Christian people, full of faith in the Bible, which they seriously misunderstood and read with sectarian spectacles of various colors, were fully agreed that God had given His Church the commission to convert the whole world and to establish Messiah’s Kingdom, when the nations would learn war no more, but beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Zealous Christian people urged that the heathen were going down to a hell of eternal torment at the rate of ninety thousand every twenty-four hours.

Noble men and women sacrificed their earthly interests for the assistance of the heathen ─ to prevent that awful catastrophe, to help the very program of God which some other Christian people of an earlier day had declared was predestinated and foreordained as unalterable. Good was certainly attempted ─ we trust that some good was accomplished. We know that some harm was done, in that fallacious conceptions of the character and plan of the Creator were promulgated amongst the heathen, which have hardened and embittered some of them.

But by and by, practical people sought for statistics, and now know that there are twice as many heathen in the world as there were a century ago. Of course, there are unthinking and unstatistical people who refuse knowledge, and who are today claiming with a com-mendable zeal, but a reprehensible ignorance, that large contributions of money would enable them to capture the whole world for God. Nevertheless, the masses no longer see the matter as they did, and can no longer be swayed to the same extent. Thinking people refuse to believe that God for centuries has sat calmly viewing the situation, allowing millions to go to eternal torment. They refuse to believe that their hearts and sympathies are more tender than those of their Creator.

Even the heathen are getting awake to the inconsistency of what has been given them under the Gospel label. They are finding out that the word Gospel signifies “good tidings,” and that what has been preached to them is the most awful message conceivable ─ that all of the heathen and the majority of their civilized neighbors and friends and relatives have been decreed, sentenced, foreordained, to eternal torture because of ignorance, because of a misbelief in respect to which they were thoroughly honest. Perplexed, the missionaries ask, What shall we preach? The message of Damnation does not sound good to the heathen, and they do not run after it nor feast their souls upon it.

The question comes to the ministers and professors of colleges throughout Christendom, and they are perplexed what answer to give. The majority of them have become Higher Critics and no longer accept the Bible as the Word of God; they are Evolutionists and no longer believe the Gospel which the Missionary societies were organized to proclaim. They are in perplexity, and many of them are prepared to abandon the former theory of Missions, and to continue their work henceforth merely along humanitarian lines. Indeed, within the last twenty-five years missionary effort has turned gradually to secular education and medical practice in the interest of the heathen, with little religious doctrine ─ and so much the better.

Everybody is agreed that the Kingdom of Messiah cannot be brought about by the wholesale conversion of the world. And logical people see that larger numbers have been lost to Christianity in civilized lands during the last twenty-five years than were ever claimed to be converted amongst the heathen. We say lost to Christianity, because why should any one be called a Christian who has lost all faith in the Bible ─ in the Law, the Prophets and the teachings of Jesus and His Apostles?

The great cloud of bewilderment which encompasses Christendom is realized by all earnest people ─ churchmen and others. And no wonder there is a certain dread associated with the dark cloud! People are wondering what kind of a storm will result? And what will be the effect upon the great religious systems of civilization? It is to join hands against these ominous conditions that the clergy of all denominations have aroused themselves in favor of Church union, or Federation. But the people feel comparatively little interest in the proposition, which they will not oppose, however.

The difficulty with the present situation is that we have stupidly and blunderingly misread the Bible. We have twisted what we did read and picked out certain portions which best pleased our fancies and supported best our various creeds. We have neglected the honest, truthful study which we should have given to our Heavenly Father’s Message. The confusion of Christendom is the result. This confusion and perplexity the Scriptures portray, assuring us that we are in the midst of a great falling away from faith in God and in His Revelation. We see fulfilled all about us the wonderful prophetic and symbolic picture of Psalm 91. A thousand fall at our side and ten thousand at our right hand ─ only the “Israelites indeed,” in whom there is no guile, will be kept from stumbling in this evil day. The chaos, which we already see everywhere in evidence, is only beginning.

GOD’S GREAT REMEDY AT HAND

The fault of Christendom has been the rejection of the Divine Plan and the acceptance instead of a human plan. The Church was going to convert the world ─ going to “conquer the world for Jesus” and present it to Him as a trophy! Alas! we have not been able to convert ourselves, which is the particular work the Master gave us to do. Greater humility would have shown us our folly long ago.

Bible students do not need to be reminded that all through the Old Testament Scriptures God’s promises abound, telling Israel and all who have ears to hear of the glorious reign of Messiah and of the success of His Kingdom, and how the result will be that “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess to the glory of God”; how “all the blind eyes shall be opened and all the deaf ears shall be unstopped”; how the blessing of the Lord will be with Israel, restored to His favor, and operate through Israel to the blessing of all peoples. We remember the prophecies which picture earthly governments and show us their termination and the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven on their ruins. We remember the Jubilee picture repeated by the Israelites every fiftieth year, proclaiming liberty for the people, and typifying restitution of all that has been lost through sin, and which is to be restored through Messiah's Kingdom.

Bible students know also how the New Testament abounds with references to the Kingdom! the Kingdom! the Kingdom! Nearly all the parables that our Lord gave were in illustration of something connected with the Kingdom or the class called out of the world to inherit the spiritual Kingdom. All such know, too, that the Great Teacher proclaimed that Kingdom and taught us and all of His followers to pray, “Thy Kingdom come! Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven!” They all know, too, that all of the Apostles refer to that Kingdom and point the Church to its establishment for the realization of her hopes ─ the time when the “marriage of the Lamb” will take place ─ the time when God's New Covenant with Israel will go into effect. The time when He who scattered Israel will also gather them, and when the Law shall go forth from Mt. Zion, the Celestial Kingdom, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem, the Capital of the earthly Princes. God’s remedy is just what humanity is coming to realize it needs. In its establishment, as the Scriptures declare, “the desire of all nations shall come.” (Haggai 2:7)

Bible students are more and more coming to see that this Gospel Age is the time in which Messiah is selecting from amongst men ─ of Jews and Gentiles ─ a saintly class, and is testing and proving their loyalty to God and to righteousness. These are to be Messiah's assistants ─ the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife. As Abraham typified the Heavenly Father, so the Messiah was typified by Isaac. And Messiah’s Bride and joint-heir and co-laborer in His Kingdom was typified by Rebecca. Thus seen the great Plan of God has progressed well. 

Our neglect of the Word of God and our study instead of the Talmud and the Creeds of the Dark Ages have been our undoing. Under all this wrong influence we have failed to cultivate the fruits of the Holy Spirit ─ meekness, gentleness, patience, longsuffering, brotherly kindness, love. Instead, we cultivate pride, ambition, selfishness. We have done those things which we ought not to have done, and we have left undone those things which we ought to have done. Our help must come from God. According to our understanding of the Scriptures, help is near, but coming in an unexpected way. Pride and selfishness have blossomed and brought forth a fruitage of strife. The bad example set by Christian people has extended to the world, and has been thoroughly appropriated. It has become the spirit of the world ─ of all classes.

THE GREAT DAY OF WRATH

Now, as faith in the Bible is waning and respect for God and His Word is proportionately waning, what could we expect but that which the Scriptures declare is at hand, namely, the “time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation?” The selfishness which both rich and poor, learned and ignorant, have cultivated will, in that Time of Trouble, be represented in conflicts between labor unions and capitalistic trusts. The Bible declares that then “every man’s hand will be against his neighbor” ─ all confidence will be lost ─ the bond of human sympathy and brotherhood will be utterly snapped in riotous selfishness.

The Scriptures identify this trouble with Messiah’s taking to Himself His Kingdom power and beginning his reign (Daniel 12:1; Revelation 11:18). Thank God! The intimations of the Scriptures are that the conflict of that time will be short. It must, however, last long enough to teach humanity a lesson never to be forgotten ─ that God and His arrangements must stand first and must be obeyed, if blessing is sought.

When it is remembered that Messiah's Kingdom is not only to bless those living at the time of its establishment, but gradually to awaken the dead from the slumber of the tomb, and to give all of our race a full opportunity for attaining life eternal or death eternal, then it will be seen that the Kingdom must be a spiritual one. Then, too, Messiah’s Kingdom of Light is represented as superseding Satan’s Kingdom of Darkness ─ both spiritual. With this thought our text is in full accord ─ “A King shall reign in righteousness.” (Messiah will be that Great King, His Bride being associated with Him.) And “Princes shall execute judgment in the earth,” carrying out the decrees and regulations of the Heavenly Messiah. This is the meaning of the Lord's promise to Israel, “I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counselors as at the beginning.” (Isaiah 1:26)

The Princes who will execute judgment will all be Israelitish and all perfect men ─ tried and approved of God. They will be the Ancient Worthies ─ Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the Prophets. These men, great in faith and obedience to God, will be known to the Jews as the “fathers,” as the prophecy respecting them declares, “Instead of the fathers shall be the children, whom Thou [Messiah] mayest make Princes in all the earth.” They will be the children of Messiah in the sense that they will derive their resurrection life from Him, the Great King. Indeed, the Scriptures assure us that eventually the whole world shall receive new life from Messiah, in offset to the life received from Adam ─ forfeited through sin. Thus amongst the various titles of Messiah mentioned by the prophets we find that He will be the “Age-lasting Father,” as well as the “Prince of Peace” and mighty Elohim and the wonderful Counselor. “Of the increase of His Government and Peace there shall be no end.” (Isaiah 9:6,7)

(What Pastor Russell Wrote for the Overland Monthly, pages 318-321, 1909)

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IMMINENCE OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM

“Behold, I will send you Elijah, the Prophet, before the coming of the great and notable day of the Lord; and He shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” (Malachi 4:5,6)

Knowing that we are teaching the imminence of the establishment of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom, some are inclined to doubt the possibility of its establishment until first Elijah, the prophet, or teacher, shall be sent of God and recognized in the world. We are queried on the subject, What do you believe respecting Elijah? In what direction should we look for the promised Elijah? We reply that no human being fills the picture, the demands, the requirements of the prophecy. The fulfillment must be looked for on a much larger scale, a much grander scale.

JOHN THE FORERUNNER OF JESUS

In order to gain a comprehensive view of the matter, we look back to the Lord’s First Advent, and there see John the Baptist doing a work in the Jewish Church, introducing to it Jesus in the flesh. Jesus said of John the Baptist, “This is the Elias, if we can receive it.” (Matthew 11:14.) That is to say, John the Baptist was acting among the Jewish household of faith in the power and spirit of Elijah, who was to follow. His relationship to the future Elijah, the greater Elijah, was very similar to the relationship of our Lord Jesus to the greater Christ. By this, we mean that our Lord Jesus at His First Advent presented Himself to the Jews as the Messiah, knowing in advance that He would be rejected by them; knowing that He would be crucified; knowing that He would be raised from the dead on the third day, and forty days later would ascend up on high to appear in the presence of God on our behalf; knowing that He would be absent from the world for more than eighteen centuries; knowing that in this interim the Holy Spirit would select from both Jews and Gentiles a “little flock” to constitute His associates in the Kingdom ─ a little flock as the Bride of Christ, or otherwise known as the members of His Body, of which He is head; knowing that when the full number of members had been selected the Second Advent would take place, accompanied by the glorification of The Christ, Jesus and His members, and followed by the establishment of the “Kingdom of God under the whole heavens,” blessing all the families of the earth.

Our understanding is that the work of John the Baptist at our Lord’s First Advent was merely a foreshadowing, or illustration, of the greater work of the greater Elijah, whose ministry is to introduce the Second Advent of Christ and the Church in glory.

We have seen that John the Baptist served the purpose of Elijah to as many of the Jews as were “Israelites indeed” ─ so many of them as could and did receive Jesus as the Messiah; but the work of John was far from accomplishing the great things predicted of “Elijah, the Prophet,” mentioned in our text. Nevertheless, in every particular there was some measure of likeness between John and the true antitypical Elijah. For instance, he failed to establish unity and harmony in Israel as respects the relationship of the people to their God; he failed to do a mediatorial work except for a few. The masses were not prepared by his message, and as a consequence there came upon that typical nation a judgment of the Lord, a Time of Trouble such as they had never previously had. This foreshadows also the fact that the antitypical Elijah will similarly fail to establish peace and harmony and righteousness and relationship between God and man in the earth, and that consequently this Age will end, as did the Jewish Age, with a Time of Trouble.

THE CHURCH IN THE FLESH IS ELIJAH

We wish to lay before your minds a word-picture of the great Elijah mentioned in the text. It is the Church in the flesh this side the veil ─ even as the Church in glory the other side of the veil ─ is The Christ. We make the statement first and give the demonstration of its truthfulness afterward. Christ in the flesh, the Apostles in the flesh and all the faithful of the Lord’s people throughout the Gospel Age during their earthly career and their living representatives now in the world are fulfilling the work ascribed to Elijah. They have been endeavoring to bring about harmony, reconciliation and fellowship between God and His people. God Himself has laid the foundation of the reconciliation in the sacrifice of His Son, and the Apostle declares that He has made us “able ministers” of His Word as though God did beseech men by us to be reconciled to Him. Our Lord Jesus began this work while in the flesh, and He personally was the Head of this great Elijah, His Church in the flesh, which during nearly nineteen centuries now has been laboring together under His supervision to bless the world, to reconcile the world for so many as were willing to hear and to heed.

It was not prophesied that Elijah would have success. On the contrary, the mere statement that if his labors were not successful in bringing about reconciliation this “curse” would follow, implies the probability of the latter. Other Scriptures, other prophecies, show us most distinctly that the Lord had foreknown and foretold through the prophets that the great Time of Trouble would surely come. Note, for instance, the words of Zephaniah, the prophet: “Wait ye upon Me, saith the Lord, until 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” ─ the fire of Divine anger, the just punishment for the wrong course taken by those who had been so highly favored of the Lord in respect to knowledge of the Divine character and plan. This figurative declaration of the intensity of the trouble with which this present Age will terminate, and which will inaugurate the new dispensation, fully agrees with the statement of our text, that if Elijah’s message went unheeded, did not succeed in converting mankind, then a curse, a great trouble, would be sent upon them by the Lord, with the view to teaching them the necessary lesson which they would not learn otherwise.

That the curse, the trouble, the fire of that day, will be effective and will yield blessed results is distinctly shown by the same prophet, Zephaniah, for through him the Lord immediately adds: “Then will I turn unto the people a pure language [a pure message], that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent.” (Zephaniah 3:8,9) The scourging, the curse, the Time of Trouble, the symbolic fire, will accomplish for mankind in short time what the message of Elijah failed to accomplish.

A TIME OF TROUBLE

Daniel the prophet (12:1) also refers to this “curse,” or Time of Trouble with which this Gospel Age will end. He speaks of it as “a time of trouble such as was not since there was a nation,” and tells us that it will occur at the Second Coming of Christ, when He shall “stand up,” assume authority in the beginning of His reign. The same thought is given us in Revelation, where we are distinctly told that our Lord will take unto Himself His great power and reign, and at that time the nations will be angry and God’s wrath will come upon them, and that they shall be broken in pieces as a potter’s vessel under the rule of Messiah’s “iron rod” of inflexible justice (Rev. 11:15-18). The Apostle Paul also notes the coming of this “curse” as a sure thing, and declares that our Lord, at His Second Advent, shall be revealed “in flaming fire, taking vengeance” ─ symbolic fire, it is true ─ a symbol of the destructive force which will be exercised against everything that shall oppose the laws of Messiah’s Kingdom. Again he tells us: “The fire of that day shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.” (2 Thes. 1:8; 1 Cor. 3:13)

The Apostle James, also guided by the Holy Spirit, foreknew that the Elijah class would not be successful in its endeavor to bring about a reconciliation, and that the result would be a “time of trouble.” The Apostle Peter also tells us of this great curse which shall come upon the world in the end of this Gospel Age because of the failure of the mission of “Elijah” ─ because the antitypical Elijah, the Church in the flesh, fails to establish righteousness and love on the earth, fails to bring about reconciliation.

As we look out into the world we are surprised how little has been accomplished by the Lord’s faithful followers. Their work has merely gathered the Elijah class and witnessed to the remainder of the world. And this, indeed, was all the Lord intended for this Age, as various Scriptures show us. He foreknew the meagerness of results that would follow all our efforts.

“EVERY MAN’S HAND AGAINST HIS NEIGHBOR”

We do, indeed, see a spread of the humanitarian sentiment throughout the world. We are glad to note that a larger number of people than ever before possess some measure of sympathy for one another, evidenced by the hospitals and public homes and public schools and infirmaries, etc. Neverthe1ess, if we were to credit all these to purely Christian sentiment we should probably err. On the contrary, we are bound to assume from the knowledge we have on the subject that a measure of selfishness runs through all these various benevolences.

As for the hospitals, there is more or less pride on the part of medical men in connection with their estab1ishment; and as for the support, it comes largely through the public purse ─ through the appropriations of the State Treasury; and as for the benevolent sentiments which lie back of such appropriations for buildings, maintenance, etc. we are not toforget that the politicians who vote the moneys pay comparatively little of the taxes, and that they are influenced in large measure by a desire to curry favor among a majority of their constituents, and to some extent by architects and builders, who hope to make some profit out of the contracts, and by some who hope to obtain for themselves positions of influence or advantage in connection with the administra-tion of benevolences.

Thus, while wishing to give all proper credit for the benevolent spirit of our times, which is very great, we see that it would be a mistake not to notice that selfishness also has a hand in the benevolences. Besides, we live in a day when many wealthy people have more money than they know what to do with, in a day when some who profess Buddhism and not Christianity, are giving millions for the endowment of schools, the building of libraries and supplying church organs. We must remember that the mental organization of the natural man contains the organ of benevolence and also the organ of approba-tiveness, and to such it would be but the natural thing to use money in such a manner as would bring comfort or advantage to others and honor to himself.

But as we look out over the world, we not only see that it is not converted after nearly nineteen centuries of the preaching of the Gospel, with more or less admixture of error, but we see what is still more discouraging as respects the conversion of the world, namely, that the one-fourth of the human family, accredited with being of Christian faith, furnishes probably nine-tenths of all the murders, suicides and crimes of every character committed in the world.

IS THE WORLD’S CONVERSION HOPELESS?

We are not claiming that this is the result of Christianity; we are not claiming that the false teachings of the sects favor any of these misdoings. What we do claim is that these facts prove that the knowledge of the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, affects favorably only a small proportion who come in contact with it, and that among that favorably affected portion a comparatively few are saints, who in their earthly life are members of the great antitypical Elijah, whose lives are devoted to the promulgation of the Gospel, and doing all in their power to turn men from sin to righteousness, to harmony with the Lord.

Those who tell us that the world is rapidly being converted and that soon the Lord’s Prayer will be fulfilled, which says, “Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is done in Heaven” ─ these dear friends are surely closing their eyes to the plain facts of the case. Can they not see that if God’s will were done as fully in all parts of the earth as in the most moral and law-abiding cities in the world ─ the condition would still be far from that described in the Lord's prayer? Is God’s will done in any city as it is done in Heaven? Surely not! If the Elijah-class, the Church in the flesh, could accomplish such a conversion of the whole world as would bring all to the condition of the citizens of any community, the world would still be in the very condition which would call forth the great curse, the Time of Trouble, as necessary to the ushering in of the Kingdom of God's dear Son.

But not only so: Cast your mind backward to where the Gospel first was preached. Look at Jerusalem; look at Antioch; look at the cities of Asia Minor, at Corinth, at Rome, where the Gospel was first successfully planted, and what do we see? We see that almost every spark of true religion, true Christianity, has died out in all these places. What, then, could we hope for in respect to the world in general? If we could establish Christianity in every quarter of the globe, in every city and town and village and hamlet, not only would they still be far from the condition mentioned in Our Lord’s prayer, but we have no assurance of their remaining even in that moderate condition for any length of time.

No; what we need is the Second Coming of our Master and the establishment of His Kingdom, not only in great Glory, but also in great power ─ the forcible establishment of righteousness in the earth. The world will need what the Lord has promised for that glorious Millennial Reign, namely, that full assistance will be granted to all who will then desire it ─full Restitution power to lift up again out of sin and degradation, mental, moral and physical, and to bring back to original perfection all who will.

ELIJAH IN PROPHECY

Not directly, but indirectly, Elijah is shown in the New Testament to have been a type of the Gospel Church, his experiences typifying our experiences. For instance, he was persecuted because of his fidelity to the Truth. The Church also experiences such persecution.

Elijah’s principal persecutor was Jezebel, the wicked Queen of Israel, who is mentioned by name as the type of the enemy of the saints (Revelation 2:20). As Jezebel's persecuting power was exercised through her husband, the king, so Papacy’s persecuting power was exercised through the Roman Empire to which she was joined. As Elijah fled from Jezebel into the wilderness, where he was miracu-lously nourished by the Lord, so the true Church was led symbolically into the wilderness of isolation, but was miraculously sustained by God and her life was not permitted to be utterly destroyed. As Elijah was three and one-half years in the wilderness ─ and during that time there was no rain and a great famine prevailed ─ so the Church was three and one-half symbolic days, or 1,260 literal years, in the wilderness condition, during which time there was a spiritual famine and thirst because of lack of Truth, the Living Water, the Bread of Life.

As Elijah, at the close of the three and a half years, returned from the wilderness and manifested the errors of Jezebel’s priests, so the true Church at the close of the 1,260 years again came into prominence, since which time a great blessing of refreshment has come to the world, and Bibles at the rate of millions of copies every year are spread broadcast.

King Ahab and his people at first rejoiced that Elijah and his God were honored, but the spirit of Jezebel remained unchanged; she again sought Elijah’s life, and he again was compelled to flee into the wilderness. So with the corresponding blessings here: the world in general does not recognize the Lord’s hand in them. The Jezebel principle and spirit, not only in Papacy, but also in Protestantism, will doubtless, as soon as the Federation now proposed shall be effected, persecute the Lord’s true followers, the Elijah-class, and cause them again to flee into the wilderness, as did Elijah their type.

As Elijah's career ended by his being taken from the earth, so when the saints shall all have been changed from earthly to heavenly conditions, this will be the end of the Elijah-class. Its work will have been accomplished in its own development and in the witnessing it has done before the world. How it has witnessed, and what its Message in the world has been, and what its work as the Christ on the other side of the veil will be, we leave for consideration at a later time.

(What Pastor Russell Wrote for the Overland Monthly, pages 322-326, 1909)

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LETTER OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Marjorie,

Since “the field is the world” that’s where I’ve been.  Just returned from Kenya.  When I read that Emily was gone from us, my heart hurt.  She was such an inspiration to me. Her cheering me on in my fight against anti-semitism was special.  I never got to hug her in person.  One day I believe that I shall!

                                                            Our love to you, Frank Eiklor    (CALIFORNIA)      

NO. 610 THE GREATEST EVENT OF HISTORY

John 19:17-30

“Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3)

Calvary was the scene of the most wonderful event of history, the fulcrum as it were upon which Divine Love and Justice operated for the rolling away of the curse resting upon humanity.  Its site is not definitely known, yet the Latin word Calvary furnishes a clue, being an equivalent to the Hebrew word Golgotha and signifying “the place of the skull.” There is a bare knoll of a hill, with two caves in the front, which, looked at from a distance has rather the appearance of a skull, the caves and the brush growing therein representing the eye sockets. It is presumed that this was the place of the crucifixion. The same custom of describing rocks and hills by things which they somewhat resemble still prevails. Thus we have Sentinel Dome and Bridal Vail Falls in the Yosemite. Pulpit Rock and Teakettle Rock in the Rocky Mountains, the Owl's Head in the White Mountains and Caesar's Head in the Blue Ridge.

Crucifixion is a most horrible and torturous form of death, yet it was not the torture of death which our Redeemer suffered on our behalf which so much gives us a feeling of sympathy and sorrow as our minds go back to Calvary and the scenes preceding it. Two others were crucified with Jesus; many others had suffered a similar death before and since, and some, we may presume, suffered as much or more agony through longer-drawn-out torture, gradual burning at the stake, lacerations, etc. The thought which impresses our hearts most deeply is that our dear Savior's experiences not only were undeserved, unmerited by the one “who went about doing good,” but that his experiences were in connection with the payment of our penalty, so that “by his stripes we are healed.” (Isa. 53:5)

“THE LOVE OF CHRIST CONSTRAINETH US”

The thought that Christ died for our sins, the Just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God - that we might be restored to Divine favor, released from the just curse or sentence of death which was upon us - this thought moves our hearts to loving sympathy. “The love of Christ constraineth us; and we thus judge that if one died for all, then were all dead [under just sentence of death]: and that we who live should henceforth not live unto ourselves but unto him who died for us.” (2 Cor. 5:14,15)

“In the cross of Christ we glory,

Towering o'er the wrecks of time;

All the light of sacred story

Gathers round its head sublime.”

Proportionately as in our days the D. D.’s and college professors and the “wise of this world” are denying the necessity for our Lord's death and the value of the precious blood as an atonement for the sins of mankind, in that same proportion must those whose eyes have been opened by the grace of God to see the Divine Plan emphasize more and more the value of the cross as the basis of reconciliation between God and man. There is a great falling away in our day from this foundation feature of the Gospel. Jesus is presented as good, noble, a wonderful and wise teacher, whose words are suitable for texts and comments; but the sin of the world is denied when it is claimed that man is by an evolutionary process rising from the monkey condition to the Divine likeness, and if there is no sin of the world to be atoned for, of course, the Scriptural record that Jesus made atonement for the sins of the world is in error, and this is the view that is rapidly spreading throughout Christendom and destroying all true Christian faith.

Any other faith is not the true Christian faith, not the faith once delivered to the saints, not the faith that is pleasing to God, not the faith that is the basis for justification and forgiveness of sins, not the faith that is to be respected and honored, blessed and rewarded by the Lord in due time. We cannot enunciate this matter too distinctly, even though it may offend some to be told that they are not Christians in the Scriptural sense of the word when they no longer hold the doctrine of the atonement through the blood of the cross - through the death of Jesus. Ultimately this doctrine will be seen to be the touch stone which will clearly show who are the Lord's and who are not. Those who lose this hub or center of faith lose all part and lot in Christ so far, at least, as the present Age is concerned. They are no more Christians than are Mohammedans or Jews or Confucians or Brahmins. Jews, Mohammedans and infidels believe that Jesus lived and that he died and that he was a great teacher, but this does not make them Christians and does not justify them. We are justified, as the Apostle points out, “Through faith in his blood.” (Rom. 3:25)

“VIA DOLOROSA” - THE WAY OF THE CROSS

The way from Pilate’s judgment hall to Calvary was indeed a sorrowful way, a doleful way. Pilate felt uncomfortable in having done the only thing he could reasonably have been expected to do under all the circumstances. The chief priests and doctors of divinity had scored a victory, and might be expected to exult as they saw their victim led as a lamb to the slaughter. Yet we must give them credit for some conscience and must suppose that they were far from happy; that although they had said to Pilate, “His blood be upon us and upon our children,” they felt a mysterious dread of this wonderful person against whom they were prevailing. To suppose that their hearts were not troubled would be to discredit them everyway. On the way tender women, not disciples of Jesus, wept as Jesus passed by. Pilate had endeavored to appeal to the accusers of Jesus by having him scourged and then presenting him before them, crying, Ecce Homo - Behold the man! Look at the man whom you are asking me to crucify: no man in all your nation has such a face and form as his; not one of you for a moment considers that he is a wicked man; his face shows to the contrary. Will you not be satisfied? Will not your anger against him be appeased by the scourging which he has received? Will you not consent that I should let him go? But all these appeals were futile. His enemies were so filled with bitterness and envy that they were blind to his personal attractions. These, however, appealed to the women as he passed; they wept. Jesus was the most composed of all in that scene, because he had the assurance that he was doing the Father’s will. This assurance had kept him calm and unmoved from the moment the angel appeared in Gethsemane to give him the word of favor and thus strengthen him. He was ready to endure anything that would be the Father’s will that would carry out the Father’s plan, he had such confidence in the wisdom, the love, the justice and the power of God. To the weeping women he said, “Weep not for me, weep for yourselves” - doubtless having in mind the awful trouble which thirty-seven years after came upon that city.

“LET HIM TAKE UP HIS CROSS AND FOLLOW ME”

Jesus, bearing his cross, headed the procession, accompanied by four Roman soldiers; following came the two thieves with their crosses and four soldiers guarding each, the whole under the charge of a Centurion. Our Redeemer, less coarse by nature, less animal, more intelligent than the thieves, was probably less able naturally than they to carry the heavy timber of the cross - besides, he had been under a nervous strain and without food for about twelve hours. Evidently he was scarcely able to carry his load, and the Centurion compelled Simon of Cyrene, a countryman, to bear the cross after Jesus. Whether this means that he walked behind Jesus in the procession, carrying the cross, or that he carried the hinder part of the cross with Jesus, is uncertain; but in any event he had a most glorious opportunity, even though it was compulsory. 

Many of the Lord's dear people, reading the account, have wished that they could have had a share in the carrying of that cross. Where were Peter, James and John and the others? Alas, they allowed fear to hinder them, to deprive them of a most glorious service. While thinking of this it is well to remember that our Lord has graciously provided that all of his followers may share in the carrying of his cross. The offense of the cross, the weight of the cross, has not ceased; the cross of Christ is still in the world; the privilege is still with us to bear it with him, following after him. Although the apostles lost the privilege of bearing the literal cross for Jesus, they gloriously recovered from their fear, and we have the record of their noble service, bearing the cross of Christ for all the years of their lives afterwards.

Let us love much, and let us show our love by our zeal in cross-bearing; and if at any time that zeal grows cold, let us remember the axiom, “No cross, no crown;" let us remember the Apostle’s words, “If we suffer with him we shall also reign with him; if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him.” Yet neither the fear of death nor the appreciation of the crown must be the controlling motive. The mainspring of our devotion to the Lord must be an appreciation of what he has done for us, our love to him, and our desire to do what would please him, and thus show a responsive love. Let us remember that while the Lord Jesus, the Head of the Church, was glorified long ago, there are still about us in the world those whom he recognizes as his brethren, as “members of his body,” and that whatsoever we do to one of the least of these, whatever assistance we render to these in the bearing of their crosses, is so much that he will appreciate as manifesting our love for him, as so much that is done unto him,

“HE WAS NUMBERED WITH THE TRANSGRESSORS”

 Our Lord's crucifixion between two thieves may be viewed from various standpoints. To himself it would mean the depths of humiliation. Every noble and pure man or woman prizing purity in his own heart would find it specially detestable to be so misunderstood as to be numbered with transgressors, murderers, thieves - accounted one of them. And if this is true with us in our imperfect condition of mind and heart, and our imperfect appreciation of justice and of sin, how much more intense must this feeling have been in the perfect one, our Lord. How he must have loathed sin, how utterly opposed to it in every sense of the word he must have been, and how much more shame he must have felt than we could possibly have felt in his position. From the heavenly Father’s standpoint this permission that his Son be numbered with the transgressors was evidently to be a demonstration to angels and to men of the Son’s loyalty of heart to the utmost extreme, as we read, “He humbled himself unto death, even the death of the cross.”

Thus the Lord demonstrated, not only by his willingness to die, but his willingness to die in the most despicable manner, his full self-renunciation, the complete deadness of his own will and the thorough aliveness of his own heart and mind to his Father’s will. In all this he became an illustration to his followers, as the Apostle suggests, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God [no matter how deep the humiliation which obedience to God may bring] that he may exalt you in due time.” From the standpoint of the priests and Pharisees the Lord’s crucifixion with the two thieves was specially desirable; it would help to keep the people from thinking of him as a martyr, it would demean and degrade him before the people, and make any ashamed to acknowledge themselves the followers of a religious teacher who was publicly executed as a malefactor, as an enemy of God and man. How could it be expected that any could ever glory in the cross of Christ? But how wonderfully God’s plans overrule all human arrangements, and make even the wrath and envy and villainy of the human heart work out to his praise and in accord with his plan?

KILLING THE PRINCE OF LIFE

 The distance from Pilate’s palace to the Place of the Skull is not great, though the latter is outside the city wall. The spot was soon reached, the crosses were laid upon the ground, and the soldiers quickly stripped the prisoners and nailed them, probably with wooden spikes, to the crosses which they then lifted and dropped into the holes previously prepared for them, the feet of the crucified coming within about two feet of the ground. The agony incident to such a proceeding can be better imagined than described, especially at the moment when the cross dropped into the socket, and when the weight of the body together with the swinging and surging and jolting of the cross would make the pain terrible in the extreme, more to one of refined temperament and nervous system than to the coarser and more brutal - severer, therefore, to our Lord than to his two companions. Well may the devoted disciples of Jesus say to themselves, “My Lord bore this for me,” and we may ask ourselves in turn what have we borne for him of shame or ignominy or pain? The very thought of this should make us ashamed to mention boastfully any trials we may have endured, and also make us more courageous to be patient and to endure all things which Divine providence may permit to come to our cup because of our discipleship.

THE KING OF THE JEWS

It was Pilate’s turn to get even with the envious and malicious Jewish rulers who had forced him, contrary to his will as well as contrary to justice, to crucify Jesus. It was customary to publish the crime for which the execution took place by a printed notice over the head of the victim. In Jesus’ case he wrote, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Mark gives the inscription, “The King of the Jews,” and Luke, “This is the King of the Jews.” All three may be correct, for the notice was written in three languages, Hebrew, Greek and Latin.

In his trial before the High Priest he was sentenced to death as a blasphemer in calling himself the Son of God; but as we have seen this charge would not stand before Pilate, since the Roman government cared nothing whether a man blasphemed one god or another. To secure his execution by the Romans he was charged with rebellion against Rome, claiming that he was the King of the Jews. Pilate’s decision not to alter the writing was correct, and ultimately all the blind eyes of the world shall be opened to this great fact that Jesus was indeed Divinely anointed to be the King of earth. But as he said, “My kingdom is not from hence” - not yet. As he represents elsewhere, the time is coming when “he shall take unto himself his great power and reign.” Those who acknowledge him as King now are a very small and very insignificant people in the world - “not many great, not many wise, not many learned” - “chiefly the poor of this world, rich in faith.”

To some it seems to be a pleasing fiction to say that Jesus is now the King of the world and is reigning, that Christendom is his kingdom, and that the 400,000,000 of nominal professors are his loyal subjects. Those who thus conclude are nearly as blind and prejudiced as were the doctors of divinity who secured our Lord’s death. It would be as truthful to call black white as to call “Christendom” the empire of Christ and its people the servants of Christ. “His servants ye are to whom ye render service,” was our Lord’s standpoint, and accordingly the Lord has few real servants in the world today - the great majority are serving sin in some of its numerous forms of selfishness, and are glad to think that the day of Christ, the day of the Anointed, when he shall take to himself his great power and reign under the whole heaven, is far distant.

Those who “love his appearing,” whose souls long for the presence of the King and the inauguration of his reign of righteousness in the earth are a woefully small number. But all who are of the “little flock,” soldiers of the cross, should specially appreciate one another’s fellowship and should be ready, as the Scriptures exhort, to “lay down their lives for the brethren.” And he who would lay down his life for a brother will surely be careful in all his dealings to do nothing against the truth but for the truth, nothing to stumble any, but everything possible to assist the members of the body of Christ, “The feet of him.”

“SITTING DOWN THEY WATCHED HIM THERE”

Matthew 27:36.

The Roman soldiers, ignorant of God and the principles of righteousness - their highest conception of responsibility being to obey orders - seemed to have no heart whatever; the quivering flesh of their victims seemed to have touched no tender spot. They sat down and looked at him, and straightway began to divide his garments amongst them. “The usual dress of a Jew consisted of five parts: the head dress, the shoes, the outer garment or toga, the girdle (one part for each of the soldiers) and the chilton” - the tunic, in our text called a coat - a kind of shirt fitting somewhat closely and reaching from the neck to the ankles, for which they cast lots.

As those soldiers coldly looked at the Lamb of God, who was suffering the just for the unjust as their redemption price, and as they were dividing his raiment as their perquisites, they resembled to a considerable degree the whole of “Christendom” from that time to the present. Millions in all parts of the civilized world have heard of Jesus and his love and his sacrifice and that it was on our behalf, and are still totally unmoved, unconcerned, without thankfulness or appreciation. They are willing, indeed, to receive and divide amongst themselves day by day the various blessings and advantages which have come to them through his death, yet even these are received without appreciation or thankfulness or gratitude. The most kindly view of such an attitude of heart is that which the Apostle has expressed, saying, “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the glorious light of God’s goodness shining in the face of Jesus Christ should shine into their hearts.”

WITH HIM IN HIS DYING HOUR

 With the Lord in his dying hour were four of his very special friends: his mother, her cousin the wife of Cleopas, Mary Magdalene and John. We are not to think too severely of the apparent lack of courage on the part of the others of Jesus’ friends. The popular bitterness which had led to the crucifixion of Jesus had extended in considerable measure to his followers. It was natural that they should be afraid; it had even been hinted that Lazarus would be put to death also. The three women with him might reasonably feel themselves free from danger of molestation notwithstanding their manifest-tation of interest in the suffering one; and as for John, we remember that he had a friend in the High Priest’s household, who permitted him to be present when Jesus was first brought before the High Priest and when Peter was afraid to be known even in the outer apartments. Quite probably the High Priest’s servant was present at the time of the crucifixion to give a report of the whole proceedings. John’s courage to be present may have been influenced by these circumstances. It was at this time that Jesus, although in great pain, commended his mother to his disciple’s care - “Woman, behold thy son;” and to the disciple, “Behold thy mother.” We cannot show our sympathy at Jesus’ cross, but we can lend our presence and aid to dear “members of his body” in their dark hours; and he will count it as done to himself.

Another Scripture remained to be fulfilled. The prophet had declared of him, “They gave me gall and vinegar to drink.” This would be another mark or identification of him, and is given as the reason why Jesus mentioned this thirst. Doubtless, with a fever raging such as would be induced by the crucifixion, he had been thirsting for quite a while, but now the time was come to express the matter, to give occasion for the fulfilment of the Scripture respecting him. Gall and vinegar was given him, not as an injury but as a kindness. It was supposed that the mixture would assuage thirst to some degree.

Having thus fulfilled the various Scriptures relating to the career, our Lord realized that the end of his course had come. It was probably at this juncture that the Father’s fellowship was withdrawn from him for a moment; that for a little space at least he should experience all that the sinner could ever experience of the withdrawal of Divine favor; for he was being treated as the sinner for us that we on his account might be treated of God as righteous. Of all our Lord’s experiences we believe that this moment, in which the Father completely hid his face from him, was the most trying moment, the severest ordeal, and the one apparently which our Lord had not foreseen. Bereft of every earthly comfort and favor, privilege and blessing, up to this moment he possessed a realization of fellowship and communion with the Father; but now for that to be taken away, that upon which his whole life had depended, that was the severest trial.

In agony he cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me! What have I done to cause a cloud to come between thee and me? Have I not been faithful even unto death?” He probably soon realized the meaning of his experience, that it was necessary for him thus to fill up the cup of suffering and to demonstrate to the very limit his loyalty and obedience and to thus fully and completely meet the penalty against our race. Probably still under this cloud but with this realization he cried, “It is finished!” and died. We often speak of people dying of broken hearts, and use the term figuratively, but so far as can be known our Lord experienced this very matter actually. Apparently he died by the actual bursting of his heart. It is the tendency of deep grief to interfere with the circulation of the blood and to cause a pressure upon the heart. We have all felt this at times - a weight and heaviness of heart under certain peculiar nervous strains. This in our Lord’s case seems to have been so intense that the heart was literally ruptured. He died of a broken heart.

(Pastor Russell, Reprints 3560-3563, May 15, 1905)

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THOSE CONSECRATING BETWEEN THE AGES

“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 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 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, and the restitution opportunities not 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 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 MiIllennium.”

(Reprint 5761, column 2, September 1, 1915)

Comment: We put the above in because the main article is mostly about the saints and we do not wish for anyone to think that we believe that the “door” is still open for spiritual begettal to the high calling, or that we think we are saints.

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LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Marjorie and all the Family and Friends,

From Elva I heard that Emily has ended this difficult course on earth and is now at peace. I know in some ways she had already left you, but those final “Good-bys” are hard. I know with Lev that his being in a coma for 25 days was like he was already gone, but there was a sadness when his last day came. There was also a rejoicing that the sorrows and struggles of this life are behind.

May you feel the comfort and strength in the days ahead knowing that the loving arms of our Lord are around you.

Also may the good memories of Emily’s faithfulness in the Lord’s work encourage you.

                                                      In deepest sympathy and His love, Hava Bausch   (ISRAEL)

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Dear Marjorie and Family:

I was saddened to receive the news you gave me concerning Emily. She was indeed one great lady and full of dedication. We know she is asleep with the Lord with so many years of service and faithfulness to her credit. And may we look forward to seeing her again at some future time. What a day that will be.

My older daughter, Annie, is the Director of Bible Times Learning Center and Heritage Gardens in Ein   Kerem, Israel. This is the home of John the Baptist. It is a beautiful place where she and two others teach about scenes and stories mentioned in the Bible. It is a hands on experience and very moving. The tour ends with a Biblical Dinner like the Last Supper and a deep understanding and explanation of the meal.

Annie is creating a Memorial Garden where we can place little name plaques on a wall to honor our dead. It is winter there now and gets very cold so in the Spring she will find the perfect spot in this magical place. Emily and one other friend passed away in the last two months and both of them loved Israel. I think this would be a very fitting way to honor them right there in the Holy Land. I know they both would be pleased.

At this moment, I also send condolences from my whole family, especially Clarence and Annie too. Emily was a very dear friend to all of us.

                                             God Bless and Shalom, Ann Wagner and Family   (OKLAHOMA)

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Dear Sister Marjorie,

Greetings in our dear Redeemer’s Name! It is with great sadness I read of Sister Emily’s passing. I well imagine that that is a great loss to the Epiphany Bible House, and to all thereby connected.

Sister Emily was a dear friend and mentor to us and to me specially. I shall always remember her as she visited Trinidad, with Brother Hoefle, on three occasions. We who met her remember her as a very warm personality.

Her service for the truth has been long and enduring. Her memory is indelible. You dear sister have been holding the fort with the assistance of Sister Delta.

May His grace be with you to guide and direct the work of all at Epiphany Bible House. You all are in our prayers, and with our Christian love to all and especially to you and Sister Delta.  

                                         Your sister by His grace, Ruth Roach   (TRINIDAD, WEST INDIES)

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Dear Sister Marjorie: Loving greetings through our Beloved Redeemer,

Thank you for your letter of January 8, 2008, bringing news of the passing of our beloved Sister Emily Hoefle. I am also sorrowful over the loss of this dear Sister in Christ.

My thoughts go back over the many years that Brother John and Sister Emily nurtured me when I was indeed a babe in Christ. Their support and prayers brought me through a time of loneliness and despair as my family followed the nominal church system. Brother John and Sister Emily were truly a blessing to me.

Sister Emily did hold up and spread God’s Plan of the Ages for many years. She did what she could. I send my condolences for your loss during this period of bereavement. My thoughts go with you and yours as you continue in this good work.

                                                              Your Brother in His Name, ___   (CALIFORNIA)

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Dear Sister Williams,

One of the Brethren from Florida told me of Sister Hoefle falling asleep in death (John 11:11-14). You all have our deepest sympathy. She was a precious saint. I still have her letters she wrote over the years to me.                                                   Christian love, ___   (TEXAS)

Announcement: We have received more letters of condolences than we have room to publish at this time. We have used what we could and will publish more with our next printing.

NO. 609 HISTORY OF THE GOSPEL-AGE APOSTATE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

“Let no one delude you by any means, because the apostacy must come first, and there must be revealed that Man of Sin, that Son of Destruction, the opponent, who indeed lifts himself above everything called Divinity or Majesty; so as to seat himself in the Temple of God, exhibiting himself that he is a God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3,4, Diaglott)

Jesus, of course, established the Church in its pristine purity, which example the Apostles also followed. However, the Church greatly increased in numbers immediately after Jesus’ resurrection (“the number of men that believed was about five thousand” - Acts 4:4). This number was from just one effort of the Apostles; and others were won in various places, so that the Apostles could not have the control that Jesus had when He was with them. Thus Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 that “the mystery of iniquity doth already work,” although the worldly politicians did not enter the fray until a few hundred years later.

CONSTANTINE THE GREAT - It was not until the third period of the Church - the Pergamos epoch - that the politicians became active. Pergamos means “earthly elevation”; and it was during this period that earthly elevation really made its appearance in the Christian church - when Roman Emperor Constantine accepted Christianity - about A.D. 313. The Roman emperors have always held the notion that affiliation with some religion was essential to their success in ruling the Roman people. So, when the Church had increased in sufficient numbers, Constantine considered it good business to join with them.

And being a true Roman, he entered the Christian Church with the same ardor that he did with secular things, so he is designated as “the great.” Before his acceptance of Christianity there was raging in the Church a great controversy over the Trinity; and, when Constantine learned of this, he did what would ordinarily be considered a clever thing: He summoned the bishops of the Christian Church from all over the Empire to the Council of Nice in A.D. 325. About 350 of those "bright minds" responded - a third of all the bishops in the Empire. There they engaged in heated debate about this delicate subject. The chief opponent of this great error was the Star Member, Arius. So much had he aroused the populace that one of his opponents in that debate made this statement from the platform: This man has so agitated the people that if you go into a store and ask the price of bread, the answer you get is “the Father is greater than the Son, and the Son is inferior to the Father.” But of all that assembly only two stood with Arius; so Constantine stood with the majority - probably thinking it good politics to do so; and he banished Arius from the Roman Empire. This old man, in his seventies, went to North Africa and during the eleven years he lived there he established a flourishing Church. And what was their name? Why Arians, of course! The Catholics called Arius a heretic, and still do so to this day.

St. Augustine, also of North Africa, was considered by many the most brilliant mind of the human race in all history. When asked to explain this error, he said it is simply a mystery, not capable of explanation. Recently we read the expression of one writer, who concluded that the popes of the Dark Ages were not all bad because none of them has ever denied the Trinity.

JUSTINIAN - A.D. 483-565. This man became Roman Emperor in A.D. 527. From the year 500 onward there had again arisen a heated debate over the Trinity, and the emperor was not to be left out of that. He was a scholarly man, a great intellect. He codified the Roman law; and his legal and architectural monuments have lasted through the centuries. As a codifier of laws and as a legislator he published the Codex Justinianus in 534. He also had a very stringent ecclesiastical policy, which supported “orthodoxy” (meaning belief in the Trinity, etc.); and he forced many pagans and “heretics” to stop teaching.

The battle over the Trinity is recorded as the second great “heresy” in the Eastern Empire, the first having been “disputed by the teachings of the Alexandrian presbyter Arius, who, in an effort to maintain the oneness and majesty of God the Father, had taught that he alone had existed from eternity, while God the Son had been created in time.” Thanks in part to imperial support, the Arian heresy had persisted throughout the 4th century and was definitely condemned only in 381 with promulgation of the doctrine “that Father and Son were of one substance and thus coexistent.”

And some more from the same writer: “If the fathers of the 4th century quarreled over the relations between God the Father and God the Son, those of the 5th century faced the problem of defining the relationship of the two natures - the human and the Divine - within God the Son, Christ Jesus. The theologians of Alexandria generally held that the Divine and human natures were united indistinguishably, whereas those of Antioch taught the two natures coexisted separately in Christ, the latter being ‘the chosen vessel of the Godhead - the man born of Mary.’ In the course of the 5th century, these two contrasting theological positions became the subject of a struggle for supremacy among the rival sees of Constantinople, Alexandria and Rome. Never-theless Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople in 428, adopted the Antiochene formula, which in his hands, came to stress the human nature of Christ to the neglect of the Divine. His opponents (first the Alexandrian patriarch, Cyril, and later Cyril’s followers, Dioscourus and Eutyches), in reaction emphasized the single Divine nature of Christ, the result of the incarnation. Their belief in One God, or the nature of Christ as God the Son, became extraordinarily popular throughout the provinces of Egypt and Syria. Rome, in the person of Pope Leo I, declared in contrast of dual gods, a creed teaching that ‘two natures, perfect and perfectly distinct, existed in the single person of Christ.’

“Justinian is but one example of the civilizing magic that Constantinople often worked upon the heirs of those who ventured within its walls. Justin, the uncle, was a rude and illiterate soldier; Justinian, the nephew, was a cultured gentleman, adept at theology, a mighty builder of churches, and a sponsor of the codification of Roman law. All these accomplishments are, in the deepest sense of the word civilian; and it's easy to forget that Justinian's empire was almost constantly at war during his reign. The history of east Rome during that period illustrates, in classical fashion, how the impact of war can transform ideas and institutions alike. The reign opened with external warfare and internal strife. From Lazica to the Arabian Desert, the Persian frontier blazed into action in a series of campaigns, in which many of the generals later destined for fame in the West, first demonstrated their capacities. The strength of the east Roman armies is revealed in the fact that, while containing Persian might, Justinian could nonetheless dispatch troops to attack the Huns in the Crimea and to maintain the Danubian frontier against a host of enemies. In 532 he abandoned military operations for diplomacy, negotiating, at the cost of considerable tribute, an ‘Endless Peace’ with the Persian king Khosrow, which freed the Roman hands for operations in another quarter of the globe.”

His subjects at that time were divided mainly into two classes - the Blues and the Greens. The Blues were the landholding senatorial aristocracy - mostly orthodox in their sympathies; the Greens, in contrast, found their leaders among men whose wealth was based upon trade and industry and whose theological sympathies lay with the One-God idea. There were some very severe riots during Justinian's reign. In one of them his troops slaughtered 30,000 rioters. Their leaders were executed, and their estates passed, at least temporarily, into the emperor's hands. The western Romans preferred the rule of a Catholic Roman emperor to that of an Arian German kinglet. In those early years of the 530s, Justinian could indeed pose as the pattern of a Roman and Christian emperor. Latin was his language; and his knowledge of Roman history and antiquities was profound. In 529 his officials had completed a major collection of the laws and degrees of the emperors promulgated since the reign of Hadrean. Known as the Code of Justinian and partly founded upon the fifth century Code of Theodosius, this connection of imperial edicts pales before the Digest under Tribonian in 533. Meanwhile architects and builders worked apace to complete the new Church of the Holy Wisdom, Hagia Sophia, designed to replace older churches.

It took five years to complete the Church of the Holy Wisdom. It was finished in A.D. 539, which marked the beginning of the 1260 years supremacy of the apostate church, united with the kings and emperors of the various unchristian governments until 1799, of which more later.

It should be noted here that Justinian dealt with almost every aspect of the Christian life: entrance into it by conversion and baptism, administration of the sacraments that marked its several stages, proper conduct of the laity to avoid the wrath God would surely visit upon a sinful people; finally, the standards to be followed by those who lived the particularly holy life of the secular or monastic clergy. Pagans were ordered to attend church and accept baptism, while a purge thinned their ranks in Constantinople, and masses of them were converted by missionaries in Asia Minor. Only the orthodox wife might enjoy the privileges of her dowry; Jews and Samaritans were denied, in addition to other civil liberties, the privilege of testamentary inheritance unless they converted. A woman who worked as an actress might better serve God were she to forswear any oath she had taken - even though before God - to remain in that immoral profession. Blasphemy and sacrilege were forbidden, or famine, earthquake, and pestilence would punish the Christian society. Surely God would take vengeance on Constantinople, as He had on Sodom and Gomorrah when the homosexual persisted in his “unnatural” ways.

The best possible men were needed, for, in most Roman cities in the sixth century, imperial and civil officials gradually surrendered many of their functions to the bishop, or patriarch. The latter collected taxes, dispensed justice, provided charity, organized commerce, negotiated with barbarians, and even mustered the soldiers. By the early seventh century, the typical Byzantine city, viewed from without, actually or potentially resembled a fortress; viewed from within, it was essentially a religious community under ecclesiastical leadership. Nor did Justinian neglect the monastic clergy, or those who had removed themselves from the world. Drawing upon the regulations to be found in the writings of the 4th century Church, as well as the acts of the 4th and 5th century church councils, Father St. Basil of Caesarea ordered the cenobitic (or collective) form of monastic life in a fashion so minute that later codes, including the rule of St. Theodore the Studite in the ninth century, only further developed the Justinianic foundation.

Probably the least successful of Justinian's ecclesiastical policies were those adopted in an attempt to reconcile the Trinitarians and non-Trinitarians. After the success of negotiations that had done so much to conciliate the West during the reign of his uncle, Justinian attempted to win over the moderate anti-trinitarians, separating them from the extremists. Of the complicated series of events that ensued, only the results need be noted. In developing a creed acceptable to the moderate trinitarians of the East, Justinian alienated the believers of the West and thus sacrificed his earlier gains in that section.

However, that same century witnessed the growth of a Christian culture to rival it. Magnificent hymns were written by St. Romanos Melodos, and reveal the striking development of the liturgy during Justinian’s reign, a development that was not without its social implications. Whereas traditional pagan culture was literary and its pursuit or enjoyment thereby limited to the leisurely and wealthy, the Christian liturgical celebration and its musical component were available to all, regardless of place or position.

Next came the acceptance of images as a normal feature of Christian practice, which  satisfied certain powerful needs as Christianity spread among the Gentiles and certain Hellenized Jews who had broken with the Mosaic commandment. The convert all the more readily accepted use of the image if he had brought into his Christianity, as many did, a heritage of heathenism. These people taught that through contemplation of that which could be seen - i.e., the image of Christ - the mind might rise to that which could not be seen. From a belief that the seen suggests the unseen, it is but a short step to a belief that the seen contains the unseen and that the image deserves veneration because Divine power somehow resides in it. And this then was but a short step to veneration of the emperor's image - the Divine right of kings.

The foregoing detail has been given to offer very positive proof that Justinian was indeed the foundation of the 1260 years of real apostate Christianity, most of which finds no support from the Bible, the teachings of Jesus or the Apostles. Of course, the Communists in Russia saw this, probably not so clearly, when they took over in 1917, took the supposed bodies of the saints, which had never decayed, and picked them apart on the steps of the temple, to show they were nothing more than stuffed cotton dummies - much to the amazement of the Russian faithful Christians.

CHARLEMAGNE - A.D. 742-814. Latin Carolus Magnus, meaning Charles the Great. King of the Franks 768-814, he united by conquest nearly all Christian lands of western Europe and ruled as emperor 800-814. His reign was characterized by a brilliant court and by an imperial unity unrivaled for centuries before and after. He conquered the Lombards and the pagan Saxons, whom he Christianized. He continued expansion of the Frankish state. His close alliance with the Papacy and the papal desire for a western emperor to counter Byzantium resulted in the coronation of Charlemagne in 800. His court became an intellectual, political and administrative center after 794.

THE PAPACY - From the time of Justinian to the reign of Charlemagne the apostate church made great strides in subduing all “heretics” and expanding their own territory and increasing their numbers. During that time the Papacy gradually developed. The word is derived from the Latin papacia, meaning pope or father. It is of medieval origin. In its primary usage it denotes the office of the pope (of Rome); hence, the system of ecclesiastical and temporal government over which the pope directly presides.

Early in the Age there developed two great divisions of the Church - the Roman and the Greek. One of the outstanding differences between them is that the Roman system forbids its priests to marry, while the Greek does not. As the conflict between the two sharpened, Rome decided to build up its prestige by naming their leader the Pope, which means Father. Not to be outdone, the Greeks then named their leader the Patriarch, which means Great Papa; and thus it stands to this day, although the Greek Catholic Church is now without a titular head.

Of course, the Roman Church claimed to be the successor to St. Peter, the “chief of the Apostles,” although there is no record at all that St. Peter ever even visited the City of Rome, much less reside there. And there is strong logic to prove that he never was in Rome. “The multiplicity and variety of papal titles themselves indicates the complexity of the papal office. In the official Vatical directory he is described as Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, successor of the prince of the Apostles, supreme pontiff of the universal church, sovereign of the state of Vatican City, servant of the servants of God. In his more circumscribed capacities as Bishop of Rome, metropolitan of the Roman province, primate of Italy, and patriarch of the West, the pope is the bearer of responsibilities and the wielder of powers that have their counterparts in the other episcopal, metropolitan primatial, and patriarchal jurisdictions of the Catholic Church. [The Bible does not give God Himself as many titles as the Pope has.]”

What differentiates his particular jurisdiction from others and renders his office unique is the Roman Catholic teaching that the Bishop of Rome is at the same time successor to St. Peter, prince of the Apostles. As the bearer of the Petrine office, he is raised to a position of lonely eminence as chief bishop or primate of the universal church. The precise lineaments of this belief have undergone considerable development over the centuries, but as defined by the first Vatican Council in 1870 (when the ruling power in Italy, the house of Savoy, severed all connection with the Roman Church) - and reaffirmed by the second in 1974. It involves these fundamental assertions: that Christ singled out St. Peter among the Apostles, conferring upon him not only a preeminence among them but also the leadership or primacy in that visible community or church which he established after His resurrection; that Christ intended this primacy to be one not merely of honor but of true jurisdiction, and one exercised not merely by Peter himself but also by his successors down through the ages to the end of time; and that the bishops of Rome are to be recognized as these successors.

“Because of the development of this belief the popes have come over the course of time to wield supreme legislative, executive and judicial powers [jurisdictional functions] in the church - issuing authoritative statements on matters of doctrine [the magisterial or teaching function] creating and suppressing church laws, establishing dioceses, appointing bishops, controlling missions, acting as a court of first instance as well as of appeal, and performing either by deputy or in person, a host of other functions. Also, because of this belief, they had assumed already in the 5th century the title of supreme pontiff (summus pontifex) that had earlier been borne by the pagan Roman emperors as the heads of the college of priests. During the Middle Ages the popes also began to monopolize the title of ‘vicar (i.e., representative) of Christ,’ which, like the very name of pope for that matter, the early Latin church had customarily accorded to bishops in general. The title of sovereign of the state of Vatican City refers to the pope's position as temporal ruler of the tiny sovereign state in Rome created in 1929 by Italy in accordance with the terms of the Lateran Treaty [with Mussolini]. The last title, ‘servant of the servants of God,’ an essentially pastoral designation, is the title that popes themselves have very often chosen when called upon to issue solemn pronouncements of great importance for the whole church.”

THE INSTRUMENTS OF PAPAL GOVERNMENT - “In the day-to-day exercise of his primatial jurisdiction the pope relies on the assistance of the Roman Curia, a name first used of the body of papal assistants in the 11th century. The Curia had its origin in the local body of presbyters (priests), deacons (lower order of clergy), and notaries (lower clerics with secretarial duties), upon which, like other bishops in their own dioceses, the early bishops of Rome relied for help. By the 11th century, this body had, on the one hand, been narrowed down to include only the leading (or cardinal) presbyters and deacons of the Roman diocese, while, on the other hand, being broadened out to embrace the cardinal-bishops (the heads of the seven neighboring or ‘suburban.’ dioceses). From this emerged the Sacred College of Cardinals, a corporate body possessed, from 1179 onward, of the exclusive right to elect the pope. This right it still possesses, as it does the right to govern the church in urgent matters during a vacancy in the papal office. Recent popes have extended the size of the Sacred College beyond the traditional limit of 70 [which had been patterned after the Jewish Sanhedrin of 70 members], and have attempted, with growing success, to broaden its national complexion and to make its membership more faithfully representative of the church's international character.

“During the Middle Ages, the cardinals played an important role as a corporate body, not only during the papal vacancies, as today, but also during the pope's lifetime. In the 12th century the Roman councils that the popes had hitherto convoked when urgent matters were at hand were replaced by the assembly of the cardinals, or consistory, which thus became the most important collegial (corporate) body advising the pope and participating in his judicial activity. Eventually it began to make oligarchic claims to a share in the powers of the Petrine office, and attempted with sporadic success, to bind the pope to act on important matters only with its consent. During the 16th century, however, with the final establishment of the Roman congregations (administrative committees), each charged with the task of assisting the pope in a specific area of government, the significance of the consistory began to decline, and with it the importance of the cardinals as a corporate body.”

ANOTHER AUTHORITY - Following is a quotation from Volume 2, Studies in the Scriptures, p. 310: “From Ferraris’ Ecclesiastical Dictionary, a standard Roman Catholic authority, we quote the following condensed outline of papal power as given under the word papa: ‘The pope is of such dignity and highness that he is not simply a man, but, as it were, God, and the vicar [representative] of God... Hence the pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven, of earth and of hell. Nay, the pope’s excellence and power are not only about heavenly, terrestrial and infernal things, but he is also above angels, and is their superior; so that if it were possible that angels could err from the faith, or entertain sentiments contrary thereto, they could be judged and excommunicated by the pope... He is of such great dignity and power that he occupies one and the same tribunal with Christ; so that whatsoever the pope does seems to proceed from the mouth of God... The pope is, as it were, God on earth, the only prince of the faithful of Christ, the greatest king of all kings, possessing the plenitude of power; to whom the government of the earthly and heavenly kingdom is entrusted.’ He further adds: ‘The pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify, declare or interpret the Divine Law.’ ‘The pope can sometimes counteract the Divine Law by limiting, explaining, etc.’

“Thus, Antichrist not only endeavored to establish the Church in power before the Lord's time, but it was audacious enough to attempt to ‘counteract’ and ‘modify’ Divine laws to suit its own schemes. It thus fulfilled the prophecy which over a thousand years before declared, ‘He shall think to change times and laws.’ (Dan. 7:25)

“In a bull, or edict, Sixtus V declares: ‘The authority given to St. Peter and his successors by the immense power of the eternal King, excels all the power of earthly kings and princes. It passeth uncontrollable sentence upon them all. And if it find any of them resisting God's ordinance, it takes more severe vengeance on them, casting them down from their thrones, however powerful they may be, and tumbling them down to the lowest parts of the earth as ministers of aspiring Lucifer.’

“A bull of Pope Pius V, entitled ‘The damnation and excommunication of Elizabeth, Queen of England, and her adherents - with an addition of other punishments,’ reads:

“‘He that reigneth on high, to whom is given all power in heaven and in earth, committed one holy, catholic and apostolic church (out of which there is no salvation) to one alone upon earth, namely, to Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, and to Peter’s successor, the Bishop of Rome, to be governed in fullness of power. Him alone he made prince over all people and all kingdoms, to pluck up, destroy, scatter, consume, plant and build.’ Saint Bernard affirms that ‘none except God is like the pope, either in heaven or on earth.’

“‘The Emperor Constantine,’ says Pope Nicholas I, ‘conferred the appellation of God on the pope; who, therefore, being God, cannot be judged of man.’

“Said Pope Innocent III: ‘The pope holds the place of the true God’; and the cannon law, in the gloss, denominates the pope - ‘our Lord God.’

“Innocent and Jacobatius state that ‘the pope can do nearly all that God can do,’ while Decius rejects the word nearly as unnecessary. Jacobatius and Durand assert that ‘none dare to say to him any more than to God - Lord, what doest thou?’ And Antonius wrote: ‘To him [the pope] it belongs to ordain those things which pertain to the public good, and remove those things which prevent this end, as vices, abuses which alienate men from God... And this according to Jeremiah 1:10: ‘Behold, I have placed thee over the nations and kingdoms, to root up and destroy, to scatter and disperse,’ that is, as it regards vices. [Here again appropriating to Antichrist a prophecy which belongs to Christ's Millennial reign.]

“‘The church can punish, indirectly, the Jews with spiritual punishment, by excommunicating Christian princes to whom the Jews are subject, if they neglect to punish them with temporal punishment when they do anything against Christians.’ Men may speedily be led into every form of cruelty and oppression, if first they can convince themselves that in the exercise of such depravities they are the more like God - imitators of God.

“‘The power of the pope is exercised over schismatics and heretics, denoted also by oxen, because they resist the truth with the horn of pride.’ The following utterances of the popes, culled from Fox's Acts and Monuments, by H. G. Guinness, an English writer of note, deserves a place of prominence... ‘If he that exalteth himself shall be abased, what degradation can be commensurate with such self-exaltation as this?’

“‘Wherefore, seeing such power is given to Peter, and to me in Peter, being his successor, who is he then in all the world that ought not to be subject to my decrees, which have such power in heaven, in hell, in earth, with the quick and also the dead.’”

SUMMARY - Much more of the foregoing can be given, but we assume that what we have written is sufficient for present conditions. Therefore we now recapitulate various dates and the occurrences of each date:

A.D. 313 - In that year Constantine the Great was the first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity.

A.D. 325 - Constantine summoned the Council of Nice to consider the Trinity. Being the politician that he was, the emperor went with the crowd and accepted the error, banishing Arius and his two confederates from the Roman Empire.

A.D. 539 - Roman emperor Justinian conferred great favors upon the Roman Catholic Church, favoring them with a temple which was five years in building; and 539 marked the beginning of the 1260 years of dominance of the Church, a period that ended in 1799, of which more later.

A.D. 799 - In that year Charlemagne greatly enhanced the prestige and power of the Church by merging his vast empire (practically all of Christendom) with the Church. That marked the beginning of “The Holy Roman Empire” - the beginning of the counterfeit Millennium. When we ponder the real Millennium - “There shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying” (Rev. 21:4) - compared with the atrocities of their 799-1799 Millennium, we recognize the depth of insult that is attempted by assuming the name of “Holy Millennium” for that period. And we can say the same for the Jehovah's Witnesses who are now separating the “sheep from the goats” while sin is still in the ascendency - when “knowledge is not abroad in the earth.”

A.D. 1799 - In that year Napoleon (the man of destiny, and mentioned in the Bible - Dan. 11:36-45) declared himself emperor of France. He ordered the pope to come to France for the occasion; but, instead of asking the pope to crown him - as had been the custom for centuries - he boldly placed the crown on his own head, cast the pope into a French prison, where he died in deep disgrace, ending the phony Millennium and freeing the world of much of the butchery the apostate Church had been committing. But of Napoleon also it is recorded: “He shall come to his end, and none shall help him.” (Dan. 11:45) He was exiled to the Island of St. Helena, where he died.

A.D. 1870 - The House of Savoy severed a1l relations with the Vatican, thus divorcing the pope from all temporal power.

A.D. 1929 - Mussolini renewed Italian alliance with the Vatican; thus, the church could once more say, “I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow” (Rev. 18:7); but the church has been seeing plenty of “sorrow” since that date; and will see yet much more of it in the immediate years ahead. This is well expressed in Isaiah 4:1: “In that day [in which we are now living] seven women [all the apostate church systems] shall take hold of one man [Christ], saying, We will eat our own bread [follow our own ideas and teachings], and wear our own apparel [flaunt our own respectability and position]: only let us be called by thy name [be called Christians], to take away our reproach [do not expose our apostate doings].”

“They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever.”(Psa. 125:1) “Ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.” (John 8: 32)

(Brother John J. Hoefle, Reprint No. 470, November 1995)

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Correction:  In January-February 2008 paper, Retrospect and Prospect - Part Two, No. 606, Page 1, second column, seventh line from the bottom Pope Pius XIII should be Pope Pius XII.

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BERNSTEINS TODAY, BAPTISTS TOMORROW

When ultra-Orthodox Rabbi Avraham Bernstein of Freehold   Township, New Jersey, decided to hold a Friday evening Shabbat service in his home almost ten years ago, he had no idea he would become the object of secret, municipal surveillance and the plaintiff in a federal lawsuit.

The township claims Rabbi Bernstein is violating Freehold’s zoning laws, newly amended on September 25, 2007, that ban places of worship in residential neighborhoods without a permit. Bernstein claims the zoning laws violate his First Amendment rights. He has filed suit and is represented by the Rutherford Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Interestingly, Freehold’s laws do not prohibit someone from inviting friends over to drink beer, eat pizza, and watch sports on television they only prohibit praying. Nor do they ban Monday night football or weekly scrapbooking parties. They only ban studying the Scriptures and addressing the Almighty.

To ascertain the number of people walking to Rabbi Bernstein’s home (his guests park no cars there because they do not drive on Shabbat), the township mounted a camera on the window of the municipal building across the street and secretly filmed what it claims to be between 35 and 50 people attending the Friday evening service.

No, this did not happen in Russia. It happened in America where the First Amendment to the Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble.” In other words, if Rabbi Bernstein and his friends want to assemble peaceably to exercise their religion freely in a private home, the government should not be able to stop them. But it is trying, nevertheless. And if it succeeds, the implications will be far-reaching.

If Freehold wins this lawsuit, it will be free to shut down home Bible studies and prayer meetings, which actually generate vehicular traffic. And if Freehold gets away with this zoning sleight of hand, what’s to stop other municipalities from doing likewise?

Of course, we’ve seen all this before - only not in America. For example, around 167 B.C, when the madman Antiochus Epiphanes ruled the Promise Land and was determined to exterminate Judaism, he made it illegal for Jewish people to study Torah and pray. So when authorities raided a Jewish home, the Jews quickly hid their Scriptures and pretended to play games, such as dreidel (spinning top) - which evidently was okay with Antiochus, as it would be with Freehold.

Christianity has a long, distinguished history of meeting in homes to study, pray, and sing. When an angel freed the apostle Peter from prison, Peter went “to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.” (Acts 12:12) To the Corinthians the apostle Paul wrote, “The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.” (1 Cor. 16:19) In America, many churches emerged from weekly home Bible studies.

Today Christians are being persecuted around the world by hundreds of thousands.  America is one of the few countries left where citizens are supposed to be able to practice their religion freely. But even in America, a big blaze begins with a little spark. If you don’t douse a fire when it’s small, you may end up watching helplessly as it burns every thing in sight. If Freehold succeeds in dismembering the Shabbat service in Rabbi Bernstein’s home, it may only be a matter of time before Baptists see their home Bible studies go up in flames. (By Lorna Simco, editor-in-chief for The Friends of Israel)

NO. 608: "EARTHQUAKE"

“Whose voice shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only but also heaven.  And this word, yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” (Heb. 12:26-28)

Rev. 16:16-18 definitely identifies Arma-geddon as the great Earthquake: “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon… And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.”

Armageddon is a Hebrew word signifying the Hill of Megiddo, or the Mount of De-struction.  Megiddo occupied a very marked position on the southern edge of the Plain of Esdraelon, and commanded an important pass into the hill country. This locality was the great battleground on which was fought many of the famous battles of Old Testament history. There Gideon and his little band alarmed and discomfited the Midianites, who destroyed one another in their flight (Judges 7:19-23). There King Saul was defeated by the Philistines (1 Sam. 31:1-6).  There King Josiah was slain by Pharaoh-Necho in one of the most disastrous conflicts in the history of Israel (2 Chron. 35:22-25). There also King Ahab and his wife Jezebel lived, in the city of Jezereel, where Jezebel afterwards met a horrible death (2 Kings 9:30-37).

Those battles were in a sense typical. The defeat of the Midianites released the people of Israel from bondage in Midian. Thus Gideon and his band typified our Lord and the Church, who are to release mankind from their bondage to sin and death. The death of King Saul and the overthrow of his kingdom by the Philistines opened the way for the reign of David, who typified Messiah. King Ahab typified the civil government, symbolically called the “Dragon” in Revelation. Queen Jezebel symbolically foreshadowed the great harlot, Babylon, and as such she is mentioned by name. “Thou sufferest that woman Jezebel which called herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce my servants.” (Rev. 2:20)

In the Scriptures, the Lord has evidently seen fit to associate the name of this famous battle-field, Armageddon, with the great con-troversy between Truth and Error, right and wrong, God and Mammon, with which the Gospel Age will close and the Messianic Age be ushered in.  He has purposely used highly symbolic language in the last book of the Bible, evidently with a view to hiding certain important truths until the due times for their revealing. But even in the due time, “None of the wicked shall understand but the wise shall understand.” (Dan. 12:10)  None who are out of harmony with God shall know, but only the wise among His people.

1 Kings 19:11,12, which is a record of what Elijah (type of the true Church) saw, states: “And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire: but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.”

The four exhibitions of the Lord, given to Elijah, represent, we believe, four manifestations in which the Lord reveals Himself to mankind, the first three of which will prepare men for the final one, in which will come the desired blessing to all the families of the earth. These are: (1) The mighty winds, rending the very rocks. Winds seem to be used in Scripture for wars.

(2) An earthquake. Throughout the Scriptures an earthquake seems always to represent revolution, conditions which follow such a war would make revolution the next in order.

(3) The fire from Heaven - an epoch of Divine judgments and chastisements upon a maddened, but unconverted world, wild in anarchy, as other Scriptures show us. The results of the wars, revolutions and anarchy and the failure of the schemes of the world will prepare mankind for God’s revelation of Himself in

(4) The still small voice. Yes, He who spoke to winds and waves of Galilee will, in due time, speak peace to the people.

The two World Wars were just a prelude to the worse trouble to come. We should not confuse the natural earthquakes that have occurred recently with the great antitypical worldwide earthquake. Certainly natural disasters, not only earthquakes, but floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc., will accompany the entire Time of Trouble, but they will not be the real trouble, which will consist of a rebellion of the people against the order of affairs that exists, including religious, financial, social and political. In fact the present war in Iraq now has brought protesters against it in all countries. So this war may be just the impetus to set off Armageddon, or Revolution.  The Time of Trouble is not designed for the Church, but is to and for the world of mankind. It is the introduction of mankind to the change of Dispensation, which will consist of the establishment of the New Covenant.

The trouble is inevitable; the powerful causes are all at work, and no human power is able to arrest their operation and progress toward the certain end; the effects must follow as the Lord foresaw and foretold. No hand but the hand of God could stay the progress of the present current of events; and His hand will not do so until the bitter experiences of this conflict shall have sealed their instruction upon the hearts of men.

The French Revolution provides an example of what Armageddon will be like. In the symbolic language of Revelation, the French Revolution was indeed a “great earthquake,” a social shock so great that all “Christendom” trembled until it was over; and that terrible and sudden outburst of a single nation’s wrath, more than two centuries ago, may give some idea of the fury of the coming storm, when the wrath of all the angry nations will burst the bands of law and order and cause a reign of universal anarchy, which will follow Armageddon, the earthquake. It should be remembered, too, that that calamity occurred in what was then the very heart of Christendom, in the midst of what was regarded as one of the most thoroughly Christian nations in the world, the nation which for a thousand years had been the chief support of Papacy.  In fact the French Revolution is referred to by Jesus in His Revelation to John on Patmos as a prelude to, and an illustration of the crisis now approaching (Rev. 12: 15,16). (See Studies In The Scriptures, Vol. 3, pp50-54 and pp 64-69.) That pestilence of infidelity and anarchism has not been cured by Nominal Christianity and it is powerless to avert the further outbreak predicted in the Scriptures to be the greatest trouble ever to be known to earth (Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21).

A GRAND PARALLEL

A wonderful parallel to this change of dispensation is shown by That Servant in Volume 4, page 630: “At the making of the Law Covenant, at Mount Sinai, Moses seems to have been a type of the complete Christ (Head and Body) at the introduction of the Millennial Age, when the New Covenant will be introduced to the world, after ‘the sound of the great [seventh] trumpet,’ and the black darkness and ‘great earthquake,’ etc., of the Day of Vengeance shall have appalled mankind and made them ready to hear the voice of the Great Teacher, and glad to accept His New Covenant. This is distinctly pointed out by the Apostle (Heb. 12:18-22) who seems to mark every step of the parallelism. Israel had been approaching and had finally reached Mount Sinai, that might be touched, and from which such fearful sights and sounds emanated that all feared and quaked; but we are nearing Mount Zion and its wonderful glories and blessings far superior to those at Sinai; but accompanying the greater blessings will be the more terrible trumpet, blackness and earthquake shaking - the final shaking of all that can be shaken (all that is sinful and contrary to the Divine will), that only what is true and enduring may remain. The solution of the whole matter is in the words: ‘Wherefore [anticipating thus] receiving a Kingdom which cannot be shaken, let is have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably.’ (Heb. 12:28)”

Another illustration is given by That Servant in Volume 1, page 336: “The Deliverance of Israel from Egypt and from the plagues which came upon the Egyptians seems to illustrate the coming emancipation of the world at the hands of the greater than Moses, who he typified (Acts 3:22; Deut. 18:18). It will be a deliverance from Satan and every agency he has devised for man’s bondage to sin and error. And as the plagues upon Egypt had a hardening effect as soon as removed, so the temporary relief from the pains of the Day of the Lord will tend to harden some, and they will say to the poor, as did the Egyptians to Israel. ‘Ye are idle,’ and therefore dissatisfied and will probably, like them, attempt to increase the burden (Ex. 5:4-23). But in the end such will wish, as did Pharaoh in the midnight of his last plague, that they had dealt more leniently and wisely long ago (Ex. 12:30-33). To mark further similarity, call to mind that the troubles of this Day of the Lord are related to the ‘seven vials of wrath,’ or ‘seven last plagues,’ and that it is not until after the last of these that the great earthquake [revolution] occurs, in which every mountain [kingdom] will disappear (Rev. 16:17-20).

“Another thought with reference to this Day of Trouble is that it has come just in due time - God’s due time… evidence is adduced from the testimony of the Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament, as well as from Jesus and apostolic prophets of the New Testament which shows clearly and unmistakably that this Day of Trouble is located chronologically in the beginning of the glorious Millennial reign of Messiah. It is this necessary preparation of the coming work of restitution in the Millennial Age that precipitates the trouble.”

In Rev. 7:1 the angels are said to be on the four corners of the earth holding the four winds of the earth. We understand this to mean that the fallen angels are holding back the winds from the east, north, south and west, which on coming together constitute the whirlwind, revolution and anarchy. This “wind” is not the “whirlwind,” which will only come when the fallen angels are fully loosed than they were when causing the war, and as such meet in great conflicts among themselves and produce among mankind the symbolic whirlwind, revolution and anarchy (Jer. 25:29-33). The wind, as this text implies, must precede the whirlwind, which occurs as a result of the hostile meeting of the fallen angels, after the wind should not blow on the earth [society], nor on the sea [the restless, rebellious, lawless masses], nor on any tree [great one; the Lord’s people are counted great ones by Him] (Rev. 7:3). There will be a hectic cessation of pangs between the earthquake and the fire, just as there has been between the wind and the earthquake.

The Scriptures abound with allusions to Armageddon. Our Lord Jesus calls it “great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matt. 24:21) The prophet Daniel describes it as a “time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time.” (Dan. 12:1) Closely in connection with this statement Daniel declares that God’s Representative, “Michael shall stand up, the great Prince which standeth for thy children, thy people, Israel.” The word Michael signifies “He who is like God,” the God-like One. He will stand up for the salvation of God’s people, for rectification of error and wrong, for the establishment of right and truth, to bring to the world of mankind the great Kingdom of God, which has been preached from the days of Abraham.

But there is another great trouble, which is not mentioned in the 1 Kings text, because it is not to be upon the whole world. This trouble will be upon fleshly Israel. “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” (Jer. 30:7) There is great trouble upon them now, but we cannot say for certain that this is Jacob’s Trouble. We will not be able to discern this until more time has passed and we observe following events. But one thing is sure and that is that God’s promise to them is that He will “save them out of it.” “For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee, though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and I will not leave thee altogether unpunished.” (Jer. 30:11)  In the midst of the trouble God will reveal Himself as Israel’s defender as in ancient times, when His favor was with them nationally. Their extremity will be His opportunity; and their blindness will be removed.

The testimony of all the prophets is to the effect that the power of God will be so marvelously manifested in Israel’s deliverance by His fighting for them [thus for all], with weapons which no human power can control, including pestilence and various calamities, poured upon the wicked [Israel’s enemies and God’s opponents] until speedily all the world will know that the Lord has accepted Israel again to His favor, and become their King, as in olden times; and soon they, as well as Israel, will learn to appreciate God’s Kingdom, which shall speedily become the desire of all nations (Hag. 2:7).

If this great cataclysm of trouble were all we had to look forward to, we would think it the course of wisdom to say nothing about it. We would say, Do not think about it or speak of it; for it will be bad enough when it comes. But when the Bible tells us that the great trouble is designed merely to sweep away the outgrown religious systems, social systems, political systems, etc., and that God will on the wreck of all these things establish the Kingdom of Messiah for the world’s blessing, then we are glad of the trouble, and see that it is a necessary thing. This knowledge would be a great comfort and relief of mind to many bewildered ones who see the trouble coming on with increasing momentum; yet who cannot see the ultimate good to result, who feel that revolution and anarchy are confronting the entire world, but see not the golden lining to the black clouds of trouble.

Speaking about this Time of Trouble, St. Paul says, “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that the Day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of the light and the children of the Day.” (1 Thes. 5:4,5) God’s people should have general information regarding His plans, purposes and arrangements.

In 1 Kings 19:12 it says “after the fire a still small voice.” This is the voice of our Lord saying: “Peace be still” after the final phase of trouble, which is the fire of anarchy. He who spoke to the winds and the waves of Galilee will, in due time, speak peace to the people. It will be then that: “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. 3:9); and “They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.” (Isa. 29:24) In other words, all people will be in harmony because they will all know the Truth. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God shall fill the whole earth as the waters cover the face of the great deep (Isa. 11:9; Heb. 2:14). “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest, saith the Lord.” (Jer. 31:34) Ultimately every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess, to the glory of God (Phil. 2:11: Isa. 45:23).

“MESSIAH WILL MAKE ALL THINGS NEW”

Can we not see the wisdom of the great Creator’s program? He has determined to permit mankind to convince themselves of their own impotency, of their need of a God, and of the fact that there is a God, and that His glorious purposes for humanity are revealed in His Word. Ah, it is no wonder that the Bible speaks of that revelation of the Lord as the “still small voice of God,” speaking to mankind through Messiah’s Kingdom! No wonder the Lord declares that “then he will turn to the people a pure message that they may call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.”

St. Peter gives us a vivid picture of the new order of things in Messiah’s Kingdom. He says, “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up… the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved… Nevertheless, we, according to his

promise look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” (2 Pet. 3:10,12,13)

The “new heavens” will be the glorified Church, consisting of Jesus the Head and His Bride class, selected from the world during the past centuries. The “new earth” will be the new social order under the control of the new heavens. There will be no patching of present institutions, but a clean sweep of them by the fire of Divine wrath preceding the establishment of the new order, where only that which is righteous, just, equitable, true, will be recognized.

We rejoice that such glorious things are coming - even though the world must necessarily reach them through the tribulation of the Time of Trouble. Happy are those whose eyes and ears of understanding are open now; and who are in such heart relationship with the Lord that He can make known to them in advance something of the riches of His grace, and show them how the coming troubles will work out blessings for the human family.

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OVERCOMING DESIRES FOR EARTHLY THINGS

"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 Corinthians 9:27)

The Apostle Paul is here using the illustration of a race course. In certain races there are what are called handicaps; that is, one who is weaker is given a certain allowance of time in starting, and is granted a victory if he gets in on time. That would be an accommodation for only a few. It is called a handicap from the standpoint of the others. But in the Christian race there is accommodation granted to all; for there is none perfect - all come short of the glory of God, and we could never gain any reward that God has offered, had it not been for the satisfaction which the Redeemer has made.

Yet it is also true in this race that some have more allowance than others. Those who have many weaknesses have a corresponding allowance of grace made for them; and those who have fewer weaknesses have a less allowance. “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly,” said St. Paul. He was fully determined. He had a definite goal in view, and meant to win. This is the only attitude, if we would gain the prize that God has offered us; and the whole matter is dependent upon our zeal, our faithfulness and our earnestness.

The Greek games had other exhibitions of strength and agility besides racing. There were contests with wild animals, in which a man would attempt to slay an animal. Then there were others between men, in which a man would attempt to deal his antagonist a fatal blow, if possible, with his brass knuckles. In preparation for this contest, the contestants had a wind bag to practice on. But this was not the real battle, it was merely the preparation.

So the Apostle says that he was not using his strength merely in practice. He was trying to do something. He was fighting a real battle. What battle was it? The answer of the Bible is that a great battle began away back in the days when Satan became the adversary of God. Our first parents came into slavery to Satan, and later some of the angels fell. Now many are fighting, and some are thoroughly ignorant of whose side they are fighting for. Those who are fighting for unrighteousness are on Satan's side. Whoever is fighting for moral reforms, etc., is on God's side, rather than the side of the enemy of mankind.

The world is fighting more or less - some more intelligently, some less intelligently. There are in every army some who could not tell you what the fight is about. So now, many do not know that a battle is being waged between Righteousness and Sin. The millionaires have their own battles and contentions; and the little store-keepers have their battles, in competition with the larger merchants. The attorney has his battles. He may sometimes take a case that is on the side of justice, and defend it with zeal; and again he may take a case that is on the side of injustice, and prosecute it with equal zeal. But the world does not recognize the real battle. The same man may be on the right side one day and on the wrong side the next day.

The Apostle had enlisted under the true banner. Christ lifted up a standard in opposition to Satan, and he will yet win a glorious victory on the very field where sin has reigned for six thousand years. He had a personal conflict with the powers of darkness, in which he was victor. And his victory was gained by his overcoming his own natural desires, and fully submitting himself to the will of God. This was the only condition on which he could be exalted from the earthly state, to the glories of the Divine Nature. He has met the required condition, of dying the Just for the unjust, and has gotten the great victory over Satan.

The heavenly Father, in harmony with his own arrangement, has empowered the Lord Jesus to take out from the world a company to lay down their lives with himself, during a time when everything seems contrary, when evil seems to triumph more frequently than do righteousness and justice. These, walking by faith, and not by sight, are to lay down their lives for the sake of righteousness, to carry out the purposes of God.

OUR PRIMARY BATTLE IS WITH SELF

Do we ask, Whom, or what, shall we fight? The answer is that one would not enter the real conflict at all, if he should follow the impulses of his own mind. In such case he would not have any part in this fight. He might engage in the ordinary battling of the world - sometimes in the right, sometimes in the wrong. But if he would get into this company which is being guided by Jesus, he must come unto God by him, and must sacrifice earthly hopes, aims, and ambitions, and walk in Jesus' footsteps - steps of suffering unto death. “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” (Heb: 2:l0) Thus the battle begins in our mind, our will. We submit our mind to the mind of Christ.

In the typical Day of Atonement sacrifices, the body of Christ is represented by the Lord's goat. And as the high priest killed the goat in the type, so in the antitype the animal nature is to be killed, slaughtered, sacrificed. It is not to be yielded up to sin, but to be overcome. The new nature is in mortal combat with entrenched sin, and the cravings of human nature. He has made a consecration of himself to God. As a result, the Advocate has placed his own merit upon the consecrated one. When this is done, the battle immediately begins, that the new nature may keep down the old nature, the old will (Gal. 5:17).

The Apostle Peter writes, “Seeing, then, that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness… that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless!” (2 Peter 3:11,14) With this anticipation, how serious life should be!

The Christian who knows about these things of the future, and who lives in anticipation of them, has a joy and a peace of which the world knows nothing. One week of such living is worth more than an entire lifetime with only such things as the world has to offer. And if now we enjoy living the new life, and entering by faith into the things that the Lord has in reservation for us, what will be the realization! If we would lose much in the present time by losing our hope and faith, what would it be to lose these things eternally!

As we realize this, we see that we cannot afford one moment of carelessness. The man engaged in combat with the animal knows that the bruised and wounded animal seeks to kill him. So the Apostle tells us, the old nature strives to kill the new nature. Therefore the new nature must see to it that it uses all its strength to gain the victory. The Lord has promised us grace sufficient for every time of need. If we are overcome by the old nature, it will be because we have not strength sufficient for the victory; for if we call upon the Lord he will sustain us. But the Lord will test our loyalty, our faith, our strength of character, our alertness of mind. And the victory is sure, so long as our trust is in him! (Pastor Russell, Reprint 5777,5778, October 1, 1915)

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“IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW”

                                            Emily Jane Horn Hoefle

With much sadness it is our duty to report that our beloved Sister, Emily Hoefle, entered the sleep with Jesus on January 1, 2008. She was born April 5, 1906, the youngest of seven children of William Belt Horn and Amanda Crater Horn. They lived on a farm, although her father also ran a country store. Her parents were faithful Christians, but it was not until Emily was a youngster that her Mother came into the truth. In fact Emily and her sister, Augusta, were indirectly responsible for her getting the Truth. Their Mother was visiting her natural sister, Sally, and the two children were playing too roughly with some books, so Mother remonstrated with them. But her sister, Sally, said it was all right for her preacher had said those books were from the devil. This piqued Amanda’s interest, so she asked if she could have the books. They were Pastor Russell’s books; she read them and recognized that it was the truth right away. Afterward all of the children accepted it, although not in consecration right away.

As a young woman, Emily moved to the city of Winston-Salem, North   Carolina. There she began to work for a Justice of the Peace [magistrate], who was a Jew. He soon recognized that Emily was very smart, even though she had no schooling or experience as a secretary. He also understood that she favored the Jews. Therefore, he came to rely on her a lot.

In 1951 Emily married Brother John J. Hoefle and they moved to Mount Dora, Florida. Brother Hoefle was founder of the Epiphany Bible Students Association, and Sister Hoefle assisted him in his work of expounding the Truth and refuting errors. She continued the work after his death until she became disabled. She then guided and coached others in the work. She was a driving force in the lives of many Bible Students, as well as much witnessing to others. As a faithful student of Bible, she always testified of the promises of God - namely the coming Kingdom, resurrection of the dead, times of restitution of all things, and healing set forth in Rev. 21:4: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” She always pointed out that those things are possible because of the central doctrine of the Bible as found in 1 Timothy 2:6 - Christ, “who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.”  The result being what Christ stated in his own words (John 5:28,29, Dia.) “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth: they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment.”

Brother and Sister Hoefle were true friends of the Jews. “The New Covenant will be made with the Jews.” (Jer. 31:31-34) The Kingdom will be Israelitish. God’s plan of Salvation for all mankind will come through Spiritual Israel and Natural Israel.

The two of them were excommunicated by the Laymen’s Home Missionary Movement because they refuted the errors that were issued after the death of the Epiphany Messenger, who founded that movement. Emily, like her husband, was always appreciative of the Lord's overruling Providence, and counted the rebuffs and ostracism as “all things but loss for the execellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil. 3:8), as she “earnestly contended for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 3) We may be sure that the righteous will be in everlasting remembrance (Psa. 112:6).

NO.607 "WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH"

Dear Brethren, the time has come for the Memorial of our Lord’s death, which he said “do this in remembrance of me.” The date this year is March 20, 2008, after 6:00 P.M.

We extend our prayers and best wishes to all for a very blessed Memorial. May it be a

time of renewing our consecration to do the good and acceptable will of God.  We pray and trust that all be faithful and obedient.

We here at Mount Dora, FL, will meet at 2501 Morningside   Drive at 7:00 P.M. All in the vicinity, who are of like mind, are welcome to meet with us.

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John 1:35-51

“Thou art the Son of God: thou art the King of Israel.”

John's Gospel was written after the other three, and quite evidently with a view to setting forth matters not set forth in the other Gospels. Thus we find that it does not attempt to give a full history of the Lord's ministry in all particulars, but chiefly deals either with matters omitted or with details not given by the others. Our present lesson furnishes details respecting the gathering of the first apostles to the Lord. Much of its interest centers in the fact that it well illustrates the diversity of the Lord's dealings and providence as these are still exercised in the world in the drawing of others to himself, some in one way and some in another.

While the Scriptures inform us that at the time of the Lord's presentation “All men were in expectation of him,” of Messiah, nevertheless we are to remember that all were expecting something totally different from what the Lord presented. They were expecting a personage of high rank, of great influence, of striking and commanding character; and our Lord, if he had been an imposter, would have sought to fill this public expectation. Either he would have given them to believe he controlled wealth and influence, or he would at least have been boastful and heady, thereby making up for any deficiencies along the line of their expectation. By a studied exclusiveness of manner, and haughty disdain of the poor and the sinful, an imposter would have sought to rank himself in the public estimation by claiming the possession of every noble and lofty sentiment above others.

He was of the royal tribe of Judah - more than this, he was of the royal family of David - and had he been an imposter we may be sure that this relationship to the kingly line, and references to Divine prophecy respecting the same, would have been flaunted on every possible occasion. On the contrary, we find our Lord “meek and lowly of heart” - not bombastic, not boastful, not self obtrusive. Bearing these things in mind we see all the more clearly why he attracted special characters for his disciples, and why he failed to attract the masses: we see that it was the Father's design that he should attract to himself as disciples the meek and lowly of heart, the reverential, the sincere, and that he should more or less repel the word1y wise, the rulers, and the masses who subsequently crucified him. Let us note, too, that these same principles of attraction and repulsion have persisted throughout this Gospel Age and are still operative. The masses may be temporarily influenced and even say “Never man spake like this man,” or again, “When Messiah cometh can he do greater works than this man doeth?” But the masses will not be attracted, because the Lord does not wish to attract those whose hearts are not in the proper attitude of consecration and faith. Consequently, all down through the Gospel Age, those who have been the Lord's followers in the highest and truest sense of the word, “forsaking all to follow him,” have been comparatively few, and, as described by the Apostle, “Not many great, not many wise, not many learned, not many

noble according to the course of this world, but the poor of this world, rich in faith” - shall be heirs of the Kingdom.

LOVE BOASTETH NOT - VAUNTETH NOT ITSELF

 Notice the quiet, unostentatious, meek manner in which our Redeemer began the announcement of his mission. Quietly he presented himself to John for baptism, and after receiving there the anointing of the Holy Spirit he went into absolute seclusion in the wilderness for more than a month, for forty days studying what the Divine plan had arranged to be his course. True, he did not have the Bible, but he had the perfect memory, and for thirty years he had heard the reading of the 1aw and the prophets in the Synagogue and was thoroughly familiar with them. He had the entire matter before his mind, and under the light of the Holy Spirit he weighed the various declarations of the law and prophets, noted the course of sacrifice which these meant, his temptation lying in the suggestion that easier, less sacrificing course seemed to present themselves as feasible. He triumphed over all the adversary's allurements and blandishments - determined not to do Satan's will, nor even follow his own judgment, but strictly and implicitly follow and obey the outlined program which the Father had laid down in the Word. He returned to John, seeking companionship with those who were nearest to the Lord and waiting for Divine providence to guide in his affairs.

1t was at this time, in the presence of his disciples, that John prophesied of Jesus, saying, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” Andrew and John were disciples of John the Baptist, and when they thus heard his testimony respecting Jesus and the declaration that he had a witness from God that Jesus was the Messiah, they sought the Lord's acquaintance. They followed after him, overtook him, and inquired where he was stopping. Apparently their object was to learn of him, to ascertain what further blessings the Lord had, and what further service than that they had engaged in with John the Baptist. They wanted the best that was to be had. They had not the partisan spirit to say, “We belong to John the Baptist and must stand up for him,” as some of the Lord's dear people are inclined to do in respect to the various denominations. There were some of John’s disciples who heard his testimony who did not seek to become followers of the Lamb of God, but who were quite content to remain John's disciples. We may properly enough suppose that being content with the lesser blessing and privilege implied that they were not so worthy of the higher privileges and blessings. They doubtless never became apostles, though some of them, probably, became followers of Jesus after the imprisonment of John.

John does not mention the other disciple that went with Andrew on this occasion, but this seems to have been his modest style of omitting special mention of himself. The two spent the remainder of the day with the Lord, and doubtless “learned of him,” much to their comfort and joy and the establishment of their faith. The record is “They abode with him.” This may refer to the temporary stay of one day, but it may with equal propriety be understood to mean that they remained with the Lord as his disciples thereafter - to the very end of life. We remember on one occasion, when some took offence at certain teachings of our Lord which they did not understand, how our Lord addressing the twelve said, “Will ye also go away?” But Peter answered, “Lord, to whom should we go? thou hast the words of eternal life,” we must abide with you. So it should be with all of us who have become the Lord's followers. We are not his disciples for a day, but for all eternity. We abide with him in loyalty of heart whether we go to seek others or whether we listen to words at his feet, and he abides with us, as expressed in his own statement, “Lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age.”

“Not a brief glance I beg, a parting word;

But as thou dwell’st with thy disciples, Lord;

Familiar, condescending, patient, free,

Come, not to sojourn, but abide, with me!”

On the basis of that brief acquaintance, John and Andrew started forthwith to find others and bring them to the Master. The intimation of the Greek text is that Andrew and John both started out, each to find his own brother and bring him to the Lord, and that Andrew found his brother first, implying that John found his brother, James, a little later.

There are some points here that are well worthy of our attention: 

(l) Andrew and John were not content to have the great blessing of fellowship with the Lord alone; they desired to make known their great find.

(2) They did not attempt to influence others until they were fully satisfied themse1ves and could give a definite positive message, saying, “We have found the Messiah” - the Christ. (Messias is the Greek spelling of the Hebrew word Messiah, and is the equivalent of the Greek word Christ, which means the Anointed One.)

(3) They did not go to benighted heathen, speaking a different language. They did not say, “Our brethren and all the Jews here are already God's people and good enough and instructed enough by the scribes and Pharisees, and we will go and hunt up some outside Gentiles.” They did not even say, “We will go and look up some of those sinners who are coming to John for baptism, and who ought to know about Messiah, the great Sin-Bearer.” They did better than either of these things - they thought first of all about their own brethren, brethren according to the flesh, and in this case brethren also in religious faith and effort. There is a lesson here for us, easily applied: Our first duties lie toward those who are near to us as neighbors, friends, and especially as members of our own family circles. We should begin the proclamation of the Messiah whom we have found with them; then, after they fail to hear, or after they have heard the way of God, proclaim it to the next in turn, and so on and on.

This is the very plan we are pursuing at the present time, and to which some of our dear friends in the various denominations object. They say, “Take your tracts and books to the sinners, or go to the heathen.” We reply that the message ought to go first of all to those who ought to be the most ready for it. They answer us that they have Moses and the

Prophets and the doctrines of the dark ages, but we reply that these only obscurely disclose the real character and the plan of God, and the real Messiah and his great work. We fain would tell all of them who have ears to hear and hearts to appreciate the lengths and breadths and heights and depths, that they may appreciate with us the love of God which passeth all human understanding. This is our proper course, too, whether they hear or whether they forbear, and as the testimony goes on the circle will widen. It is widening, as reports in our last issue show. The knowledge of the King of kings and the Kingdom which he is about to establish is scattered throughout Great Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, etc. We seek to cultivate the best fields and find them nearest home, but as the numbers and implements increase we extend operations in the name of the Lord, and with the firm conviction that ultimately in this harvest time he will find every true heart, everyone fitted to be a disciple.

KNOWING JESUS AS THE MESSIAH

Many have seen or heard of Jesus as those who were with John the Baptist heard of him, but have not learned to know him as the Messiah - the Christ. This word Messiah covers a particular thought that today is very generally ignored amongst the Lord's professed followers. Remarkably few Christians know Jesus to be the Messiah at all. The word Messiah as already pointed out signifies the Anointed. The Jews, under the great promise made to Abraham, had been expecting a Messiah, a King, a Deliverer, who would exalt them as his special people and assistants, and use them in presenting the law of God to all peoples, nations and languages, and as authorized and empowered co-laborers to enforce those laws with rewards and penalties.

The word Messiah, or Anointed, thus signifies the great King who was looked for - the great Prophet, Priest and King - for prophets, priests and kings under the Divine arrangement were anointed to their offices, and thus signified that in due time Christ would combine all three of these qualities in himself, and associate his Church with himself in the exercise of the various offices as joint-heirs in his Kingdom. The Scriptures show us that Israel as a nation was found unworthy to enter into all these blessings and privileges, and that, after selecting the Israelites indeed from that nation, the Lord has been gathering to himself and associating with him as his Church, as his spiritual Israel, the faithful ones who have ears to hear and hearts to obey the same message from every nation, kindred, people and tongue.

Thus we see that to recognize and speak of Jesus as the Messiah means to speak of him as the great King who ultimately shall reign to bless the whole world, as the great King whose joint-heirs in the Kingdom will be members of his bride. This grand work of the Redeemer and the grand privileges to which the elect are being called have been lost sight of under the delusions and misrepresentations of the Dark Ages, which have worked the minds of many of the Lord's people into a frenzy of confusion and fear of eternal torment, and led them to believe that escape from that torment was the salvation offered, causing this erroneous idea to take the place of the gracious hopes set before us in the Gospel, that if faithful we shall be heirs of God, joint-heirs with Jesus Christ our Lord in the great Kingdom for which he taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

JESUS FOUND PHILIP

Note the varying methods of bringing the blessing to different persons. John the Baptist announced Jesus. Andrew and John heard him and sought the Lord. In turn they sought Peter and James, and now note a third method in Philip's case - the Lord himself found Philip. Particulars are not given, but we may be sure that in all these various findings the Lord had a hand, he was supervising. We are not to imagine that the Gospel work is left to chance. The Lord knoweth the heart, the Lord knoweth them that are his, and the truth is specially sent to the truth-hungry. We may safely say, all of us, that the Lord found us, else we should not be where we are or what we are. The poet has expressed this, saying,

“Yet he found me; I beheld him bleeding on the accursed tree;

 And my wistful heart said faintly, ‘Some of self and some of thee.’”

Nathanael's case was still different. Philip found him, but he was naturally skeptical, fearful that his friend was being led astray by a false hope to follow a false Messiah. Philip's message to him briefly summed up was, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write.” His name is Jesus, and he comes from a place called Nazareth. Nazareth did not have a very savory reputation for wisdom and piety. On the contrary, the Nazarenes were looked upon as rather a fanatical people, and Nathanael skeptically answered his friend Philip, Did you ever hear of anything good coming out of Nazareth? - what you say of this man seems to contradict any reasonable hope or expectation you may have.

All along, in every sense of the word, the Lord has allowed his truth and his plan to come through channels more or less impaired. Our Lord Jesus seemed to have something of this kind in mind when he said. “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.” (Luke 10:21) The Lord hides his truth in the sense of permitting it to come through unpopular channels. Sometimes the unpopularity is deserved and sometimes undeserved, but it always serves to keep away those who are not in the right attitude of heart. They are not, however, stumblings to the pure in heart, because the Lord will help them over these difficulties as he did in the case of Nathanael, under consideration.

A WORTHY MAN'S CHALLENGE

Philip’s answer was, “Come and see;” test the matter for yourself if you are not satisfied - I have nothing more to say. Although nothing is said specially respecting Philip's character, we may reasonably assume from this incident that he was a man whose word and manner and general character had weight, that he was not given to foolishness of thought or word or conduct, otherwise Nathanael would have said within himself, if he had not said it to Philip, “I know you anyway to be rather flighty, always going off at a tangent,” or, “1 know you to be a man of poor moral character, and the thing which would commend itself to you would be discredited in my judgment in advance.”

Alas, that such arguments should be forceful as against some of the Lord's followers who presume to invite others to him. In several instances we have known of the present truth being much injured by being advocated by some who were not of good character as well as by some not wise. It would be in the interest of the truth that any such who have given their hearts to the Lord, and therefore have passed from the foolish and sinful condition to the justified relationship, should make well known the fact of their radical change, of their thorough conversion from sin to righteousness, from folly to wisdom, before they begin to invite their neighbors and friends to the Lord.

Repentance and reformation are therefore placed in the forefront in the instructions given us through the Lord's Word respecting our coming to him and our discipleship and service. “To the wicked [the unrepentant, those not seeking to live according to the Lord's way, those walking after the flesh and not after the spirit] God saith, What hast thou to do to take my name into thy mouth? seeing thou hatest instruction and castest my words behind thee.”

“THE MEEK WILL HE GUIDE IN JUDGMENT”

When Jesus saw Nathanael he made the way very clear for his faith to accept. His salutation was, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.” This gives us a suggestion that it is entirely right for us to express at proper times our confidence in the religious character of those with whom we are conversing. We are neither to say, neither to think, nor in any sense of the word to manifest a doubt of the sincerity of all who are not fully with us in every point of faith and doctrine. On the contrary, we are to realize that any one whom we may expect to find interested in the message we have to present must beforehand be an Israelite indeed, without guile, without hypocrisy - otherwise the truth would not appeal to his heart and the Lord would not bless him in connection with our service and message.

Nathanael evidently took it that the Lord was flattering him, and he rather repelled at first this forwardness on the Lord's part to speak of him in such praiseworthy terms without a knowledge of him, and he answered, “Whence knowest thou me?” Our Lord's answer shows clearly the Divine care over all who are in the right attitude of heart, and how the Lord himself has the direction of his message and his ministers that they may find all the true wheat. With this in mind we have every assurance that not a single grain will be left with the tares in the field - that all will be gathered into the “barn” condition of glory.

The Lord's answer was, “I saw thee under the fig-tree before Philip called thee.” How much that meant to Nathanael! He doubtless had already heard about his friend Philip having accepted one who was proclaimed the Messiah, he doubtless was fearful for himself as well as for Philip; and under these circumstances went to a fig-tree as a closet for prayer, for the fig-tree has foliage which hangs low and would constitute it quite an arbor or shelter and a very suitable place for privacy and prayer.

We are not told of what took place under the fig-tree, but we are at some liberty to imagine that an Israelite indeed in whom was no guile there prayed to the heavenly Father for wisdom, for guidance, for instruction, for protection from deception, whether it came through his friend Philip or however it might come, that he might not be misled into following a false Messiah. And now to hear this one refer to his very prayer, his very petition, of which not a soul in the world had knowledge, and to tell him that this was before Philip had called him, meant to Nathanael that the Lord had supervised in the matter and had full knowledge of all his affairs, and therefore he had the assurance that the one he had come to under the guidance of Philip was none other than

“THE SON OF GOD, THE KING OF ISRAEL”

Addressing Nathanael and the other disciples incidentally, our Lord said, “Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater works than these,” than this sure evidence of my Messiahship. As an Israelite indeed you are in the attitude of heart which would permit you to receive the Lord’s blessing and to have the eyes of your understanding opened wider and wider to an appreciation of the lengths and breadths and heights and depths of the Lord’s great plan of salvation which centers in me. “Verily, verily I say unto you, hereafter ye [all of my disciples, all who will follow me in the narrow way] shall see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”

Our Lord evidently by this expression called the attention of his hearers and of all his followers back to the days of Jacob and the vision which he had at Bethel, in which he saw a ladder reaching from earth to heaven on which angels of God were ascending and descending. Our Lord would have us understand that Jacob's vision was a pictorial illustration of the methods of Divine grace: that our Lord himself was the ladder upon which communication between heaven and earth would be reestablished. And so, as our eyes of understanding open, we increasingly see this is the case. Upon this ladder, upon this connecting link between heaven and earth, between God and man, have descended to us the angels of Divine favor, messages of love and mercy, forgiveness and adoption, and on this same ladder are messages returned to the Father, our prayers. We are accepted in the Beloved, we enter into the holies by faith, we receive the incoming and send back again the outgoing messages and messengers, and all of them upon the ladder, the connecting link, the Son of man, our Lord and Master, through whom alone we have access and relationship to the Father, and receive from him the exceeding great and precious things not only of this present life but also of that which is to come. (Pastor Russell, Reprints 3481-3483, January 1, 1905)

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“THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD”

“The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.” (Matthew 4:16)

In the Bible symbols light stands as the representative of God, of Christ, of the Church, of truth, of influences for righteousness, which by and by as the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in its beams for the cure of all the masses of  the earth. It will scatter the darkness of sin, ignorance and superstition - the works of the prince of darkness, who will then “be bound for a thousand years that he may deceive the nations no more until the thousand years are finished.” Of the heavenly Father we read, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

Of Jesus we read, “1 am the light of the world.” Of the Church in her present condition we read, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” “Hide not your light under a bushel, but set it on a candlestick that it may give light unto all that are in the house.” Nevertheless, “The darkness hateth the light, neither cometh to the light,” and “the whole world lieth in the wicked one” - in darkness. Notwithstanding the faith-fulness of Jesus and the few light-bearers enlightened with the Holy Spirit of which they are begotten, still “darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the heathen.”

This same thought pervades the Scriptures from first to last, namely, that for six thousand years, from the time of the entrance of sin to the second coming of Jesus, the world will be subject to a reign of sin and death - it will be under a pall of darkness, ignorance, superstition, sin, etc. The only ones who will see the path of righteousness distinctly will be those guided by the “lantern” - God's Word. They are represented as saying, “Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a lantern to my footsteps.” St. Peter, writing to the Church from the same standpoint, declares, “We [the Church] have a more sure Word of prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that, shineth in a dark place until the day dawn.” (Psa. 119:105; 2 Peter 1:19)

The prince of darkness has been in command for centuries. The only lights of the past were the noble prophets of the Jewish line whose lights affected few in their own nation, and were not discernible at all amongst the heathen world. John the Baptist, we are told, was a burning and shining light; and Jesus was a still more brilliant light, and his faithful few during the past eighteen centuries have shined forth, reflecting their Master's light. But all of these have had comparatively little influence in the world. It still lies in the wicked one - in darkness, seeing not, neither understanding Divine things; it is still “waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God.”

A BETTER DAY COMING

Our text tells of a better day sure to come. It is not sure to come because of the operation of the evolutionary law, for the natural law would seem to contradict such a thought. Darkness leads on to darkness more intense, and while light begets light, darkness begets darkness, and the masses are in the darkness, and in the wicked one, the prince of darkness. Never, then, might we hope for the abolishment of darkness except in the way in which God has foretold it - through the establishment of Messiah's Kingdom - through the shining forth of the Son of Righteousness - the Church in glory (Matt. 13:43).

Our text is a quotation from the Old Testament; it had a beginning of its fulfilment in our Savior and in the Apostles. The people of Palestine, long in doubt, uncertainty, etc., saw a great light in Jesus and his teachings. And throughout this Gospel Age, for more than eighteen centuries, this great light has been exercising a feeble influence amongst men. The Light itself has been pure - the Divine Word and the principles of Divine righteousness. But, alas! few have been faithful in receiving the light in its purity and in reflecting it forth upon others.

In general the light has been corrupted by human selfishness, by sin. As a consequence the name Christian today does not stand for all the blessed light and truth and grace and faithfulness to God and to the principles of love which the Master showed forth and inculcated. Instead the name Christian today is borne by about four hundred millions of humanity, many of whom, judged by the Divine standard of their “fruits,” are children of the wicked one, children of darkness, who merely use the garment of light, “the name Christian, as a heavenly livery whereby to appease their own consciences and to increase their opportunity for selfishness and acquisition, quite contrary to the Leader whom they profess to be following, “the true Light.”

“WHICH LIGHTETH EVERY MAN”

The Apostle declares that Jesus “is the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” (John 1:9) The expression, “true light,” implies that there are false or imitation lights, and of these we know that there are many - lights of heathendom and lights of Christendom. The only true light, however, is that which shone forth in our Savior's teachings and example. It has thus far enlightened only a few, a “little flock.” These, like their Master, are urged to let their light shine before men that others may take knowledge that they have been with Jesus and learned of him - that they are his disciples, his followers, bearing, in his footsteps, the same light which shone forth from him.

After eighteen centuries of experience of the light battling with the darkness, and at times being almost quenched thereby, we might well ask, what hope is there that this prophecy will ever be fulfilled - that Jesus, as the Light of the world, will enlighten every man born into the world? The Bible answers that God will fulfill this very matter in his own time, but that God's time cannot be hastened - that before the world will be enlightened, a saintly class, the Church, the Bride of Christ, must be enlightened, and must be completed and glorified together with her Lord.

FOR ONE THOUSAND YEARS THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS WILL SHINE FORTH

Then, and not until then, will the Savior and His Church in glory be the great Sun of Righteousness which will arise over the earth, and shine forth for the healing of the people, for the scattering of the darkness of sin and the lies of error - the bringing of life, peace, joy and blessing to all who will accept the favor in harmony with the Divine requirements; but to smite down and utterly destroy the night, and those who will still love darkness, and would corrupt the earth.

For a thousand years the glorious Sun of Righteousness (Christ and the Church, His Bride), will shine out. The work will be thorough and complete. Adam and his every child will be fully brought to a knowledge of the truth, and will enjoy the blessed opportunity of coming back into harmony with God, by the restitution process, of which St. Peter tells us in Acts 3:19-23. This will not mean that the world will ever become members of the Bride class, or ever attain the spirit nature. It means restitution to the condition first enjoyed by Adam, lost by sin, but redeemed by the sacrifice finished at Calvary. It means human perfection to all the willing and obedient of Adam's race through the heavenly Second Adam and the heavenly Second Eve.

It means a world-wide paradise, filled with the blessings of the Lord, who has promised that the earth, as his footstool, shall be made glorious. It means that, with the destruction of the wilfully disobedient, this earth will be like heaven. The Savior's prayer will reach fulfillment; God's will shall be done on earth even as it is done in heaven. This in turn will mean that “every knee will bow and every tongue confess,” both of the things in heaven and of the things on earth, to the glory of God. And this signifies that there shall be no more sighing, no more crying, no more dying on earth, even as none of these things are in heaven.

Then our text will have most ample fulfillment - all mankind shall see the great Light which God has provided; even those “in the shadow of death” must come forth, that all may be enlightened by this “true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” O the happy day that is coming to our poor, sin-cursed earth! There shall be no more curse, thank God! Instead of the curse shall be the Divine blessing; “and every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth shall be heard saying, ‘Praise and glory and honor and dominion and might be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, forever'"!

(Pastor Russell, Reprints 4987, 4988, March 1, 1912)

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IN MEMORY OF SISTER HOEFLE  

She never tried to be the head,

But pushed others forward instead.

For others to prosper for the Lord

Was for her the greatest reward.  

Before us she did not try to shine,

But never forsook the battle line.

Fighting hard for truth and right,

                                    She did what she could with all her might.                                           

With a sense of humor in highest form

Breaking admidst the fiercest storm,

Her eyes twinkled and danced,

With humor in every circumstance. 

"Without a sense of humor on which to call,"

She cried, "I would have no sense at all!"  

God bless her memory.