NO. 249: SOME THOUGHTS FOR THE MEMORIAL

No. 249

Comes again the Memorial of our Lord’s death, the correct time this year being after 6 p. m. April 12. The date is determined in this fashion: The 1976 Vernal Equinox arrives in Jerusalem at 1:50 p.m. March 20; and the moon following that comes new at 7:08 p.m. March 30, thus establishing Nisan 1 at 6 p.m. March 30. This brings Nisan 14 at 6 p.m. April 12; and any time that evening would be the proper time for what is commonly designated as The Lord’s Supper. We here at Mount Dora shall com­mence the service at 7:30 p.m.; and we extend a cordial invitation to any one who hap­pens to be in this vicinity to join with us who are of one mind on the matter.

THE CORRECT DATE

While the absolute time for observance is not a requirement, we should certainly have the right time if we can determine it. This is in keeping with St. Paul’s coun­sel in 1 Cor. 14:30: “Let all things be done decently and in order.” However, as v. 38 says, “If any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant” – on non-essential teachings. it is an established fact that most of the truest and best of the Household of Faith dur­ing the entire Gospel Age have kept the Memorial on the wrong date; and this was true for some years after 1874 – when the Harvest Truth began to clarify many of the mistakes in teaching and practice that had accumulated after the demise of the Apostles. There­fore, we would emphasize that observance on the wrong date should never be a test of fellowship. “Let every man be persuaded in his own mind.”

However, with those who are guided somewhat by the newing of the moon, once Nisan 1 is properly determined, the Bible is then emphatic that the observance should be an Nisan 14. “Ye shall keep the lamb up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening” – between the two evenings (see margin of Ex. 12:6). The Jews – as well as some Truth groups – usually try to hold the service when the moon comes full; but the moon this year does not come full until 1:49 p. m. April 14, making such participants a day or two late with the service.

Also, some groups use a location other than Jerusalem as their starting time ­some using Greenwich, England, and others Philadelphia, Pa., etc. However, this is simply an arbitrary conclusion. The Bible was all written in Palestine; and the lo­cations just mentioned had not yet been named until hundreds of years later. Therefore, it would be exactly proper to use Jerusalem as the correct place for reckoning the time. The moon may have been at the full on the evening that Jesus and the Apostles ate the Passover together for the last time, because the moon is typical of the Jewish nation; and their polity began immediately to wane after they crucified Jesus, and it passed completely out of existence in the year 70 AD. when the Romans destroyed the temple and either killed or dispersed all Jews from Jerusalem.

It might be well here to explain how the confusion for reckoning this date had its beginning. Innocently enough, the Christians under the Apostles began to assem­ble on the first day of the week to break bread and fellowship together – in memory of the resurrection of Jesus on the first day of the week. This eventually made a dis­tinct cleavage between Jew and Gentile on the Sabbath. Thus, Sunday eventually be­came firmly estab­lished as the Christian Sabbath, and some countries even at this time are very rigid in holding to Sunday, although there is no Biblical support for it other than what we have just mentioned. And, as the early Christians were breaking bread together, they in no sense were attempting to commemorate the death of Jesus (the cup is not mentioned on those Sundays); and it is His death that is the crux of the Memo­rial, and not His resurrection.

Along this line, we might digress somewhat, and state that similar confusion has arisen on the date of Jesus’ birth. Nowhere in the Bible are we told to celebrate His birth, although much ado is made over Christmas in Christian countries. The correct date of His birth is the tenth day of the seventh month (Tishri), which corresponds approx­imately to our October 10 – more than two months before December 25. How came this situation to exist? We answer that as the Papal system grew in numbers and influence and with the “wandering Jew” universally in disrepute – the observance of Christmas on the same date as the Jewish Day of Atonement became decidedly objectionable, so the Papal system produced a cunningly devised fable for December 25 by a reasoning devious and intricate: They began with the premise that the Vernal Equinox is the time for all vegetable life to spring forth – about March 25 – therefore, that must be the time the life in Mary’s womb had its animation. And, counting nine months from March 25 we have December 25. Here again was given a blow to Jewish prestige – although there is just noth­ing in the Bible to support the theory.

It will be readily recognized that great respect would accrue to the Jews if we now celebrated the birth of Jesus on the very day when they sit in sackcloth and ashes, fasting and repentant for the sins of the year on the Day of Atonement. Such action would certainly incite much comment and inquiry to determine this phenomenal coincidence – even as it now goes by unnoticed under present arrangements. On this point also there is no command to make special celebration of Jesus’ birthday; in fact, we are not told even to notice it at all, so we have no particular quarrel with those who choose to do so on December 25. As the Manna says, “Upon this day, so generally celebrated, we may properly enough join with all whose hearts are in the attitude of love and appreciation toward God and toward the Savior.”

How, then, is the date for Good Friday determined? Here again the Papal system produced an arbitrary decision which would always have Good Friday on Friday. Good Friday would be the first Friday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox ­with Easter the following Sunday. There is also no Bible support for this; and it not only has the effect of having Good Friday on Friday, but it also tends to sever all relationship between Good Friday and the Passover, so that these two dates are some­times separated by almost a full month. Rarely do they occur on the same date. With this arrangement Easter could come as late as April 23; but it would never be possible for the Passover to come as late as that.

The institution of the Passover as given in Exodus 12 emphatically states that the lamb must be killed and eaten on Nisan 14, and that the “memorial throughout your genera­tions” should be kept on the same date – that Nisan should begin when the moon comes new – nearest the Vernal Equinox. This would always make the Passover festival a cere­mony in the Spring, with the Day of Atonement a festival in the Fall. Thus, the Jewish Encyclopedia clearly states that the Passover is a Spring festival.

THE SERVICE

As there was but one Passover in type, so there is but one “Lamb of God” in anti­type. But, just as the Jews were told to keep the Passover each year “as a memorial throughout your generations,” so we are told to observe the feast each year “in remem­brance of Me.” And the service for the occasion is unique; there is no other service like it in Christian ritual throughout the earth. When our Lord gave command that we ob­serve it, He did so in simplicity of speech, and with few words. “He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is My body which is given for you: THIS DO in remembrance of Me. Likewise, also the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the New Testament in My blood, which is shed for you.” (Luke 22:19,20) Yet, upon these two forthright and uncomplicated sentences great rituals have been erected by the various sects of Christendom – some more, some less, so there are now about 200 different ideas of when, how and why the service should be conducted. Fundamentally, no more would be required of us than our Lord’s statement; although it is certainly in keeping with decorum and orderly procedure that a preparatory foundation be laid for partaking of the bread and the wine by reading and explaining the various elements involved - when more than one person keeps the feast. However, it is equally good decorum and orderly procedure that we avoid the pompous play upon words and “stage” performance, which is to be found in some quarters.

The solemnity of the occasion should be stressed, however, that all be done “de­cently and in order” – not shabbily, nonchalantly, as of some “common thing.” It is commendable that the Christian world overem­phasize the feast with impressive service, and sedate and select speech, rather than by the other extreme of no propriety at all. The Roman Catholic system requires each participant to attend ‘confession’ – usually the previous afternoon or evening – before receiving the emblems; and, until recently, nothing was to be eaten or drunk on the morning of the service. While this in itself stresses the great regard the system attempts to display for the service, it also over-­awes those present in a manner never intended by Jesus when He instituted it.

Here we need not discuss the errors that have been superimposed over the centuries by such nicety of display and demand, as that feature has been well set forth by both Messengers. Blessed are we if we may arrive at that balance of mind and heart that does not overdo or underdo the service – greatness in simplicity, inspiration in solem­nity, uplift and virtue in a “good and honest” participation.

GENERALITIES

They who approach the service as aforementioned are they of whom St. Paul writes – they who judge themselves that they be not judged and chastened of the Lord (1 Cor. 11:31) – the fully faithful in whatever Elect Class they may abide. Such are “more than conquerors” – “buried with Him” – “dead unto sin, but alive toward God.” (Rom. 6:11) To such obedient and watchful, as “little children,” the promise is sure, “I will guide thee with mine eye.” “Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.” And to these the promise is sure, “No good thing will He with­hold from them that walk uprightly.” (Psa. 84:11). Strengthened by such assurances, each worthy participant may confidently review the year past and anticipate the year ahead” in newness of life.”

Quite often, immediately before or after doing this “in remembrance,” the Fully Faithful are made specially mindful, through having to drink of His cup, that the bread and the wine carry weighty implications for them. As our Lord “poured out His soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors,” so have His faithful followers done during the Age. “I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand” (2 Tim. 4:6), wrote St. Paul to his ‘son’ Timothy; and the Diaglott makes this even more emphatic, “I am already being poured out, and the time of my dissolution has come near.” Thus, this “good soldier” realized with full clarity and calm anticipation that his own life would soon be “poured out” – when the Roman executioner would chop off his head, just as one might pour water from a pitcher – as he drank to the full that “cup” which the Lord had given him. And in this we find not the slightest evidence of whining or reviling of his persecutors – no scheming to escape. “Theirs not to make reply; theirs not to question why; theirs but to do and die.” And having reached that grand pinnacle of victory, he could say with all confidence, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day.” (2 Tim. 4:8)

“CONSIDER HIM”

In all of this – particularly at this Memorial season – the words of St. Paul are most timely: “Consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye he wearied and faint in your minds... faint not when thou art rebuked of Him.” (Heb. 12:3) In that eloquent and touching discourse which He gave His disciples on the same night in which He instituted the Memorial of His death, He had said among other things, “They hated Me without a cause.” (John 15:25) And let us never forget that “they” who thus hated Him were the so-called ‘good people’ of that day – those who claimed to be longing for the appearance of their Messiah – Him whom they hated ‘with­out a cause’ when “He came to His own,” but His own received Him not. “He (the Jewish High Priest Caiphas) that delivered Me unto thee hath the greater sin.” (John 19:11) And be it remembered that He whose speech was “full of grace and truth,” so that never man spake like this man, said exactly the right thing, in the right place and at the right time; so that there was in truth no cause for any to hate Him. Yet, hate Him they did, as He wept over their undone hypocritical condition.

And in all this “He left us an example that we should follow in His steps,” (1 Pet. 2:21), bearing ever in mind that it is often the Measurably Faithful who add to the af­flictions of the righteous – “your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for My name’s sake.” (Isa. 66:5) Concerning such the Scriptures exhort us: “Let not thine heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.” Comments on this text are to be found in E-11:655 – “He (the Epiphany Messenger) charges them (the fully faithful) not to be envious of Great Company members, who are violating their cov­enant of sacrifice, however much they may seem to prosper.” And to this we would add the words of Prov. 17:1: “Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.” Therefore, “Let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Cor. 5:8)

THE BREAD – THE CUP

The institution of the ‘Lord’s Supper’ is succinctly stated in Matt. 26:26-28, in Mark 14:22-24, and in Luke 22:19,20, the first of which verses we now quote: “As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disci­ples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new Testa­ment, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

Over the meaning of no other Biblical words have there been more and sharper con­troversies than over those just quoted above. As on all other Scriptural doctrines, so on this, Satan has produced cunning error – from one extreme to the other. The Ro­man Catholic Church is among the foremost of such perverters in its creation of the Mass, the basis of which is transubstantiation, the performance of which by the offi­ciating priest supposedly actually turns the bread and the wine into the body and blood of Jesus.

Although there are about 200 different views on various features of the Lord’s Sup­per, broadly speaking, there are two general views on the meaning of the words, “This is my body – this is my blood”: (1) that group of views that teach the real presence of the body and blood of Jesus in the Supper; and (2) that group which teach the rep­resentative meaning of the bread and wine. The Roman Catholic Church has had some of the ablest minds of the Age in their organization; and they have presented very inge­nious arguments in their support of the Mass – in transubstantiation.

As most of our readers know, we ourselves do not believe that there is any real presence in the body and blood of Christ; but we regard them as representations of those items. Let us take a brief look at both views: Those who accept the Mass con­tend that the actual presence of Christ is contained in the bread and the wine; in fact, they contend that the emblems are no longer bread and wine at all. The Roman Church concedes however, that the bread and the wine retain what they term “the accidents” ­the appearance, form, taste, color, weight, etc. of bread and wine after the supposed transubstantiation; but, say they, the elements actually lose the essence of bread and wine, and take on the essence of the body and blood of Christ. The body and blood of Christ – so created, the priest proceeds in the Mass to sacrifice afresh for the sins of the living and the dead. Thus we have the basic relation of transubstantiation to the Mass. Against this view we offer the following refutation:

The Romanist view implies a change in the words of Jesus, which means the language should read – if their view is correct – “This has been changed into my body; this has been changed into my blood.” The fact that they must make a change in the wording to make their view acceptable is in itself an admission of error.

Further, the Bible contradicts their view. If they are correct, it would then be wrong – after the consecration of the elements – to speak of partaking of bread and wine, as the Bible does. They should then speak of partaking of the body and blood of Christ. But the Bible five times calls one of the elements bread after its consecration and dur­ing its eating (1 Cor. 10:16,17; 11:26-28); and in all of these passages, except the second, using the familiar figure of the container for the thing contained, it calls the other element “the cup”; and elsewhere defines the contents of the cup – after its con­secration and during its drinking – as the fruit of the vine, i.e., wine (Matt. 26:29; Mark 14:25). Therefore, the Bible, by calling the elements bread and wine after their consecration, and during their appropriation, contradicts the doctrine of transubstanti­ation and proves it to be false.

Again, facts prove that the bread and wine remain bread and wine after the conse­cration of the elements – some of which are as follows: Blood does not make drunk, but wine does. Frequently, priests in their frequent masses must drink so much wine that they become drunk. No amount of blood would do this; therefore, it must be wine they drink. Further, chemical analysis will demonstrate that there are exactly the same amount and same proportion of certain chemical elements in a given amount of bread after consecration as there were before; while the same amount, proportion and kinds of chemical elements will not be found in a human body. The chemical analysis of the wine proves the same thing. Hence these facts prove that there has been no change in the substance of the bread and wine after consecration by the priest.

OTHER ERRORS

Somewhat akin to the transubstantiation error is the one held by some Oriental Christian sects, which hold to the view of consubstantiation – a mingling of the bread and body and the wine and blood. The Lutheran Church and some Episcopalians teach what may be defined as instrumentalization, although they do not use that exact wording. Their idea is that by means of the bread and wine – which they believe remain bread and wine throughout the service – the actual body and blood of Jesus are administered to the communicant. Thus it will be seen that all three of these views have the mutual error of “real presence.” Therefore, the following applies equally against all of them:

The Bible account of the original supper the night before Jesus died proves that He did not give His actual body and blood, because His blood was yet in His veins, so it could not be in the cup which He offered the disciples. The same applies to the bread. When He blessed it and said, “This is My body,” He was not yet dead; His body was intact. He did not go around the table and put Himself into the hand of each dis­ciple; rather, He remained reclining on the couch, with the Apostle John reclining in His bosom. Thus, the disciples did not handle His body and blood, for all of them re­mained in their respective places about the table. Therefore, it is very clear that they did not receive His actual body and blood.

There is not the slightest suggestion in the entire ceremony that night that any of the disciples or Jesus thought there was an actual giving of His body and blood to them. Had they entertained such a thought we may be sure that some of them – especially Peter – would have presented questions to be answered before they could have intelli­gently participated in the service. Hence the conclusion is unavoidable that in the original Lord’s Supper Jesus did not give His actual body and blood to the Apostles to eat and drink. Therefore, it properly follows that this was not done in any of the sub­sequent observations – only what was given them that night did they receive in the years that followed. And to claim that they did receive actual body and blood in later years implies that they are not the same as the original – they are not the Lord’s Supper at all.

These three views of the “real presence” contradict certain Scriptural doctrines ­especially the central doctrine of the Ransom. “The Son of Man came not to be minis­tered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45; 1 Tim. 2:6) The doctrine of the “real presence” would imply that Jesus had taken back His body and blood (His humanity), thus voiding the ransom price. Also, these doctrines of the real presence dispute our Lord’s resurrection as a spirit being (1 Cor. 15:45-49; 2 Cor. 3:17; 1 Pet. 3:18), for they imply He arose a human being. Since the ransom is the hub – the central foundation – of the great Plan of the Ages, that great Plan would be nullified by elimination of the Ransom. Hence the idea of real presence is rank error.

Belief in the real presence contains other unscriptural implications. First, it places Jesus’ body and blood in many places at the same time – every place on earth where the Mass, etc., are performed at the same time of day. Wherever the Lord’s Sup­per would be observed the actual body and blood of Jesus would necessarily have to be present. This is self-evident impossibility. Also, this doctrine implies that Jesus has millions of bodies and rivers of blood; for, according to it, each communicant re­ceives the complete body of Jesus and some of His blood. Thus, billions have received them – millions of them at the same time – implying that Jesus had millions of bodies and rivers of blood. Hence the “real presence” is self-evident absurdity.

The doctrine of the real presence is contrary to facts. Not one fact in connec­tion with the original supper or its subsequent celebrations implies it; but all the facts connected with them contradict it. Also, it is contrary to reason: There is nothing reasonable about it; there is nothing reasonable that favors it; reason must be suspended to believe it. It therefore belongs to the “mystery of iniquity” (2 Thes. 2:7), not to the mystery of God; and is a counterfeit.

Further, it contradicts our five senses – especially in transubstantiation and con­substantiation. And, since these five senses were given us to help us ascertain cer­tain facts (Isa. 1:18; Luke 24:39,40), the “real presence” must be untrue, and should be rejected.

THE UNDERLYING ERROR

All who claim the real presence in the body and the blood base their conclusion ­they say – upon a literal acceptance of Jesus’ words; but they fail to recognize that the word “is” – like many other words – has more than one meaning. The verb “to be” has especially two literal meanings: (1) it is the predicate to express actual exis­tence; (2) it is the predicate to express actual representation; but in both cases the meaning is literal. So, if we should say, A dog is an animal, the word “is” would be literal, designating actual existence. And, if we would say of a photograph, This is my father, that statement also would he literal, but meaning actual representation. In both statements “is” may be taken literally.

Therefore, when Jesus said, “This is my body; this is my blood,” He certainly did not mean actual existence; but He meant those things represented His body and blood. The Scriptures are in full agreement with this conclusion; and, when we understand that the Lord’s Supper is the antitype of the annual Passover, we have Biblical proof of the matter. If we keep in mind that there was only one Passover – the one slain in Egypt – with all subsequent ones being symbolic, we can readily see the beauty and symmetry of the antitype. There was but one antitypical Passover Lamb – “Christ our Passover” (1 Cor. 5:7) – with our partaking of the bread and the wine being simply a re­membrance of that one Passover: “This do in remembrance of Me.” (Luke 22:19) The Jews have never been confused in their observance of the annual Passover; they know it is merely “a memorial... throughout your generations.” (Ex. 12:14)

Another emphatic proof that the above is correct is to be found in the statements of Luke 22:20 and 1 Cor. 11:25: “This cup (the wine) is the new testament in my blood.” In these texts the word “is” cannot mean actual existence; for the New Testament is not a cup at all. Therefore, we are forced to conclude that the cup was merely a rep­resentation: “This cup represents the new testament in my blood.”

In this connection we do well to consider St. Paul’s explanation of the service as given in 1 Cor. 11:26. Immediately after quoting our Lord’s language in explana­tion of the bread and wine, he relates our participation in it with these words: “For as often as (whenever) ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do shew forth the Lord’s death.” The Greek word here translated “shew” means to announce, as for ex­ample, to announce the Lord’s word. (Acts 13:5; 15:36; 1 Cor. 9:14, etc.) Announce­ments are made in two ways – in words and in acts. When we partake of the bread and the wine we do not speak at all; therefore the “announcement” must be in the acts them­selves – in pantomime – which we do in the breaking of the bread and the pouring of the wine – a representation of something else. Since the breaking of the bread and the pouring of the wine “shew forth His death,” they must represent His body and blood.

WHO MAY PARTAKE?

There is also much difference of opinion on who may partake. The Roman Catholic Church is most rigid that one must be a member in good standing; must make confession before partaking, and usually a member of that particular church in which the service is being held. At the other extreme, some sects make no exactions at all. Often do we see the sign before some church: The Lord’s Supper – All welcome. Thus the man in the street may come in and partake if he wishes. We do not subscribe to either of these positions. We take rather St. Paul’s words in 1 Cor. 11:27,28: “Whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.” We believe this is a most commendable and just requirement. We need not pass judgment upon the person sitting next to us. There are only two rea­sons why we should object to any one partaking: They are gross immorality, or gross doctrinal deflection. Either of these – but only these – are grounds for disfellow­shiping any one. In all other things we may accept St. Paul’s statement: “Let a man examine himself.” This places the responsibility squarely where it belongs – on each individual participant.

WHEN

Much confusion also exists on the proper time for observing the Lord’s Supper. Some churches say once a week – on Sunday – which, they say, is the way the early church observed it. Others have once a month, or once every three or four months. The Roman Catholic Church says it should be done when any one of their seven sacra­ments is performed. Thus, when people are married in the church, the Mass is always performed. This means it might be used two, three, perhaps four times in one day. And, since they contend that the Mass contains the actual body and blood of Jesus, the participants are forbidden to masticate the wafer; and they do not partake of the wine at all – lest in passing the cup from one to the other something might occur to spill some of it – now actually the “precious blood” – which would he a major calamity. Therefore, the priest drinks the entire goblet of wine himself, which accounts for many of them becoming intoxicated. In fact, the report is current that about ten per cent of the priests in the United States are pretty much alcoholics.

When we remember that the Lord’s Supper is the antitype of the Jewish Passover, then we have no difficulty at all in seeing that the service should be but once each year. “As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew forth the Lord’s death till He come.” (1 Cor. 11:26) The Lord’s death occurred on a certain day of the year; and it should be “remembered” by the special service but once each year on that particular day. The Lord left no instructions at all for remembering His birthday; but Christendom generally makes no effort to commemorate His birth more than once a year; therefore, it should logically follow that His death – which we are specifical­ly told to remember – should be observed but once each year; and this is our practice.

THE WINE – There is considerable divergence of thought respecting “the cup” also. In the annual commemoration of the Passover the Jews used intoxicating wine of excel­lent quality, beginning with a cup before any food was taken, continuing with two more cups during the meal; then a fourth cup “after supper” (Luke 22:20). This fourth cup was the one the Lord used to establish the Memorial. Most of the Christian churches today – and especially so the Roman Catholic Church – use intoxicating wine of excel­lent quality; but some, being opposed to alcohol in every way, use simply “the fruit of the vine” without fermentation. Should any resent this latter custom – as contrary to what Jesus and the Apostles did – we would say that a teaspoonful of alcoholic wine could be poured into the cup. This should satisfy every one, as there is no Scriptural law on the amount of alcohol the cup should contain.

What has been written herein is in no sense to be taken as a substitute for “The Passover of the New Creation” (Study Xl) as found in Parousia Volume Six. Rather, we would urge all our readers to give sober reading to that chapter; and we thus wish all the Lord’s rich blessing in the preparation for and participation in this Memorial on the evening of April 12. “The God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting coven­ant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ.” (Heb. 13:20,21)

Sincerely your brother,

John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

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LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Brother: Grace and peace!

I have just read #246 and got a new viewpoint on Jesus Christ as prophet, priest, king and “Judge.” Somehow I never included “judge” as one of His offices..... Your article broadens my vision and clinched the idea by quoting 1 Cor. 6:2. Then you clear­ly delineated the difference between outward and inner appearance. At the end all will appear perfect before the Father gives the final test (for graduation). Thank you! I enjoyed the article... Enclosed is a check for the Lord’s work.

With Christian love, ------- (FLORIDA)

...........................................................................

Dear Brother Hoefle: Loving Christian greetings!

First of all, thank you for the greetings and encouragement when I was depressed recently – which did help lift my spirits. God must want me here on earth yet, as I still enjoy life. Bro. and Sr. ------- visited us Sunday. He asked if I read your last letter. He is so pleased the way you explain the articles. He is a wonderful brother. Praying God will continue to watch over you and yours.... Please keep up the good work. ..... Enclosed is a contribution for your work.

Christian love ------- (FLORIDA)

NO. 248: THE 1975 LABOR DAY CONVENTION

No. 248

At the Question Meeting on Monday morning a large number of questions had been presented; and, true to his usual performance, RGJ said he would have to be very brief, then gave his practiced “profusion of words” to avoid answering the majority of them. Some of those he answered he handled quite well; but some of them were so loosely handled that we are forced to conclude that he either never had the Truth on them, or that he has lost it since he was abandoned to Azazel.

Question 1 – Does the Great Company share in the sin offering? We shall not analyze his “profusion of words” on the question, but try to expose his erroneous understanding of the matter. In Lev. 16:11 we are told “Aaron shall bring the bul­lock of the sin offering... and shall make an atonement for himself and for his house.” RGJ stated, “The blood of the bullock... representing the merit of our Lord Jesus Christ's humanity that was sacrificed for us, namely, the Little Flock, the Body members of the World's High Priest – and then for His House, representing the Great Company, the house of Levi.” On p. 13, of the 1940 Present Truth, Brother Johnson outlines the Gospel-Age Tabernacle picture – in which he states the Court contains the tentatively justified.

And here's what we have in Tabernacle Shadows, p. 55: “And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin-offering which is for (represents) himself, and make an atone­ment for himself (the members of his body – the underpriests) and for his house all believers, the entire 'household of faith' – the Levites).”

When He offered Himself, the bullock, there was no such Class as the Great Com­pany – so He offered Himself for all who were spirit-begotten in the Gospel Age, in­cluding the crown-losers. When they were begotten they were members of His Body ­crown-retainers. There is no special “spirit-begetting” of the Great Company as such – all New Creatures were primarily begotten into His Body! Is RGJ now contending that they are begotten again when they lose their crowns – begotten to be crown-losers?

Inasmuch as Aaron was contaminated with sin – as were his sons, and all Israel ­he did actually make atonement for himself personally; but this was certainly not true of antitypical Aaron. St. Paul makes this very clear in Heb. 7:26-27: “An high priest became us who is holy... separate from sinners... Who needed not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's, for this he did once, when he offered up himself.” Inasmuch as Jesus was “without sin,” and needed no atonement, the offering “first for his own sins” could not apply to Him personally, but must refer to the members of His Body – typified in Aaron's sons and the “house” would thus include “all believers,” the entire 'household' of faith the Levites. The Levites in that picture typify the tentatively justified of the Gospel Age. The Great Company and the Little Flock are of the Gospel-Age Church of the Firstborn – and they were all begotten as members of His Body – thus “for Him­self” includes all the spirit-begotten at consecration – under the High Calling.

It is quite clear that RGJ is now going into increasing darkness on the Taber­nacle. At one time he was apparently clear on the Most Holy, the Holy, the Court, the Camp, and the Wilderness. But he has now grossly REVOLUTIONIZED against the Truth on the Holy, the Court and the Camp. He who discerns clearly teaches clearly – and it is now evident to all instructed in Parousia and Epiphany Truth – especially on Tabernacle Shadows – that he is not now “teaching clearly.”

The foregoing paragraph also applies to another part of his answer to the same question: He says, “The justified humanity of Azazel's Goat was not a part of the offer­ing that was pictured in the Lord's Goat. The humanity was to be destroyed!” Here again he makes much ado about the 'humanity' of the Great Company in the wilderness. He says they don't want their fallen humanity saved. “Let it be destroyed! It is the New Crea­ture that is to be saved!” Well, well, the humanity of the Little Flock is fallen also, but covered by Christ's merit – in the Court – not for destruction in the wilderness. The humanity of the fully faithful is all they have to offer in sacrifice, and they do this gladly, in loving submission as a sacrifice upon the altar in the Court. The hu­manity of all the fully faithful is in the Court. The Epiphany Messenger often stresses – the fit-man experiences of Azazel's Goat are for the purpose of destroying their flesh­ly minds. Of course, in the process of destroying the fleshly mind while in the clut­ches of Azazel, some of their justified humanity will also be destroyed – but certainly the fit-man experiences are not for the purpose of destroying all their humanity! After the destruction of their fleshly minds, they are then cleansed and they will use their humanity in the Court to “offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” (Mal. 3:3)

While undergoing their fit-man experiences in the wilderness they are all double­minded – out of the good side of their minds they try to serve the Lord; but out of the bad side of their minds they serve Azazel. “As these evil qualities grow in them under Satanic manipulation they lead their followers into increasing errors and Satan­-given wrong arrangements for the Lord's work. These revolutionisms arousing the oppo­sition of the faithful, controversies set in, wherein, to defend themselves against the Scriptural truths that the faithful bring against their errors, to maintain a semblance of consistency in their errors, they give up one truth after another.” (E-15:520, middle). This has been markedly true since 1917; and is still clearly manifest in the present­-day controversies.

It is self-evident that here is another picture of the tabernacle on which RGJ is either not clear, or is now revolutionizing against it. If he is now cleansed, as he claims, he would not gloat about his humanity being destroyed in the wilderness; he would know that his humanity has been returned to the antitypical Court, where he could, and would, use it as an “offering in righteousness” unto the Lord. And we are fully persuaded that he would not now be “offering” such nonsense that the 'house' represented the Great Company during the Gospel Age: that “Himself” was for His Body, and the “House” for the Great Company! And if he were no longer in Azazel's clutches he would not have “offered” the other errors he did at this Question Meeting.

This thought is confirmed in Mal. 3:1-3: “Purify the sons of Levi... that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” The “offering in righteousness” is performed by crown-losers after their purification – after the destruction of their fleshly minds; but, if that purification would result in physical death, the only “offering in righteousness” would then have to occur in Heaven, which is ridiculous, of course – confusion worse confounded! Their humanity also suffers in these experiences, but not to the extent of bringing them to death. This is clearly shown in the case of the Corinthian brother (1 Cor. 5:1-5), who eventually returned to the congregation after his cleansing. (2 Cor. 2:1-8) However, RGJ once more made quite a stage performance of how much he desires the humanity to be destroyed in the wilderness. But after they are cleansed their humanity is eventually restored to the Court condition, with the humanity of all the faithful, if they are to gain life at all; otherwise, their New Creature is not saved. “To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh (the fleshly mind – not the humanity!), that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus,” (1 Cor. 5:5)

Question No. 2 – Brother Russell says in the 1913 Watch Tower that Christ must reign until all the wicked are destroyed. When the Goats enter the Little Season, are they counted among the wicked?

Answer: “I don't think the Lord would render a decision on them before the trial of the Little Season, Would He? I think this question would suggest something back­ward. If the judge would pronounce sentence and say you are condemned to go to the electric chair before the trial the man would say, Well, aren't you going to give me a trial first? If the Goats are counted among the wicked when they enter the Little Sea­son, this would imply that the reign ends in the final sense at the beginning of 2874 ­at the beginning of the Little Season - and that's not correct!” The balance of his voluminous words occupy more than two typewritten pages, so we shall not consider all of it – the little bedtime stories, innuendoes, etc. – the part just quoted being suffi­cient for our purpose. Bedtime stories may be amusing and appreciated if the sober Truth is given to the questions submitted first – but to take up time for this sort of meeting, when he has to leave many questions unanswered because of the time for such anecdotes, is not appropriate for the sobriety of a Bible Question and Answer meeting.

Before comment, let us remind our readers that RGJ has been most emphatic for many years that “the end” of 1 Cor. 15:24-26 comes at the beginning of the Little Season ­and in this teaching has strong support from a reliable (?) Channel – the Jehovah's Wit­nesses also teach that “the end” of 1 Cor. 15:24-26 comes at the beginning of the Little Season. He even palmed off a “faulty disc” to prove his contention. Now he is openly contradicting that, and telling us “the end” is the end of the Little Season, with which latter we agree. However, it seems that RGJ doesn't know from one year to the next what he does teach and believe. Of course, this is in keeping with the Epiphany teach­ing that part of the punishment meted out to those in Azazel's clutches is that the Lord gives them error to defend. “On this account the Lord will send to them an energy of delusion, to their believing the falsehood.” (2 Thes. 2:11, Dia.)

However, when RGJ says that the wicked have not had their judgment before enter­ing the Little Season, we reply that all who enter the Little Season will do so with perfect organisms, with the Goats lacking only a righteous character – also all the Restitutionists will be fully instructed in righteousness by the time they have at­tained perfect organisms. It will only be due to their refusal to have the Adamic Death Process plagued out of their characters, that they will have unholy heart's con­dition at the end of the Mediatorial reign, and the beginning of the Little Season. Here again RGJ is revolutionizing against Parousia and Epiphany Truth, which we will prove from quotations from That Servant and the Epiphany Messenger.

Consider now John 5:28,29, where the resurrection and trial time are clearly ex­plained in the Berean Comment: “those that have done evil (the goats, etc.—JJH)..... the resurrection of damnation; krisis, by judgment, gradually, under the disciplines and rewards of the Millennial Age.... If raised to instantaneous perfection... there would be no need of a thousand-year trial day”. Apparently, RGJ is now telling us this “trial day” does not include the Goats of the Little Season.

Brother Johnson also agrees with That Servant. He tells us that all who enter the Little Season (the Goats) with unholy heart's condition will not be able to stand the tests of the Little Season. “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life (whoever will not have conformed his character to the New Covenant regulations during the Millennium) was cast into the lake of fire (utter, complete and eternal an­nihilation; comp. Rev. 21:8)” (E-17:425, bottom)

Also, “The Goats placed on the left hand represent those who externally reform during the Millennium, but who neglect to do good from the heart – the old men who have not filled their days with good – and who as a result fall more and more into the Lord's disfavor, until at the end of the Millennium they will be in His complete dis­favor, fully on His left hand...

“That those who are found in the King's full favor are in such favor because of the good they will have done, is evident from verses 24-40.” (E-16:179, past middle ­also see E-16:184,185)

Certainly the Goats – those who enter the Little Season with unholy heart's con­dition – will not reform during the Little Season; neither will those who enter the Little Season with good heart's condition fall in the tests of the Little Season: the Sheep have inscribed their names in the Book of Life during the Mediatorial reign. Each Class will make clearly manifest in the tests of the Little Season what their true condition was when entering the Little Season. This is also true during the Epiphany in regard to the Great Company – they make manifest during the Epiphany their heart's condition when they entered the Epiphany: they were crown-losers at the beginning of the Epiphany, but not manifested as such until later in the Epiphany when the tests were applied.

As with the courts of our land – trial, conviction and sentencing do not all occur at one time. The execution of a criminal may not occur for many months after his sen­tencing to death; but the delay does not in any way enter into the trial, conviction and sentencing. And this is exactly what will happen with the Goats. By the end of 2874 their eternal future will have been set – even though it will not become manifest un­til the testing of the Little Season. As Brother Johnson says, the “old men who have not filled their days with good” – and who as a result fall more and more into the Lard's disfavor, the Little Season simply reveals – makes manifest – that destiny, and carries out the execution. “God hath appointed a day” – from 1874 to 2874. (Acts 17: 31 – see Berean Comments)

The Little Season is the final separating time, just as the Epiphany is the final separating time of the New Creatures – as well as the final judgment of all the elect. Just as in the case of the Second-Deathers of the Parousia and the Epiphany, God had already sentenced them before they were made manifest as such by denying the Ransom, etc. Also, all the Great Company had lost their crowns by September 1914, and none of them can regain their crowns in the Epiphany – so the judgment was final at that time between the crown-losers and the crown-retainers. Even though this judgment was not known to us, it was certainly known to God. They were all sentenced as such by the be­ginning of the Epiphany, but their condition as such was not revealed to us until the bright shining of the Epiphany manifested them. So it is with the Goats of the Little Season, “the old men who failed to fill their days with good” during the Mediatorial reign will not be counted among the “friends of God”: they are the enemies of God and He keeps no record of them. All those who refuse to have the Adamic Death Process (the unholy heart's condition) plagued out of them by the benevolent influences of the Medi­atorial reign, will continue with such a character into the Little Season when they will be “cast into the Lake of fire.”

All during the Kingdom reign the “sheep” will be inscribing their names into the Book of Life as they progress up the Highway of Holiness, just as the Youthful Worthies are now inscribing their names (character) into their Book of Life as they faithfully walk a “narrow way”; but not so with the “goats”: their names will not be found in the Book of Life, as are the Sheep, at the beginning of the Little Season – and it will then be too late to do that once the Little Season has fully arrived. As Brother John­son clearly explained, it is during the Mediatorial reign - the trial day – that all names ever to be recorded in the Book of Life will be there; but none will be added after the beginning of the Little Season.

Also the Sheep, who inscribe their names into the Book of Life during the Medi­atorial reign, are the friends of God (Rev. 20:12 – See Berean Comments) – while the Goats, the 'old men who did not fill their days with good,' will not be recorded: God keeps no record of His enemies. If God did not consider them of the wicked, their names (character) would have been inscribed in the Book of Life at the begin­ning of the Little Season.

Question 3 – In attempting to answer a question as to whether the New Covenant will be made with the Consecrated Epiphany Campers or the Jews, RGJ gave quite a dis­course – went over in detail the same errors he had previously presented in the Present Truth. His answer was “BOTH”! Had he given the Truth on this question, as taught in the Scriptures and by the two Messengers, it would annihilate his position that Campers Consecrated come first in the Kingdom blessing. His answer was confusing, and left some of his sectarian devotees just as confused on the subject as they were before. But we believe some of the brethren could see through his “profusion of words,” and “sleight of hand” – especially those who are reading, with unbiased minds, the clear teachings of the two Messengers on the subject. They both taught that the New Covenant will be made exclusively with the Jews – the natural Israelites who have been faithful to the Law Covenant insofar as they are able. All others who come under the New Covenant will have to become proselyte Jews! So his answer, to be in harmony with the Truth, should have been, With the Jews; and all who are in heart harmony with the New Covenant arrangements will have to become Jews if they are to receive the New Covenant blessings. As stated in previous papers, a “New” Covenant could be made only with those who had been under the “Old” (Law) Covenant; and this is clearly set forth by That Servant in Reprint 4575, some of which we quote as follows:

“Under the new regime of the New Covenant and its Millennial kingdom (in the hands of the antitypical Moses, the Mediator of the New Covenant), the Law will go forth from Mt. Zion (spiritual Israel) and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem (nat­ural Israel). The result will be wonderful blessings – mental, moral and physical uplift, freedom from pests, the elimination of disease, etc. The start on the high­way of holiness will there be made and the blessings of the Lord will fill the whole earth. Many nations will perceive and take note and desire to share those earthly good things with Israel. But the New Covenant will be made only with Israel. And the only way in which the other nations can receive a share of those restitution fa­vors will be by becoming Israelites – coming under the laws, regulations and disci­plines of the New Covenant... (col. 2, par. 2)

“The justification of the Millennial age will not be a faith-justification, but an actual-justification, gradually attained under the New Covenant conditions......... With the conclusion of the Millennium all mankind will have reached the condition of actual justification, or perfection through the merit of Christ applied as Mediator of the New Covenant through Israel. And all the world of mankind then perfected will be Israelites, just as all nationalities come to the United States and here become citizens. Thus all nations during the Millennium will gradually flow to Israel and come under the obedience to the New Covenant regulations and thus become Israelites in­deed on the earthly plane.” (col. 2, par. 4)

“And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” (Rom. 11:26) And the Berean Comment on this - “From Jacob... The natural seed of Abraham first.” Yes, all nations, all quasi-elect, including Epiphany Campers, will be able to come under the New Covenant – but not as Campers Consecrated: they will all come under the New Covenant as JEWS! In all his “much speaking” on this question he clearly manifests his gross revolutionism against Parousia and Epiphany Truth – because at one time, before inventing his non-existent Class of Campers Consecrated, he taught the Truth on the Jews and their God-given promises to the brethren. And when he taught the Truth on the Jews and their promises, he was quite forceful in his attack against the non-existent Class of the Jehovah's Witnesses – Jonadabs, or Great Multitude.

As stated, there was a large number of questions, regarding which RGJ said he “would have to be brief”; but he apparently forgot that promise. As Brother Johnson tells us, the Good Levites, of which RGJ was a part, were “loquacious and repetitious.” And in E-10:588 is this: “Then these crown-losers proceeded to read more lectures to J., who in silence let them go on, knowing all the while what they did not know – that they were crown-losers and he was the Divine mouthpiece..” And in many of his answers to the questions on Labor Day, we believe it is a sound conclusion that, after his volu­minous discoursing, many in his audience did not even know what question he was discuss­ing.

THE CHICAGO CONVENTION (Oct. 24-26, 1975)

At the Question Meeting at the Chicago Convention the same situation prevailed as at the Labor-Day meeting – RGJ just did not “have time” to answer a large number of the questions; but he did handle two questions (probably put in by himself) that corrected some of his errors at the Labor-Day Question Meeting. One asked was where the New Crea­tures of the Great Company are shown in the Gospel-Age Tabernacle; and he correctly stated that they are not shown anywhere in the Gospel-Age picture, since there was no Great Company as a class during that time; they were all counted as priests in the Holy. At the Labor-Day session he had said that Aaron making atonement for “his house” (Lev. 16:11) pictured the Great Company. We have given details about this on pages 1 and 2 of this paper.

The second question asked was with whom the New Covenant will be made. To this he also answered correctly – in keeping with the teaching of both Messengers – that it would be made with Israel. At Pottstown he had said it would be made with the Jews, the Con­secrated Epiphany Campers and all nations, etc. In the March-April 1973 Present Truth RGJ raised quite some dust about “this sifting errorist” (meaning JJH) for attacking his errors on this subject; but it would seem he is now agreeing with our contentions. His cleansing on these subjects is indeed fondly welcomed by us.

In the 1973 Present Truth he said we were attacking both Brother Russell and Bro. Johnson's teaching that “present-day consecrated believers of Gentile lineage (counted by God as Israelites)” would be given precedence over the fleshly Israelites in the Kingdom; but he has never-produced any statement from either of them to prove his con­tention. Nor will he be able to do so. There is nothing anywhere in their writings that would even hint that consecrated Gentiles in the Epiphany Camp are viewed as Jews; although they both taught that such consecrated Gentiles in the Court during the entire Gospel Age are viewed as spiritual Israelites. This is clearly corroborated in Rev. 7: 4-8.

As respects the Jews in the Kingdom, he discussed Isa. 19:23-25: “In that day there shall be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria... Israel the third with Egypt and Assyria.” He said Egypt here referred to the world in general, and Assyria to the quasi-elect. In E-6:558 we have this explanation: “Egypt here standing for heathen, Assyria for nominal Christians, and Israel for Jews in the Millennium, when only these three classes will become God's people.” RGJ cited “Amos 5:5,” which was probably an inadvertence; it should be Micah 5:5,6. In explaining this text in E-10:114 Brother Johnson states that the Assyrian refers to the errorists of the entire Gospel Age. These were to be found chiefly in the nominal church, which also has contained the quasi-elect; and, while it is true that the quasi-elect have been among the nominal Christians, it is just as patently not true that every nominal Christian has been one of the quasi-elect, because the hypocrites, politicians, etc., in the nominal church have been legion – there only for selfish reasons.

Here are some questions that he should “have time and space” in his Present Truth to answer for the benefit of his readers:

1. Are you revolutionizing against Epiphany Truth (See Epiphany Vol. 15, p. 261) when you teach there will be a tentative justification during the Mediatorial reign? If not, Was Brother Johnson teaching Epiphany error when he said there will be neither a tentative nor a vitalized justification in the Millennial Age?

2. Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:4). Does this occur at the beginning or the end of the Little Season?

3. Both Messengers taught that the Merit would be on embargo in the Court until after the Great Company finishes their course in complete physical death. Is the em­bargo now lifted while the Great Company are still in the flesh, and the Merit now available in the Epiphany Camp?

It should not put too much of a strain upon RGJ to answer the foregoing questions concisely and clearly in his Present Truth – especially for the benefit of his faithful adherents, that they may be “always prepared with a defense for every one demand­ing an account of the hope that is in” them (1 Pet. 3:15, Dia.)

He has been telling us that those Jews who become Consecrated Campers will be among the first in the Kingdom – but the real truth is that those “Consecrated” Campers who become proselyte Jews in the Kingdom will be among the first to receive the New Covenant blessings – after that Covenant has been made with faithful fleshly Israel in Palestine, and after they have “cried unto the Lord.” (Psa. 107:17-20)

It is a gross revolutionism against Parousia and Epiphany Truth to mix the two salvations; it is joining hands with the nominal church that has attempted to do this all during the Gospel Age, which has resulted in Babylon – CONFUSION! There is no doubt but that Brother Russell considered Cornelius a consecrated person long before the visit of St. Peter in Acts 10; but it is also equally clear that the consecration of Cornelius could not win for him any visible recognition from God until “the due time.” Even the Jews who were the intimate followers of Jesus could not receive the Holy Spirit and induction into !he Christ Company until the due time – namely, at Pentecost. What­ever of error may be found in other Truth groups, so far as we know, none of them have attempted to mix the two salvations except the Laymen's Home Missionary Movement, the Jehovah's Witnesses, and possibly J. W. Krewson.

It is our hope and prayer that our efforts to uphold and defend the “faith once delivered unto the saints” on the Two Distinct Salvations, as well as the God-given promises to natural Israel, etc., will better enable the faithful brethren to “rightly divide the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15) “But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.” (Isa. 29:23,24 – See Be­rean Comments on Isa. 29:22,23)

Sincerely your brother,

John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

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LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Brother Hoefle: Loving greetings in the name of our Dear Redeemer!

We are sending ten pounds to Brother ------- for your use, two pounds of this is from Sister ------- Sister wishes to thank you most sincerely for your lovely “get well” card.... She is now at home with her natural sister, and walking with the aid of a stick, discarding the double aid for hands. Sister ------- is her natural sister, and they both do the best they can to cope with the daily work. Sister ------- goes to see them whenever she can.

Sister ------- has asked if we can supply her with the Berean Comments, which we have sent to her. In her letter she said she would be sending to us for you the “widow's mite,” so we quoted Mark 12:41-44 and Vol. 6, “The New Creation,” pages 343­-345 to her. She mentioned that you were sending her “Life-Death Hereafter” booklet.

Brother ------- mentioned in his last letter to us that the Epiphany is lasting longer than we expected, and quoted the end might be in 1994..... So it is in the second presence of the Son of Man, and we must be watchful and faithful – and wait on the Lord. We have everything to thank the Lord for – the Knowledge of His Divine Plan, seeing the prophecies being fulfilled in front of our eyes..... Our King is marching on!

Your papers are well written and appreciated by us. Your defense of the Truth against the Error, is right and just. The Lord bless you richly as you seek to honor His Name and Plan. Sister joins me in love to you and all with you, and our prayers. Thank you for your prayers on our behalf! hymn 340.

Sincerely your brother, ------- (ENGLAND)

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Dear Brother Hoefle: Grace and peace in the name of our Beloved Master!

I do not know how you got my name and address, but I prayerfully hope it was in answer to my most earnest prayers for guidance in the Truth. My parents were led to the Truth many years ago and, as a child, I was thrilled and excited by the banner across the doorway of our third-floor meeting place in Erie, Pa. The banner pro­claimed “Millions Now Living Will Never Die!” And I still thrill to the message of the Truth. However, my parents, my husband and two of my children have already been eliminated from that “million.” I am so everlastingly grateful that our Beloved Mas­ter has been gracious enough to enrich my life with His Truth.

I must admit to being extremely puzzled. When I was in high school, the name was changed from International Bible Student's Ass'n to Jehovah's Witnesses. I would truly like to aspire to being recognized by Him as being one of His Witnesses, but I know I am so very human and so unworthy that I cannot insist that I qualify – but must only pray that He grants me that designation. I remembered being taught only a short time before to “add not to the borders of your garments,” and I feel they not only added to their borders, but they created a whole new garment cut out of whole cloth to a strange new pattern. So for a number of years I did not attend classes. I don't know the steps of the transition to the Laymen's Home Missionary Movement. Some time after my marriage, my husband and I joined a Bible study conducted by my father, and we were happy in our studies. (This was after Mother died.) Since then, Dad has died and there was no one to lead the studies. My husband and I moved to Arizona and he died three years ago.

In the meanwhile, I have been adrift, searching for guidance in the Truth – and being amazed at things like bumper strips proclaiming “Honk if you love Jesus,” and “In case of rapture, this car will be driverless....... I even heard Ted Armstrong, who, at least, emphasizes the true state of the dead, seeming to proclaim the “meet­ing in the clouds.” I surely would like some enlightening on that!

I am enclosing a small check to be used in your work and will try to send more as the Lord sends me. I must work to support myself, and am selling real estate, so I have no regular income, and my donations will be spasmodic. Please send some of your literature to the following names and addresses.

Is there an existing class meeting in Phoenix? May the Lord bless you richly in your work!

Sister ------- (ARIZONA)

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Dear Brother Hoefle:

I received the packet of Herald of the Epiphany and appreciate very much your sending them at Sister ------- request. I am both enjoying them and learning from them – ­find them very easy reading. Your meanings are always clear, and well expressed.

In appreciation for your kindness in sending me such fine material and in order to help, in the only way I can, I am enclosing a check to help defray the expenses of carrying God's message to a chaotic, troubled world.

Best wishes to you and all the brethren there. May you remain in His love and care.

Sincerely, ------- (FLORIDA)

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Dear Family in Christ:

Thank you for the literature and book you sent me. I have studied the book and literature, and it is all great! Please send me any other books and literature you can. Please write me soon.

Sincerely, ------- (PENNSYLVANIA)

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Dear Mr. Hoefle:

Thank you for the literature you sent. I would like to have the book “The Divine Plan of the Ages.” Thank you! I am a member of that Disciples of Christ Church ­and have been since I was 13 years old.... Please enter my name on your mailing list.

Thank you again! Mrs. ------- (MISSOURI)

NO. 247: RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

No. 247

Another year gone – with scientific advancement occurring at a speedy pace. Probably the outstanding feat of the year was the United States and Russian astronauts meeting in outer space and visiting with each other for a number of days.

In agriculture also tremendous progress. One of our acquaintances in Michigan told us he secured 159 plus bushels of corn to the acre; and Michigan is not consid­ered as one of the corn-producing states. When we were a boy on an Ohio farm fifty bushels per acre was considered a sensational yield.

IN FINANCE

In contrast to the foregoing, the financial condition in many countries is de­teriorating perhaps more rapidly than science is advancing. In England, the finan­cial center of the world prior to 1914, there is now 22% of the people unemployed, with heavy trade deficits occurring regularly. In Italy 25% of the people are out of work. Here in the United States (written Nov. 4, 1975) a number of the larger cities are insolvent, with New York City being the outstanding spectacle, and Detroit running a close second. This situation has developed because of the bungling manage­ment and thievery of past politicians. For more than fifty years we have had first­hand reliable information about the thievery that has been perpetrated; and the won­der of it all is that some of these cities have not collapsed years ago. This brings forcefully to mind the words of St. Paul: "They shall perish... they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed." (Heb. 1:11,12)

Inflation – This condition has now advanced far out of control; and no amount of financial ingenuity can cope with it. Labor has priced itself out of most mar­kets. In Detroit we are personally acquainted with a carpenter who receives $9.85 per hour, with double time for Sundays and holidays. Thus, on one holiday his wages amounted to $157.60; and he told us he just could not afford to pass that up, much as he would have preferred to spend the holiday otherwise. To secure the services of a plumber, the price is $20 per hour from the time he leaves the shop until he returns; but he requires the services of a helper at the same rate. Thus, $40 per hour for a house call. And this goes double time for Sundays. We know of one business man who had to have some work done on Sunday – two plumbers and two helpers at $160 per hour. He told us that these men took a coffee break in the forenoon, another in the afternoon; that those two respites cost him just $120. It is little wonder that such expense will be tolerated only under the most demanding conditions.

It is no longer possible to reduce wages. Not only so, but labor is constantly crying for even higher wages. Thus it is impossible to reduce costs; and reducing cost is the only way prices can be lowered. Recently on a downtown street in Detroit we were accosted by a beggar with the request: Can you spare me a dollar for a bowl of soup? A good pair of shoes cost $12 sixty years ago; now that same brand, with the quality reduced, costs $75.

Elevator operators in New York City are currently paid $30,000 per year; and trash pick-up men receive $19,000 per year. Interest alone on the United States na­tional debt is now thirty-five billion dollars per year. The interest item now in our national budget is almost equal the entire budget in 1958. Along with such situations unemployment is on the increase. In the County of Los Angeles, California, there are 870,920 people on welfare; and this staggering load must be borne mostly by business. The US Department of Health, Education and Welfare now requires eighty-one billion dollars a year to operate; another item that must be borne by business. Very few of our politicians have ever had any real business experience; and they are therefore disinclined to sympathize with our businesses.

One financial publication carries this item: "In 1965 (just ten years ago) about 480,000 people were on welfare in New York City; a decade later the figure is 1.2 mil­lion. In 1974 the Welfare Agency accounted for $3.4 billion of the city's $12 billion budget – more than education, more than hospitals, more than anything else. (It is im­portant to remember, however, that 50% of the welfare outlay is reimbursed by the fed­eral government, and 25% by the state.) The agency served 263,000 meals a month; kept 28,000 people in foster homes; it bought 35,000 gallons of liquid detergent, 48 tons of powdered soap, 10,000 mops and 18,000 brooms to clean up its 5.5 million square feet....... " Nobody can agree on the extent of welfare fraud (an especially sticky point with bond buyers), or on whether it makes any sense to try eliminating what fraud there is, or on how to go about doing it. And according to the US Commissioner of Welfare, the Human Resources Administration continues to misspend about $600 million a year by giv­ing welfare to people who shouldn't be getting it and by giving incorrect amounts to people who should."

In another direction one financial expert has this to say: "It is important to recognize what has and what is happening here if there is ever to be a return to a rea­sonable degree of price stability. Much of the inflation now being experienced by in­dustrialized nations has originated in the way governments have taken more out of the economy to finance their programs, than the economy had to give. The central banks in making up the difference by expanding the money supply have progressively diluted the value of the currencies WHOSE FUNCTION WAS THEIRS TO PRESERVE.............

"The assumption that the Fed will go a long way toward making new money available underlies the present expectation of resurgent inflation through 1976. As US Treasury Secretary Simon said: 'We hardly ever do anything in Washington for the long-run good of the country; most everything we do is aimed at the next election.'"

Surplus Intellectuals – "What do we mean by surplus intellectual? Surplus in the sense of there being far more intellectuals than there are employment opportunities with income and prestige and duties appropriate to the self-evaluation of those of us who are intellectuals. There are not enough jobs of the kind that we believe ourselves to have been created to fill, at incomes we believe appropriate to our true worth.... The in­tellectual finds it reassuring to say that the businessman gets his money by luck, or monopoly, or exploitation, or dishonesty, or what have you."

All central banks in industrialized countries will have to obey their political masters, the welfare statist governments, which are desperately spending what they do not have and can only get by creating money from thin air through monetary expansion. It has been wisely stated by some pundits: Listen carefully to what the politicians have to say; then do just the reverse, and you will win most of the time. As we have often remarked in the past – The American dollar is a promise to pay NOTHING. One writer has put it this way: "Further strength in the US Dollar can be expected during the next few months (written Aug. 1, 1975). However the inevitable weakness will reappear in 1976 that will launch the dollar on a downward path climaxing in collapse."

Germany - Says one publication: "Thanks to the Keynesian-age bred bureaucrats in Western Countries and the disastrous influence of Washington on German economic plan­ning, West Germany is suddenly becoming the 'sick man' of Europe. The West German gov­ernment, faced by a continuing recession, plans to start a $2 billion program of public works. Despite a $6 billion tax cut and $24 billion in deficit financing by federal, state and local governments, there are still more than one million unemployed. Forum readers are not surprised to see the chancellor of West Germany running to French Pres­ident Giscard D'Estains for help. France has the strongest economy in Europe.

"The west Germans are so desperate that they started talking about a sort of NEW DEAL ­building schools, bridges, railroads – anything to pump money and jobs into the economy. Last month the German Central Bank lowered reserve requirements on foreign liabilities, adding another $600 million to the funds private banks keep available for lending. To cap it all, the Central Bank lowered interest rates to 4½%. What happened to the Ger­man economic miracle? The same as that which happened to the U.S., Canadian, or any other welfare statist Keynesian economy. Government 'tuned' economy does not work."

Capitalism – Continuing along the foregoing lines: "The Free Market economy of the post World War II of West Germany was turned and turned and tuned in the sixties into a welfare statist 'managed' economy – the poison of capitalism. We have reached the stage now, in this fast deteriorating world economic picture, when more and more people question the survival of capitalism. These critics of capitalism largely con­trol the world of the academy, the news media of the pulpit and of the stage. The greatest enemy of capitalism – provided by capitalism itself – are the intellectuals. It has nothing to do with whether you are bright.... The intellectual's main chance of asserting himself lies in his actual or potential nuisance value."

Said the French President concerning the United States: "It is unbelievable that the most important economic country in the world has no economic leader in the Govern­ment." It requires no great intellect to agree with this appraisal. The prime intel­lects of the country are engaged in operating the businesses of the country; and, as we have observed on occasion: If the businesses of the country were run like the poli­ticians are running the government, capitalism in the United States would have been down the sewer years ago. The capitalist countries of the world seem absolutely unable to manage their economic and monetary situations. And the financial genius that exists in such countries is never given chance to furnish such supervision. Says one commen­tator: "The State of Illinois is going broke. The extravagance of the demagogues is crucifying the taxpayers and rendering the public treasury penniless."

Follows now a summation from another publication: "It is this world that produced the New York City crisis. Those who wanted 'theirs' with no regard to the ability of the city to pay. Greedy politicians who wanted only one thing – to be reelected and then to move on to higher office with a parting cry of 'apres moi le deluge.' Greedy bankers who satisfied the frantic cravings of the politicians for more and more and more money through short-term loans that were death to the city but fabulous profits for the money-lenders. Greed and material selfishness were the ingredients that make up all of the characters of this modern American tragedy and the people who lived for 'now' and who mortgaged tomorrow with the cynical knowledge that their children would pay, are now trapped by tomorrow that arrived off schedule too early.

"Tomorrow is today, and New York City is dying, and so are tens of other urban communities; and soon it will be the states, and after that the federal government bowing before the law that knows no repeal – one cannot indefinitely pay out more than comes in, no matter how insatiable the greed, the passion for material wealth, the crav­ing for 'more.' The disaster is compounded by the frightening reaction to it. A total unwillingness or inability to sacrifice, to cut the living standards to which we have become accustomed and which always were unreal and mad. Unions refuse to consider pay freezes, and bankers turn a cold shoulder to lower interest rates. A city is dying and its population prefers that to an unilateral sacrifice. And more. We have seen the re­action of the police who were laid off. They openly broke the law, blocking traffic just as the demonstrators they, only yesterday, so brutally beat in defense of 'law and order.' They smashed cars, and their ugly hating faces were chilling reminders of how shallow democracy is. Indeed it is at the mercy of an empty pocket, and civi­lization is an army that marches on a full stomach. Woe unto it when that stomach is empty.

"The economic crash that is coming with its unemployment and despair will join the political, psycho­logical and social crisis that grips the country. It is the Jew who will be the primary target of the anger, frustration, fear and hate that will come as a tidal wave across the country, sweeping before it the vaunted system. Now! Now is the time to go home."

Italy – Akin to the foregoing is this about Italy: "Italy has a shortage of coins, so bills in taxis and restaurants often are rounded – up, of course. Some shops and highway toll booths give hard candy or chewing gum as change. In 1974 there were 200 crimes – reported crimes – per hour. That is one per year for every seventh Italian family. Purse snatchers on motorcycles are responsible for many of the hun­dreds of daily thefts from tourists in Rome. The national crime rate is rising ten per cent a year, uninhibited by a court system that can take ten years to come to trial.

"Some cotton firms have quit supplying gauze bandages to the 1,300 government-run hospitals which owe the firms $47 million in bills dating back to 1967. The govern­ment health insurance program owes the hospitals about $5 billion which, when the bu­reaucracy pays it, will help the hospitals pay some of the more than $1 billion they owe creditors.

"The French newspaper LeMonde has said, 'Italy is the only country besides Tibet in which it is impossible to communicate through a postal service.' That is an exaggeration, but many Christmas cards from the U.S. arrive at Easter, and letters can take six months to get from one Italian city to another. Many Italians who live near Switzerland drive there to mail letters to Rome. Last year some enterprising mail man sold 400,000 pounds of mail to a processing plant as scrap paper."

During the past year the Communist party in Italy has made substantial gains, poll­ing almost as many votes as the Christian Democrats, which is the largest party in Italy and sponsored by the Roman Catholic Church. This has caused the Church much more con­cern than meets the eye, and here is what one paper says about it: "Communism holds as one of its prime doctrines the elimination of all aspects of religion. Therefore, it has been understood for years that one of its objectives is the destruction of the Ro­man Church. Because of the economic turmoil in Italy, which could lead to complete chaos, the Church authorities have good reason for their contingency plans for the relocation of the Vatican."

IN  POLITICS

The erosion in the American political arrangement has proceeded very markedly dur­ing the past year; and the future holds little hope for improvement. In fact, things figure to take a decided turn for the worse in the year ahead. Vice-President Rocke­feller has already declared he has had enough; and, while much has been said about his reasons for such decision, we venture an opinion of our own along this line: If we can rely on press reports, he is presently worth about one-third billion dollars; and his annual income is ten million (in tax-exempt bonds). Inasmuch as he was governor of New York State for sixteen years, we may be certain he is heavily involved in the secu­rities of the State and the City. With our President adamant that he is not going to bail out the City, it is quite probable that Mr. Rockefeller will be badly pinched in the squeeze that is certain to follow. In fact, according to reports that are coming to us, it is just impossible to obtain any kind of a bid for New York securities.

A similar situation existed during the depression. We recall very clearly that in 1931 the City of Sarasota, Fla., did not even make provision for payment of interest on their bonds in their annual budget, because, said they, the city had no money with which to meet the payment, so why show it in the budget at all. At that time the bonds they had sold at $100 could be purchased for $20. We are not familiar with the final dispo­sition of the obligation.

However, not all is criticism for our politicians. When the Cambodian Communist pirates grabbed the American ship Mayaguez from the high seas, it was an act of piracy of the rawest sort, and President Ford speedily dispatched sufficient force to recapture the ship and crew intact. Similar seizures were taken by the Tripoli Pirates right af­ter the War of Independence; and this is what history says about it: "For exactly forty years after the Declaration of Independence the United States engaged in a tortuous se­ries of negotiations with the piratical despots of North Africa and at last learned that the only effective argument with a buccaneer was force. In the end, the United States set an example to other maritime nations by exacting at the point of cannon a lasting peace from the corsairs."

But the peace above mentioned did not come until military force was applied. For a number of years a politician by the name of Col. Lear tried negotiations with the Barbary Coast raiders, actually paying them huge sums of money to free our ship­ping from molestation; but those pay-offs brought only more demand for further pay­offs. All of this was clearly seen by soldier General William Eaton, but his advice was not followed until the American government learned from grueling experience that the payment of money only whetted the appetites of the pirates for more money; and it is recorded that General Eaton became so disheartened with the mess that he came home and drank himself to death over the folly of the politicians. Being familiar with Ameri­can history, Mr. Ford was probably fully aware of the North African affair, and profited by it in his handling of the Cambodian pirates.

Another black mark against our politicians is to be found in the following state­ment: "Thousands and even millions of people are now beginning to realize that the Vietnam war was scientifically lost. We were defeated on purpose of the design of men of authority in our own government. Veterans of that war are now coming back tell­ing their neighbors and their friends how they were told, during the Johnson regime, to bomb empty swamps and unpopulated areas – to create the impression of fighting a war." A similar situation prevailed in the Korean war in 1953, when President Truman ordered General MacArthur not to oust the North Korean raiders. The dissension over this mat­ter became so heated that the General was summarily dismissed, which evoked the state­ment from him, when he addressed the Congress: "In war there is no substitute for vic­tory." The present unsound condition in Korea may be placed directly at the feet of the politicians. Had the General been allowed to proceed in a sound military manner, that country would now be a peaceful unity.

Follows now a statement from another writer: "Politics has nothing in common with morality. The ruler who is governed by morality is not a skillful politician; there­fore, is unstable for public office. He who wishes to rule must have a recourse to cun­ning and make-belief. Great national qualities, like frankness and honesty, are vices in politics, for which they bring down rulers from their thrones more effectively and more certainly than the most powerful enemy.... In order to operate with satisfaction it's necessary for us to hold in high regard such characteristics as rascality and slack­ness which produce instability in the population and create a lack of capacity to under­stand even the status of its own welfare. We must never forget that the mind of the mob is blind, senseless and unreasoning. The blind cannot lead the blind without bringing them into the abyss."

As the great Gladstone once said, when asked what essentials are necessary to be a successful politician, that one major item was that he must be a man without self­-respect. This is not universally true, of course, because President Lincoln was known as Honest Abe – and properly so. One of the things that has engraved his name in the history books is that he was just an honest man. During the Civil War, when things looked very bleak, one of his cabinet officials said, I hope the Lord is on our side; to which Lincoln replied, I would rather hope that we are on the Lord's side.

IN RELIGION

The same moral decay is to be found in many religious systems and individuals. Note particularly this quotation: "I groaned and wept when I read a statement from Billy Graham; who has pyramided himself into the reputation of being America's lead­ing evangelist – when he issued a statement to the effect that he would not object to the ordination of men who are homosexuals if they were properly trained for the ministry. Sex perversion among men and women has taken on such epidemic proportions that literally millions of people are using this perverted practice as a substitute for matrimony. One ordained preacher, who confesses that he is a sex pervert, organized a church in Los Angeles not long ago to which hundreds of perverts have flocked, and he gives the community to understand that he wants to limit the members of his church only to homosexuals and lesbians."

A Point Of Law – As is well known to most of our readers, various religious sys­tems have been very determined in securing public tax money in support of their own schools; but others are just as determined that this shall not be so. Says one publi­cation: "In a landmark decision of sweeping significance, the United States Supreme Court, on May 19, 1975 ruled unconstitutional two of the few remaining plans for provid­ing public support for parochial schools. In a 6-3 ruling in the case of Meek V. Pitten­ger, the Court invalidated a $26 million per year Pennsylvania program of providing in­structional equipment, materials and auxiliary services' to parochial and private schools. The Pennsylvania parochiaid laws were passed in 1972 after the Supreme Court had held the state's 'purchase of services' parochiaid plan unconstitutional in 1971, and Americans United and other groups had gone to court to challenge the state's tuition reimbursement parochiaid law."

RELIGION AND MONEY – "Lutheran Agency hit by financial crisis." Under this news heading then appears the following: "A very severe financial crisis, similar to that facing the Lutheran Council in the USA, has hit the Lutheran council in Canada. At its eleventh annual meeting here in early February, the LCIC was informed by the Lutheran Church Synod that its financial grant for 1975 will probably be $25,000 instead of the requested amount of $46,443, a difference of $21,443. The Council's operating budget for the current year totals $173,500."

At Last The Truth Comes Out! Serious involvement of the United States began under Roman Catholic President Kennedy, and we follow with a quotation from another publica­tion: "While the United States supported the French in Vietnam, our country's deep in­volvement began when our support was placed behind the dictatorship of Ngo Dinh Diem, a protégé of the late Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York. Under the Diem regime, the small Catholic mandarin class held most of the political power, top government and military jobs, and wealth, and received a disproportionately large share of American aid. Repression of the Buddhists resulted in Diem's overthrow in 1963. Diem was eventually replaced by another dictator, General Nguyen Van Thieu, also a Catholic, whose corrupt regime was so unpopular that without American assistance it collapsed like a house of cards when attacked earlier this year by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong....

"The century of church-state entanglement under French rule was largely responsible for the 1946-1954 Vietnam war, which this country helped to pay for. Cardinal Spellman and other Catholic Church officials were deeply involved in getting and holding US support for the Diem dictatorship following the defeat of the French. For 21 years after 1954 our country spent the lives of its young men and billions of dollars to support an inept, corrupt dictatorship which represented not the people of South Vietnam, but very little more than one faction within one small, non-indigenous religious group ....

"Nor was Vietnam the only time that clerical interests influenced or tried to in­fluence American foreign policy. Elements in the leadership of the Catholic Church tried to involve the United States in civil wars in Mexico in the 1920s and Nigeria in the 1960s. They failed, but their efforts in the 1930s were influential in prevent­ing our country from doing anything about the clerical-fascist insurrection in Spain that turned out to be prelude to World War II.......

"And now it has become known that the Catholic dioceses of Milwaukee and Brook­lyn, and perhaps others, require parochial school teachers to sign statements pledg­ing their commitment to Catholic values and the Catholic philosophy of education."

The Roman Catholic Church – In further detail on some of the foregoing, we offer this quotation from another writer: "This church demands support from the taxpayers, but refuses to tell the taxpayers what it already has. But the taxpayers are not alone. The members of the Roman Catholic Church themselves receive no financial re­ports from their church's headquarters. It is a well kept secret. The Vatican which houses the central authority of this church has vast wealth and far-flung investments of its own throughout the world. The $75 million Watergate Towne in Washington, D. C., and the projected multimillion dollar Italian Center in San Francisco are examples .....

"The Vatican hides its assets and operations behind a veil of secrecy, and in this it provides an example which is followed by its American branch. A spokesman for the New York archdiocese has even asserted that no record exists as to the total assets and revenues of the 149 Roman Catholic dioceses and archdioceses in the United States...... It is abundantly clear, however, that this church has tremendous financial resources which belie its cry of poverty. What makes the totals vastly more impressive is the fact that all its wealth and income are tax-exempt. All religiously used real estate is exempt and all church business profits escape tax even though they may be totally un­related to the work of the church. Since a corpus can easily double or triple in a generation if it can only escape taxes, it is no surprise that the wealth of the Catholic Church is increasing at about the rate of $3 billion a year... Some of its assets and revenues are as follows:

Religiously used real estate                             $54,000,000,000

Passive income (stocks & bonds)                        650,000,000

Active business income                                     1,200,000,000

Grants from governments                                 4,500,000,000

And this is the organization that is crying for the taxpayers to pay its bills."

It needs no great stretch of the imagination to believe that the Communists in Italy are well aware of all the foregoing, and that they are only waiting for the op­portune time to seize control. This is vividly forecast in Rev. 18:21: "A mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea (a picture of the anarchistic masses of humanity), saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all."

Jehovah's Witnesses – This organization has had a meteoric rise from a small be­ginning of about 40,000 in 1917 to about two million staunch supporters now. This has been due mainly to two of their teachings: One, a doctrine of fear – proclaiming that all who do not join them will be annihilated in Armageddon; and they have been preach­ing impending Armageddon for more than fifty years now. Two, by telling their converts what they want to hear; namely, by joining them they will not die, but live through Arma­geddon into the coming Kingdom. Of course, very few people went to die, so they are being told what they want to hear; and this makes it much easier for them to believe this "strong delusion." (2 Thes. 2:11)

But along with their increase in numbers has come a great increase in the errors they are promulgating. The first general public false teaching was produced about 1920: "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" – after 1925. Most of their followers don't know anything about that; and those of them who do remember do not wish to be reminded of it – like the Roman Catholic Church does not wish to hear about their own evils of the Dark Ages, etc. Just forget the past, they say, and take what we are telling you now. The Witnesses adopt the same technique. However, their present teachings on this related subject are showing open sores of decay, because quite a few of their most earnest "dedicated" devotees have died even before Armageddon has arrived; and this requires some slippery explaining. Necessity has forced them to modify this teaching. But they are still adamant in their teaching that all who fail to join with them before Armageddon will be forever lost – that is, be annihilated in Armageddon. So even if they increase their membership to four million – twice the number they now have – by Armageddon, then there will be quite a large number of people who will die in Armageddon, with no prospect of a resurrection, according to them, with only a small number of Witnesses to survive. Gospel means Good Tidings, but their "gospel" is bad tidings indeed to several billion people living today.

In their technical gymnastics of the past fifty years they have almost totally lost the chronology, which they received from their so-called founder – Pastor Russell. About 1920 they made a praiseworthy defense of the correct chronology against some of the deflectors from that chronology, who were advocating a 19-year mistake for the Gen­tile Times, claiming those Times would not expire until 1933. Of course, time itself has proven that the change was in complete error; however, we wish to be fair with the Witnesses by stating they still do teach correctly that the 2520-year Gentile Times began in the Fall of 607 B.C. and ended in 1914. We agree, of course, as this is cor­rect chronology; and we are in full agreement that Armageddon is imminent, although we have set no date for it. However, we emphatically disagree that to survive Armaged­don one must join with the Witnesses or join with any other religious group. There will be some from all religious groups, as well as some who are not affiliated with any religious group, who will survive Armageddon – and we predict there will be many times more of these survivors than there are Jehovah's Witness survivors.

For some years now the Witnesses have been giving 1975 as the date for Armageddon's beginning; but since 1975 is now almost gone (written Nov. 12), they must once more produce another alibi. They quote Matt. 24:36: "Of that day and hour knoweth no man, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only." This text does not say that no man would ever know. We know from the Scriptures that Jesus later did know; and the Prophet Daniel (12:10) tells us that "in the time of the end (the time in which we are living)... the wise shall understand." However, they hold to the Truth that the end of the Gentile Times is 1914, a prediction made by a man – That Servant – thirty years before that date arrived; and Matt. 24:36 was quoted, prior to 1914, from many pulpits throughout Christendom to condemn him although the events of 1914 fully vindicated his pre­diction. In one breath they admit that a "man" who derived this date from the correct chronology, did know the end of the Gentile Times; but in the next breath, to alibi their erroneous prediction for Armageddon, based on incorrect chronology, they tell us "no man knoweth"! "Consistency, thou art a jewel." Thus, once again they are proving themselves "unstable as water." (Gen. 49:4)

General – Big city buses are being held up in the tradition of old-time train rob­beries. About a half dozen such have occurred in or near Detroit in 1975. Also, crimes are being committed so rapidly in the United States the police departments cannot even process the reports. In the one-time beautiful and valuable office buildings in Detroit the tenants are now working behind locked doors, with peepholes to determine if the visitor should be admitted. Also in Detroit bank robberies have increased 50% over the previous year. Indeed, the prophecy of Ez. 7:23 comes vividly to mind: "The land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence."

Among the more cheering items of recent times there has been the discovery of The Dead Sea Scrolls, which establish the authenticity of the Old Testament book of Isaiah. It has been hailed by some as the greatest discovery of modern times.

Due to extra heavy work and some illness, we have not made acknowledgment, and expressed our thanks and appreciation, of the Holiday greetings, good wishes, love and prayers received from many brethren. We now gratefully acknowledge these greetings and heartily reciprocate to all. All here at the Bible House join in wishing our readers cordial good wishes for your good health throughout 1976 – both spiritually and physically. "For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." (Psa. 84:11)

Sincerely your brother,

John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

============================

LETTER OF GENERAL INTEREST

Epiphany Bible Students Ass'n

Dear Sirs: Would you please provide me with information about any literature you may publish. I am also interested in the background, the history, and the doc­trines of your organization. Any information along this line will be appreciated.

Sincerely yours ------- (SOUTH DAKOTA)

NO. 246: JESUS THE CHRIST

No. 246

My dear Brethren: Grace and peace through our Beloved Master!

It is rather a sad commentary that many earnest and sincere Church members do not know the clear meaning of the name Jesus Christ, the One they desire to worship. This is not only true of lay members, but is also true of quite a few of their min­isters who are attempting to “preach Christ and Him crucified.” “Thou shalt call His name Jesus,” was the command of the angel to Joseph, His stepfather. Jesus is the equivalent of the Hebrew Jeshua, or Joshua, and means Savior – “for He will save His people from their sins,” said the angel. Jesus continued with only the given name Jesus all during His boyhood, and was known by this name by His family or neighbors. However, when He presented Himself to John at Jordan for Baptism, the Holy Spirit de­scended upon Him from on High; and from that time onward He was known as Jesus Christ. The word Christ means anointed; and the clear indication is that from Jordan on, from the time the Holy Spirit was poured out upon Him, He was then known as Jesus the Christ – or the Anointed Savior. Thus, the name Jesus Christ and Anointed Savior mean ex­actly the same thing.

In a broad sense there are four offices He would hold in the saving process for the human family – that of Prophet, Priest, King and Judge. Be it noted there are also four attributes of the Divine character – Wisdom, Love, Power and Justice; and each one of these attributes finds its full application individually in the four of­fices just named.

First – The work of a prophet is to teach the people the truth: “I will send you Elijah the Prophet... and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.” (Mal. 4:5,6) And such a ministry is founded upon the attribute of Wisdom.

Second – The purpose of a Priest is to forgive and bless. “We have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities... Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy (forgiveness), and find grace (favor, blessing) to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:15,16) Surely, such forgive­ness and blessing are primarily a work of the attribute of Love.

Third – As a King (Ruler), Jesus will use particularly the attribute of Power. ‘‘At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and of things in earth, and things under the earth.. that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ (the Anointed Savior) is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:10,11). It needs no argument that such a rulership, regal authority, is the direct result of the attribute of Power.

Fourth – And as a Judge He will use specifically the attribute of Justice. “God hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained (the Anointed Savior); whereof He hath  given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the Dead.” (Acts 17:31) As Judge, the risen Lord will use specifically the attribute of Justice – strict, impartial and perfect Justice. “The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him... shall make Him of quick under­standing... He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears (as must now be done in our courts, thus often resulting in the con­viction of the innocent, and more often resulting in the freeing of the guilty)........ With righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth... Righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins.” (Isa. 11:2-5)

A MORE DETAILED ANALYSIS

While the foregoing gives an overall summary of the Anointed Savior and His work toward men, there are various details of each of these that may be itemized under 17 subheadings; and some of these we shall now consider:

(1) Our Ransomer – “The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28); and this is further emphasized and clarified in 1 Tim. 2:4–6: “Will have all men to be saved... The man Christ Jesus (the Anointed Savior) Who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” In this latter text the word ransom is from the Greek antilutron , and means a corres­ponding price – an exact equivalent. This word ransom finds a fairly good illustration in our present-day kidnapping crimes, where a ransom is demanded for the release of the victim. When demands are met, the victim is released; and it is much the same in the case of Jesus as Ransomer, one great difference being that Jesus Himself provides the ransom price. In 1 Cor. 7:23 it is stated: “Ye are bought with a price”; and we are further informed in Rom. 6:12: “By one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin: so death passed upon all men.” From the fall in Eden the great enemy has held the human race as in a gigantic vice, from which none could escape. “None can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.” (Psa. 49:7)

But Christ Jesus (the Anointed Savior) was well able to provide the ransom price; and He did this by “pouring out His soul unto death,” giving His human life and life rights as the exact equivalent of the man Adam in Eden. “Behold, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book... thou wast slain, and hast redeemed (ransomed) us to God by Thy blood... Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.” (Rev. 5:5–12) As such He substituted His perfect human body for the perfect human body that Adam lost in Eden; His perfect life rights for those lost by Adam in Eden. “The Son of Man is come to save that which was lost.” (Matt. 18:11) Thus, the question properly arises, What was lost? We answer, Four things were lost. First, Adam lost in Eden his peaceful fellowship with God; second, he lost his perfect home in Eden; third, he lost his dominion over the brute creation; fourth, he lost his right to life. The Dying process lasted 930 years, at which time Adam returned to the dust whence he was originally taken.

The doctrine of the Ransom is the foundation stone of all Biblical teachings; it is the touchstone by which we may gauge the truth or error of every other attempted Scriptural interpretation. If such teachings impinge in any way against this touch­stone, we may be sure there is something wrong with that teaching. Thus, a proper understanding of the Ransom immediately annihilates the idea that man is a dual being; that is, that he has a soul and body separate and distinct from each other. “In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die,” was the clear edict to the man Adam (Gen. 2:17). There are those that contend that Adam died spiritually on that day. But, if he died physically 930 years later, he must then have been both spiritually and physically dead; so just what else would be left of him?      However, the record is clear enough, “Man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7). Thus, when Christ Jesus (the Anointed Savior) “poured out His soul unto death,” He provided an exact equivalent for what the man Adam lost in Eden – He became the Ransom, the corresponding price, by which He could “redeem them from death; ransom them from the power of the grave” (Hosea 13:14).

(2) Mediator – In Heb. 12:24 it is stated “Jesus the mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” In the verses immediately preceding, there is minutely detailed the Covenant with the nation of Israel at Sinai, with Moses as Mediator, and compared with Jesus as the proposed Mediator of the New Covenant; so it is in order first of all to define the meaning of a mediator. He is a go-between for two parties, much the same as a broker in the stock market. When we buy stock on the New York Stock Exchange, the broker who transacts the action not only represents the buyer, but he represents the seller also, and he is legally and ethically bound to give to each a fair and impartial representation. While money is the medium of exchange in a stock deal, the buyer paying and the seller receiving the amount involved, Jesus as Mediator of the New Covenant provides not money, but His blood, His human life and human life rights, to bring the opposing parties into ac­cord. It should be noted also that the parties to a stock transaction need not be ene­mies – they may actually be good friends; but the mediation of Jesus will be between two parties actually at variance with each other. The Jews at Sinai were also out of accord with God – because of inherited and acquired sin; thus, in no position to have any direct dealings with God. But, with Moses as the go-between, the Law Covenant was completed, through the sprinkling of animals’ blood. So also with the New Covenant, the Christ – Anointed Savior – shall “make His soul an offering for sin” (Isa. 53:10), as He mediates the New Covenant.

That this New Covenant is not yet in operation should be readily apparent. If it were, man would be unable to continue in his sinful course as he has been doing for the past six thousand years. There is now no command to the Gentile world to forsake sin and follow righteousness. Rather, there has been a call (“Many are called, but few are chosen”) to such as would hear, a call to “follow in His steps.” But, as stated in the opening paragraphs, when the New Covenant and the Mediator (better than Moses) are established, then it will be a command for “every knee to bow, and every tongue to confess that Christ is Lord.” Certainly, all will agree that this condition does not prevail at this time.

The purpose of the New Covenant is to give life to all who will accept it under the terms of that Covenant. “God will have all men to be saved” from the various evils that now afflict the human race; but, once that salvation is accomplished, then it will be a matter of each individuals choice whether or not he wishes to avail him­self of the further benefits that will then be available. That will be the “resurrec­tion of judgment” (John 5:29, Dia.), the word ‘judgment’ here being from the Greek krisis, which actually means a trial time – a trial time with sufficient knowledge available to permit those tried to make an intelligent choice between good and evil.

(3) Father – In Isa. 9:6 we have the prophecy, “unto us a son is given... His name shall be called Wonderful... The everlasting father.” St. Paul states, “As by Adam all die, so by the Anointed (Savior) also, will all be restored to life.” (1 Cor. 15:22, Dia.) The first Adam did not give us life; he gave us a sentence of death, which is slowly executed upon each individual until he is finally placed in the tomb. It is a common expression for men to say, I am living in New York, St. Louis, Los Angeles, etc.; but the fact is that they are all dying in those places, of which every funeral procession gives mute evidence.

But the life that will come from the second Adam (the Anointed Savior) will be just the reverse; it will bring to the race life in perfection – “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death will be no more, nor mourning nor crying; neither will there be any more pain... These words are faithful and true.” (Rev. 21: 4,5) Instead of the aging process we now see on all hands, there will be just the reverse at the hand of the “Everlasting Father”: “Man’s flesh shall be fresher than a child’s: he shall return to the days of his youth.” (Job 33:25) At present we see men going from youth to old age and faltering steps; under the Mediator, the Anointed Savior, the Everlasting Father, just the reverse will occur – man shall re­turn to the days of his youth.

(4) Law-Giver – “The Government shall be upon His shoulder.” (Isa. 9:6) And, since all God’s works are perfect, we may expect a perfect Government when the Anointed Savior takes unto Himself His great power to reign. Under present unfavorable condi­tions all governments are far from perfect; in fact, most of them have been miserably imperfect – due to the vicious, corrupt and selfish men who have been at the heads of the various governments. “To the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.” (Dan. 4:17) Even with the few noble rulers of history, their efforts were much impeded and negated by corrupt and ambitious underlings. As the perfect Law-giver, the Anointed Savior  will have no selfish motives. “With righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth” (Isa. 11:4) – class distinctions will not enter into the administration of justice under the Perfect Law-Giver.

(5) The Great Physician – That the human race is in dire need of better doctors to cure their diseases is apparent on every hand. It is our conviction that many of our better physicians are men and women of high ideals, who work conscientiously and altruistically to ease the ills of the human race; yet they are forced to admit their limitations against the ailments that afflict the race. Not long back a very good and personal friend of ours dropped dead of a heart attack in just a few minutes. He had been a brilliant physician, with a very lucrative practice. We were discussing his sudden demise with perhaps ten fellow members of the Medical Association, when one of them sadly remarked that in instances such as that one they were forced to admit their limitations in their treatment of bodily ills.

The human afflictions are not only physical, they are also mental, artistic, moral and religious.  “When I would do good, evil is present with me,” is the open confession of the Great Apostle (Rom. 7:21); and it needs no argument that that noble “example of the believers” exerted all his indomitable will to combat the weaknesses which had come to him through heredity. Said the Prophet Isaiah (1:5,6): “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no sound­ness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.” Further on the subject by David (Psa. 51:2–5): “Wash me throughly from mine iniquity... Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Doctors have listed about 2,000 diseases that afflict humanity – many times more than can be found in any of the brute creation. “I am fearfully and wonderfully made,” is a further statement by David (Psa. 139:14); but man’s great physique and sensitive nervous system have also subjected him to more numer­ous and more intricate bodily disorders than can be found in any of the lower animals.

And for all of this the Great Physician (the Anointed Savior) will in due time produce the remedies that will effect a complete and permanent cure. “The Sun of right­eousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves in the stall.” (Mal. 4:2) “Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities (through the work of the Great High Priest); Who healeth all thy diseases (by the hand of the Great Physician)”—Psa. 103:2. This healing has been partially extended to the faith class during the Gospel Age, and will be given fully and completely to all the non-elect during the Kingdom reign who will avail themselves of it.

(6) The Great And Just Judge – Previously we touched lightly the Anointed Savior’s office of Judge, but we now offer some elaboration because of the confused and extensive misunderstanding that prevails on the subject throughout Christendom. In Prev­ious centuries the belief was general throughout Christendom that the Great Judge would eventually put in an appearance in a 24-hour day, sentence all the sinners to eternal torment, and take His faithful with Him into the heavenly abode. It is a tribute to the increase in knowledge (Dan. 12:4) here in the end of the Age that many Christian be­lievers no longer accept such an erroneous view; but many of them still have only a hazy conception of any different view on the subject. However, if we consider the Judges in Israel, after the entrance into Canaan, we find their most important work was to deliver their fellow Israelites from their enemies; and in this they were but a type of the Anointed Savior who will deliver mankind in general from their enemies of heart and mind – namely, sin, error and selfishness. “The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son” (the Anointed Savior)—John 5:22.

Such judgment to be successful will involve several things: First, the human race will be put under providential conditions conducive to accepting the harsh, yet merciful conditions applicable to such judgment. Such conditions do not now prevail, because all will agree that it now is as easy for man to sin as for the smoke and sparks to fly sky­ward. Even with the faith class, who have resolutely attempted a better way, a certain margin of failure has accompanied their efforts to keep the perfect law of God. Sec­ondly, it will be necessary to teach the unbelief class just what the law actually is ­what is required of them – before they can even make the attempt to keep the law. All will agree that the conflicting teachings of the numerous sects today must carry with them a considerable amount of error. It has been well stated that behind every argu­ment lies some one’s ignorance. And this has been especially true of religious argu­ments. But the promise is sure to all, “I will instruct thee, and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go.” (Psa. 32:8) And, “When thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness” (Isa. 26:9). The people will first be told clearly and certainly what they must do before they will be judged for what they do. It is established law in the courts of our land that “Ignorance of the law excuses no one”; and this may continue measurably true during the reign of the Christ Anointed Savior. But the ignorance will surely and completely first be eliminated before judgment will be meted out. Then, “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isa. 11:9)

Such a situation would require, thirdly, that tie necessary help be given for the success of the willing, and suitable punishments for willful violations – punishments not too severe, nor yet too lenient for each individual case. Then, finally, the judgment must be pronounced – innocence for the innocent, and guilt for the guilty. “Then will the King say to those at His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed ones of My Fa­ther, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the formation of the world’... He will then also say to those at His left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed ones, into that aionian fire (annihilation), which is prepared for the Adversary and his messengers.’” (Matt. 25:34-41, Dia.)

From the foregoing it should be clear that the judgment process and the salvation process are companion accomplishments. As the one occurs, so does the other. Thus, instead of the judgment being a fearful thing, the world is admonished to “sing unto the Lord, all the earth... show forth His salvation from day to day – Declare His glory among the heathen.” (Psa. 96:1–3) He will “judge the world in righteousness”; and none will be asked to perform more than he is able to do. Such a situation today is impossible – even though the judge may have the most noble intentions. We still are faced with the indisputable truth, “Man looketh on the outward appearance,” and must judge accordingly; but in the judgment process of the Anointed Savior all will know that “The Lord looketh on the heart.”

(7) The Good Provider – Despite man’s best intentions to improve his condition, the result has been mostly dismal failure. Since the great increase of knowledge in the time of the end – from 1799 onward – almost all the great inventions have been produced, resulting in great freedom from the burdens of the curse. But, “A morning cometh, and a night also.” In the more advanced countries today we find much the same evils as were charged to Sodom: “Pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idle­ness was in her... they were haughty, and committed abomination before Me; therefore, I took them away as I saw good.” (Ezek. 16:49,50) Jesus compared the world in His first Advent to sheep that have lost their way – without a shepherd; but St. Paul writes of The Anointed Savior as “That great shepherd of the sheep, who will make you perfect in every good work.” (Heb. 13:20,21) “Our God shall supply all your needs through Christ Jesus, our Lord.” This He has done for the faith class during this Age, and will perform it for all mankind in the Age just ahead, supplying the things needful for them to gain the salvation then available.

At the outset we stated that there are 21 offices, or titles, which apply to the Anointed Savior; but we have offered detail on only about a dozen of them. Some of those we have not discussed, and which have Biblical labels are the Advocate, the Bride­groom, the Deliverer, the Captain (of our Salvation), the Head (of all things), the Prince of Peace, the Revealer, the Purifier and Refiner. Some of these operate only during this Age, while others operate now, and will also operate in the next Age. The 21 evils that are rampant among men all find their cure through the person, offices and work of the Anointed Savior; nor are they to be found elsewhere. Once this is clear­ly discerned, we may join heartily and with increased fervor in offering the prayer, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth.” That alone will produce “the desire of all nations”; and, as we consider those things already accomplished in that direction, we may have increased confidence in the performance of the remainder, for “He is faith­ful that promised.”

All of the foregoing may be summarized in the words of St. Peter (Acts 3:19–23) ­“The restitution of all things.” The general premise, and the ultimate consummation are also contained in these texts: “A prophet (the Anointed Savior) shall the Lord your God raise up unto you... Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say un­to you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear (obey) that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.” We are told further that when That Prophet occupies His office of Teacher of the people that Satan will be bound – “that he should deceive the nations no more.” (Rev. 20:3) But after that he will be “loosed for a Little Season.” That “Little Season” will be the Time of Trouble at the end of the Millennial Age, just as the present Time of Trouble now marks the end of this Age. “Every man’s work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it.” (1 Cor. 3:13)

However, when the trial time of the Little Season shall arrive – in the eventual separation of the Sheep and the Goats – most of the 21 evils mentioned herein will have been eliminated; thus, there will be no more any need for their corrective offices to be operative. But there are several of them that will find their real prominence dur­ing that Little Season. The Anointed Savior will then act in delivering the Sheep (as Deliverer), even as He destroys the Goats; He will still be their King, because man will not obtain “restitution” of his kingly domain that was lost in Eden until af­ter the full end of the Little Season, when the Lord’s words will apply, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom.” Also, at the end of that Little Season the Judge will pronounce His final judgment upon “the just and the unjust” – after which “cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father, when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.  For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor. 15:24–26) This “last enemy” cannot possibly mean the tomb, as we understand it today; because, once the resurrection from the death state occurs, in that instant the bonds of the grave are broken, and the healing, instructing, and re­viving processes begin to work – all of which must be completed by the beginning of the Little Season.

Both the sheep and the goats will have been perfected physically by the time the Little Season begins; and to all outward appearances they will all be the same. But it will require the trial time – the graduating process – of the Little Season to de­termine which of them are also perfected mentally, morally and religiously. These may be classed as the concealed vestiges of the dying process – the evils they willfully refused to forsake – even though they were outwardly obedient during the Mediatorial King­dom. All who enter that Little Season will be perfect physical specimens; most of the 21 offices of the Anointed Savior will have accomplished their full purpose, and will have passed forever out of existence as such. But a few of these titles and their works will carry right on through the Little Season to its full end. “Then cometh the end,” when all of the 21 offices will cease to operate, as the sheep “inherit the Kingdom” – ­have had all restored to them that was lost in Father Adam.

Briefly we would recap the 21 offices of the Anointed Savior as described by the Epiphany Messenger:

(1) The Ransomer – “Who gave himself a ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:6).

(2) The Advocate – for the Church (1 John 2:1).

(3) Our Righteousness – “righteousness of the law .. fulfilled in us” (Rom. 8:4).

(4) Bridegroom of the Bride, the Church, which is his Body (Eph. 1:22,23),

(5) High Priest who forgives and blesses (Heb. 4:15,16).

(6) Teacher – In the Kingdom the people will learn righteousness. (Isa. 26:9)

(7) Deliverer – from sin, error, pain and death.

(8) Captain – of our salvation. (Heb. 2:10)

(9) Head – of the Church and of all things. (Eph. 1:22,23)

(10) Mediator – He will stand between God’s justice and man during the Kingdom. (See Heb. 12:24)

(11) Father – “The everlasting Father.” (Isa. 9:6)

(12) Perfect Law-giver. (Isa. 2:3)

(13) Prince of Peace during the Kingdom (Isa. 9:6), but not during this Age. (Matt. 10:34)

(14) King – “King of kings” (kings, the Little Flock––Rev. 19:16, and King during the Kingdom).

(15) Revealer – to make manifest. (Mal. 3:2)

(16) Executive for God. (Isa. 11:4)

(17) Physician who healeth all our diseases. (Psa. 103:3)

(18) Lord of Lords (Lords, the Little Flock). (Rev. 19:16)

(19) Judge – together with the Little Flock – “know ye not the saints shall judge the world.” (1 Cor. 6:2)

(20) Purifier and Refiner. (Mal. 3:3)

(21) Provider – provides life, perfect home, etc. in restored paradise. (Psa. 103:4)

As said, some of these offices are operative now for the Faith Classes – for the “called” or elect classes, and many of them will continue to operate for all mankind during the Kingdom proper.         Also, quite a few of these offices will terminate at the beginning of the Little Season – such as Mediator, Ransomer, Physician, etc. But all who have received Present Truth must know that the Christ will continue all through the Little Season until the end in the offices of King, Judge, Revealer, Deliverer and Pro­vider of the Sheep – until the “end” of the Little Season when He shall have “delivered up the kingdom to God” (1 Cor. 15:24) by transferring Kingship to the Sheep, to those who entered the Little Season with perfect characters. Those who enter the Little Season with unholy heart condition, who have failed to perfect moral and religious qual­ities – who have failed to rid themselves of Adamic defilements (the dying process) ­will be destroyed in the Second Death at the end of the Little Season. Then the Resti­tution work will be finished, and Acts 3:19-23 will be fulfilled. At that time He will have “put all enemies under his feet,” and 1 Cor. 15:24-26 will be fulfilled.

The above is well summarized in E–17:124, 125, 126: “Then cometh the end (the end of the Little Season, when He shall have ruled over all the earth and given every man the opportunity to gain eternal life, which His Ransom-sacrifice, a corresponding price, enables Him to give), when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father (for God will be the final judge over the earth and will exercise His judgment through Christ, the Head, primarily, and secondarily, the Church, His Body, as His Vice­gerent); when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and (all) power (every vestige of the governorship and of the pretended authority and the pretended might of Satan, all of this will be put down by the almighty hand of Christ, the Head, and the Church, the Body, using God’s power as that almighty power in their hand). Far he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death (thus we see that not only persons are these enemies, but also things. The Adamic death in the sense of the dying process is this last great enemy; and because of His faithfulness, Jesus became the One who will after the close of the Mil­lennium finally destroy it)... The sad tragedy of sin will forever have ceased to be enacted. The ages to come will witness the realization of the angels’ song of Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, good will to men.” (Luke 2:14)

The foregoing is beautifully summarized in the words of the angel at the time of Jesus’ birth: “Behold, I bring you glad tidings, which will be a great joy to all people; because today was born for you, in David’s City, a Savior, who is the Lord Messiah.” (Luke 2:10,11, Dia.) This is clearly emphasized by the Apostle Paul: “Now according to a plan of the ages, which He formed for the anointed Jesus our Lord.” (Eph. 1:10, 11, Dia.) Thus, the “plan of the ages” is assured of accomplishment through the Anointed Savior.

“Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men... the righteous shall see it, and rejoice, and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord” (Psa. 107:31–43) – through the ministration of the Anointed Savior.

Sincerely your brother,

John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

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"IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW"

SISTER GRACE PRICE finished her earthly journey on August 9, 1975. She would have been 91 years old on September 3, 1975. She had been a "good soldier of Jesus Christ" since the Parousia times; and was one of the early ones to accept Epiphany Truth. This enabled her to avoid "the pestilence that walketh in darkness" which emanated from the Society leaders after That Servant's demise.

For many winters she was a member of the Epiphany Bible House in Mount Dora, assisting in the work; and we gladly say of her, as Jesus said of Mary, "She hath done what she could." And to this we would add that whatever she did she did well! Thus we cherish fond and loving memories of her fine Christian works and character. With the passing of such "good soldiers" we may reconcile ourselves with the assur­ance that our loss is their gain. "The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance" (Psa. 112:6) – both here and hereafter. We know of no reason why the promise of the fully faithful should not include her: "Well done, good and faithful servant: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

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HOLIDAY GREETINGS

Due to an increase of work, and some illness here in the Bible House family, we are not sending individual cards to our friends, as has been our custom. However, we now take occasion to wish all of our readers the Lord's richest blessing throughout the Holiday Season and into 1976. "Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye." (Prov. 7:2)

NO. 245: THE THREE WORLDS - CONDITIONS AND PEOPLES - PART TWO

No. 245

(Continued from No. 243 – September 1975)

In our first installment of the above subject we completed discussion of “The World That Was”; and began discussion of “This Present Evil World” in its early years. We gave limited comment on the origin of various heathen religions – with Nimrod as the Sun God and Semiramus as the Moon Goddess. While much more could have been said about the heathen religions, we would merely state here that other promi­nent individuals were subsequently deified after their death, having their abode in the various stars, the same giving rise to Star Worship. Although more could be writ­ten about this latter subject, we feel sufficient detail has been presented to give a lucid picture of the overall conditions that prevailed then. Thus, we now proceed with analysis of:

THE PATRIARCHAL AGE

It should be kept in mind that all the foregoing idolatry had a very small begin­ning, with a mere handful of people involved. However, at the fall of Jerusalem in the Fall of 607 B.C., when the Jews were carried captive into Babylon, the worship of deified mortals had engulfed almost the entire human race, except the Jews; and the instances given aforegoing prove conclusively that it had also corrupted many of them.

But at no time in history was this scourge embraced by all men. We may reason­ably conclude that it had not touched Noah, or his son Shem. A little further along, we come to Abraham, who appeared on the scene not quite 400 years after the flood; and he was 175 years old when he died. He is identified as the first of “the fathers”; and he, with his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob, cover the span of history known as the Patriarchal Age. At the death of Jacob (whose name had been changed to Israel—­Gen. 32:28) his twelve sons became the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel, at which time began the Jewish Age, of which more later. In Eze. 10:10 there is discussion of “a wheel in the midst of a wheel,” and we believe this has reference to the various Ages – Patriarchal, Jewish and Gospel Ages – that appear in “this present evil world.” (Gal. 1:4)

It should be borne in mind that prior to the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt there had been no written revelation from God. The means of communication between God and man prior to the Exodus had been through angels talking to individuals, or through dreams or visions that were sent to them. As stated, in the narrow sense, the Patriarchal Age was the time of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; but in the broad sense that Age began at the end of the flood, partly because at that time God made a special covenant with Noah and his descendants never again to destroy the earth (the social order—Gen. 9:11) with a flood. However, specifically speaking, the Patriarchal Age began with the Covenant made with Abraham. (Gen. 12:1-5) But because of the retroactive operation of the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant, they were anticipatorially applied to Noah, and even to Enoch and Abel. (Heb. 11:4-7, 39,40) Because of this retroactive effect, we are somewhat warranted in beginning the Patriarchal Age with the end of the flood.

The word ‘patriarchs’ means ‘first fathers’; and it is because Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were the first fathers of Israel in this period, that we call it the Patriarchal Age. Apart from the covenant with Noah, God did not deal during this pe­riod on covenant basis with every human being. As explained aforegoing, Nimrod and many others were permitted to “enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season,” God winking at their ignorance. (Acts 17:23,30; Rom. 1:21-25,28) Specifically, during that time He dealt with Abraham and his family, with Isaac and his family, and with Jacob and his family. During that Age God chose those with whom He would deal – just as He has been doing in this present Gospel Age – “Them who are the called according to His purpose.” (Rom. 8:28) The others of mankind He has allowed to go their own way – a law unto them­selves; but this does not mean that the natural laws have not been operative toward those not called. Those who have sown to evil have often reaped the natural rewards of evil – “As a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” From this we must draw the log­ical conclusion that it has not been God’s will to save the world in the Patriarchal Age, the Jewish Age or the Gospel Age, or He would have done so – “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” (Isa. 46:10)

Let us note that the Patriarchal Age endured for a period of 659 years – from the end of the flood to the death of Jacob, the last of the patriarchs. This conclusion is made because at the death of Jacob God ceased to deal exclusively with any one indivi­dual; but chose to deal with an entire nation – the twelve tribes of Israel. This is clearly stated in Gen. 49:28, where Jacob’s twelve sons and their families are for the first time called “the twelve tribes of Israel.” Thus it was that the Patriarchal Age ended and the Jewish Age began, after which time the Jews alone were dealt with on cov­enant basis. “Children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” (Amos 3:1,2)

THE JEWISH AGE

The Jewish Age began in the Spring of 1813 B.C., and continued thereafter for a period of 1845 years – until the death of Jesus, when He pronounced upon them the fate­ful sentence: “Your house is left unto you desolate... Ye shall not see Me henceforth till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.” (Matt. 23:38,39) During this 1845 years God made no effort to convert the Gentile world; but His deal­ings during the Jewish Age were much the same as they had been during the Patriarchal Age – of an elective character. Many times during the 1845 years did the Jews forsake the true God, followed the idolatrous practices of the heathens, and often committed acts of extreme depravity. Yet they continued “beloved for the fathers’ sakes.” (Rom. 11:28) In other words, they often rode on the coattails of the patriarchs.

It is well to consider here that all during the Patriarchal Age, and for about 200 years of the Jewish Age there was no organized religious ritual, no written revelation from God. This came for the first time through Moses at Sinai, during which time most of the Pentateuch was recorded, and making the foundation for “the oracles of God” which continued to come through that nation until the prophecy of Malachi appeared to form the last book of the Old Testament. Prior to Sinai whatever of religion was practiced by the Jews was based largely upon tradition, with either the father or the eldest son of the family acting as the household priest, which readily reminds us of the great in­fluence for good or evil that could come from such an arrangement. But this was all changed when Aaron, brother of Moses, was selected by God as Israel’s first High Priest; and the ceremonies incidental to the Tabernacle were initiated. After that time addi­tional revelations came through the various prophets, which were written out, eventually producing the 39 books of the Old Testament, with Malachi being the last one.

Of course, we must bear in mind that the revelations contained in the book of Gen­esis are all recordings of past events, many of which had occurred in “the world that was”; with the remainder coming during the Patriarchal and Jewish Ages prior to Sinai. It was Moses who reduced them to writing. Some of the Old Testament revelations came by direct speech (through an angel from God, etc.), others by visions, tableaux and dreams, some by immediate inspiration, some by typical acts and institutions, and some by covenant arrangements. Putting these into writing was commenced by Moses at Sinai in 1615 B.C., and completed by Malachi about 400 B.C. John the Baptist was the last of the prophets (Matt. 11:13), although he did not contribute any Old Testament writings.

Large parts of the Old Testament were typical of future events, many of which have already been fulfilled, with some being fulfilled in our present time, and others still future. Outstanding among such is the Law Covenant given through Moses, which offers great enlightenment concerning the New Covenant that will soon be inaugurated. “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt.” (Jer. 31:31-32)

The books written by Moses – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and most of Deuteronomy – were committed to the care of the Jewish priesthood; as were also subsequent additions until the last by Malachi. Such reverence was attached to those writings that the priests in charge would have given their lives in defense of them. Parts of these writings were usually read in the synagogues on the Sabbath, or other special oc­casions; and Jesus often quoted or read parts of certain Old Testament writings. One notable instance is recorded in Luke 4:16-21. It should be stressed here also that all of the Old Testament writers were Jews – as were also all of the New Testament writers, if we make allowance that the Gospel of Luke was dictated by St. Paul. And because of all this St. Paul asks the question: “What advantage then hath the Jew?... Much every way; chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.” (Rom. 3:1,2)

However, there were many times when the custodians of the Holy Writ became quite careless in their duty, putting the writings off in some obscure corner of the Temple until they were forgotten and barely being preserved at all. Such an instance is re­corded in 2 Chron. 34:14-33. Indeed, after the death of Joshua such carelessness was often manifest until their return from the 70-years, captivity in Babylon – after which they were closely regarded and respected.

As stated earlier, the fact was stressed that only two of the cardinal doctrines of the Bible were revealed in “the world that was,” these two being the Creation and the Fall of man. The third one to come into promi­nence was the Law given at Sinai, which would give the Jews life if they would keep that Law. And to this they all answered, “All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.” (Ex. 24:3) But that Law only made glaringly apparent their inability to live according to the perfect requirements of their God. St. Paul makes this quite clear in Rom. 7:7-9: “I had not known sin but by the law... I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.”

And, while the Old Testament Scriptures did testify of Jesus (John 5:39), much of what they testified was very vaguely comprehended; and it was not until Jesus Himself “brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10) that the remain­ing seven cardinal doctrines became clearly understood. Those seven are the Ransom, Justification, Sanctification, the High Calling, the Resurrection, Restitution and the Second Death. Six of these seven have been rather well understood by a limited few, and all have been operative during this Gospel Age, Restitution being the only exception. Of this we shall offer some comment when we consider “the world to come.”

Jesus not only “brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel,” but He also proved his own human perfection by keeping that Law perfectly, which even the best of the Jews Moses, Daniel, Samuel, John the Baptist, and the other well-intentioned prophets had not been able to do. Jesus emphasized this point in Matt. 5:17, 18: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

And, while the best of the Jews – such as mentioned above – could not keep the Law, it did accomplish something for them, as they endeavored to keep it. It gave them a standing far superior to their fellows, and developed in them the good quali­ties which will give them “a better resurrection” (Heb. 11:35) when “the books are opened, and the judgment is set.” This is recorded in quite some detail by St. Paul in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews.

Also, in lesser degree, a small segment of the Jews made earnest effort to keep the Law. St. Paul was one of these, he says of himself, “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touch­ing the law, a Pharisee (who rigidly attempted to keep the law, many of them mistakenly believing that they did so)... touching the righteousness which is of the law, blameless.” (Phil. 3:5,6) Jesus attracted to Himself a small number of such Jews – by His own personal magnetism and His strict adherence to that law which they had come to love. Jesus spoke of such as “the Harvest” of the Jewish Age; and counseled the Apostles and others to join Him in reaping them. “Look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest... I sent you to reap that whereon you bestowed no labor: other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors.” (John 4:35-38)

Although the law and the Jewish Age did produce a “harvest” of “Israelites indeed,” it also produced the chaff: “He will gather the wheat into His garner; but the chaff He will burn with fire unquenchable.” (Luke 3:17) Although their house was left to them desolate at Jesus’ death, they were given an additional 36½ years of amnesty before they were required to meet their promise: “His blood be on us, and on our children.” (Matt. 27:25) In the year 70 A.D. the Roman Emperor Titus leveled Jerusalem after a long and vicious siege, at which time “the chaff” was destroyed in savage manner. When the work was fully accomplished, there was a circle of crosses around Jerusalem, with a dead Jew hanging on each one of them. It is one of the outstanding atrocities of all history. There ended the Jewish Age; there ended the Jewish rituals estab­lished by Moses and Aaron at Sinai; there began what is commonly known as “the dis­persion,” which is the foundation for the expression “The Wandering Jew.”

So thoroughly was the chaff burned at that time that the Temple was demolished and the Tribe of Levi became lost in the confusion. That loss did indeed “desolate” the Jewish religion because they can no longer have a High Priest – who must come from the Tribe of Levi; but they do not now know which Jews are of that tribe. Therefore, their present Atonement Day services, their Passover services, etc., are mere empty formalisms. When the Jewish Age ended, it ended in a way which none of them foresaw, the full import of which is today understood by only a very few in Christendom. Vi­cious persecution has followed them from city to city, from nation to nation; and it may truly be described as one of the outstanding marvels of the Age that the Jewish race still exists at all. Their tenacity in this matter offers living proof of Moses’ charge against them: “Thou art a stiffnecked (stubborn) people.” (Deu. 9:6)

As amelioration to the foregoing, we offer the conclusion that it will not be always so with them. Already we see them back in the land which God promised the “fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” (Deu. 9:5); and we offer also the consolation of St. Paul: “Blindness is happened in part (not an unending scourge) to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.” (Rom. 11:25)

An item of special interest here is that all the four universal empires described in the metal-man image of Dan. 2:36-45 had their origin in universal reign during the Jewish Age. The first of these was Babylon, which conquered the Jerusalem Jews in the Fall of 607 B.C.; and the Prophet describes it in this manner: “Thou, 0 king (Nebu­chadnezzar) art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the fields and the fowls of the heaven hath He given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.” (Dan. 2:37,38)

Followed then the Medes and the Persians as earth’s universal sovereignty. Media is first mentioned in history about 850 B.C., but did not attain noticeable prominence until about 625 B.C., at which time Cyaxares united the many Iranian-speaking Median tribes. The Medes became subject to the Persians in 550 B.C., under Cyrus the Great. “After thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee.” (Dan. 2:39)

Came next the Grecian Empire (“another third kingdom, which shall bear rule over all the earth”—Dan. 2:39). Alexander the Great occupied Media in 330 B.C.; but his rule was short-lived; and the empire fell pretty much apart shortly after his death.

“The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron” (Dan. 2:40). The reference is to the “iron rule” of Rome – the fourth and most extensive of the universal dominions. It had a very small beginning in the 8th century B.C. on the Tiber River in Italy; and lasted until the fifth century A.D. It became mistress of all Italy about the begin­ning of the third century B.C. During the years 264-133 B.C. it crushed its chief rival Carthage, and subjugated Macedonia, Greece and Spain. In 30 B.C. Octavian (Ju­lius Caesar’s adopted son) defeated Mark Anthony at Actium – at which date the Roman Empire was founded. Octavian, more popularly known as Augustus Caesar, reigned from 27 B.C. to 14 A.D. It was during his reign that Jesus was born. The empire reached about its greatest extent under Trajan, who reigned from 98 to 117 A.D.

From the dates given aforegoing, it is evident that all four of the universal empires came to the pinnacle of their glory in the Jewish Age; and three of them be­gan their decline in the Jewish Age. The first – the Babylonian kingdom of Nebuchad­nezzar – experienced complete desolation before the Jewish Age ended. “Because of the wrath of the Lord, Babylon shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished...” (Jer. 50:13). The only one of the four that did not begin its decline in the Jewish Age was the Roman Empire.

And in closing this dissertation on the Jewish Age we offer this interesting inci­dent: Some years ago we were rather well acquainted with a Jewish magistrate who was quite well versed in Jewish customs, history and religious ritual. On a certain occa­sion he was invited to address a Christian Sunday School Class, at which time he said something like this: “When I was invited to address you I was somewhat jittery and reluctant to appear before such an august assembly of Christians; but, when I began to recall that my ancestors were kings and priests, and worshipers of the one true God for about four thousand years, while your ancestors were worshipers of idols ­some having descended from Nimrod and Semiramus – I decided I had no cause for apol­ogy; and I began to view this situation with a courage I did not at first possess. Since the Mosaic Law Covenant given to Israel through Moses, the Jews have been the only nation in covenant relationship with the true God; all the surrounding nations were Gentiles who worshipped idols, and indulged in heathen rituals. Therefore, I concluded that any Jew who tries to be faithful to the Law Covenant which was given at Mount Sinai has reason to be proud of his historical background; and I certainly make no apology for mine.”

THE GOSPEL AGE

The Gospel or Christian Age is the last “wheel within the wheel” of “this present evil world” – the third and most important of the Ages that comprise it. The word gospel means good news or glad tidings; and it is stated in Matt. 4:23, and in other Scriptures, that “Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel (glad tidings) of the kingdom.” While it is true that there were more or less of good tidings in the two previous Ages, it is preeminently true of the Gospel Age. In the first seventy years of this Christian Age the entire New Testament was written – in contrast to the many hundreds of years (more than a thous­and years) which were required to produce the Old Testament. While Jesus began this Gospel Age at Jordan in the strict sense, yet in its broader sense it did not begin until Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was then poured out on those 500 people who were waiting in the upper room, as Jesus had told them to do. (Acts 1:13) 2:1-4; 1 Cor. 15:6). This occurred in 33 A.D., and overlapped the Jewish Age until Jerusalem was taken by Titus in the year 70 A.D. And in this our day overlappings of the Gospel Age into the Millennial Age have been occurring since 1874 – just 1845 years after those that occurred at the beginning of this Age. From this standpoint the duration of the Gospel Age may be definitely stated as 1845 years, with lappings into the Millennial Age – just as was true at the end of the Jewish Age and the beginning of the Gospel Age.

As previously stated, the Patriarchal and the Jewish Ages had their own distinctive purposes; and the same may be said of the Christian Age. Also, the Jewish and Gospel Ages are of equal length (1845 years); thus, they are parallel dispensations, with the Jewish Age providing many events that were typical of things in this Age – some of them exactly 1845 years apart. The first purpose of this Age is very similar to the first purpose of the Jewish Age. To the Jews were committed “the oracles of God”; and in this Age the Christians have been made the custodian of God’s oracles. (1 Cor. 4:1,2; John 17:8, 14; 2 Tim. 3:15-17; 2 Pet. 3:16) Christians have not only closely guarded the contents of the Old and New Testaments, but they have also translated them into many different languages. So well have the Christians cared for these Scriptures that not one book, or an essential part of any one book, has been lost.

The second purpose of this Age relates very closely to the first one – giving addi­tional revelations to those contained in the Old Testament. This was begun by John the Baptist, was given very great impetus by the preaching of Jesus, and completed by the Apostles – resulting in 27 additional books being added to the Bible in what is commonly styled the New Testament. The revelation of these 27 books came through various means: by direct speech, by visions, tableaux and dreams, some by immediate inspiration, sym­bolic acts, etc. These things occurred at different times, places and circumstances, the last being The Apocalypse, or Revelation, presumably written by St. John about 100 A.D. while a prisoner on the Isle of Patmos. (Rev. 1:9) The central feature of the New Testament is Christ and His Church, but containing much prophecy of future events, clarifications and elaborations of Old Testament Scriptures, with a complete code of ethics for the Christian life, detailed information on the resurrection of the dead, as well as considerable enlightenment on “the angels that sinned.”

The third purpose of the Christian Age was to introduce the Ransom – “a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” (I Tim. 2:6) The word ransom in this text is from the Greek antilutron, and means a corresponding price, an exact equivalent. The Jewish Age had produced the Mosaic Law, which made glaringly manifest that man could not save himself. The word Jesus means savior; and the angel that appeared to Jo­seph had told him, “Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:21) This testimony was heralded primarily by Jesus; then by the Apostles and other capable men of their time; and since their time by other able men all during the Age, so that it is now more or less common knowledge, although in a more or less confused and uncertain manner by the vast majority.

The declaration of this knowledge had as its foundation the “gospel of the King­dom,” the same kingdom for which Jesus told all to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Along with this message His followers have “re­proved the world for sin, for righteousness, and judgment to come” (John 16:8-11) ­“preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47), thence to Judea and Samaria, unto the ends of the earth. The evidence is quite clear that this has been accomplished; and that the failure of the Law to save mankind estab­lishes the foundation for hope of salvation through Jesus. “What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh... condemned sin in the flesh; That the righteousness of the law might be ful­filled in us (the Apostles and those who accepted their teachings after them), who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.” (Rom. 8:3,4) This “righteousness” has been imputed to all believers who had a true faith in Jesus as Savior. This “just­ification by faith” has given believers all during this Age “peace with God” (Rom.5:1,2).

The acquisition of faith justification has been by call; not by command – “the called according to His purpose.” (Rom. 8:28) And those who continued faithful in this justification were accepted into God’s family as sons, “joint heirs with Christ” to administer the future kingdom on earth “in due time.” However, Jesus said this group would be very few in number – “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Much empha­sis should be placed upon the fact that one of the purposes of this Christian Age has been to call certain ones to do certain things, for which they would then be justified in anticipating certain rewards for the faithful doing of those things. A few hundred years back it was the general belief in Christendom that those who did not respond to the call would spend eternity in torment in the lake of fire. But it must be conceded that even in Christendom many had not had opportunity to hear that call; and of those who did hear it, the great majority had a very nebulous idea of its real meaning. Then we add to that the vast heathen world, the majority of whom never had the opportunity even to hear it at all. On one occasion the Apostle Peter had told the Jewish rulers that “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved except the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 4:10-12). Thus billions of heathen who had never heard that name would be consigned to eternal torment – according to the preva­lent belief in Christendom in the Dark Ages. (Continued)

“Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.” (Psa. 70:4)

Sincerely your brother,

John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

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LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Friends:

Thanks for your wonderful letter. I found one of your papers on a bus, and I liked what I read so I wrote you. I was raised a Catholic, then I studied with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. I was turned off by them, and left them. They are terrible people! Now I am studying the Bible.

Please send me all the back issues of your magazine that you can – also send some of all your tracts and booklets. Please send a volume of Studies in the Scriptures. I have no literature at all from the Epiphany Bible Students Assn.

Please pray for me. Your brother ------- (Pennsylvania)

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Dear Brother Hoefle:

Thank you so much for your good letter of June 20. I was really pleased to get it. Thought maybe you would be in Mount Dora so decided to write to all of you.......

I am a little careful about asking any one to pray for my physical health. Maybe I need the lesson, and I want what I need. I am sure some here have prayed that I get well, and they may think their prayers have helped. Well, I appreciate their wanting to help and I try to say the right thing – but I do want what I need and only the Lord knows that.

Sister A------ writes such good letters. She seems to have many opportunities to witness to the Truth. RGJ has always carefully dieted and exercised. Maybe he will live to be 100.

I am so glad that you are well, and I am sure you will have your health as long as you need it – and it seems we need you now. Your papers are so good and helpful!

Please give my love to all three sisters. I do think of you always and pray the Lord to richly bless you.

Your sister by His kind favor ------- (KANSAS)

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Dear Brother Hoefle:

Will you send me a copy of your No. 7 tract called “The Great Reformer” and “The Persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Africa.”

Thank you very much. Yours in Him, Brother ------- (New  Jersey)

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Dear Brother Hoefle: Greetings in our dear Redeemer’s Name!

It is almost a year since last I wrote in reply to your letter. I thank you for your admonition therein. I read with interest of the young ones there who built a replica of the Tabernacle. How blessed it is to train the children in the fear of the Lord! The people here was once this way, but alas! they themselves are becoming more and more irreligious. The results we have a very small class and not one of their children attend class.

I am still hoping to get the excerpts of Jewish Hopes and Prospects published in a magazine, D.v. I am of the opinion that the Editor of the Daily News was a J.W., a friend of them. Of the Jehovah’s Witnesses many have joined their organization. Of course it is fear that has forced them into it.

I read your letter where you say, “It is worthy of note that Ethiopia is the last of the absolute monarchies to capitulate.” This was also in the B.S., “It is interest­ing to note that recently the last of the Kings who have ruled with despotic power, King Haile Selassie of Ethiopia has been forced out of Power.” Does it mean the Brit­ish monarchy is exempted?

I heard Sister ------- was very ill. Sister ------- passed on sometime last year. I must thank you for your letters of Interest, dear Brother, and do pray the Lord’s blessings on your efforts and work. I also pray for Brother Jolly that he may see the Error of his Campers. With love and prayers on you both and all in the Ecclesia. The Lord bless and keep you. I remain,

Yours by His Grace, – Brother -------

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Our dear Brethren: Loving greetings!

Yesterday we sent ten pounds to Brother ------- for you. Forty pence from Sister is included in the ten pounds. We trust you are all keeping as well as can be expected. We are wonderful in spite of the heat wave in England – in fact, the British Isles.

The more one reads of Brothers Russell and Johnson, the more one can see events that are happening around us. The revealing of persons, principles and things! Also the achievements of some of the learned ones is manifest. The Ancient Worthies must have been brilliant, too, under the Lord’s guidance.

Much love to you all – and with our daily prayers... Brother & Sister ------- (England)

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Dear Brother Hoefle: Greetings in the Master’s Name!

Thanks for your letter, which is very much appreciated. The other side shows us on our Golden Anniversary. My father met Brother Russell at the Chicago Worlds Fair in 1893, and he attended all the Conventions that he could up to the second Convention at Cedar Point, Ohio. I put in over a year with the Photo Drama – and Sister’s exper­ience just about parallels it. I lived in Chicago and Rochelle, Ill., then Plymouth, Ohio until I retired. Since then much time has been spent in Key West. We have a daughter living in Orlando, but she has joined the Romon Catholic Church. Our son is a M.D., and has been active in the Grove City Berean gatherings, which we hope to attend again this year.

Yours in the one Hope, Brother and Sister ------- (Florida)
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Dear Brother:

Thank you for your love and for sending me your monthly papers. Enclosed is a little for the cost. Thanks!

We love God and yearn for His promises soon. He will help thee!

Christian love, Brother ------- (Michigan)