NO. 696: "THE SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN IN HEAVEN"

No. 696

“Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Matt. 24:30)

Scholars have made various suggestions regarding the significance of this prophecy by the Master. Some have guessed that the sign would be a Cross in the sky. Others have thought it would be Christ Himself who would appear to humanity in some wrathful form, causing fear and dismay. The Parousia (presence) of Christ will not be known to the tribes (families) of the earth in general, so we cannot say that the sign of the Son of Man in heaven will be His Parousia, which will be known only to the most saintly ones of the Church of Christ. Consequently, the sign of the Son of Man must be related to His Epiphania, or shining forth in the “flaming fire” of judgment, which the whole world of mankind will recognize. (2 Thes. 1:7-9)

The word “sign” has broad meaning; for instance, black crepe is a sign of mourning; the Cross represents Christianity; the Crescent represents Islam. In other words, a sign is merely an indication. So when we read of the “sign of the Son of man in heaven,” the thought is that something will occur indicating the presence of the Son of Man – that He has assumed His great power and has begun His reign. Since the Son of Man is to be revealed in flaming fire, taking vengeance, it follows that this sign must be some sign of vengeance, some indication of righteous indignation against wrong. (Isa. 59:17-18)

JUDGMENT TO BEGIN WITH ECCLESIASTICAL SYSTEMS

One might wonder how such a sign or indication could appear in the literal heavens, in the sky, but that is not the thought. We must remember that the Bible repeatedly uses the words heaven, mountain, and sea in a symbolic sense – the earth representing organized society; the mountains representing kingdoms (the backbones of this organized society); the seas representing the restless masses of humanity, continually seeking to swallow up the “earth” (the organized social structure).

In the same symbolic sense, the heavens represent the ecclesiastical powers of the world – organized nominal Christ­ianity (or “church­ianity”). The sign appearing in the heavens signifies that Christ’s judgments will begin with the eccles­iastical systems of our day. The flaming fire of judgments will first manifest itself in ecclesiastical affairs and circles.

Mankind will gradually awaken to the awareness that a new Government is in control, and that its policy will be the law of “judgment … to the line, and righteousness to the plummet.” (Isa. 28:17) Since unrighteousness prevails as a result of man’s fallen condition, the conscience of the whole world will be awakened. Fear and dread will come upon all classes everywhere, not only because they see the effects of Christ’s righteous judgments in religious affairs, but because they sense His judgments drawing nearer and nearer to their own affairs. Hence there will be mourning and wailing because of Him. (Rev. 1:7)

All the families of the earth have very crude and incorrect views of Messiah and the object of His Second Coming and Kingdom. The “doctrines of devils,” brought into the church creeds during the Dark Ages, have so made void the Word of God that the majority of mankind fear the Almighty, dread Him as their Almighty Foe, instead of realizing Him to be the God of all grace and the Father of all mercies: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father….” (1 Tim. 4:1; Jas. 1:17) The eyes of the world have been blinded to the goodness of God. Terrible dread in the hearts of humanity will lead to the wail of fear as they perceive Christ’s righteous judgments encircling all the earth.

Not knowing of the glorious blessings which Messiah’s Kingdom will bring to mankind, human hearts will be filled with dread and apprehension. Only those who are truly the Lord’s and are rightly informed respecting the Divine Plan of the Ages will be able to lift up their heads and rejoice, knowing that their “redemption draweth nigh.” (Luke 21:28)

THE FIRE OF THAT DAY

St. Peter describes this sign of the Son of Man in the heavens, this revelation in flaming fire, saying, “the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved,” and “the earth also [shall take fire] and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” (2 Pet. 3:10-12) While our forefathers supposed that these descriptions meant a literal burning of the literal earth, we realize that the symbolic earth and the symbolic heavens are to catch fire and pass away with a great commotion, while the physical earth will remain practically as it is, and will begin to undergo the transforming influences of Restitution under the new King, the Restorer of all things – The Christ. (Acts 3:19-21)

The Apostle tells us that “the elements shall melt with fervent heat.” (2 Pet. 3:10) We see the division between the elements of capital and labor; we see the growing divide between the privileged elements and the under­privileged elements. We see the preparations for the great conflagration, the great Time of Trouble. We sometimes speak of it in this language, saying, “Things are getting very hot.” They will eventually be so hot that spontaneous combustion will set in.

The fire of that Day will be extreme and its results drastic, fulfilling the Master’s words that “except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” (Matt. 24:22) Because of the Elect, because of the Kingdom which will then be set up, those days will be shortened – brought to an end. Nothing will be destroyed except that which is injurious. The world-wide results of that flaming fire of Divine judgments will be corrective, preparing men’s hearts for the blessings which the Lord will then pour out. Thus it is written, “When thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” (Isa. 26:9)

Notice that St. Peter mentions the fire as coming to the heavens before it reaches the earth, in just the same order that Jesus stated the matter. The sign, manifestation, of the flaming fire of judgments will appear in the heavens; and subsequently the sign of the Son of Man in judgment will be seen coming nearer and nearer to earth’s affairs – society and its political, financial and social organizations – for the purpose of purging them absolutely from everything sinful, selfish, and unjust. We are to expect the ecclesiastical systems to pass away with a great noise – a great commotion – before the social order is fully reached by the consuming fire.

THE FALL OF BABYLON

The same thought is brought to our attention in Revelation, where a wide distinction is made between the nominal church systems, called Babylon, and the true Church, which is admonished in advance to come out of Babylon and to stand in personal relationship to God through Christ. This general call, which belongs to the end of the Age, before the judgments come upon Babylon, reads, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” (Rev. 18:4-5) The intimation is that as soon as the loyally obedient have been gathered out of Babylon some drastic trouble will come upon her.

We do not believe the Scriptural term “Babylon” applies to any one denomination or sect, but rather refers to the general conglomeration of systems and denominations. Likewise, when reading of the utter destruction that is to come upon Babylon, we are to differentiate between the systems and the individuals connected with those systems. We should not apply this term “Babylon” to individuals, but to the great systems, outwardly having a form of godliness, but really mis­representing the Divine character, the Divine Plan, the true teachings of the Bible. Of course, the individual leaders of these systems are more or less responsible, depending upon their official position and influence, so consequently they may have tribulations in conjunction with the fall of Babylon.

The judgments of the Lord are not designed to crush or destroy humanity, but to destroy utterly the systems of error, bondage and superstition which have fettered humanity and hindered it from fuller progress and development in the knowledge and favor of God. With the fall of the great systems (Babylon, confusion) men’s eyes and ears will begin to open, “And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.” (Isa. 29:18) As a result, the high praises of God will arise as a sweet savor.

The fall of Babylon is declared to come speedily and suddenly: “…in one [figurative] hour is thy judgment come.” (Rev. 18:10) The descriptions of her fall are various but all point to her total destruction. In one place we read that she shall be utterly burned with fire, while in another place we read that Babylon shall be cast like a great millstone into the sea and be found no more at all. (Jer. 51:58; Rev. 18:8-21)

“EVERY EYE SHALL SEE HIM”

Throughout this Gospel Age, the Lord’s people have with the eye of faith recognized Jesus as their Redeemer and Deliverer, but comparatively few have had such eyes of faith and understanding. The majority, as the Apostle Paul declares, are blinded by Satan and by error, and fail to get a proper, true view of Christ: “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.” (2 Cor. 4:4) But God’s gracious promise is that all the blinded eyes shall be opened.

The experiences of two thousand years have done little toward opening the eyes of the world; but the revelation of Messiah in flaming fire will attract their attention quickly: “Behold he cometh with clouds [of trouble]; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him” – the Jews. (Rev. 1:7) Instinctively, they will be fearful. It may require a considerable time for them to become fully persuaded that the One feared is their best Friend, who gave His life as their Redemption-price, whose judgments in the earth are for the very purpose of breaking the bondage of fear, ignorance, superstition, sin, selfishness and injustice, allowing the whole world to go free from the sin-slavery which has long oppressed them. (Rom 11:25-27)

In due time they will learn that the fire of God’s anger does not burn against the sinners but merely against their sins, and they will begin to see the length, the breadth, the height and the depth of God’s Love, which the Apostle describes. (Eph. 3:14-19; Rom. 5:6-8)

The Bible clearly points out that the Jews will be in the trouble. It will be “the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” (Jer. 30:7) By that time the Gospel Church will have been completed and will have passed beyond the veil. God’s favor will then be restored to Natural Israel, and the time for the special manifestation of that favor will be in the dark hour of Jacob’s trouble, when the Jews are surrounded by enemies. In and through that trouble the Lord will pour upon them the spirit of grace and of supplication, and they will look upon Him whom they pierced. (Zech. 12:10) They will discern that they made a great and horrific mistake in crucifying the Friend of Sinners, their long-promised Messiah. We are told that they shall mourn because of Him, and that then the spirit of supplication will come to them and they will see Jesus in His real character.

Divine favor will be manifested on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord will deliver them, as in olden times. Their eyes of faith and understanding will open more and more widely. Eventually, according to the Bible, they will become the leaders of mankind in returning to God, who will abundantly pardon their iniquity and grant them a prominent share in the blessings of His Kingdom. (Zech. 14:3; Rom. 2:10; 11:25-27)

FEW STRIPES AND MANY STRIPES

The great Messianic Kingdom will not spare the rod, but will inflict punishments for the world’s correction in righteousness. Some will suffer more and some less, according to the Master’s own statements. Those understanding the principles of righteousness and willfully violating them will be beaten heavily, “with many stripes”; while others who knew little will receive fewer stripes in proportion to their ignorance. All the stripes, however, will be reformatory, intended to help and encourage the transgressors to abandon the ways of iniquity and to walk in the paths of righteousness. (Luke 12:47-48; Isa. 26:9)

That will be a happy Day for earth’s billions – a Day with the Lord being a thousand years. (2 Pet. 3:8) Everywhere there will be evidences of the operation of Divine Mercy and Justice, and the necessary lessons will be quickly learned by all people. We cannot doubt that even fifty years of Kingdom influence will make a wonderful change in human affairs and conditions. The blessing of the Lord will come to the earth in proportion as God’s will shall be done by mankind.

Finally, with sin eliminated and all the willfully wicked destroyed, every creature on earth, as well as in Heaven, will be heard saying, “Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” (Rev. 5:13) Then, and not until then, will God’s will be done on earth, even as it is done in Heaven; for not until then will there be a perfect human race capable of doing God’s will. Having passed the test of God’s judgment, all of mankind will delight to do His will.

Let us not be identified with the ecclesiastical heavens nor wail with the world at the sign of their dissolution. Rather, it is our privilege as followers of Jesus to walk in His steps, to the best of our ability, and to stand for the Truth.

We’ve been watching, we’ve been waiting,

For the star that brings the day;

For the night of sin to vanish,

And the mists to roll away.

We’ve been watching, we’ve been waiting,

For the beauteous King of day,

For the chiefest of ten thousand,

For the Light, the Truth, the Way.

We begin to see the dawning

Of the bright Millennial day;

Soon the shadows, weary shadows,

Shall forever pass away.

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(Based on a discourse from

Pastor Russell’s Sermons, page 420)

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THE JUDGMENT DAY PICTURED BY JESUS

“For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me…Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matt. 25:35-36,40)

This Scripture is generally misunderstood and misused, most believing it to refer to the Gospel Age. But the context shows that the Lord is here referring to those living in the Millennial Age. The principle, however, is helpful to us now, because whoever does a kindness for any one belonging to the Lord at any time is counted by Him as doing it unto Him.

In the parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matt. 25:31-46) we read, “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations.” Those spoken of here as gathered before the Throne will be the whole world of mankind (not the Church, which will be with Him on His Throne – Col. 3:4; Rev. 3:21).

Those gathered are sometimes referred to as Gentiles, meaning those not in covenant relationship with God. In the past God made a covenant with the nation of Israel alone; therefore, all other nations and peoples were outsiders. During this Gospel Age God has made a covenant with the Church, through Christ, a special Covenant. The opportunity to make this Covenant of Sacrifice has been open throughout the Gospel Age; and those coming to God through that covenant are said to be Israelites indeed. (Gal. 3:8,16,29; John 1:47)

In this parable Jesus refers, not to Christians, but to Gentiles – the world in general who will be gathered before Messiah’s Throne. “And he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.” It is not a separation of classes, but a separation of individuals. Whoever is tried and demonstrates that he is a goat will go to the left. Whoever proves himself to be a sheep will go to the right. In figurative language the Lord thus designates the place of disfavor on the left and that of favor on the right. The parable shows that these two classes will not be aware of the fact that they are going to the right or to the left. Not until the conclusion of the trial do they find out where they stand.

The whole picture refers to the thousand years of the Messianic Reign, the world’s judgment, the world’s trial. The sole object of that Reign is to prove who of mankind will desire to be God’s sheep, coming into His fold and having His Son as their Shepherd, and who will not come into harmony with Him, but will have a goat-like nature. They will then be rewarded or punished accordingly.

MINISTERING UNTO MILLENNIUM BRETHREN

In what way will the people have an opportunity of ministering to the Lord’s brethren during the Millennial Age? We note that the Apostles were in prison sometimes because of their service to the Lord and were ministered unto; and that some of the Lord’s followers since have been in prison or in need of assistance; but probably not very many have been in prison or hungry or naked. Hence it is difficult to see how this parable could refer to the Church. Now we see the explanation: Throughout the Millennial Age the Messiah will be dealing with the world of mankind, the majority of whom are now in the great prison-house of death.

The Apostle Paul, in speaking of the resurrection, says that the dead shall come forth “every man in his own order” (company or class). They will not all come forth at once. The Church class will come forth first; then the Great Company class; and early in the new order of things will come forth the Ancient Worthies, who will be the earthly representatives of God’s Kingdom. (1 Cor. 15:21-23) As Jesus said to the unbelieving Jews who rejected Him, “Ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 13:28) They will be the human representatives of the Heavenly Kingdom, which will be invisible. Jesus said nothing about them seeing Jesus Himself or His disciples in the Kingdom. He did say, however, “Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more.” (John 14:19)

St. John tells us that the Church shall be like her Lord (1 John 3:2), thus if the world will not see Him, they will not see the Church; for the Church will be spirit beings that cannot be seen. So we have these orders, at least: The Little Flock, the Great Company, the Ancient Worthies, and the world of mankind – “every man in his own order.”

Jesus said, “The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth;” and “they that hear [obey] shall live.” (John 5:25,28-29) As those of the world return from the tomb, we think it will be in answer to prayer, very much the same as did Lazarus. The Lord Jesus, said, “Where have ye laid him?” Then He lifted up His eyes and prayed to the Father, after which He said, “Lazarus, come forth.” (John 11:34,41-44)

We do not understand that in the Millennial Age the people will have power to command the dead to come forth from the tomb, but that our Lord Jesus will have that power. As He prayed for the restoration of Lazarus, not because of any service which Lazarus would do for Him, but because Lazarus was the brother of Martha and Mary, so we conceive that nearly all the world will come forth in answer to the prayers of their brothers, their sisters, their parents, children and friends.

We think that as Restitution progresses during the Millennial Age, the Lord will let the people know of the privilege they might have of cooperating with God, joining with Christ in the work of Restitution. Thus they will pray for the return of their loved ones and will make provision for them. Each will thus be brought forth, preparations being made to assist them when they would come back into life. This whole work of bringing mankind back into life will be God’s work. It will be the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the work of spirit beings, as God’s agents. But human beings will be permitted to cooperate, through their love for humanity. The “sheep” class of that Age will be those who will have the Lord’s spirit; and as the Lord’s purpose will be to bring people back from death, to teach them and to prepare them for eternal life, all the sheep will feel the same way. This they will do gladly, because they have a love for this work. They will be feeding, clothing and helping those whom they have gotten out of the prison-house of death. Their prayers will go out continually after those in prison. This explains the whole work of the Millennial Age, and shows how all the people will come into harmony with God.

A SELFISH CLASS AND AN UNSELFISH CLASS

There will certainly be some who will not be interested in helping their fellow men, but will be more interested in enjoying the abundant blessings available in the Millennial Age. The sheep class will be busy working, but the goat class will be showing their selfish disposition. God does not purpose that any who are selfish shall have everlasting life. Selfishness came into the world as a result of sin. We were all born selfish, but we have better knowledge now and are beginning to see God’s way. All in true sympathy with God and righteousness will then cultivate love in their hearts.

As the sheep class provides for those already recovered from the prison-house of death, they will ask for others to come back. Those with the sheep-like disposition will not be reluctant to help those not considered worthy or desirable before they died. They will be glad to welcome back all (even those who believed they were going to eternal torment when they died) and introduce them to the blessings they never imagined would come. The sheep class will seek to cooperate with Christ in the work of blessing the world and in the process they will develop a noble, Christ-like character. They will be helping themselves, as well as helping those raised from the dead.

At the close of the Millennial Age the Lord will place on His right hand the sheep class who ministered to His Millennial brethren, saying to them: “Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matt. 25:34) The Kingdom referred to is the earthly paradise originally given to Father Adam (Gen. 1:26-28), but lost through his disobedience. No other class will be given this earthly Kingdom.

The heavenly Kingdom is for those of the Church who have been proven worthy. Those of the world who cultivate the Lord’s spirit will receive the Kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world while the Church will receive the Kingdom prepared from before the foundation of the world. (Eph. 1:4)

EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED

There is another part to this parable that we cannot neglect. It reads: “And these [the goat class] shall go away into everlasting punishment.” (Matt. 25:46) We believe in everlasting punishment because we always believe in everything the Bible says. But what kind of punishment it will be is another matter. The Bible says that the punishment will be death, and we believe the Bible. (Rom. 6:23; Ezek. 18:4)

The creeds of the Dark Ages tell us that everlasting death means everlasting dying, endless torture. So when the Bible speaks of everlasting death, some people have their heads so twisted that they make death mean life. There is such a thing as everlasting death. When the goat class are remanded to death, they will become dead everlastingly. They will remain dead to all eternity. The Greek word kolasis, here rendered punishment, is from the root word kolazo, meaning to cut off, or to restrain by cutting off.

God will give men all the opportunities they wish to be selfish, to choose the wrong way. They will have the opportunities and blessings of the Millennial Age, as long as they do not outwardly violate the Law, as long as they do not injure somebody else. They will not be forced to help those returning from the dead, as that work will be one of charity, of love. But unless they attain the spirit of love, they will not be fit for the Kingdom; for God is Love. No one shall attain everlasting life except those who are in accord with God, whether on the spirit plane in the heavenly Kingdom or on the human plane in the everlasting Kingdom of mankind upon the earth. All others will be everlastingly destroyed, cut off, from life: “For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.” (Psa. 37:9; Acts 3:23; Psa. 101:8; 2 Thes. 1:9)

FIRE A SYMBOL OF DESTRUCTION

Concerning the wicked, our parable says, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matt. 25:41) Fire always symbolizes destruction, and everlasting fire would mean an everlasting destruction. The Devil is the father of lies, “a murderer from the beginning,” the one who “abode not in the truth.” (John 8:44) He has assistants, “the angels which kept not their first estate.” (Jude 6) Instead of remaining holy angels, they became demons, associated under Satan. Their final penalty is to be quite appropriate for them – fire, the fire of God’s anger, the fire of God’s opposition. As fire destroys, so God’s anger will destroy Satan and all in harmony with him. Because the goat class of mankind will manifest the selfish spirit of Satan, contrary to the Divine spirit, they will have their portion with Satan and the fallen spirits and be destroyed in the Second Death. This will cleanse the universe and have everything pure. Not a sinner will be left in it.

Thenceforth all will be governed by love. The Lord Jesus Christ and the Church having been tried; the Great Company will be tried before being received into the Heavenly condition. In the days of Noah all the angels were tried (those who did not maintain their condition of loyalty to God were cast down to tartarus – that is, to our earth’s atmosphere, and there restrained until the judgment day – 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6). So all mankind will be tried during the thousand years of Messiah’s reign, and only the victors will go into the everlasting conditions. No wonder that the Revelator, prophesying of that glorious time, says: “And every creature which is in heaven [the Church, the Great Company, the angels, the cherubim and seraphim], and on the earth, and under the earth [those now in the tomb]…heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” (Rev. 5:13)

Soon all shall sing Hosannas to our Heavenly King; hail Him Lord of all!

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(Based on a discourse from Pastor Russell’s Sermons, page 224)

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INTO THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW

It is with great sadness that we report the death of our faithful brother in the Truth, William Dallas Dunnagan. He was born on October 28, 1925 and entered into the “sleep in Jesus” on May 31, 2015. As a member of the Mount Dora ecclesia, he spent countless hours in the work of the Bible House, until advancing age made it no longer possible. As a faithful student of the Bible, he always testified of the promises of God – namely the coming Kingdom, the resurrection of the dead, and the times of restitution of all things. The Daily Heavenly Manna book entry for his birth date is most appropriate:

“The spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me…to comfort all that mourn,…to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning... (Isa. 61:1-3)

“OUR commission is to seek out the meek and the mourning ones, who have appreciated their own shortcomings and weaknesses, and who are looking for refuge and deliverance. It is part of our commission to point them to the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world, to point them to the beauty of the resurrection for the ashes of death, and the glories which the Lord has promised by and by to take the place of the spirit of heaviness and disappointment and sorrow and trouble of this present time. It is our commission to tell such that ‘Joy cometh in the morning,’ and to assist them to arise and at once put on the garments of praise, and to begin to walk in newness of life, with a ‘new song in their mouths – even the lovingkindness of our God.’ Z. '04-295 R3436:1”

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Please direct all correspondence to:

P.O. Box 2246, Kernersville, NC 27285-2246

epiphanybiblestudents@gmail.com.

NO. 695: "THY WORD IS TRUTH"

No. 695

“Your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (1 Cor. 2:5)

So-called “higher criticism”1 is rapidly effacing all Bible doctrines, discrediting them and claiming that they are unnecessary to the Christian life. We hold the opposite view that sound doctrinal faith is essential to proper Christian living. The unchristian persecutions of the Dark Ages were founded upon false doctrines, the traditions of men, which made void the word of God. Over time the faith returned to some extent to a proper scriptural foundation, and to that extent better Christian living and the cessation of persecutions resulted.

The tendency today is in the opposite direction, toward the loss of all scriptural faith, hope and love. Today it is claimed that education will take the place of a divinely inspired faith and will promote righteousness and love. This is a misleading claim. So long as selfishness constitutes the basis of the fallen human nature, it cannot be trusted to lift itself into the realm of loving righteousness. The calamity of this error will soon manifest itself in selfishness and lawless anarchy.

In the meantime, all true Christians should seek earnestly for the old paths and for the “faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3), not standing in the wisdom of men, no matter how highly they may regard their own wisdom as Higher Critics, Evolutionists, etc. The true Christian, if at all logical, will quickly discern that if the Bible is a divine revelation, its testimonies should be received absolutely. If its divine inspiration is denied, it should be accredited no more honor than any other book. Thankfully, as the eyes of our understanding open more and more widely, we discern internal evidences in the Scriptures which demonstrate their truthfulness and establish our faith more and more firmly.

The Bible is commonly judged, not on its own merits, but on the erroneous doctrines of the Dark Ages which are in reality perversions and misrepresentations of the divine message. When these unreasonable and false doctrines are exposed, the faith of God’s true people will be strengthened, standing in the power of God as revealed to us in His Word.

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1“Higher criticism” (also called “historical criticism”) treats the Bible as texts created by human beings at particular historical times and for various human motives (in contrast with the treatment of the Bible as the inerrant word of God). It originated with anti-Christian writers whose goal was to discredit and ridicule the Bible and Christianity, but eventually liberal (and some mainstream) theologians began to adopt higher criticism analysis techniques. It is distinguished from “lower criticism” (also called “textual criticism”) which endeavors to determine what the texts of the Bible originally said before they were altered through transcription and translation errors, intentional or unintentional. We have no objection to this type of analysis.

AN INTELLIGENT CREATOR

The Bible does not attempt to prove the existence of a first great cause; on the contrary, it assumes and declares that the whole universe demonstrates God’s existence and intelligence: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.” (Psa. 19:1-3) The Bible declares, and mankind almost universally admits, that the one who at heart denies the existence of a God is of unsound mind – non compos mentis. “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” (Psa. 14:1)

If we knew no Bible, no revelation of the divine plan in connection with our earth and its inhabitants, we would instinctively look for one. Reason would teach us that the great system, the universe of which we are a part, could not have come by chance, and that the One so great, so powerful, must be correspondingly wise, correspondingly just, correspondingly loving. Such being His character, He must have created the human race with some good, just, wise, loving intention, which He would not be ashamed to have His creatures know. Moreover, having endowed us with mental powers and aspirations, He must know that some at least of the human family would be deeply interested in every feature of His plan, even though other minds might be able to satisfy themselves with the earthly things of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

May we not assume then that the Almighty would be pleased to note the interest of some in His great plan, and that He would have pleasure in making known to them its provisions for their blessing and comfort? The very qualities of the divine character that reason points to would seem to imply that divine justice, wisdom, love and power would provide a revelation, a Bible. Our question then should be “Does the Bible furnish satisfactory proof of its divine authority, so that we can rest our faith upon its testimonials?”

THE INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES

Disbelief usually attacks the Bible from the outside, claiming lack of evidence that it came from God, asserting that it is of merely human production. No other book bears stronger outward evidences of the sincerity of its writers. The complete harmony of these writings, spreading over eighteen centuries, well corroborates their testimony that they spoke and wrote under divine inspiration. What other collection of writings covering so long a period could be found in absolute accord, one with the other? We know of none, and assert that this harmony of the sacred writings corroborates their old claim that they were all composed by the Holy Spirit of God.

It is true there are other books from which wise and just sayings may be quoted, but we believe that no one thoroughly acquainted with those writings would for a moment claim for them a parity with our Bible. Those who claim that the Genesis account of creation is not sufficiently ample and scientific will not appreciate the reasonableness and simplicity of the record until they begin to compare it with the statements of other religions. Take for instance the ancient Chinese teaching upon this subject as an illustration. It depicts the great god and his son in a skiff. To prevent grounding, the son-god put out his hand to push off from the shore and shallows and incidentally caught a handful of pebbles and mud, which he shaped into a ball and tossed out upon the waters, and the ball grew and grew until it became the present earth. The most obstinate critic who will turn from this record of creation to the one given in our Bible must admit that the Genesis account is sublimely grand, clear and explicit in comparison.

It is when we examine the internal evidences of the Bible’s credibility as the word of God that we find ourselves astonished. Its testimony is so satisfactory and so far superior, not only to the creeds of the Dark Ages, but towering high above the theories of its modern critics. Even its opponents must admit that it has been a torch of civilization and liberty. Its influence for good in society has been recognized by the greatest statesmen, even though they for the most part have viewed it through the various glasses of conflicting creeds which grievously misrepresent its teachings.

The central figure of the Bible is Jesus of Nazareth. Every promise and every prophecy of the Old Testament points to Him as the one through whom comes hope for a fallen and condemned race. Every testimony of the New Testament points to Jesus alone as the one whose sacrificial death atonement has been effected, and they all point also to Him as the coming one, at whose second advent the blessing of God will be poured out in harmony with all the prophecies of the past. They give us the assurance that the work of this Gospel Age has been the selection from among believers of a “little flock” of fully consecrated followers of Jesus. Through disciplines and trials these faithful followers shall ultimately be perfected in the first resurrection, constituting with their Lord Jesus the long promised Kingdom of God. All the families of the earth shall be blessed through the just and loving rule of this Kingdom, and those who will come into heart accord with righteousness shall obtain eternal life.

A plan of salvation so deep, so broad, so just, so kind, so far beyond the scope of human ingenuity, demonstrates that those who proclaimed this Gospel with such absolute unanimity and with such absolute faith in it themselves, were indeed supremely directed.

The sincerity of the Prophets and the Apostles is demonstrated by the fact that their faith was not to their earthly advantage. On the contrary, it brought them trials, testings and in many cases persecutions even unto death. The Apostle Paul sums up the experiences of Abraham and of all the faithful who walked in his steps down to the time of Jesus, saying, “They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented, (Of whom the world was not worthy).” (Heb. 11:37-38)

The writers of the New Testament give similar evidences of their sincerity. Their advocacy of Jesus as the Messiah did not bring them wealth and influence and honor of men, bringing instead self-denials, persecutions, etc. According to all reasonable rules of evidence such men must be considered truthful, honorable, upright, witnesses of the highest character. No other history in the whole world stands upon such unimpeachable foundations.

Having established the sincerity of the writers, let us examine the character of the writings claimed to be inspired, to see whether their teachings correspond with the character we have reasonably imputed to God, and whether they bear internal evidences of their truthfulness.

The first five books of the New Testament and several of the Old Testament are narratives of historical facts known to the writers and vouched for by their characters. It is obvious that it did not require a special revelation to simply tell the truth with reference to matters with which they were intimately and fully acquainted. It in no way invalidates the truthfulness of certain books of the Bible, such as Kings, Chronicles, Judges, etc., when we say that they are simply carefully kept histories of prominent events and persons of their times.

The Hebrew Scriptures contain history, as well as the law and the prophecies. Their histories, genealogies, etc., were explicitly detailed because of the expectancy that the promised Messiah would come in a particular line from Abraham. Knowing this, we see a reason for the recording of certain facts of history. For instance, a clear record of Judah’s children is given, of whom came David, the king, through whom the genealogy of Mary, Jesus’ mother, as well as that of Joseph, her husband, is traced back to Abraham. (Luke 3:23,31,33,34; Matt. 1:2-16)

Since the king of Israel, as well as the promised Messiah, was to come of the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10), it was necessary to thoroughly establish this genealogy. Hence the minutiae of detail not given in other instances. (Gen. 38)

THE BOOKS OF MOSES

That the Bible contains no positive statement that these books were written by Moses does not disprove the thought; for had another written them to deceive and commit a fraud, he would surely have claimed credit.

The distinguished law-giver Moses did not seek to perpetuate or increase his own power by placing the government of the people under the control of his direct relatives of the priestly tribe, to use their religious authority to fetter the rights and liberties of the people. On the contrary, he introduced to the people a form of government calculated to cultivate the spirit of liberty. The histories of other nations and rulers show no parallel to this; in all other cases, the rulers have sought their own aggrandizement and power, even in instances where they have aided in establishing republics.

Moses was a champion of freedom, putting the government of the people completely into their own hands. Although it was stipulated that the weightier cases which the governors could not decide were to be brought unto Moses, yet they themselves were the judges as to what cases went before Moses. Thus we see that Israel was a republic whose officers acted under a divine commission. And to the confusion of those who ignorantly claim that the Bible sanctions an imperial rule over the people, instead of “a government of the people, by the people,” be it noted that this republican form of civil government continued for over four hundred years. It was then changed for that of a kingdom at the urgent request of the people themselves.

The instructions given to those appointed to civil rule were a model of simplicity and purity, as from God. Moses declared to the people, in the hearing of those judges: “I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger [foreigner] that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.” (Deut. 1:16-17)

In view of these facts, what shall we say of the theory which suggests that these books were written by knavish priests to secure to themselves influence and power over the people? Would such men for such a purpose forge records destructive to the very aims they sought to advance, records which prove conclusively that the great Chief of Israel, and one of their own tribe, at the instance of God, cut off the priesthood from civil power by placing that power in the hands of the people? Does anyone consider such a conclusion reasonable?

Again, it is worthy of note that the laws of the most advanced civilization of our time do not more carefully provide that rich and poor stand on a common level in accountability before the civil law. Absolutely no distinction was made by Moses’ laws. And as for the protection of the people from the dangers incident to some becoming very poor and others excessively wealthy and powerful, no other national law has ever been enacted which so carefully guarded this point. Moses’ law provided for a restitution every fiftieth year, their jubilee year. This law, by preventing the absolute alienation of property, thereby prevented its accumulation in the hands of a few. (Lev. 25:9, 13-23, 27-30)

All the laws were made public, thus preventing designing men from successfully tampering with the rights of the people. The laws were exposed in such a manner that any who chose might copy them; and, in order that the poorest and most unlearned might not be ignorant of them, it was made the duty of the priests to read them to the people at their septennial festivals. (Deut. 31:10-13)

Is it reasonable to suppose that such laws, and arrangements were designed by bad men, or by men scheming to defraud the people of their liberties and happiness? In its regard for the rights and interests of foreigners and of enemies, the Mosaic Law was many centuries ahead of its time. Indeed, the laws of the most civilized nations of today do not equal it in fairness and benevolence. We read:

“Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger [foreigner], as for one of your own country: for I am the Lord your God.” (Lev. 24:22; Ex. 12:49)

“And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land … thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Lev. 19:33,34)

“If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again….” (Ex. 23:4,5)

Even the lower animals were not forgotten. Cruelty to these as well as to human beings was prohibited strictly. An ox must not be muzzled while threshing the grain, for the good reason that any laborer is worthy of his food. Even the ox and the ass must not plow together, because so unequal in strength and tread; it would be cruelty. Their rest was also provided for. (Deut. 25:4; 22:10; Ex. 23:12)

The priesthood may be claimed by some to have been a selfish institution, because the tribe of Levites was supported by the annual tenth, or tithe, of the individual produce of their brethren of the other tribes. To state that the priesthood was a privileged class is an unfair presentation too common to skeptics. It was, in fact, founded upon the strictest equity. When Israel came into possession of the land of Canaan, the Levites certainly had as much right to a share of the land as the other tribes; yet, by God’s express command, they got none of it, except certain cities or villages for residence, scattered among the various tribes, whom they were to serve in religious things. Instead of the land, some equivalent should surely be provided them, and the tithe was therefore this reasonable and just provision.

Furthermore, though the tithe was a just debt, it was not enforced as a tax, but was to be paid as a voluntary contribution. No threat bound the people to make those contributions; all depended upon their conscientiousness. The only exhortations to the people on the subject are as follows: “Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth.” (Deut. 12:19) “And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee” (in the land). (Deut. 14:27)

Moses, the pious and noble law-giver, denied that the laws were his own, and attributed them to God. (Ex. 24:12; Deut. 9:9-11; Ex. 26:30; Lev. 1:1) In view of his general character, and his commands to the people not to bear false witness and to avoid hypocrisy and lying, is it reasonable to suppose that such a man bore false witness and palmed off his own views and laws for those of God? Although Moses’ successors included bad men who did seek their own and not the people’s good, it is evident that they did not tamper with the sacred writings, which are pure to this day.

THE PROPHETS OF THE BIBLE

Glance now at the general character of the Prophets of the Bible and their testimonies. A rather remarkable fact is that the Prophets, with few exceptions, were not of the priestly class. In their day their prophecies were generally repugnant to the degenerating and time-serving priesthood, as well as to the idolatrously inclined people. The focus of their message from God to the people was generally reproof for sin and warnings of coming punishments, intertwined with promises of future blessings that would come once the people were cleansed from sin and returned to favor with God.

In some instances, their true character as God’s Prophets was not recognized until years after their death. We should remember that there was no priestly intervention in the giving of the law to Israel; it was given by God to the people by the hand of Moses. (Ex. 19:17-25; Deut. 5:1-5) Furthermore, it was made the duty of every man seeing a violation of the law to reprove the sinner. (Lev. 19:17) Thus all had the authority to teach and reprove; but as in our own day, the majority were absorbed in the cares of business, and became indifferent and irreligious. Accordingly, compar­atively few fulfilled this requirement of reproving sin and exhorting to godliness; and these preachers are termed “Prophets” in both the Old and New Testaments.

The term prophet generally signifies public expounder, and the public teachers of idolatry were also called prophets. Out of the large class called prophets, God at various times made choice of some whom He specially commissioned to deliver messages, relating sometimes to things then at hand, at other times to future events. It is to the writings of this class, who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit of God, that we are now giving attention. They are properly designated as divinely commissioned Prophets or seers.

When it is remembered that these Prophets were mainly laymen, drawing no support from the tithes of the priestly tribe, and when, added to this, is the fact that they frequently not only reproved kings and judges, but also priests (though they did not reprove the office but only the personal sins of the men who filled it), it becomes evident that we could not reasonably decide that these Prophets were parties to any league, of priests or others, to fabricate falsehood in the name of God.

Let us next inquire whether there exists any link, or bond of union, between the records of Moses, those of the other Prophets, and those of the New Testament writings. If we find one common line of thought interwoven throughout these writings, which span a period of eighteen hundred years, this in connection with the character of the writers will be a good reason for admitting their claim that they were divinely inspired. This is especially true if the theme common to all of them is a grand and noble one, conforming well with what sanctified common sense teaches regarding the character and attributes of God.

THE BIBLE ONE AND HARMONIOUS

This we do find: One plan, spirit, aim and purpose pervades the entire book. Its opening pages record the creation and fall of man; its closing pages tell of man’s recovery from the fall and its intervening pages show the successive steps of the plan of God for the accomplishment of this purpose. The harmony, yet contrast, of the first three and the last three chapters of the Bible is striking. The one describes the first creation, the other the renewed or restored creation, with sin and its penal curse removed; the one shows Satan and evil entering the world to deceive and destroy, the other shows Satan’s work undone, the destroyed ones restored, evil extinguished and Satan destroyed; the one shows the dominion lost by Adam, the other shows it restored and forever established by Christ, and God’s will done on earth as in heaven; the one shows sin to be the cause of degradation, shame and death, the other shows the reward of righteousness to be glory, honor and life.

Though written by many pens, at various times and under different circumstances, the Bible is not merely a collection of moral precepts, wise maxims and words of comfort. It is much more; it is a reasonable, philosophical and harmonious statement of the causes of present evil in the world, its only remedy and the final results as seen by divine wisdom, which saw the end of the plan from before its beginning. It also marks the pathway of God’s people, upholding and strengthening them with exceeding great and precious promises, to be realized in due time. (2 Pet. 1:4)

Genesis teaches that man was tried in a state of original perfection in one representative, that he failed, and that the present imperfection, sickness and death are the results. But it also teaches that God has not forsaken him, and will ultimately recover him through the Redeemer, born of a woman. (Gen. 3:15) This teaching is kept up and elaborated all the way through the Bible. The necessity of the death of a Redeemer as a sacrifice for sins, and of His righteousness as a covering for our sin, is pointed out in the clothing of skins for Adam and Eve, in the acceptance of Abel’s offerings, in Isaac on the altar, in the death of the various sacrifices by which the patriarchs had access to God, and of those instituted under the law and perpetuated throughout the Jewish Age.

JESUS IN PROPHECY

The Prophets, though credited with under­standing but slightly the significance of some of their utterances (1 Pet. 1:12), mention the laying of the sins upon a person instead of a dumb animal. In prophetic vision they saw He who was to redeem and to deliver the human race led “as a lamb to the slaughter,” that “the chastisement of our peace was upon him,” and that “with his stripes we are healed.” They pictured Him as “despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief,” and declared that “the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isa. 53:3-7) They told where this deliverer would be born (Mic. 5:2), and when He would die, assuring us that it would be “not for himself.” (Dan. 9:26)

They mention various details concerning Him: He would be righteous and free from deceit, violence, or any just cause of death (Isa. 53:9-11); He would be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12); He would be numbered among transgressors in His death (Isa. 53:12); not a bone of His body would be broken (Psa. 34:20; John 19:36); and though He would die and be buried, His flesh would not corrupt, neither would He remain in the grave. (Psa. 16:10; Acts 2:31)

The New Testament writers clearly and forcibly recorded in simple terms the fulfillment of all these predictions in Jesus of Nazareth. By logical reasoning they showed that such a ransom price as He gave was needful before the sins of the world could be blotted out, just as predicted in the Law and the Prophets. (Isa. 1:18) These New Testament writers traced the entire plan in a most logical and forcible manner, appealing not to the prejudices or passions of their hearers, but to their enlightened reason alone, furnishing some of the most remarkable and compelling reasoning to be found anywhere on any subject (see Rom. 5:12-19, and onward to the 12th chapter).

In the law, Moses pointed not only to a sacrifice, but also to the blotting out of sins and a blessing of the people under this great deliverer, whose power and authority he declares shall vastly exceed his own, though it should be “like unto” it. (Deut. 18:15-19) The promised deliverer is to bless not only Israel, but through Israel “all the families of the earth.” (Gen. 12:3; 22:18; 26:4) And despite the prejudices of the Jewish people to the contrary, the Prophets continued the same strain, declaring that the Messiah shall be also “for a light to the Gentiles” (Isa. 49:6; Luke 2:32); that the Gentiles should come to Him “from the ends of the earth” (Jer. 16:19); that His name “shall be great among the Gentiles” (Mal. 1:11); and that “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” (Isa. 40:5; 42:1-7)

THE INSPIRATION OF THE APOSTLES

The New Testament writers claimed a divine anointing which enabled them to realize the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the sacrifice of Christ. Though prejudiced as Jews to think of every blessing as limited to their own people (Acts 11:1-18), they were enabled to see that, while their nation would be blessed, all the families of the earth would be blessed also, with and through them. They saw also that before the blessing of either Israel or the world, a “little flock” would be selected from both Jews and Gentiles. These being tried, would be found worthy to be made joint-heirs of the glory and honor of the Great Deliverer, and sharers with Him of the honor of blessing Israel and all the nations. (Rom. 8:17) They point out the harmony of this with what is written in the Law and the Prophets. The grandeur and breadth of the plan they present more than meets the most exalted conception of what it claims to be, “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” (Luke 2:10)

The theme of all the Prophets was Messiah as the ruler, not only of Israel, but also of the entire world, as suggested in the books of Moses. The thought of the Kingdom was uppermost also in the teaching of the Apostles; and Jesus taught that we should pray, “Thy kingdom come,” and promised those a share in it who would first suffer for the truth, and thus prove themselves worthy.

This hope of the coming glorious Kingdom gave all the faithful ones courage to endure persecution and to suffer reproach, deprivation and loss, even unto death. The worthy “Lamb that was slain” (Rev. 5:12), the worthy overcomers whom He will make kings and priests in His Kingdom, and the trials and obstacles which they must overcome to be worthy to share that Kingdom, are all faithfully portrayed in the grand allegorical prophecy which closes the New Testament.

The blessings to come to the world under that Millennial reign are then introduced: Satan shall be bound, Adamic death and sorrow wiped out, and all the nations of earth shall walk in the light of the heavenly Kingdom, the new Jerusalem.

THE BIBLE UNIQUE AMONG BOOKS

The Bible, from first to last, holds out a doctrine found nowhere else: that a future life for the dead will come through a resurrection of the dead. All the inspired writers expressed their confidence in a redeemer; one declares that when God calls them from the tomb and they come forth, the wicked shall no longer rule over the earth for “the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning.” (Psa. 49:14)

The resurrection of the dead is taught by the Prophets; and the writers of the New Testament base all their hopes of a future life and blessing upon it. Paul expresses it thus: “But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain… Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished... But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept… For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:13-22)

Like the works of a clock whose many wheels might at first seem superfluous, but whose slowest moving wheels are essential, so the Bible, composed of many parts, and prepared by many pens, is one complete and harmonious whole. Not a single part is superfluous, and though some parts take a more active and prominent place than others, all are useful and necessary.

It is becoming popular among the so-called “advanced thinkers” and “great theologians” of the present day to treat lightly, or to ignore if not outright deny, many of the “miracles” of the Old Testament, calling them “old wives’ fables.” Among these are the accounts of Jonah and the great fish, Noah and the ark, Eve and the serpent, the standing still of the sun at the command of Joshua, and Balaam’s speaking ass.

These wise men seemingly overlook the fact that the Bible is so interwoven and united in its various parts that to remove or discredit these miracles would destroy or discredit the whole. For if the original accounts are false, those who repeated them were either falsifiers or dupes, and in either case it would be impossible for us to accept their testimony as divinely inspired. To eliminate from the Bible the miracles mentioned would invalidate the testimony of its principal writers, as well as that of our Lord Jesus.

Miracles are with us daily. Those miracles not common to our experience find parallels about us every day which, being more common, are passed by unnoticed. We plant two seeds side by side; the conditions, air, water and soil, are alike; they grow, we cannot tell how nor can the wisest philosopher explain this miracle. These seeds develop organisms of opposite tendencies; one creeps, the other stands erect; form, flower, coloring, everything differs, though the conditions were the same. Such miracles manifest a power as much beyond our own limited power and intelligence as do the few miracles recorded in the Bible for special purposes, and as intended illustrations of omnipotence, and of the ability of the Great Creator to overcome every obstacle and to accomplish all His will, even to our promised resurrection from the dead, the extermination of evil, and the ultimate reign of everlasting righteousness.

Here we rest the case. The depth, the power, the wisdom and scope of the Bible’s testimony convince us that not man, but the Almighty God, is the author of its plans and revelations.

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(The above is based on an oral address by Pastor Russell, published in the Pittsburgh Gazette, October 16, 1905. Reproduced in Harvest Gleanings, Volume 3.)

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STRENGTH IN THE LORD PROPORTIONATE TO KNOWLEDGE

No one can grow strong in the Lord unless he grows also in knowledge. We properly esteem most highly those whose love for the Lord and for His Truth are evidenced by their zeal in the study of His Word, and whose favor with God is manifested by their being guided more into the deep things of God.

Nevertheless, the weaker ones of the household of faith are to be cared for and loved and helped that they may grow strong in the Lord. And just here the Apostle offers another word of counsel, saying, “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.” (Rom. 15:1) This does not imply that we should not expostulate with such a one and endeavor to help him get rid of his infirmity. This we should do, in the spirit of meekness and kindness, while we endure with gentleness the trial of our patience, not seeking to please ourselves, but rather to help a weaker brother or sister. “Let every one of us,” as the Apostle enjoins, “please his neighbour [brother] for his good to edification” (Rom. 15:2), i.e., not by simply ignoring his fault as though we considered it all right, but, while kindly urging him to strive against it, still humbly and patiently submitting to the discomfort it brings to us.

If this spirit prevails among the members of the Lord’s Body, the members will all have a mutual love and a mutual care one for another, a care which seeks to encourage and strengthen all that is good and to discourage all that is unbecoming, and a love which throws its mantle over a deformity and endeavors to conceal a fault, rather than to expose the weaker brother to the reproach of others.

For such self-sacrificing love how necessary is the spirit of humility and gentleness and patience and faith! How forceful are the Master’s words, “Except ye be converted [from the spirit of the world to the Spirit of Christ], and become as little children [in meekness and teachableness], ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 18:1-6)

We should not only have this love, but we should have it with fervency, warmth, ardor; not with a semi-indifference, but with a real interest in each other’s welfare, the rich as well as the poor; the educated as well as the ignorant. Our love should go out to these as we see any lack in them that we could supply rendering assistance of any kind; using always, of course, discretion, for love learns to be wise, and to take into consideration our motives while we endeavor to do them good.

The Apostle suggests that we see to it that this is our own experience; not merely that it is a principle which we recognize, but that we should give heed to ourselves that this should be accomplished in us, in our own lives. It would not be natural to have that benevolence of mind which would practice forgiveness of those who trespass against us. But when we think of the fact that the whole race is fallen and degraded through heredity, it should make us sympathetic; if some are more depraved, we should have the more sympathy for them. As we think sympathetically along those lines, our sympathetic love will increase; as we practice sympathetic love the New Creature develops.

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(Written by Pastor Russell. Originally published under the series title People’s Pulpit. Reproduced in Harvest Gleanings, Volume 3. It was of course addressed to the Little Flock, but the thoughts are appropriate for all of the Household.)

NO. 694: THE MAIN OBJECTS OF OUR LORD'S RETURN

No. 694

 “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” (Matt. 16:27)

The following, written by Brother Paul S.L. Johnson, is an excerpt from Chapter I of Epiphany Volume 17, The Millennium. Minor editing has been done to adapt it to the paper format.

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Any treatise on the subject of the Millennium would be incomplete without a consideration of our Lord’s Second Advent, since this happy event is so closely associated with the Millennium. Because the purposes of the Millennium and our Lord’s Second Advent are so similar, we can truthfully say that when we are discussing the purposes of the one, we are at the same time discussing the purposes of the other.

All Christians will agree that the Bible teaches Messiah’s Second Advent. Bro. Dwight L. Moody once said that one verse out of every seven in the New Testament refers to our Lord’s second stay on earth. Even a larger proportion of such passages is found in the Old Testament. And it is because there is so large a proportion of such verses in that section of the Scriptures that the Jews at His first Coming, overlooking the relatively small proportion of prophecies respecting His First Advent, expected Him to come but once, and that to reign. Thus, unprepared to accept the meek and lowly Jesus, as fulfilling the promise of the conquering and reigning Messiah of their expectations, they rejected Him; and thus their table [the prophetic Scriptures] as foretold, became a snare to them. (Ps. 69:22, 23; Rom. 11:9, 10). Believing that our readers would be pleased to have a list of choice Scriptural references to Our Lord’s second stay on earth, we submit the following, [at the end of this paper] which is by no means an extended one. We suggest that all these references be looked up and studied carefully. Many others could have been added; but these will be sufficient for the present. They certainly show that the Scriptures teach Christ’s Return and Kingdom.

As will be shown later from Acts 3:19-21 and other Scriptures, our Lord returns at the beginning of the Millennium, at which time He winds up Gospel-Age affairs and inaugurates the work of the Millennium. The time of His second stay on earth will be seen to coincide with the Millennium, during which, among other things, He accomplishes “the restitution of all things,” the main object of His Return (see The Divine Plan of the Ages, Chap. 6). But other objects of His return are important also in relation to the Millennium; hence they will be treated in logical order. According to the Scriptures, we find that our Lord returns for many purposes, of which we will discuss mainly the following seven:

(1) HE GATHERS AND DELIVERS THE LITTLE FLOCK: He comes to gather by the Word of Truth and to deliver by His power His prospective Bride, the Little Flock. The Church has been espoused to Him (2 Cor. 11:2). In holy chastity she has kept herself pure from all worldly affiliations and alliances, witnessing to and longing for His Kingdom, when she is to be married to Him. Her loyalty to Him has cost her much, yea, everything of this world. This loyalty pleases her Lord; and returning, first of all He gathers her together through and to the Truth, the “meat in due season” (Matt. 24:28, 31, 45; Luke 12:36, 37, 42). This feast of Truth is her farewell banquet before her marriage, and greatly has she enjoyed the feast that He Himself provides for her. Then, as a part of His Second Advent work, comes her deliverance in the First Resurrection, through which He changes her from humanity to Divinity, from weakness to power, from dishonor to glory, from corruption to incorruption, from mortality to immortality (2 Pet. 1:4; 1 Cor. 15:42-54). Thus He comes again to receive her unto Himself, and to give her the place that He has prepared for her, that where He is there she may also be (John 14:2, 3). The sleeping part of the Church precedes in the resurrection that part which is living (1 Cor. 15:51, 52; 1 Thes. 4:15, 16). Afterwards as one after another of the living saints finishes his course, at the moment of death through sharing in the First Resurrection he joins the Lord in the air, and thus will ever be with Him (1 Thes. 4:17). Arrayed as His glorified Bride and as the City of God [religious government of God] the Church will shine resplendent and all-glorious (Rev. 21:9-22:5; Ps. 45:13).

(2) HE CLEANSES AND DELIVERS THE GREAT COMPANY: A second purpose of our Lord’s Return is to cleanse and deliver the Great Company, the Bride’s “companions.” Through measurable selfishness, worldliness, sin and error, this class has failed to qualify for Brideship with Christ. The spots that have accumulated on their garments (Ps. 107:10, 11; Jude 23) must be cleansed. Therefore, during the Epiphany period of His Second Advent (Mal. 3:2, 3; Matt. 25:10, 12; 1 Cor. 3:13), He puts them through some very severe experiences in “the Great Tribulation” (Matt. 7:26, 27; 1 Cor. 3:13, 15; Ps. 107:12; Cant. 5:6, 7; Rev. 7:13, 14), through which they learn to recognize the folly of their past course and to cleanse themselves, however with the loss of all the idols of self, the world, sin and error, to which they bowed down (Rev. 7:14; Mal. 3:3; Ps. 107:13-16; 1 Cor. 3:15). After their cleansing will come their deliverance, amid which they will greatly rejoice in the Lord’s salvation (Ps. 45:14, 15; 1 Cor. 3:15; Rev. 19:7-9), as they are ushered into the King’s Palace to be bridesmaids of the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife.

(3) HE DEVELOPS THE YOUTHFUL WORTHIES: Jesus returns also to develop the Youthful Worthies. They are thus designated because, as the Ancient Worthies came into activity on the stage of God’s Plan before the opportunity was opened for anyone to enter the High Calling to the Divine nature and joint-heirship with Christ, so the Youthful Worthies come into activity on the stage of God’s plan after the opportunity to enter the High Calling for the Divine nature and joint-heirship with Christ is closed. According to the Bible, the opportunity of entering the High Calling was to be closed after “the fulness of the Gentiles” [the full number of the Elect from among the Gentiles] should come in (Rom. 11:25). This synchronizes with the end of the reaping of the present Harvest. But as before the opportunity to enter the High Calling was opened, many, the Ancient Worthies, desired to and did serve God faithfully, so since the opportunity to enter the High Calling has closed many desire to and do serve God faithfully. Since they show the same spirit of devotion to God as the Ancient Worthies, and that under largely similar conditions, God purposes to associate them with the Ancient Worthies in Millennial and Post-Millennial rewards and service. Hence the similar and contrasted names of these classes.

We understand that as in 2 Tim. 2:20 the vessels of gold and silver refer respectively to the Little Flock and the Great Company, so the vessels of wood and of earth refer respectively to the Ancient and the Youthful Worthies. As in Ps. 72:3 Jesus with His Church, and the Ancient Worthies, as the two chief ruling powers in God’s Kingdom, are symbolized by the two mountains of Jerusalem, so the Great Company and the Youthful Worthies, as the two subordinate ruling powers of God’s Kingdom, are symbolized by the two little hills of Jerusalem. This class is symbolized by the box tree (Is. 60:13). They are typed by Abednego (Heb.-servant of the messenger) in Dan. 3:12. Moreover, the Lord in the Tabernacle picture has shadowed forth these four classes: the priests to the east of the Tabernacle typing Jesus and the Church; the Kohathite Levites to the south of the Tabernacle typing the Ancient Worthies; the Merarite Levites to the north of the Tabernacle typing the Great Company; and the Gershonite Levites to the west of the Tabernacle typing the Youthful Worthies (Num. 3:6-8; 1:49-54; 3:23, 29, 35, 40-51; Heb. 12:23); while Israel, whose camp surrounded the Tabernacle at a distance, represents the world of mankind, the Restitution class.

The Scriptures tell us less of the Youthful Worthies than they do of the other three ruling Kingdom classes. It is because they have the faith of Abraham that they will be blessed with him with the privilege of blessing all nations (Gal. 3:6-9). These, having the faith quality, accept the message that preaches repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus and therefore are justified by faith. Heeding the Lord’s invitation to consecrate, they give Him their hearts (Prov. 23:26). There being no opportunity for them to win a crown with Christ, He does not beget them of His Spirit, but gives them a new human heart to love truth and righteousness, and to serve Him. They, too, like the Little Flock, become dead to self and the world and alive to God, practicing watchfulness and prayer, studying, spreading and practicing the Word and suffering because of faithfulness to that Word. Thus they, too, must become faithful to the Lord, even unto death, if He deems it necessary. With the Ancient Worthies they will then share in a “better resurrection” (Heb. 11:35) than that of the world, but it will be inferior to that of the Church and the Great Company. Thus they will in the beginning of the Millennium be raised perfect human beings, and with the Ancient Worthies will be made princes throughout the earth. During the Millennium they will be inspired by God to see visions of His Plan unfolding at that time (Joel 2:28), and will cooperate with the Ancient Worthies in uplifting the race from the fall. At the end of the Millennium, with the Ancient Worthies they will for their faithfulness be made spirit beings with heaven as their eternal home.

(4) HE OVERTHROWS SATAN’S EM-PIRE: A fourth object of our Lord’s Return is the overthrow of Satan’s Empire. Satan has an empire over the human family as the prince and god of this world, the prince of the power of the air, and the ruler of its kingdoms (John 16:11; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; Luke 4:6, 7). His kingdom has three departments through which he, though invisible, has held the race in subjection to himself: (1) false religions, (2) oppressive governments and (3) predatory aristocracies. Evil indeed has been his reign, as all history attests. Terribly has he mistreated the human family, his blinded and deceived subjects; for by error he has deceived and distressed them; by sin he has depraved them, physically, mentally, morally and religiously; by the evil conditions in the earth under the curse he has impoverished them; by his fallen angels, his evil companions, he has misled them; by the death process he has bruised them; by the death state he has ruined them; by oppressive governments he has tyrannized over them; by false religions he has debased them; by predatory aristocracies he has exploited them; by wars he has devastated their homes and lands and murdered vast numbers of them; by famines, pestilences, tidal waves, tornadoes, volcanoes, earthquakes, heat, cold, floods and droughts he has plagued them; by the persecution of the righteous and the exaltation of the wicked he has enslaved them. Surely the Scriptures rightly call him, as Pharaoh’s antitype, the oppressor (Ps. 72:4; Is. 9:4; Heb. 2:14). But the days of his empire are numbered. The Bible assures us that it will be overthrown through the great Time of Trouble (which began with the two phases of the World-war and will progress with possibly a third phase, followed by World-revolution and then will culminate in Wor1d-anarchy); and that it will be accomplished by the Lord in His Second Advent (Is. 35:3, 4; Rev. 11:15, 18; 14:4-20; 19:11-21 ;16:18, 19; 18:8-10, 18-21; 17:4, 5, 16, 18; 2 Thes. 2:8, 9; Dan. 2:34, 35, 44, 45; 7:9-14, 17, 26; 12:1; Zeph. 3:8, 9; Joel 2:1-11; 3:9-14); and that as a result, instead of oppressing the race any more, Satan will be bound for the thousand years of Christ’s Reign, and be unable then to deceive the nations (Rev. 20:1-3).

(5) HE ESTABLISHES GOD’S KINGDOM IN THE EARTH: A fifth object of our Lord’s Return is the establishment of God’s Kingdom throughout the earth. God has in innumerable Scriptures promised to establish His Kingdom of righteousness and peace on the ruins of Satan’s Empire, which is to be swept away to make room for Christ’s Kingdom. We have referred to some of the Scriptures that promise such a Kingdom. During the time before the Gospel Age Jehovah prepared, in the persons of the Ancient Worthy class, the Kingdom’s chief princes, as earthly representatives of our Lord Jesus and His Church (Ps. 45:16; Is. 1:26; 32:1; Matt. 11:11; Heb. 11:39, 40); and during the Gospel Age He has, in the persons of Jesus and His Church, been preparing the Kings of His Kingdom (Heb. 1:3, 8, 9; 12:2; Rom. 8:17; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 11:15; 19:16; 20:4-6). The coming of this Kingdom has been the hope and prayer of the faithful ever since it was promised (Gen. 12:3; 22:16-18; Heb. 11:13-16; Matt. 6:10; 2 Tim. 4:8; Tit. 2:13; Rev. 22:20). The Scriptures teach very clearly that Christ returns in order to establish this glorious Kingdom in which He will reign, with the Church as His joint-heir (Dan. 7:13, 14, 18, 22, 26, 27; 2:44; 12:1-3; Obad. 21; Is. 35:4-10; Matt. 25:31; Luke 19:15, 17, 19; Acts 15:14-18; Rom. 8:17; Col. 3:4; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:4-6). This Kingdom will be an absolute monarchy; hence its government will not be of the people nor by the people, but will most emphatically be for the people. Its Rulers being perfect in wisdom, power, justice and love sufficiently guarantees both their worthiness to hold office and their efficiency to rule. The arrangement that they will establish for mankind will be conducive to Truth and Righteousness and inconducive to error and sin. This will reverse entirely the conditions prevailing in Satan’s Empire. Instead of the earth being then under the curse, it will be turned into an Edenic condition. Instead of sin and error prevailing, righteousness and truth will prevail. Instead of false religions, oppressive governments and predatory aristocracies holding sway, the true religion of God, teaching perfect truth and righteousness, the fostering Government of Christ Jesus and the Church, blessing everybody, and the faithful servants of Jehovah as a benevolent aristocracy effecting the prosperity of all, will hold sway. Instead of losses, disappointments, sorrows, tears, crying, sickness, weakness, dying, and death, there will be prosperity, hope, joy, pleasures, laughter, convalescence, strength, health and life, abundantly available for all. Instead of Satan and his fallen angels controlling almost everyone, Jesus and the Church will control all. Instead of wars between nations and hatred of man to man, there will be “peace on earth and good will to men.” Instead of the righteous being persecuted, they will be exalted. Instead of the wicked being exalted and rewarded for wrong-doing, they will be abased and striped for their reformation. These conditions will certainly be conducive to truth and righteousness, and inconducive to error and sin. And Christ returns, among other reasons, to establish such a Kingdom. This fifth object of His Return to earth, is most highly desirable.

(6) HE MINISTERS RESTITUTION OPPORTUNITIES: A sixth object of our Lord’s Return is to bless the whole human family, living and dead, with opportunities of obtaining Restitution. Restitution means a return to an original estate. The original estate of the human family was the image and likeness of God, as these were exemplified in Father Adam and Mother Eve. By the image of God we understand the perfection of being, the condition of being very good, to be meant (Gen. 1:26, 27, 31; Heb. 2:6-8; Co1. 3:10; Eph. 4:23, 24); and by the likeness of God we understand man’s rulership over the earth, even as God is Ruler over the Universe, to be meant (Gen. 1:26, 28, 29; Matt. 25:34). The image of God implies perfection in the physical, mental, moral and religious faculties. Adam and Eve, before the fall, and Jesus, when on earth, were examples of this perfection (Heb. 2:6-9). The likeness of God implies a perfect earth with perfect rulers in charge. But as St. Paul implies (Heb. 2:8), the image and likeness of God (the original perfection of being and rulership) have been lost; and in the place of the image of God has come physical, mental, moral and religious degradation. In the place of the likeness of God has come the tyranny of the cursed earth (Gen. 3:17-19) over man, greatly oppressing him, until it extinguishes his life. All this the Scriptures assure us came upon man because of the sin of Adam, man’s example in the original trial (Gen. 3:1-24; Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:21, 22). Now the human family is but a wreck of what it was in Adam and Eve. This sad, undone condition of our race has deeply appealed to the compassion of our Creator, who amid the sentence of His displeasure (death, not eternal life in torment) has remembered His mercy toward fallen and condemned man in sending His well-beloved Son into the world as man’s Ransom-price from death (Matt. 20:28; 1 Tim. 2:4-6; John 3:17; Rom. 5:7, 8, 16-19). As Christ’s First Advent was to lay down the Ransom-price (the Gospel Age, forming a parenthesis for the selection of His Bride between His two Advents, has been to make its blessings available only for the Elect, His Church), so His Second Advent is to make the Ransom-price available for the recovery of the non-elect, in a restitution, a return to the original estate, from the ruins of the lost image and likeness of God brought upon all by heredity through Adam’s sin.

Thus the death of the sinless Jesus provides merit sufficient for the deliverance of all from the demerit of Adam’s sin, and guarantees an opportunity to obtain full deliverance from its effects, a Restitution to the original Adamic perfection. And it is to effect the restoration of the glorious image of God, to offer the race perfect bodies, minds and hearts, and to effect the restoration of the marvelous likeness of God (i.e., to the race a perfect rulership over an Edenic earth) that Christ returns to this earth. All who will obey the reasonable requirements of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom will obtain all these blessings. And to obtain their share in them all of the dead who were excluded from the opportunities of becoming members of the Elect (to which only the faith class, those who can walk by faith, trusting where they cannot trace God, have been invited) will be awakened and brought back to this earth; for why should that part of the unbelieving class which happens to live at the time of Christ’s Return be favored with opportunities of Restitution, and that part of the unbelieving class which happened to die before that time be excluded from those blessings, since God’s ways are equal and impartial (Ezek. 18:29-32), and since death does not of itself fix character?

We will now quote and explain some Scriptures which teach the lines of thought just suggested:

Acts 3:19-21 testifies: “Times of refreshing [this word is used to denote the re-enkindling of life and the promotion of growth effected by rain falling upon mown and burnt grass, to which the fallen human family is compared (Is. 40:5-8), and which is expressly stated to be the effect of Christ’s Reign upon our race, mown down by the curse, and burnt by the fierce rays of sin (Ps. 72:6, 16)] shall come from [on account of] the presence of the Lord [The Greek for presence is face, i.e. favor (Num. 6:24-26); for during the reign of sin God’s back, not His face, is represented as turned toward man (Jer. 18:17); but during the Millennium, as this passage indicates, He will turn His face toward man, beaming with grace, mercy and truth for man’s restoration. Please note that this is represented in the next verse as being associated with Christ’s Return]; and He shall send Jesus Christ, which [who] before [during the Gospel Age] was preached unto you, whom [Christ] the heaven must receive [retain; – how long?] UNTIL THE TIMES OF RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS [every feature of the image and likeness of God is to be restored to the willing and obedient in the Millennium] which [things] God hath spoken [promised] by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” This passage expressly teaches us that Christ does not return until the Times of Restitution, the Times of Refreshing; therefore He returns to restore to, and to refresh the race with, its original condition. St. Peter tells us that this is the testimony of all the holy prophets, as also quotations above given prove.

Acts 15:14-17 is another passage to the point: “Simeon [Peter] hath declared how God at the first [beginning at the home of Cornelius (Acts 10)] did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people [the Church, Christ’s Body] for His name [The Jews, expecting but one Advent of the Messiah, had difficulty in reconciling their hopes of His glorious Reign with sending the Gospel to Gentiles. St. James harmonizes the seeming contradiction by pointing out that there are two Advents; that the time parenthesis between them is filled in by the selection of the Bride for Christ from among Jews and Gentiles; that after this will come Messiah’s glorious Reign; and that this view of matters harmonizes the facts with the Scriptures]. And to this agree the words of the prophets, as it is written [There is no contradiction between the teaching of the selection of Christ’s Bride and His blessing the world of mankind. All that is needed is that they be kept separate and distinct as to the time of their operation: First the Bride is selected, then come the Second Advent and the reign of blessing], After this [after visiting the Gentiles to select the Bride] I will return [the Second Advent begins], and will build [erect in royalty] again the Tabernacle of David [the house, family of David, in great David’s greater son, Jesus], which is fallen down [when Zedekiah, 607 B. C., was dethroned, David’s royal house fell down, i.e., it ceased reigning]; and I will build again the ruins thereof [with and since the fall of David’s royal house, Israel as a kingdom has been in ruins; but this kingdom is to be restored at the Lord’s return, after the testimony would be given in all the world for the selection of the Bride of Christ (Acts 1:6-8)], and I will set it [the Kingdom] up, [why does He return and establish the Kingdom?] that the residue of men [residue means that which is left after a part is taken out of it; the residue of men, therefore, means all not taken out as prospective parts of the Bride, i.e., the whole non-elect world, living and dead] might seek after the Lord, and [Greek, even] all the Gentiles [Greek, nations] upon whom My name is called.” There is a difference between “the people for His name” and “all the nations upon whom My name is called.” It is the very same difference that exists in the way in which a wife is called by her husband’s name and in the way in which a piece of property has in the deed its owner’s name put upon it. This passage clearly shows that our Lord with the completion of the Bride’s selection returns to establish God’s Kingdom, and to bless all those who were passed by and left unhelped while her selection was being made. Hence it implies blessings for the living and the dead.

2 Thes. 1:10 shows that Jesus not only returns to be glorified in His saints, but to be admired, worshiped, by those who will believe in that day, the Millennial Day of a thousand years. Rom. 8:17-21 shows that the whole human creation under the effects of the curse is kept waiting for deliverance until Christ and the Church as God’s Sons are manifested in glory for this work. (See also Col. 3:4.) A similar thought, based upon the picture of the Israelites waiting for the high priest to come out of the Tabernacle at the conclusion of the sacrifices (Lev. 9:22) to bless them, is given in Heb. 9:28, where Christ is represented as coming again for the blessing of those who await Him, which according to Rom. 8:19, 21 includes the entire human family. Ps. 22:27-29 is a glorious testimony to this thought. V. 27 shows that there will be a general indoctrination and conversion of the human family combined with universal worship of God. V. 28 shows that these three blessings will be due to the kingdoms of this world becoming the Kingdom of our God and of His Christ, and to His acting as Governor over the nations (Rev. 11:15). V. 29 (see A. R. V.) shows that the good, “the fat”, will appropriate to themselves the Kingdom’s blessings, and render God service therefor; while the dead, “they that go down to the dust”, i.e., those of the dead who could not continue to live because the Adamic sentence forced their death, will be subject to the Lord. This passage emphasizes the fact that those from whom in this life the Lord did not remove the Adamic sentence, and who therefore could not prevent their own death (“even he that cannot keep his soul alive”), would in the Kingdom serve the Lord as a result of the Kingdom’s blessings.

Likewise, Ps. 86:9 is to the point: “All nations that Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, and glorify Thy name” [See Rev. 15:4]. This passage implies that they must return from the dead to get this blessing of serving and honoring God, a thing that the vast majority of them did not do in this life. Dan. 7:13, 14 and Is. 35:4-10 show the same glorious blessing resulting from Christ’s Second Advent. The blessings that the returned Lord will give the race in its living and dead members are most eloquently, beautifully and comfortingly set forth in Ps. 72:1-19. Is. 25:6-9 is another beautiful summary of the Kingdom work following our Lord’s Return. The glorious feasts of uncontaminated and nutritious Truth are described in v. 6; while, as a part of the Kingdom’s work, the destruction of sin and error is described in v. 7 (see 1 Cor. 15:56, 55, where the question, “O death, where is thy sting [sin]?” implies the answer, “Nowhere,” for it will then be out of existence). V. 8 shows that both the dying process and the death state will be utterly blotted out of existence, with all tears and the persecution of the righteous, through the glorious Kingdom of God which Christ returns to establish. See St. Paul’s comment on v. 8 in 1 Cor. 15:21-26. Please compare with Rom. 8:19, 21.

Rom 14:9 expressly tells us that Christ died (gave Himself as our Ransom) that He might become the Lord, Ruler, both of the living and the dead. Hence His death will yet, in His Kingdom, bless all of Adam’s dead race. Phil. 2:6-8 describes His sacrificial death; and v. 9-11 show His consequent exaltation to be the Ruler over (1) all in heaven, which occurred at His ascension; (2) all on earth, which has not yet occurred, but which will occur after His return in the Kingdom; and (3) all under the earth [the dead] which also has not yet occurred, but which awaits His Second Advent and Kingdom, when, as already done in heaven, every tongue on earth and under the earth will acknowledge Him as Lord, thereby glorifying God.

See also God’s oath on this very point, in Is. 45:22, 23, and remember that the oath to this thing is based upon, and is explanatory of, the Oath-bound Covenant (Gen. 22:16, 18), by which God bound Himself to Christ and the Church, the Seed (Gal. 3:8, 16, 28, 29), to use them to bless all the families, nations and kindreds of the earth, resulting in the whole earth becoming full of His Glory (Num. 14:21; Ps. 72:19; Is. 11:9; Hab. 2:14; Matt. 6:10). And since the vast majority died unblessed, this passage implies their awakening for this blessing.

(7) HE TESTS AND REWARDS ALL RESTITUTIONISTS: A seventh object of our Lord’s Return is to test the human family as to its fitness or unfitness for everlasting life, and to render the final decision in each case – everlasting life on earth for the faithful Restitutionists and everlasting destruction for the wicked; for “the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then [during the Millennium] he shall reward every man according to his works” (Matt. 16:27). We are not to think that all who will be given the opportunity will attain Restitution – a return to the original estate of the human family in the image and likeness of God – and be rewarded with everlasting life. Only those who faithfully use this opportunity will be given the perfected earth (Restored Eden – Is. 35; 51:3; 66:22; Ezek. 36:35) as their eternal abode and kingdom. This is shown, e.g., in Matt. 25:31-46. That the righteous Restitutionists will be given eternal life is shown in v. 46; and that their inheritance will be, not in heaven, but on earth, is shown in v. 34: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared FOR YOU from the foundation of the world.” These “sheep” are the “other sheep” referred to by our Lord in John 10:16, and are not to be confused with the Gospel-Age sheep, the Gospel Church. These Restitution sheep, those who by the end of the Millennium will have the Golden Rule of love inscribed in their hearts (Matt. 25:35-40), will inherit the kingdom and honor prepared for mankind “from the foundation of the world”; for God made mankind to “have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Gen. 1:28; Ps. 8:5-8).

This earthly dominion, or kingdom, which the Lord will in the end of the Millennium give to His Restitution sheep, He will tell them was “prepared for you [not for His Church, which were chosen out of the world (John 15:19; 17:16), but for the tested and approved world of mankind] from the foundation of the world” (Is. 45:18). This kingdom and honor prepared for man is quite different from the Kingdom of Heaven, the “inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you [the Church]” (1 Pet. 1:4), which the Church, tested and found faithful during the Gospel Age (Rev. 17:14; 1 Pet. 4:17), inherits and shares with her Lord (John 14:2, 3; Rom. 8:17; 2 Cor. 5:1, 2; 1 Thes. 4:17). The Church’s kingdom and honor were ordained before the world unto her glory (1 Cor. 2:7), for she was chosen or designed in Christ “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4).

Just as the Church has throughout the Gospel Age been fully instructed, thoroughly tested, lovingly chastised and justly sentenced – “which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye [the Church] may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer” (2 Thes. 1:5); so God “hath appointed a day [the Millennial Day], in the which he will judge the world in righteousness [during the thousand-year Judgment Day, when Satan is bound, so that he can deceive the nations no more until their final testing time during the Little Season at the end of the Millennium – Rev. 20:3] by that man [the Christ, Head and Body – l Cor. 6:2; Matt. 19:28] whom he hath ordained” (Acts 17:31). No one, whether of the Church or of the world, will be given eternal life, either as a part of the new heavens or the new earth (2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1), until they are first instructed in the way in which they should go (Ps. 32:8; 25:8,9; Is. 42:1-4; 1 Tim. 2:3-6), thoroughly tested (Ps. 139:23, 24; Jer. 11:20; 2 Thes. 1:4, 5; Jas. 1:12), and disciplined, or chastised (Heb. 12:8, 11; 1 Cor. 11:31, 32; 1s. 26:9), for their correction and development into characters fitted for eternal life.

In the Millennial Judgment Day those Restitutionists who under the light of Truth then given are rightly exercised under chastisements intended for their correction and perfecting (some receiving many stripes, and some few – Luke 12:47, 48), and faithfully stand under the testings that will be given them (Deut. 13:3), thus proving themselves fully loyal to the principles of truth and righteousness, will be given the earth as their eternal inheritance, and they shall dwell therein forever (Ps. 37:9, 11, 29, 34); but all who refuse to reform under the favorable conditions of the Millennial Judgment Day will be destroyed from among the people in the Second Death; for they will die again, and thus be blotted out of existence forever (Acts 3:22, 23; Ps. 37:9, 10, 20, 28, 34-36; Rev. 20:14, 15; 21:8). The “goats” of the parable, those who externally reform during the Millennium, but who do not have the love of God written in their hearts nor exercise it toward their fellow men, will be cast into everlasting fire (everlasting destruction – Ps. 145:20; Ob. 16) prepared for the devil and his angels (Heb. 2:14; Rev. 20:9); thus they “shall go away into everlasting punishment [Greek, kolasin, which means literally, a cutting off; “punished with everlasting destruction” – 2 Thes. 1:9]: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matt. 25:41, 46); for “the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life” (Rom. 6:23). Thus Jesus will accomplish this seventh object of His Return to earth, viz., testing each individual of the human family as to his fitness or unfitness for eternal life, and rendering the final decision in each case – everlasting life on earth for the righteous and everlasting destruction for the wicked.

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Scriptural references to Our Lord’s second stay on earth: Gen. 3:15; 22:18; 49:10; Num. 24:17-19; Deut.18:15, 18, 19; 1 Sam. 2:10; Job 19:25; Ps.  22:27-29; 72; 98; 110; Is. 2:1-4; 11:1-11; 25:6-9; 35; 42:1-4; 49:1-12; 52; 59:16-20; 60; 61:4-11; 62; 63; 65; 66; Jer. 23:5, 6; 33:15-18; Ezek. 36; 37; 38;  39; Dan. 2:34, 35, 44, 45; 7:13, 14, 18, 22, 26, 27;  12:1-3; Hos. 2:14-23; 14; Joel 2:21-28; 3:9-21; Amos 9:11-15; Obad. 17-21; Micah 4; Nah. 1:15;  Hab. 3; Zeph. 3:8-20; Hag. 2:6-9; Zech. 9:10; 8:20-23; 13; 14; Mal. 3:1-5; 4; Matt. 16:27; 23:39; 24; 25; 26:64; Mark 13:27, 32, 35, 36; Luke 9:26; 12:37-46; 17:20-37; 18:8; 19:12-27; 21:25-36; John 14:3; 16:16-22; Acts 1:6, 7, 11; 3:19-21; 15:14-18; Rom. 8:17-23; 1 Cor. 1:7, 8; 4:5; 11:26; 15:21-28; Phil. 3:20, 21; Col. 3:4; 1 Thes. 1:10; 2:19; 3:13; 4:15-17; 5:1-5, 23; 2 Thes. 1:7-10; 2:1-12; 1 Tim. 6:14,15; 2 Tim. 4:1, 8; Tit. 2:13; Heb. 9:28; Jas. 5:1-9; 1 Pet. 1:4-9, 13; 4:13; 5:4; 2 Pet. 1:16-19; 3:3-14; 1 John 2:28; 3:2, 3; Jude 14, 15, 24;  Rev. 1:7; 3:11; 5:9, 10; 16:15; 19:11-21; 20; 21;  22:1-7, 17, 20.

NO. 693: THE RESTORATION OF THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID

No. 693

 “After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.” (Acts 15:16-17)

The Apostle James, quoting the Prophet Amos (Amos 9:11), uttered these words at a general Church conference in Jerusalem. The subject of investigation was the course of Paul and Barnabas in preaching the gospel to Gentiles. Many of the Jewish brethren felt that this was a social infraction as well as a breach of religious proprieties. For over 1,800 years the natural seed of Abraham had been specially favored of God, and all the promises of the divine word had been to these alone, as the Prophet declared, “You only have I known [recognized] of all the families of the earth.” (Amos 3:2) All the other nations, as the Apostle Paul intimates, were left without revelation, message, or covenant, “having no hope, and without God in the world.” (Eph. 2:12)

It is no wonder that the Jews had come to feel a religious exclusiveness, and to believe the chief divine favors belonged to the stock of Israel alone. Accordingly, the Apostle Paul intimates the same thing, saying, “What advantage then hath the Jew?” He answers, “Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.” (Rom. 3:1-2) We remember also our Lord’s instruction to His disciples at His first advent, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matt. 10:5-6)

“TO THE JEW FIRST” (Rom. 1:16)

Under these circumstances it is not surprising that the early Church was disturbed by the thought that God’s oath-bound covenant to their nation, as well as His providential dealings with them for eighteen centuries, should now apparently be set aside as though the special hope of Israel were a vain one, no more applicable to them than to others. The investigation of this matter was therefore deemed very important, the very foundation of all faith in the divine word. This should not be considered as evidence of narrow-mindedness on their part, but rather as proof of their loyalty to God and His plan, a fear of denying the foundation of all their hopes.

Peter was among the first to speak in favor of Paul and Barnabas preaching to the Gentiles. He reminded the conference how some time before God had shown him in a vision the breaking down of the partition between Jews and Gentiles as respects the favors of the Gospel Age, and had illustrated this in the case of Cornelius (the first Gentile convert) and his family. (Acts 10:34-35) Following this, Paul and Barnabas were permitted to describe the wonderful works God had done through them among the Gentiles. (Acts 15:12)

It was then that the Apostle James, who seems to have been the chairman of the convention, arose and called attention to the prophecy made by Amos. (Amos 9:11-12) He pointed out how Peter’s experience with Cornelius indicated the divine purpose to be that not only the faithful Jews, but also some from the Gentiles should be selected to constitute God’s peculiar people. The early Church, the first members being all Jews by birth, had already realized that God was passing by the Jewish nation as a whole and was merely taking out of it a remnant. The Apostle James now saw more clearly the divine intent that this “little flock” should be composed also in part of faithful Gentiles.

THE HIDDEN MYSTERY: “A PEOPLE FOR HIS NAME”

James declared that God was taking from the Gentiles “a people for his name.” (Acts 15:14) This signified that Gentiles as well as faithful Israelites were now invited to become the Bride of Christ, and thus to take the name of the Bridegroom. The thought of an elect spiritual class being selected to be the Bride and joint heir with Christ in His Kingdom was a surprise to the Jews. Although this promise was included in the Old Testament, it was so hidden as to be unnoticed until brought to light by the Holy Spirit after Pentecost.

The Apostle Paul speaks of this as the secret of the divine plan: “How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery … Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” (Eph. 3:3-6) This mystery was revealed because the time had come for the selection of this special Bride class. Although the existence of the Bride class was kept a secret during the Jewish Age and is still not very clearly understood by the majority of Christian people, it was clearly marked in the prophecies and types of the Old Testament. For instance, we see how Abraham typified God, how Isaac typified our Lord Jesus Christ, and how Rebecca typified the Church, related to God only by becoming the Bride of Christ, just as Rebecca’s relationship to Abraham was through her union with Isaac. Thus as the Apostle declares: “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Again he states: “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.” (Gal. 3:29; Rom. 8:17)

The custom of the wife dropping her own name and assuming the name of her husband is almost universal; we believe divine providence guided this matter that it might be a type or illustration of how the Church loses her own identity and name and assumes those of her husband. Thus in the Scriptures the name Christ, which signifies the anointed, while primarily given to our Lord Jesus in His own person, is in a secondary sense applicable to all the Church, His Bride, His body.

As the early Church gradually learned about this mystery of the Bride class being joint-heirs with the Bridegroom in the Kingdom, they also learned that Gentiles of the proper heart attitude would also be accepted into this body. (Acts 15:19-20)

As James pointed out, after the completion of the Bride class the time will come for the restoration of the nation of Israel to divine favor, followed by a general favor to all Gentiles. “The tabernacle of David, which is fallen down,” refers to the family of David, which by divine arrangement was the royal family of the nation of Israel. The last representative of David upon the throne was Zedekiah. At the time of his overthrow the LORD’s pronouncement was: “And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, …Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same... I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.” (Ezek. 21:25-27)

At our Lord Jesus’ first advent, the overturning had lasted for over 600 years. His disciples asked Him, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) They wanted to know if He would at once take His throne and re-establish the dominion of Israel, which passed away entirely in the days of Zedekiah. Our Lord answered: “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” (Acts 1:7) Shortly after this, the disciples received the Pentecostal benediction, and under the enlightening influence of the Holy Spirit they gradually learned more and more about the divine purpose.

This conference of Apostles was a further step in the divine leading on the matter, showing them that the “mystery” class, the Church, the Bride of Jesus, was to be composed of select Gentiles as well as select Jews, and not until after this had been accomplished would the Kingdom be established and the tabernacle of David, which had fallen down in Zedekiah’s day, be re-established upon better, holier, more solid, foundations.

BLINDED ISRAEL’S STUMBLING

The Apostle Paul brings out the same facts in his epistle to the Romans. He points out that the fall of Israel as a nation came through the rejection of Jesus, as the LORD foretold through the Prophets. As Paul quotes, “For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence.” (Rom. 9:32-33; Isa. 8:14) It was foretold that Israel would fall through pride and a feeling of self-sufficiency, which caused them to repudiate the great Life-giver: “And David saith, Let their table [of divine bounties, blessings and promises] be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them.” (Rom. 11:9; Psa. 69:22) Paul assures the Church, composed of Gentiles and Jews, that the nation of Israel, although blinded to the divine favors of the Gospel Age, blinded to the “mystery,” is still beloved of the LORD for the fathers’ sake. (Rom. 11:28) Although blinded and cast aside, Israel is not destroyed and will ultimately be recovered, saved from the blindness resulting from its rejection of the Messiah. (Rom. 11:26)

Thus the Apostle Paul is in full agreement with the Apostle James: After the mystery class has been selected from both Jews and Gentiles as foreordained in the divine plan, the tabernacle of David will be rebuilt and the Jews as a nation will again come into divine favor. Paul says: “Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” (Rom. 11:25) That is, their blindness will continue until the selection of the Bride of Christ is complete. To leave no doubt on the subject, the Apostle elaborates: “For as ye [Gentiles] in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.” (Rom. 11:30-32)

Here is the plain statement that the blessing which is coming to Israel will be God’s mercy exercised through the Church after its completion and glorification. Until that time, no special mercy, divine favor, or opening of the blind eyes of Israel should be expected. It should not be expected before then that “They shall look on him whom they pierced.” (John 19:37; Zech. 12:10) While we see with pleasure that the eyes of the Jews are opening to some extent, we have no expectation that this will become general nor that it will lead to a clearness of sight until the appointed time.

HOW WILL DAVID’S TABERNACLE BE RESTORED?

The “tabernacle of David” undoubtedly signifies the throne, or kingdom of David, which has been in ruins for centuries. David and his divine commission as king of Israel, like all other circumstances of the Jewish age, were typical. We read that the throne of David was the throne of the LORD’s Kingdom, signifying that David was a type of the great king who was to be of the house and lineage of David. The word of the LORD came to the Prophet Nathan to tell King David, “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.” (2 Sam: 7:12) We see then, that the establishment of Christ in Kingdom power in the beginning of the Millennial Age will be the reestablishment of the Kingdom of God, over which David ruled in a small and typical manner. Even in David’s name we see a significance which points us to Christ, Bridegroom and Bride, head and body. David signifies “beloved,” and assuredly the antitypical David, Christ head and body, are beloved of God.

This Kingdom of Christ is to be purely a spiritual one, invisible to men. As our Lord Jesus declared to the Pharisees: “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you [in your midst].” (Luke 17:20-21)

There will, however, be an earthly phase of the Kingdom that will be visible to men. Those who will constitute this visible earthly phase will be those Ancient Worthies of the Abrahamic stock referred to by the Apostle in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. These, the Apostle declares, shall receive a share in the divine promise, though not the superior part of it, which has been reserved for the spiritual Israelites of the Gospel Age, “God having provided some better thing for us [than for them], that they without us should not be made perfect.” (Heb. 11:40)

The resurrection of these Ancient Worthies will be to the perfection of human nature, a totally different resurrection from that which is to come to the overcoming class of the Gospel Age, which will be to a divine nature, invisible to mankind. These resurrected perfect ancients, approved of God, will constitute the earthly representatives of the heavenly and invisible Kingdom of Christ, and to these the world of mankind will come for instruction, and through these the divine law and messages of justice and mercy will be communicated to all the families of the earth, as it is written, “Out of Zion [the spiritual phase of the Kingdom, the Church glorified] shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD [the message of the LORD, the announcement], from Jerusalem [the earthly phase of the Kingdom in the hands of the Ancient Worthies].” (Isa. 2:3)

PROMISE SURE TO BOTH SEEDS

The earthly plans of the Kingdom of God will be in the hands of the Jews, and the earthly features of the Abrahamic covenant will be fulfilled through the members of the natural seed of Abraham. God will use both the natural seed and the spiritual seed to bless first the Jews and subsequently every nation, people, kindred and tongue. “Glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.” (Rom. 2:10) Thus the Apostle declares that the Abrahamic covenant will be fulfilled through both the natural and the spiritual seeds. (Rom. 4:16)

Here we remember the prophetic declaration respecting our Lord: “Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.” (Psa. 45:16) Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the holy Prophets were continually spoken of by the Jews as the “fathers,” and our Lord is spoken of as a son of Abraham and also a son of David; but matters have undergone a great change. By His great sacrifice, He who was the son of Abraham, David and Mary redeemed the world and became the heir of God’s great oath-bound covenant and the Life-giver for Adam and his race. Whoever of mankind shall be resuscitated, restored, resurrected to life during the Millennial Age, will receive that life from the Savior, the Life-giver; and since every life-giver is a father, it follows that Jesus will be the Life-giver or father to all the world of mankind who will accept His favor during that age. He will be the father or Life-giver of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the Prophets; and so, instead of being the fathers of Jesus they will become His children, and during the Millennial Age they will constitute the earthly representatives of the spiritual, invisible Kingdom, the glorified Christ, Bridegroom and Bride.

According to prophecy, these princes of Jewish stock will be perfect men clothed with great power. Their trial for eternal life having been passed successfully, their resurrected bodies will be in every sense of the word complete, as was the original Adam, in the image and likeness of God. Possessed of perfect human powers, they will be in every way superior to the remainder of mankind. This superiority will be recognized first by the Jews and later by the entire world. Their manifestation among the Jews will occur when the re-gathered Jews will be in the midst of a great trouble, antagonized by their Gentile neighbors.

The promise is that the LORD will at that time manifest Himself on their behalf, as when He fought for them in the day of battle, in the day of Joshua. The manifestation of divine favor will be so marked as to create a new era in the affairs of Israel; their period of rejection will be passed, their period of favor fully begun, and among the first things connected with this favor will be the opening of the eyes of their understanding that they may look upon Him whom they pierced. Then, as the Prophet declares, the LORD will pour upon them the spirit of prayer and of supplication, and forthwith the new covenant blessings will be theirs; their sins and iniquities the LORD will remember no more. (Zech. 12:10)

ISRAEL’S FAVOR NEARING

The Scriptures figuratively speak of the turning of the living generation of Israel from their present condition of blindness as a resurrection from the dead. As the Apostle declares, “What shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” (Rom. 11:15) This turning will be just the beginning of the revelation to the world of the great goodness of God and His wonderful plan of salvation, which extends His benefits and opportunities to every member of Adam’s race. One prophecy shows that other nations will witness Israel’s prosperity under the new regime in contrast with the conditions of anarchy in their own countries. “And the Genitles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” (Isa. 60:3) Sick of war, deceit and anarchy, they will desire to be like Israel. The prophecy declares that the desire of all nations shall come saying: “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” (Isa. 2:3)

Our opening text refers to the same situation. The throne of David will be restored so “the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord.” (Acts 15:17) How grand a time that will be! The Scriptures declare that in the Millennial day, the day of Christ, the righteous shall flourish and evil-doers shall be cut off. (Psa. 37:9) Again they declare that the knowledge of the LORD shall fill the whole earth as the waters cover the great deep. (Isa. 11:9; Hab. 2:14) Again they assure us there will then be no need of saying to one’s brother and to one’s neighbor, “know the LORD,” because all shall know Him, from the least to the greatest. (Jer. 31:34)

The signs of the budding of Israel’s fig tree are visible, not only in the reestablishment of their ancient homeland, but also in their growing interest in Jesus as the renowned Jew. But their blindness will not depart, nor their hopes of national security be realized until spiritual Israel is completed and glorified. (Rom. 11:25)

The statement “upon whom my name is called,” is clarified by an examination of the prophecy from which it is quoted (Amos 9:11-12), where it is rendered, “and of all the heathen [nations], which are called by my name.” We believe this expression indicates that during that glorious time the LORD will provide a blessing upon all who heartily and sincerely bear His name, all who desire to be children of the great Life-giver, and who accordingly hear and obey His voice. All such will be received back into harmony with God as members of the Christ family. As the Apostle declares, it is the divine purpose to eventually gather together under one head all things both in heaven and in earth. (Eph. 1:10) While the Gospel Age accomplishes the unification of the Bride and the Bridegroom, the Millennial Age will accomplish the development of the children of Christ on the earthly plane of being.

All the blessings we have just examined are summed up in the briefly stated oath-bound covenant: “In thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 28:14) God’s favor was further indicated in the words to Abraham, “For a father of many nations have I made thee.” (Gen. 17:5) Abraham was a type of God, and this expression implies that all nations shall eventually have the glorious privilege of becoming sons of God.

The privilege has gone first to the spiritual seed: “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Gal. 3:29) It will go next to the natural seed of Abraham, beginning with the Ancient Worthies, the “princes,” and subsequently to all of the Jewish race who will come into harmony with God. Finally, it will go to “all the gentiles,” all nations, peoples, kindreds and tongues. These, if willing and obedient after being brought to a knowledge of their glorious opportunities during the Millennial Age, will be accepted also as Abraham’s seed and as sons of God through Christ.

In view of these great provisions in God’s plan, not only for the salvation of the Church of the Gospel Age, but for all of mankind in the age to come, it is no wonder that the Apostle exclaimed: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Rom. 11:33)

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(The above is based on an oral address by Pastor Russell, published in the Pittsburgh Gazette, Nov. 14, 1904. Reproduced in Harvest Gleanings, Volume 3.)

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PRESENT FOREGLEAMS OF COMING GLORY

“…it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!”(Num. 23:23)

We are living in a most wonderful period of the world’s history. We are surrounded by inventions for man’s blessing. Evidently the time is near when all the world may enjoy relief from hardship and excessive toil, and receive blessings and comforts as mankind has never before imagined. Yet these things have come upon us so gradually, so stealthily, that we scarcely realize what progress has been made.

As the Bible foretold, these blessings and comforts have come in “the time of the end” (Dan. 12:4), a period that began with the year 1799 (see Studies in the Scriptures, Volume III, Study II). The prevalent view of Christendom is that this end time means the end of the world. But that is not the thought of the Bible when rightly understood.

The Time of the End is the end of this present age. It is the end of the long reign of sin and death. We are now coming into a new era, in which all these evil conditions which have oppressed man for six thousand years are to terminate. Soon the great Sabbath of rest, the Golden Age of blessing long sung by Prophet and bard, will be ushered in. Indeed, in some respects it has already been ushered in.

While the blessings of this time are designed to be for all mankind, they have, because of man’s ingrained selfishness, tended to gravitate into the hands of a certain few, resulting in pride among some and jealousy among others. This has precipitated fearful conflict among nations along commercial lines, each endeavoring to get the lion’s share of the blessings which the LORD has provided in these latter days. They have become jealous and envious of one another as they see the opportunities of wealth and power opening up before them. Awful wars have resulted in millions of lost lives and untold hardship.

In contrast, the Bible shows us that God has made loving and bountiful provision for His blessings to reach all the families of the earth, every individual! And the time is now ripe. How glad this knowledge makes our hearts! We whose eyes of understanding have been anointed to see are greatly blessed in that we are privileged to be ministers of God, to tell of all His mercies and favors planned for mankind.

PRESENT BLESSINGS FROM GOD

While considering all these blessings which surround us, and noting what imperfect man has been able to attain even under present conditions by the blessing of God, let us not lose sight of the fact that these things did not come by man’s ingenuity. Let us take note that men just as brainy, just as brilliant, have lived in the past. Where is he today who can pen such words of wisdom as the Proverbs of Solomon? What poet today can produce the equal of the Psalms of David, the sweet singer of Israel? Let us remember, too, that though Shakespeare lived centuries ago, he remains unsurpassed in his craft by any writer of our time.

Let us assure ourselves that we are not the brainiest people who have ever lived; the blessings of our day have not come to us because we are of superior brain capacity to those of past generations. They are here because this is God’s “due time.” (1 Tim. 2:6) That He is now letting in the light of the dawning new dispensation is the firm belief of careful Bible students.

When we consider what mankind has accomplished in its present imperfect condition, we can only imagine what mankind will do when made perfect in the image of God, under the Messianic Kingdom. If such feeble creatures can accomplish so much, can produce such wonderful things, even in their fallen estate, who can measure the power of the Almighty God, He who is perfect in Wisdom, perfect in Power, perfect in Justice, and perfect in Love? How thankful we are to get this broad, comprehensive view of our God, and to see that He is not only great and powerful, but wise and infinitely loving as well!

GOD’S MARVELOUS ATTRIBUTES

When we ponder what man has done, and what God has done and has planned to do, the words of the Prophet David come to mind: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork.” (Psa. 19:1) All that mankind has done or ever will do is merely a copy of the infinitely greater skill manifested by our great Creator in His works. As we note the stars revolving in their orbits, we are amazed, not only at the mighty power that can swing these wonderful systems of worlds, but at the wisdom and ability displayed in preserving their perfect order.

When we consider what God hath wrought in connection with humanity, we are still more astonished. Think of the human body. This great piece of machinery has power to feed and sustain itself, to think and reason for itself, and to direct its own course. If mankind could make such a machine it would have something of which to be proud. But the best that we can do is to copy feebly the works of our Creator and to work in harmony with His laws. When we realize that all the machinery and the inventions of our day are but imperfect copies of what God has done, that man is only using God’s principles, to the extent that he is able to understand them, we see more clearly that man was made an earthly image of the Heavenly Creator.

Yet some who excel as inventors may be very deficient in the qualities of justice and love. We are coming to look upon these qualities as the ones most desirable to cultivate; and by the grace of God we are seeking to develop these qualities more and more. As the work of transformation progresses in our hearts and lives, we see more clearly what a great blessing will come to the world when these principles of Divine justice and love will operate everywhere.

We look at other nations and think they do not have sufficient appreciation of justice to be willing to observe the Golden Rule, to do unto others as they would have others do to them! We see selfishness abound as nations battle over power and trade, competing to show which can the more successfully exercise its selfishness to the disadvantage of the other.

Is this copying God’s ways? Let us take the nobler, higher standard of Divine justice, and do to our neighbors as we would wish them to do to us. Let us promote this principle wherever we go. Let us make known the character of God wherever we have an opportunity, by showing forth His justice, His sympathy, His kindness. Let this character be manifested in our own lives. As children of God, let us be burning and shining lights, to the glory of our Father in Heaven.

LIGHT BREAKING THROUGH THE DARKNESS

While realizing God’s great wisdom and power as manifested in nature, we have been seriously handicapped by false doctrines which grossly misrepresent our Creator and show Him as a God devoid of justice and of love. It seems a wonder that we were not all turned aside from Him. Not one of the human family is totally depraved; yet we have had pictured to us a totally depraved God. This misconception of the Heavenly Father came from the Dark Ages. We thank God that the age now at the threshold is bringing deeper blessings, blessings not merely of a material nature! It is scattering the ignorance and superstition of the past, and is bringing in the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, which is ultimately to fill the whole earth. (Isa. 11:9; Hab. 2:14)

We are awake and beginning to see the light, but to see clearly we must look in the right direction. There are people today who are quite awake, but they are looking toward the west for the sunrise. We see great college professors, learned men who have given their lives to study and who have knowledge on many subjects, making the mistake of thinking that evolution is our God; that a microbe started to squirm and has been evolving upward gradually, until our race has reached the station which it occupies today. They do not see an intelligent God in this matter. Their misconception is that evolution is man’s only hope. They say that ultimately there will be “the survival of the fittest.”

Think of the effects of war. There the fittest are the ones who fall in the trenches and on the battlefields. The unfit the old, the weak, the crippled and incompetent are left at home to propagate and rear the families of the future. That is the science of evolution, the philosophy which hopes that in millions of years hence men may have learned how to cook and to eat so that they will not need to die, and that thus they may have everlasting life. Evolutionists believe that this may be true of their posterity somewhere in the dim, distant future. They do not stop to think that at the present rate of increase in population the world would be vastly overcrowded before that time, that natural resources would be exhausted, that things cannot continue as at present for any great length of time.

But the Bible points out that man’s extremity will be God’s opportunity. After permitting mankind to have all these blessings of our day, He will allow men to dash themselves to pieces in a great cataclysm of trouble, and make shipwreck of all this advanced civilization. Before the complete destruction of mankind, however, the Kingdom of Messiah, God’s dear Son, will intervene and will speak peace to the nations. After the terrible storm there will be a great calm. Christ will take to Himself His great power and establish His glorious Reign.

GOD’S CREATION

According to the Bible, during the Gospel Age God has been selecting from every nation, people, kindred and tongue the Church of Christ, a class which He is about to exalt in the eyes of the whole world. He will use this class for the blessing of the world, for the enlightening and the uplifting of all mankind. Thank God for this truth! Through testings, through trials, through the opposition of the world, the flesh and the Devil, our God has shaped, polished, and prepared this class for their future great work of human uplift.

Let us review the creation of God thus far. First was the Logos, our Lord Jesus in His pre-human condition. As the great Agent of Jehovah, He created all things. As we read, “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:1-3,10; Rev. 3:14; Col. 1:15,16) The Power was of God, exercised through the glorious Word, the Logos. (1 Cor. 8:6) God’s final creation was man. Then sin blighted this fair creation. For a time God allowed it to remain as sin has marred it. But in due time, according to God’s prearranged plan, Jesus came into the world to be the Savior of men; He took upon Himself human nature. As a man He gave Himself a Ransom for Adam, and thus for the race that fell in Adam’s loins. The price was laid down, even the precious blood of the Son of God. (1 Cor. 15:21-22; Rom. 5:12, 18-19; 1 Tim. 2:5-6)

But before the time for the blessing of the world, the Father had a further feature of His great plan, the making of a New Creation, different from angels, cherubim, seraphim or any other creature. From among the fallen sinner race He invited a class to become members of this New Creation, and thus joint-heirs with Jesus Christ their Lord. God is working in these New Creatures, the Body of Christ. (Mal. 3:16-18; Isa. 62:3)

This New Creation will be the channel which God will use for the restoration of all mankind. (1 Cor. 6:2) Because of their own experiences with evil, and because they have learned how to overcome weakness and imperfections in themselves, they will be well fitted for encouraging, instructing and uplifting the human family to the perfection which God designs for them, and which Adam originally enjoyed. They will be able to deal sympathetically with the poor world. This blessing will go not only to the living, but to those also who have gone down into the tomb. All these will be awakened. God will not awaken them now, because it would be to their disadvantage. He will keep them in the sleep of death until the Kingdom of Righteousness is thoroughly established. Then they will come forth to learn of God’s infinite goodness, and to receive His salvation; whosoever will, at the hands of the New Creation.

Beyond this, God gives no further revelation. We are merely informed that at the conclusion of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom, when all the willing shall have been made perfect, and when all the willfully wicked shall have been destroyed, Christ will turn over the Kingdom to the Father, “that God may be all in all.” (1 Cor. 15:28)

God has given us a glimpse of that infinite glorious future through the words of the Apostle Paul: “That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:7) Seeing then these present foregleams of coming glory, let us consider these present blessings as signposts, directing us to the glorious outcome of God’s marvelous Plan of the Ages, as declared in His Holy Word.

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(The above is based on an oral address by Pastor Russell, published in the St. Paul Enterprise, Dec. 10, 1915. Reproduced in Harvest Gleanings, Volume 3.)

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QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST

QUESTION – Why Are Bible Students called “Truth People”?

ANSWER – My thought is that we are those who put the truth before anything else, we love the truth and would sacrifice anything we have for the truth. We are not putting creeds and traditions before the truth. We are not sacrificing the truth for any sect or party, but rather sacrifice sect and party, and even self, for the truth, because we understand that God has put the truth as his own representative. Jesus so presents it in the Word, saying, “I am the truth.” (John 14:6) In standing for the truth, we are standing for the Lord. (From What Pastor Russell Said, Question 345.)

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NO. 692: EASTER

No. 692

“But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep.” (1 Cor. 15:20, ASV)

The name Easter is of heathen origin, Easter being the name of a goddess of olden times. Likewise, the days of the week are also named after heathen deities, although these names have gradually lost their heathen significance. For Christian people today, Easter Sunday commemorates the resurrection of our Lord Jesus from the dead on the third day after His death. To those that appreciate Him as the great Light sent into the world for man’s deliverance, to those who appreciate Him as the Sun of Righteousness (Mal. 4:2) which shall ultimately shine forth to the blessing of all the families of the earth, to such there could be no more appropriate day named than Sunday to mark the day upon which He rose from the dead, and entered upon the new life which is yet to bring such blessing to all mankind.

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

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

RESURRECTION ESSENTIAL

On one occasion St. Paul was in the hands of a Jewish mob and, perceiving that they were part Sadducees and part Pharisees, he cried out, “I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.” (Acts 23:6) The Pharisees, who believed in a resurrection, at once insisted that Paul should not be persecuted by those who denied the resurrection – the Sadducees and agnostics.

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

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

OTHERWISE CHRISTIAN FAITH IS VAIN

Paul was not one to quibble or dodge issues because some of his hearers were lacking in faith. Mark the force of his argument when he says, “For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised; And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” (1 Cor. 15:16-18) Note his argument: Christian faith is vain without the resurrection of Christ. Why would that be the case, if it be true that good men go at once to heaven in the moment of death? How could faith in Christ’s resurrection affect their interests either one way or another? How could the Apostle say that those who have fallen asleep in Christ are perished, if He did not rise from the dead?

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

We are only beginning to awaken to a realization of the confusion that has come to us through this neglect of the Word of God and acceptance of platonic philosophy. Surely no one can read thoughtfully this argument of the Apostle without being convinced that the writer believed that those who go into the tomb must “sleep” until the resurrection morning. Moreover they must see that this sleep is a figure of speech, which signifies that the dead are really dead, but are reckoned to be asleep because of the promise of a resurrection. Mark the Apostle’s statement: if Christ has not risen from the dead, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished; that is to say, those we thought of as sleeping in Christ, and waiting for the Millennial morning for the Master’s call to come forth from the tomb are not really sleeping but are eternally dead, if there has been no redemption accomplished for them, if He who died at Calvary stayed dead and did not rise from the dead on the third day as He foretold He would, and as the Apostles as witnesses declared He did.

BUT NOW IS CHRIST RISEN

Our opening text sums up the Apostle’s argument: he assumes that he has convinced any Christian who is inclined to doubt the value, the necessity, the fact of Christ’s resurrection. He says in effect: We Christians acknowledge the fact that Christ did rise from the dead: this is the very foundation of our faith. And more than this we believe that He was the first fruits of those that have fallen asleep. Note carefully the thought here expressed that Christ’s resurrection was a first fruits or sample, in some respects at least, of a resurrection that is to apply to others. The meaning is plain; the world of mankind had been dying for more than 4,000 years when the Apostle wrote these words.

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

THEM THAT ARE ASLEEP

The words “them that are asleep” should leave no doubt in the minds of any as to what the Apostle meant. The sleeping ones, the dead, were still dead, still asleep, when he wrote, although this was years after Jesus had died for our sins and risen from the dead. Later on in this same wonderful resurrection chapter the Apostle shows clearly both how and when all these sleeping ones shall be called forth from the tomb. He points out a first resurrection of holy blessed ones who shall come forth in the resurrection spirit beings, heavenly beings. (1 Cor. 15: 43,44) This class will constitute the first resurrection or, as the Apostle puts it, they will share in His resurrection because they have shared also in His sufferings and in His death. (2 Tim. 2:11,12; Rom. 6:5) Here is further corroboration then that our Lord was not risen from the dead a man, but He was “put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit,” a spirit being. (1 Pet. 3:18) Or, as the Apostle again declares, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.” (Phil. 2:9) Of Him the Apostle again declares that He is the second Adam, the second life giver and head for the race, and he adds, “Now the Lord is that Spirit.” (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17)

He assures us that our Lord was manifest in the flesh at His first advent in order that He might suffer death on our behalf, in order that He might pay the ransom price for Adam and his race by dying the just for the unjust, to sacrifice Himself as the man Christ Jesus. His resurrection was then in the nature of a reward for His obedience unto death and placed Him back again on the spirit plane, “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named,” and the express image of His Father’s person. (Eph. 1:21; Heb. 1:3)

FIRST FRUITS AND AFTER FRUITS

Jesus was the first fruits of all who ever died in the sense that He was the first to rise from the dead, as the Scriptures so plainly declare. Some have confusion on this point when they think of some three cases in the Old Testament and as many in the New Testament in which the dead were brought back to life before our Lord’s death and resurrection. The explanation of how Christ could be the first that should rise from the dead, without ignoring these Scriptural cases, is a very simple one. According to the Scriptures, life and death are opposites; hence the very beginning of the working of death and imperfection in any being vitiates his life to that extent. He is no longer a living being but a dying being. From this standpoint Adam’s dying began the moment the death sentence was pronounced against him, although he did not fully succumb to the death powers for nearly 930 years.

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

The Apostle James speaks of the Church, saying that in God’s plan “we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” (James 1:18) Here we have an elaboration of the same thought. Jesus Himself was the first fruits of all, and the Church adopted and begotten of the Holy Spirit as the body members of the glorified Christ are declared to be with their head “a kind of firstfruits.” This shows most distinctly that there are others besides the Church for whom a blessing is in reserve, a blessing of rescue from the power of sin and death by a resurrection.

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

Continuing to speak of this heavenly class, the elect Church, he says, “As we have born the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” (1 Cor. 15:49) He proceeds then to point out a mystery or secret, assuring the Church that in the resurrection the Lord will complete that work of “change” already begun in them. (1 Cor. 15:51)

The Apostle further shows that after the Church shall have experienced this change from mortal to immortal conditions, from earthly to heavenly conditions, the promise of God through the Prophet will have fulfillment, namely, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, [hades] where is thy victory?” (1 Cor. 15:54,55; Isa. 25:8) Thus the death of Christ, operating first for the deliverance of the elect to the heavenly conditions, will be made available to the world of mankind during the Millennial Age to deliver them to perfect earthly conditions, so that death itself may be swallowed up in victory. The power of the grave shall no longer prevail against the human family who have been bought with “the precious blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:19); all who will accept the divine favor then extended to them may come to a full victory through Christ over sin and over death.

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

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

INTELLIGENT EASTER JOYS

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

Easter Sunday means the “adoption” of the elect Church through faith, to be “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” in His heavenly inheritance and glory and work of the Millennial Kingdom. (Rom. 8: 17,23) It bids us wait with patience for our share in the resurrection; then “shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings,” (Mal. 4:2) to bless the sin-benighted world of mankind, “to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning;” (Isa. 61:3) to bid them to look up, and to help them rise up in the glorious restitution, which the LORD has promised to all the families of the earth. (Acts 3:19-21)

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

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

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THE SUPREMACY OF GOD’S KINGDOM

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

This text tells of great events in the “last days.” It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that these words imply the end of time or the end of the world, in the ordinary sense. The Bible declares that “the earth abideth for ever,” (Ecc. 1:4) and it tells of the wonderful blessings of Restitution, when the Lord’s footstool shall blossom as the rose – Paradise restored. (Isa. 35:1; 60:13) All this is to come in the “last days.”

The Jews understood that the seven days of the week, six of labor and the seventh of rest, were typical of seven greater days of a thousand years each. Some say we are living in the Friday night of the world’s history which means that the great Sabbath of Rest, the thousand years of Messiah’s reign, is about to begin (the Jewish day beginning in the evening).

The New Testament writers seem to have had the same thought. Thus our Lord declared, “The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” (John 12:48) Similarly, Martha declared her faith in the resurrection of her brother, saying, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” (John 11:24) The last day is the Millennial Day, the Day of Christ, the great Day which will witness the overthrow of sin and death and the uplifting of humanity.

Of that Great Day we read that the righteous will flourish and evil-doers will be cut off. (Psa 72:7, 37:9) This Seventh Day is frequently spoken of as “that day,” as indicating the time when Divine power will no longer permit the reign of sin among men, but Messiah’s Kingdom will actively intervene. The overthrow of Satan, sin and all unrighteousness will then take place. During this Day the Messiah will put down all things opposed to righteousness: “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor. 15:26)

The resurrection process will be in operation throughout that glorious Day; mankind will be rising out of its meanness, sin, sickness and death, back to all that was lost in Eden, and redeemed by the Cross. “After those days” (the days of the reign of sin), God promises to make a New Covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah, through which they shall be uplifted; and the blessings will flow from them to all nations. (Jer. 31:31,33) After those days also God promises, “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.” (Joel 2:28) After those days, in the promised Day of Messiah, the Mountain of the Lord’s House shall be established, fixed, in the very top of the mountains above all other kingdoms. A mountain symbolizes a kingdom and, as the Prophet declares, God’s Kingdom will be the highest Mountain; it will be over the top of all other kingdoms. It will be established or fixed permanently above all others. (Isa. 2:3)

Messiah, the great King, with His Elect Bride and Associate with Him, will exercise His Divine power, Satan shall be bound for a thousand years, and sin will no longer be permitted. (Rev. 20:2) From the invisible plane of glory and majesty, justice will be executed in the earth; every good word, thought and deed will be rewarded, and every evil thought, word and deed will be punished, “for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” (Isa. 26:9) It is certain that, “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isa. 11:9)

How speedily the world will then learn righteousness! Now it doubts the very existence of God, and declares that if He exists He pays little or no heed to wrong-doers: “And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.” (Mal. 3:15)

But the New Day will change all this: “Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.” (Isa. 28:17) “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.” (Isa. 35:5) “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD.” (Hab. 2:14) “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them.” (Jer. 31: 34, Heb. 8:11)

TENDENCIES REVERSED

The present tendency is to gravitate downward, but our opening text tells of a reversal of this order. All nations shall then flow or gravitate upward toward the righteous Kingdom of Messiah. The Kingdom, in its original establishment, will be Israelitish; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets will be made “princes in all the earth.” (Psa. 45:16)

The Jews will naturally rally to their standard and begin to recognize the fulfillment of the prophecies of old. Other nationalities will begin slowly to realize the significance of the great, new Jewish dispensation. While their ideas and ideals will be antagonistic for a time, they will gradually see the Restitution blessings coming to Israel, in harmony with the Divine arrangements of the Kingdom. Then, as the scripture declares, “Many people shall go and say, come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the House of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us [as well as the Jews] of his ways, and we [as well as they] will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” (Isa. 2:3)

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

The new King, Messiah, will judge the people, first as nations and later as individuals. The national judgments will mean calamities upon the nations, their great institutions and armies proving powerless as peacemakers. On the contrary, those who put their trust in these institutions will suffer most severely. All must learn the lesson that Messiah’s Kingdom comes not by human might or power, but by the power of the LORD, at His own appointed time.

The lesson will be so thoroughly learned in that Day of Trouble that war will forever cease. As the Prophet David tells us, God will make “wars to cease unto the end of the earth.” (Psa. 46:9) Thereafter, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isa. 2:4) Human energy will be fully employed in conquering sin, sickness and death.

HIDING IN THE ROCKS

The Prophet Isaiah tells us that idolatry to gold and silver shall be brought to an end, and the great trouble of that Day will cause many to hide themselves in the rocks for fear of the LORD and for the glory of His Majesty. “The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.” (Isa. 2:9-11) Those who worship the idols “shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” (Isa. 2:18-21)

The same picture is presented in Revelation where the great ones of earth are represented as calling upon the mountain to fall on them and to hide them from the presence of the Lord: “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.” (Rev. 6:15,16) As the Prophet Malachi asks, “But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth?” (Mal. 3:2)

The mountains and rocks of society (all social, financial and political institutions and alliances, etc.), will all fail in that great Day of trial and judging; the result will be the overthrow of every human institution, in full accord with the Divine requirements of Justice, Righteousness.

WHO SHALL STAND?

Let us ask ourselves, where is our treasure? Where is our security? The long foretold Day of the LORD is near. The great Time of Trouble is upon us, a time “such as never was since there was a nation.” (Dan. 12:1) If our treasures are upon the earth and our confidence rests in human organizations, the time is near when we may seek protection in these holes, these social and financial arrangements, but there will be no protection possible. The Apostle declares respecting that Day that everything that can be shaken will be shaken; everything that is not in full alignment with the Divine standards will go down. (Heb. 12:26,27)

Knowing this, we should set our affections on spiritual things, not on earthly things. If we have been careless in this matter in the past, it is time for us to invest what little we have of time, influence, talent and money in the service of the King of kings, promoting the interests of the great Kingdom wherein we trust, which will be on earth as well as in heaven.

We are not counseling foolishness, the throwing away of money, of time and influence. On the contrary, we counsel the spirit of a sound mind, that every hour, every talent, every penny be used, not as our own, but as the LORD’s; not according to our selfish desires, but according to the Divine will, so far as we are able to understand it; that we may glorify God in our bodies and spirits which are His.

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

THE CATASTROPHE CANNOT BE AVERTED

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

We see that the world has gone pleasure mad, “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” (2 Tim. 3:4) The spirit of the world surrounds us, threatens to engulf us and destroy our spirituality. There never was a greater need than now for the soldiers of the cross to arise, to “take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day,” to “watch and pray,” and fight a good fight against their own weaknesses and against the darts and snares of the Adversary. (Eph. 6:13; Mark 13:33; 1 Tim. 6:12)

Many dear Christians realize that we are living in strange times, but do not realize that we are in the transition period between the reign of sin, sickness and death, and the reign of Messiah’s Kingdom of righteousness and light. Let each one whose eyes of understanding have opened to a better appreciation of God’s great Book be on the alert to “show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” (1 Pet. 2:9)

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

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