NO. 624 THE AUTHORSHIP AND CREDIBILITY OF THE BIBLE - PART TWO

(Continued from No. 623, July 2009)

2 Timothy 3:16

RELATIVE VALUES OF ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS

As to the relative values of ancient manuscripts, we quote the following comments from the pen of that eminent German scholar, Constantine Tischendorf, who spent many years of his life in diligently searching out and comparing the various ancient manuscripts and translations of the Scriptures in many languages, and who has furnished to the Church the results of his investigation in a careful exhibit of the various departures of the English Authorized Version of the New Testament from the three oldest and most important MSS.

Mr. Tischendorf says: “As early as the reign of Elizabeth the English nation possessed an authorized translation, executed by the Bishops under the guidance of Archbishop Parker; and this, half a century later, in the year 1611, was revised at the command of James the First by a body of learned divines, and became the present ‘Authorized Version.’ Founded as it was on the Greek text at that time accepted by Protestant theologians, and translated with scholarship and conscientious care, this version of the New Testament has deservedly become an object of great reverence, and a truly national treasure to the English Church. The German Church alone possesses in Luther’s New Testament a treasure of similar value.

“The Authorized Version, like Luther’s, was made from a Greek text which Erasmus in 1516, and Robert Stephens in 1550, had formed from manuscripts of later date than the tenth century.  Whether those manuscripts were thoroughly trustworthy ─ in other words, whether they exhibited the Apostolic original as perfectly as possible ─ has long been a matter of diligent and learned investigation. Since the sixteenth century Greek manuscripts have been discovered of far greater antiquity than those of Erasmus and Stephens; as well as others in Latin, Syriac, Coptic, and Gothic, into which languages the sacred text was translated between the second and fourth centuries; while in the works of the Fathers, from the second century downwards, many quotations from the New Testament have been found and compared... One thing is agreed upon by the majority of those who understand the subject, namely, that the oldest copies approach the original text more nearly than the later ones.

“Providence has ordained for the New Testament more sources of the greatest antiquity than are possessed by all the old Greek literature put together. And of these, two manuscripts have for long been especially esteemed by Christian scholars, since, in addition to their great antiquity, they contain very nearly the whole of both the Old and New Testaments. Of these two, one is deposited in the Vatican, and the other in the British Museum. Within the last ten years a third has been added to the number, which was found at Mount Sinai, and is now at St.   Petersburg. These three manuscripts undoubtedly stand at the head of all the ancient copies of the New Testament, and it is by their standard that both the early editions of the Greek text and the modern versions are to be compared and corrected.

“The effect of comparing the common English text with the most ancient authorities will be as often to disclose agreement as disagreement. True, the three great manu-scripts alluded to differ from each other both in age and authority, and no one of them can be said to stand so high that its sole verdict is sufficient to silence all contradiction. But to treat such ancient authorities with neglect would be either unwarrantable arrogance or culpable negligence; and it would be indeed a misunderstanding of the dealings of Provi-dence, if after these documents had been preserved through all the dangers of fourteen or fifteen centuries, and delivered safe into our hands, we were not to receive them with thankfulness as the most valuable instruments for the elucidation of Truth.

“It may he urged that our undertaking is opposed to true reverence; and that by thus exposing the inaccuracies of the English version, we shall bring discredit upon a work which has been for centuries the object of love and veneration both in public and private. But those who would stigmatize the process of scientific criticism and test, which we propose, as irreverent, are greatly mistaken. To us the most reverential course appears to be, to accept nothing as the Word of God which is not proved to be so by the evidence of the oldest, and therefore most certain, witnesses that He has put into our hands. With this in view, and with this intention, the writer has occupied himself for thirty years past, in searching not only the Libraries of Europe, but the obscurest convents of the East, both in Africa and Asia, for the most ancient manuscript of the Bible; and has done all in his power to collect the most important of such documents, to arrange them and to publish them for the benefit both of the present age and of posterity, so as to settle the original text of the sacred writers on the basis of the most careful investigation.

“The first of these great manuscripts already referred to which came into possession of Europe was the Vatican Codex. Whence it was acquired by the Vatican Library is not known; but it appears in the first catalogue of that collection, which dates from the year 1475. The manuscript embraces both the Old and New Testaments. Of the latter it contains the four Gospels, the Acts, the seven Catholic Epistles, nine of the Pauline Epistles, and the Epistle to the Hebrews as far as ix. 14, from which verse to the end of the New Testament it is deficient; so that not only the last chapters of Hebrews, but the Epistle to Timothy, Titus and Philemon as well as the Revelation, are missing. The peculiarities of the writing, the arrangement of the manuscript, and the character of the text ─ especially certain very remarkable readings ─ all combine to place the execution of the Codex in the fourth century.

“The Alexandrine Codex was presented to King Charles the First in 1628 by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, who had himself brought it from Alexandria, of which place he was formerly Patriarch, and whence it derives its name. It contains both the Old and New Testaments. Of the New the following passages are wanting: Matt. 1:1 to 25:6; John 6:50 to 8:52; 2 Cor. 4:13 to 12:6... It would appear to have been written about the middle of the fifth century.

“The Sinaitic Codex I was myself so happy as to discover in 1844 and 1859, at the Convent of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai, in the later of which years I brought it to Russia to the Emperor Alexander the Second, at whose instance my second journey to the East was undertaken. It contains both Old and New Testaments ─ the latter perfect without the loss of a single leaf... All the considerations which tend to fix the date of manuscripts lead to the conclusion that the Sinaitic Codex belongs to the middle of the fourth century. Indeed, the evidence is clearer in this case than in that of the Vatican Codex; and it is not improbable (which cannot be the case with the Vatican MS.) that it is one of the fifty copies of which the Emperor Constantine in the year 331 directed to be made for Byzantium, under the care of Eusebius of Caesarea. In this case it is a natural inference that it was sent from Byzantium to the monks of St. Catherine by the Emperor Justinian, the founder of the convent. The entire Codex was published by its discoverer, under the orders of the Emperor of Russia, in 1862, with the most scrupulous exactness, and in a truly magnificent shape, and the New Testament portion was issued in a portable form in 1863 and 1865.

“These considerations seem to show that the first place among the three great manuscripts, both for age and extent, is held by the Sinaitic Codex, the second by the Vatican, and the third by the Alexandrine. And this order is completely confirmed by the text they exhibit, which is not merely that which was accepted in the East at the time they were copied; but, having been written by Alexandrine copyists who knew but little of Greek, and therefore had no temptation to make alterations, they remain in a high degree faithful to the text which was accepted through a large portion of Christendom in the third and second centuries. The proof of this is their agreement with the most ancient translations ─ namely, the so‑called Italic, made in the second century in proconsular Africa;  the Syriac Gospels of the same date, now transferred from the convents of the Nitrian desert to the British Museum; and the Coptic version of the third century. It is confirmed also by their agreement with the oldest of the Fathers, such as Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement and Origen.

“These remarks apply to the Sinaitic Codex ─ which is remarkably close in its agreement to the ‘Italic’ version ─ more than they do to the Vatican MS., and still more so than the Alexandrine, which, however, is of far more value in the Acts, Epistles and Apocalypse than it is in the Gospels.

“No single work of ancient Greek classical literature can command three such original witnesses as the Sinaitic, Vatican and Alexandrine Manuscripts, to the integrity and accuracy of its text. That they are available in the case of a book which is at once the most sacred and the most important in the world is matter for the deepest thankfulness to God.”

OTHER MEANS OF VERIFICATION

Another remarkable means for preserving and verifying the New Testament writings is their copious quotation in other writings. Origen, who wrote in the early part of the third century, quotes 5745 passages from all the books in the New Testament; Tertullian (A.D. 200) makes more than 3000 quotations from the New Testament books; Clement (A.D. 194) quotes 380 passages; Irenaeus (A.D. 178) quotes 767 passages; Polycarp, who was martyred A.D. 165, after serving Christ 86 years, quoted 36 passages in a single epistle; Justin Martyr (A.D. 140) also quotes from the New Testament. These were all Christian writers; and in addition to these, the Scriptures were largely quoted by heathen and infidel writers, among them Celsus (A.D. 150) and Porphyry (A.D. 304). Indeed the entire New Testament, with the exception of about a dozen verses, has been found scattered as quotations through various writings that are still extant. And if every copy of the New Testament had been destroyed by its enemies, the book could have been reproduced from these quotations contained in the writings of the early Christians and their enemies.

While the means for the preservation of the Scriptures have been thus remarkably complete, and in view of the unparalleled opposition with which they have met give evidence of Divine care in their preservation, the means for their verification, and for arriving at an understanding of them in God’s due time, are found to be none the less remarkable. No other book in the world has ever had such attention as this book. The labor that has been spent in the preparation of complete concordances, indexes, various translations, etc., has been enormous; and the results to students of the Bible are of incalculable value. And while we recognize the providence of God in all this, we should and do appreciate these labors of His children and their great service to us, though we utterly repudiate as useless the labor that has been spent on many so-called theological writings, which are nothing more than miserable efforts to support the vain traditions of men, the accumulated monstrous volumes of which would indeed form a monument of human folly.

Just in “The Time of the End,” when the prophet (Dan. 12:9,10) declares that “the wise [the meek and faithful children of God] shall understand,” we find these wonderful aids coming forward to our assistance. And parallel with these has happened the general spread of intelligence and education and the placing of the Bible in the hands of the people, thus enabling them to use the helps provided.

In view of these things, our only reasonable conclusion must be, that this wonderful book has been completely under Divine supervision in its preparation, and in its gradual and seasonable unfolding to the understanding; and yet it has all been accomplished through human agency. Those who are too careless, or too indifferent, or who permit themselves to be too much engrossed with the cares of this life to give it a studious examination, should not be expected to comprehend its weight of authority, and its full evidence of credibility. We are aware of the fact that in these days when the art of printing has flooded the world with literature of every description, good, bad, and indif-ferent, one might reasonably reply, We cannot examine everything. Very true, but this book has a claim superior to that of any other book in the world, and no man is as justifiable in laying it upon the shelf, as he would be in doing with the Koran or the Vedas.

The very existence of such a book, animated with such a spirit of justice, wisdom, love and power, and disclosing such good tidings of great joy to all people, having such a history and authorship, and containing such varied information ─ historic, scientific, and moral; and so remarkably preserved for so many centuries, though so violently opposed, is sufficient to awaken at least a suspicion of its value, and to claim the attention and investigation of every reasoning mind. The claims of this book upon our attention are by far superior to those of any other, and these reasonable claims appear on its very surface, while every systematic and properly directed effort at investigation rewards the diligent student with copious and abundant proof, both of its truthfulness and of its value.

THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE

The Bible claims to be a book written under Divine inspiration. The word inspire signifies to breathe in, to infuse, to fill, to inhale ─ as to inspire the lungs with air. (See Webster’s Dictionary.) Hence, when it is said that certain scriptures, or writings of godly men, were given by inspiration of God (2 Tim. 3:16), it signifies that those men were in some way, whether through miraculous or natural means, inspired by, or brought under the influence of God; so as to be used by Him in speaking or writing such words as He wished to have expressed. The prophets and apostles all claimed such inspiration. Peter says, “The prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21)

Through Moses we have the Law of God and the only existing credible history of mankind from the creation of Adam down to his own time, covering a period of about 2500 years. While Moses and the other Bible writers were holy men, inspired with pure motives and holy zeal, and while personal pride, ambition, etc., were no part of their spirit, we learn that Moses was inspired with the knowledge of God’s Law, both in its great principles and also in the minutiae of its typical ceremonials, by revelation from God at Mount Sinai, and of some points of duty at the burning bush at Horeb, etc.

As for his historical writings, Moses was evidently guided of God in the collation and presentation in its present complete and connected form of the history of the world down to his day, which was really in great part the history of his own family back to Adam with an account of the creation doubtless given by God to Adam while he was yet in fellowship in Eden. Nor does a correct handing down of family information, covering a period of over 2300 years, seem impossible, or liable, as it would now be, to have become polluted; for, aside from the fact that it was handed down through the God-fearing family line of Seth, it should be remembered that at that time the bodies, brains and memories of men were not so weak as they are now, and as they have been since the flood; and finally, because the long lives of two men link Adam with the family of Abraham, the family of covenant favor ─ with Isaac, the typical seed of promise.  These two men were Methuselah and Shem. Methuselah was over 200 years old when Adam died, and had abundant opportunity, therefore, for information at first hands; and Shem, the son of Noah, lived contemporaneously with Methuselah for 98 years, and with Isaac for 50 years.  Thus, these two living, God‑fearing men acted as God’s historians to communicate His revelations and dealings to the family in whom centered the promises, of which Moses was one of the prospective heirs.

In addition to these facts, we have the statement of Josephus that Methuselah, Noah and Shem, the year before the flood, inscribed the history and discoveries of the world on two monuments of stone and brick which were still standing in Moses’ time.

As for the writings of the prophets, their devoted, godly lives attest their sincerity; their lives were spent for God and in the defense of righteousness, and not for gain and worldly honor. And as for proofs that God acted through them and that they merely expressed His messages, as Peter declares, it is to be found in the fulfilment of their predictions. These we need not enumerate here and now, as they are elaborated in MILLENNIAL DAWN, Volumes I and II; and will be further discussed in Vol. III, now in course of preparation.

This brings us to the examination of the inspiration of the New Testament. Of the four gospel narratives and the book of the Acts of the Apostles, which are merely historic narratives, it might with considerable force be argued that no inspiration was necessary. But we must remember that since it was God’s will that the important doings and teachings of our Lord and his disciples should be handed down, for the information and guidance of His Church throughout the Age, it was necessary that God, even while leaving the writers free to record those truths in their own several styles of expression and arrangement, should nevertheless exercise a supervision of His work. To this end it would appear reasonable that He would cause circumstances, etc., to call to the memory of one or another of them items and details which, otherwise, in so condensed an account of matters so important, would have been overlooked.  And this was no less the work of God’s spirit, power, or influence than the more noticeable and peculiar manifestations through the prophets.

The Apostle Peter tells us that the prophets of old time often did not understand their own utterances, as they themselves also acknowledge (1 Peter 1:12; Dan. 12:4, 8‑10); and we should remember that the twelve apostles (Paul taking the place of Judas ─ Gal. 1:17; 1 Tim. 2:7) not only filled the office of apostles ─ or specially appointed teachers and expounders of the Gospel of the New Covenant ─ but they also, especially Peter and Paul and John, filled the office of prophets, and were not only given the spirit of wisdom and understanding by which they were enabled to understand and explain the previously dark prophecies, but in addition to this we believe that they were under the guidance and supervision of the Lord to such an extent that their references to things future from their day, things therefore not then due to be fully understood, were guided, so as to be true to an extent far beyond their comprehension, and such consequently were as really prophetic as the utterances of the old‑time prophets. Illustrations of this are to be found in the Revelations of the Apostle John, in Peter’s symbolic description of the Day of the Lord (2 Peter 3:10‑13), and in numerous references to the same period by Paul also, among which were some things hard to be understood even by Peter (2 Peter 3:16) and only partially then by Paul himself. The latter, however, was permitted to see future things more clearly than others of his time, and to that end he was given special visions and revelations which he was not allowed to make known to others (2 Cor. 12:1‑4), but which, nevertheless, influ-enced and colored his subsequent teachings and epistles. And these very items which Peter thought strange of, and called “hard to be understood,” are the very items which now, in God’s due time, for which they were intended, so grandly illuminate not only Peter’s prophecies and John’s Revelation, but the entire word and plan of God ─ that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished (2 Tim. 3:16,17).

That the early Church considered the writings and teachings of the apostles different from all others, in authority, is manifest from the early arrangement of these writings together and the keeping separate from these, as apocryphal, other good writings of other good men. And yet there were, even in the days of the apostles, ambitious men who taught another gospel and claimed for themselves the honors of special revelations and authority as apostles and teachers of no less authority than the twelve apostles.

And ambitious men of the same sort have from time to time since arisen ─ ­Emanuel Swedenborg and many less able and less notable ─ whose claims, if conceded, would not only place them in rank far above Paul, the prince of the apostles, but whose teachings would tend to discredit entirely, as “old wives’ fables,” the whole story of redemption and remission of sins through the blood of the cross. These would‑be apostles, boastful, heady, high‑minded, have “another gospel,” a perversion of the gospel of Christ; and above all they despise and seek to cast discredit upon the words of Paul who so clearly, forcibly and logically lifts up the standard of faith and points to the cross ─ the ransom ─ as the sure foundation, and who so clearly showed that pseudo‑apostles, false apostles, would arise and deceive many.

It not only required an inspiration to write God’s plan, but it also requires an inspiration of the Almighty to give an understanding of that revelation; yet this inspiration is of a different sort. When any one has realized himself a sinner, weak, imperfect and condemned, and has accepted of Christ as his Redeemer, and full of love and appreciation has consecrated his heart (his mind, his will) to the Lord, to henceforth please not himself but his Redeemer, God has arranged that such a consecration of the natural mind brings a new mind. It opens the way for the Holy mind or will of God, expressed through His written word, to be received; and as it is received into such a good, honest, consecrated heart, it informs that heart and opens the eyes of the understanding, so that from the new standpoint (God’s standpoint) many things wear a very different aspect, and among other things the Scripture teachings, which gradually open up as item after item of the Divine Plan is fulfilled, and new features of the unfolding plan become due to be understood, and from the new standpoint appreciated and accepted.

Just as with astronomers, the close observation of facts and influences already recognized often leads them to look in certain directions for hitherto undiscovered planets, and they find them, so with the seekers after spiritual truths; the clear appreciation and close study of the known plan lead gradually, step by step, to the discovery of other particulars, hitherto unnoticed, each of which only adds to the beauty and harmony of the truths previously seen. Thus it is that “The path of the just is a shining light which shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” (Prov. 4:18)

Of course the writings of all such as have their wills fully subjected to the mind of God, as revealed in His Word, must be also somewhat inspired by God’s spirit, received from His Word by their complete subjection to its leading. The spirit of the truth inspires and controls to a greater or lesser extent not only their pens but their words and thoughts, and even their very looks. Yet such an inspiration, common to all the Saints, in proportion to their development, should be critically distinguished from the special and peculiarly guided and guarded inspiration of the twelve apostles, whom God specially appointed to be the teachers of the Church, and who have no successors in this office. Only twelve were “chosen,” and when one of these, Judas, fell from his honorable office, the Lord in due time appointed Paul to the place; and He not only has never recognized others, but clearly indicates that He never will recognize others in that office (Rev. 21:14).

With the death of the Apostles the canon of Scripture closed, because God had there given a full and complete revelation of His plan for man’s salvation; though some of it was in a condensed form which has since expanded and is expanding and unfolding and will continue to expand and shine more and more until the perfect day ─ the Millennial Day ─ has been fully ushered in. Paul expresses this thought clearly when he declares that the Holy Scriptures are able to make wise unto salvation, and that they are sufficient.

As we consider, then, the completeness, harmony, purity and grandeur of the Bible, its age and wonderful preservation through the wreck and storms of six thousand years, it must be admitted to be a most wonderful book; and those who have learned to read it understandingly, who see in it the great Plan of the Ages, cannot doubt that God was its inspiring Author, as well as its Preserver. Its only parallel is the book of nature by the same great Author. (Pastor Russell, Reprints 1144-1149, September 1889)

“POPE’S PASS ON ANTISEMITE CLERIC ANGERS: That Jews are perplexed at what the Pope says and does could qualify as the Hebraiac understatement of the new millennium. Specifically Jewish leaders and Holocaust historians seem unable to reconcile Pope Benedict XVI’s quote that he feels ‘full and indisputable solidarity’ with the Jews and his Holiness’s decision the very next day to nullify the excommunication of a bishop who denied that Jews were gassed in the Nazi death camps.

“The Bishop in question, Richard Williamson, one of four traditionalist bishops whose excommunication were lifted, believes ─ contrary to historic documentation ─ that 6,000,000 Jews did not die in the Holocaust and none by being gassed. Leaders, including Nobel laureate Elie Wisel, and proactive Catholics say the Vatican’s decision has done irreparable harm to a half-century of ecumenical dialogue, which prompted Israel’s Chief Rabbinate immediate protest and suspension of official ties with the Vatican. Such outrage was expressed by organizations including the World Jewish Congress, that the Pope demanded that Bishop Williamson retract his Holocaust denial before being admitted to the church.”

“NEWS UPDATE… SPOTLIGHT ON DR. DEATH: Every time Nazi hunters got near the truth of the whereabouts or the fate of Airbert Heim, the monstrous physician who administered horrific deaths to his subjects as the Buchenwald, Mauthausen and Sachenhausen concentration camps ‘in the name of science,’ some obstacle arose either in South America (one of his likely known addresses) and now it appears in Egypt, said to be his final residence before his reputed death sometime in 1992. Why the Egyptians remain close-mouthed on this criminal and why he was able to elude justice could be one of the most enduring modern mysteries of Arab-complicit Nazi-sympathizing.”

“SYNAGOGUES UNDER ATTACK: World Jewry may not be shocked at the level of vitriol hurled at it, but the quantity and the levels of violence spilling over into the desecration and destruction of synagogues is indeed shocking. Synagogues in Europe and Venezuela have come under attack by armed men, fire-bombings and a hand-grenade, and the State of Israel and the World Jewish Congress have made their urgent concerns to the appropriate governments publicly loud and clear.

“The European Jewish Congress is calling on the EU to take action in the wake of assaults on synagogues in Paris, Brussels, London, Toulouse, and Helsingborg and unusually hateful rhetoric, protest chants and postings of ‘Death to the Jews’ and other inciting, offensive language. Venezuelan Jewish community president Abraham Livy Benshimol speaking at the WJC Plenary Assembly in Jerusalem recently said: ‘Where we live, anti-Semitism is sanctioned.’”

(The above 3 items are from World Jewry, April 2009)  

IN THE PRESENCE OF THE KING

If we could always feel each little thing

We do, each hour we spend

Within the presence of the King,  

What dignity 'twould lend!

If we could realize our every thought

Is known to Him, our King,

With how great carefulness would it be fraught,     

And what a blessing bring!    

If, when some sharp word leaves a cruel sting,

Our faith could know and feel

'Twas heard within the presence of the King,

How soon the wound would heal!

Oh, when the song of life seems hard to sing,

And darker grows the way,

Draw nearer to the presence of the King,

And night shall turn to day! 

NO. 623 THE AUTHORSHIP AND CREDIBILITY OF THE BIBLE - PART ONE

2 Timothy 3:16

While the Bible is generally accepted by Christian people as of Divine authority, comparatively few are able to clearly state just why they so esteem it. The internal evidence of its truthfulness, and its grandeur of doctrine, are the principal evidences on which its testimony is, and should be, generally received; and truly these are strong and convincing of its Divine authorship and authority; yet the man of God who would be thoroughly furnished with the Truth, and armed against every attack of skepticism, should endeavor to know all he can of the time, manner, circum­stances, etc., under which it was written; whether it has been preserved free from corruption; and whether in its present condition it is worthy of full confidence. Let us, therefore, briefly consider what testimony we have to the credibility of the Sacred Writings.

From numerous expressions, references and quotations in the New Testament by our Lord and the apostles it is evident that a certain body of writings was at that time considered to be of Divine authority. The Sacred Scriptures then in existence are now characterized as the Old Testament Scriptures (the Scriptures of the Old or Law Covenant), while that which was added by our Lord and the apostles is termed the New Testament (the New Covenant) Scriptures.

No other book which the world has ever known has such a history as the Bible. Its origin and authorship, its antiquity, its won-derful preservation in the midst of the unparalleled and continuous opposition which sought to destroy it, as well as its diversity and teaching, make the Bible the most wonderful book in existence.

It is a collection composed of sixty‑six separate books, written by about forty different writers, living centuries apart, speaking different languages, subjects of different governments, and brought up under different civilizations. Over 1500 years elapsed between the writings of Moses and of John.

As no other reliable history dates so far back as the Bible, we are obliged to look mainly to its own internal evidence, as to its origin, authorship, and the reason for its existence, and indeed for its credibility in every respect; and further, we should look for such corroboration of its statements as reason, its own harmony with itself, and with other known facts, and subsequent developments furnish. And indeed this is the evidence of reliability on which all history must rest. To such evidence we are indebted for all our knowledge of past events and of all present events as well, except such as come under our own immediate observation. He who would cast away Bible history as unworthy of credence, must on the same ground reject all history; and to be entirely consistent, must believe nothing which does not come under his own personal observation.

If its statements thoroughly understood, are contradictory, or are colored by prejudice, or are proven untrue by a positive scientific knowledge, or if subsequent developments prove its predictions untrue, and thereby show the ignorance or dishonesty of the authors of the Bible, then we may reasonably conclude that the entire book is unworthy of confidence, and should reject it. But if, on the contrary, we find that a thorough understanding of the Bible, according to its own rules of interpretation, shows its statements to be in harmony with each other; if it bears no evidence of prejudicial coloring; if many of its prophecies have actually come true, and others admit of future fulfilment; if the integrity of its writers is manifested by unvarnished records, then we have reason to believe the book. Its entire testimony, historic, prophetic, and doctrinal, stands or falls together. Science is yet in its infancy, yet in so far as positive scientific knowledge has been obtained; it should and does corroborate the Bible testimony.

INTERNAL EVIDENCES

Those who will make a study of the Bible plan will be fully convinced of the conclusive evidence of the credibility of the Sacred Scriptures, which is furnished in the purity, harmony and grandeur of its teachings. Outside of the Scriptures we have nowhere to look for an account of the circumstances and motives of the earliest writers: but they furnish these items of information themselves, and their integrity and evident truthfulness in other matters is a guarantee in these.

Our first definite information with reference to the Sacred Writings is afforded by the direction given to Moses to write the law and history in a book, and put it in the side of the Ark for preservation. (See Ex. 17:14; 34:27; Deut. 31:9-26.) This book was left for the guidance of the people. Additions were made to it from time to time by subsequent writers, and in the days of the kings, scribes appear to have been appointed whose business it was to keep a careful record of the important events occurring in Jewish history, which records ─ Samuel, Kings, Chronicles ─ were preserved and subsequently incorporated with the Law. The prophets also did not confine themselves to oral teachings, but wrote and in some cases had scribes to record their teachings. (See Josh. 1:8; 24:26, 1 Sam. 10:25; 1 Chron. 27:32; 29:29,30; 2 Chron. 33:18,19; Isa. 30:8; Jer. 30:2; 36:2; 45:1; 51:60.) As a result we have the Old Testament Scriptures, composed of history, prophecy and law, written by Divine direction, as these citations and also Paul’s testimony (2 Tim. 3:15,16) prove. These writings collectively were termed “The Law and The Prophets,” and the Hebrews were taught of God to esteem them of Divine authority and authorship, the writers being merely the agents through whom they received them. They were so taught to esteem them by the miraculous dealings of God with them as a people, in confirmation of His words to them through the prophets, thus endorsing them as His agents (See Ex. 14:30,31: 19:9; 1 Kings 18:21,27,30,36,39.); and further by the establishment and enforcement of the Mosaic law.

The political interests and the religious veneration of the Israelites, under God’s immediate overruling and protection, com-bined to preserve and protect these writings from contamination.  Religiously, they were rightfully regarded with the deepest veneration, while politically they were the only guarantee which the people possessed against despotism. The Jewish copyists regarded these documents with great veneration. A very slight error in copying often led them to destroy it and begin anew. Josephus says that through all the Ages that had passed none had ventured to add to, take away from, or transpose aught of the Sacred Writings.

In the degeneracy of the Jewish nation, under the idolatrous administration of the successors of Rehoboam these Sacred Writings fell into disuse and were almost forgotten, though they seem never to have been taken from their place. In the reformation conducted by Josiah they were again brought to light. Again, in the Babylonish captivity this book was lost sight of by the Israelites, though it appears that they were accustomed to meet together in little companies in Babylon to be instructed by the scribes, who either taught the Law from memory or from copies in their possession. On the restoration of the Jews to Jerusalem, the Scriptures were again brought out, and Ezra and his companions read the law to the people, commenting upon and explaining it (Neh. 8:1‑8). This public reading of the Scriptures was the only means of keeping them before the people, as printing was yet unknown and the cost of a manuscript copy was beyond the reach of the people, very few of whom could read. At the time of our Lord’s First Advent, these Old Testament Scriptures existed substantially as we have them today, as to matter and arrangement.

One of the strongest evidences of the authenticity of the Old Testament Scriptures is found in the fact that the law and the prophets were continually referred to by our Lord and the apostles as authority, and that while the Lord denounced the corruptions of the Jewish Church, and their traditions, by which they made void the Word of God, he did not even intimate any corruption in these Sacred Writings, but commends them, and refers to and quotes them in proof of His claims.

In fact, the various parts of the entire book are bound together by the mutual endorsement of the various writers, so that to reject one is to mar the completeness of the whole.  Each book bears its own witness and stands on its own evidence of credibility, and yet each book is linked with all the rest, both by their common spirit and harmony and by their mutual endorsement.  Mark, for instance, the endorsement of the account of creation in the commandment of the law concerning the Sabbath Day (Exod. 20:11).  Also compare Deut. 23:4,5; Joshua 24:9; Micah 6:5; 2 Peter 2:15; Jude 11‑13; Isa. 28:21; Hab. 3:11; Matt. 12:40.

THE NEW TESTAMENT

The earliest copy of the New Testament known is written in the Syriac language. Its date is estimated to be about the year A.D. 100. And even at that early date it contained the same books as at present with the exception of the Second Epistle of Peter, the Third Epistle of John, Jude and the Book of Revelation. And these omitted books we know were written about the close of the first century, and probably had not been widely circulated among the Christian congregations at that time. All the books of the Old and New Testaments as we now have them appear, however, in the Greek, in the Sinaitic Manuscript, the oldest known Greek MS., whose date is about A.D. 350.

The first five books of the New Testament are historical, and present a clear and connected account of the life, character, circumstances, teachings and doings of Jesus of Nazareth, who claimed to be the Messiah promised in the Old Testament Scriptures, and who fully substantiated His claim. The four accounts of the Evangelists, though they differ in phraseology, are in harmony in their statements, some important items being recorded by each which seem to have been overlooked by the others. These Evangelists testified to that of which they had positive knowledge. The Apostle John says: That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you ─ “that which was from the beginning [the beginning of the Lord’s ministry], which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the Word of life; for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness.” (1 John 1:1‑3) They testify also that they saw Christ after His resurrection. The fifth book presents a valuable account of the doings of the Apostles after their anointing with the Holy Spirit, of the establishment of the Christian Church and of the first preaching of the good news to the Gentiles.

The Apostolic Epistles were written to the various local congregations or churches, and were directed to be publicly read and to be exchanged among the churches; and the same authority was claimed for them by their writers as that which was accorded to the Old Testament Scriptures (1 Thes. 5:27; Col. 4:16; 2 Peter 3:2,15,16; Heb. 1:1,2 and 2:1‑4).  These letters and the five historical books were carefully preserved and were appealed to as authority in matters of doctrine.

The letters of the apostles, claiming as they did, Divine authority equal to that of the Old Testament Scriptures, were treasured and guarded with special care by the various congregations of the early church. The New Testament was completed by the Book of The Revelation, about the close of the first century A.D. after which, these epistles, etc., began to be collected for more permanent preservation.

The original copies of both the Old and New Testaments have, of course, long since disappeared, and the oldest manuscript (the Sinaitic) is reckoned to have been written about three centuries after the death of Christ. Those of earlier date were either destroyed in the persecutions under which the Church suffered, or were worn out by use. These oldest manuscripts are preserved with great care in the Museums and Libraries of Europe. During the Middle Ages, when ignorance and corruption prevailed and the Bible was hidden in monasteries away from the people, God was still carrying on His work, preserving the Scriptures from destruction even in the midst of Satan’s stronghold, the apostate Church of Rome. A favorite occupation of the monks during the Middle Ages was the copying of the manuscripts of the New Testament, which were esteemed as relics more than as God’s living authoritative Word ─ just as you will find in the parlor of very many worldly people handsome Bibles, which are seldom opened. Of these manuscripts there are said to be now more than two thousand, of various dates from the fourth to the fifteenth centuries. The quiet seclusion of those monks gave them special opportunities for careful copying, and years were sometimes spent in the copying of a single manuscript.

RELIABILITY OF PRESENT TRANSLATIONS

The idea exists in some minds that during the lapse of centuries the Scriptures have become largely corrupted, and therefore a very uncertain foundation for faith. They reason that this is surely to be expected of a book which has survived many centuries, and which has been claimed as Divine authority by so many different factions, and which can be read by the majority only from translations made by somewhat biased translators. And the late revisions of the book are supposed to be an acknowledgment of the supposed fact.

 Those, however, who are acquainted with the manner in which the ancient manuscripts of the Scriptures have been preserved for centuries, carefully copied, diligently com-pared and translated by pious and learned linguists, whose work was thereafter subjected to the most learned and scrutinizing criticism of an age in which scholars are by no means few, are prepared to see that such an idea is by no means a correct or reasonable one, though to the uninformed it may appear so.

It is a fact that the Scriptures, as we find them today, bear internal evidence of their original purity; and ample means, both internal and external, are now furnished so that the careful student may detect any error which might have crept in either by fraud or accident.  While there are some errors in translation and a few interpolations in our common English translation, on the whole it is acknowledged by scholars to be a remarkably good transcript of the Sacred Word.

Before the invention of printing, the copying of the Scriptures, being very slow and tedious, involved considerable liability to error in transcribing, such as the accidental omission of a word or paragraph, the substitution of one word for another, or the misunderstanding of a word where the copyist wrote from the dictation of another person. And again, sometimes a marginal note might be mistaken for a part of the text and copied in as such. But while a very few errors have crept in, in such ways, and a few others seem to have been designedly inserted, various circumstances have been at work, both to preserve the integrity of the Sacred Writings, and also to make manifest any errors which have crept into them.

Very early in the Christian Era translations of the New Testament Scriptures were made into several languages, and the different factions that early developed and continued to exist, though they might have been desirous of adding to or taking from the original text in order to give their claims a show of Scriptural support, were watched by each other to see that they did not do so, and had they succeeded in corrupting the text in one language, another translation would make it manifest.

Even the Douay translation, in use in the Romish church, is in most respects substantially the same as the King James translation. The fact that during the “Dark Ages” the Scriptures were practically cast aside being supplanted by the decrees of popes and councils, so that its teachings had no influence upon the masses of the people who did not have copies in their possession ─ nor could they have read them if they had them ─ doubtless made unnecessary the serious alteration of the text, at a time when bold, bad men had abundant power to do so. For men who would plot treason, incite to wars and commit murders for the advancement of the papal hierarchy, as we know was done, would have been bold enough for anything. Thus the depth of ignorance in the Dark Ages served to protect and keep pure God’s Word, so that its clear light has shone specially at the two ends of the Gospel Age (1 Cor. 10:11). The few interpolations which were dared, in support of the false claims of Papacy, were made just as the gloom of the “Dark Ages” was closing in upon mankind, and are now made glaringly manifest, from their lack of harmony with the context, their antagonism with other scriptures and from their absence in the oldest and most complete and reliable manuscripts.

(Continued in No. 624, August 2009)

MIRACLES ARE HAPPENING IN ISRAEL!

While the media in the West are lambasting Israel for killing women and children, and are saturating their viewers with horrific photos of bloodied corpses, Israel as a nation is undergoing an astonishing spiritual awakening as a result of this conflict. It is a pity that the world is unable to be witness to the miracles that are occurring here daily. Even the most jaded person would be amazed at the transformation of the people in this country. After many years of feeling the underdog and fearful of the approbation of the outside world, Israel is undergoing an absolute renaissance on a personal and national level.

First and foremost, Israel as a nation has finally decided to throw aside the fear of being rejected by the nations and embrace its sovereign right to defend its citizens from terrorist attacks. What is so astonishing, for those who know Jews and particularly Israelis, is that a whopping 92% of Jewish Israelis actually AGREE that the war is necessary and just. The adage of 2 Jews, 3 opinions and 4 political parties has vaporized in the face of the national crisis we are in. Not only is there agreement among the populace, but also the left wing and the right wing of the political spheres agree.

Even more amazing is the concordance among the various religious factions: Ashkenazi, Sephardic, reform and conservative, Zionists ─ are all joining together in prayer and supplication to the Almighty for salvation, protection and victory over our enemies. There are calls to prayer everywhere, regardless of denomination or ethnic back-ground, everyone is united in looking to-wards the God of Israel to keep our soldiers safe and help us win against an evil enemy who has sworn never to stop until Israel as a nation is destroyed.

The soldiers themselves seem to have a huge spiritual hunger, and are united in not only asking for prayer but also praying themselves, wearing tzitzit (prayer tassles) into battle and carrying the book of Psalms with them. The Rabbis are calling the tzitzit “heavenly flak jackets!” Tent synagogues on the battlefield have no less than 10 sessions every morning, and it is reported that soldiers who never attended synagogue are now praying with tefillim.

They have reason to cry out to God, since everyone is aware of the years of preparation of the bloodthirsty Hamas militants, their desire to kill, maim or kidnap Israeli soldiers is greater than their desire to live; they have been financed by Iran and supported by Syria and Hezbollah. Yet, we are defeating them, and there are reports daily of amazing miracles of protection and Divine direction during the battle.

The following are just a few examples: A Hamas map was found, with booby-traps, landmines and sniper positions clearly spelled out. The IDF was able to counter each installation due to the information given. A large platoon of soldiers not realizing they were resting in a school that was booby-trapped, (discovered by a soldier relieving himself in the night), disarmed the bombs with no one hurt. A single soldier successfully fought off several Hamas terrorists trying to drag him into a tunnel, and all were captured. Hundreds of tunnels, hidden in homes under beds and kitchen cabinets, all full of live explosives and ammunition, yet none have exploded with IDF soldiers inside.

While there have been soldiers wounded there are miracles there as well. A young man who moved here alone from England less than 2 years ago to serve in the army was in an explosion, and thrown into the air. After being carried off the field by other soldiers and transported on a tractor to helicopter and then to hospital, the doctors were utterly stunned when they saw that a piece of shrapnel that went completely through his neck, missed the carotid artery, the jugular vein and the spinal cord by millimeters. After they removed it, he needed only stitches. Another soldier was shot through the back but the bullet missed his spinal cord and exited from the front. A young newlywed, in grave condition, inexplicably turned for the better and will recover to go home to his wife.

On the ground level, bombs continue to fall, but here again, miracle after miracle is reported even on the local news. One hears the word “nes” (miracle) over and over by the reporters and the bystanders. A bomb heading toward 4 apartment buildings goes into a sewer pipe and explodes underground, damaging nothing above ground. An elderly woman caught in an apartment completely demolished by a bomb, walks out with scratches on her ankle. The mayor of Beersheva felt he should cancel school one day, and a rocket completely destroys an empty kindergarten. The elder housing complex that was hit in Nahariya had the sleeping quarters destroyed, but everyone had just gone to breakfast, so no one injured. A man leaves his car with his young daughter, and the car is blown up moments later after they entered a bomb shelter. If they had taken a few more seconds, he and his daughter would have been burned to a crisp. He was televised saying again and again it was a miracle.

Similar stories like these were heard during the second Lebanon war, reported on Israeli radio and television, but no one in the west ever heard; only negative propaganda from the terrorists was reported, whose aim was to malign Israel and make us look like a nation of bloodthirsty killers.

One has to grieve over the terrible destruction of the cities in Gaza and the horrific human tragedy going on there, but the responsibility for the suffering and death is directly on the doorstep of the Hamas leadership. These deluded people think that their god, Allah, will give them victory, and have entered into a battle with the true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We are literally living in times like those of the Scriptures, when the Lord told Elisha all the plans of the enemy, until the enemy began to wonder if there was a spy in their ranks.

There is hope here and unity of resolve, not despair. Even the parents of Yoni Natanel, killed by friendly fire, were quoted as saying that their son died “for the sanctification of God’s name,” and forgave and blessed those who accidently fired at his unit.

There is such heroism and courage here, one wishes that the world could see it, but as one of our journalists said, the media have left their brains at the door of Ben Gurion Airport. They are many miles away from the actual battle, wear flak jackets and helmets for the cameras, and then take them off to have cappuccino at the local restaurant!

Fortunately, Israelis are accustomed to being misunderstood and maligned by the outside world. At this point, everyone knows we have a job to do, and we are becoming more and more aware that there is a greater Power than us is on our side.

“If My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My Face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chron. 7:14)

(Dena Gewanter. M.D., Kiriat Yam, Israel, January 19, 2009)

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In The Present Truth, Spring 2009, page 5, states that: “Those of us who remain will have the privilege of ministering under the Ancient Worthies as Youthful Worthies or as Consecrated Epiphany Campers in the earthly phase of the Kingdom (Joel 2:28).”

This is adding to the Scriptures because there is absolutely nothing in Joel 2:28 about a class called Consecrated Epiphany Campers. See Deut. 4:2 and Rev. 22:18,19 about adding to the Scriptures. We should not have a mind set to be of one specific class, but we also should be sure that there is a class such as CECs that we are aspiring to.

Those of us who adhere to the truths taught by Brother Johnson with Scriptural proof believe what he wrote in E-4-319,320: “All classes from among mankind savingly associated with the Plan of God are thus treated of in Joel 2:28,29. These and the repentant fallen angels will constitute the seven [perfect number] classes of those whom Christ delivers from sin and condemnation unto perfection and everlasting life in His work as Savior.”  There is no mention of Consecrated Epiphany Campers being in the six saved classes from among mankind.

LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Marjorie,

Hope you all had good holidays and that 2009 has started well. Please forgive me that I have not been so good with my correspondence this last year. It just seems so many things keep happening and the time moves faster each day.

This has been a year in 2008 of extremely good tourism for Israel ─ one of the best. We had Easter in March, Passover in April and the 60th Independence Day for Israel in May, so each one brought tourists from all over the world.

It has continued busy all year with guests in my Bed and Breakfast rooms including the last days of the year. So I have enjoyed having people from all over the world. I have also found that many are seeing more God’s working with Israel, and some of the false replacement theology of the churches. There were so many interesting talks and sharing with the quests.

However 2009 does not look the same due to the big financial problems all over the world. People will not consider making big trips abroad as easily. So I do not expect quests now for several weeks.

Sadly the flood of tourists did not bring us floods of water. We had an extremely long, dry summer with little rain from March to the end of October. Even then it was not or has it been the heavy rains we need to refill the water sources, especially the Sea of Galilee. It is said that so far this is the driest winter in plus 100 years so far. We keep praying for good rains and soon, as we have only plus 6 weeks of winter left. Please ask all to pray for rain for Israel!

Thank you for your end of the year Retrospect and Prospect in the paper. It is good to reflect on the things that have been happening. Things seem to go so quickly and we forget how God has been moving all year to bless and changes things according to His plans and purposes! It is really a time to keep our eyes on Him!

Well, we came to Israel in 1973 just after the Yom Kippur War, and now I have gone through five more wars here in those 35 years. This war in Gaza was a quieter one for us in the north since most of the rockets were in the south. There were a few in Nahariya (near the Lebanon border) and one hit an old people’s home. It was a miracle as it went through the second floor sleeping rooms down to the lower level into the kitchen. Thankfully only ten minutes before the old people had come to the dining room for breakfast. If they were in their rooms or the rocket came to the dining room they would have been killed. I call it The Miracle of the Rocket that Came for Breakfast! Praise God!

I could go on for pages telling you the miracles that happened during this war either with the civilians in the south that were under rocket attack daily, and/or with the soldiers who went into Gaza from Israel. Even though the country was very much united in the decision to do something about Hamas firing rockets over and over, there was a kind of fear and dread of how many young soldiers would be killed in Gaza. Due to the fact that Israel is a small country ─ like a family ─ everyone had a son, father, husband, or someone they knew going into Gaza. It was not only from the standing army, but reservists as well. So it all becomes very personal ─ people you know and love. For me also many of those there were known to me as kids grown up now and defending their people now. So it was with a sense of awe that we saw the protection over and over God gave to the soldiers and that so few were killed. There was not a feeling this time of how great the army was (even though they were well prepared), but that it was an amazing protection from God. Even many of the soldiers saw angels that warned them not to go into boobie trapped houses that would have meant death for them. These things were told in all the papers here.

Of course the world only sees how terrible Israel was, but do not know the real points. Every unit of soldiers had a person with them to check on proper and humane conduct of the soldiers. They also all had rabbis with them and many more of the soldiers asked for praying before the battles!

The soldiers told of how the Hamas used children as shields as they shot at the Israelis. How the Hamas stored weapons in mosques, hospitals and U.N. agencies headquarters and shot from there. They were sacrificing their people, and Israel was busy protecting their civilians in all ways possible.

So what can I say ─ sometimes you feel like you can reach out and touch God here. As they say here ─ “He can be contacted by a local call in Israel!

Well, it seems when I got started with this subject a lot things have spilled out. Hope it is not too long a “book” for you. Just want you to know how it is to be here in Israel at this time and seeing the hand of God at work day by day!

  The next event is our Israeli elections on February 10 and we can only pray for God’s choice, and that this leader can stand strong for God’s People in the coming pressures upon Israel! There is a concern here how it will be with the new American government.

Thank you for your efforts each time you send out the paper and the blessing it is for many. Hope all are well!                                                                            Love from Israel, Hava Bausch

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Dear Sister Marjorie: Loving greetings through our beloved Redeemer.

Hoping that this finds you and yours in good health. We are all doing well here.

It was a blessing to read the March-April papers.  Times of Refreshing ─ Times of Restitution reaffirms the fact that there is a gracious benevolent loving God that desires all men to be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of the truth.

In our class study we rejoice in the knowledge of the completeness of the ransom, and the hope for all mankind. Very rarely do we complete a study without discussing the restoration of all things.

We pray for the day when: “They will not hurt nor destroy in all My Holy Mountain for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the Sea.” (Isa. 11:9, NAS) At the end of the Millennium Age all who hear that Prophet will appreciate the message from the Lord’s angel: “I bring you good news of great joy which shall be for all the people.” (Luke 20:10, NAS)

We have been blessed through our Public Witness efforts to receive a couple of Jehovah’s Witness who questioned some of the JWs teachings. As you know there is a price to pay for independent thinking in that organization. There is alienation of former friends and family, complete disfellowship, etc.

We rejoice in the fact that they had the courage and faith to be sanctified in truth, Thy word is truth (John 17:17).

We ask for your prayers in our small effort to witness and promote the good news, as we continue to pray for you and your good work in the Lord.

May the Lord Bless and keep all of you.   Your Brother by His name, ___   (CALIFORNIA)

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Gentlemen: Greetings in our dear Redeemer’s name!

This is just a few lines to let you know how much I enjoy your publications, but especially your April 2009 ─ TIMES OF REFRESHING.

I am not a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, but I have been attending their Sunday meetings. They have a different speaker every Sunday. Years ago my parents were members until Judge Rutherford arrived and made so many changes.

I made a copy of this article and took it down to a JW couple who live down the street from me and who have been providing me with the Watchtowers and who I sit with each Sunday.

I have been wanting to quit attending, and this article gave me an excuse. I attached a note telling them I could not with a clear conscious continue, knowing they are preaching errors.

I am enclosing a check to help with postage. Please continue to mail your literature.

Christian love,___   (FLORIDA)

NO. 622 THE ANOINTED - THE MESSIAH - THE CHRIST

The teaching of the Law, in type and testimony, is to the effect that God purposed to raise up a great Priest, who would also be a King; and that this priestly King and kingly Priest should cancel the sins of the people, and be invested with power to rule, and with authority as a Mediator to help them back to God. To the surprise of the typical people, Israel, instead of assuming the office of Priest and King in conjunction, he merely died! (Luke 24:20,21)

Then came the time for the Holy Spirit to reveal to the Church what had previously been a mystery; for when God had through the prophets spoken of Messiah as a King upon his throne, he had declared that which would be mysterious to the people ─ would not be easily understood. God had purposely kept his plan a secret until the due time for revealing it should come. The secret was ─ “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:26,27)

In other words, our Lord Jesus is, primarily, the Anointed One and, according to the Scripture testimony, is very highly exalted. But he was not the completion of the Divine arrangement regarding the anointed. The heavenly Father purposed not to have Jesus alone, but that he should be the Head of the anointed, and the Church the Body (Eph. 1:22,23; 5:29-32; Col. 1:24). This was the mystery. The great Messiah was to bless the world as the antitypical Prophet, Priest, and King, God appointed Jesus as the Head, and elected certain saintly ones to be the members of his Body. Until this Body of Christ was complete, the blessing promised to Abraham could not come upon the world (Gal. 3:16,29).

The terms upon which any may come into membership in Christ’s body ─ may be members of the anointed Priest and King ─ are that they walk in his steps. If we desire this privilege, we must present our bodies living sacrifices, as he presented his. Additionally, we must have him as our advocate, that we may be enabled to fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ. So, the Apostle says, we were called to suffer with Christ that we might reign with him (Col, 1:24; 2 Tim. 2:12).

Not until this work is completed can there be restitution to the world. The blessing of the world cannot begin until this great Priest-King is complete and inducted into office. Then as the Mediator of the New Covenant, He will bring the promised blessings to mankind in general. The entire Scriptures seem to give this thought, and this alone. In no other way can we explain why, after God’s promise to send a Redeemer, and after that Redeemer had come, and had died, “the Just for the unjust,” the work of restitution (Acts 3:19-21) should not have immediately proceeded. Throughout this Age there has been the work of selecting the Church. In the immediate future are the times of restitution, when the Lord, at his second coming, shall have received his members to himself on the plane of glory. 

The Scriptures declare that our Lord Jesus was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners. Hence he would need no sin-offering on his own behalf. Yet the Scriptures say that he needed first to offer for himself, and then for the people (Heb. 7:26,27). Here we see clearly shown the Church as a part of himself ─ different from the world in general.

The entire work of the Church at the present time is the sacrifice of the human life. As Jesus will be the King of Glory, so we shall be the under-kings; as he will be the great Priest, so we shall be the under-priests. The parallel is found throughout the entire Scriptures. If our understanding of this were taken away, we should be practically in the same darkness as we were before we got the truth. The mystery is that we are to be associated in the sufferings of Christ now and in his glory in the future. Whoever has not yet found this key has not yet found the plan of God, in its simplicity and beauty.

God ordained that the kings of Israel should be anointed, and that the high priest of Israel should be especially anointed. We are to remember that there is an antitypical King and an antitypical Priest ─ Christ, the great Prophet, Priest and King ─ who is to bring blessing to the human family as a whole. We perceive that in the type there was an under-priesthood, and the Apostle points out that there is an antitypical under-priesthood associated with Jesus and his work.

The word anointed in the English translation of the Hebrew word Messiah and its equivalent in the Greek is Christos, Christ. So, then, our thoughts properly turn to Christ as the Anointed of God. He is to do the great work appointed by the Father. We look back and see when he received his anointing. It was not when he was in the heavenly courts, nor when he became a human being. He was not yet the Anointed One, though he was in full harmony with the Holy Spirit of God.

But there came a certain experience to our Lord when he was thirty years of age. At that time he consecrated himself to do the Father’s will and work. Then it was that he received the special anointing. This constituted him in an incipient sense the anointed King and Priest of God. Still he was not ready to take his great power and reign; but if he proved faithful in carrying out his covenant, he would in due time become in the fullest sense the great Anointed of God, would reign over the earth for a thousand years, and subsequently would have further great honors and privileges. We can see all this very clearly portrayed in respect to our Redeemer.

THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST

To whom, then, does the Apostle in 1 John 2:27 refer in the words ye and you? The heavenly Father purposed, as previously stated, that more than our Lord Jesus should constitute this Anointed One. He purposed that the Lord Jesus should be the Head of an anointed company, who should constitute his Body. And this is implied in the type in the under-priesthood, who received a measure of the anointing oil. They prefigured the real priesthood to come: “Ye are a royal priest-hood, a holy nation, a pecu1iar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (l Peter 2:9)

And as we further study, we find that this is the mystery mentioned in the Scriptures: to wit, that the great Messiah so long promised should be composed of many individuals; and that these many individuals, with the exception of the Head, should be gathered out from the children of wrath, from fallen mankind, and should be justified through the merit of their Head ─ the merit of his human sacrifice.

All, then, who have joined the Lord are counted as members of that one Body, “the church of the living God,” “the church of the first-born,” whose names are “written in heaven.” (1 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 12:23) Looking back to the institution of the Church, we see that it could not be instituted until Jesus had presented himself as a sacrifice, that the merit of his sacrifice might be made applicable to all those who would become members of his body ─ those who would make the same consecration unto death that he had made, and who would then walk in his footsteps.

At that very time there were some of this class waiting. They had been Jesus’ discip1es, hearkening to his words. They believed his testimony that if they would take up their cross and follow him they should partake of his glory. Under the influence of this promise they became his followers. But they could not receive the anointing until he had made satisfaction for their sins. Therefore our Lord instructed them to wait at Jerusalem until this blessing came upon them. The Scriptures tell us that the anointing came upon them at Pentecost. It came from the Father through Christ, after his ascension. Indeed, St. Paul tells us that all blessings come from the Father, who is the Fountain of blessings; and all come through the Son, who is the Channel (1 Corinthians 8:6).

Just what the anointing is, is difficult for us to comprehend or to explain. Only in proportion as we comprehend it can we make it plain to others. The Lord has endeavored to make it as p1ain as possible to us by the use of various terms and figures. He calls it a begetting, in the sense that a new life is started. The spiritua1 nature begins in us at the moment we receive this begetting. And whoever receives it cannot retain it un1ess he grows and has the Lord’s spirit perfected in him.

VARIOUS QUALITIES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

The spirit is spoken of in the Scriptures from various standpoints ─ apparently with a view to giving us a conception of it, and with the thought that it is a difficu1t matter to grasp. It is called the spirit of truth. No one can have the Holy Spirit and be in ignorance of God; and his growth in spiritua1 things will be in proportion to his growth in know1edge. If he does not grow in know1edge, he cannot grow in the spirit; therefore this spirit is called the spirit of the truth.

It is called also the spirit of a sound mind; for our judgments are all imperfect and human and naturally, therefore, contrary in some respects to the mind of the Lord. And the transforming influence which gives us a new view of matters and enables us to see things from God’s standpoint is the influence of the Holy Spirit; therefore, it is called the spirit, or disposition, of a sound mind. 

It is called the spirit of 1ove; for only in proportion as we cultivate this Godlike quality can we receive this spirit. Whoever has not the spirit of love cannot have the Holy Spirit. Love is necessary before we can receive this spirit. God is Love. And so all must be of this disposition who would be his ─ they must be in sympathy, in harmony with him.

It is a1so called the spirit of obedience in the sense that those who possess this spirit desire to do the will of God. It is an anointing in the sense that it is the qua1ification by which God recognizes us as his children and as those who are heirs of his promises and who are to consider themselves his ambassadors. He recognizes only those who are thus designated by the Ho1y Spirit. These are to fill the office of kings and priests.

These various definitions and descriptions of the power and influence of the spirit enab1e us to better understand the matter. The term Ho1y Spirit stands in a broad sense for any ho1y influence or power or disposition emanating from God. The phrase covers the thought of the spirit of truth and the spirit of righteousness, because all that is true and right is of Divine arrangement and order. This is the Holy Spirit, or ho1y influence, or ho1y power, then, that works in any way that God may choose. It may be through the Word of truth given out through the printed page, or it may be made manifest through the influence of the life and examp1e of some of God’s peop1e ─ but in whatever way it operates, it always operates for good.

GIFTS VS. FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT

Because the matter was so hard to understand, the Lord, in the first place, gave the early Church specia1 signs, which were called gifts. Some received the gift of tongues, some the gift of performing miracles, and some the special gift of hea1ing. Then there were other gifts that the Lord gave, such as apostleship, etc. But these different gifts were mere1y manifestations of the Holy Spirit at that time. The gifts were not the Holy Spirit, but were manifestations of the Holy Spirit. After they had accomplished their work in the ear1y Church, those gifts passed away. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit ceased to be the begetting power amongst the Lord’s people; but unless there had been some such manifestation of the power of God in the beginning, we would not have been so well able to understand the facts. Jesus, before Pentecost, communicated his spirit to his disciples and enabled them to work miracles (Luke 10:17-20).

A measure of the spirit is given to all the Lord’s children to be profited by, to make use of. And so we see that when the gifts of the Holy Spirit passed away, the fruits of the spirit remained, to be manifested and developed. “The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22,23); and a person after receiving the Holy Spirit will begin to manifest this fruit of the spirit. If one does not manifest this fruit, there is every reason to doubt if he has been begotten of the spirit.

If a person has some of these qualities, we are to remember that some are naturally quite gentle, meek. We are not, therefore, to think it a proof of the possession of the Holy Spirit, if one has a little meekness and gentleness. He might have these qualities naturally. But we should expect that when a knowledge of the truth comes, instead of being heady and puffed up, he would be all the more gentle and meek. Wherever we see a boastful, heady, haughty spirit, unloving, unkind, etc., we would have reason to think that the Holy Spirit had not been received, or was not making proper development in that heart.

This is a matter regarding which the Lord does not allow us to judge others; but he expects us to judge ourselves. Whoever has this Holy Spirit should develop it. Those who have been begotten of the Holy Spirit had previously come into the proper attitude of mind to receive it, and the Lord is pleased to begin there the work which is so difficult for us to understand. This spirit of God brings rest, peace, joy, because we have submitted ourselves to God. And this peace and joy should increase more and more, as we are more and more filled with the Holy Spirit.

HINDRANCES TO FULNESS OF THE SPIRIT

The Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus had the spirit without measure. But we, in our imperfect state, are not able to receive the Holy Spirit in the same measure. If our hearts are entirely emptied, then they may be made the fuller. But if there be errors of doctrine in our mind and heart, these will prevent us from receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Gradually the new creature will cast out the earthly mind, and will get rid of the errors of doctrine, etc., that have been hindrances. And as we get rid of these we shall be made partakers of the Holy Spirit in an abounding measure.

The Holy Spirit that we receive of him is our assurance that we belong to the Lord. And as long as this spirit abides in us, it is a witness and a guarantee that we are still the Lord’s. Both classes, the Little Flock and the Great Company, receive the anointing of the Lord, the begetting of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle says that “we are all called in the one hope of our calling.” (Eph. 4:4) We all have received this anointing of the Holy Spirit, or we could not belong to the Body of Christ at all. It is now a matter of development.

Those who continue to develop in the spirit of the Lord will attain a place on the throne with Jesus. But there will be some who will not be accounted worthy to reign with him; yet they have received of the Lord this anointing, this begetting. These will not be of the Body of Christ, because they failed to progress on account of lack of zeal in carrying out their covenant.

In the type of the High Priest the anointing oil ran down over the garments. In the antitype the anointing of our Lord Jesus has flowed down over all the Body since Pentecost, giving us this special relationship with the heavenly Father. The anointing which comes upon the Lord’s people must sooner or later affect their outward conduct by manifestations of greater meekness, patience, brotherly-kindness, affection and generosity of word and deed. All of this is illustrated in the anointing oil used upon the kings and priests of Israel, which typified the spirit from which we have an anointing, or lubrication,

But this smoothing and softening of character must not be expected to take place suddenly, as was the case with the change in our minds; on the contrary, it will come gradually. Nevertheless, the renewed will is to take control of the earthly body and impart its spirit and disposition to it so far as possible, and should begin the work at once. If the spirit, or disposition, of love to God dwells in one richly, it will soon be manifest to some extent. Let us be constantly on the alert to grow in the spirit of love and obedience, and to let the spirit of Christ dwell in us richly and abound.

CONSECRATION AND BEGETTING

No one can be a member of the New Creation before being anointed of the Holy Spirit, or begotten of the Holy Spirit. The purport of the Scriptures is that a double work is necessary, the one part applying to the flesh, the other to the New Creature. That which is sacrificed is not the New Creature, and that which is anointed is not the old creature. We repeat: It is the New Creature that is anointed, and it is the old creature that is sacrificed.

The anointing and the begetting of the Holy Spirit are practically the same thing and quickly follow justification. It is as justified men that we are baptized into death, and it is as members of the New Creation that we are constituted members of the ecclesia, or Body of Christ. It is the Father’s acceptance of us that is the basis of our begetting of the Holy Spirit, our anointing,

While the two terms, begetting and anointing, are used to represent what is to us practically the same thing, they are two different figures. The begetting thought is one that pertains to the state of the new life, the state of the new nature. The anointing thought pertains to the office. God is calling out a people to become joint-heirs with Christ in the Kingdom. The anointing is the Divine recognition of them as kings and priests. So far as we are concerned, the matter is represented by both expressions.

The word Christ signifies anointed. God has declared that he will have an anointed King and High Priest to be his agent in the blessing of the world. He has declared that that great King is, primarily, the Lord Jesus Christ. He also declares that instead of the Lord Jesus being the sum-total of the Anointed One, it is his good pleasure that there shall be members added to him. And the adding of these members has been the completing of this Anointed One.

Our coming into the Body is our coming under the anointing. One is a member of the Anointed the instant he is begotten. In thinking of the begetting and the anointing, we are merely viewing the matter from two different angles. We of today were not anointed eighteen hundred years ago, although the anointing came at that time upon the Church. The anointed office may be forfeited, without the spirit-begotten life being forfeited, as in the case of the Great Company.

But the instant we are individually inducted into that body, that instant we come under the anointing. “The anointing you have received of him abideth in you.” Our share of it is just as much a personal matter as was the begetting. Let us repeat the statement: Our begetting is individual ─ our baptism, or anointing, is collective, but the one is as personal as the other.

SAME ANOINTING FOR BOTH JESUS AND THE CHURCH

The anointing that came upon the Church at Pentecost and that ran down upon all added Jewish members subsequently, was the same anointing that Jesus received at Jordan, the same anointing that was later poured out upon the Gentiles, as manifested first in the case of Cornelius and his friends, when “the Holy Spirit fell upon all them which heard the Word” at the mouth of St. Peter. It is the same anointing that has come down throughout the Age upon all the members of the Body ─ all the one anointing.

But while it is the same anointing, or baptism, yet Cornelius had no share in the anointing, or baptism, at Pentecost, nor had the disciples any share in the anointing at Jordan; for it did not become a personal matter to any member until he was individually begotten, and thus inducted into the Body. To our understanding the one thought appertains to both of these different features, as illustrating different parts of the process.

At the beginning, Jehovah God foreknew and foreordained that one hundred and forty-four thousand should constitute the Anointed One, of which Jesus is the Head. And he made the arrangement that all those begotten of the spirit should thereby come into that Body, and be counted as its members. These have their names written as such in the Lamb’s book of life. But he also made the arrangement with them that if any of them failed to keep the terms of their covenant, they would cease to be members of that Body class. And this class evidently will in glory consist of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, although many other thousands have been associated with them all through the Gospel Age; not all, however, have maintained their standing.

“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne.” (Rev. 3:21) The grand outcome of the matter, the fixity of the matter, is in the future. All those who come to the Lord, come through consecration, and are for the time being counted in as members of this anointed class. And the anointing will abide with them so long as they continue in this condition of obedience.

DOUBLE RELATIONSHIP TO CHRIST

The expression, begetting of the spirit, then, is used in the Scriptures to describe that personal experience by which God accepts the individual as a New Creature, and starts the new nature. This new nature subsequently prospers, develops and if faithful will be born of the spirit. The terms begetting and birth are used symbolically to represent the beginning and the completion of the New Creature.

The baptism, or anointing, of the spirit, of course, relates to the same Holy Spirit and in some measure to the same experiences as the begetting, but from a different angle. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not a thing that comes to us individually, but collectively. The baptism of the Holy Spirit came upon the Church at Pentecost and was not repeated day by day, nor ever, except in the case of Cornelius, the first Gentile convert, and “his kinsmen and near friends,” whom he had called together in his house to hear the words from the lips of the Apostle Peter. At that time a similar baptism to that of Pentecost was granted ─ “the holy Spirit fell upon all them which heard the Word” (Acts 10:24,44), indicating that the Gentiles also were to have an opportunity to become members of the Anointed.

The word baptism signifies immersion. St. Paul explains that we are all baptized, or immersed, or anointed, by the one spirit into one Body. The anointing, or baptism, of the spirit came first to our Lord Jesus, extended down to the Church at Pentecost, and has been with the Church as an anointing ever since. All of us who come to God, by Christ, confessing our sins and asking forgiveness through his merit, and who yield ourselves to be dead with him, by baptism into his death, are immersed into membership in his Body, thus coming under the anointing.

The result or this action is two-fold; we become, first of all, members of Christ in the flesh, and he accepts us and treats us as such. We are first baptized, or immersed, into death ─ his death, his baptism. Then the figure changes; and we are raised up out of this baptism into death, as New Creatures. Thereafter our flesh is counted as his flesh. So our relationship to Christ is two-fold: one appertaining to the flesh, the other to the spirit.

Very many have not noticed this double relationship to Christ ─ as New Creatures, and also in the flesh. The force of this is brought to us in the words of the glorified Christ to Saul of Tarsus: “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou ME? . . . I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.” (Acts 9:4,5) Thus our Lord declared that the persecution of the Church in the flesh was a persecution of himself. What the Church suffers is a part of the sufferings of Christ. The sufferings of Christ will not be filled up until the last member of his Body shall have finished his course.

THE LORD'S DECISION STILL FUTURE

Our membership in the spiritual Body of Christ is also two-fold. First we have a tentative membership at the present time ─ though we are accepted of God as if it were complete. Thus the moment of the acceptance of our consecration is the moment when we receive the Holy Spirit. We are consecrated with Christ unto death ─ we are risen with him as New Creatures, sharers with him in his resurrection. And yet this number, begotten of the Holy Spirit and thus associated with Christ in membership in the spiritual body, contains three classes: (1) The Little Flock, which will be the Body of Christ beyond the veil, the “more than conquerors”; (2) the Great Company, who will fail of being of that highest class, but who will be companions of the Bride class (Psalm 45:14); (3) some who will become reprobates and go into the Second Death.

It is not for us at the present time to pass judgment upon anyone. It is not for us to say that this one or that one belongs to the Little Flock or to the Great Company. According to the Scriptural instructions, we know that the Lord will not make public his decision of this matter until the end of this Age. Then he will make a decision as to those who will receive the higher nature and those who will receive the subordinate nature.

We are all “called in the one hope of our calling” (Eph. 4:4), and it is for each of us to make our calling and election sure. Our trials, our difficulties, our weaknesses, are so different that only the Lord will know or can determine who are worthy. The Apostle declares that he would not even judge himself, let alone others. There is one that judgeth, even Christ.

TWO CLASSES OF FIRST-BORNS

The Church of the First-borns, that is to say, all who will attain to perfection of life, everlasting life, as the First-born company, are in comparison with the world a small number. The picture of humanity that our Lord gave in the sermon on the mount represented the world of mankind in general as going down the Broad Road to destruction. Then he depicted a Narrow   Way leading to life, a way that he himself opened up and made possible. He tells us that of those who find this Narrow Way only a few, comparatively, will enter it and walk in it.

In another Scripture we are told that all who go on the Broad Way will ultimately be brought to a knowledge of the truth, and by Messiah’s Kingdom will be enlightened and blessed with an opportunity for coming into harmony with God; and that in that time there will be a Highway for their return to human perfection. Here, then, we find three ways. In the present Age, however, there is only one way leading to life.

Examining what the Scriptures say as to who will gain life everlasting as a result of the present life, we find that merely the Church of the First-borns get this blessing. The life that will come to the world will be attained gradually during the thousand years, when step by step they will rise up, up, up to perfection. But the life that is offered now must be striven for under adverse conditions. We are to receive it by (1) begetting, and (2) resurrection to perfection. This resurrection we shall receive at the close of this Gospel Age.

The Scriptures show us that of the two classes who will attain this great blessing, one class will come off conquerors and get spiritual life, but not the highest. The other class will come off “more than conquerors,” and reach resurrection on the highest plane. These will be of the Divine Nature. In this class we are striving to have a place ─ to share with Christ in the chief resurrection. Those who lag behind and are careless of their consecration vows will nevertheless be finally put to the test. Matters will so narrow down with them that they will be obliged to determine whether they will prove their loyalty to God or not. Those among them who willfully sin will go into the Second Death. Those who strive for everlasting life will be brought to perfection in a great time of trouble, even though they will lose the great prize of joint-heirship with Christ.

(Pastor Russell, Reprints 5391-5394, May 15, 1913)

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Comment: The above article by Pastor Russell was written before the High Calling ended.  We now know that the calling to be of the Little Flock is over and the Youthful Worthies are being selected.  The Holy Spirit is given to them also but they are not begotten by the Holy Spirit.  Brother Jonson puts it this way in E-4-412:

“In the sense of a new will, a holy disposition, the Youthful Worthies have the Holy Spirit; but they do not have the Holy Spirit of begettal. The Scriptures speak of the two general outpourings of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28,29). In both cases the Holy Spirit is given; but it is not given as a begettal in both cases. The spirit of begettal to sonship (John 1:12,13; Rom. 8:14-16) is now given to the Gospel Church alone, and will not be given to the world. The world will receive the Holy Spirit in its second outpouring, as Adam and Eve had it before their fall, and Jesus had it as a human being before Jordan. It is in the latter sense that the Youthful Worthies are now receiving the Holy Spirit. In due time, during the Little Season at the end of the Millennium, we opine, they will receive the Spirit-begettal as the beginning of their change of nature.” 

NO. 621 WILL ADAM BE SAVED?

“And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:13)

Man was created in the image and likeness of God (vs. 26-30), having mental and moral faculties corresponding, so that he could appreciate and enjoy communion with his Maker, for whose pleasure he was created. “Male and female created he them,” not only for the propagation of the race, but also that the twain might find their mutual adaptability to each other and God. Their dominion was to be the whole earth, with all its products and resources and all its lower forms of life ─ a wide and rich domain affording ample scope for their noble powers.

But then came the tempter and Eve was deceived, but Adam was not deceived (1 Tim. 2:14). Since Adam was a willful and intelligent sinner, and since the sentence has been executed upon him and he now has nothing and is nothing, how much of the merit of Christ will be necessary for his release from his condemned condition?

We understand that Adam, having been tried and found guilty and sentenced to death, and having gone down into death under that sentence, has done nothing to liquidate his obligations in any sense of the word; and that it will require the full satisfaction of a ransom-price to set him free and permit him to have another trial. In a general way this, of course, is true of the entire human family. As Adam’s children, we are dealt with as a race, instead of as individuals except in the case of the Church and of the Jewish Nation under their law.

During the Millennial Age there will be no imputation of Christ’s merit to anyone as it is imputed to the Church during the Gospel Age. It is imputed to them for a special purpose ─ to enable them to offer acceptable sacrifices. In the Millennial Age no one will need the righteous-ness of another to make him acceptable. On the contrary, the whole world, counted as one, will be dealt with from that standpoint; and Christ as the great Mediator, Prophet and King, will make satisfaction to justice for Adam and all his children, dealing with them as one. After making satisfaction to Justice, and thus purchasing the whole world of mankind, the great Mediator of the New Covenant will put it into effect, and under that New Covenant the blessing will begin with Israel; but every member of the human race will have an opportunity to come into perfection.

This brings us to the study of the word ransom, which in the New Testament has a very limited and definite meaning. It occurs only twice. Once in our Lord’s own description of the work He was doing and once in Paul’s description of that complete work. The Greek word used by our Lord is lutron-anti, which signifies, “a price in offset, or a price to correspond.” Thus our Lord said, “The Son of Man came to… give his life a ransom [lutron-anti ─ a price to correspond] for many.” (Mark 10:45) The Apostle uses the same words, but compounds them differently, anti-lutron, signifying “a corresponding price,” saying “The man, Christ Jesus, gave himself a ransom [anti-lutron ─ corresponding price] for all to be testified in due time.” (1 Tim.2:6) The thought and only thought contained in this is that as Adam, through disobedience forfeited his being, his soul, all his rights to life and to earth, so Christ our Lord by His death, as a corresponding price, provided a full and exact offset for Father Adam’s soul or being, and in consequence for all his posterity, every human soul, sharers in his fall and in his loss (Rom. 5:12). If Adam is not raised then none of the rest of the world will be raised.

Let us be clear here ─ Jesus will not return in the flesh again (John 16:10). If he should take back his humanity that would cancel his ransom price and all the world would still be in their sins.

Knowing definitely the penalty pronounced against sin, we may easily see what Justice must require as a payment of that penalty, before the curse could be lifted and the culprit be released from the great prison-house of death (Isa. 61:1).  As it was not because the entire race sinned that sentence came, but because one man sinned, so that sentence of death fell directly upon Adam only, and only indirectly through him upon his race, by heredity; and in full accord with these facts Justice may demand only a corresponding price. Justice must, therefore, demand the life of another as instead of the life of Adam, before releasing Adam and his race. If this penalty were paid, the whole penalty would be paid, one sacrifice for all, even as one sin involved all. We have already seen that the perfect Adam, the transgressor, who was sentenced, was not an angel, nor an archangel, nor a god, but a man, in nature a little lower than that of angels. Strictest Justice, therefore, could demand as his substitute neither more nor less than one of Adam’s own kind, under similar conditions to his, namely, perfect and free of Divine condemnation. We have seen that none such could be found among men, all of whom were of the race of Adam. Hence it was, that the necessity arose that one from the heavenly courts, and of spiritual nature, should take human nature, and then give it as substitute, Himself, a ransom for Adam and for all who lost life through him. So we see that Jesus cannot come again in the flesh for that would be taking back His ransom sacrifice again for then Adam and all his race would be lost again.

The necessity for the purchase of the race by Christ lay then in the fact that Father Adam had sold himself and his race into sin (Rom. 7:14; 5:12). He needed to be bought back from the slavery of sin; and the payment of the ransom-price was necessary before any could be released from the sentence or start anew to prove themselves worthy of life-everlasting.

But let us take a still larger view of this purchase, and note that Jesus became not only theoretically but actually the owner, controller and Father of the race, by reason of paying its ransom price; in this purchase He took Father Adam’s place, who had sold the race. As it was sold by Adam through sin, in self-gratification, in disobedience to God, so it was bought by the man Christ Jesus, by the sacrifice of Himself in obedience to the Father’s will, a corresponding price or ransom for Adam. The Bible presents this thought: “Christ both died and rose and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living.” (Rom. 14:9) It was by virtue of our Lord’s death that He became the master, ruler, Father of the race, and obtained power to deal with the race as with His own children, freed from the curse of the Divine sentence by His own sacrifice.

MUST ADAM BE REDEEMED FIRST?

Accepting the Scriptural presentation that “By one man’s disobedience sin entered into the world, and death as a result of sin, and thus death passed upon all men, and for that all are sinners” (Romans 5:12-17); accepting also the declaration of Scripture, “As by man came death, by man also come the resurrection of the dead,” also the assurance that “As all in Adam die, even so all in Christ shall be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:21,22); shall we understand that Adam must first be redeemed and atoned for before any of his children can receive reconciliation?  If so, should we understand that Adam was included amongst the believers, the household of faith, on whose behalf Jesus, our great High Priest, appeared and made satisfaction for sin when He appeared in the presence of God for us?

Most assuredly we should not! St.   Paul did not mention Adam in his list of Ancient Worthies in Hebrews 11. On the contrary, our expectation for Adam is that as a man of the world class, “all people,” his sin will be atoned for in the end of this Age, when the great High Priest shall antitypically sprinkle His blood on the Mercy Seat for the sins of the whole world, “all people,” as at the beginning of the Age he made atonement for the Church’s sins. Our expectation also is that Father Adam will be one of the last to be awakened from the sleep of death and be brought forth to the privileges, blessings, opportunities and testings of the Millennial Age.

Our thought is that the restitution blessings will begin with the generation living at the time of the inauguration of the Mediator’s Kingdom; that it will deal first with these and bring them to a measure of recuperation before beginning with any of those who sleep in the dust of the earth; and further that those of the sleepers who went down into death most recently will be the first to come up, while those who went down first will be last to come up. In other words the first shall be last and the last shall be first (Matt. 19:30). Our thought is that quite probably the awakenings of the world will be in response to the prayers of their friends during the Millennium; and that those living at any time will be especially interested in praying for such as were their acquaintances or relatives. We see no reason why Father Adam should take any precedence in connection with the work of redemption. While it is true that he was the man through whom sin and death entered the world, nevertheless amongst the thousands of millions of his children he has no pre-eminence in the sight of justice, whose record respecting humanity we understand to be: One man’s sin ─ penalty Death.

The sacrifice of the man Christ Jesus was sufficient for the sins of the whole world, and that ultimately it will be made available for the cancellation of the sins of the world is because justice in the condemnation merely sentenced Father Adam as a man and has paid no attention to his children in the way of separate condemnation, but counted them all as members of the one man. Hence the death of Jesus could have been applied for any one of Adam’s race, but as he was the head of the race and they were all condemned through him, it was applied through him. And this last will be the ultimate result.

RESTITUTION

(Acts 3:19-21)

Restitution signifies the restoring of a thing which was lost. You might give a person anything, whether he had once possessed it or not; but it would be quite improper to call it restoring unless he has once possessed it and then lost it. The human family once possessed a perfect mental, moral and physical nature as represented in the person of Adam, their head. Beautiful and majestic in form, God-like in the mental and moral  qualities of his being (in God’s image) and commissioned to be the King or God over all earthly creatures (“In our likeness let him have dominion over the beasts, fowl, fish,” etc. Gen. 1:26), he stands before us the picture of human perfection. He passes the inspection of the great Jehovah and is pronounced a “very good” man.  He was not a god, but a man.  “Let us make man in our image.” We should not suppose that to be mentally and morally in God’s image means that we will have the same mental and moral capacity; but our justice, mercy, love, truth, and powers of reasoning, deciding, etc., while limited in capacity, are the same in kind as the justice, love, etc. of God, so that he can say to us “Come let us reason together.” (Isa. 21:18)

But before Adam had ever learned to use his powers fully, sin entered, and death followed, degrading and destroying by its various agencies of sickness and vice the one noble form, and the perfection of his intellectual and moral faculties.

God foresaw the necessity of this victory of evil over man, that he might learn forever the lesson that sin and death go hand in hand and both are his enemies; while obedience to God and life and happiness are indissolubly connected, and that God is his true and best friend. We see God, the loving Father permitting evil for man’s good and taking advantage of its presence to prove to man His unalterable character, “the exceeding sinfulness of sin,” “the justice of His laws, the boundlessness of His mercy,” “the exceeding riches of His grace.” And the “great love wherewith He loved us,” by redeeming us from all sin through Jesus Christ. We have seen too, how that through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by obedience of  one shall the many be made righteous [just] (Rom. 5:19), and that in His due time God intends to bring all men back to the condition of perfect manhood where they will again be “very good.” This is restitution, the restoring of mankind to the power, qualities, and things lost through the first Adam.

Could Adam have developed a character without the knowledge of good and evil? What kind of character did he have prior to the disobedience and fall? We answer: A participation in sin is not essential to the development of character; otherwise God the father and our Lord Jesus Christ and holy angels would have to be classed as amongst those destitute of character. Surely God Himself is to be considered as possessing character of the very highest class, and hence His creature Adam, made in his own likeness, must have possessed a good character. So must a faultless character belong to all the angelic sons of God, and to His first-begotten. Character may be tested and strengthened and supported by experience or by observation. Seeing sin in others and noting its evil fruit, they have doubtless been made stronger in their determination for that holiness in which they were created and which they have maintained. But had sin never been permitted, this strengthening of character by the Holy angels through observation would have been impossible.

Adam, in the Divine image, and, therefore, of excellent character, was subjected to a peculiar temptation; to which probably he would not have yielded had he been granted the same acquaintance with righteousness and with his Creator that the Holy angels enjoyed. God left him in this condition, knowing in advance how it would result, and prepared for the rescue of the race in advance, in that feature of His plan which foresaw “the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Rev. 13:8) God chose to give Adam and his race an experience in the character development through contact with sin and in overcoming it by the assistance He renders through the Redeemer. While, therefore, a certain degree of strong and good character may be created, the testing and proving and bolstering of that character and its everlasting insurance could not be accomplished without some lesson of either experience or observation. It pleased God to give man his lesson and testing through experience, and the angels the same lesson and testing through observation, and all His ways are perfect.

But would not this be giving some of the race a second chance? We answer: the first chance for everlasting life was lost for himself and all of the race, “yet in his loins,” by Father Adam’s disobedience. Under that original trial “condemnation passed upon all men”; and God’s plan was that through Christ’s redemption sacrifice Adam and all who lost life in his failure, should, after having tasted of the exceeding sinfulness of sin and felt the weight of sin’s penalty, be given the opportunity to turn unto God through faith in the Redeemer. If any one chooses to call this a second chance, let him do so; it must certainly be Adam’s second chance, and in a sense at least it is the same for all of the redeemed race, but it will be the first individual opportunity of his descendants, who, when born, were already under condemnation to death. Call it what we please, the facts are the same; viz all were sentenced to death because of Adams’s disobedience, and all will enjoy (in the Millennial Age) a full opportunity to gain everlasting life under the favorable terms of the New Covenant. This, as the angels declared, is “Good tidings of great joy which shall be unto all peoples.” And, as the Apostle declared, this grace of God that our Lord Jesus “gave himself a ransom for all, must be testified to all “in due time.” (Rom. 5:17-19; 1 Tim. 2:4-6)

The two texts given above indicates only that it is the will of God that all men should be saved from the ignorance and blindness and degradation which has come upon the race as a result of Adam’s sin. There is no reference here to eternal salvation, but merely to a recovery from the loss sustained through Adam; and it should not be forgotten that father Adam did not lose eternal life, for though he had a perfect life, and was free from all elements of death, he was, yet placed in Eden on probation, to see whether by obedience to God he would develop a character in harmony with God so be accounted worthy of everlasting life. Hence, when Adam and his race are redeemed from the curse of death, this redemption of salvation from the death sentence does not entitle them to everlasting life, but merely entitles them to the favorable conditions of father Adam, and to a fresh trial as to worthiness for everlasting life.

This fresh trial secured for Adam and all his race will indeed be more favorable in some respects than was Adam’s original trial, because of the large increase of knowledge. Man has had an opportunity to learn the exceeding sinfulness of sin and will have an opportunity to learn the blessedness of righteousness, and of God’s grace in Christ. This knowledge will be of service to all who will use it, during the fresh trial for eternal life in the Millennial Age, when for a thousand years the whole world shall be on judgment or trial for eternal life, before the great white throne (Rev. 20:4).

But if Adam was perfect, how could he have sinned? It seems that a perfect man would have acted in a perfect manner. From the Scriptural narrative of the creation of man, it is evident that God, the Creator, designed to have an intelligent creature made in His own likeness, with an individual will capable of deciding for good or evil. Man has the power of willing to do as he, himself, desires.

Had he been created otherwise he would not have been in the likeness of God, but a mere machine controlled and directed by Divine will. We may reasonably suppose that Adam chose to disobey the Lord because of his love for Eve. She had been deceived by the Adversary, Satan, and had partaken of the forbidden fruit, the penalty for which was death. Adam, realizing that she must die, deliberately chose to share her fate, as life without her would not be worth living. We are distinctly told that Adam was not deceived (1 Tim. 2:14) and we could conceive of no other motive on the part of a perfect man in disobeying the Divine mandate, than that of love for his bride.

What became of Adam when he died, did he go to heaven or hell? We may be sure Adam did not go to heaven at death, because three thousand years later Jesus said, “No man hath ascended up to heaven.” (John 3:13) The judgment or sentence of death was passed upon Adam by the Lord, who said, “For dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Gen. 3:19) This judgment of death was gradually enforced during a period of 930 years, by Adam being denied access to the life-giving food in Eden (Gen. 3:23,24); at the end of which time Adam was completely dead. He went to hell ─ not the hell of the Dark Ages, which had been represented as a lake of fire and brimstone, but to the hell of the Bible, which word is translated from the Hebrew word sheol and  the Greek word hades and properly translated into the English words grave, tomb or state of death. Likewise all of Adam’s children, inheriting this death sentence, have followed him, at death, to the tomb. The entire race would have been exterminated had it not been that God provided for the redemption and resurrection of the race through Christ Jesus.  “Who gave His life that we might have life.” (John 3:16, 17)

Therefore, if Adam is not raised then none of the remainder of the world will be raised. For when Adam sinned the race of mankind was still in his loins, unborn. So when Jesus gave Himself a “ransom for all” it was for Adam and all in his loins. Jesus could do this because He, too, had an unborn posterity in His loins.

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A CONVINCING PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION

“Be not faithless, but believing.” (John 20:27)

Previous to the occasion of the words of our text, St.   Thomas, the Apostle, had not been present at any of the manifestations of Jesus after his resurrection. Thomas seems to have been of a rather skeptical turn of mind. He heard the other apostles telling about what they had seen, about the manifestations that had taken place, and he felt that on such evidences he could not believe in the resurrection of Jesus. He thought that his brethren had been too easily deceived.

St. Thomas did not accredit his fellow disciples with an attempt at deceiving him; but as he declared, he would not believe on any such testimony as he had received. He said, “Unless I see the spear mark, unless I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.” You cannot convince me that he is not dead. You cannot convince me that a person put to death after that manner is again alive. I cannot say where the deception came from, but you brethren are too easily deceived.

A week later, Jesus appeared in the “upper room” a second time. After saluting the company, he said to St. Thomas, “Reach hither thy finger and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing.” Again, he said, “A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” The disciples did not see, evidently, the spirit being. They saw merely a materialization ─ actual flesh and bones. St. Thomas did as the Lord had requested. Then he said, “My Lord and my God!” He acknowledged that Jesus was the Lord. It was not an apparition. The brethren had not been deceived. He was the one who had come very near being deceived by his own lack of faith.

We cannot doubt that in this incident the Lord has given to all of his followers a very helpful lesson. Had none of the apostles even seemed to doubt the Lord's resurrection, they might have failed to bring out convincing proof of the fact. They might afterward have thought to themselves, “Why did we not make further investigation?” But here we have evidence of the investigation.

There are some people who are naturally very cautious. St.   Thomas seems to have been one of these. We cannot think that the Lord is displeased with such characters. From our standpoint, indeed, the person who is inclined to be somewhat critical is rather to be approved. We would naturally incline to disapprove those who are too easily credulous, too easily persuaded. We are even to think highly of those who are of the mental attitude of St. Thomas. We are glad that there was one such hard thinker as this Apostle.

The Lord said in this connection, “Because thou hast seen, thou hast believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed.” There might be a question as to what the Lord meant by these words. He may have meant, Do not congratulate yourself that you were not easy to convince; or he may have meant, There is a special blessing for those who have faith ─ who believe without seeing.

There were above five hundred brethren amongst the disciples at the time of our Lord’s crucifixion. The Apostle says that he was seen of these at one time (1 Corinthians 15:6). But afterwards the brethren were obliged to believe without seeing, merely on the testimony of others. We are in this category ourselves. All the Christian church throughout the Gospel Age have believed without seeing the outward demonstration. Whether on this account the Lord would be specially pleased with us, we know not. But we think not. Whether we believe on slight evidence or on greater evidence is dependent upon the structure of the brain. God seems to have made provision that all those called of him may have a sufficiency of evidence. And he gives us the additional evidence from the days of the apostles to help to sustain our faith. We have the benefit of the doubts of St. Thomas and of our Lord’s demonstration of his change of nature.

FAITH THE CENTER OF CHRISTIAN PROGRESS

 The question might be asked, Why did Jesus lay stress upon the importance of faith? Why did he imply that St. Thomas could not be his disciple at all without believing? There are many who tell us that they cannot see that faith has any province, that they see no reason why God should bless faith, that in their opinion God should reward us for the doing. They say, “We are doing all the good works that we can.” The Bible always sustains the thought that any one who does not do to the best of his ability shall receive stripes. But the Bible also holds out the other thought ─ that God purposes to reward his people according to their faith; that whoever cannot exercise perfect faith cannot be his disciple; that if one has not faith, it is impossible for him to get into the Kingdom.

In God’s arrangement, faith has been made the very center of Christian progress ─ faith in the things he has done, faith in the things he has promised to do. Faith is the thing which, by God’s grace, enables us to avail ourselves of the wonderful opportunities of this present time. “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” But this does not mean that conditions will always be as now, or that God will forever reject those who, on account of their mental makeup, cannot now exercise faith, but it means that at the present time He will save no others than the faithful.

The Scriptures very clear1y indicate, however, that after the selection of the Church, and the reward of their faith, the Lord will then deal with the world through the class which exercise faith now ─ through Christ and the Church ─ for the blessing of all mankind. In the next Age less faith will be required than now. Messiah’s Kingdom established will be openly manifested. Then mankind will not be obliged to walk by faith. They will walk by sight, whereas now we must walk by faith and not by sight.

From the natural standpoint it looks as though God were not ruling the world at all, but that the world were being ruled by chance or by Satan himself ─ so different are conditions from what we would expect if God were recognized as the great King. Consequently we must exercise faith, if we are to receive the blessing at this time. By and by, during the Messianic rule, when everything contrary to righteousness will be punished, and everything in harmony with righteousness will be rewarded, then all opposers of righteousness will be cast down, and all lovers of righteousness will be prosperous. That will be the time of walking by sight.

In the present time we must walk by faith because ours is a special salvation. The “high calling” is a peculiar privilege, for a special class. In the next Age, however, mankind’s unbalance of mind through the fall will be compensated for. Those who need much demonstration will have such; those who need less will have less. The matter will be made so clear that there will be no excuse for any one not to attain to full obedience of works, and these works will gradually lead them up to full human perfection. God has made nothing unreasonable in his laws and requirements; his every demand is reasonable and essential.

OUR LORD'S CHANGE OF NATURE

Putting ourselves into the position of the disciples during the forty days after Jesus had arisen from the dead; we can readily imagine that they were considerably confused. One and another of them had been witnesses of strange things ─ they could not explain what, but they had seen what purported to be Jesus ─ on one occasion the appearance was as the gardener, on another occasion as a stranger, etc. They saw no mark of identity, and did not really know whether they had seen him at all. On another occasion, looking very much like his former self, he appeared in their midst, the doors being shut. They could not imagine how a human being could have come in while the doors were shut. Therefore there was considerable perplexity.

The Scriptures give us to understand that the reason why our Lord thus manifested himself in various forms was that God raised Jesus from the dead to a different plane of existence ─as a spirit being. The Scriptures declare, “Now the Lord is that Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:17) The second Adam is the heavenly Lord. He is not the earthly man Jesus. This explanation we can appreciate because we are living since Pentecost. We can see and understand that Jesus had become a spirit being and that like the angels he could, where it was necessary, appear like a human being. We would not question at all that if Jesus had any reason for showing the identical body that had been crucified he could have appeared in it, could have opened the door and the apostles could have been blinded, so that they could not see the door opening and shutting, as he entered. But the account contradicts such supposition and is very explicit in the statement that “the doors were shut,” not that the apostles did not see them open, but that they did not open at all. In the second statement ─ when St. Thomas was present ─ our Lord appeared in the same manner, “The doors being shut.”(John 20:19,26)

While Jesus could have brought the body, and could have maintained himself inside of it as a spirit being, he did not do so. If he had done this they would have been deceived, supposing that he had arisen in his body of flesh in which he had been crucified. Therefore he appeared in different bodies of flesh, but under conditions that left no doubt as to his identity. He knew that after the disciples had received the Holy Spirit all would be plain to them. So he made no attempt to explain to them at that time, but merely kept them in touch with himself until after the Pentecostal blessings had come, when they were able to understand from the true viewpoint.

Our thought, therefore, would be that the body in which our Lord appeared was materialized. This was not a deception. It was intended, on the contrary, to keep the disciples from being deceived. Being natural men, they could not appreciate a change from human nature to spirit nature. Therefore this appearance was to help them over a difficulty ─ to keep them from saying “He is not risen.”

RESURRECTION MUCH MISUNDERSTOOD

The disciples could see that our Lord had a different power altogether from what he had before he died. Thus he appeared time and again during the forty days ─ a few minutes at a time. This very evidently was to accomplish the purpose of demonstrating to them that he was a spirit being, that he had power to come and go like the wind, that he could appear in the flesh when necessary, and then vanish at will, and that he could come in one form and another form. This was the great lesson by which he purposed to keep them from being in any way deceived. 

We cannot imagine how Jesus could have substantiated his resurrection and confirmed the faith of his disciples in any better way. If he had remained with them as a man, they would have felt bound to believe that the same personality, the same flesh, was his still, and they would have been unable to understand his word, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age.” But now they could understand that as he had appeared and vanished from sight, although really present with them throughout the forty days, he could also in a different sense, be with them all through the Gospel Age, and return in person when necessary, in the end of the Age.

We see no deception in this, but an avoidance of deception. We are to remember that it took several of these manifestations to attest the fact that he was a changed being. If the disciples had thought of him as a man in heaven, it would have led them into serious difficulty, just as we see is now the case with our friends in the nominal churches, who think Jesus arose in the same flesh, and that he retains that flesh in heaven. Our friends believe this. We ask them if they think that, as Jesus bears the marks, the scars, of his wounded flesh, that all of his followers will likewise bear theirs. They answer, Yes. Then we remind them that some of them were most horribly maltreated, often mutilated, before they died. Think of those who were beheaded; and those who met with accidents and wounds! If they are to bear those marks and bruises in heaven, or be headless, they will be a disfigured set.

We show them that those who hold this view do not believe at all in the redemption ─ the redemption of which the Bible treats. We quote to our friends, “He poured out his soul unto death;” he made “his soul an offering for sin.” Yes, they answer, we believe that his fleshly body was sacrificed. We reply, His fleshly body will only redeem the fleshly body of Adam. But Adam had more than the fleshly body. It was the soul of Adam that sinned ─ and Jesus must have given a soul in order to redeem Adam (Isaiah 53:10,12).

If the body never was a part of Jesus, then it was not Jesus that died, but his body; it was not he that was humiliated, but his body; it was not he who left his glory that was sacrificed, but his body. Now, if the body never was Jesus, then he deceived mankind into thinking that he was a man; and he deceived the Apostle into saying that “he who was rich, for our sakes became poor.” (2 Corinthians 8:9) Then to speak of his being tempted, as the Apostle Paul spoke of him, was wrong, for he could not be tempted like us, if he were altogether of a different nature. So we see that the truth, as the Bible teaches it, is harmonious.

THE RESURRECTION OF THE WORLD

The first resurrection, Christ's resurrection, began with the glorious change of our Lord, more than eighteen centuries ago, and as his resurrection, it will be completed when the last member of his Body shall have experienced the change from earthly to heavenly, Divine nature. The world’s resurrection cannot take place before that of the Church, but must follow it. The Ancient Worthies will be the first of the earthly class to be resurrected to human nature. But their resurrection will not be at the same time as that of The Church, but later ─ as the Apostle says, ─ “They, without us, shall not be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:39,40)

The awakening of the world will probably not begin for fifty or a hundred years after the Kingdom has been established. During that time, however, the resurrection process ─ the raising up gradually ─ will be in operation amongst the nations then living. As gradually nations, peoples, kindreds and tongues are awakened; they must be brought to knowledge of the truth, and must give the assent of their wills, before any resurrection processes begin to operate in them. This work will continue all down through the thousand years of Messiah’s reign.

The world’s resurrection will not be fully completed until the end of the thousand years, while The Church's resurrection will be completed at the beginning of the thousand years. For this reason it would be improper to say that the resurrections of the just and of the unjust take place at the same time. Indeed, the world will not be raised up fully until, at the close of the thousand years, they shall be turned over to God, even the Father; for one result of the fall was the loss of the heavenly Father’s favor and fellowship. Mankind will not be delivered out of that feature of the fall until the Mediator shall have accomplished his work in them. (Pastor Russell, Reprints 5236-5238, May 15, 1913)

NO. 620 TIMES OF REFRESHING - TIMES OF RESTITUTION

In Acts 3:19-24 the Apostle Peter was calling to the attention of the Jews the promise that God had made to Abraham, saying, “In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 22:18) The word “restitution” in the text means restoration; or, as Rotherham states it, “the times of the due establishment of all things... But indeed all the prophets ─ from Samuel and those following after, as many as have spoken have announced these days.” The Apostle here is contrasting the “refreshing times” to come with the present dry and dying condition of the human race ─ likened to grass that withers and sears for lack of rain. And he proceeds to stress that the Prophet Samuel and all who came after him had spoken of these “refreshing times” to come. This was one of the first public speeches that came from any of the Apostles after Pentecost, and it is in fact just another way of preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. Often it is recorded of Jesus that He “went about preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom” (Matt. 4:23; 9:35; Mark 1:14), which the Apostle Peter here declares to be the “times of restitution,” so the question is properly in order, What conclusions are we to draw from this?

It would seem that such an important and far-reaching doctrine as this should have prominent recognition wherever and whenever the Christian religion is preached. But what do we find? So far as we are concerned, we have never once, over the past sixty years, heard Acts 3:19-24 even mentioned from the pulpits of Big Babylon; much less has any attempt been made to explain it. Since men usually preach the things they understand and love, we can but conclude that the silence on this part of Scripture is due to the lack of knowledge of those who should be declaring it.

Perhaps the most of us who have any understanding at all of Harvest Truth would testify that one of the first things we heard from the platform and in private conversation, too, was discussion of the “times of restitution”; and this is still a very prominent and favorite discussion among the various groups of Truth people who were emanated from Parousia Truth. But, tragic though it be, some of them have perverted the real Truth on the subject and have twisted it out of all recognition to the way That Servant gave it to us ─ prominent among them are the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

All during the Age, since the death of the Apostles (or shortly thereafter), the doctrine of Restitution was completely lost, as represented by the woman in the parable of Luke 15:8,9, who had ten pieces of silver, had lost one and sought diligently till she found it, then “called her friends and neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.” The woman in the parable is the Church, which had lost sight of one cardinal doctrine of the Bible ─ Restitution ─ and it was not until the Harvest that this great truth was once more recognized with great rejoicing. After the Harvest work had attracted a following, and the Pilgrims began to circulate, That Servant often urged them all to preach Restitution. That was especially emphasized with those Sunday speakers that were sent from the Bible House on weekends. It was indeed “Good Tidings of great joy” to all who received it with grateful hearts.

Those of us who are at all familiar with the situation know that That Servant gave a very clear and convincing presentation of the times of Restitution; and his entire following was almost a solid unit in accepting it the way he taught it. But what do we find since his death? We find many who once seemed to understand the subject have now perverted it out of all recognition to the manner in which they had once accepted it. Chief among these is Jehovah’s Witnesses, who now have consigned Adam to annihilation, which idea is actually a denial of the Ransom ─ although they would not admit that. However, since Adam was the only perfect man on earth aside from Jesus Himself; and since the word Ransom itself means a corresponding price, an exact duplicate, Adam is actually the only one who could be ransomed. Therefore, St. Paul gives the philosophy, “As all in Adam die, so all in Christ shall be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:22) When ransom is provided for Adam, that act becomes the inheritance for all of us ─ just as all of us inherited the death penalty for sin which was passed to him. But the Witnesses now leave out a very large section of the human race in their presentation of Restitution. To all who understand the philosophy of the Ransom, it is an elementary conclusion that if Adam wouldn’t be awakened, none of the rest of the world would be awakened.

They are now telling us that all living today who do not accept them will never be awakened ─ never experience restitution ─ at a time when the Devil is bound, and nothing but Truth will be taught. In Isaiah, Chapter 35, there is this: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. (v. 5) And an highway [an easy way] shall be there, and a way [Christ the Mediator], and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men [the restitutionists], though fools [“fools” according to Psa. 53:1 are atheists], shall not err therein.” (v. 8) Also Rev. 22:5 tells us, “There will be no night [error] there.” The Jehovah’s Witnesses admit that Satan is still blinding the eyes of those who believe not. Yet, they are dividing the Sheep from the Goats during this Time of Trouble when Satan is more active than ever before “blinding the eyes of those who believe not.”

When they say all present “unbelievers” in them will be annihilated in the approaching Armageddon, it is a far-cry from the “good news” taught by That Servant, who had a message of hope for the groaning creation; and they claim That Servant as their founder! He is not the founder of their errors, but is the founder of The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, which the errorists took over after his demise. This simply reveals that they do not understand, or will not accept, the meaning of “the gospel of the Kingdom,” as St. Paul so clearly states it in Galatians 3:8: “The Scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, in thee shall all nations be blessed.” Most of these heathen have never even heard the name of Christ; and there are quite a few today who have never heard of Jehovah’s Witnesses despite their world-wide ministry.

So this “annihilation” in Armageddon, according to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, will include the majority of the people living ─ quite a few of whom are honorable, benevolent and kind to all with whom they have to do ─ their besetting sin being that they cannot accept the Jehovah’s Witnesses and their errors. We continue to teach the Gospel of Christ, the Good Tidings to all mankind, the grand and glorious restitution work of that blessed Kingdom, which will include all unbelievers as well as believers in Jehovah’s Witnesses. Those who teach the Truth are far more generous to those who teach error than the errorists are to them.

They can no longer teach John 5:28,29: “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.” (Damnation is a mistranslation: Judgment is the correct translation, which is for all Restitutionists. See Diaglott.) Also, Acts 24:15: “There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.”

Many of our readers are familiar with the teaching of the Witnesses, by which, for a number of years, they put forth their “Jonadabs” as the Restitution class. They still retain much the same view, except that they now call their Jonadabs the Great Multitude of Rev. 7:9-17. All Bible logic is against such an interpretation, because the language and setting of Revelation 7 clearly depict a class on the spirit plane ─ “before the throne” ─ which is in Heaven. They have set aside That Servant’s interpretation of this text and substituted their own interpretation, which is error. There is another Truth group, The Laymen’s Home Missionary Movement, that also teach a superior Restitution class that is being developed now ─ Consecrated Epiphany Campers. To refute these errors we need only bear in mind that we are still in the Gospel Age, the Faith Age; and during this Age the merit of Jesus is only for Himself and His house ─ for all those who honestly accept Him as their Savior and walk a “narrow way.” And during this Faith Age there is only one place where His merit can be obtained, tentatively or reckonedly; and that is in the Court of the antitypical Gospel-Age Tabernacle. Both groups have their non-existent classes outside the linen curtain of the Gospel-Age Tabernacle ─ outside the righteousness of Christ in this Faith Age.

“I am the way” (John 14:6); and there is only one manner in which that “way” can be obtained, and that is by taking the step from the Camp, through the antitypical Tabernacle Gate, and into the Court, whereby “justification by faith” has been obtainable all during the Faith Age; and it still is the only way, because we are yet in the Gospel (faith) Age. We would emphasize that a place in the typical Tabernacle is a condition in antitype in this Faith Age.

There would seem to be little excuse for such distortions for those who have received Harvest Truth. According to Malachi 3:3, one of the specific missions of Jesus at His Second Advent would be to “sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” The “silver” in this text is the Truth; and all familiar with the situation know that the Truth has shone with great brilliance during the Harvest period. The meaning of the text is better revealed by the following: “refiner and polisher of silver [the truth].”

While the truth on Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, the state of the dead, etc., were understood fairly well by some groups in Christendom before 1874, it remained for the Harvest Messenger to refine and elaborate upon every one of them with telling force. This is better understood when we consider that the word “purifier” in our text would be better rendered “polisher.” It is from the Hebrew metaher, one of whose meanings is brightener or polisher. Thus, at His Second Advent our Lord not only refines, purges the dross of error from the Truth, but He also brightens or polishes it.

Our text says He “shall sit” as a refiner and polisher. At the time of the First Advent the speaker usually sat down, as the audience stood up; and in the Talmud to sit is almost synonymous with to teach. Jesus was indeed the teacher; but when He said the Scribes and Pharisees “sit in Moses’ seat,” He meant they were setting themselves forth as the teachers of the people ─ just as Moses had done when he gave them the Law at Sinai. Also, Jesus now sits on His throne, as does a king, a judge on his bench, etc. Thus, He is the executive, the authority, the official opponent of error and developer of Truth. And this is not only true of religious truth, but it is also true in great degree of secular truth, as is apparent on every hand. Satan has done an excellent job of corrupting secular and religious truth over the centuries; and none but our all-powerful Divine Lord would be capable of undoing the damage. But He has come with the golden crown on His head as evidence that He has the power and the authority to extirpate the damage of the past.

To polish anything requires a cleansing agent to be applied with muscular strength. And how has this been especially done since 1874? Mainly through much controversy. In controversy the Truth comes out ─ just as necessity is said to be the mother of invention. Therefore, those who object to controversy are actually objecting to one of the special missions of our Lord since 1874, and are imposing a deception on those who listen to them. But our chief purpose in giving this explanation is to focus attention upon the “outer darkness” (See Matt. 25:30 on the “unprofitable servant” and the Berean Comment.) of those who once saw Restitution in its bri11iance and clarity, but who have now sullied it so badly by their perversions. We can but conclude that this reveals something woefully wrong in the hearts of such; the evidence clearly points to just that.

SEEKING THAT WHICH WAS LOST

In Luke 19:10 we have the words of Jesus, “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” The question now properly arises, What was lost? We would answer that four things have been lost ─ things which man once had in his pristine purity. First of all, after the transgression in the Garden of Eden, he lost his intimate and friendly relationship with his Creator. Secondly, he lost his perfect home in the Garden. “The Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So He drove the man out.” (Gen. 3:23,24) Thirdly, man’s dominion was lost: “Let man have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the cattle, and over the fowl of the air... and over ever living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (Gen. 1:26-28)

In Hebrews 2:8 St. Paul quotes from Psalms 8:4-8: “Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet... But now we see not yet all things put under him.” It surely needs no argument that man has lost his dominion; animals often trample man under foot, instead of man dominating them. We have been told that the Kodiak bear (a brown bear larger than the grizzly) is so ferocious that it is not necessary for the hunter to look for him; once the bear knows there is a hunter in his locale he will come looking for him, and often with deadly results to the hunter. And the fourth thing that man lost is his life: “Lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.” (Gen. 3:22) Man was not created to die; he was created to live; and the Scripture is clear enough that he would have continued to “live forever” had he remained in his perfect Edenic home. And all four of these things Jesus said He came to “seek and to save.”

THE RESTITUTION PROCESS

Just as there were four things lost, so we have four component parts to accomplish the Restitution, the restoration. These are clearly set forth in Psalms 103:2-5: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: [1] Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; [2] Who healeth all thy diseases; [3] Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; [4] Who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies... Thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

The first two of these processes come to man without any effort on his part; and, generally speaking, with little, or no knowledge that he is receiving these “benefits.” St. Paul says of us, who presently believe, “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8) Thus, He made Himself an offering for sin for us before we knew anything about it being done. And, “Christ gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” (1 Tim. 2:10) In “due time” all men will recognize what we now know ─ that a propitiation for sins was provided by the Redeemer without men asking for it ─ Christ “forgiveth all thine iniquities.”

And the same may be said for the second restitution process, “healing all thy diseases.” In the resurrection day it is self-evident that the disease which brought man to the grave must be cured before his awakening; other-wise, he would immediately die again. The natural and artificial causes that have caused death for centuries must be eliminated in all men before they are returned from the grave. This also will be accomplished without men asking for it. If a man has died by having his head shot off, he will certainly have it back when he returns from the grave.

The third and fourth processes will operate somewhat differently. The third: “Who redeemeth thy life from destruction,” will require cooperation on the part of the recipient. “God will have all men to be saved, and come to an accurate knowledge of the Truth.” (1 Tim. 2:4-6, Dia.) But this “knowledge of the Truth” will not be forced down the throats of the unwilling; they must all show some desire, and willingly cooperate, in the educational process. That educational process will not only teach men the religious truth on the facts of life and death, it will also teach them the physical, mental, moral and religious philosophies of life which will enable them to live forever in perpetual youth. “I will ransom them from the power of the grave [that power which now turns man to destruction, to the grave, will be stayed]; I will redeem them from death: O death I will be thy plagues [by depriving it of its present power over all]; O grave, I will be thy destruction.” (Hosea 13:14) Then will come to pass the prophecy of Job 33:24,25: “Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. His flesh shall be fresher than a child’s: he shall return to the days of his youth.”

The fourth process will also require man's cooperation, and will receive it with a clear understanding of its import: “Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies.” This is emphasized in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats: “Then shall the King say to them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.” (Matt. 25:34) Today, in earth’s affairs, when a prince inherits a kingdom from his father, he is seated on the throne, and a crown placed upon his head. Figuratively speaking, this same procedure will be followed when the restitution process has completed its work. Each one of the “sheep” will then inherit a kingdom ─ his full right to life and its accompanying life rights ─ just as Adam had it in Eden, when he was given dominion over all things on earth. He was then in every sense monarch of all he surveyed, Lord of the fowl and the brute.

However, this cannot become true in the full sense of things until the causes that now send men to the grave have been eliminated. St. John states this very graphically in Rev. 21:3-5: “I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men... 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.” And the Angel who gave those words to John evidently realized the disbelief with which the message would be received by the present sick and dying race, for he then emphasized it with these words: “Write: for these words are true.” This forces the logical conclusion that the Restitution processes will eliminate all crime, all thievery, physical violence, moral depravity, sickness; no more need for locks on doors; no more destructive armies; no more rigid police protection. “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isa. 2:4)

THEN COMETH THE END

 Confirmation of the foregoing is graphically stated by St. Paul in 1 Cor. 15:20-26, which we quote from the Improved Version: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become a firstfruit [Jesus] of them that slept. For since by man [Adam] came death, by [a] man also [Jesus] shall come the resurrection of the dead. For as all in Adam die [this would exclude Jesus, for He was never “in Adam”], even so all in Christ shall be made alive. But every man in his own order; Christ a firstfruit [meaning the entire Christ Company, and not merely Jesus only]; afterward they that are Christ's at His presence.

“Then cometh the end [the end of the Little Season, when He shall have ruled over the earth to the full elimination of death and the dying process], when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and all power [complete elimination of Satan and his evil acts]. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

The “last enemy,” death is not only evil persons, but their evil characteristics, which include Adamic defilements, the dying process ─ all the mental, moral, physical and religious ills now prevalent in the human race ─ is the last great enemy, which will finally be destroyed at the end of the Little Season.

The foregoing is vividly illustrated in Ex. 14:26-31 ─ a picture which is probably the grandest type of the entire Old Testament: “And the Lord said unto Moses [type of Christ], Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians [Pharaoh and his hosts being typical of Satan and his henchmen]... and the sea returned to his strength... and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea... All the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one.” Then the conclusion of St. Paul in Heb. 2:14 will be realized: “Jesus through death [His sacrificial death] might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” And the destruction of the Egyptians in the Red Sea typically sets forth how and when that will be done. At that same time the “goats” of the parable in Matt. 25:41 will come to their complete annihilation from earth’s activities, leaving the “sheep” the unmolested and perfected rulers of all they survey ─ free from all the evils that Satan’s deceptions have inflicted upon the human race during the past 6,000 years. Some one said when hearing this “good news” of the Kingdom, “It is too good to be true!” And an old woman exclaimed, “It is too good not to be true!”

SOME CONTRARY VIEWS

“God will have all men to be saved.” (1 Tim. 2:4) Like all other fundamental teachings of the Bible, this text has been given the extremes of erroneous interpretation. Some contend that if God will have all men to be saved that is a guarantee of eternal life for every human being that has ever lived. Universalism goes even further, insisting that even the Devil and his angels will also eventually be saved, despite the clear statement of St. Paul quoted above. Others contend the text to mean that God would like to have all men saved, but He just can’t seem to accomplish it. These perversions are based upon a misunderstanding of the salvation process.

God will have all men to be saved. But saved from what, to what? St. Paul offers the proper help here in Rom. 5:12: “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so death passed upon all men.” All of Adam's progeny inherited the death sentence from him ─ through no fault of their own; and it is relief from that sentence from which God wishes all men to be saved. Often in human affairs we hear of a condemned man being “saved from execution” by official decree; but that does not mean that he shall continue to live forever. It simply means that he is saved from the sentence that had been passed upon him by Judicial process.

Much the same explanation may be given for the entire human race being saved; they will be saved from the sentence now hanging over them, and thenceforth will be given the privilege of regaining perfect life, as Adam had it, if they wish to take advantage of it. If they do, they will be classified as the “sheep” of the parable; if they do not, they will be classified as the “goats” of the parable, and will be sentenced to death once more ─ that time for their own transgression, and not for something they have inherited. This is well stated in Jer. 31:29,30: “In those days they shall no more say, the fathers have eaten a sour grape [sins of the fathers visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generation], and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But every man shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.”

Some years back we exchanged quite some correspondence with a preacher in Jamaica, who insisted that St. Paul’s words mean that every man will eventually receive eternal life ─ although there is just nothing in the text to warrant such a conclusion. Man will be relieved from the present load upon his back, and given the opportunity, under favorable conditions, to free himself from its effects if he will take advantage of the opportunity. Nothing more than that; nothing less. During our exchange of letters the brother cited Matt. 25:46, and argued that “everlasting punishment” simply means age-lasting; that man will continue to receive one opportunity after another ─ for a full Age ─ until he eventually avails himself of eternal life. But the same adjectives are used for the righteous as are used for the unrighteous ─ which forces the logical conclusion that the life received by the sheep will also be limited to the Age. It is well to note here the footnote for verse 46 in the Emphatic Diaglott:

“The Common Version, and many modern ones, render kolasin aionioon, everlasting punishment, conveying the idea, as generally interpreted, of basinos, torment. Kolasin is derived from kolazoo, which signifies to cut off; as lopping off branches of trees, to prune... Thus, the righteous go to life, the wicked to the cutting off from life, or death.”

If we cut the limb from a tree, we know that limb no longer will continue to live; it withers and disintegrates ─ in much the same manner that Adam withered for 930 years, then disintegrated in the grave. “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Gen. 3:19)

A SUMMATION

At the birth of Jesus the angel declared, “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” (Luke 2:10) In 1 John 2:2 this is elaborated: “He is the propitiation for our sins [those who accept Him in this present Age]; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” “He forgiveth all thine iniquities.” (Psa. 103:3)

As we look back with joy at the Savior’s birth and subsequent atonement for “all men,” so the ancients looked forward to it. “Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it and was glad.” (John 8:56) The 72nd Psalm gives considerable detail on the subject, too: “God shall come down like rain upon the mown grass [times of refreshing]: as showers that water the earth. In His days shall the righteous flourish [the “sheep of the parable]; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also [that which was lost] from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. The kings of Tarshish shall bring presents ─ the kings of Sheba shall offer gifts [“every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” ─ Phil. 2:10,11]: all nations shall serve Him... to Him shall be given the gold of Sheba... daily shall He be praised... they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth... All nations shall call Him blessed... Let the whole earth be filled with His glory.”

Biblical names are often significant of the character and accomplishments of the persons to whom they are given. Thus, Jesus is the Latin word for Joshua, or Jeshua, which means “Jehovah is salvation,” the name being very expressive of the work He would do. Thus, He not only delivers, or saves believers in this Age, but in the next Age He will deliver the world in general from the sentence now resting upon men. This He will accomplish by His Priestly, Mediatorial, Kingly, Legislative, Judicial, Prophetic and Paternal offices by His good Word and works. He is indeed mighty to save!

Then will be realized the words of Psa. 22:26-31: “The meek shall eat and be satisfied [none to hurt or make them afraid]: they shall praise the Lord that seek Him: your heart shall live for ever. All nations shall worship before thee. For the Kingdom [Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth] is the Lord’s and He is the Governor among the nations... A seed shall serve Him... They shall come, and shall declare His righteousness unto a people that shall be born.”  

(Brother John J. Hoefle, Reprint No. 500, November 1998)

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LETTER OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Sister Marjorie and all the loved ones,

Great joy peace and saving grace be yours through Jesus our Lord.

I just wish to let you know that it is with the utmost joy I receive each and every copy of the “Epiphany” paper you so kindly send without fail. I almost devour them from the moment they arrive and later I regularly reread, and ponder the precious truths there in. The extracts from the reprints always seem so appropriate and timely and also the reasoning of Brother Hoefle is so good to reflect upon. I was wondering if there may be any of his books that it may be possible to purchase. I do find the comments of Brother Hoefle and the other insights added to the articles exceedingly apt, clear and clarifying.

  Please add a small greeting to all those who receive the newsletters. I do hope they all get as much spiritual edification from them as I do, if not more. There is very little activity here in England, the number of “Bible Students” is only a few dozen at most and scattered here and there. Are there any other than myself you mail to here in England? It would be great to make contact if possible.

I wonder dear sister if a photo of the class there might be obtainable as it would bring me a little closer to you all and focus my prayers of thanks to “Our Heavenly Father” for your devotion to his honor and service. 

I have enclosed a “widow’s mite” to help a little toward the print/postal costs. “Gods riches blessing be upon you all.”

  As I regularly read the newsletters you are all often in my thoughts and although I don’t know you on a personal basis I feel I know you all through our “Dear Lord.” May he sustain you all, always. In “His” service with warmest love to you all.  Brother Rick       (LONDON, ENGLAND)