NO. 472A: RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT - PART ONE

No. 472A

In the beginning of the New Year, we thank God for the blessings we have received the past year. “The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.” (Psa. 126:3) “Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moveth therein. “ (Psa. 69:34)

Many have had much grief with disasters in the past year, with earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and fires. We thank the Lord for the good people who have gone to their aid. “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. “ (Prov. 15:3) Our deepest sympathy is with those who have lost their homes and lost some of their loved ones. “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. “ (Rom. 8:22) And we groan with them.

1995 IN REVIEW: (1) Tens of thousands are killed as Russian forces try to subdue the breakaway republic of Chechnya.

(2) In January and again in March, flooding in California leaves death and destruction.

(3) Banking scandals: Rogue traders bring down England’s Baring banking dynasty and bring disgrace to Japan’s Daiwa Bank, shaking confidence in that country’s banking system.

(4) In Kobe, Japan, an earthquake kills more than 5,000 people and destroys 750 buildings.

(5) Old enemies shake hands as Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat reach an agreement to extend Palestinian self-rule.

(6) Killer fumes – unleashed in a crowded subway by a doomsday cult – killing a dozen and injuring more than 5,000 in Tokyo.

(7) An outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Zaire costs more than 200 lives and causes worldwide alarm.

(8) The Washington Post and the New York Times publish a 35,000-word treatise by the Unabomber, in an effort to halt his attacks that have killed three and injured 23.

(9) A peace agreement hammered out in Dayton, Ohio, may end the war in Bosnia, the bloodiest European conflict in 50 years.

(10) The pope visits the United States, preaching to 130,000 in New York’s Central Park and strongly condemning abortion rights.

(11) Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan brings his Million-Man March to Washington, D.C.

(12) Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated by a right-wing Jewish extremist. [Rabin’s assassination was shocking world wide. There were 70 or more countries represented at his funeral.]

(13) The Southern Baptist Convention renounces its racist heritage, including its past support of slavery.

(14) France and China outrage the international community by resuming nuclear-testing programs.

(15) World marks the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, the beginning of the United Nations.

(16) The Dow Jones industrial average closes above 5,000 for the first time.

(17) The United States re-establishes formal diplomatic ties with Vietnam.

(18) The sexual assault of a 12-year-old Okinawan schoolgirl by three U.S. servicemen raises an outcry in Japan.

(Excerpts from The Orlando Sentinel, November 26, 1995)

SCIENCE: “A scientist thinks every man on Earth is indebted to this male who lived before anatomically modern humans evolved.

“NEW YORK – Every one on earth today can trace his Y chromosome to one male who lived about 190,000 years ago, before anatomically modern humans had evolved, a study suggests. ‘There were many males around at the time, but only this one left a Y chromosome legacy that persists today,’ said researcher Michael Hammer.

“The Y chromosome is one of 24 kinds of microscopic threads that hold genes. Unlike the other chromosomes, it passed only from father to son. The new study also supports the idea that modern humans arose in one place, rather than evolving in more than one continent.

“The results suggest that all men alive today could trace their Y chromosomes back for about 188,000 years to the same person. ‘We would all have a Y chromosome that existed in the same guy.’ Hammer said the study suggests that the ancestor lived just before anatomically modern humans appeared around 100,000 years ago, a date that is in dispute among scientists... Other scientists published a study saying the Y chromosome in modern-day men can be traced back 270,000 years.

“Hammer said his findings also suggest a single place of origin for modern humans. ‘The findings don’t indicate where, but Africa is a good bet,’ he said. “

(Excerpts from The Orlando Sentinel, November 23, 1995, page A-16)

What do we care if they find that 100,000 or 188,000 or a million years back is when man started evolving. They are teaching that man as well as other living creatures evolved from something. What caused that “something “ to come into existence? Even that “something “ must have been created. We know when the first man was created by God and it was not a happenstance. God’s inspired Word is the only scientific authority we have. When scientists study to find something that is supported by His Word that is a valuable find. Some scientists have done so. They tell us one time it is thousands of years ago and after much study change their findings to more or less time, but they don’t tell us about this fiction man. Did he have brains? If so, why didn’t he leave us some history?

In chapters one and two of Genesis we are told of the creation of all things – the animals, fish, as well as the Heavens (the firmament) and the Earth, and then man. He created all things for man. Man was to have dominion over the fish, the fowl, the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing (Gen. 1:26). Of course there has been many misunderstandings of the Creation of God, but those who have the correct understand­ing will know we have a Creator of Justice, Love and Power. “Great peace have they which love Thy law: and nothing shall offend them. “ (Psa. 119:165) So we search the Scriptures, because we know He is the Creator of all things. We did not evolve from an object. Did that object make itself? Some scientists change the tens of thousand years to more or less. They are like the chameleon who changes color frequently. Its tongue is hollow.

We have published these scientist’s opinions for the purpose of showing the foolishness of the wisdom of this world. “Avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called.” (1 Tim. 6:20)

IN FINANCE

Looking back over the past year and looking ahead in prospect we must admit that there is no agreement as to what will happen next. We have bulls and bears, optimists and pessimists, and both have statistics to support their opinions.

The S & P stock market index has risen steadily to new highs as of December 6, 1995. The bulls feel that this is the reason for correction. Some feel that it well be severe – even worse than the crash of 1929.

Japan is in the midst of a serious banking crisis. Much of the $540 billion in real estate loans, loaned by Japan’s 21 largest banks in the late 80s has gone bad. Since the 1989 real estate peak in the major Japanese cities, such as Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, commercial land prices have lost their values. The Japanese real estate market is in a state of collapse and Japanese banks are faced with over one trillion dollars – and growing.

The Congressional Budget Office projects a deficit this year of $161 billion, the smallest deficit as a percentage of the gross domestic product – 2.3 percent – since 1979. The most recent figures for the last 12 months show that the national debt has increased $313 billion. At this rate we’ll add another trillion dollars of debt to the 4.9 trillion now on the books in the next three years.

One of the foremost respected financial journals writing on the economy for 1996 states that “INFLATION IS ON A SLOW TRACK. “

INTEREST RATES WILL STAY LOW: Long-term rates could drop below 6 percent. There’s nothing on the horizon to compel the Fed. to raise short term rates. Occupants of the White House like to keep the good news flowing during an election year. Perhaps it’s no accident that the market has delivered positive returns every election year since 1940. NO RECESSION BEFORE 1997!

Those who are “Of the Truth “ (John 18:37) realize that we are in the “Time of Trouble “ since 1914, including war, revolution and Anarchy winding up with Jacob’s Trouble (Jer. 30:7). We can expect conditions to deteriorate and go down like wax, or removed like a cottage (Isa. 24:20), as God has promised (Heb. 10:23). The Lord’s people should heed the admonition of James 4:8: “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. “ (Contributed)

For the past several years we have mentioned that the present order of things are deteriorating rapidly. In 1994 the stock market hit an all time high – and obviously as ever­yone knows, that in 1995 the Dow Jones for the first time hit over five thousand. The prime interest rate is still at a high of 8.75%. You can read about the Gross National Products being down with the unemployment rates going up. It’s hard to figure out what is really going on.

To quote from last year, the United States may be on the road to economical health, productivity, employment and total national income up. But the decline of spendable income is down because people are still going in debt. The present administration believes that job skills training and investing more money in education will lead to a greater rise in the median family income, but that has yet to be proven. That would take may years to achieve.

The world economy is still growing. More of the world’s stock market values is outside of the United States, although people still believe the United States is a safe place to buy stocks. Gold and silver have been stable but still lower than it has been in previous years. The wizards of Wall Street are treating bad news as good news.

Retail sales for Christmas have been lackluster. Bargain hunters packed the stores and after Thanksgiving have almost vanished. Factory output declined for the fourth straight month. Manufacturing employment continues to fall although new orders are up slightly. However, no economist is predicting that this slow down will turn into a recession.

One of the things driving the economy is the new technology such as new computers. Companies are investing in new technology which eliminates jobs and increases productivity with better profit. People are investing capital in all areas.

One of our biggest problems is the USA has the most expensive health care system in the world. That is a problem that all businesses are facing – how to handle this problem without government help.

If the USA doesn’t face up to the enormous debt that it has accumulated each year and to the fact that the National Debt for the American people is still growing with Congress still arguing over tax rates and tax cuts the stock market can certainly change in a downward trend just as fast as it did on an upward trend.

World War One was to end all wars, but since that time we have had World War Two, the Middle East War, and “wars and rumours of war... but the end is not yet.” (Matt. 24:6) However, we can commend leaders who are seeking means and ways to bring peace to the world. Man cannot do that but God can and will in His “due time.” He has promised to judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31), and He is faithful that promised (Heb. 10:23). Nothing will hurt and destroy in all that glorious mountain (Isa. 11:9). The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness (Isa. 26:9). So we continue to pray, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is done in heaven. There will be a time when war will be no more.

IN RELIGION

CATHOLICS: “The 75-year-old Pontiff arrives this week for his fourth papal visit to the United States, and will stand firm in proclaiming what he believes are truths in an Age of moral relativism. ‘It has never been easy to accept Gospel teachings in its entirely,’ the leader of the world’s 960 million Roman Catholics told U.S. bishops in 1987. ‘And it will never be!’ Just what constitutes the Gospel in its entirety, of course, is a matter of dispute, especially among many American Catholics who disagree with the Vatican’s strict stand on sex and gender issues.

“No nation, in John Paul’s view, has a greater responsibility than the United States. The pope’s ‘big problem with America,’ says one official Vatican observer, ‘is that it is such a wealthy country and the wealth is confined to few people. He thinks the United States is too materialistic.’” (Excerpts from U.S. News and World Report, October 9, 1995)

The pope’s problem is with the Roman Catholics in the U. S., and shouldn’t be with the United States itself. Italy’s wealth is also confined to few people, and the Vatican is very wealthy. The question is what does the Vatican and the wealth few of Italy do with their wealth? The United States is known for its liberality, as are its wealthy few. Italy is the seat of Papacy, therefore, has more responsibility than other countries, including America. The pope should tell us whether he is referring to the creed of papacy or the Bible. The creeds of both the Catholics and Protestants teach that the whole world is on trial for life during this Age; and they are seeking to save the souls of the world. The Bible teaches that God is taking out a people for His Name during the Gospel Age (Acts 15:14) – a people to bless the world in the Kingdom. Jesus said, “I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. “ (John 17:9) Jesus paid the Ransom for all, which will be testified for the world in “due time. “ He has appointed a day to judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31). In that day “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. “ (Isa. 11:9) In that Kingdom Satan will be bound (Rev. 20:3) and will not deceive the people during that thousand-year day. Today the world is full of error: “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. “ (2 Cor. 4:4) “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. “ (Rom. 11:32) It will be “to the Jew first “ and then to all others. (Rom. 2:10)

Jehovah’s Witnesses: At one time they taught that all who didn’t join them before Armageddon would die in Armageddon and never be resurrected. However, they have softened their teachings and now teach that those of the world who are in the “City of Refuge “ will be resurrected. They also say that by dying they pay for their sinfulness (November 15, 1995, Watchtower, p. 19) They cite Rom. 6:7 and Heb. 9:27 as ‘proof.’ However, Rom. 6:7 applies to the Little Flock, and Heb. 9:27 represents Christ as the antitypical High Priest. This is easily understood by reading the preceding and following verses in each instance. They say “War broke out in heaven: Michael [Jesus Christ] and his angels battled with the dragon [Satan the Devil], and the dragon and its angels battled but it did not prevail, neither was a place found for them in heaven. “ (Watchtower, July 15, 1995, p. 5, par. 2)

There was never a war in heaven, which is God’s abode. The Lord gave us the prayer, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. “ We have no record of anyone disobeying and sinning in heaven. When Satan sinned in the Garden of Eden he was never permitted to go back to heaven. When the angels sinned it was on earth, and they were not permitted to go back to heaven. It is ridiculous to think that the heaven mentioned in Rev. 12:7-9 is the abode of God, Jesus and the good angels. It is symbolic (as is most of Revelation) and represents the conflict between Papacy and it supporters, and Pagan power. The dragon of v. 7 are Pagan rulers, and the great dragon of v. 9 is the Pagan Roman Empire. Also, we do not die to pay for our sins. We die because of Adam’s sin, and Jesus died to save us all. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:22) “Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. “ (1 Tim. 2:6) The Jehovah’s Witnesses change their teaching when it is to their advantage, just as the Chameleon changes its color. The tongue of the Chameleon is hollow. One dictionary meaning of the word hollow is empty, worthless, which is a good representa­tion of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ teaching.

BAPTIST: “Woman from Orlando church elected to key Baptist post: Lois Wenger, an active lay leader of the First Baptist Church of Orlando, was elected to a top post at the Florida Baptist Convention... ‘We’re trying to give women their proper due,’ said J. C. Mitchell of the Winter Park-based Pembrook Foundation.

“In other convention action, First Baptist Church of Winter Park was recognized for its role in establishing new churches in Florida, donating approximately $3 million to that cause.” (Excerpts from The Orlando Sentinel, November 18, 1995)

EPISCOPAL: “Retired Episcopal bishop may face heresy trial over ordaining gay. WASHINGTON – Conservative bishops have obtained the votes they need to put the retired bishop of Iowa on trial for heresy, Episcopal Church headquarters announced Friday.

“The accused, Bishop Walter C. Righter, 71, is charged with violating church doctrine by ordaining a ‘practicing homosexual’ as a church deacon.

“Several other bishops, including Washington, D.C.; and Stewart Wood of the Michigan diocese, have also been criticized for ordaining openly homosexual people. “

(Excerpts from Santa Barbara News Press, August 19, 1995)

METHODISTS: “Problems Cited in ‘confusion’ of Methodists: They may not be suffering an identity crisis, but United Methodists are finding out that a flexible theology can lead to confusion.

“An unprecedented study led by Duke University scholars has found that many United Methodists don’t quite know were the church stands.

“The denomination’s traditional openness to other perspectives ­­– for instance, from women, blacks, Latin Americans or Asians – confuses some people and irritates others, said Dennis Campbell, the dean of the Duke Divinity School and one of the study’s directors. ‘There is an great deal of diversity,’ he said. ‘This has caught up with us in ways that are causing people to say, ‘Is there anything you really stand for?’

“The study’s 45 researchers are meeting at St. Simons Island, Georgia, this weekend to put their data on the table.

“In a speech Friday to open the meeting, Campbell said that preliminary conclusions have turned up four major problems: money, a bulky bureaucracy, a leadership gap and a theology that is seen as fuzzy and soft.

“‘The confusion in theology that now characterizes the church has resulted in a situation that leaves us without clarity,’ he said. ‘One of the most serious problems for United Methodism is the perception that there are no theological norms, no bounds beyond which it is impossible to go and still be a Methodist...’

“The faith’s tolerance of other ideas – thinking of God as a woman, for example – clashes with some members’ demands that United Methodism should return to the Bible as the authority.

“‘There is a point of view that is very hostile to the openness of the church,’ said the Rev. Steve Hickle of Fairmont United Methodist Church in Raleigh. ‘There is a hostility to the openness of all people, the openness to talking about ideas, the openness to theologies that come from the Third World perspective or the feminist perspective.’

“The Rev. Jerry Smith of Ashbury United Methodist Church said that one reason for the drop in membership is a growing distance between the leadership and churchgoer.

“‘There has been a disconnect between the hierarchy of the church and the person in the pew,’ he said. ‘As a result, I think that we have not told our story and claimed our roots as effectively as we should have.’

“Campbell said in his speech Friday that the Lilly study also has found something of a brain drain in the leadership. ‘Many Methodists worry that the church is not developing the lay or clergy leadership it needs to move beyond the bureaucratic response to critical issues,’ he said. (Associated Press, Winston-Salem Journal, August 29, 1995)

The Laymen’s Home Missionary Movement: The LHMM magazines have been much better than in the past. Very little is mentioned about their non-existent class – Consecrated Epiphany Campers. But they teach that there is no longer an opportunity for Youthful Worthies since 1954, although Brothers Russell and Johnson teach that Youthful Worthies are to be won “until Restitution begins.” See Reprint 5761, September 1, 1915, regarding an unbegotten class to be won after the door to the High Calling is closed. The LHMM also teach that the Epiphany is overlapping into the Basileia since 1954. Their overlapping is now longer than their Epiphany proper. Their Bible Standard of Christ’s Kingdom for July, 1995, p. 54 states: “As shown in E Vol. 4, pp. 53-58, the Epiphany and the Time of Trouble are identical (Luke 17:29). Hence the end of the lease of the power to the Gentiles, and the beginning of the Time of Trouble in 1914, indicate clearly the beginning of the Epiphany period at that time.” Since the Time of Trouble did not end in 1954 the Epiphany did not end then. Thus, we are still in the Epiphany and the opportunity for Youthful Worthies remains open.

Bible Students: Some Bible students believe the door is still open to the High Calling. Do they believe there will be opportunity to consecrate for the Bride of Christ “until Restitution begins?” These Bible Student groups have not invented a new class for which they are to be commended. However, they seldom mention other elect classes such as the Great Company and the Ancient Worthies, nor do they mention the unbegotten class That Servant taught in Reprint 5761. They believe Brother Russell was That Servant, and so do we, but we do not believe he was infallible. If the Bible Student groups do not believe in the unbegotten class and a second Harvest, they should inform us of this and let us know their reasons for not accepting this doctrine.

NO. 471: “THE EVERLASTING FATHER”

No. 471

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

At this Season of the year we try to present something that will bless and encourage all who honor our Lord and Savior by celebrating His birth December 25. As said in previous papers, we cannot agree that this is the proper date for the birth of our dear Redeemer, but must insist that it was about October first. Nevertheless, since He did not intimate His desire that we should celebrate His birthday, it is quite immaterial upon what day that event, of so great importance to all, is observed. Upon this day, so generally celebrated, we may properly enough join with all those whose hearts are in the attitude of love and appreciation toward God and toward the Savior. The good tidings of great joy for all people announce blessings concerning a number of things, i.e., the forgiveness of sins, resulting in the awaken­ing of all the dead; an accurate knowledge of the Truth; the race being placed amid conditions inconducive to sin and error, and conducive to Truth and Righteousness.

The above sentiments by That Servant have been abandoned by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and by their rabid contentions about Christmas they have caused much distress in home and social life around them. Their message to all who do not join them before Armageddon is “Bad Tidings of great misery,” because they will be annihilated in that holocaust, with no chance of a resurrection according to them.

*******

“‘His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isa. 9:6) We have noted the propriety of the title ‘The Mighty God,’ as applied to Jesus; and few will dispute that He is indeed the Wonderful One of all the Father’s family; none will dispute that He is a great Counselor, Teacher; or that, though His Kingdom is to be introduced by a Time of Trouble and disturbance incident to the death of present institutions, our Lord is nevertheless the Prince of Peace, who will establish a sure and lasting peace upon the only proper basis – righteousness and conformity to the Divine character and plan. Now we come to the examination of the title, ‘The Everlasting Father,’ and find it as appropriate and meaningful as the others.

“It does not, as some surmise, contradict the many Scriptures that declare Jehovah to be the Father everlasting, ‘the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ as Peter puts it in 1 Peter 1:3. On the contrary the Bible clearly shows a particular sense in which this title applies to Jesus at His Second Advent – that He will be the Father of the human race regenerated during the Millennium. This title is merely the equivalent of those we have just considered, the new Lord of David and of mankind, the new Root, the Second Adam, merely signifies the Everlasting Father, the Father who gives everlasting life.

“Since Jesus purchases the world at the cost of His own life, and since it is by that purchase that He becomes its Lord, its Restorer, its Life‑giver, and since the central thought of the word father is life‑giver, Jesus could take no more appropriate name or title than ‘Everlasting Father’ to represent His relationship to the world about to be regenerated – born again from the dead by restitution processes. The world’s life will come directly from Jesus, who by Divine arrangement buys it and pays Justice the full price for it. Nevertheless, the restored world will, after the restitution process is finished, recognize Jehovah as the great original fountain of life and blessing, the author of the Great Plan of Salvation executed by Jesus, the Grand Father and Over‑Lord of all. (l Cor. 15:24‑28; 3:23; Matt. 19:28).” (Parousia Vol. 5, pp. 141, 142)

“Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14) The song which the angels sang at the birth of the Savior has been seized upon and misapplied by some who do not see the Plan of God for the Salvation of the world. Becoming discouraged by seemingly poor prospect for the world’s conversion, these have put forth a version of this passage more in harmony with their own doubts and misconcep­tions. To these the prayer which our Master taught His disciples to pray, “Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is done in heaven,” has lost its meaning; for they see no hope of its fulfilment except in a very limited sense. Hence they prefer to translate the latter part of the verse, “And on earth peace, among men of good will.” We think the proper rendering, our hopes for the ultimate good of all, as far as this passage is concerned, would surely suffer eclipse; for very few thus far in the history of the race have been “men of good will,” men who unselfishly endeavored to any appreciable degree to bring about the good of their fellows.

There are a few people of good will toward mankind, and who even have good will for Jehovah’s Witnesses but do not accept their errors or join them. The JWs tell us that all men must accept their errors and join them or be annihilated in Armageddon. But Luke 2:10 tells us there will be “Good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” If we accept the translation of Luke 2:14 to mean “Peace among men of good will,” it greatly minimizes the scope of this glorious song. It implies that some few men will have “good will” among themselves, but this does not include “all people.” How utterly barren of hope for men would such an expression be! How little the song of the angels would mean if this were its message.

On the contrary, this song was a prophecy of God’s purpose to bring about through the newly born Child the abrogation of the curse and the establishment of peace and sinlessness among mankind, in which God and man would become at‑one. It was an expression of God’s good will, His good purpose, to bring man back to the image and likeness of Himself, in which Adam was created. When this shall have been accomplished, then peace will dwell in all the earth; for the causes of disharmony will have been eliminated.

The world of mankind came under the curse, or sentence of death because of the sin in Eden – because our first parents disobeyed God’s righteous command. All humanity, therefore, are members of an accursed race – under penal servitude, which ends in the tomb. The race has been learning the lesson of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and its terrible effects. But God has promised to take away the curse and to bring a permanent blessing in its place. This will mean a return to His favor, to full harmony with Him­self. “And there shall be no more curse; but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it: and his servants shall serve him.” (Rev. 22:3)

PROGRESSION OF GOD’S GREAT PLAN

We speak of this song as a prophecy because the peace has not yet come, nor the good will, in the sense that God’s face is as yet not turned toward man. It is a declaration of what God purposes to do. He has not good will toward the present sinful, rebellious attitude of the race. He never has good will toward sin. We are not to understand that God was expressing His good will toward man when He pronounced the sentence of death upon him. God’s curse indicated His ill‑will toward man – in other words, His displeasure because of man’s sin. He allowed man to suffer ill as a just punishment for his willful disobedience. God cut him off from fellowship with Himself. He was not bound in justice to do anything more for the race. But in His infinite mercy He provided a deliverance for mankind. He foreknew man’s fall, and planned his redemption from before the foundation of the world.

Thru all the Ages since the fall of Adam God’s plan has been slowly, steadily progressing. While men have been learning in pain, tears and trouble which is the results of sin, God has been selecting His elect to bless the non-elect in the Kingdom (Acts 17:31). The first are the Ancient Worthies who will be “princes in all the earth” (Psa. 45:16). Next will be the chief of all the elect to reign as Kings and Priests of God on the highest plane of existence. The chief of the elect is His Beloved Son, the Savior of the world, whose birth the angels proclaimed to the shepherds watching in the plains of Judea (Isa. 42:1). There will be an unbegotten class won at the end of the Gospel Age as taught by That Servant in Reprint 5761 “until restitution begins.” We call this class “Youthful” Worthies, as they are to be rewarded with the “Ancient” Worthies given in Hebrews Chapter Eleven. When all the elect ones are chosen and prepared, then the blessing of the world at large will be inaugurated. “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God [the Church]. For the creature was made subject to frailty, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope; because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.” (Rom. 8:19‑21)

The coming of the Son of God to earth was only preliminary to His offering of Himself as a ransom for the forfeited life of Adam, the father of the race, in whom all his posterity fell. But even when our Lord had died as man’s ransom‑price, God’s favor did not come to the world. Jesus was next raised from the dead a glorious, Divine being. Then He ascended up on high, and appeared in the presence of God for those who were to be of the spiritual elect. Thus the last became first in God’s plan. The merit of Jesus’ death was utilized first on behalf of these. It has not yet been applied for any others. The members of the Church of Christ now have this promised peace and good will. It is granted only to those who have come into vital relationship with God thru Christ – the fully consecrated ones. The Scriptures show that after these are all selected, prepared and glorified, the next step will be the application to all men of the merit which has been imputed to these elect, and thru whom it is to go to the Worthies and to the entire world of mankind. This spiritual class has been chosen to be members of the Body of Christ, joint‑associates with Him in the Messianic Kingdom. “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?” (1 Cor. 6:2)

The great work of the Millennial Age will then begin. It will be a work of gradual uplift during the entire thousand years of the reign of The Christ. The dead will be gradually awakened and brought to a clear knowledge of the Truth, and of the salvation of God in Christ. All will then have the opportunity of coming into the blessed condition of peace and good will proclaimed by the angels. By degrees they will be brought, if they will, to a condition of readiness to be received by the Father, to be introduced to Him. This will be the blessed experience of all who will be obedient to the rules and requirements of the Kingdom. If they prove unwilling and disobedient, after being brought to a clear understanding, they will be “cut off” (Acts 3:23), destroyed, as not worthy of further effort on God’s part for their reclamation.

CHRIST’S DEATH A BLESSING TO ALL

God seeketh such to worship Him as worship Him in spirit and in Truth. (John 4:23) Our thought is that all these worlds surrounding us are designed to be homes to many intelligent beings yet to be created. We believe that it is God’s delight to give joy and blessing to many creatures, on various planes of existence. And God is making of this experience of mankind with sin a valuable lesson, a lesson that will be beneficial, not only to themselves, but to all the worlds that will ever be populated. These might be instructed and informed in advance of their developing any sinful tendencies just what the nature and tendency of sin is – what it did for the people of earth. They will be told, probably, that sin degrades mind, body and morals; and its influence is only deteriorating; that once deteriorated, one learns to prefer sin, notwithstanding all the misery and degradation it brings; and that God will never grant everlasting life to any except as they gladly cooperate to that end – that He will never influence any against their own will.

It would seem, then, that the great work accomplished at Calvary will have an influence as wide as the universe. And this thought might be applied to the first part of the song of the angels, “Glory to God in the Highest!” God will be glorified by all the angels, by every rank of spirit beings. He will be glorified by His exalted Church, then of the Divine nature; by restored humanity, by all the intelligent creatures on every plane, in every Age! Yea, more and more glorious will be His honor as the years of eternity roll on, and as other peoples of other planets are brought into being and brought to know Him and to share His wonderful bounties and blessings, and to learn the blessedness of loving and serving Him.

THE GOOD SHEPHERD – THE CHRIST

“I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11) The Evangelist first presented Christ to our attention as “the beginning of the creation of God” (Rev. 3:14), “made flesh” (John 1:14), that He might be the Light of the world: afterward, under His presentation, we considered Him as the Feeder of the hungry; then as the Giver of the water of life to the thirsty; next as the Healer of human woes, and the Supplier of human needs, spiritual as well as temporal; next as the Opener of the eyes of our understanding. In the lesson now before us He presents Christ’s mission from another standpoint – as the Good Shepherd.

This parable probably followed closely the closing incident of the reverend doctors of the law incensed at the man whose eyes had been opened, so that they cast him out of the synagogue, because he confessed Jesus as the channel of Divine favor. It was doubtless as a reproof to such false shepherding that our Lord spoke this parable. The very ones who should have been helping the poor scattered sheep of Israel to recognize the true Shepherd, and to come unto Him and become inheritors with them of the long‑promised Kingdom, were seeking to prevent the Lord’s sheep from recognizing the Shepherd – seeking to prevent the Lord’s sheep from entering the Kingdom which they themselves also refused to enter. (Matt. 23:13)

The illustration of the Lord as a shepherd, and His people as sheep, is common to the Scriptures, and very fitly represents their close confidential relationship, but it is a figure that is quite contrary to the spirit of the world. The “natural man” sees little in the figure to admire, and when he expresses his sentiments he would rather represent himself to others and have them regard him as a wolf, a lion, a tiger, or some other ferocious creature, which they would best not stir up, lest he devour them. We find this characteristic well borne out in the emblems of heraldry; the escutcheons of the great are emblazoned with figures representing beasts of prey, birds of prey, and nondescripts, blending various natures – but all of them ferocious, snarling, howling, screeching, or otherwise implying fierceness and intimidation of foes. But when God would represent the emblems of His royal family, His only begotten Son is called the Lamb of God, and all His people are styled His sheep – symbols of meekness, gentleness, harmlessness. “Jehovah is my shepherd” is properly represented as their sentiment. (Psa. 23)

Sheep‑raising in Palestine, and more or less throughout that vicinity, was carried on quite extensively, and yet very differently from present methods of Europe and America. The owner of the flock or his son usually did the shepherding, or sometimes an employee who was given an interest in the increase of the flock – as, for instance, Jacob, with his father‑in‑law Laban. Under the circumstances it is not surprising that the relationship between the sheep and their shepherds was very different from now – much more confidential. The shepherd was acquainted with his sheep and loved them, not merely as so much wealth and merchandise, but as friends, companions, with whom he conversed, and whose welfare he defended. Travelers tell us that the peculiarities of this parable are fully illustrated in eastern countries, even to this day; that a shepherd will know every individual sheep in his flock, and have a name for it, and that the sheep know their shepherd, and discern readily the sound of his voice, and cannot be deceived.

Some tell us how they have experimented and proved these peculiar statements of the parable; one asked the shepherd to call some particular sheep by name, to see whether or not it would come to him; the shepherd called one that was far off, and it immediately lifted its head, looked toward him, and when the call was repeated started, and wending its way in and out thru the flock, came to his feet, where he patted its head in reward for its obedience. Thinking this possibly a solitary instance, requests were made for repetitions of the test, with similar results. Another traveler imitated the shepherd’s voice, and called the sheep, but they paid no attention. Thinking that it was because he had not on the shepherd’s garments, to test the matter, he and the shepherd changed raiment, but still the sheep would not heed the voice of the stranger; but when the shepherd spoke to them, even though clothed in the garments of the stranger, they knew his voice and at once responded. Our Lord used these facts, well known to His hearers, to illustrate His relationship to the Lord’s people, as their Shepherd, the Son of the Great Shepherd; and He pointed out that all who were truly of His flock would hear His voice, would not be deceived by the Adversary, though he should disguise himself in garments of light, to deceive, if possible, the very elect. He declares, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27) Those who are not following the Lord, in obedience to His voice, expressed in word and example, are not His flock; nor are they in the way marked out by the Divine goodness and mercy, to dwell in the House of the Lord forever.

Jehovah God established a typical kingdom or sheepfold, and accepted the nation of Israel as His sheep, but as a nation they were wayward sheep and knew Him not. Nevertheless, with a Law Covenant He fenced them in. They desired a king, a ruler, a caretaker, a governor, and God let them have their wish; but none of these was the true Shepherd, neither did any bring the sheep into desirable conditions. And when these were finally done away, various others presented themselves as the Messiah, falsely claiming the right to lead Israel – false Messiahs. These, as our Lord declares, were thieves and robbers, who sought the control of the sheep, not from interest in the sheep, but from selfish motives, for self‑aggrandizement and exaltation. These attempted to lead out the Lord’s people, not by the door, but by climbing up other ways: by climbing over the Law, or by digging under it, they would reach the sheep and become leaders; and altogether in various ways a large proportion of Israel has been led astray out of the fold, some to idolatry, and some simply to wander in the wilderness.

At our Lord’s First Advent this was the condition of things: God’s covenant with Israel was standing as a wall around that nation, but its door was barred by justice, as represented in the Mosaic Law – Israel’s covenant. There could be no proper ingress or egress; all were prisoners of the Law – shut up unto that hope which should afterward be revealed, namely, Christ the door or “way” of life. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) Meanwhile, though the door was guarded zealously by the scribes and Pharisees, the fact was entirely neglected that thieves and robbers, Satan’s servants, were at work plundering the sheepfold. (John 10:1,2,7,9; Gal. 3:24; Zech. 9:9‑12)

Nor could our Lord Jesus rightfully open the fold and take charge of the sheep, except at the cost of His own life. This was the purpose of the Father, the Great Shepherd, and with this in view He shut up the sheep under the Law, to the intent that they would need to be redeemed by His Son (the appointed Shepherd), from under the dominion of the Law, before they could be made free with the liberty wherewith Christ makes free His people. And this was the first work that the Good Shepherd did for the sheep; the laying down of His life began at the beginning of His ministry, when He made a full consecration of Himself even unto death, and symbolized this in baptism. It was in view of this sacrifice which He had already devoted, and was even then offering, and which was finished subsequently at Calvary, that our Redeemer announced Himself as the Good Shepherd who giveth His life for the sheep.

The Apostle declares that our Lord’s death redeemed Israel from under the curse (sentence) of the Law – but it not only satisfied the Law, “the porter,” so that He opened the sheepfold, but it gave to the true Shepherd the ownership and control of the sheep, that He might lead them out to green pastures, and that they might go out and in with perfect freedom, as His sheep, following Him. Our Lord testified, however, that many true sheep had gotten out of the fold, and were lost in the wilderness of sin. His ministry was a call to these as well as to those who remained in the fold – to the publicans and sinners as well as to those who were endeavoring to live near to God.

Thus the true Shepherd showed His interest in all His true sheep, including the lame, the weak, the starved. He called sinners to repentance, and the true sheep, realizing their shortcomings under the Law, responded and came to Him as the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls. But inasmuch as many of the flock had wandered far from the position of true sheep, so that there were not enough who heard His voice, to complete the elect number of His flock, this Good Shepherd has, during this Gospel Age, lifted up His voice (speaking through the members of His Body), and has called sheep from amongst the Gentiles; and a sufficient number to complete the original predestination will respond.

The call of the present time is not a general one, but as this Scripture declares, “he calleth his own sheep by name” – it is therefore a special call. “The Lord knoweth them that are his.” (2 Tim. 2:19) They manifest relationship to Him as His flock by their obedience to His call – by following Him. The flock which is called, and which will make its calling and election sure, the Scriptures inform us will be only “a little flock,” and the fold provided for these is a special one; viz., the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)

Throughout this Gospel Age the Lord has been caring for this class; He has specially led and fed and blessed them, notwithstanding that to the appearance of others, they have passed thru severe trials, disciplines, suffering. Yea, as our Shepherd Himself declared, whosoever lives godly suffers persecution.

A part of the key to this parable, as it is also the key to many other features of the Divine plan, is found in the fact that the sheep of the “little flock,” being called and selected to joint‑heirship in the Kingdom, are to be sacrificed: as the Shepherd, the King’s Son, Himself was sacrificed as the Lamb of God, and not only opened the door to those who are shut up under the Law, but by the same sacrifice also redeemed the whole world of mankind, amongst which are the “other sheep” (John 10:16), Kingdom sheep that He is yet to seek, so the sheep of the “little flock,” now called, are all to suffer with Christ – with the Lamb of God – are all to be “living sacrifices, holy, acceptable to God, as their reasonable ser­vice.” (Rom. 12:1) As the Apostle elsewhere declares, “Hereby we know love, because He laid down His life on our behalf: and we ought also to lay down our lives for the brethren,” for the fellow‑sheep. (1 John 3:16, Dia.)

From this standpoint it will be seen that, as our Lord was the Father’s Lamb, and the sin‑offering for the world, so they who are of Jesus’ flock are to fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ, in the interest of His Body, which is the Church. (Eph. 1:22) And other Scriptures show us that all of the flock thus faithful, in following the Shepherd even “unto death,” are counted as members of the Body of the Shepherd. Thus the entire Gospel Age has been the period of suffering with Christ, of dying daily, of laying down their lives for the brethren; and not until this sacrifice is complete in the close of this Age will the New Covenant be thrown open in the largest sense of the word to the world of mankind in general, and the great Shepherd be complete – ­Head and Body. Then the spirit and the bride will say, Come, and whosoever will may come – whereas now, “No man can come except the Father draw him,” and in all a “little flock.” However, during the Kingdom Christ will draw all men unto Him. (See John 12:31,32)

MORE ON THE KINGDOM

In this connection we may well quote John 3:16,17, which has appropriately been called the Gospel in a nut shell: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life; for God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world thru Him might be saved [from Adamic condemnation].” Here God’s love, Christ’s death and the Spirit’s work, for salvation on behalf of the world are clearly set forth; but as yet the world has not gotten the benefit of them. In John l2:32,33, Jesus’ death is set forth as the meritorious cause whereby all men will be favorably influenced toward Him by the Spirit: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This He said, signifying what death He should die”; but all have not in this life been drawn to Him. St. Paul tells us clearly in Rom. 5:18,19 that Christ died in order to deliver the race from the condemnation into which it was involved by Adam, and that this deliverance will be realized: “As by the offence of one [Adam] judgment [the sentence] came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of One [Christ] the free gift shall come [the future tense in the parallel expression of the next verse shows that the italicized word came should give place to the words shall come, seeing that the italicized words here as everywhere else in the Bible are lacking in the original Greek] upon all men [the purpose of] unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners [thru heredity], so by the obedience of One shall the many be made righteous [of the Adamic sin]”; but manifestly this has not yet happened to all. Very clearly does 1 Tim. 2:4‑6 prove God’s love, Christ’s death and the Spirit’s work for all men unto salvation: “God will [literally, willeth to] have all men to be saved [not eternally, but from the Adamic sin and condemnation] and to come unto the knowledge of the Truth [this shows God’s love to all], to be testified [the Spirit’s work] in due times [the Greek word is plural, times, or seasons, referring to the Gospel Age and the Millennial Age as the periods for giving the testimony].”

THE KINGDOM’S RESULTS

Men will be mentally perfect at that time. Memories that are unfailing, perceptive powers that are all embracing, reasoning powers that are precise, logical and inerrant will be his to have and enjoy forever. However, as in the heavenly realm, “One star differeth from another in glory” (1 Cor. 15:41), it will no doubt be the same in the earthly realm. God will prepare variety in the perfection of earthly beings the same as He has provided variety in the heavenly beings. Perfection will not be dull or monotonous, as some seem to think: all God’s creation, both heavenly and earthly, will be joy evermore. Righteousness has its compensation even in this “present evil world,” even though many of the righteous today have had to suffer for righteousness’ sake. But in the Kingdom that will be changed. Only the unrighteous will have to suffer stripes for disobedience, but the righteous will be blessed and rewarded. If the stripes don’t correct the disobedient, they will be “cut off.” (Acts 3:23)

From a moral standpoint man will be perfect. There will be nothing of hatred, anger, contentiousness, malice, evil surmising, covetousness, hypocrisy, gluttony, drunkenness, unchastity, unfaithfulness, indifference, pride, cowardice, ostentatiousness, or laziness among the children of men. In their place the opposite graces will shine forth in all their beauty, loveliness and attractiveness. Every human heart will radiate peace, joy, friendliness, kindness and charity. And what a glorious world to live in will that be, in which everybody loves everybody else, in which everyone trusts, respects, and honors everyone else. Surely in these respects – in man’s relationship to his fellows – a fountain of joy and peace will ever be bubbling up with its waters of refreshment, gladdening the hearts of all beholders and participants.

This will be the condition after the benevolent influence of the Kingdom proper, its teaching, instruction, have brought all the redeemable – the sheep class (Matt. 25: 31‑46) – to perfection; and all the unredeemable – the goat class – have been destroyed at the end of the Little Season (Rev. 20:3). Then “There shall be no more curse; but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it: and his servants shall serve him.” (Rev. 22:3)

May all our readers be richly blessed in the Holiday Season while contemplating the goodness and mercy of our Great Shepherd, as well as the blessings of our Savior and Re­deemer, in that He gave His life so that we may have eternal life. “The grace [favor] of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.” (Rev. 22:21)

Sincerely your brother, John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

(Reprint 294, December 1979)

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LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

To Whom It May Concern:

I would like to thank you for providing us with information concerning your organization in the past.

Our Contemporary Religious Movements Center is frequently used as a resource by students to gain first hand knowledge of various groups. In order to insure that your group is not misrepresented it is essential for us to keep the files up to date. Any data that you can provide to help us achieve this would be much appreciated. Please inform us of the cost/fees of providing the literature/information. We are particularly interested in being placed or retained on your mailing list.

For your information Winnipeg Bible College has recently changed its name and is presently called Providence College and Seminary.

Sincerely, ….., Director (CANADA)

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Dear Sister:

For the last few weeks I’ve been thinking that I should be dropping you a line, to inquire after your health and thank you again for the good newsletters. The arrival of Nos. 468 and 469 were a good reminder.

How are you doing? Last time we corresponded, you were not altogether well. I trust things are a little better.

The San Diego Bible Students are already getting ready for their annual convention in November. I’ll be there to show the computer program called “Harvest Truth Data Base.” Have you gotten a copy yet? It is available for PC-based computers, and has been a real help. They’ve just completed scanning the rest of the Towers published before Pastor Russell’s death. The remaining disks should be ready soon.

I was intrigued to read that there is a biography of Pastor Russell unknown to us. Your letter #469 made me very curious about the book. You say there is no author; is there a title or a publisher? And have you been successful in finding additional copies? God is good, and His blessings are with us. I wish you well, and look forward to further correspondence. God bless. Sincerely, ... (CALIFORNIA)

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Dear Sister,

I sure do feel sorry for those people without some knowledge of the Truth in these days of the Time of Trouble. “For then shall be great tribulation, such as not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved.” (Matt. 24:21-22) [This latter refers to Anarchy which is future. We have been in the beginning of the Time of Trouble since World War One in 1914.]

The Oklahoma City bombing was a tragedy, as were the gas attacks on the Tokyo subways. I feel so sorry for the young mothers and fathers that lost their little children. “But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days, for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.” (Luke 21:23 – also Matt. 24:19 and Mark 13:17)

I would guess that we have only scratched the surface when it comes to “famines, and pestilence, and earthquakes in divers places.” (Matt. 24:7) I am not certain when Jacob’s last trouble will begin, but one can see the stage being set. I remember my mother telling me that when Israel is really in trouble with the entire world against her, the Ancient Worthies will be resurrected and will be helping Israel. I don’t suppose that the time is here yet??? What are your feelings in this regard? [We believe in Jacob’s last trouble they will go to God in prayer. He will answer them and will “go forth, and fight against those nations [peoples], as when he fought in the day of battle.” (Zech. 14:3 – See vs. 1,2) Then their blind eyes will be opened. Israel will not get peace from man.]

I have been able to read a little lately and have started by reading the First Volume. I found some notes left by Grandma Gracie that referred to Volume 4, Chapter 1, pages 13-14, on what Pastor Russell said concerning the Time of Trouble. Rereading that gives me great comfort, especially when I keep in mind what is to happen after the Time of Trouble. I must close for now.

I love you. Always, ….. (VIRGINIA)

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NO. 470: HISTORY OF THE GOSPEL-AGE APOSTATE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

No. 470

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

A request has come to us to give the history of the apostate Christian Church dur­ing the Gospel Age, which we shall now at­tempt:

Jesus, of course, established the Church in its pristine purity, which example the Apostles also followed. However, the Church greatly increased in numbers imme­diately after Jesus’ resurrection (“the number of men that believed was about five thousand” – Acts 4:4). This number was from just one effort of the Apostles; and others were won in various places, so that the Apostles could not have the control that Jesus had when He was with them. Thus Paul tells us in 2 Thes. 2:7 that “the mystery of iniquity doth already work,” although the Worldly Politicians Did Not Enter The Fray Until A Few Hundred Years Later.

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

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

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

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

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

And some more from the same writer: “If the fathers of the 4th century quarreled over the relations between God the Father and God the Son, those of the 5th century faced the problem of defining the relationship of the two natures – the human and the Divine – within God the Son, Christ Jesus. The theologians of Alexandria generally held that the Divine and human natures were united indistinguishably, whereas those of Antioch taught the two natures coexisted separately in Christ, the latter being ‘the chosen vessel of the Godhead – the man born of Mary.’ In the course of the 5th cen­tury, these two contrasting theological positions became the subject of a struggle for supremacy among the rival sees of Constantinople, Alexandria and Rome. Nevertheless Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople in 428, adopted the Antiochene formula, which in his hands, came to stress the human nature of Christ to the neglect of the Divine. His opponents (first the Alexandrian patriarch, Cyril, and later Cyril’s followers, Dios­courus and Eutyches), in reaction emphasized the single Divine nature of Christ, the result of the incarnation. Their belief in One God, or the nature of Christ as God the Son, became extraordinarily popular throughout the provinces of Egypt and Syria. Rome, in the person of Pope Leo I, declared in contrast of dual gods, a creed teaching that ‘two natures, perfect and perfectly distinct, existed in the single person of Christ.’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AD 313 – In that year Constantine the Great was the first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity.

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

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

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

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

AD 1870 – The House of Savoy severed all relations with the Vatican, thus divorc­ing the pope from all temporal power.

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

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

Sincerely your brother, John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

(Reprint 346, April 1984)

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LETTER OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Emily,

With love from the bottom of my heart... Thank you for sending me the book Pastor Charles Taze Russell, An Early American Christian Zionist. I have read it with lots of appreciation...

I have been in contact with Emek ha Shalom... The work they are doing impresses me... What surprises me is the low interest from the rest of the brethren around the world. The letters I have received from them have convinced me they are living and working in a spirit that was more common during the time of Pastor Russell. If our dear Pastor Russell would be alive today he would no doubt have a deeper contact with Emek ha Shalom than his followers. Why this low interest? Let us inform them! In their minds they may be thinking that the brothers are not preaching the true thoughts of Pastor Russell.

My kindest regards, love and good wishes are with you. ------- (SWEDEN)

IMPRESSIONS OF VISITORS TO EMEK HA SHALOM

A guide of a youth group said to his pupils: “In Emek ha Shalom they are preparing for the Coming of the Messiah.”

A teacher said to his youth group: “When I listen to Hermann it is like listening to one of our great ancient Prophets talking to me.”

After Brother Hermann’s lecture the guide said to his adult group: “That is what we are lacking but need so greatly, the Prophetic Spirit in which he spoke just now.”

Another visitor: “Our visit to Emek ha Shalom was an excursion to another world.”

Concerned visitors: “If there were still people like those in Emek ha Shalom, there would yet be hope.”

Groups from abroad which come to visit Emek ha Shalom have reported that their stay in Emek ha Shalom was the high light of their Israel trip.

In the TV Program about Emek ha Shalom we were introduced as “a group of Bible Students whose roots originated from the Apostles of Jesus.” The interviewer closed the report with the words: “I am just afraid that this visit to Emek ha Shalom was only a dream from which I will awake.”

Jews from Galilee: “We come again and again to visit Emek ha Shalom for strengthen­ing in this time of great troubles. There are not many people with such pure faith. You have taught us to believe in Jesus.”

A family from Nazareth: “Never before have we heard what we perceived now in Emek ha Shalom. Never before have we felt what we feel now. We leave this place a changed people.” Visitors afar: “We came because people are talking so much about this place.”

A Parliament member with his driver said when they saw Brother Hermann in his 95th-year working in the field: “Until now we have not seen anybody, even young working men, work with such energy.”

Teachers from a well known agriculture-school, Mikve Israel said “Hermann’s speech was like the Prophet Isaiah or Amos talking to us. We leave Emek ha Shalom elevated and in high spirits.”

A leader to his big adult group said while showing them Emek ha Shalom: “Here is the Valley of Peace. They built everything with such good taste and in such esthetic beauty, even to small particulars... Look at the well-groomed gardens, the harmony of the colors on the houses and the veranda, the nice paths around... and everything in an unusual cleanness which you don’t find in other places.”

Ehud Olmert, the mayor of Jerusalem: “I esteem and appreciate your honorable contribution in your faithful work for Israel. I wish you further success in your way.”

The Mayor of a city in Judea told us that Brother Hermann’s witness that he heard ten years ago made such a deep impression on him that it changed his whole life. He felt the necessity to return to the faith and realize it. Therefore he went to Judea and founded there a settlement which became a city for example.

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NO. 469: IN MEMORIAM

No. 469

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

Recently a biography of Brother Russell has come into our possession; and we believe our readers will benefit from reading some of it. The author does not give his name, so we cannot identify him, although he apparently is some one who was very close to That Servant. The book was copyrighted in 1923. We have tried to secure more copies of the book, but so far have failed.

We now quote from that book, and begin with some statements in the FOREWORD: “Our motive has been to do GOOD, as God has given us to understand what that means; therefore, we have no further explanation to make or apology to offer; merely pleading that we have earnestly and consistently striven to absorb the Truth and the spirit of the Truth which was so beautifully exemplified in the life of the subject in this book – our beloved Brother Russell, who labored so hard and earnestly to teach us how to walk as Christians should. God bless his memory!

“The Bible is THE BOOK of books in every sense; first, there is no other book like it in the world – for it is God’s Book or Message to the human family; second, it is a Book of Books for the reason that it is made up of many books, or portions, by many writers – sixty‑six divisions.

“In a complete and connected sense, this Book, though containing the Great Author’s Wonderful Plan of the Ages, was sealed to human understanding until our Lord’s PAROUSIA in 1874, when it was given him to ‘loose the seals,’ using a human instrument, ‘a chosen vessel,’ for this purpose.

“Charles Taze Russell was the one ‘chosen of God and faithful’ to this end; so he, under the Lord’s guidance, gave us ‘The Keys’ to the Scriptures – and to all sincere Christians these ‘Keys’ or Studies, have fulfilled the design of the author; for they have proved to be Helping Hands in the systematic study of the Bible. This book – MEMOIRS – tells you something about how and under what difficulties ‘That Servant’ attained the desired end – something of the discouragement he met and the obstacles he overcame. It is important to ponder well the revealments herein given pertaining to the Life, Works and Character of one of the greatest men the world has ever known.”

Now to the book proper: “Charles Taze Russell was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., Feb. 16, 1852, of consecrated parents who were of Scotch‑Irish descent... In private Pastor Rus­sell admitted his belief that he had been chosen for the great work he had accomplished, as ‘that Servant,’ from before his birth... Up to the age of fifteen he believed as gospel truth all and only such doctrines as had been taught him... The clergy usually discouraged individual Bible research, and the asking of questions was considered equiva­lent to doubting, and to ‘doubt was to be dammed.’

“By skillful questions, which were unanswerable by either minister or laymen from their sectarian standpoints and by the maneuvering of many seemingly paradoxical Scrip­tures, an infidel completely routed young Russell, who within a few months became an admitted skeptic.

  “At twenty‑one Mr. Russell was possessed of much knowledge and voluminous data on religion as believed and practiced in all parts of the world. Apparently these were to become of no value to himself or others, because of large business responsibil­ities that were placed upon him at the time. The question that here confronted him was, ‘Shall I try longer to find the truth on religion? Or, shall I smother the hope of finding it and strive for fame and fortune among the financial and commercial captains of the time?’ Fortunately, he decided first to search the Scriptures from a skeptic’s standpoint, for its own answer on hell‑fire and brimstone.

“Amazed at the harmonious testimony, proving an unexpected but satisfactory answer, he undertook systematic Bible research and was brought to a complete confidence in the Bible as being inspired by an all‑wise, powerful, just and loving Creator, worthy of adoration and worship. Thus a sure anchor for a fainting hope was found, and an honest, truth‑seeking heart was made glad.

“In 1877 Pastor Russell called a meeting of all the ministers of Allegheny and Pittsburgh, showed them the Scriptures which indicated our Lord’s presence and urged them to investigate and proclaim the message. All the ministers of the two cities were present and all of the ministers of the two cities refused to believe. In that same year he gave up his secular work to devote his entire time and fortune to the work indicated in the Scriptures as incident to the close of the Gospel Age and the change of Dispensations impending. As a means of determining whether his purposed course was in harmony with the Scriptures, and also as a means of demonstrating his own sincerity, he decided to test the Lord’s approval, as follows:

“(1) Devote his life to the cause; (2) invest his private fortune (about $300,000.) in the promulgation of the work; (3) prohibit collection at all meetings; (4) depend on unsolicited contributions (which must be wholly voluntary) to continue the work after his own fortune was exhausted. Furthermore, in 1881 there were distributed free 1,400,000 copies of Food for Thinking Christians to the Protestant Churches in the United States, Canada and Great Britain, on three consecutive Sundays, by A.D.T. messenger boys. This was said to have been at a cost of $40,000.00.

“Charles Taze Russell enjoyed the immeasurable advantages of good birth. His par­ents were Christian people of marked intelligence and refinement. His father was a suc­cessful retail merchant of Allegheny, Pa. His mother died when he was about eight years of age, leaving him to be thereafter the boon companion of his father. As such, he learned to keep the rooms in which the father and son lived, and developed the traits of neatness and precision so marked in after life.

“He began at a very early age to take great interest in his father’s store. At the age of fifteen, so great was his sagacity as a wholesale buyer of merchandise that his father often sent him alone on purchasing tours to Philadelphia. A young man of such commercial talents would not long be working for others. He soon started a store of his own; this rapidly increased to a chain of stores. He was one of the pioneers in the development of the marvelously successful idea of the chain‑stores, an idea which has since enriched many men. His wealth increased by leaps and bounds. This was in the early sev­enties of the nineteenth century. Rockefeller was then unknown, nationally. The known millionaires of that day could have been counted on one’s fingers.

“Still he yearned to know God; but the creeds of Christendom only confused him. The young man began to see what all the theologians of the ages had failed to see – the harmony of the Word of God and the beauty of His plan. At the age of twenty‑four this young Bible student became aware of the time features of the Scriptures. It was at this age that he began to see that the end of the Gospel Dispensation would be marked by a great world war. It was the unfolding of these features of the truth that swept his earthly goods onto the altar of burnt‑offering and took him out into the campaign of preaching which ended only with his death.

  “One truth led logically to another, and made it possible for him to become recog­nized as the only theologian of the Gospel Age who had been able to demonstrate the harmony of the Bible with itself. ‘Unto the Angel of the Church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness’ (Rev. 3:14) – and the angel did as com­manded, and long since ‘reported the matter.’ ‘Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.’ (Matt. 24:45, 46, 47) [We believe our Lord found Brother Russell “so doing” – diligently searching the Scriptures and made him That Servant.]

“Concerning the phenomenal work he did, we offer just a few short statements from him: Many are the inquiries relative to the truths presented in my writings – whence they came and how were they developed to their present symmetrical and beautiful proportions... I claim nothing of superiority, nor of supernatural power, dignity or authority; nor do I desire to exalt myself in the estimation of my brethren of the Household of Faith, except in the sense the Master urged, saying, ‘Let him who would be great among you be your servant.’ And my position among men of the world and of the nominal church is certainly far from exalted, being ‘everywhere evil spoken against.’ I am fully contented, however, to wait for exaltation until the Lord’s due time... Presently overcoming many besetments, discouragement, etc., to press along the line toward the mark of our high calling, and claiming only, as a faithful student of the Word of God, to be an index finger, as I have previously expressed it, to help you trace for yourselves, on the sacred page, the Wonderful Plan of God – no less wonderful to me, than to you, dearly beloved sharers of my faith and joy.

“No, the truths I present, as God’s mouthpiece, were not revealed in visions or dreams, nor by God’s audible voice, nor all at once, but gradually, especially since 1870 and particularly since 1880. Neither is this clear unfolding of truth due to human in­genuity or acuteness of perception, but to the simple fact that God’s due time has come; and if I did not speak, and no other agent could be found, the very stones would cry out... Nor can I name all the little points of Divine Favor in which faith was tested, prayers were answered, etc., remembering that our Master and the early Church left no such example of boasting faith, but rather admonished otherwise saying, ‘Hast thou faith? have it to thyself!’ Some of the most precious experiences of faith and prayer are those which are too sacred for public display... The Reformation movement, or rather move­ments, from then until now, have all done their share in bringing light out of darkness. Let me here confine myself to the consideration of the Harvest Truths as set forth in the Scriptures and the Watch Tower...

“I soon began to see that we were living somewhere near the close of the Gospel Age and near the time when the Lord had declared that the wise, the watching ones of His children, should understand – come to a clear knowledge of His Plan. At this time, my­self and a few other truth‑seekers in Pittsburgh, Pa., formed a class for Bible study and from 1870 to 1879 was a time of constant growth in grace and love of God and His Word. We came to see something of the love of God, how He had made provision for all mankind; how all must be awakened from the tomb in order that God’s loving Plan might be testi­fied to them.

“But though seeing that the Church was called to joint heirship with the Lord in the Millennial Kingdom, up to that time we had failed to see clearly the great distinction between the reward of the Church, now on trial, and the reward of the faithful of the world, after its trial, at the close of the Millennial Age: that the reward of the for­mer is to be the glory of the Spirit Nature, the Divine; while that of the latter is to be perfection of the human nature, once enjoyed in Eden by their progenitor, Adam.

UNDERSTANDING THE RANSOM

“However, it was not until 1872, when I gained a clearer view of our Lord’s work, as our ransom price that I found the strength and foundation of all hope of restitution to be in that doctrine. Up to that time, when I read the testimony that all in their graves should come forth, etc., I yet doubted the full provision – whether it should be understood to include idiots or infants who had died without reaching any degree of understanding, beings to whom the present life and its experiences would seem to be of little or no advantage. But when in 1872 I came to examine the subject of restitution from the standpoint of the Ransom Price given by our Lord Jesus for Adam, and conse­quently for all lost in Adam, it settled the matter of restitution completely and gave me the fullest assurance that ALL must come forth from their graves and be brought to a clear knowledge of the truth and to a full opportunity to gain everlasting life in Christ.

“Thus passed the years 1869 to 1872. The years following, to 1876, were years of continued growth in grace and knowledge on the part of the handful of Bible Students with whom I met in Allegheny. We progressed from our first crude and indefinite ideas of restitution to a clearer understanding of the details; but God’s due time for re­vealing the clear light had not yet come.

“During this time, too, we came to recognize the difference between our Lord as ‘the man who gave himself,’ and as the Lord who would come again, a Spirit Being. We saw that Spirit‑Beings can be present, and yet invisible to men. We greatly grieved at the error of Second Adventists, who were expecting Christ in the flesh, and teaching that the world and all in it, except Second Adventists, would be burned up in 1873 or 1874; their time settings and disappointments and crude ideas generally as to the object and manner of His coming, brought more or less reproach upon us and upon all who longed for and proclaimed His coming Kingdom.”

Here we would inject some conclusions of our own. We are fully persuaded that the full and complete understanding of the Ransom enabled Brother Russell to understand and clarify many Scriptures whose meaning had not been understood at all by God’s people. We explain just one: “I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts. Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” (Isa. 6:5,6,7)

The “live coal” in the above is Present Truth, and particularly the Present Truth upon the Ransom. While in Babylon we were all contaminated with the errors that prevailed there – and especially was this so about the Ransom. But once we came to a clear understanding of the Ransom, a great part of that error was purged from our minds. None of us could say this was true until That Servant had given us a clear explanation of the Ransom and kindred teachings. Then the words of Jesus assumed real meaning for us: “Thy whole body shall be full of light.” (Matt. 6:22)

In the text quoted above, the Prophet Isaiah pictures God’s people in Babylon be­fore the Harvest – “those that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.” (Ezek. 9:4) But it can properly be applied to Brother Russell himself, who was certainly much disturbed as he dwelt “in the midst of a people of un­clean lips” – those obsessed with much confusing error.

Now more from the book: “It was about Jan. 1, 1876, that my attention was spec­ially drawn to the subject of prophetic time, as it relates to these doctrines and hopes. It came about in this way: I received a paper called The Herald of the Morning, sent by its editor, Mr. N. H. Barbour. When I opened it I at once identified it with Adventism from the picture on its first cover, and I examined it with curiosity to see what ‘time’ they would next ‘set’ for the burning up of the world. But judge not a book from its cover! To my surprise and gratification I learned from its contents that its editor was beginning to get his eyes open on the subject which for some years had so greatly rejoiced our hearts in Allegheny – that the object of our Lord’s return is not to destroy, but to bless all the families of the earth; and that His coming would be thief‑like, and not in the flesh, but as a Spirit Being, invisible to men; and that the gathering of His Church and the separation of the wheat from the tares would progress in the end of this Age without the world’s being aware of it.

“I rejoiced to find others coming to the same advanced position, but was astonished to find the statement very cautiously set forth that the editor believed the prophecies to indicate that the Lord was already present in the world (unseen and invisible) and that the Harvest Work of gathering the tares was already due; and that this view was warranted by the time prophecies, which but a few months before he supposed had failed.

“Here was a new thought; could it be that the ‘Time Prophecies,’ which I had so long despised because of their misuse by the Adventists, were really meant to indicate when the Lord would be invisibly present to set up His Kingdom – a thing which I saw could be known in no other way? It seemed, to say the least, a very reasonable thing that the Lord would inform His people on the subject – especially as He had promised that He would not leave them in darkness with the world, and that although the day of the Lord would come upon all others as a thief in the night, it should not be so to the watch­ing, earnest Saints.

“I recalled certain arguments used by my friend, Jonas Wendall and other Adventists to prove that 1873 would witness the burning of the world, etc. – the chronology of the world showing that 6,000 years from Adam ended with the beginning of 1873, and that other arguments drawn from the Scriptures and supposed to coincide. Could it be that these time arguments, which I had passed by as unworthy of attention, really contained an impor­tant truth which they had misapplied?

“Anxious to learn from any quarter whatever God had to teach, I at once wrote to Mr. Barbour, informing him of my harmony on other points and desiring to know particulars why and upon what Scriptural evidences he held that Christ’s presence and the Harvesting of the Gospel Age dated from the Autumn of 1874.

“The answer showed that my surmise had been correct, namely, that the time prophecies – arguments – chronology, etc., were the same as used by Second Adventists in 1873, and explained how Mr. Barbour and Mr. J. H. Paton, of Michigan, a co-worker with him, had been regular Second Adventists up to that time; and that when the date 1874 had passed without the world being burned up, and without their seeing Christ in the flesh, they were for a time dumfounded. They had examined the time prophecies, which seemingly passed unfulfilled, and had been unable to find any flaw, and had begun to wonder whether the time was right and their expectations wrong; whether the views of restitution and blessings to the world, which myself and others were teaching, might not be the things to look for.

“It seems that not long after their 1874 disappointment, a reader of The Herald of the Morning, who had a copy of the Diaglott, noticed something in it which he thought peculiar – that in Matthew 24:27, 37, 39, the word which in our Common Version is rendered coming is translated presence. This was the clue; and, following it, they had been led thru prophetic time toward proper views regarding the object and manner of our Lord’s return. I, on the contrary, was led first to proper views of the object and manner of our Lord’s return, and then to an examination of the time, indicated in God’s Word. Thus God leads His children from different starting points of truth; but when the heart is earnest and trustful the result must be to draw all such together.

“But there were no books or other publications at that time setting forth the time prophecies as then understood; so I paid Mr. Barbour’s expenses to come to see me at Philadelphia, to show me fully and Scripturally, if he could, that the prophecies indicated 1874 as the date at which the Lord’s presence and the harvest began. This was in the summer of 1876. He came, and the evidence satisfied me. Being a person of positive convictions and fully consecrated to the Lord, I at once saw that the special times in which we were living have an important bearing upon our work and duty as Christ’s disci­ples; that being in the time of the Harvest, the Harvest work should be done; and that the present truth was the sickle by which the Lord would have us to do a gathering and reaping work everywhere among His children.

BEGINNING OF THE HARVEST WORK

“I inquired of Mr. Barbour as to what was being done by him and the Herald. He replied that nothing was being done; that the readers of the Herald, being disappointed Adventists, had nearly all lost interest and stopped their subscriptions; and that thus, with money exhausted, the Herald might be said to be practically suspended. I said to him that instead of feeling discouraged and giving up the work since with his newly found light on restitution (for when we first met he had much to learn from me on the fullness of restitution, based upon the sufficiency of the Ransom given for all, as I had much to learn from him concerning time), he should rather feel that now he had some good tidings to preach, such as he never had before, and that his zeal should be correspondingly increased. At the same time, the knowledge of the fact that we were already in the time of the Harvest gave me an impetus to spread the truth such as I never had before. I, therefore, resolved upon a vigorous campaign for the truth.

“So I determined to curtail my business cares and give my time, as well as my means, to the great Harvest Work. Accordingly, I sent Mr. Barbour back to his home, with money and instructions to prepare in concise book‑form the good tidings, so far as then understood, including the time features, while I closed out my Philadelphia business, prep­aratory to engaging in the work, as I afterwards did, traveling and preaching.

“This little book of 196 pages thus prepared was entitled ‘The Three Worlds’; and as I was enabled to give some time and thought to its preparation, it was issued by us both jointly, both names appearing on its title page, though it was mainly written by Mr. Barbour. While this was not the first book to teach a measure of restitution, nor the first to treat upon the time prophecies, it was, I believe, the first to combine the idea of restitution with time prophecy. From the sale of this book and from my purse, our traveling expenses, etc., were met. After a time I conceived of adding another har­vest laborer to the force, so sent for Mr. Paton, who promptly responded and whose trav­eling expenses were met in the same manner.

“But noticing how quickly some people forget what they have heard, it soon became evident that while the meetings were useful in awaking interest, a monthly journal was needed to hold and develop that interest. It seemed, therefore, to be the Lord’s indication that one of our number should settle somewhere and begin again the regular issu­ing of the Herald of the Morning. I suggested that Mr. Barbour do this, as he had had experience as a typesetter and therefore could do it the most economically, while Mr. Paton and I would continue to travel and contribute to its columns, as we should find opportunity. To the objection that the type had been sold and that the few subscrip­tions which would come in would not, for a long time, make the journal self‑sustaining, I replied that I would supply the money for purchasing the type, etc., and leave a few hundred dollars in the bank, subject to Mr. Barbour’s check, and that he should manage it as economically as possible, while Mr. Paton and I continued to travel. This, which seemed to be the Lord’s will in the matter, was therefore done.

NEW ADHERENTS TO THE WORKING FORCE

“It was after this, while on a tour of the New England States, that I met Mr. A. F. Adams, a young Methodist minister, who became deeply interested, accepting the message heartily during the week that I preached to his congregation. Subsequently, I introduced him to little gatherings of interested ones in neighboring towns, and assisted otherwise, as I could, rejoicing in another one who, with study, would soon be a co‑laborer in the Harvest field. About this time, too, I was much encouraged by the accession of Mr. A. D. Jones, then a clerk in my employ in Pittsburgh, who was a young man of activity and promise, one who soon developed into an active and appreciative co‑laborer in the Harvest work. Mr. Jones ran well for a time, but ambition or something eventually made utter shipwreck of his faith, leaving us a painful illustration of the wisdom of the Apostle’s words, ‘My brethren, be not many of you teachers, knowing that we shall have the severer judgment.’

“Thus far all had gone smoothly and onward: we had been greatly blessed with the truth, but not specially tested in our love and fidelity to it. But the Spring of 1878, the parallel in time to our Lord’s crucifixion, and of His statement to Peter, ‘Satan hath desired to have you, that he might sift you as wheat’ (Luke 22:31), the sifting began which has Continued Ever Since; and which must, sooner or later, test every one who receives the light of present truth. For this fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is – ­whether he has built his faith flimsily of wood, hay and stubble, instead of valuable stones of God’s revealed truth; or whether he has built it upon the shifting sands of human theories, or upon the solid rock, the Ransom, the only foundation which God has provided.

“They who build upon that Rock shall be safe personally, even though they have built up an illogical faith, which the fire and shaking of this day of trial will overthrow and utterly consume, but they who build upon any other foundation, whether they use good or bad materials, are sure of complete wreckage.

“The object of this trial and sifting evidently is to select all whose heart‑de­sires are unselfish, who are fully and unreservedly consecrated to the Lord, who are anxious to have the Lord’s will done, and whose confidence in His wisdom, His way and His Word is so great that they refuse to be led away from the Lord’s Word, either by sophistries of others, or by plans and ideas of their own. These, in the sifting time, will be strengthened and shall increase their joy in the Lord and their knowledge of His plans, even while their faith is being tested by the falling into error of thousands on every hand.

FIRST HARVEST SIFTING

The sifting began thus: Regarding St. Paul’s statement, ‘We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,’ etc., we still held the idea which Adventists, and indeed all Christians hold, that at some time the living saints would be suddenly and miraculously caught away bodily, thenceforth to be forever with the Lord. And now our acquaintance with the time prophecies led us to expect this translation of the saints at the point of time in this Age parallel to the Lord’s resurrection; for many of the parallelisms between the Jewish and Christian Dispensations were already seen by us, and formed one of the features of the little book ­The Three Worlds.

“We did not then see, as we do now, that the date, 1878, marked the date for the beginning of the establishment of the Kingdom of God, by the glorification of all who already slept in Christ (that is, the dead in Him), and the ‘change’ which St. Paul mentions is to occur in the moment of death to all the class described, from that date onward thru the Harvest period, until all the living members of the ‘body of Christ’ shall have been changed to glorious Spirit‑beings. When at that date (1878) nothing occurred, which we could see, a re‑examination showed me that our mistake lay in expecting to see all the living saints changed at once, and without dying, an erroneous view shared in by the whole nominal Church, and one which we had not yet observed or discarded. Our present clear view was the result of the examination thus started.

“I soon saw that the Apostle’s words, ‘We shall not all sleep,’ that the word sleep was not synonymous with die, though generally so understood; but, on the contrary, the ex­pression sleep, here used, represents unconsciousness; and that the Apostles wished us to understand, that from a certain time in the Lord’s presence, His saints, though they would die like other men, would not remain for any time unconscious, but in the moment of dy­ing would be changed and would receive the Spirit bodies promised. Thruout this Gospel Age death of the Lord’s children has been followed by unconsciousness – ‘sleep.’ This continued true of all who ‘fell asleep in Jesus’ up to the time when He took the office of King, which we have shown was in 1878 (Volume 2, Studies in the Scriptures, pp. 218, 219).

“Not only did the King at that time ‘awaken in His likeness’ all the members of His body, the Church, who slept, but for the same reason (the time establishing His Kingdom having come) it is no longer necessary that the ‘feet,’ or last remaining members should go into ‘sleep’ or unconsciousness. On the contrary, each now, as finishes his course, faithful unto death, will at once receive the Crown of Life, and being changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, can not be said to sleep, or to be unconscious at all. Here, then, 1878 is applicable, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.’ So this re-examination showed further light upon the pathway and became a great cause for encouragement, as evidencing the Lord’s continued leading.

“But while I was thus helped to clearer views and brighter hopes, and while I diligently endeavored to help others, the Spring of 1878 proved far from a blessing to Mr. Barbour and to many under his influence. Rejecting the plain, simple solution presented above, Mr. Barbour seemed to feel that he must of necessity get up something new to di­vert attention from the failure of the living saints to be caught away en masse.

“But, alas! how dangerous it is for any man to feel too much responsibility and attempt to force new light. To our painful surprise, Mr. Barbour wrote an article for the Herald denying the doctrine of the Atonement; denying that the death of Christ was the ransom‑price of Adam and his race, saying that the death of Christ was no more a settlement of the penalty of man’s sins than would the sticking of a pin thru a fly and causing it suffering and death, be considered by an earthly parent as a just settlement for the misdemeanor of his child.”

As our beloved Pastor has so truly said, “How dangerous it is for any man to feel too much responsibility and attempt to force new light.” We have found this true in JFR after he became President of the Society. He disposed of Tentative Justification, and also replaced the “great multitude” as a spiritual class to an earthly class; and one error brought on other errors, such as “dividing the sheep and the goats” before the New Covenant is inaugurated. The Jehovah’s Witnesses now teach that there will be no resurrection for Adam, the Scribes and Pharisees or any of the wicked. Those who do not join them before Armageddon will not be resurrected, etc.

Another group has invented a new class because of the disappointment of 1954. They felt “too much responsibility” and attempted to force new light; and that new light (?) has forced them into many other errors – such as a narrow way in the Camp, perverting Tentative Justification, their newly‑invented class to be first in the Kingdom blessings instead of “to the Jew first” as taught by the Apostle Paul, etc. However, they still distribute the Studies in the Scriptures, which is a far‑cry from the Witnesses, for which we commend them.

It is our hope and prayer that what we have given may prove a rich blessing to our readers, and that the subject of That Servant has been magni­fied and strengthened in the hearts of all. God bless the memory of That Servant!

We also pay tribute to the Epiphany Messenger who faithfully upheld and defended the Truth given us by That Servant. We honor those whom God honors in keeping with 1 Samuel 2:20: “Them that honor Me I will honor.” In so doing we will grow in grace and knowledge of our Beloved Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and continue in “the faith once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 3) God bless the memory of the Epiphany Messenger!

“Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.” (Psa. 35:27)

Sincerely your brother, John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

(Reprint 316, October 1981)

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NO. 468: WHY GOD PERMITS CALAMITIES

No. 468

“There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1-5)

Noble and good in the sight of both God and man are the generous impulses of charity and sympathy awakened by the great calamities of recent years, such as the Oklahoma City bombing. There is little more of good to be said favorable to these calamities or their influence.

These charities should not be misconstrued to signify that God’s consecrated are rapidly multiplying – for many of the charitable are not the consecrated, and some are even infidels. Yet, they are an evidence that at least some of the original God-likeness of our race remains. It has not been wholly obliterated by the degradation of the fall, nor wholly poisoned by the bad theology of the Dark Ages. While we live in the most selfish and money-loving period known to history, millions of dollars are generously poured forth to aid suffering humanity. Some who in times of calamitous distress show that they have a tender spot in their hearts, would and do at other times lend effort and skill to the arts of war and design the most horrible killing weapons and implements. On occasions when bitter passions are aroused, they relentlessly and pitilessly slaughter a thousand times as many as the accidents of nature and the terrorists of late. Yet, for all this showing of the two elements in the same people, we rejoice that the God-like element of sympathy exists as a partial offset to the devilish qualities of selfishness and heartlessness, which, under the degrading influence of man’s fallen state, have grown strong during the past six thousand years.

Preparatory to looking carefully, reasonably and Scripturally at the question of why does God permit calamities, let us note the absurd views of some Christian people, who should know God’s Word and character much better than they indicate. Some whose hearts overflow with sympathy and God-like love in the presence of great calamities (which proves their hearts better and more sound than their theology), declare that God is the director and cause of all disasters and troubles. Hence whatever men may do to alleviate such distresses would, according to this false view, be so much done in opposition to God; and whatever love and sympathy they feel, is so much sentiment opposed to God’s sentiments, which are thus made to appear malicious.

The hideousness of such a character, as is thus ascribed to the God of love, is intensified, when the same good, tender-hearted, but wrong-headed, deluded people, tell us what their faith in God is and their view of His character. This indicates that He not only looks without pity or sympathy upon man’s present calamities and distresses, and fore­ordained them, but that He has furthermore foreordained and made fullest preparation for engulfing the vast majority of His creatures in a calamity in comparison with which all the horrors of all earth’s calamities united in one would be nothing. Under this view these calamities are mere preludes to that most awful, indescribable torment, which would be wholly unendurable, but that God with fiendish cruelty will perpetrate life forever and forever, in order to have them suffer. He will never relieve them.

It is surprising that any who possess the spirit of God, to any extent, can thus blaspheme His Holy Name. It is surprising that they do not know more of the character of the Creator than this, even without the Bible testimony to His character of love and justice, to advise them of His plan in Christ for blessing all the families of the earth; the declaring of which plan constitutes the “good tidings of great joy [not of eternal torment] which shall be unto all people.” (Luke 2:10) Indeed, God is more vilified by many of His children than by the infidel world. How strange, the very Bible which declares God’s true character of love and justice, is considered as the authority for these devilish doctrines and false interpretation of our Lord’s parables and of the symbols of the Book of Revelation, originated by those who during the “Dark Ages” used to burn and torment Bible believers.

GOD’S LOVE – HOW SHOWN

When we declare that whatever there is of love and sympathy in man, is only the remnant of the original Divine likeness, in which Adam was created, not wholly effaced by six thousand years of degradation in sin, it at once raises the question: In what way does God manifest His sympathy and love in such emergencies, when even the hearts of fallen human beings are touched, with sympathy and love, to acts of kindness and succor?

A correct answer is, that God is represented in every act of kindness done, whether by His children or by the world; because their actions under such circumstances are the results, in some measure, of His character and disposition. And yet this answer is not full enough to be satisfactory. But, thank God, a fuller investigation, in the light of His Word, reveals a boundless sympathy on God’s part – providing also an abundant succor, which is shortly to be revealed.

But why does not God immediately succor His creatures from calamities? Or, to go still farther back, why does He who has all wisdom to know and all power to prevent, permit calamities – tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, destructive floods, pestilence, etc.? And while we are about it, we may as well include all the evils which God could, if he would, prevent – all the forms of sickness and pain and death; every form of destruction – wars, murders, etc.; everything which causes pain or trouble to those willing to do and be in harmony with God? The answer to one of these questions will be the answer to every question on the subject; for all human evils are related and have a common source or cause.

To fully comprehend this cause, we must go far back, to the very beginning of sickness, pain, death and sorrow – to the Garden of Eden, where neither famine, pestilence, tornadoes, earthquakes, nor death in any form was permitted; where man and his surroundings and conditions were pronounced “very good,” even by God Himself, and certainly greatly appreciated by man, who had to be driven out and prevented from returning by the fiery sword which kept the way of access to the life-sustaining fruits of the trees of the garden.

How came it that the Creator, who so graciously provided for the life and comfort of His creatures, and who communed with them and gave them His blessing and the promise of everlasting life upon the sole condition of continued obedience, should so change in His attitude toward His creatures, as to drive them from the enjoyments of those Eden comforts and blessings, out into the unprepared earth – to toil, weariness, insufficient sustenance, and thus to death?

We must remember that only the Garden of Eden was “prepared,” and fit for man’s comfortable enjoyment of the favor of life. The preparation of the whole earth for man, requiring in a natural way seven thousand years more to entirely fit it for the habitation of perfect, obedient, human children of God, the Creator specially or miraculously prepared the Garden of Eden in advance merely as a fit place for Adam’s trial. God foresaw the fall of His creature, and provided that the penalty for sin, “dying thou shalt die,” instead of being suddenly inflicted as by a lightning stroke, or other speedy method, should be served out gradually by conflict with the unfavorable conditions (of climate, sterility of soil, storms, miasma, thorns, weeds, etc.) of the as yet unprepared earth.

Adam and Eve, therefore, went forth from Eden convicts, under sentence of death; self-convicted under the most just of all judges, their Creator and Friend. The convicts esteemed it a mercy to be let die gradually rather than suddenly; while to the Creator and Judge this was expedient because of a plan He had for the future, in which such experience with imperfect conditions would be of great value – a plan for the increase of the race, and for its discipline and final redemption and restoration.

The death penalty, inflicted in this manner, God foresaw would furnish man, through experience, such a lesson on the exceeding sinfulness of sin and its baneful results as would never need to be repeated – a lesson, therefore, which will profit all who learn it to all eternity; especially when Christ’s Millennial reign of righteousness shall manifest in contrast the fruits of righteousness: God also designing that the exercise of man’s mental faculties in coping with the disturbances and imperfections of his surroundings and in inventing relief, and the exercise of his moral faculties in combating his own weaknesses, and the calls upon his sympathy should prove beneficial.

Had the sentence of God in addition to a loss of Eden’s comforts and experience with sin and death, condemned His creatures to an eternity of torment and anguish, as so many believe and teach, who could defend such a sentence, or call the Judge just, or loving, or in any sense good? Surely no one of sound mind!

But when it is seen that the Scriptures teach that death (extinction), and not life in torment, was the penalty pronounced and inflicted, all is reasonable. God has a right to demand perfect obedience from His perfect creature when placed under perfect conditions, as in Adam’s case. And the decree that none shall live everlastingly except the perfect, is both a wise and just provision for the everlasting welfare of all God’s creatures.

There is a depth of meaning in the Creator’s words, as He sent forth His fairly tried and justly condemned creatures, among the thorns and briars, to labor and pain, and sorrow, and disease, and to be subject to the casualties and calamities of nature’s unfinished work. He said: “Cursed is the ground FOR THY SAKE” (Gen. 3:17), i.e., the earth in general is in its present imperfect condition for your profit and experience; even though you may not esteem it so. Adam would have sought to retain continual access to the garden fruits, to avoid severe labor and to enable him to fully sustain his vital powers and live forever; but in loving consideration for man’s ultimate good, no less than in justice, and in respect of his own sentence of death, God prevented this and guarded the way back to the garden, in order that the death sentence should not fail of execution, in order that sinners should not live forever and thus perpetuate sin.

The children of the condemned pair inherited their fall, imperfections and weak-nesses, and also the penalties of these; for “who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?” (Job 14:4) The whole race, therefore, as convict laborers, have not only been learning what sin and evil are, and their undesirable results, but by their labor and skill they are serving to prepare the earth and bring it as a whole to the full perfection designed for it, and illustrated in the condition of Eden – ready for a further purpose of God of which none but His children (and not all of them) are made aware through the Scriptures.

We can see, then, that labor and toil were prescribed for man’s good. They have kept him so employed that he could not plan and consummate evil to the same extent that he otherwise would have done. Now, with modern conveniences and labor saving devices creating more leisure then the world has ever known, evil is proliferating in the minds of idle people. Knowledge (of evil) is increasing and people are running to and fro seeking sinful pleasures and devising plots and schemes to the detriment of their fellowmen. What a mercy in disguise present shortness of life is, under present circumstances.

God’s action, then, in exposing His creatures to death, pain and various calamities, it must first of all be seen, was one which related only to his present life on earth, and to no other; for of any continuance of life, in any locality, God did not give him the slightest intimation. On the contrary, the words of the penalty were, “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” – “dying thou shalt die.” (Gen. 3:19; 2:17)

True, God gave promise that, somehow and at some time, a son of the woman should accomplish a deliverance. But it was vague and indefinite then, merely a glimmer of hope, to show them that though God dealt severely with them, and on lines of law and justice, He yet sympathized with them, and would, ultimately, without violating justice or ignoring His own righteous sentence of death, bring them succor.

Paul tells us that God adopted a method for the recovery of man, from that original sentence of death which came upon all as a result of Adam’s fall, which would show the justice of His sentence and the unchangeableness of His decrees, and yet permit such as are sick of sin to use their experience wisely, and to return to harmony and obedience to their Creator and His just and reasonable laws and regulations.

This Divine Plan, by which God could remain just and unchangeable in His attitude toward sin and sinners, and yet release the well-disposed from the penalty of sin (death and disfavor), is stated by the Apostle in Rom. 3:24-26.

In brief, this plan provided that another man who, by obedience to the law of God, should prove His worthiness of eternal life, might, by the willing sacrifice of the life to which He was thus proved worthy, redeem the forfeited life of Adam and of his posterity who lost life through him; for it is written, “In Adam all die,” and “By the offense of one sentence of condemnation came on all men.” (1 Cor. 15:22; Rom. 5:12,18)

Since the condemnation to death was thus upon all men, and since another man newly created and inexperienced as Adam was, though just as favorably situated, would have been similarly liable to fall, God devised the marvelous plan of transferring His only begotten Son from the spiritual to the human nature, and thus provided a man fit for sacrifice – “the man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all;” “who, though he was rich [though He was possessed of glory and honor and riches of wisdom and power above both angels and men], nevertheless for our sakes became poor [humbling Himself to a lower nature, even as a man, becoming obedient even unto death] that we through His poverty might be made rich.” (1 Tim. 2:5; 2 Cor. 8:9)

Thus the one first created, “the first born of all creation” (Col. 1:15), “the beginning of the creation of God” (Rev. 3:14), the One who had known God’s character longer, more fully and more intimately than any other being, the One in fact who had been Jehovah’s chief and honored, intelligent and active agent in the creation of angels as well as of men, the One by whom all things were made, and aside from whom not anything was made (John 1:3; Col. 1:16,17) this great being, Jehovah’s Prime Minister, and next to Himself in dignity, the Almighty entrusted with the work of redeeming and restoring mankind.

To redeem them would cost the sacrifice of His own life as their ransom-price, with all that implied of suffering and self-denial. To restore them (such of them as shall prove worthy ‑ whosoever wills) will require the exercise of Divine Power to open the prison-house of death, and to break the fetters of sin and prejudice and superstition, and give to all the redeemed the fullest opportunity to decide whether they love good or evil, righteousness or sin, truth or error, and to destroy all who love and work iniquity, and to develop and perfect again all who love and choose life upon its only condition – righteousness.

To know the Father’s plan and His privilege of cooperation in its execution, was to appreciate it and joyfully engage therein. Willingly our Lord Jesus laid aside the glory of the higher nature which He had had with the Father from before the creation of man (John 17:5; 2 Cor. 8:9). He was “made flesh” (John 1:14; Heb. 2:14), became a man at thirty years of age, and then began the great work of sacrifice, the sacrifice of Himself, a perfect man, for the cancellation of the sin of the first man, to recover Adam and his race by dying on their behalf, as their Redeemer. By giving to Justice the price of their liberty from Divine condemnation, He secured the legal right to cancel the sentence of condemnation to death against them, and hence the right to resurrect or restore to life and to all the lost estate and blessings, “whomsoever he wills.” (Rev. 22:17) And He wills to restore all who shall prove worthy. And to prove who are worthy will be the object of the Millennial reign (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9).

This fact that our Lord’s mission to earth at the First Advent was to undo for the race, legally, the results of Adam’s transgression, and to secure the right to resurrect them and restore them, is clearly stated by the Apostle. See Rom. 5:5-12, 16-19,21; 1 Cor. 15:21-24.

Though tempted in all points like as we (His “brethren”) are, He ignored His own will (Luke 22:42; John 4:34; 5:30) and all suggestions from others contrary to God’s plan (Matt. 16:23; Luke 4:4, 8-12) and obeyed God implicitly. And therein lay the secret of His success. Temptations did not overcome Him, as they did even the perfect man Adam, because of the fullness of His consecration to the Divine will and plan; and this fullness of consecration and trust was the result of His intimate knowledge of the Father and His unbounded confidence in His Wisdom, Love and Power. He had recollection of His previous existence as a spirit being with the Father (John 17:5; 3:12,13). Our Lord’s success, then, was the result of being rightly exercised by His knowledge of God; as is written: “By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, while bearing their iniquities.” (Isa. 53:11)

The suggestive thoughts here are two: First, that even a perfect man failed in trial because of the lack of full appreciation of God’s greatness, goodness and resources. Secondly the knowledge (as in Satan’s case) would be valueless, if unaccompanied by sincere love and consecration to God’s will. A lesson further, to Christ’s “brethren,” is, that knowledge and consecration are both essential to their following in the Master’s footsteps.

Among men He and His mission were not really known; even His most ardent followers and admirers at first supposed that His mission was merely to heal some of the sick Jews, and to advance their nation to the rulership of a dying world, and to be a teacher of morals, they saw not at first that His mission was to lay the foundation of a world-wide empire, which should not only include the living, but also the dead of Adam’s race, and which should insure peace and joy everlastingly to all the worthy, by eradicating forever, sin and all who love it after fully comprehending of its character in contrast with righteousness. Even His friends and disciples were slow to realize these grand dimensions of His work, though He continually repeated them, and bore witness, saying: “The Son of man came to give his life a ransom for many;” (Matt. 20:28) “Verily, verily, the hour is coming when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear [obey] shall live.” (John 5:25) “The Lord hath sent me to preach deliverance to the captives [of death] and recovery of sight to the [mentally, morally and physically] blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised [injured by the Adamic fall].” (Luke 4:18)

The sacrifice of the Redeemer’s all, as man’s ransom price, was offered at the time He was thirty years old – at His baptism. And there the offering was accepted by Jehovah, as marked by His anointing with the spirit. Thenceforth, the three and a half years of His ministry He spent in using up the consecrated life already offered; and this He completed at Calvary. There the price of our liberty was paid in full. “It is finished!” (John 19:30) It holds good; it is acceptable by the grace of God, as the offset and covering for every weakness and sin of the first man, and his posterity, resulting either directly, or indirectly, from the first disobedience and fall. All that is necessary since, for a full return to Divine favor and communion, and to an inheritance in the Paradise of God, which the great Redeemer in due time has promised to establish in the entire earth, as at first in the Garden of Eden, is a recognition of sin, full repentance, and a turning from sin to righteousness. Christ will establish righteousness in the earth by the Kingdom of God, which He has promised shall be established, and for which He has bidden us wait and hope, and for which He taught us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth even as it is done in heaven.”

Under that blessed and wise rule of Christ as King of nations, all the evil, depraved tendencies inherited from the fall and from the six thousand years of degradation, will be restrained, held in check, by super-human wisdom, love and power; and all being brought to a clear knowledge of the truth in its every phase, all will be fairly and fully tested. The lovers of righteousness will be perfected and given control of the perfected earth, while those loving unrighteousness under that clear light of knowledge and experience will, as followers of Satan’s example, be utterly destroyed in the Second Death. The First Death is the destruction to which all were subjected by Adam’s sin, but from which all were redeemed by the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice; and the Second Death is that destruction which will overtake those who, though redeemed by Christ from the First Death, shall by their own willful conduct, merit and receive death again. This Second Death means utter destruction, without hope of another redemption or resurrection; for Christ dieth no more. Nor could any good reason for their further trial be assigned; for the trial granted during the Millennial Age under Christ, as Judge, will be a thorough and fair and individual and final trial.

“YE SHALL ALL LIKEWISE PERISH” UNLESS YE REPENT

Death, in whatever form it may come, is perishing, ceasing to exist. All mankind, through Adam’s transgression, came under condemnation to loss of life, to “perish” “to be as though they had not been.” And only one way of escape from that condemnation has been provided (Acts 4:12). Because of Christ’s redemptive work all may escape perishing by accepting the conditions of life. During Christ’s Millennial reign those whom Pilate slew, and those upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, and all others of the race, sharers in the death penalty now upon us, will be released from the tomb, brought to a knowledge of Christ, His ransom work, and their privilege of repentance and full restitution to Divine favor, life, etc. Thus seen, the Adamic Death penalty was to perish; but it has been canceled by Christ’s Ransom, so far as it relates to those who, when brought to know the Redeemer, shall forsake sin. No longer should it be regarded as a perished condition, but as a “sleep” (John 11:11-14; Matt. 9:24; 1 Thes. 4:14; 5:10) from which the Redeemer will awaken all to give each who did not have it before being overtaken by Adam’s death, a full, individual opportunity to escape perishing and live forever. Yet, finally, all who shall fail to repent and to lay hold upon the gracious Life-giver shall perish; they will fail to obtain the full restitution provided; they shall never see (perfect) life (full restitution) for the wrath or condemnation of God will abide on them, condemning them to death as unworthy of life. As this will be their second condemnation, and an individual one, so the penalty will be the Second Death, which will not be general to the race, but only upon such individuals as refuse God’s favor of reconciliation and life.

As our Lord Jesus used the calamities of His time, as illustrating the just penalty against all who do not flee sin and lay hold upon the Redeemer and Life-giver, so we see them. We declare that destruction, perishing, is the just penalty of sin taught in the Scriptures. We denounce the eternal torment theory, so generally believed by God’s children, as unscriptural; as one of Satan’s blasphemous slanders against God’s character. And we proclaim that only by faith in the Redeemer, repentance and reformation, can the gift of God, eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, be obtained. Whoever hears the offer of life is responsible to the extent that he understands it; and according to God’s promise and plan all mankind shall, at some time, either during the Gospel Age, or during the coming Millennial Age, be brought to a full, clear appreciation of these conditions and opportunities, with fullest opportunities for repentance and life.

Calamities, then, are to be regarded, generally, as accidents, attributable to human imperfection and lack of experience, or to disturbances incidental to the preparation of the earth for its more quiet and perfect condition during the Sabbath or Seventh Thousand Years (the Millennium), and for its state of absolute perfection forever after the Millennium, which under Christ’s direction, shall give it its finishing touches and make it fully ready for the redeemed race, which His reign shall prepare also to rightly use and enjoy and rule the perfected earth. And man is exposed to these calamities and accidents, and not defended from them by his Almighty Creator, because, first, man is a sinner condemned to death anyway, and is not to be spared from it, but must be allowed to pass through it; and secondly, by the present experiences with trouble and sorrow and pain, all of which are but elements of death, mankind is learning a lesson and laying up in store an experience with sin and its awful concomitants, sorrow, pain and death, which will be valuable in that Millennial Age, when each shall be required to choose between good and evil. The evil they learn first, now; the good and its blessed results and rewards, but dimly seen now, will be fully displayed then – during the Millennium (Acts 17:31).

But some one inquires, If this be God’s Plan, for redeeming the world by the death of His Son and justifying and restoring all who believe in and accept of Him, and obey and love righteousness, why did not the Millennial reign of Christ with its favorable conditions and powerful restraints begin at once, as soon as Christ had given the ransom price at Calvary; instead of compelling those who would follow righteousness, to sail through bloody seas and suffer for righteousness’ sake? Or else, why not have postponed the giving of the ransom until the close of the six thousand years of evil and the inauguration of the Millennial reign? Or, at least, if the present order of events is best in the Divine Wisdom, why does not God specially protect from calamities, accidents, sorrow, pain, death, etc., those who have fully accepted of Christ and who have sacrificed and are using their all in the service of righteousness?

Ah yes! The subject would be incomplete were this point left untouched. The consecrated Saints, the Church of the Gospel Age, are a “peculiar people,” different from the rest of the redeemed race; and God’s dealings with them are peculiar and different also. Inasmuch as it was God’s purpose to highly honor and exalt our Lord Jesus far above all others, because of His faithful obedience even to self-sacrifice, so it was His purpose to select a “Little Flock” for His companionship in glory, who, after being justified by Christ’s sacrifice and reconciled to God by the death of His Son, should develop so much of a likeness to His Son, by intently following His words and example, that they, like Him (though far less fully than He because of weaknesses of the flesh), should likewise so love righteousness and truth, and so delight to do God’s will, that they would do it at any cost or sacrifice of earthly pleasures, or comforts, or esteem among men – even unto death.

The space of time between the giving of the ransom for all, and the establishment of the Kingdom which is to bestow upon mankind the blessings purchased, is for the very purpose of selecting the “Little Flock” of under kings and priests, Christ’s companions in the honors and work of the Kingdom, otherwise called, as a class, “The Bride, the Lamb’s wife.” The selection of this class must take place during a time when evil, trouble and sin, have sway in the world; for it is by the special opposition of evil and sin, to God’s plan and to all in harmony with it, that these are to be specially tried and tested; that only “overcomers” shall be selected and given this very honorable and responsible position.

Not only is this class required to follow after righteousness and truth, and to support them and oppose sin, to their present discomfort and loss, but they are required to do all this on the strength of faith, outward evidences being often contrary to faith. A part of their test is, that they must walk by faith and not by sight. They are to believe God’s promises though every outward circumstance seems to contradict it. This is part of their lesson as well as part of their trial.

They are to believe God’s testimony, that death and trouble entered the world as a result of Adam’s sin, and that a fall from perfection took place in Eden, no matter what speculations among scientists may suggest to the contrary – as that Adam was evolved from an ape, and that the Bible story of the fall, the condemnation and redemption are alike unscientific; that Christ, like Confucius, was a great teacher, but nothing more; that He accomplished no redemption and that none could have been needful or required. The Saints are to shun all such babblings of science and philosophy, falsely so-called, and to walk by faith in God’s revelation.

Though they see errors flourish and Scriptural Truths spurned and disregarded, they are to disregard numbers and human traditions and, by faith, hold to God’s Word. Though told by God that they are redeemed and no longer under His condemnation and disfavor with the rest of the world, they are to believe and walk by faith, nothing doubting, even though they are not the recipients of special earthly favors, and even though they, like others, have a share of sickness, pain and death.

Their advantages are often less than those of other men, and their course often much more up-hill and rough. They walk by faith and not by sight, however; they endure as seeing Him who is invisible, and the crown which is invisible, and the Kingdom which is invisible, and as though they already had everlasting life, though they die like other men. In all these things, yea, in everything, they are required to walk by faith and not by sight, if they would be crowned overcomers and made heirs in the coming Kingdom.

Their advantages are all invisible to the world, and are seen only by the eye of faith. Their peace and joy are dependent upon their knowledge and trust of God and His Plan, and their knowledge and trust depend upon their faith in His Word of promise. By faith they “know [even when outward evidences seem contrary] that all things are working together” (Rom. 8:28) for their ultimate good, and that the glories and blessings of the future shall far overbalance all the trials and troubles and wounds of the present; and so believing from such a standpoint, it is well said that these have a joy and peace, even amid tribulation, and which the world can neither give nor take away.

What advantage, then, hath a true, consecrated Christian in the present time? Much every way; both in the life that now is, and also in that which is to come. All things are yours; for ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s and ye are accepted of God in and through the merit of Christ.

“Soul, then know thy full salvation,

Rise o’er sin and fear and care;

Joy to find in every station,

Something still to do or bear.”

No matter how dark the clouds, no matter how unfavorable the circumstance on its surface, thou hast the heavenly assurance, that – “All must work for good to thee.”

Even those things which may seem to be, and to the world are, accidents, cannot be so regarded in connection with these so peculiarly precious in God’s sight. Nothing transpires without your Father’s knowledge – not even a sparrow falls, nor a hair of your heads. And since infinite wisdom, infinite love, and infinite power are pledged to their aid, and guarantee them against all that would not be for their ultimate good, with how much confidence and trust all such may free themselves from harassing care and anxiety, and with how much courage they may press on, committing their way unto the Lord, and engaging heart and hand and brain in His service; for we also “know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Cor. 15:58) Like their Master, such shall yet see results for all their travail of souls which will fully recompense or satisfy them. Such may rejoice in tribulation, knowing the results. Even the families of the Saints and all that concerns them, are precious to the Lord for their sakes.

Courage, then, dear family of God! Be strong! quit you like men! Endure hardness as good soldiers; endure as seeing the Lord and the prize, though they are invisible except to your eye of faith. Expect not to reign, nor to be exempted from trial and sufferings, until the battle is ended – until Evil (sin, as well as disaster, trouble and death, its accompaniments) shall be removed by our Redeemer, who soon is to take His great power and reign to deliver the groaning creation from all its present distresses.

“Behold, we bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be unto all people.” (Luke 2:10) Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord; for though for a little moment He hid His face and permitted calamities to scourge and destroy His creatures because of their transgression, yet in great mercy He hath provided our ransom price; yea, He hath highly exalted Him to be both Priest and King to cleanse from sin, and to rule to perfect all who will then submit their hearts to Him and obey Him. From such He shall wipe away all tears; and sorrow and dying, and every evil, shall be no more. “Behold, I make all things new.” (Rev. 21:5)

“Tell the whole world the blessed tidings;

Speak of the time of rest that nears;

Tell the oppressed of every nation

Jubilee lasts a thousand years.”

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