"Cry aloud and spare not; lift up like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the House of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinances of their God. They ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.” Isaiah 58:1,2)
We understand that the Lord, through the Prophet Isaiah, is here describing the condition of the nominal people of God. These words probably had an application in the Prophet's day, but we think they have a special application in our day. If we should view the words as a general statement, applicable at any time it would seem to have reference to some who are truly the Lord's people and also to the House of Jacob in general. The prophet speaks of certain transgressions of God's people, errors, and of sins of the House of Jacob (Natural Israel) - especially grievous transgressions.
Applying this to the present day, we would understand that the Lord's people are those, who are in covenant relationship with God, His real people, and no others. Those in covenant relationship with God are comparatively a small number. The great mass of professed people of God have gotten into many transgressions of the Divine will and law, many of them quite ignorantly following blind leaders of the blind, following creeds of the darkest past. The term “the House of Jacob” however, is a distinguishing term, referring exclusively to the Jews, God's ancient covenant people.
The Lord's people of the present time, those who have the light of truth as it now shines out from His Word, should, as they have suitable opportunity, point out to Christendom of today, and especially to those who are the professed people of God, their error, show them where they have deviated from God's Word, where their course is not in harmony with the Golden Rule, etc. Moreover, if they have favorable opportunity, they might point out to the Jews the reasons why they are in their present cast-off condition. But it would not be well to go about berating them, or berating anybody.
Very little good is done by such a course. The truth itself is to be the sword. It is a sharp two-edged sword, even the Word of God. The work that any of us could do aside from the Word of God would be but bungling work; whereas "The Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow." (Heb. 4: 12) We are to "cry aloud, and spare not" (Isa. 58:1), to point out what the Scriptures have to say - on proper occasions. This does not mean to insult people. God's ambassadors have no commission to insult any one. But with gracious words we may, nevertheless, point to the conditions of today, the dangers that are now before the world, and the proper position to be taken by those who would wholly follow the Lord.
A FORM OF GODLINESS WITHOUT ITS POWER
The words of the text under consideration are along the same line as the words of the Prophet Isaiah in Chapter 29:13, quoted by our Lord. There the Prophet declares: "This people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me"; “but.” as the Master rendered the following words (Matthew 15:9), "in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men.”The translation of V. 2 of our text is not quite so clear as perhaps might be. The thought seems to be: They apparently seek me daily, apparently delight to know my ways. They build churches with high steeples and gorgeous appointments, at great cost. Many churches have imposing images of the saints or great paintings which make a fine outward appearance. They have rich, melodious bells chiming out sweet hymns; such as "Nearer, My God to Thee," “Rock of Ages,” etc. They have well-trained choirs to sing anthems. They have highly educated ministers who are gifted orators and deliver eloquent dissertations. Outwardly, they have a wonderful zeal for righteousness; it would seem on the surface that they are doing well. They appoint an annual Thanksgiving Day and take up large collections for the poor; they pay large salaries to their preachers; they raise money for missions. It is very much as it was in our Lord's day, at His First Advent, when He said, “Ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is made, ye make him two-fold more the child of Gehenna than yourself"; he is far worse than before they touched him. (Matt. 23:15)
There is great zeal shown for the traditions of men, for the propagation of men's theories, for the advancement of denominational interests, for attracting the world by varied and numerous devices, in order to gain their influence and their financial assistance. For instance, Thanksgiving Day was set apart in the early history of New England. Long ago it became a custom in the United States to have the last Thursday in November appointed as a day of thanksgiving to God for the harvest of the years. The Governor of the State of Massachusetts first took it up; then the Governor of another State followed; then another; then it was taken up by the President of the United States. Finally it became the custom for the President first to make the appointment every year, to be followed by a proclamation by each of the State Governors, making the day thus a legal holiday, when banks and places of business generally would be closed that the people might be free to meet for praise and thanksgiving to God for the blessings of the year. And the custom still persists. Now this might sound to people of other nations to whom it would be told as if the people of the United States were a set of saints. These nations might say, It was not sufficient that the general Government of the United States should make such appointment; but each State makes such appointment; and they did it every year.
As a matter of fact, if the President of the United States were an infidel he would be expected to follow the custom and make the same proclamation. Or whether the Governor of a State were a Catholic or a Protestant or an atheist, he would be expected to do likewise. It has become a custom, just as the hands of a clock go around. But very few of the people think of the day in any other light than as a pleasant holiday, when they can enjoy a fine dinner and have a good time generally. Very little attention - in fact, none - is paid by the great majority to the real feature, of thanksgiving to God.
It is the same with other customs in other nations of the world. If we were in a Muslim country, we would see, at twelve o'clock, every Muslim, no matter what he was doing, stop immediately for a moment of prayer to Allah. One who did not know might think from this that the Muslims were a most saintly people, who would be very honest and upright in all their dealings; better keep your eye open, for all that. So a great deal that we have everywhere today is a mere mechanical form, an outward display - a form of godliness without its power.
KINGDOM WORK THIS SIDE THE VEIL
We are not surprised at these conditions; for long ago they were foretold in the Word of God. We were assured that our day would witness the fulfillment of the prophecies along these lines. Wherever we look, we witness the disintegration of the present order, whether we view the conditions from a social, or religious, or a financial standpoint. The lease of power to the Kingdoms of this world has expired. [It expired at the end of the Gentile Times when the day of God's special wrath came - in the Epiphany, the great Time of Trouble.] It was foretold by the Prophet Daniel that "in the days of these kings," before their utter overthrow, the God of heaven would set up a kingdom [when the last saint had been selected, the Kingdom was "set up"] which should smite and break in pieces all the kingdoms of men, the beastly kingdoms of Daniel's dream. When these kingdoms would be given to "the people of the saints of the Most High," they were to "smite them in pieces as a potter's vessel.” This intimates that in some sense of the word the Lord will take possession of these before they have been completely overthrown; that some of the kingdoms represented in the Gentile image will be remaining at that time.
What t ime, then, is signified by the expression "in the days of these kings, " when the Kingdom of God was to be set up in power? To our understanding the first step in the setting up of this Kingdom was the raising of the sleeping saints of the Gospel Age, which we believe was in the Spring of 1878. Then began the glorification of the Church. The work of setting up the Kingdom has, we understand, been progessing from that date, with those still in the flesh after that being glorified as they finish their course in death. "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds [of trouble] , to meet with the Lord in the air [in the spiritual rulership of the world] ;and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1 Thes. 4:17) When these shall have taken their places as members of the Church in glory, the Kingdom will be fully set up.
This does not signify that there may not be a part of the Kingdom work begun while some of the members of Christ are still in the flesh. Indeed some Scriptures seem to imply that there will be a Kingdom work done this side the veil, while a work of still greater magnitude and authority is progressing on the other side of the veil. We read, "Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud upon their beds." (Psa. 149:5) This seems to imply, as we have mentioned before, that there is a special work to be done while these saints still have beds, while they are in a condition of repose - not "tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of doctrine" (Eph. 4:14), but fully at rest in God's great plan. The Scriptures go on to say that they have a two-edged sword in their hands - which is the Word of God. They use it as the sword of the Spirit. This would not be true of them on the other side of the veil. They would have no use for a sword there. The Scriptures also declare that the high-sounding praises of God are upon their lips. This, too, seems to be applicable to those this side the veil. [Written February 15, 1915]
The final phase, “to execute the judgments written, "would seem to imply that there would be something for the saints on this side of the veil to do in connection with the execution of the judgments upon the nations. As to just what this means, we have not yet fully learned. But we see nothing here to conflict with the thought that the Lord's Kingdom may be properly understood to have begun operations and that the present smiting of the nations is under Kingdom control. The fact that some of the members of the Kingdom class are still in the flesh [in 1915] does not militate at all against this thought. ("And this honor have all the saints." - Psa. 149:9] We see the kingdoms of this world now being dashed to pieces, and we are expecting to see the process continued until they are completely ground to powder. "They shall become as the chaff of the summer threshing-floor, and the wind shall carry them away. Then shall they be found no more at all." (Dan. 2:35)
THE KINGDOM OF GOD SET UP
Because certain important things are to be accomplished, we see that God is permitting what to others might seem to be purely human devilishness. For a wise purpose He permits this reign of lawlessness, this condition which evokes universal odium. Our thought is that we should look for still further evidences day by day that the Gentile Times have ended, and that God's Kingdom has begun its work. [God's Kingdom is the Christ Company] ... The present step is the war of the nations. The next step is Armageddon, world-wide revolution. Then the third step, Anarchy, will gradually come on. When this symbolic fire shall prevail, then the world will realize what we are trying to tell them now; namely, that God's Kingdom is taking control, and that these various demonstrations are evidences that our Lord is taking His great power. [According to the Jehovah's Witnesses, Armageddon, or world-wide Revolution is the final step.]
At the sounding of the seventh trumpet Messiah was to take unto Himself His great power and reign. That trumpet is now sounding! “And the nations were angry and thy wrath [the great Time of Trouble starting in 1914] is come." (Rev. 11:18) Surely the nations are angry now! They act as if they were bereft of common sense. We see readily enough that the spirit of selfishness has prevailed there right along, but that some hindrance or fear heretofore held them back. But finally, when the Lord's 'due time’ has come to permit it, they broke through their restraint. The Lord has at this particular time especially to do with the affairs of the nations. And this war was allowed occur at about the end of the Gentile Times, at the appropriate time when they are to be dashed to pieces with the iron rod of the iron rule (Psa. 2:6-12). It is our judgment that we shall see more of this iron rule and its breaking influence, not only upon the nations, but upon society at large. Now in this great day of the Lord everything that can be shaken is to be shaken to pieces and shaken out, to the intent that nothing unrighteous or unworthy shall remain. God Himself is doing the shaking (Hag. 2:6,7).
THE TIME FOR JUDGMENT IS RIPE
We believe that the Times of the Gentiles ended just on time, as shown in Volume 2 of Studies in the Scriptures. The hand of justice is now doing the breaking – the nations shall be broken as a "potter's vessel." The whole cataclysm of trouble may be upon the world during the next ten months, or it may be longer deferred. We believe that the time for the setting up of the Kingdom was on September 21, 1914. [Otherwise the "judgment written" (Psa. 149:9) would not have been pronounced; the ejection is now going on.] At that time, when it was due for our Lord to take His great power and reign, the nations were already angry. They were at war over a month in advance of the time, because so angry.
The due time for the “wrath" was September 21, 1914. We are expecting to see this wrath still more manifest. The nations have been in just this same unloving spirit one toward another for a number of years, but apparently they have been under some forcible restraint. We believe that God ‘s time had not yet come. We wondered, and many people wondered, how their anger could be restrained much longer; much has been written about it in the newspapers. When the Balkan war came [1912-1913], it was because the nations were angry; and it very nearly led to this conflagration. Austria tried to precipitate the trouble at that time, but the German Kaiser held back. Now the restraining hand has been removed. The time is ripe.
"WHAT MANNER OF PERSONS OUGHT WE TO BE?"
Seeing that we see all these things with such clearness how soberly and carefully and faithfully we should live! Never were the words of the Apostle Paul "Let us watch and be sober" more applicable than now. Accompanying the momentous events that usher in the new dispensation are special trials and difficulties, not only to the world, but also to the church. The Apostle says, "Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." (1 Thes. 5:4) But "as a snare will it come on all them that dwell on the earth.” (Luke 21:35) All except the brethren will be surprised, disappointed, chagrined, found unprepared and more or less overtaken. But the brethren, because they have been feeding at the Lord's table, and are strong in His might, will not be overtaken unawares. The Apostle urges that because the brethren are "children of the light," "children of the day," they shall not act as children of the darkness, "children of the night.”
In the new day that is just dawning we shall have the "reign of righteousness." We belong to that new dispensation. While living in the flesh, we are not of the flesh; while living in the world, we are not of the world. Our minds are clarified by the light of the new day. We are not interested in the things of this world, but in the things of the Lord; and because of our special relationship to the Lord we are not left in the darkness of the world.
Above all others, then, we should be sober. When the Apostle enjoins, "Be sober,” he is not referring to the use of intoxicating liquors; for those who have the Lord's spirit, the Lord's mind - the Truth - do not so indulge. Neither would we understand him to mean that we should always go about wearing long faces; for the children of the light should of all others be happy, cheerful people. But we should be sober in the sense of being of serious mind, thoughtful, not given to frivolity or levity, but earnestly watching our thoughts, our words, our doings, that we may in all things bring honor to our Lord. We who have our eyes open see what sin is and how the reign of sin is about to culminate. We see God's arrangements; and having entered into a covenant with God, we surely must be sober, vigilant, realizing the great battle now on between Light and Darkness, between Truth and Error; realizing that faithfulness in this "evil day" will require all the soberness of mind, all the fortitude, that we possess. We shall continually need the wisdom from on high. "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." (James 1:5) It is only those who are using to the best of their ability the power and talents already given them who have any right to ask for further wisdom and who are prepared to use more.
And we are to watch. What should we watch? Preeminently we should watch ourselves, to keep ourselves from the snares of the present time, which are more insidious and entrapping than ever before, so that we do not endanger our peace with God, nor lose our enlightenment. The adversary is on the watch, and it is necessary that the Lord's people be especially alert and watchful. In the past there was little opportunity for the Lord's people to watch the fulfillment of Scripture; for these fulfillments were far apart. But now is the time for us to watch particularly along this line. The Times of the Gentiles have ended, and the nations are now disintegrating.
(Excerpts from Reprint 5630-5633, by Brother Russell)
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IN OREGON, ANARCHIST ACT LOCALLY
"He called himself Free, an apt name for an anarchist. And he stood tall in court as he explained why he had torched a Chevrolet dealership, incinerating three sportutility vehicles. 'I didn't do this because I enjoy property destruction,’ he said. 'I did this because I'm frustrated that we are doing irreversible damage to our planet. '
"But last month a Eugene, Ore., judge handed down a prison sentence of 22 years and eight months to Jeffrey Luers, only 22 years old himself, not just for burning the suvs but also for attempting to set fire to an empty oil tanker two weeks earlier. An accomplice, Craig (Critter) Marshall, 28, pleaded guilty and got five and a half years in prison. 'I think it's great,’ said Michael Morrow, head of the FBI’s nine-agent office in Eugene. ‘It’s just a matter of time before there are more arrests.’
"Nestled in the leafy Willamette Valley, Eugene (Pop. 137,000) is an unlikely hotbed of anarchism. In Seattle's 1999 antiglobalization protests, it was a group of Eugene activists who helped lead the mayhem; they formed part of the 'Black Bloc’ that broke windows and trashed stores. But few if any Eugeners are headed to Genoa this week, despite their anticapitalist bent; they're too busy at home. Local anarchists broadcast a weekly radio program and two cable-television shows. They publish half a dozen ‘zines, from Black-Clad Messenger to F___ the System, the new jailhouse rag from Free and Critter, and Rob the Rich , published by prisoner Robert Thaxton, who was sentenced to seven years for injuring a Eugene policeman with a rock in a June 1999 riot. And the town is home to one of the movement's celebrities, anarcho-primitivist philosopher John Zerzan, who visited Unabomber Ted Kaczynski in prison to discuss ‘enslavement by technology.'
"The American anarchists, as the slogan goes, think globally but act locally. How local? Four years ago, a Eugene activist upset about the razing of some downtown trees deliberately vomited on the mayor. More recently, the 'Anarchist Golfing Association' trashed a research project on putting greens conducted by an Oregon seed company, causing $500,000 in damage. 'Grass, like industrial culture, is invasive,’ charged an anonymous e-mail from a Eugene library.
“Police surveillance following these incidents has rattled nonviolent radicals. 'Blowing up the SUVs brought heat down onto the entire community, ' says Heather Coburn, whose Food Not Lawns cooperative teaches anarchists to grow their own vegetables. 'Some anarchists want to smash it all, but others are into mutual aid.’ The Shamrock House, an anarchist community center, offers free food for the poor, a lending library of leftist books and a free school with classes on martial arts and midwifery. Every Thursday, a shamanic healer offers 'deep soul work' and 'aura repair.'
"But just as the Goteborg and Prague, extremists are grabbing the spotlight. Right before Luer’s trial, the Chevrolet dealership he set on fire was torched again. 'We can no longer allow the rich to parade around in their armored existence, leaving a wasteland behind in their tire tracks,' read a communique from the new (but still anonymous) arsonists. Zerzan, a soft-spoken graybeard who advocates a return to a hunter-gatherer society, applauds the fire bombers. 'I'd like to see it happen every day,' he says. We’re interested in destroying the system, not in macho saber rattling.’ Whatever you care to call it, last week Eugene's anarchist TV program ran a rap video called Bushkilla, which spliced segments of presidential assassinations with footage of George W. Bush. It wasn't funny."
(By Margot Roosevelt/Eugene, Time, July 23, 2001)
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ISLAM UNMASKED
A horrific extent of the Islamic terrorism has finally found its way to the shores of the USA. Past Islamic attacks in America have either been uncovered before they occurred, or they were not as devastating as the terrorist had hoped. The Pentagon and the World Trade Center have been symbols for the Islamic militants and the World Trade Center was already attacked once. It was only a matter of time until another attack was attempted. Now, it has happened and the devastation and the loss of life are almost too shocking to comprehend.
I am in Italy, on a two-week holiday. I left Israel wondering if war would break out at any moment in Israel with her neighboring Arab Islamic countries.
I left instructions with my staff that if such a war from the outside began, that I would immediately return to Israel. I felt pretty safe because there was a series of three meetings scheduled between Israel's Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres, and Palestinian Authority Chairman, Yasser Arafat. Surely, it would take two weeks to hold the three meetings. I felt it was okay to leave.
You can imagine my shock when I saw the horrific pictures on television, in the sleepy resort town on the Amalfi coast of Italy where I am staying. What attracted my attention was a group of people staring at a television and spilling out onto the street. I thought it was the last play of the soccer match and peered inside at the TV expecting to see soccer players in action. What I saw, looked like a re-run of the movie, Towering Inferno, except it was not Chicago, but New York. What was happening?
Being from Israel, I immediately suspected terrorism, and I was not wrong in my assessment. One Italian man, who answered my cry for information in English, told me that planes crashed into the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon. I immediately knew that terrorism was the cause.
It is unkind to say the USA, even as an American, that now you know what Israel faces on a daily basis. Not only Israel, but the Christian communities of Lebanon, Egypt and Sudan, who have been subjected to the daily attacks of the Islamic world for decades.
Despite the fact that Yasser Arafat held a press conference and expressed his words of shock, the Palestinian Islamic organizations have been perpetrating daily car bombs and suicide bombs against Israeli civilians. Just the day before this horrible attack in the USA, US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, gave a statement that no country could stand by under repeated suicide attacks. Sadly, but not out of character the TV images of Palestinians celebrating the disaster in the USA, with one baker offering cake to the foreign camera crew filming the scene, only confirms, the deep hatred felt towards the west (seen as Christians) and Israel (as Jews) who are both infidel enemies of Islam. What kind of people could celebrate the loss of such innocent life? It is just sick.
It is time to wake up that this is a world-wide threat, far more menacing than communism ever was. Who committed this devastating act? Was it Osama bin-Laden, Sadaam Hussein, the Taliban, Islamic Jihad and the Palestinians, Muammar Gadaffi? Only time will tell.
Now, the US knows what Israel has been suffering for so long, and on a larger scale. Who knows how many tens of thousands of Americans are now dead and for what reason? The perceived justified retaliation of Islam against America for trying to curb Islamic expansionist activities in the Middle East and around the world, and friendship with Israel, is the reason given by the Islamic fundamentalist groups for their hatred of America. For decades, they have seen America as “the great Satan," because Islam sees the USA as a decadent society influencing the world against Islamic values, not just for her support and friendship of Israel.
If you look at the map of the Major terror attack around the world over the last decade, you will see that they have occurred on the whim of Islamic influence, as this militant religion is seeking to expand its territory around the world. Where have we seen such attacks? They have occurred in the Philippines, Indonesia, Chechnya, the Balkans, the Middle East, and against western embassies and businesses, as well as Jewish targets, in Kenya, South Africa, Argentina, Europe and the USA.
Islam is not a religion that expands by a heart conversion, like Judaism and Christianity: Rather, it expands by conquest, subjugating its conquered peoples to their religion. The borders of Islam continue to grow outwards as they seek worldwide domination.
Israel and the western world have been the targets of militant Islam for decades. Yet, most of these attacks have been in locations around the world. As an American, I know that most Americans do not have an international out look because two oceans on their east and west protect them. Attacks, even against American targets in far off lands have not impressed the American public beyond a momentary sigh. Now, that militant Islam has made its way to the shores of the USA in a devastating attack which will go down as the worst act of terrorism in history, America can no longer stick its head in the sand and play like militant Islam is a problem somewhere else.
As a resident of Israel for the past 25 years, I hope that America and the rest of the world will wake up and realize that this is a world war that needs to be met head on. Israel and the Christians in the Middle East are in the clutches of this war. May the west now give support and sympathy to both Jews and Christians in this region of the world who face annihilation without its help. Just as US President Bush stated that the US will, "hunt down and punish those responsible," may they not tie the hands of Israel who also must hunt down and punish those responsible for the death of so many innocent Israelis.
Finally, my heart goes out to America as I watch the images on television. As an American, I am sick and outraged that such a well-planned and orchestrated attack could occur and so many innocent families suffer. I know the heart of every Israeli is with America and prayers are going forth for those who have felt the effects of this tragedy.
I know the hearts of the world are with America. I just ran down to the center of this town in Italy to get a carton of milk and saw that the restaurants, which are usually full at this time of night, are empty and the tables are not even set for dinner. Everyone is at home or in their hotels watching television - in shock over what has happened. May America be comforted by all our prayers. Shalom, Clarence
(By Clarence Wagner, International Director, Bridges for Peace, September 11, 2001)
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"Hate Mail: Police are investigating the mailing of anti-Semite hate literature postmarked in New York City to at least seven Jewish households in Eugene, Oregon.
“The literature, which bears the return address of a Washington, D.C. post office box, denies the Holocaust and blames Jews - among them several Jewish celebrities and leaders - for the moral decay in the United States.”
(World Jewry, July 2001)
"Ba'al (idol) Stamp Issued by Palestinian Authority: The Palestinian Authority has issued a large stamp, valid for international mail, featuring images of the Canaanite god Ba'al as an idol and a bull. In the Bible and in the Koran, Ba'al is an idol and a false god who is in opposition to the one and only true God. Ba'al has also been referred to as the devil (Satan) through the names of Ba'ali'z'bub and Iba'lis. Thus, most Christians and Jews would consider this stamp offensive.
"Jews, Christians and Moslems hold the Holy Land, where many of their holiest sites are located, to be very important to them, and many come here as religious pilgrims to visit their sites of worship. The fact that this stamp was issued by a government that controls parts of the Holy Land implies a lack of respect for both tourists and inhabitants of the land who hold deep religious beliefs. To see the stamp go to www.jerusalemite.org or www.jerusalemit.com."
(Bridges For Peace, Update Newsletter, July 20 , 2001)
"THREATS: A Jewish university professor claiming racial discrimination has told a tribunal in Liverpool, England, that he was forced to resign and start a new life in America after he was sent anti-Semitic notes and death threats written on university paper, as well as a live bullet and razor blades, over a period of four years.
"Oliver Leaman, a professor of philosophy, told the tribunal that university authorities were unsympathetic and unresponsive to the situation."
(World Jewry , September 2001)
QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST
QUESTION - Is it necessary for the Saints to suffer persecution in order to be "dying with Christ "?
ANSWER - Yes, most of them have to, although some do not suffer as much as others, as their efforts are not such that would bring them as much persecution and suffering, but they would still be "dying with Christ." The fact that the Brethren who believe the door to the High Calling is open do not receive persecutions is a sure sign that the door is closed. This is the second way we should know that the High Calling is closed as given in Volume 3, Thy Kingdom Come, page 207, bottom. In Reprint 5632, February 15, 1915 That Servant gave us September 21, 1914 as the date the Kingdom was set up. This means that all of the Kingdom class were to be sealed in the heart at that date, but not all were sealed in the forehead. But they all had to be sealed in the forehead to participate in the smiting of the nations, as also given in that Reprint. They were all sealed in the forehead by the fall of 1916. Those after that who did not participate in the smiting of the nations gives us another way to know that the door to the High Calling is closed.
We realize there are many faithful Christians who believe they are saints, and many of them have saintly qualities. It is no disgrace to any of the Lord's people not to be among those who were called. If they are faithful to their consecration now they will be resurrected to perfect human nature and will have close communion with The Christ. They will be the teachers of the world to give them the Word of the Lord in the Kingdom (Acts 17:31). There will be more truth for the world in the Kingdom than we now know. "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem." (Isa. 2:3) Zion is the heavenly, invisible phase of the Kingdom and Jerusalem is the earthly, visible phase. The Worthies will be in charge of the earthly Kingdom.
These faithful Ancient and Youthful Worthies, who will be perfect in the Kingdom and “princes in all the earth,” (Psa. 45:16) will have precedence over the remainder of mankind as the special representatives of the invisible Messiah class for a thousand years and after participating in that glorious work, they will at the close of the Millennium be uplifted to the spirit plane of being. They will be rewarded with a heavenly place and be able to see God, Christ, the Saints and all the heavenly host. They will be like the good angels and will never die. They are typified by the Levites who had no earthly home - "no inheritance in the land.” (Num. 18:23)