NO. 593 RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT - PART ONE

 “And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.” (Genesis 36:35)

In Retrospect the year 2006 has not been a very good year, with its wars, terrorism, corruption in politics, governments and corporations. Also, we mention the changes in climatic conditions with hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis and global warming. Many are very concerned about global warming, which they blame on the use of fossil fuels such as gas, oil, coal and others. However, those who are so concerned about global warming cannot explain some things that have been discovered. For instance, it has been discovered that some of the plant and animal life in the ocean beds have died for no apparent reason. They have been found at the bottom of the ocean with no life in them.  Even the worms were dead. This cannot be explained as being caused by the use of fossil fuels. Of, course, fossil fuels have contributed to the condition, but it is not the entire reason. We are in the beginning of a new dispensation and a better order of affairs, both in the affairs of the people and in the reordering of the earth itself.

But let us reason together a moment. If the earth is to become as the Garden of Eden then what was Eden like? We recall that Adam and Eve had no clothing on until after they had sinned, so it was surely a tropical climate. When they did put on fig leaves, it was not because they were cold, but because they were ashamed and realized they were naked before the Lord. Imagine the whole earth having a climate like that. There will still be seasons of spring, summer, fall and winter, but they will not be so severe as they are now. However, they will be even more severe during the change of dispensations.

But let us look beyond that to the Paradise after all the changes are made. We can glorify our God and our Lord Jesus Christ for the new earthly Kingdom.  It will indeed be a grand and glorious Paradise (Isaiah 35:1-10; Acts 3:19-21). This is our, and the world’s, Prospect for the future. Hallelujah!

WORLD EVENTS

“Iranian President Ahmadinejad recently wrote a letter to the 12th Imam, who is supposedly hidden in the bottom of a well in Jamkaran, Iran. Many Shiites believe the 12th Imam is the Mahdi who will return in the Last Days to reign over a just world in which Islam is universally embraced. Experts believe that Ahmadinejad's threat of nuclear weapons development may well be his effort to create an Islamic world for the Mahdi's return.”

(USN and World Report, May 22, 2006)

Comment: This plan poses a problem. If this Mahdi is to return from the well and rule, then it is no wonder that the Iranian President is planning a nuclear war to bring on Annageddon. If it is not brought on quickly this Mahdi could be dead by then. But if he is to return from the dead to rule over the world, it still is a problem, because there have been four universal empires and the fifth is to be Christ's Kingdom. Many have tried to rule the world since Napoleon deposed the Holy Roman Empire. Napoleon himself was a rascal and his purpose was to control the world, but he failed. Hitler tried and he failed. Now comes Iran who say they will rule the world, but that they must kill all the Jews first. But they, too, will fail.

Some of you may have seen Benjamin Netanyahu, former prime minister of Israel, who spoke on TV giving his assessment of President Ahmadinejad of Iran. Netanyahu says that he is a religious fanatic who will not use reason or logic. Netanyahu also says that Ahmadinejad’s main target is the U.S. and other western nations. Israel is only the first step of his plans. He calls the U.S. the “great Satan” and Israel is the “little Satan.”  After he has killed all Jews then he will destroy the U.S. and Moslems will rule the whole world. If you haven’t seen this program, it is aired on CNN Headline news, usually on Fridays at 7 pm and 9 pm. It is on the Glenn Beck show, and has been repeated several times and may be again. It is well worth seeing.

“VANDALS DAMAGE, DEFACE JEWISH SHOPS IN ROME: Jewish shops across Rome were vandalized and defaced with swastikas in an apparent neo-fascist attack linked to fighting in the Middle East, officials said Wednesday. Owners of about 20 shops in the center and outskirts of the Italian capital found door locks filled with glue, shutters nailed closed and swastikas on near-by walls.” (No source given, August 3, 2006)

Comment: This is reminiscent of the Kristallnacht in Germany in 1938 just before World War II.

“SADDAM SENTENCED TO HANGING: He, six others convicted in deaths of 148 Shiites after attempt on his life in 1982. An Iraqi court sentenced Saddam Hussein to the gallows yesterday for crimes against humanity, closing a 25-year chapter of violent suppression in this land of long memories, deep grudges and sectarian killings. . . The death sentences automatically go to a nine-judge appeals panel, which has unlimited time to review the case. If the verdicts and sentences are upheld, the executions must be carried out within 30 days. A court official said that the appeals process is likely to take three to four weeks once the paper work is submitted. If the verdicts are upheld, those sentenced to death will be hanged despite Saddam's second, continuing trial in the deaths of thousands of Iraqis Kurdish minority.”

(Associated Press, November 6, 2006)

 “VOTERS OUST EVOLUTION FOES IN KANSAS EDUCATION BATTLE: TOKEKA, KAN. ─ Conservative Republicans who pushed anti-evolution standards back into Kansas schools last year have lost control of the state Board of Education once again.

“The most closely watched race was in western Kansas, where incumbent conservative Connie Morris lost her GOP primary Tuesday. The former teacher had described evolution as ‘an age-old fairy tale’ and ‘a nice bedtime story’ unsupported by science.

“As a result of the vote, board members and candidates who think evolution is well- supported by evidence will have a 6-4 majority. Evolution skeptics entered the election with a 6-4 majority. Critics of Kansas’ science standards worried that if conservatives retained the majority, it would lead to attempts in other states to copy the Kansas standards. ‘There are people around the country who would like to see the Kansas standards in their own states,’ said Eugenie Scott, director of the National Center for Science education in Oakland, Calif., which supports the teaching of evolution.

“Control of the board has slipped into, out of and back into conservative Republicans' hands since 1998, resulting in anti-evolution friendly ones in 2001 and anti-evolution ones again last year.” (By John Hanna, Associated Press, August 3, 2006)

“BLOCKING HAMAS: The EJC has made political interventions to block visas for Hamas Representatives throughout Europe. The EJC has addressed letters to the Council of Europe  Secretary General Terry Davis and the President of the Parliamentary Assembly Rene van der Liden as well as other officials to block Hamas officials from European territory.”

“FIGHTING INTERNET HATE: The CJC launched a new initiative to fight hate on the internet: Stop Internet Hate.  The CJC web site now carries a link for anyone wishing to report what they believe may be an Internet site with hateful content. This new initiative seeks to educate and empower Internet users to recognize and report sites that promote hate and can be viewed at www.cjc.ca.” 

(The above two items are from World Jewish Congress Report, Summer 2006)

“THE NEW UNBELIEVERS: Books on atheism are hot. But do they have anything fresh to say?

“‘Atheism is unknown there; Infidelity rare and secret; so that persons may live to a great Age in the Country, without having their Piety shocked by meeting with either Atheist or Infidel.’

“Little seems to have changed since Benjamin Franklin penned those words of advice to would-be immigrants in 1782. Most polling data suggest that some 90 percent of Americans believe in God or a supreme spirit. And a recent University of Minnesota study finds that atheists ─ or at least that lonely one percent of the national mix that dares to identify itself as such ─ are the least trusted group in America. So why in this land of the God-fearing have the gloves-off arguments of a few God-denying intellectuals been garnering such wide popular attention?” (US News and World Report, November 13, 2006)

Comment: The above is a long article about the rise of a few very vocal atheist in the U.S. This is a real commentary on the failure of the churches. They have sent many missionaries to developing countries to convert them. But they have failed to do that, and now it seems that they have failed to convert citizens of this country.

“PERCEPTION OF CORRUPTION IS PREVALENT, SURVEY FINDS: BERLIN ─ Nearly three-quarters of 163 countries ranked in a new survey suffer from a perception of serious corruption, and in nearly half it is seen as rampant, a watchdog group reported yesterday.

“Transparency International's 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index gives the worst scores to many of the world's poorest countries, including almost all African nations. ‘Corruption traps millions in poverty,’ the agency's international chairman Huguette Labelle said in a statement.

“Countries are ranked out of 10. Anything below five indicates ‘serious’ perceived levels of corruption, and anything below 3 ‘rampant,’ the agency said. Russia scored a dismal 2.5, putting it in a 121st-place tie with among others, Rwanda. The best were Finland, Iceland and New Zealand, a first-place tie at 9.6. Britain was 11th at 8.6, Germany 16th at 8.0 and the United States 20th at 7.3.  (WS Journal Wire Report, November 7, 2006)

IN FINANCE

The G.N.P. (Gross National Product) is forecast to 2.5% growth in 2007. The interest rate seems to be staying at 8.5% in 2007. Crude oil went up again. Housing sales will be slow. Retail sales are predicted to be up 3.5% in 2007.

Mortgage payments for many are higher and credit card payments are higher after new rules jacked up minimum payments.

Stock gains added more than one trillion dollars to consumer wealth this year. We see this continuing next year, but at a slower pace.

Jobs are plentiful. The unemployment rate of 4.4% was the lowest since 2001. However it will go up again in 2007, but still stay low enough to keep people spending.

14.7 trillion dollars in new net wealth plus 5.8 million new jobs and productivity has grown 10%, and to which the tax cuts have helped.

The Democrats are set to run congress starting in 2007. Charles Rangel (Democrat from New York) says he has no plans of rolling back any of the tax cuts before their scheduled 2010 expiration date.  For one thing President Bush still has the veto power. Also the legislation is just not possible yet. The tax cuts on dividends, individual income, and capital gains will not expire until 2010. However big business is expected to be put on the hot seat, as congressional committees question oil and drug executives about compensation and pricing among other issues. 2007 is a hard year to predict.

Some financial advisors are optimistic and some are pessimistic, but they are all very cautious in their prognostications because Matthew 24:39 tells us, “they knew not” or “understand not.” It is only by the understanding of God’s Plan of Salvation, that we know that this present “evil” order (Gal. 1:4) of things must be destroyed in the Time of Trouble before Christ’s Kingdom can be established.

  Our only advice at present is to “Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness; it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.” (Zeph. 2:3) “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt. 5:5)

IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

“SUPERNATURAL HORRORS DEBUNKED BY SCIENCE:  It is the season for vampires, ghosts, and zombies.  Just remember, they are not real, says physicist Costas Efthimiou.  Obviously, you might say.

“But Efthimiou, a professor at the University of Central Florida, refers to surveys that show American gullibility for the supernatural.

“Using science and math, Efthimiou explains why it is that ghosts cannot walk around us and also glide through walls, like Patrick Swayze in the movie Ghost. That violates Newton’s law of action and reaction.  If ghosts walk, their feet apply force to the floor, but if they go through walls they are without substance, the professor says. ‘So which is it? Are ghost’s material or material-less’ he asks.

“Zombies and vampires fare even worse under Efthimiou’s skeptical microscope. Efthimiou looked at the most prominent child-turned-zombie case that thrills zombie aficio-nados: the 1989 case of a 17-year old Haitian who was declared dead and then rose from the grave a day after the funeral and was considered a Zombie. The boy, who had not died but was paralyzed, had been poisoned with toxins from a relative of the deadly Japanese pufferfish, later research showed.

“Efthimiou took out a calculator to prove that if a vampire sucked one person’s blood each month ─ turning each victim into an equally hungry vampire ─ after a couple of years there would be no people left, just vampires.  He started his calculations with just one vampire and 537 million humans on January 1, 1600, and showed that the human population would be zero by July 1602. Take that Dracula and creepy friends.

“All this may seem obvious, but to Efthimiou and other scientists, the public is often not as skeptical as might be thought.  Efthimiou refers to National Science Foundation reports showing widespread belief in pseudosciences ─ such as vampires, astrology and ESP.

“More than one in three Americans believes that houses can be haunted, a 2005 Gallup poll showed.  More that 20 percent of Americans believe in witches and that people can communicate with the dead. TV shows such Medium and Ghost Whisperers are popular fare.

“‘We’re talking about a large fraction of the public that believes in subjects that scientists believe are out of the question,’ said Efthimiou.  His paper is in an archive awaiting publication either in the journal Physics Education or the magazine Skeptical Inquirer, he said.” 

(Associated Press, October 27, 2006)

Comment:  Obviously the above was written before Halloween. But at least, now some scientists are coming closer to the Biblical teaching that the “dead know not any thing” (Eccl. 9:5) and that “there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave whither thou goest.” (Eccl. 9:10)

However, there will be many who will not listen to the Bible, or these scientists, because the belief has been ingrained in them from childhood and further back for generations.

IN RELIGION

The September 18, 2006 issue of Time magazine gives the pros and cons of whether God wishes his people to be Rich. There are Scriptures given on each side of the matter, but there are no really substantial ones given for the unreasonable and unscriptural ones

that refute the idea that God wishes his people to be rich. Remember the rich young ruler of Matthew 19: 16-29. He ask of Jesus what he should do to obtain eternal life. Jesus told him to obey all the laws, which he said he had done, but what else could he do? Jesus told him to sell all that he had and come and follow him. But the young man went away sorrowful for he had great possessions. Also, remember Jim Baker? His philosophy and teaching was prosperity, but it landed him in prison because he was using illegal means of obtaining his prosperity, and this is one of the dangers of this kind of teaching. It encourages one to cut corners in their effort to obtain riches.

We will only mention the Scriptures given for the belief of riches being God’s plan. They are:

Deut. 8: 17,18: “And thou say in thine heart, My power and might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth” This is taken out of context, because God is chastising the Israelites for forgetting all that He had done for them in bringing them out of the bondage of Egypt and sustaining them for forty years of wandering in the wilderness. But now that they are in the land of plenty, they are claiming that they have obtained all that they have by their own “power and might of mine own hand” and have forgotten God. This is shown in the previous verses.

Eccel. 5:18,19: “Behold that which I have seen; it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.” In verse 4 of this passage it says: “When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.” This means that those who have made a consecration to give all that they have, or will have, in the service of God are to use it for that purpose. They are merely stewards over whatever they possess, whether it be little or a lot. Of course, as stewards they are able to use whatever is needed for their own livelihood. See also verse 14. Also see Jesus’ words in Luke 13:33: “So likewise, whosoever, he be that of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”

Mal. 3:10: “Bring ye thee all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”  Not because He is needy, but because He seeks evidence of our sincerity and faithfulness in respect to our covenant engagement when we pledged all that we possessed. Partakers of the spirit of the Lord have a mind, not merely to give a tenth of all possessions and income to the Lord, but to consecrate it all and prove it by fulfilling the terms of their covenant. He then will pour out His blessings by a revival of spiritual health, energy, vigor, joy ─ not of earthly riches.

Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you; good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom, for with the same measure that you mete, withal it will be measured unto you again.” Reckon yourself God’s steward, commissioned by Him to use all your goods, as well as your personal talents, to His glory in serving those about you. It will be measured back to you again (in your bosom) because you will have shown yourself to be either a child of wrath or a child of love, and God must deal with you accordingly.

John 10:10: Then Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.” Those becoming participants in their Lord’s grace, renounce, or sacrifice with Him the earthly inheritance, the earthly life, that they may attain heaven and its “life more abundant” ─ not an abundance of earthly things.

The Apostle Paul writes Timothy in chapter 6, verses 17,18,19: “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”

THE POPE AND MUSLIMS: Also, in September Pope Benedict XVI made a statement about Mohammed, the founder of Islam, that set off a firebomb of protests by the Muslims.  What the Pope said was supposedly from some historic document. It said in effect that Mohammed was an advocate of violence against those he termed as enemies of Islam. In the aftermath of this statement the Muslims burned churches, both Catholic and Protestant, in Gaza and the West Bank, and murdered a Nun. This seems to us to prove what the Pope had read from the document. This does not show them as peace loving people as they would have us believe, although we are sure there are some who are.

However, if the Muslims had known the history of the Papal system and all the violence they carried out against those whom they termed as “heretics” before their power was broken by Napoleon, there would have been a greater outburst.  Here we have the pot calling the kettle black. The problem is that the Muslims say they will dominate the world after they have killed all the Israelites. And the Papacy wants to get back the dominance of the world they had in ancient times. So here we have both sides striving for the same thing. Pope Paul VI, the previous Pope, had succeeded in influencing almost the whole world. Many Protestants, as well as Catholics, gave great honor to him. But he did it with tact and subtlety and had he lived a few more years he would have had practically the whole world worshiping him. But the present Pope doesn’t seem to have his finesse. We cannot prophesy what is going to happen, but we can only hope that these two entities will negate each other, at least in their false religions.

LITERAL AND MYSTIC BABYLON: Fleshly Israel was taken into literal Babylon, which was built on the literal Euphrates River. In the Gospel Age mystic Babylon which sits on the mystic Euphrates carried away captive Spiritual Israel. Literal Babylon being built on the Euphrates River, which materially contributed to its wealth and resources, its overthrow was accomplished by diverting those waters. The waters from that river signify revenues from all nations. Literal Babylon's wealth, supplies and sustenance came largely from that source. That represents it being supported by many waters (people, nations). The turning aside of the "waters” would represent the alienation of the people, which would be indicated by their withholding of financial support. Cyrus turned aside the waters of the river leaving the old channel dry and enabling him to march his army under the gates.

 All this is typical of mystic Babylon. The waters represent the people who, by their influence and money support Babylon the Great, mystic Babylon. Mystic Babylon sits upon, is supported by many waters (people, nations), and its fall is predicted through the turning aside of its supporters and sustainers, the people. (Rev. 17:15) This implies a cessation of the revenues of Babylon, a decline in the contributions which heretofore have made her wealthy.

We believe we can see this happening now with the drop off in attendance in the churches and that in turn means the withholding of financial support. The drying up will probably require many years for its accomplishment, but it seems to be progressing rapidly. Apparently the people are loosing their respect for the churches. Only a few older members hold on tightly to their congregations. Attendance is dwindling in all denominations.

The Catholic church says that it is suffering badly financially. This is partly because of the cost of paying off the debt caused by their wayward Priests poor behavior. But that in turn is causing many of their members to withhold donations.

“WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES: Relations with the World Council of Churches (WCC) have been strained in recent years as a result of their condemnation and criticism of Israel. The WJC has been in contact with WCC Secretary General Samuel Kobla and has reason to believe that the Council has mitigated some of its negative attitudes towards Israel. At a World Council of Churches meeting in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Rabbi Henry I. Sobel, representing the WJC and IJCIC, presented the Jewish communities opposition to the WCC’s negative statements against Israel.”  (World Jewish Congress Report, Summer 2006)

“ANGLICAN CHURCH DIVESTMENT: In a February 2006 vote that sparked outrage around the world, the Synod of the Anglican Church, the premier body of the 75 million-member global Anglican Communion, voted to support divestment in firms whose products are used by Israel in the West Bank. Sharp condemnations of the move were issued by the Board of Deputies of British Jews and Jewish leaders around the world. WJC officials condemned the move at the February Governing Board meeting in Jerusalem.

Ultimately, acknowledging that divestment was a “highly contentious” issue, the Church’s Ethical Investment Advisory Board voted unanimously not to divest.”

(World Jewish Congress Report, Summer 2006)

“POPE TO LOOSEN RULES FOR USING LATIN MASS: VATICAN CITY ─ Pope Benedict XVI has decided to loosen restrictions on use of the old Latin Mass, making a major concession to ultraconservatives who split with the Vatican to protest liberalizing reforms, a Vatican official said Wednesday.

“The Pope's intent is to ‘help overcome the schism and help bring [the ultraconservatives] back to the church,’ said his official, who asked that his name not be used because the papal document has not been released. . .

“The Late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre founded the Swiss-based Society of St. Pius X in 1969 in opposition to the reforms of the 1961-65 Second Vatican Council, particularly allowing Mass to be celebrated in local languages instead of Latin. The Vatican excommunicated Lefebvre in 1988 after he consecrated four bishops without Rome's consent. The issue of the Mass will only be one of the points in the Papal document that will reach out to the ultraconservatives, the Vatican official said.”

(By Victor L. Simpson, The Associated Press, September 12, 2006)

“U.S. CHURCH HOSTS SAINT’S HEART: Relic of St. John Vianney marks parish's anniversary. In life, St. John Vianney was a revered 19th-century French clergyman who was said to be blessed with the ability to read the hearts of worshipers. In death, his own heart has become an object of worship.

“For reasons unknown, the saint's body never decayed after death, and his heart and body have been encased in a separate glass reliquaries in France for more than a century. The heart was brought to the U.S. for the first time last weekend to help Long Island's Cure of Ars church celebrate its 80th anniversary. Pastors from some of the Roman Catholic parishes around the country that also bear his name flew in for the occasion, and thousands of worshippers came. The Rev. Charles Mangano said hosting the relic at his American parish ─ the first named in St. John Vianney's honor ─ was a ‘historical moment for Our country, our diocese, our church.’”

(By Frank Eltman, The Associated Press, October 11, 2006)

Comment: This is idol worship as much as the worship of any graven image. In the first place, no one but God knows if this man was a saint. And even if it were surely known that he was, worshiping his body parts would be either idolatry or angel worship. People will make a God of all sorts of things.

“PRELATE SENTENCED: A high-ranking Roman Catholic priest was sentenced to prison for stealing more that $800,000 from his parish to finance vacations, country clubs and fancy clothes. ‘I am truly, truly sorry for what has taken place,’ Monsignor John Woolsey said before a judge sentenced him to one to four years in prison.” 

(Orlando Sentinel, September 24, 2006)

“CHAPLAIN REMOVED: Following pressure from Argentina's government, the Vatican has agreed to remove from his post as the head chaplain of the armed forces, a Catholic bishop who announced that he would lead a prayer meeting with neo-Nazis, and has publicly denigrated Jews.

“The government had called on the Vatican to dismiss Bishop Antonio Juan Baseotto, and when the Church refused, cut funding for the position. 

(World Jewry, September 2006)

“RELIGIOUS-BIAS SUIT AGAINST AIR FORCE ACADEMY REJECTED: WASHINGTON ─ A federal judge Friday threw out a lawsuit against the Air Force Academy that claimed evangelical Christian values were being illegally pushed on cadets. The academy's critic said the decision by senior U.S. District Judge James A. Parker in Albuquerque, N.M., would likely be appealed. The high-profile case was brought by a group of Air Force Academy graduates who charged that a military chaplain violated their religious-freedom rights by urging cadets to attend Christian services or face being burned ‘in the fires of hell.’”

(Orlando Sentinel, September 28, 2006)

“CHURCH REVERSES ITS POLICY ON ISRAEL: The Presbyterian Church (USA) voted Wednesday to back off a decision it made two years ago to pursue divestment from companies that profit from Israel's involvement in the Palestinian territories.

“The resolution, passed overwhelmingly at the church's general assembly in Birmingham, Ala, responded to outcries by some church members and Jews who accused the church of insensitivity to Israel. The resolution apologized for ‘the pain that this has caused among many members of the Jewish community and within our Presbyterian communion.’” (By Laurie Goodstein, The New York Times, June 22, 2006)

“CHURCH FIRES TEACHER FOR BEING FEMALE: WATERTOWN, N.Y. ─ The minister of a church that dismissed a female Sunday School teacher after adopting what it called a literal interpretation of the Bible says a woman can perform any job ─ outside the church.

“The First Baptist Church dismissed Mary Lambert on Aug. 9 with a letter explaining that the church had adopted an interpretation that prohibits women from teaching men. She had taught there for 54 years. The letter quoted the first Epistle to Timothy: ‘I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.’”

(AOL News, August 21 ,2006)

Comment: In the 1 Tim. 2:12 passage alluded to the word silence is from the Greek word hesuchia, which means quietness. St. Paul does not mean that a woman's lips must be sealed, that she may not declare the good tidings of great joy to others. She may not usurp authority over the man, but she may lead a study if no consecrated or competent brethren are present. In Acts 18:24-26 Priscilla with her husband, Aquila expounded truth to

Apollos. In the Bible there have been women who have been respected and honored. Jesus gave recognition to some, such as Rahab, Mary Magdalene, the Samaritan woman at the well, the widow who anointed His head for burial, and, of course His Mother Mary. Also, he appeared first to the women of the early church after His resurrection. So the women of the Bible have not been downgraded as some are now.

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We are saddened to report the passing of Vinessa Roach of Trinidad. She had a long illness, but through it all she was strong and courageous. She is survived by her sister, Ruth, who has our great sympathy. We trust that she will be remembered in the Kingdom.

Many thanks and much appreciation for the beautiful Christmas cards received, with special thanks for the love and prayers expressed which we heartily reciprocate.  We wish for all our readers that they will grow in Grace and Knowledge of the Lord for a blessed New Year.

Announcement: The date of our Memorial is March 31, 2007, after six p.m.

NO. 592 GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY

Editor's note: the following article was originally written in 1925.

Eighteen centuries and more have passed since Israel's greatest Prophet, Jesus, sent forth His message of reconciliation with God. At the time of His birth angel visitors, announcing Him, declared that His birth signified "good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people" and that this would mean "peace on earth and good will amongst men." (Luke 2:10,11) Yet after eighteen centuries these prophecies are still unfulfilled. We find the world in a more warlike condition at present than ever before. Europe has a standing army of many millions of the picked men of its several nations. And even our own country has deemed it necessary to considerably increase its stand­ing army. On every sea are great battleships requiring thousands of men and millions of dollars for their up­keep, not to mention the millions of dollars which they originally cost. And still more war vessels are planned with greater guns, some of which expend hundreds of thousands of dollars for powder and shells for even one day's target practice. It is safe to say, too, that the chief interest in and chief backing of recent experiments in aerial navigation come from the War Depart­ments of Christendom, which see in such devices an effective method of warfare. And the latest informa­tion is that a new torpedo and new gases have recently been invented more powerful, more destructive, more terrible than any previous device [written in 1925].

What means this great battle array, this preparation for a great struggle between the nations? Why do not the nations disband their armies and dismantle their navies and turn these wasted energies to human profit, to making the earth blossom as the rose? The answer is ─ Sin. Sin marred the original God-likeness of love in the human heart, and, instead, implanted the oppo­site disposition of selfishness. By heredity sin and sel­fishness have permeated our race, as we read, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; in sin did my mother con­ceive me." (Psalm 51:5) This is true of the entire human family. We gloss the surface. We make a show of giving a little money for the education of the heathen. We make a little show of religious activity in Christendom, but the great surplus of wealth is spent in self-gratification ─ alcoholic beverages alone consuming many fold the amount doled out to benevo­lent enterprises of all kinds. For centuries the world has been crying out, "Peace, Peace; yet there is no peace," but still greater preparation for war. Why? Because, despite our gloss of civilization, the world well knows its own selfishness, its own greed, its own thirst for power and it wisely reasons that in others selfishness and greed similarly rule. Hence, with all their protestations of friendship, all the governments of the world distrust, disbelieve one another. And now we have reached a place where the disbanding of the armies of the world would be a dangerous matter. Other millions of men thrown on the labor market, al­ready glutted, would be dangerous. And to leave our cities unprotected would invite anarchy in every land. We are not endeavoring to discourage peace conferences and federations. We are merely calling attention to facts ─ indisputable facts.

The Scriptures graphically describe our present con­dition. They give us a word-painting of what is now going on, saying, "Beat your plow-shares into swords and your pruning-hooks into spears. Let the weak say I am strong," and endeavor to keep pace with the strong. "Come, get ye down to the Valley of Jehosha­phat" ─ the valley of death ─ the place of the great struggle with which the reign of the Prince of Dark­ness shall terminate and which will prepare the way for Messiah's Kingdom (Joel 3:9-13). Thank God for the assurances of His Word that the great "time of trouble, such as never was since there was a na­tion," which has already in the World war burst upon the world, whose masses are better educated than ever before and trained to the use of all military equip­ments, will be but a short struggle! The intimation of the Scriptures is that if those days should not be shortened, no flesh would survive. But for the elect's sake ─ by virtue of the Kingdom of God's elect being established ─ those days shall be shortened. Then will come the reign of the Prince of Peace, and, as the prophets declare, he shall be like unto Solomon, who had no wars, but to whom every knee bowed and every tongue confessed. His Kingdom of righteousness will be a Kingdom of peace, notwithstanding the fact that it will be ushered in by such a time of trouble.

But do the Scriptures contradict them-selves? What did the Great Teacher mean when He declared, "I came not to send peace on earth, but a sword?" (Matt. 10:34) Ah! He referred prophetically to the effect which His gracious message of love and favor would produce in the world during the reign of sin. He well knew that the Prince of Darkness would oppose all of His followers, as well as Himself. He foretold that whosoever would live godly would suffer persecution ─ and so it has been. Eighteen centuries have proven it! He sent forth His followers, like Himself, unarmed, to be peacemakers, to be helpers, to "follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." He counseled His followers, "He that taketh the sword shall perish by the sword." But their message of peace and love and the coming King­dom which shall bless the whole world and fulfill the angelic prophecy at His birth ─ these things seem to an­ger the world ─ not merely the vicious, the ungodly, but the worldly professors of godliness who have schemes and plans and theories of their own to work out which are contrary to the Gospel Message. The darkness, more or less mixed with selfishness, hateth the light, the Truth and the love of God, neither cometh to the light, lest its deeds of darkness, selfishness, selfish ambition and hypocrisy should be made manifest. The Master knew what the effects of His Gospel Message would be in the world and that only those who would compromise His Message could possibly live at peace ─ that all who would be loyal and faithful to Him would be traduced, slandered, persecuted ─ "beheaded," either literally or figuratively. His words, therefore, were a prophecy respecting the tribulations which all His foot­step followers would surely have.

But more than this, His words were a prophecy re­specting the nations. What is it that has brought us to our present degree of civilized savagery? What is it that makes almost every business corporation a bucca­neer seeking the destruction of every competing finan­cial craft? What is it that has thus sharpened the wits of humanity to such an extent that the majority find it difficult to be honest, because they see so many op­portunities for profit through dishonesty, while it is impossible for lawmakers to make new laws with suffi­cient rapidity to keep peace with the intelligent meth­ods of circumvention? The laws, doctrines, of Christ are, in a certain sense, responsible for all this. The liberty wherewith Christ makes free His followers and the light which He and they let shine upon a darkened world, received in part into unsanctified hearts and minds, have given wisdom that, misapplied, we call cunning and craft. The proof of what we say is found in the fact that other nations than those which have received this reflected light of Christianity are still quite in the background. Only now, as Christian civ­ilization in a perverted form is reaching these peoples are they awakening and becoming competitors with so-called Christendom. In our advanced conceptions of finance, warfare, etc., a pertinent question worthy of deep thought, is, Will it be possible to live in the world at all after the greatest financial minds shall have "trust-ified" all of the world's business, and after the labor organizations shall have had their say as to who shall and who shall not earn a living, and after the teeming millions of China, India and Japan shall have become thoroughly civilized and Christianized after the nominal sort? Would not the hordes of the Far East overwhelm the comparatively little handful of Europe and America? What is the prospect of the fulfillment of the prophecy of the text ─ "Peace on earth, good will toward men"? There is no prospect from the earthly sources toward which we have been looking. If that prophecy is ever to be fulfilled, it must be by some Divine intervention in human affairs.

THE DESIRE OF ALL NATIONS COMING

Notwithstanding the eighteen centuries of delay the text as a prophecy will surely be fulfilled, and be ful­filled, too, by and through the One whom the angels announced, and whose birth is very generally cele­brated at Christmas. The Great Teacher, questioned by Pilate, answered that He was born to be a King­ ─ the King of the Jews; but He also added, "My King­dom is not of this World" ─ order of affairs, How true! Many of us have gotten the wrong impression ─ that our Redeemer has been waging, as the Great King of Glory, an unsuccessful warfare for eighteen cen­turies against Satan, sin and death. But here we learn from the Great Teacher's own lips that His Kingdom is not of this World. It belongs to the "world to come" ─ to its first Age. Do we inquire, then, who has been the ruler of this world? The answer of the Master is that Satan is the Prince of this world. He is a usurper. The dominion of earth was given to man. But Satan, deceiving our race, putting darkness for light, has be­come thereby the real ruler, using humanity merely as his tools. He is styled "the god of this world," and the "Prince of this world." And we are told again that "He now worketh in the hearts of the children of dis­obedience." When we reflect how many of humanity are disobedient, we see the vastness of the empire con­trolled by the Prince of Darkness. And when we see the few, comparatively, who are soldiers of the cross and followers of the Lamb, we perceive that, as the Master said, his following during this Age is to be a "Little Flock"

Perplexed and confused many may ask, What, then, is the hope of the fulfillment of the text, "Peace on earth, good will toward men"? We answer that our Master, who declared that He was not the Prince of this World, declared also that His Kingdom of the next Age will be introduced with power and great glory and that, although its initial manifestation will be with clouds and darkness and a time of trouble such as never before has been, nevertheless His reign will be glorious, triumphant and eternal. "He shall take unto Himself His great power and reign" until "He shall have put all enemies under His feet" "the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." "Unto Him every knee shall bow and every tongue confess." The vic­tory of Emanuel means the overthrow of sin ─ the crushing of the serpent's head. At the very begin­ning of His glorious reign Satan shall be bound and following its close he shall be destroyed in the Second Death, together with all those who love unrighteous­ness, after they shall have had full knowledge and full opportunity for recovery from the snares of sin and death. Then, indeed, the whole world will proclaim the glory of God. There will no longer be discordant sounds. As the Scriptures declare: There shall be no more crying, no more sighing, no more dying ─ all the former things of sin and death shall have passed away (Rev. 21:4).

Everything appertaining to this great Plan of Sal­vation outlined in the Word of God is reasonable. The crucial testing of the elect Church is necessary in order that as faithful and merciful priests of God and of Christ, associated with Him in His kingly glory, they may be God's instrumentality in succoring mankind from the fallen conditions which have resulted from six thousand years of sin, and from the malignant in­fluence of the Prince of Darkness, during the thousand years which the Bible stipulates as the period of Mes­siah's reign (Rev. 20:6) ─ a period neither too long nor too short in which to accomplish the great work of the world's salvation. True, some one might say, If it has required eighteen centuries for the development of the Church, how much more time will be necessary for the uplifting of the world? But we answer that it is not the Divine Purpose to uplift the world to the station of spirit nature and glory, but rather to restitu­tion blessings and conditions. It is because of the high exaltation offered to the Church that such crucial test­ings of sacrificial obedience even unto death is re­quired. With the Prince of Darkness bound and the Sun of Righteousness arising with healing in its beams, the darkness of sin and sorrow will soon die away.

One century of such blessed influence upon the world will surely work wonders, bringing in also inven­tions and comforts and blessings, as yet undreamed of. Next will come the gradual awakening of all who have fallen asleep in death. They will come forth from the prison-house of death, as the Scriptures declare; will come forth that they may be made acquainted with the true God and with His glorious Son, the Redeemer, and with the principles of righteousness in contrast with the principles of sin. We cannot suppose that it will require the majority of men, under those condi­tions, to sit long counting the value of the blessings of eternal life and restitution proffered them. The up­ward move, resurrection, uplifting, regeneration, will go rapidly on, while meantime, generation after gen­eration shall come forth from the tomb and enjoy sim­ilar experiences. Finally all shall have come forth, be­cause the love of God made this provision through the death of our Redeemer, who delighted to do the Fa­ther's will, and who has already been rewarded gloriously with high exaltation to the Divine plane of glory, honor and immortality.

The attainment of the condition of good will amongst men will mean the attainment of human per­fection. God is Love. And when our first parents were created an earthly image of God, love must have been the predominant quality of their characters. What we see of selfishness is largely a matter of hered­ity, and all of life's customs are in line with it, continually increasing its weight and its hold upon us. But with the new King and the new reign of righteous­ness will come the glorious uplift and transformation. Gradually, during the thousand years of Messiah's domination of the world, the evils of selfishness will be made apparent and the beauties of holiness and love will be shown in contrast. Restitution rewards will lift all the willing and obedient up out of sin and selfish­ness to holiness and love. Then with love the very essence of man's being, good will toward men will everywhere prevail, because the Divine Law, almost effaced through the reign of sin, will be rewritten in the human constitution. That law, as we know, is, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, with all thy strength, and thy neigh­bor as thyself." Dear friends, how glad we are that this is true; how glad we are that the terrible false­hoods palmed off on us during the Dark Ages respect­ing a God of cruelty and a hell of torture everlasting are not true!

(Brother Paul S. L. Johnson, The Herald of the Epiphany, pages 41-43, November 15, 1925)

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ATONEMENT VERSUS EVOLUTION AND HIGHER CRITICISM

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls.” (Lev. 17:11)

Almost all the trend of religious scholarship in recent years is away from the Bible and in line with the Evolution theory. The Bible sets forth that the first man was created perfect, in the image and likeness of his Creator, and that when on trial for life or death everlasting he was disobedient, and came un­der the sentence of death; and that all trouble, all sin and sorrow, all pain and death, for the past six thou­sand years, is the penalty, the result, of that fall from obedience and harmony with God. The Bible teaches the necessity for an Atonement for sin, and this lesson was shown in the typical sacrifices of bullocks and goats, which Israelites for centuries commemo­rated, especially upon their Atonement Day, at the beginning of each year. Evolution claims that man started as a cousin to the monkey, and that instead of falling into sin and death, an evolution process has been bringing him up, up, up to his present high elevation. This theory, having no place for sin or a fall, finds, of course, no place or need for a recovery, through a Redeemer, a Savior. The two theories are absolutely opposed. Whoever believes the Darwinian theory cannot, logically, be a Christian. Who­ever is a Christian cannot, logically, hold to the Darwinian theory. And yet the pulpits of Christendom are well stocked with Higher Critics and Evolutionists, and almost all of our colleges and theological semi­naries are graduating others, all antagonistic to the Bible and its presentations. For years the fight has been conducted on the quiet. It is time that the battle between truth and error should come out into the open, because the majority of those who are being misled do not realize the situation until their faith is entirely under-mined ─ until their minds are so entrenched in error that the verities of God's Word, including the Word of Jesus and the Apostles, have passed with them into the list of absurdities, amongst these, the stories of Jonah and the great fish, Noah and the flood, etc., endorsed by Jesus and the Apostles.

Today almost every college and theological semi­nary throughout the whole civilized world, is teaching what is commonly known as Higher Criticism of the Bible ─ though the proper name for it would be higher infidelity ─ infidelity amongst the high ones of all Christendom. These Higher Critics are doing the same work exactly that Thomas Paine and Robert Ingersoll did, only they are carrying on their work on a higher plane ─ appealing not to the gross and the vile, but to the refined, intelligent and truth-seeking. As a result their influence is a thousand fold more in­jurious. Those to whom Paine and Ingersoll appealed were very rarely Christians at all; hence they destroyed very little faith ─ they merely made the unbelief more rank and foul. But these Higher Critic infidels of this "evil day" are making use of all the vast machin­ery of Christendom in all denominations, especially through theological seminaries, to undermine and over­throw the faith of all who have named the name of Christ, great and small, rich and. poor, cultured and ignorant. It is being done systematically, too, craftily, deceitfully, in a manner that the masses of the people would scarcely credit. It is safe to say that fully four out of five who graduate from Protestant theological seminaries are Higher Critic infidels, who are in­structed that their main business is to promote moral­ity amongst the people, especially to build up Church-ianity, particularly their own denomination, and to gradually, stealthily, craftily wean the people from the faith of the Bible to their higher critical dogmas. And they are succeeding most wonderfully. A "pestilence" is the only figure of speech which really fits this per­nicious influence.

Our text refers to a blood atonement for sin. The Law Covenant required the death of a bullock and a goat, but the repetition of these sacrifices every year indicated that no cancellation was effected thereby ─ merely a typical covering of sin for a year. The Law required an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a man's life for a man's life, which implied that a perfect man must of necessity die in order to be the Redeemer of Adam and the race which shared his condemna­tion. The bullock of the sin-offering, therefore, was merely a type of a better sacrifice. The true sacrifice was provided in the death of the Man Christ Jesus. He was a man and yet not a sinful man, because, although born of a woman, His life was from above. Had he received His life from an earthly father, He would have been a blemished, imperfect, sinful man, and as such could not have paid the ransom–price for another. For this cause One was chosen to be the Redeemer who was "holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners." And all this because of His miraculous conception. As in the type the blood of the bullock was used to make a typical atonement for a year, so in the antitype the blood of Jesus is effica­cious to make atonement for the sins of the whole world. In the type an earthly priest offered the blood, in an earthly tabernacle; in the antitype, He who be­came the Sin-Offering, begotten of the Holy Spirit, at the time of His consecration, was therefore recognized as the great Antitypical High Priest. After His resurrection He ascended on high, "to appear in the presence of God for us" ─ for the Church ─ first; and when the Church shall be completed, He will appear for the world. He will seal the New Covenant for Israel, applicable to all the families of the earth, through Israel. Then, as the great Mediator of that New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31), He will, for a thou­sand years, reign as King of earth, the Antitype of Melchizedek ─ a Priest upon His throne ─ a Royal Priest, possessed of the necessary power to put down sin and to uplift humanity and perform the function of instructing and blessing mankind.

We have always known that in a very important sense, the life of every creature is in its blood, as our text declares. But we are continually finding that the Bible contains such a superhuman wisdom that many of its statements grow in importance as our knowledge increases. Our text is no exception to this rule. The latest findings of science are to the effect that life and nature are more particularly represented in the blood than in any other manner. If the theory of Evolution seemed supported by Mr. Darwin's care­ful inter-breeding of his pigeons, we are not to forget the difficulty he encountered in maintaining his fancy breeds. The constant tendency appeared to be to turn back to the original stock. We are now informed that this is a rule, a law of nature, which applies both to animal and vegetable life. We are informed that all such breedings return to their original species in the third or fourth generation. It is even pointed out now that diseases of the blood proceed no further than the third or fourth generation, and this most fortunately, otherwise the physical health of humanity might be much more impaired than it is. Is not this a direct corroboration of that Bible statement which some of us once thought so ungracious ─ God's declaration that He would "visit" the sins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation?" (Ex. 20:5.) It now appears that, instead of being a mark of Divine disfavor, it is a mark of Divine mercy that hereditary taint in the blood is limited to the third or fourth generation.

A celebrated physician and scientist, Dr. William Hanna Thomson promulgating this theory, said: "Professor George H. F. Nuttall, of the University of Cambridge, took up the subject and has so extended its application that a single drop of blood from any animal now suffices, not only to show by its own pecu­liar chemical reaction what animal it comes from, but also how nearly related an animal is by its blood to other animals. It begins, therefore. to look as if the whole classification of zoology might have to be rear­ranged according to these blood tests. Thus a drop of blood from a walrus shows no relation to a drop of whale's blood, or the blood of any other cetacean, such as seals or porpoises, which, like the walrus, are mam­mals that have taken to the sea." We may be sure that those who hold fast to the teachings of the Bible will come out on the right side of the argument in the long run. The endeavor of worldly wise men to get away from God's book has led many of them to ex­tremes of thought and of statement, which some day will be fully rectified to their shame. The Bible fore­tells this, saying, "The wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." (Isa. 29:14) St. Paul refers to sci­ence, falsely so-called, which will ultimately be proven entirely wrong.

For nearly six thousand years the reign of sin and death has prevailed. It is nearly two thousand years since the Redeemer came to give His life as man's redemption price, still the reign of sin and death continues. It is not because the blood of Christ was in­sufficient to satisfy the claims of justice for the sins of the world, but because, before the merit of the blood of Christ could be given to Adam and his race, it must have a previous use. That use has been in progress for the past eighteen centuries, during which it has been the basis of the Church's justification by faith. There is a difference between the Church's faith-justification of this Age, and the world's actual justification, to be accomplished in the next Age. The world will actually get restitution to human life and its privileges, earthly dominion, etc. All that Adam had and lost, all that Jesus redeemed will be given to Adam and his race to have and to hold as theirs forever. But, meantime, the merit of Christ's blood or sacrifice is used in the interest of “the Church of the Firstborn.” The earthly, natural rights will not be given to the Church, for she is to have "some better thing" ─ a heavenly inheritance with her Lord and a participation in His spirit nature. The Redeemer's merit is imputed to the Church, to cover the imperfection and weakness of each one called and drawn of the Father to membership in the Bride of Christ. The difference between a gift and an imputation is manifest ─ an imputation signifies merely a loan, an assistance. Thus the merit of Christ, imputed to those who would become His Elect Church, covers their blemishes so that they may present their bodies living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, as footstep fol­lowers of Jesus ─ as participants with Him.

 Thus it will be seen that since the entire world lost life and all its privileges through the disobedience of Adam, all of these may be fully recovered from their inherited disaster, through the Redeemer, because His life was given ─ figuratively, His blood was shed ─ "the Just for the unjust," as the great sin atonement for the world. In our text the word soul is a synonym for person or being. Father Adam was a human soul, a human being; so also his children. He alone, how­ever, had a standing before Justice. He alone was perfect, he alone was on trial, and through his disobedience and fall his children are involved. Jesus was, originally, a spirit being, personality or soul, the Logos. He came a partaker of flesh and blood; He was not, previously, a human soul, hence it was that it was necessary for Him to lay aside the glory of His higher nature or order of being and become a human soul, "that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for every man." (Heb. 2:9) He gave His blood, His life, a Ransom for all, and thus we see the fulfillment of our text, the exhibition of Divine favor and love with the resultant blessing to the world, during Messiah's reign, and the blessing and exaltation of the Church, which must proceed.

(Brother Paul S.L. Johnson, The Herald of the Epiphany, pages 33,34, September 15, 1926)

SPIRITUAL PROMISES TO NATURAL ISRAEL

In the Scriptures the word spiritual is generally used in a particular way referring to those who have been begotten of the Holy Spirit, as our Lord and all those who accept him and consecrate themselves to do the will of God. All promises and all things which appertain to these are particularly classified and styled as spiritual promises and spiritual things. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor. 2:14) So, then, if God gave anything spiritual to the Israelites before the spiritual dispensation, they did not appreciate it, since none could do so except through spirit-begetting.

Nevertheless, there were spiritual things given to natural Israel, which they were unable to receive. The Apostle says: “The law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.” (Rom. 7:14) That law given at Sinai came from the Spirit Being of the highest order ─ God himself. It did not take hold, merely of the fleshly instincts, and control the body alone, but it took hold of the heart, the mind, the will. None of the Jews could keep that law because they were sold under sin. It was a spiritual law that could be kept only by a spirit-begotten person or a person in the image of God.

SPIRITUAL LESSONS IN THE LAW

Certain of the lessons of the law were spiritual, also; as, for instance, the rock in the wilderness, which, when smitten, gave forth water abundantly, and the manna, each afforded a spiritual lesson. But Israel did not understand anything about the spiritual Rock or the spiritual water of life. So of the law that was given to them: they could see only the outer part, or shell. Nor could any see further until the due time for the begetting of the Spirit. We may say, then, that a great many spiritual things were given to Israel, but only such of them as were Israelites indeed, and in harmony with God would be made able, in due time, to see these.

The spiritual things were in the law all the time, but they were not disclosed, not manifest, not seen by the Jew, because of his own condition of mind; and the first Israelite who was permitted to see spiritual things was Jesus himself, after he was begotten of the Spirit and able to appreciate these things. But the Jewish nation, not coming up to the required standard, was not able to appreciate them. Certain ones who desired to walk in Jesus’ steps received through him a covering, and they also were begotten of the Holy Spirit and could appreciate spiritual things. Thus the Apostle says that the righteousness of the law is “fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” We cannot keep the law in our flesh, but in our hearts, our minds. “With the mind I serve the law of God.” (Rom. 8:4; 7:25)

BASIS OF SPIRITUAL INSIGHT

When God made a covenant with Abraham, saying, “In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed,” he said that Abraham’s seed should be as the stars of heaven and as the sand of the seashore. This is a spiritual promise, which, of course, the Jews at that time were not able to appreciate, as the Apostle Peter intimates. When realizing that as a nation they had crucified the son of God, many said, What shall we do? St. Peter said, “Repent… for this promise is unto you, and to your children.” (Acts 2:38,39) It was a spiritual promise and belonged to them, but on condition that they would take certain steps.

Only a few of the Jews were in the proper attitude to meet this condition. “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power [the privilege, the right] to become the sons of God.” (John 1:11,12) And these, coming into the relation of spiritual Israelites, were enabled by this begetting of the Holy Spirit to appreciate the spiritual things given to such Israelites. All the truths that we have are drawn from those things God gave to the natural Israelites. And we can understand them, though the natural Israelite could not. The Apostle says: “Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.” (Rom. 11:7) So then, they were seeking for the spiritual, whether they understood it or not. Except the few, however, they did not attain the spiritual, because of an improper condition of heart. But the spiritual must have been there for them to seek after, else they could not have sought it.                     

(Pastor Russell, Reprint 5295, August 15, 1913)  

NO. 591 THANKSGIVING

“O give thanks unto the Lord for He is good; for His mercy endureth forever.”

(Psalm 107:1)

THANKSGIVING Day appeals to all of us, and we are glad that the Pilgrim Fathers long years ago started the custom. They placed it at the end of the harvest in recognition of the same. The keeping of such a day appeals to all civilized mankind to a con­siderable degree, because our Great Creator so organ­ized us that the quality of reverence, worship, lies prominently on the top of our heads. The man or woman, rich or poor, educated or ignorant, bond or free, who has not this organ of veneration developed in considerable measure cannot be appreciative and deferential toward his Creator, and hence would not enjoy Thanksgiving Day. We are glad that these are com­paratively few. We are glad to suppose that the ma­jority of this great nation of civilization looks up to God with grateful hearts and renders Him thanks for blessings manifested. Nevertheless, yearly the num­bers increase of those who are losing their reverence for the God of the Bible. These vaguely turn toward a God of Nature, of whom they profess to know com­paratively little. These irreverent and unthankful fel­low creatures are not generally the most ignorant of our race, nor the least favored in temporal mercies and blessings. Among them are many learned, wealthy, in­fluential people. Their condition is well represented by that of a young woman who recently said, "I have lost my God. I am unhappy. I am hoping to be able to find Him again." Thank God, she did find Him again, and is now able to thank Him sincerely.

The Great Teacher prayed for His followers, "Sanc­tify them through Thy Truth; Thy Word is Truth." (John 17:17) To be forearmed with the Truth is to be safeguarded against the error. To be ignorant of the Truth is to fall a prey to the error ─ especially in this "evil day," when "a thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand." (Ps. 91:7) The difficulty with us has been that many have supposed that the conversion of the world and its sanctification can be better accomplished by misrepresentation of Di­vine Character and Justice. Unconsciously we have learned to twist and interpret our Bibles to fit the er­roneous creeds which were handed to us by our well-­meaning forefathers. The Day of Judgment upon these false creeds is upon us. Unless we learn that they do not properly interpret the Bible we will reject the Bible when we reject the creeds ─ and that must be very soon for all thinking people. "To the Law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Is. 8:20.) "Come, let us reason together, saith the Lord!" If our creeds tell us truly that we were all born damned to eternal torment, should we give thanks on this account? If our creeds tell truly that an elect handful of saints will escape the torture, how do we know whether or not we belong to that elect handful? Have we sufficient information on this subject to give thanks therefor? If our creeds tell truly that nearly all the members of our families, nearly all of our neighbors and friends, being unsaintly, not "sanctified in Christ Jesus," not followers in the footsteps of Jesus, not of those "who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit" ─ these all, except a mere handful, are doomed to more horrible torture than the worst earthly suffer­ings we could possibly imagine for them, and are doomed to these for centuries in Purgatory, according to the Catholic; or for all eternity, according to our Protestant theories. Can we honestly thank God for any of these conditions, if we believe them to be true? Can we "worship in spirit and in truth" a Creator who would make such an atrocious plan? And could we respect His honesty, if He labeled it "good tidings of great joy to all people"?

 If the foregoing things, which have come down to us from the "Dark Ages," be true, of what conse­quence, in comparison, would be the material harvests of earth, which would merely encourage and stimulate the bringing into being of larger numbers of our race to experience those tortures? If these things be true, rather should we give thanks for famine and pestilence, which would obliterate our race entirely and thus save future thousands of millions from the horrors of eter­nal torture. These thoughts will come to all intelligent beings sooner or later. We bring them forward now, in order that we may offset them with the Truth ─ that we may show the fallacy of these "doctrines of devils," as St.   Paul designates them (1 Tim. 4:1). We bring them to your attention so that we may not only demol­ish them, but give you instead the true, satisfactory portion, the Truth, the Bread that came down from heaven to give life eternal, not merely to the saintly few of the Church, but to mankind in general. Those who get the proper view of our Creator and of His glorious Plan for human salvation will be forever pro­tected from such fears and doubts respecting Divine goodness. Getting the proper view of the Heavenly Father's character, through the discernment of His Plan of the Ages for spiritual Israel, natural Israel and the world in general, they will hereafter be able to celebrate every Thanksgiving Day much more abun­dantly, much more intelligently, much more happily than any in the past. More than this, to these every day will be a happy day if, rightly exercised by the goodness of God, they shall give Him their hearts.

 In the Psalm from which our text is taken the Prophet David repeats five times this sentiment of Thanksgiving to God because of the ever-continuance of His mercy. Our English translation does not give us the exact thought, however. Properly translated it would read, "O give thanks... for His mercy endureth ever." The word "evermore" nearly represents the thought of the Hebrew, which signifies not for­ever, but to a completion. As long as there is any use for mercy, God's mercy will continue. When the Great Divine Program shall have been accomplished, when every creature in heaven and in earth, and under the earth, shall be heard saying, Praise and glory and honor, dominion and might be unto Him that sitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb forever (Rev. 5:13), then there will no longer be need for mercy; mercy will have accomplished its work. Mercy signi­fies the setting aside of justice in some manner, for some reason. Justice is the foundation of God's throne ─ the foundation of the Divine Government. Justice had control of Father Adam and offered him eternal life in an Eden home, as a reward for obedience, or death, extinction, as the penalty for disobedience. As Divine Wisdom had foreknown, man disobeyed and the penalty of Justice, "Dying thou shalt die," was ex­ecuted. Through heredity all of Adam's race became involved ─ all inherited sin and death.

For more than two thousand years death reigned un­der the edict of Justice, and our race as a whole was subject to it. A little later the Law Covenant was made with Israel ─ one nation out of many. It seemed to offer mercy, but did not. They were placed under the Law and were merely offered eternal life, if they could keep the Law ─ which they could not keep, be­cause of inherited blemishes, moral and physical. It was over four thousand years from the time Justice struck the fatal blow until Divine mercy stepped for­ward with the healing balm. God's mercy is His love in active operation for the relief of the condemned. Although God is Love, and hence must always have been loving and kind and merciful of disposition, yet this quality of His character was held in restraint as respects condemned men for more than forty centuries. So the Apostle explains, saying, "Herein was mani­fested the love of God, in that He sent His only be­gotten Son into the world" "that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (1 John 4:9; John 3:16) But meantime the darkness of sin and the misrepresentations of the Divine char­acter by the Adversary had so operated upon the fallen race that ─ eyes had they, but they saw not; ears had they, but they understood not; hearts had they, but they comprehended not, the message of Divine mercy. They fulfilled the Scriptures in slaying the One sent for their relief. And they have misunderstood, slandered, maligned, "killed" His followers ─ the few blessed with the hearing ears and the understanding hearts and the eyes of faith. These few constitute what the Scriptures designate the true Church of God, including the Apostles and all the faithful throughout this Age ─ the household of faith, "the Church of the First-Borns, which are written in heaven." (Heb. 12:23)

Man's necessity became God's opportunity for the display of His glorious character ─ perfect in Justice, Wisdom, Love and Power. While love could not clear the guilty, it could provide a Redeemer to suffer, "the Just for the unjust." But Divine Justice could not al­low this, unless with the consent of the sufferer. Hence we read that God set before His only begotten Son a glorious Plan and invited His co-operation therein. The Son assented, left the heavenly glory, was made flesh and "offered Himself" an acceptable sacrifice, "the Just for the unjust" ─ for the redemption of Adam and his race. The Father honored Him by raising Him from the dead to a still higher glory and honor than He had before, to immortality ─ the Divine na­ture. Now, from this glorious station, He is empowered to be the Mediator between God and men ─ between Divine Justice and fallen humanity. He is empowered to give the earthly rights which He sacri­ficially laid down for Adam and his race – to as many of them as will accept the perfection of human nature and its rights and privileges upon terms in harmony with the Divine Law ─ the remainder He will destroy, annihilate "as brute beasts." (2 Pet. 2:12; Acts 3:23) As though all this were not sufficiently wonder­ful; as though with all this the Heavenly Father's Wis­dom, Justice, Love and Power would not be sufficiently illustrated, exemplified, God added another feature. Before beginning to deal with the world as a whole, to give back to the willing and obedient of the race human perfection and an earthly Eden, Paradise, and eternal life; before commencing this work of restitu­tion (Acts 3:19), the Father made known to the Son another feature of His Plan. He would give to the Son a Bride, a class selected from amongst the fallen race ─ called, chosen, faithful overcomers. These, as the Joint-Heirs of the Second Adam, will share with Him in the uplifting of those of Adam's race who will become the children of Christ through obedience.

REJOICING IN TRIBULATION

The trials and testings of all those who will become the Bride of Christ must be similar to those of the Re­deemer. They must suffer with Him if they would reign with Him. As He sacrificed His earthly life and rights and interests, so must they. He exhorted them, "Present your bodies living sacrifices, holy and ac­ceptable to God, a reasonable service." (Rom. 12:1) True, there is a difference between these followers of Jesus and the Captain of their Salvation. He was brought into the world holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners; hence His sacrifice is a perfect one. Those accepted as His members, as His Bride, belong to the race of sinners. They were “children of wrath even as others.” (Eph. 2:3) Their acceptance as sacrifices, therefore, was not possible except as the great Captain of their Salvation imputed to those sac­rifices a sufficiency of the merit of His sacrifice to compensate for their defects and to make their sacri­fices acceptable to the Father with His and as a part of His ─ they being counted in with Him as "members of His Body." Those of us who have the eye of faith and the bearing of faith to appreciate this, the Message of God's Word, may surely be thankful to the last de­gree. What more could our Heavenly Father do for us than He has done ─ redeeming us, inviting us to a new nature, giving us the aids by the way, and making us sharers in the Kingdom glory of His Son? More than this, He has been blessing our friends, our chil­dren, our parents, our neighbors, the heathen ─ all of mankind, of one family.

"O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endureth forever!" During this Gospel Age His mercy has been manifest to all those who take up their cross and follow Jesus. By and by these will be glorified in the "First Resurrection." Then His mercy will return to natural Israel under the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31), of which Christ and the Church are "Able Ministers," Servants, Priests and Kings. Could all the world discern, through the trials and tears and sorrows and imperfections and dying of their present experience, the glorious outcome which God is provid­ing the whole world, they would be filled with praise to Him who loved us and bought us back from the pen­alty of death and who ultimately will complete His glorious work through Messiah's Kingdom. Have we not, as followers of the Lord, as Christians, misrepre­sented the facts of the case and endeavored to have people give thanks to God for unkind-ness, injustice, lovelessness ─ to a God whose mercy never reached us and would never reach any but a small proportion of our race through the knowledge of Christ; to a God whose mercy, even to the one-tenth of those who had ever heard of Him, He said, would endure only for the present life, and even among these bring a blessing only to a mere handful of the elect? Let us go back to the Word of God and free our minds of the preju­dices of superstition and misinterpretation handed down from the Dark Ages. Let us see the glory of our God, as revealed in the Bible.  Let Christians give thanks that, by the grace of God, their eyes and ears of understanding are opening to a better knowledge of Him.  Let them give thanks, not only for redemption from the death sentence, but also for their call to saint-ship and its consequent suffering in this present time and its promise of reward of glory on the spirit plane by and by.  Let the world give thanks in proportion as it is able to discern God’s goodness and mercy for Adam’s race ─ that eventually through the channel of the glorified Church the Divine blessing will be extended to every member of Adam’s race, giving opportunity to all to attain life everlasting with full human perfection and an everlasting Eden upon this now sin-cursed earth of ours.

(Brother Paul S.L Johnson, The Herald of the Epiphany, pages 41-43, November 15, 1926)

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“PRESBYSTERIANS TO DECIDE ON WORSHIP ALTERNATIVES FOR TRADITIONAL TRINITY: BIRMINGHAM, ALA. ─ Delegates of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are to tackle whether to adopt gender-inclusive language for worship of the divine Trinity along with the traditional ‘Father Son and Holy Spirit.’

“A study panel said the classical language for the Trinity shouldn't be diminished, but advocated ‘fresh ways to speak of the mystery of the triune God’ to ‘expand the church's vocabulary of praise and wonder.’

“One reason is that language limited to the Father and Son ‘has been used to support the idea that God is male and that men are superior to women,’ the panel said.

“Conservatives object that the church should stick close to the way God is named in the Bible.

“Among the feminist-inspired, gender-inclusive options:

“‘Mother, Child, Womb’

“‘Lover, Beloved, Love’

“‘Creator, Savior, Sanctifier’

“‘Rock, Redeemer, Friend’

“‘King of Glory, Prince of Peace, Spirit of Love.’

“Two professors at the Presbyterians' Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Andrew Purves and Charles Partee, said there is potential danger that ‘we not only lose the ground for our language for God, we in fact lose the Trinity. We lose God.’

“‘We do not need a diluted, metaphorical Trinity; rather, we need our confidence in the Christian doctrine of God to be restored,’ they said.

“Other critics noted that Jesus' most famous prayer begins by addressing ‘Our Father.’”

(By Richard N. Ostling, AP Religious writer, June 19, 2006)

Comment: The above is a good example of how the nominal churches have fallen. Of course, this is just one denomination, but there are signs in all of them. In the first place, the Trinity is a false doctrine. The first commandment shows that. It reads: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord God is one Lord." (Deut. 6:4) And Jesus repeats it in Mark 12:29 and the scribe that had questioned Jesus said: "Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God: and there is none other but He." (Mark 12:32)

But now here comes the Presbyterians injecting gender into the matter. The column says that it is feminist-inspired. The idea that God is a male in the sense of humanity is unreasonable. The term "Father" means life-giver. This means that He, as Father, provided the life principle for mankind and Mother Earth does the nourishing. We equate that with the fact that in human beings, it is the father that produces the life principle, or sperm. The Mother nourishes before and after birth. This in no way downgrades either the male or the female. They share. This is, also, shown in Jesus and His Bride. Jesus will be the life-giver in the Kingdom and the Church, which is His bride, will do the nourishing.

But God, as the life-giver, created Adam and Eve through Jesus, not that He entered into any sexual activity to do so.  He had the power and possession of the life principle.  The Scriptures speak of Jesus as God’s “only begotten Son.”  This means that Jesus was the only direct creation of God.  All other things were created by Him through Jesus, who was the Word or Logos before He came into the world. (See John 1:1-3)

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TIME TO TURN TO GOD

“It might sound silly, or even naive, but the time has come to turn to G-d. Throughout our history, the Jewish people have always turned toward Heaven in the face of peril, brandishing the most potent of weapons contained in our armory: the power of prayer. It is time we do so once more. If our enemies are intent on waging a holy war against us, shouldn't we deploy our spiritual arsenal too?

“As an undergraduate at Princeton University, I took a number of courses in political thought. We were constantly being told that international relations is the sum product of the interplay among the various actors on the world stage, be they people, nations or leaders. But what the learned professors forgot to mention, of course, is that in addition to the actors, there is also the Director, and it is He who writes the script of what is yet to be.

“Prayer gives each of us a chance, a unique opportunity, to appeal to the Director, and to influence the outcome of this production called history. But we must act quickly, because the clock is ticking, and the danger of a nuclear Iran grows ever more near.

“Jews, Christians, and others should launch an international campaign of prayer for Israel. We must storm the Heavens, and beseech G-d to intervene at this, the Jewish people's hour of need. Synagogues, churches, and other houses of worship should lead the call, creating a ‘prayer shield’ around the Jewish state. Now, more than ever, we must utilize our faith.”

(Excerpt from Michael Freund, Columnist for The Jerusalem Post, Reported by Bridges For Peace, July/August 2006)

“UNUSUAL TRADE:  Israel exports surplus apples to Syria. For the second straight year, Israeli apple growers expanded their customer base to include an unlikely, but eager purchaser of their surplus produce ─ Syria.

“Using the United Nations as intermediary, Israel exported about 10,000 tons of apples from the Golan Heights to Syria this spring, double the amount exported last year. The growing trade in apples between the two countries, which are technically at war with each other, is an interesting anomaly in a region riddled with violence and conflict. The Syrians, apparently short of apples, unexpectedly agreed to the deal, brokered by the UN on behalf of the Israel Agriculture Ministry.

“Ironically, Israel’s apples are grown mainly in the Golan Heights, which Syria has considered occupied territory since the 1967 Six Day War. The produce will come from Druze apple growers. The deal is expected to help Jewish growers by stabilizing prices on the local market, said Glora Sela, Director of the Israel Farmers’ Federation.

“In another twist, Sela said Israel’s surplus of apples stems from the inability of growers to market the produce in Gaza due to the prolonged closure of the Karni border terminal, shut down for security reasons. Syrian consumers may not be able to taste the Israeli apples as the importers will probably resell the apples to states in the Persian Gulf, where produce prices are much higher.”

(Excerpted from an article by Scott Shiloh, InternetNetNews, Reported by Bridges For Peace, May-June 2006)

“3,000-year old-city found – An ancient Jewish town from the time of King Solomon has been uncovered beneath the Arab village of Kafr Kana, north of Nazareth in the Galilee.  Kana, or Cana, is where Jesus performed his first miracle turning water into wine (John 21).

“Archaeologists date the remains of a city wall and buildings to the periods of the United Kingdom of King Solomon and the Kingdom of Israel, following the split between Israel and Judah, from the 10th to the 9th centuries BC. Pottery vessels, large quantities of animal bones, a scarab depicting a man surrounded by two crocodiles, and ceramic seal bearing the image of a lion were discovered at the site.

“Yardena Alexandre, director of the excavation, reported that evidence was found indicating the place was ransacked during the 9th century BC. Following the destruction, the excavation area was abandoned until its ruins were re-inhabited by Jewish settlers during the Early Roman period (1st century AD). The identity of these residents as Galilean Jews was already known from previous excavations.  The discovery includes remnants of Jewish settlement during this Roman period. Among the findings are underground tunnels excavated by Jews who defended the city against Roman legions during the Great Revolt of the year AD 66.

“Some of the walls that were destroyed were reused in the new construction, and new floors were laid down.  The Jewish settlers built igloo-shaped pits on the ruins of the previous settlement, whereby the bedrock served as the floor of the pit and the walls were built.  A rock-hewn pit in one of the tunnels contained 11 storage jars char-acteristic of the second half of the 1st century AD.

“Alexandre noted that ‘the pits are connected to each other by short tunnels.  It seems that they were used as hiding refuges ─ a kind of concealed subterranean home – that were built prior to the Great Revolt against the Romans in AD 66.’”

(Bridges For Peace – May-June 2006)

“SOMETHNG EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD KNOW:  The Palestinian’s assertion that Gush Katif is legally their land is simply untrue. Gaza has never been ‘Palestinian land.’ From 1948 to 1967 it was Egyptian-occupied territory. Before that from 1922 to 1948, it was part of the League of Nations mandate to create a Jewish national home under the trusteeship of Great Britain. For four centuries before the Mandate it was a part of the Ottoman Empire. There was no sovereign entity called Palestine, and therefore no legally ‘Palestinian land,’ during this or previous history.”

(Excerpts from The Jerusalem Post, by Max Singer, March 2006)   

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QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST

QUESTION ─ If only the elect are now inscribing their names (characters) in the Book of Life, is there no remembrance of the noble characters of the world?

ANSWER   ─ "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." (Prov. 15:3) The residue of mankind will be awakened with the same character qualities they had in this Age, which will be a wonderful "remembrance" for the noble of this world. However, the "repentant and believing" of the finished Epiphany Camp hold a better position, although all restitutionists will receive the resurrection of the unjust whatever character qualities they may have. But we believe the "repentant and believing" who offer "prayers and alms" in this Age are in relatively the same position as was Cor­nelius before his consecration was acceptable. See Acts 10:1-4. The following is a quotation from Brother Johnson's teaching on this subject:

"Question: What is the book of life?

“Answer: The expression, ‘book of life’ is found seven times in the A.V. (Phil. 4:3; Rev. 3:5; 13:8; 20:12,15; 21:27; 22:19, the Greek word xulon used here, should be translated tree or wood). In order to under­stand more clearly what is meant by the ‘book of life,’ we want to state, first of all, that there are, generally speaking, two books of life ─ one for the elect and another for the non-elect class (Rev. 20:12). According to this passage, during the Gospel Age the books (the 66 books of the Bible) are opened to our understanding as the Lamb's book of life; but in the Millennium another book of life (the New Covenant revelations) will be opened (made clear). Since the Bible is really an elaboration of the Covenants, the two books of life may, generally speaking, correspond to the all-embracing Abrahamic Covenant, especially in its Oath-bound features, and the New Covenant.

"Question: What is meant by names being written in the book of life? 

“Answer: Sometimes it may refer to one's office activities in God's arranged plan (Ex. 32:33,34), but the usual meaning is that of one's character being inscribed into a Covenant. By this we mean developing a character in harmony with a covenant, thus en­abling us to become a partaker of the covenant's promises. During the Gospel Age, every consecrated and Spirit-begotten one (except the 12 Apostles, who, before Pentecost, Luke 10:20, because of their pre-anointing, were treated in the same way as the Spirit­-begotten) at the time of his entrance into the High Calling began to inscribe his char­acter into the Covenant in its Sarah features, which develop the Christ class. Some failed to continue this work, through allowing sin, error, selfishness and worldliness to interfere to such an extent that they fell into the Great Company. Thus they were blotted out of their places as Little Flock members. If unfaithful as Great Company members, they will be blotted out of their places as such, and out of existence entirely, i.e., go into the Second Death; but if faithful as Great Company members, they will inscribe their characters into those features of the Covenant typed by Rachel. The Ancient Wor­thies began and Youthful Worthies also at consecration begin to inscribe their characters into the earthly features of its Oath-bound phase. If faithful, they will have their names written in heaven (Heb. 12:23) at the beginning of the Little Season, for they are among the antitypica1 Millennia1-Age firstborn (Levites) who had no inheritance in the land (Ex. 12:11-13, 21-23,27; 13:1,2, 11-15;  Num. 3:40-51). Thus all the elect classes will ul­timately have their characters inscribed into the all-embracing Abrahamic Covenant in one or another of its features.

"In the Millennium, the non-elect, the restitution class, will have to develop their characters in harmony with the new book of life, the New Covenant revelations, which will then be given. As they progress up the highway of holiness, they will be symbolically writing their names in this other book of life ─ inscribing their characters into the New Covenant. Of course, those who die the Second Death will have their names blotted out of that book. Surely as we consider this matter and its importance to all of us as God's people, we can indeed rejoice as Jesus said, ‘in that our names (either actually, or prospectively in the case of the Youthful Worthies) are written in heaven!’

"Question: Does Rev. 22:19 apply to the Gospel Age or to the Millennial Age? 

“Answer: This verse contains a warning which has applied all during the Gospel Age and it will also apply in the Millennium. We pointed out above that the Greek word for book in the expression, ‘book of life’ should be translated tree or wood. In Rev. 2:7 the tree of life refers to something in which the Christ class is to share. The world of mankind has another tree or grove of life (Rev. 22:2) in which it is to share. Therefore the warning in this text is applicable to any in either Age." (July 1950 Present Truth, pages 110, 111)

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LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

                                                                                                     June 17, 2006

Dear Emily and Marjorie,

Warm greetings from the Galilee where Our Lord spent his time mostly on the earth! It is hard to realize I can live in such a special place!

The last two months have been an extremely busy time with the Bed and Breakfast rooms. There have been many tourists in Israel and I have had guests the last two months from Holland, Germany, Switzerland, France, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Australia, Hong Kong, U.S.A and Israel. So a very international house! It is good to be able to share with them about God’s plans and purposes.

It isn’t easy to manage all the work without Lev, but the Lord gives me new strength day by day. Also I am learning to pace myself.

In Israel we feel like a “pot just ready to boil,” but where or when is the question. There is near civil war within the Palestinian areas, and reminds one of Israel’s enemies in the past turning against each other. Then Hezbollah in the north is ready for a fight. Who knows what this crazy Iranian leader will do next. In the meantime Olmert runs around trying to sell his new borders, and no one is ready to buy. So we see the plans of man can be great, but God brings all things out in His way in the end.  What a wonderful God we serve!  Take care.

                                                                    Love, Hava Bausch       (TIBERIAS, ISRAEL)

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                                                                                                     July 24, 2006

Dear Emily and Marjorie: Many warm greetings from the Galilee!

Hope you are all having a good summer.  Our summer is not only hot in temperature but also with the war’s situation here now. It all came upon us so fast, and it is still hard to realize that over one million people are being kept in or near shelters in the north of Israel on a daily basis. We have had nearly 2,000 missiles land in the northern third of Israel now in some eleven days. Considering the number coming in each day, between 100 and 200, there have been many miracles that more people have not been killed! Many missiles land in open areas or empty homes or apartments. Sadly those that do hit are made more deadly by the 40Kg of ball bearings that are placed in the missile. That makes it like a machine gun as it explodes killing anyone around. So we have to go to our shelters whenever the missiles are coming and we are warned by the sirens that give us one minute. I have a shelter in one corner of my home, and have to go there two or three times a day. You never know when and for how long, so it is a very tense time for everyone. About half the people on our street block have fled to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. So Tiberius, as well as the other cities in the north, are like ghost towns. Most shops are closed, with few cars on the roads, and no children out playing even though it is school vacation now.

It is not easy to be without Lev through all this experience, but good to know the Lord is my shelter as in Psalm 91! Only He can we depend on in these turbulent times. I do appreciate your prayers now, and for Israel!

The Scripture on your July/August newsletter Isaiah 40:1,2 could not be more appropriate for this time as we need to “Comfort ye, comfort ye My people!” Thank you for the encouraging words regarding Israel and God’s plan for his people. May God continue to bless all of you there.  May He also give you strength daily.

                                                                         Love, Hava Bausch       (TIBERIAS, ISRAEL)

Comment: We can see from the two letters above how quickly things can change in the Middle East as well as elsewhere. However, we must remember that the trouble will come in spasms with periods of relative quiet in between, much as a woman in childbirth (1Thes. 5:3). So we must gird up the loins of our minds and have patient endurance waiting for the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:13).

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Dear Brethren,

Thank you so much for the “Divine Plan of the Ages.” I just love it! It really makes me think and helps me apply what I learned to the Bible. Your thoughtfulness touches me.

Thank you for such a blessing.                                                  Love, ___       (FLORIDA)

NO. 590 IN MEMORIAM OF THAT SERVANT

 In Ephesians 4:10-13 the Apostle Paul gives a terse outline of the Gospel-Age Church in its organizational nature; and we offer some of this Scripture from the Diaglott: “He [Jesus] is the one having ascended far above all of the Heavens, so that He may fulfill all things. And He gave indeed the apostles, and the prophets, and the evangelists, and shepherds and teachers... for the work of service in order to the building up of the body of the Anointed One.” The Apostles in this text refer exclusively to the Twelve, who wrote by inspiration, and were given plenipotentiary powers by Jesus. “Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.” (Matt. 16:19)

Next in order and in rank in the Church are the “prophets.” These cannot be the Old Testament prophets because they are not a part of the Church; therefore, they must be men of rank in the Gospel Age, and we understand them to be included in the “seven stars” of Rev. 1:16: “He [Jesus] had in his right hand seven stars.” On page 345 of the 1916 Watch Tower, there is this comment about them:

“This One whom we thus know, thus recognize, as the instructor and Caretaker of the candlesticks, we are also to recognize as having in His right hand ─ in His favor as well as His power ─ seven stars, the angels, the messengers, of the seven churches. That they are in His right hand seems to teach us that these should be considered as in some special sense under the Master's guidance, protection and care in the interest of the Churches which they represented.”

So far as we know, That Servant never named seven individuals as these “seven stars”; however, immediately after Brother Russell's demise, J. F. Rutherford named St. Paul, St. John, Arius, Waldo, Wycliffe, Luther and Brother Russell as the “seven stars.” While we agree that the above seven are a part of the “seven stars,” we believe there were others. This list omits Claudius of Turin, the first Protestant Reformer, John Wesley, Servetus, Hubmaier, and many other saintly reformers of the Gospel Age. We believe the “seven stars” are a composite group of forty-nine ─ 7 X 7 = 49 ─ just as The Mystery of God, The Christ, is a composite group of 144,001 members. “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand... The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.” (Rev. 1:20) “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” (Rev. 10:7)

It is not our purpose here to elaborate upon the “evangelists” (lesser lights in the general church than the “prophets”) or the “shepherds and teachers” (local elders), other than to note that these four classes of leaders constitute the full and complete organization of the Church ─ and is not an organization made by man. This organization should not be added to nor taken from. “Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.” (Rev. 22:7,18) And, since St. Paul wrote by inspiration, we may accept his outline as being infallible. He further defines these two classes of Church leaders in Eph. 2: 19,20, Dia.: “You are fellow-citizens with the saints... having been built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets.” During the Age many have attempted to add to, or take from this organization, or arrangement, for the Church, which has brought them the condemnation of Rev. 22:18,19. They are the class described in Psa. 107:11: “They rebelled against the words of God [the true Bible doctrines], and contemned the counsel of the Most High [the organization of the Church as given by St. Paul].”

The same Apostle gives the Church organization in slightly different words in 1 Cor. 12:27-29, Dia.: “Now you are a Body of Christ, and members in part. And those whom God placed in the congregation, are first Apostles; second, Prophets; third, Teachers... All are not Apostles; all are not Prophets; all are not Teachers.” Here again St. Paul says the Prophets are second to the Apostles, and given their place in the congregation for the work of the ministry, for the perfecting of the Saints. And, since God has so placed them, woe be to any who attempt to place themselves into such positions, or to ignore those that God has so placed. When the great apostasy developed, after the demise of the Apostles, the Church of Rome tossed aside completely the organization of the Church ─ just as they did with all the important teachings of the Bible ─ they “rebelled [revolutionized] against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the Most High.” And in like manner, the Jehovah's Witnesses have done much the same thing since Brother Russell's demise. “And on this account God will send to them an energy of delusion, to their believing the falsehood [such as Millions Now Living Will Never Die; and more recently, their establishment of the Kingdom in this “present evil world,” etc.]; in order that all those may be judged who believed not the truth, but approved the iniquity.” (2 Thes. 2:11,12, Dia.)

“Them that honour Me I will honour” (1 Sam. 2:30); and we do well also to honor those that the Lord honors ─ not as “angel” worshipers, but in sound and proper appraisal of their position in the Household, their service in the Household, and as examples of the believers in the Household. Actuated by this text, we now offer some observations concerning Brother Russell in memory of his passing beyond the vail October 31, 1916.

Some of the Gospel-Age prophets had a special doctrine that they emphasized above all others, and which acted somewhat as the foundation of all their teachings; and we believe this was true of Brother Russell, which we would briefly describe as: A correct understanding of the Atonement as portrayed in Leviticus 16, the central teaching of which is RESTITUTION.

THE PATH OF THE JUST

“The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” (Prov. 4:18) This truth has applied all during the Age to the course of the individual believers, and to the Church as a body; and it was pointedly true of Brother Russell in his own endeavors to arrive at the truth on various subjects, some of which we now describe. First, however, we would commend the courage of the man for casting aside the vast accumulation of error that existed in the early days of his ministry. Many of those errors were firmly entrenched as the truth by the powerful leaders of Christendom; and it required not only courage, but unusual brilliance of mind to separate the truth from the error. Even those truths that were held by the various systems, such as justification by faith, baptism, etc., needed much polishing to bring them to the clarity with which we now understand them, and which we accept as fact, often not considering the great amount of work that was required to hand them to us as we now accept them in commonplace fashion. And one of these great truths was the doctrine of Restitution, which had been completely lost during the Dark Ages.

Some detail on the subject will clarify this. Brother Russell had been closely associated with Messrs. Barbour and Paton as co-editors of The Herald of the Morning; but in 1878 Mr. Barbour began to develop his errors in denial of the Ransom; and he cunningly stressed Leviticus 16 as proof of his contention. This distressed Brother Russell greatly. He knew the arguments were wrong, but he did not understand the truth clearly enough to refute them. Knowing they had come into the Harvest of the Gospel Age, he logically concluded that any error that appeared would be clearly refuted by the Truth, because the time had come for “the hail [hard sharp Truth] to sweep away the refuge of lies.” (Isa. 28:17) Therefore, he sent word to the foreman of his Pittsburgh store that he would not come that day, and for him to conduct the business as usual in his absence. Knowing that Hebrews discusses more than any other Biblical book the tabernacle types, and that St. Paul possessed a very clear understanding of those types, he spent that whole day in study and prayer in a strenuous effort to learn the truth about them. By evening he was still completely in the dark, so he spent the next day in the same manner, and with the same results. He went to his task the third day, and about noon came to Hebrews 13:10-16, wherein the Apostle contrasts the sacrifices of the Jewish ritual with those of the Gospel Age ─ first of all the sacrifice of Jesus as the antitype of the Atonement Day bullock. Realizing that his prayers and efforts had finally been rewarded, he jubilantly exclaimed to his wife: “I have it! I have it!” To which she answered, “Do not be too sure.” However, going over the verses again with her, he reassured himself that he had the truth, and that Restitution was the logical answer to the types in Leviticus 16.

However, he then became measurably afraid of his own findings, so that, instead of rushing into print with this phenomenal truth, he called a conference of leading brethren, and discussed the subject with them for eight days, making notes there that he later published as Tabernacle Shadows of the Better Sacrifices. Excepting Mr. Paton, those leaders were convinced of the truth, and began to preach it to the Allegheny ecclesia; but they, too, were hesitant about accepting it. But once finally convinced, they heartily began to preach it to others; thus, the light on this great doctrine shone more and more unto the perfect day. The “perfect day” in our text would be better rendered "median day," meaning the position of the sun at high noon, when it is brightest and when it seems to stand still in the heavens.

The great truth contained in Tabernacle Shadows immediately swept away the refuge of lies on eternal torment, the consciousness of the dead, confusion on the establishment of the Kingdom, etc. However, almost always during the Harvest there was primarily a hesitance on the part of those hearing it for the first time to believe it; but persuasion and detailed explanation usually convinced them, after which they, too, accepted it with enthusiasm and then began to preach it to others.

Perhaps a little digression should be injected here. In Exodus 34:29-35 we are told that when Moses came down from Mount Sinai his face shone, “and the children of Israel were afraid to come nigh to him... Moses gave the children of Israel all that the Lord had spoken with him... Till he had done speaking he put a vail on his face.” St. Paul also tells us in Hebrews that those things that occurred at Sinai were typical of the establishment of the Kingdom here in the end of the Age. And the brethren, inoculated as they all were, with the colossal errors of the past, at first feared to receive the Truth. Of course, the first to respond fully to the Tabernacle truths was Brother Russell himself, although even he was overwhelmed by its brilliance for a time; but the Lord then used him as the vail between Him and the brethren to buffer the dazzling effect at first experienced. From this standpoint, Brother Russell was the antitypica1 vail that the Lord used to convey new and radical truths to the Harvest workers.

  As stated foregoing, Leviticus 16 reveals the offerings for sin, which in turn effects atonement, which “in due time” will accomplish “the restitution of all things.” (Acts 3:19-23) After clearly understanding this great truth, Brother Russell repeatedly preached it in his public lectures; and he urged all the pilgrims to do likewise. This in turn aroused the vicious antagonism of the Hell-fire preachers throughout Christendom; but the more they opposed, the more the message prospered; and by the time Brother Russell died in 1916 it was considered by many in Christendom as a reflection upon the intelligence of anyone who still believed in eternal torment as the wages of sin.

BELOVED OF GOD

  Those who knew him well loved Brother Russell as a father ─ probably loved him more than they did any other human being. And this affection shown toward him was never abused, nor did it mar his humility. He was also greatly beloved of God. We understand he was the antitype of Daniel in certain of his activities; and three different times (Dan. 9:23; 10:11,19) we are told he was greatly beloved. “O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken to me, I was strengthened.” (10:19) He was also the antitype of Eldad in Num. 11:26,27; and Eldad means Beloved of God.

His demise in 1916 greatly saddened the entire Truth movement, although it was not long after 1916 before sundry and subtle errors beclouded the minds of many, as the errorists endeavored to take from Brother Russell what God had given him. The following from E-9-319 is a glowing tribute still cherished by many who knew him well:

“He will ever occupy in our hearts the large place that his holy character, unselfish service and faithful sufferings have won for him. That his memory may still continue fragrant and blest to us let us together briefly review the activities, achievements and attainments of this eminent saint of God. He certainly was a SCHOLAR in the true sense of that term. Those who require a university diploma as indispensable evidence of learning will deny him the merit of scholarship. However, there are not a few cases of scholars that were self-made, gaining their knowledge apart from the schools of the learned world. Among such our Pastor won a high place. Apart from English he was not a linguist, though he learned how to use well for his Biblical work the gains of the best scholarship in Greek and Hebrew. He was deeply versed in history, as his writings attest. So thoroughly did he understand business that able financiers eagerly sought his advice. His writings show that he was at home in the perplexing questions of industry, economics, sociology, capital and labor. The realms of philosophy were deeply explored by him, and he was an expert in theoretical and practical psychology and phrenology. Few have understood the workings of the human intellect and heart so well as he. Human anatomy and physiology were open books to him. However, his real eminence in learning was in the domain of theology, in which he was without a peer since the days of the Apostles. His knowledge of the Bible was phenomenal; and when other theologians will have been discarded, he will be recognized as a standing authority in this the greatest of all sciences.

“Naturally such a scholar would be a writer. Very few human beings have written more than he. His correspondence alone was sufficient for the life work of an industrious and talented man. When it is remembered that some years over 300,000 letters and postals were written to him, and that he supervised the answers to this huge mail, we can realize something of the amount of his correspondence and the time and labor involved. As an author he produced six unrivaled books on the Bible whose combined circulation during his life aggregated 10,000,000 copies. As a bookleteer he published a number of booklets of great value, one of which, on Hell, has been circulated more widely than any other booklet ever written. He produced over 200 tracts, some of which attained a circulation of over 50,000,000 copies. His sermons, appearing regularly every week for thirteen years, were published part of that time simultaneously in over 2,000 newspapers, having a combined circulation of over 15,000,000 copies. He edited a semi-monthly religious magazine with a circulation of about 45,000 copies.”

The foregoing is the comment of an eminent scholar, a scholar who had the advantage of higher institutional learning; yet his superiority of schooling did not deter him in giving to Brother Russell the glowing tribute reproduced above. He freely admitted that Brother Russell was his intellectual superior, and gladly rendered honor to whom honor was due. And, as respects Brother Russell's executive ability, we were told that a prominent industrialist once said of Brother Russell that he would be worth two million dollars a year to any corporation large enough to afford such help.

THE PAROUSIA MESSENGER

 It is our opinion that the opening words of the Jeremiah prophecy are well adapted to describing Brother Russell: “The word of the Lord came unto me, saying... I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee. Then the Lord put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth.  See,     I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” (Jer. 1:4-10) In his youth Brother Russell was acutely conscious of his lack of higher learning; thus, he considered other prominent religious leaders more qualified than he to declare the truths that had been given him. But he soon recognized that the task was his ─ that the Lord had indeed put His words into his mouth.

With the great advances that had come since 1874 in inventions, in learning, and in the professions, Christendom was basking in the security that no evil could befall them. This was truly a strong deterrent to the preaching of a great world war breaking forth in 1914; and it required exceptional courage and faith to continue to announce it. In fact, we are told that the Gideons (the group that place the Bibles in the Hotels) had a convention in Toronto in 1913, and there made the proclamation that it was nonsense to expect a great war in a year, that Christendom was much too advanced for any such folly. With everything so calm on the surface, the casual observer was inclined to agree with them. It was causing Brother Russell some concern, too, so he made careful re-check of the chronology, but could find nothing wrong with it.

When the war did start right on time in 1914 it was like a bolt of lightning from a sunny sky. With the assassination of the Austrian Archduke and his wife, as they were taking a carriage drive through a part of Serbia, the world became a holocaust in a twenty-­four hour period; and it gave loud testimony to the world that Brother Russell had been “ordained a prophet unto the nations.” Inasmuch as he had made crystal clear the meaning of the Lord's Parousia ─ over the thousand years, and in its various stages ─ Brother Johnson began to refer to him as the Parousia Messenger. This title is not to be found in the Bible by direct statement, but it is easily conceived by considering a few texts. In Psa. 91:11 it is stated, “He will give his angels a charge concerning thee”; and the Manna comment for November 17 explains that these angels would be human messengers provided for the special oversight and welfare of the Church. Thus, Parousia Messenger could aptly be stated Parousia Angel, but Parousia Messenger makes the thought a little clearer to the average reader.

He was not only the Parousia Messenger, but he was That Servant (Matt. 24:45-47), he was the prophet unto the nations (Jer. 1:5), he was “that faithful and wise steward” (Luke 12:42), he was one of the stars (Rev. 1:16), he was one of the prophets in the Gospel-Age Church, and those who knew him intimately would readily testify that he was one of the foundation stones in the Parousia Church (Eph. 2:20), he was a pilgrim, he was a warrior and, as such, he was the antitypica1 Parousia David. He was also the antitypical Eleazar of the Gospel-Age Harvest. As such he had full charge of the anti­typical Tabernacle, the Church: “He shall make him ruler over all His goods.” (Matt. 24:47) In this he was the parallel of the twelve Apostles in the Jewish Harvest. He was a genteel man, but most of his adult years were spent in fighting ─ set for the defense of the Truth. In Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, under biographical names, it lists Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916) “American Pastor.” And the same dictionary lists Joseph Franklin Rutherford (1869-1942) “Judge - American leader of Jehovah's Witnesses.” It is our hearty recommendation that wherever two or more brethren may meet together that they hold a memorial service the last week in October, which meeting could include testimonies, and perhaps a reading of some sort pertinent to his life, work and character, as we all join in saying, God bless his memory!

THE EPIPHANY MESSENGER

As Pilgrim, Brother Paul S. L. Johnson was Brother Russell's special helper during the final years of his life. The title Epiphany Messenger is likewise not found in the Bible; but, using Psa. 91:11, there is no difficulty in coining the expression. He did for the Epiphany what the Parousia Messenger did for the Parousia, although his ministry was not nearly so extensive or compelling. At the death of the Parousia Messenger we believe it could truthfully be said that all the living Saints had come into his organization, leaving none to be found elsewhere; but this was definitely not the case with the Epiphany Messenger. He often said that there were more Saints in the other Truth groups than he had with him ─ which means it was not necessary for them to come under his direction to retain their saintly standing, although those who did so received special blessings, particularly in service, that did not come to those in the other groups.

He was one of the stars ─ one of the prophets, but much less important than the Parousia Messenger had been. He was certainly the son of the Parousia David; and this is the record in 1 Chron. 22:5: “David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be bui1ded for the Lord must be exceedingly magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will now therefore make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.” Indeed, the Parousia David left a goodly heritage not only to his son Solomon, but to the entire Household, in the clear and logical structure of the Parousia Truth; although many of the former pilgrims began to tamper with that Truth, and it then fell to the lot of the Epiphany Messenger to defend almost every important tenet of Parousia Truth. And now it has become so vitiated by some that it is no longer recognizable for what it once was.

Recognizing the colossal task which faced him, the Epiphany Messenger made special prayer for wisdom and strength sufficient for the job to be done, and this is what 1 Kings 4:29-31 has to say about it: “God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore. And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men.” Very often did various religious organizations write to him for his analysis on extremely difficult Bible texts; and those of us who were close to him know the skill with which he answered them.

As a young man, before he joined the Harvest Movement, he had gained extensive recognition as a Lutheran minister in Columbus, Ohio, and elsewhere. By intensive study for about three months in 1903 he had been able clearly to see the Truth on the unity of God, human mortality, death as the wages of sin, Papacy as the Beast, identity of the Millennium and the Judgment Day, and 1914 as the end of the Age. Thereafter he made no progress toward understanding Present Truth until he came into the Harvest movement. He was a true scholar of Greek and Hebrew, spoke German fluently; and in his earlier years he was able to give an oration in Latin ─ a feat which very few College professors of Latin are able to do. He graduated from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, with the highest honors of anyone who ever attended that institution up to that time. We knew a prominent Lutheran minister in Dayton, Ohio, who had been his classmate, and he said Paul Johnson was known throughout the campus as the mental giant. All this is simply a statement of fact, and in no sense intended to give undue praise, in like manner as he wrote about the Parousia Messenger after his death. Thus, we conclude this present appraisal the same as we did that of the Parousia Messenger ─ God bless his memory!

We invite all of like mind to join with us in giving honor to whom honor is due, and in honoring those whom the Lord honors. Our Lord Himself said, “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.” (John 12:26)

(Brother John J. Hoefle, Reprint 478, October 1996)

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QUESTIONS OF GENERAL INTEREST

QUESTION ─ What about the number of the beast, 666?

ANSWER    ─ There are various interpretations given to this. I am not specially prepared to say all about my view of the matter, except that I believe it would represent the title of papacy. There are three Latin words inscribed on the Pope’s crown, Vicarous Felii Dei, the Vicarious Son of God. This title attached to the Pope would seem to be an illegitimate one. He is not the vicarious Son of God; He is not the vicar of Christ; he is not reigning instead of Christ; and therefore every intimation to the effect that he is the substitute or representative of Christ in reigning power would seem to be that much of a blasphemy. Not that the Pope and the Catholics understand that they are blaspheming. I presume they feel fully confident that this is all very true of him. But to our understanding it is untrue, and he is in a false position, and is really anti-Christ, or the counterfeit Christ, as the Bible would express the matter. (1911, page 37)

QUESTION ─ Kindly explain Isaiah 26:14: “They are dead; they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise; therefore hast Thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.”

ANSWER    ─ There are some who think that this text refers to mankind and they then try to use this text to overthrow other texts. We should not go trying to overthrow one text by another. We should rather be for trying to bring all the texts of Scripture into full harmony with each other and with the whole. Here is a text which seems to conflict with the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. Look at the text for a moment. We find here a very special description of the class here specified. This description applies to the “Giants” of the present day in the world. This refers to the great giant trusts and corporations that have a wonderful power and they are all coming together. It does not matter how strong they seem to be at the present time, they shall come down. They shall die. They shall perish. They shall never rise again when once they have perished. These are the class to whom this text does refer. (1912, pages 210, 211)

QUESTION ─ Please explain the text that speaks of some persons as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed.

ANSWER    ─ The Apostle is speaking of some who are to suffer destruction at the hands of the Lord, and he says as wild beasts they are taken and destroyed. You do not think it any harm to destroy a lion. Why? Because he is ferocious and apt to do some harm. If it were a dove flying about and harmless, I would say, do not touch it, but let it go. Or if it were some bird of beautiful plumage flying about and doing no harm, but only uttering some beautiful trill of voice, I would say, do not touch the bird. Why should we destroy the life of any such innocent and beautiful creature? But if it were a lion or a tiger, and the whole village or city was in distress because of it, and it was going to do some harm, we would say that we had better destroy it. Every policeman, under such circumstances, is authorized to draw his revolver and to shoot immediately. It is only fit for destruction; and is not a proper thing to let go at liberty. So, the Lord has this view with respecting a certain class He is going to destroy in the Second Death. They are not fit for life; that is the reason they will be destroyed. They are no more fit for life than the brute beasts are fit to live. Just as it is proper to destroy a corrupt person who has injured others, and to cut off his opportunity of perpetuating evil, so it would be to destroy a brute beast. And God purposes that all the wicked will He destroy ─ those who have had full knowledge, and have been helped in every way that God, Christ and the Ancient Worthies will be able to help them ─ after they have had all of that, if they are still, at heart, antagonistic to righteousness, and if they still love iniquity, let them die as brute beasts. But it would not be right to torment them. It is not right to torment brute beasts. Who would say that God or man had a right to torment even brute beasts, or human creatures? But it is right to destroy beasts and it is right for God to destroy those who will ultimately be like brute beasts, in that they would be injurious to others. ( 1907, pages 224, 225)

 (The above questions are from What Pastor Russell Said)

ANNOUNCEMENT: We are pleased to announce that we now have available at no cost to you, tract No. 10, titled God’s Standard. We believe this will be good to give to those who think they are saints and are still “gathering saints.” Also, it would be good to give to those who believe themselves to be Consecrated Epiphany Campers. This would encourage and bless both of those groups, as they would learn that God has opened another door for those consecrators who are too late to be of the Saint class, just as the Ancient Worthies were too early for that elect class.  

NO. 589 THE WORLD'S JUDGMENT DAY

"God hath appointed a Day in the which He will judge the world." (Acts 17:31)

True, it is not today fashionable in civilized commu­nities to worship images; and yet in another sense it is still fashionable. To a great extent idolatry still prevails throughout the civilized world, but in a different form from that of old. No longer do we bow before wooden images, but before inward images ─ the images of our minds, our mental aspirations ─ with some, wealth and fame; with others, ease and pleasures; and with still others, the creed idols of our forefathers ─ miserable mis­representations of the true God.

St. Paul on Mars Hill preached Jesus and the resur­rection ─ Jesus as the Redeemer from the death sentence, making possible the resurrection of the dead by satisfy­ing the demands of Divine Law against the sinner ─ the resurrection as the means or agency through which the blessing of the Savior's death will reach Adam and all the families of the earth. As we follow St. Paul's thought we shall surely be blessed by his view of the Gospel.

Addressing the Gentiles, the Apostle explains that for a long time God had "winked" at polytheism and image worship, “but now,” he says, “God commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” Let us note the mean­ing of these words. How did God “wink” at sin and idolatry? And does He still “wink” at it? And why did He change and when did He begin to command all men to repent?

The answer is that for four thousand years idolatry prevailed and God “winked” at or took no notice of it. He did not “wink” at the idolaters dying in their igno­rance, and say to the devils, “Take these poor creatures who know no better! Roast them to all eternity!” Noth­ing of the kind. Our forefathers merely imagined that, and by false reasoning convinced themselves, and twisted some texts of Scripture which they did not properly un­derstand in support of this theory; and then they handed it down to us to our perplexity and to the testing of our faith in God.

God “winked” at idolatry and sin for four thousand years in the sense of not noticing it, making no comment on it, sending no reproofs, leaving the heathen in their ignorance. The only exception to this was God's deal­ings with the little nation of Israel. To the Jews He gave a Law Covenant which offered eternal life on the condition of their thorough obedience to the Divine Law, the measure of a perfect man's ability, which they were unable to comply with; and hence they died the same as did the heathen. All went to the Bible hell ─ to the tomb ─ to sheol, to hades, the state or condition of death ─ an unconscious state, a “sleep.”

JESUS THE REDEEMER

God was in no haste, however. Over four thousand years elapsed before Jesus was born, and thirty years more before He began His ministry. Had it been true, as some aver, that millions for all those centuries were blind­ly stumbling into eternal torture for lack of a Divine revelation, we may be sure that our gracious God would not have left them without it.  Who can think of a just and loving God as winking at the going of millions of His creatures to eternal torture? But since they merely "fell asleep" in death, He could very well “wink” at the mat­ter in view of His future plans, as we shall see.

The fact is that no release from death could pos­sibly be made until the Redemption-price had been pro­vided for the original sin under which they were con­demned to death. This is the Apostle's argument, viz., that “now God commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” The now implies that He did not command men previously to repent; and the reason why He did not do so is manifest; for all the repenting they could do and all the righteous living possible to them would not have saved them. They would have died anyway. Hence there could have been no message sent to them; for if the mes­senger had come and had said, “Repent, and live con­trary to your fallen tastes and appetites," the people might properly enough have said, "Why? For what rea­son should we practice self-denial, self-restraint?  Would it bring us any blessing of everlasting life or harmony with God?” The truthful answer would have been, “No, because you are already under a death sentence and alienated from God as sinners.”

Hence God merely overlooked or “winked” at the ignorance and superstition of the period from Adam to the death of our Redeemer. But as soon as Jesus had died, “the Just for the unjust,” to make reconciliation for iniquity ─ immediately the message went forth ─ God offered forgiveness and reconciliation to those who would believe in Jesus and would accept the Divine terms. Such have their sins forgiven. Such may come back to fel­lowship with God. And, in the next Age, such may even­tually attain full human perfection by restitution proc­esses, up, up to all that was lost in Adam and redeemed at Calvary (John 3:16,17).

GOD'S APPOINTED DAY

Let us note carefully what the Apostle says respect­ing God's appointed Day for the judging of the world. He says that the command to repent now goes forth to all men everywhere, “because God hath appointed a [future] Day, in which He will judge the world.” The Apostle does not refer to that Day as already begun, but as merely appointed or arranged for in advance. He means that in arranging that “Jesus, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man,” God was arrang­ing that every man might have a judgment or a trial, to determine whether or not he will be worthy of this blessing which Jesus’ death provides him an opportunity to secure. The Day was future in St. Paul's time, and it is still future, because God has other work which He purposes shall be accomplished first, before the world's Day of Judgment or trial shall begin.

The world’s Trial Day, or period of judgment, or test­ing as to worthiness or unworthiness for everlasting life, will be one of the thousand-year Days mentioned by St. Peter, who said, “A Day with the Lord is as a thousand years.” The same period is called elsewhere the “Day of Christ,” the Day or period of Messiah's glorious reign. By the righteous ruling of His King­dom, by the suppression of Satan and sin and the scat­tering of darkness, ignorance and superstition, by the shining forth of the Sun of Righteousness with healing in its beams, that glorious Day will bring blessing to the world in general – opportunity for each individual to come into judgment or trial, the result of which will be either the reward of life everlasting or the punish­ment of death everlasting – “everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.” (2 Thes. 1:9)

That great thousand-year Day is still future; and, meantime, the Apostle’s words respecting mankind are still true: “The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together” ─ “waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God.” (Rom. 8:22,19)  If the nineteen cen­turies’ delay in the introduction of this great Day seems long, let us not forget that it is less than half as long as the period which preceded ─ the period prior to the com­ing of Jesus and His dying, “the Just for the unjust.”

Nor is the entire period long from the Divine standpoint; for as the Prophet declares: “A thousand years in God’s sight are but as yesterday,” or even shorter, “as a watch in the night.” The six great Days of a thousand years each, in which Sin and Death have reigned, are to be followed by a great Sabbath of rest from evil ─ a thou­sand years of refreshment, reinvigoration, upbuilding, restitution (Acts 3:19-23).

"THE MYSTERY OF GOD"

The purpose of the nineteen centuries between the time when Jesus died as man’s Redeemer and the time when He will take His Throne as the Restorer of Adam and his race is spoken of as a Mystery, because the great work of grace herein accomplished is measurably hidden from the world. The Jews do not understand it; they expected that Messiah’s Kingdom and their own national exaltation would have come long ago. They cannot tell now why they have been for eighteen centuries outcast from the Divine favor.  It is a mystery to them.

The Scriptures tell us who may know or understand this Mystery and when it will be finished. They say, “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His Covenant.” (Psa. 25:14) They tell us that “in the days of the voice of the Seventh Angel, when he shall begin to sound, the Mystery of God shall be fin­ished” (Rev. 10:7), which He hath kept secret from the foundation of the world. St. Paul refers to this Mystery, saying that it was “hidden from past Ages and Dispensations,” and that it “is now revealed to the saints.” He ex­plains what it is, namely, that we should be fellow-heirs and of the same nature with our Redeemer (Eph. 3:6).

This clearly means that the entire Church class, some­times called “the Body of Christ, which is the Church,” and sometimes styled “the Bride, the Lamb's Wife,” is to be sharer with the Redeemer in the sufferings of the present life and in the glories of the future. The nearly nineteen centuries of this Age, therefore, according to the Scriptures, have been for the purpose, not of giving the world its trial for everlasting life or death, but for the trying, testing, the electing or selecting of the Church, and her perfecting with her Lord as sharers in “His resurrection,” “the First Resurrection.”

We have in the past made two serious mistakes re­specting the Divine purposes. One was that we assumed without Scriptural authority that the whole world is now on trial for eternal life, failing to see that it is merely the elect Church, the consecrated class. The other mis­take is that we reasoned as though the Church were part of the world and, therefore, that the trial of the Church meant the trial of the world. But hearken to the Scrip­tures respecting the Church: “Ye are not of the world, even as I am not of the world”; “I have chosen you out of the world”; and again, “Let your light so shine be­fore men that they, seeing your good works, may glori­fy your Father which is in Heaven” “in the day of their visitation.” (John 15:19; Matt. 5:16; 1 Peter 2:12)

TWO DIFFERENT REWARDS

We should notice also the wide difference between the reward promised the Church and that proffered the world. In both cases the reward will be everlasting life. In both cases this will mean full harmony with God, be­cause “All the wicked will God destroy.” And again we read that “Whosoever hath the Son hath life, and who­soever hath not the Son shall not see life.” So, then, the attainment of everlasting life, either by the Church class or by the world, will mean coming into full har­mony with the Heavenly Father and with the Lord Jesus, by the merit of Christ’s sacrifice. It will mean a full turning away from sin and a full devotion to God and to righteousness (Psa. 145:20; John 3:36; 5:12).

The difference will be as to nature. The reward for the world will be earthly nature, human nature, with everlasting life in an earthly Paradise or Eden ─ world­wide. Mankind never lost a spiritual or Heavenly condi­tion through Adam’s disobedience, nor in any other man­ner. He never had such a condition or nature, or a right to it, that he could lose it. He was made man, “a little lower than the angels.” His crown of glory and honor was an earthly crown. His dominion was over the birds of the air, over cattle and over the fish of the sea. This which he lost Jesus gave the Redemption-price for at Calvary; and these things lost are the very things which Jesus and His elect Bride will restore to mankind during the thousand years of the Messianic Kingdom. Thus we read: “The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Gen. 1:26; Psa. 8:4-8; Luke 19:10)

PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE

The reward of the Church, eternal life, perfection and harmony with God, will be on the spirit plane ─ wholly different from the human. Man in perfection will again be a little lower than the angels; but the Church, as the Body of Christ, will share with her Lord in His exalta­tion, “far above angels, principalities and powers and every name that is named” ─ the Divine nature. This reward comes to the Church under a special covenant of sacrifice, which the Bible specifies (Eph. 1:21; Psa. 50:5).

This Church class, like her Lord, must sacrifice the earthly nature, earthly interests, hopes and aims, and must be begotten of the Father to a Heavenly, spiritual nature, in order to be a sharer in the First Resurrection; and she must enter into her reward before the Messianic Kingdom can be established for the blessing of mankind in general – the saving of the race from sin and death.

Thus the Apostle wrote that the groaning creation “waits for the manifestation of the sons of God.” (Rom. 8:19) “Now are we the sons of God, but it doth not yet appear what we shall be [how glorious, how great], but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him.” (1 John 3:2) Our resurrection change will make us like the Savior; as it is written, “We shall all be changed, in a moment, in a twinkling,” because “flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Come back again to St. Paul's words. He does not say that God commanded the Church to sacrifice; for if sacrifice were a command it would cease to be a sacrifice. Nowhere are God's people commanded to present their bodies living sacrifices, nor to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, nor to take up the cross and follow Him. To the saintly these sacrificing features are set forth as a privi­lege ─ as an opportunity. If they do these things the Divine arrangement is that through the imputation of Christ's merit their sacrifice will be holy and acceptable unto God, and they will be granted a share with the Re­deemer in His high exaltation ─ the reward of sacrifice, of self-denial, of loving, voluntary service to God, the Truth and the brethren.

“COMMANDETH ALL TO REPENT”

But to the world in general the Lord issues a com­mand, viz., Repent; turn from your sins; come back to Me; seek My face; seek to know and do My will. The basis of this command is the Divine declaration that God's grace has provided redemption in the blood of Jesus, a reconciliation through His blood, and that by and by the whole world will be on trial for life or death everlasting, in a great Day of trial, which God has or­dained and over which Christ and the Church will su­pervise, as Judges (1 Cor. 6:2,3).

Whoever comes to a knowledge of this great Divine arrangement through Christ has an incentive to live right­eously, soberly and godly in this present time. Whoever hears and heeds this command is laying up for himself a good treasure of character and preparation for his life or death trial in the great Judgment Day of the Messianic Kingdom. Whoever ignores this knowledge and “sows to the flesh” will find himself reaping to the flesh further weakness, further degradation and severer stripes or punishments in that great thousand-year Judgment Day.  (Pastor Russell, Pastor Russell’s Sermons, page 148, March 10, 1912)

When He who is our life

Appears, to take the Throne,

We, too, shall be revealed, and shine

In glory like His own.

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THE LORD’S PRESENCE

Satan is working very hard these days. He seems to know that his evil Kingdom is about to end and he is trying every trick he can to prevent that. The Devil has always changed his methods to suit the times. Here is some of what is transpiring today.

First, there are the so-called Judas Gospels, purporting to be written by Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.  It claims that Judas and Jesus had a conspiracy. They were to pretend that Jesus was crucified, but in reality He would be hidden away somewhere. In the first place the word Gospel means good news, and if the above were true it certainly would not be “good tidings of great joy,” because we would still be in our sins due to the fact that Jesus would not have died for us.

Here is what That Servant said about Judas: “We judge that if Pilate and Herod and the Roman soldiers had some responsibility for Christ’s death, the multitude who clamored “Crucify Him! His blood be upon us and on our children!” had much more responsibility; that the better educated, envious Pharisees and Priest who incited the illiterate, common people, had yet a greater responsibility (Matt. 23:15-33), and that Judas, His betrayer, was the chief, the real crucifier, because of his knowledge and willfulness.

“Upon him alone, of all who had to do with His death, our Lord placed the full responsibility, the full guilt, when He said: ‘The Son of Man goeth [to death] as it is written of Him [prophetically], but woe unto that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It had been good for that man if he had not been born!’ (Matt. 26:24) Should Judas be granted eternal life, under any circumstances or after any experience, his birth could not be considered a disadvantage to himself. See also Psa. 109:6-8; John 6:70,71; 17:12.” (Reprint 4906, November 1, 1911)

Now comes an advertisement from a new church or a new denomination, we do not know which. The headline reads: Christ is Coming Very Soon! Then it goes on to give many reasons why. They are: (1) Israel’s rebirth (2) Plummeting morality (3) Famines, violence and wars (4) Increase in earthquakes (5) Explosion of travel and education (6) Explosion of cults and occult (7) The New World Order (8) Increase in both apostasy and faith.

All of these are true events, but they are to happen after the Lord is present, because He is present to take over the world, which He bought, and banish the Devil and his evil Empire. The problem is that most people expect the Lord to return in the flesh, but Jesus said, “A little while and the world sees me no more.” (John 14:19) His Kingdom is to be an invisible Kingdom just as the Devil’s, now still present with us, is invisible (2 Cor. 4:4). We do not see Satan personally, but we see his effects and troubles throughout the world. Thus will we see Jesus’ Kingdom. In fact we are already seeing some of the effects of His reigning, because there are good things happening, as well as the bad. It is just that the bad receives more attention. Some of the good things are the return of Israel, great strides made in medicine, which are saving many lives, and all the inventions that have come about in the last 100 years or so ─ for instance, the automobile, telephone, aircraft, computers, new and better farm machinery, and many more. These things could not be from the intelligence and ingenuity of the people, but because the Lord has opened up the way for them to come about.

We will comment on just one of the eight items listed above in the advertisement. That is number 6, the explosion of cults and occult. The publisher of the advertisement could be a part of the explosion of cults. Cults have been multiplying in great numbers in recent years, with many splinter groups from the traditional denominations forming new churches, and each one is just as bad as the originals. None of them, including this one, have come out with exposure of the errors of the traditional churches. In fact they just repeat those errors in a different way.

And the explosion of the occult is very noticeable in the many present television shows. Those shows are Ghost Whisperer, Medium, Supernatural, etc., and they all have story lines that have characters speaking with the dead. Of course, this has risen out of the error that the dead are not really dead, that they just seemed to die and are more alive than ever. But the Scriptures say that the “dead know not anything” (Eccl 9:5) and that “there is no work, nor device, neither knowledge nor wisdom in the grave” (Eccl. 9:10). The Scriptures also tell us not to try to talk to the dead, but to God. We should talk unto God on behalf of the living, not to the dead (Isa. 8:19).

Sadly, some people, we hope not many, will listen to these lies and machinations of Satan and believe them, as has always been true from the beginning, when he told lies in the Garden of Eden. He told Eve that she would not surely die, and that lie has been believed ever since. But Bible Students know the Truth and it has made us free of being deceived by all these lies. However, we look forward to the good time coming when “all shall know Him from the least to the greatest” (Jer. 31:34), and they will serve the Lord with one consent (Zeph. 3:9). Hallelujah! What a glorious time that will be.

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QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST

QUESTION ─ Is there a call given in the Bible for any elect class other than the one for the High Calling mentioned in Philippians 3:14?

ANSWER    ─ The High Calling is for the Bride of Christ ─ those that suffer with Him: “Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” (Psa. 50:5) The Little Flock, the Bride class are “more than conquerors.” (Rom. 8:37) Another elect heavenly class runs concurrently with the High Calling. They were originally called to be of the Little Flock, but lost their crowns because of measurable unfaithfulness (Rev. 7:14). They loved the Lord and when they washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14) they were “overcomers” but not “more than conquerors” as were the Little Flock. “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.” (Rev. 7:9) The palms in their hands mean they were victorious. “And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” (Rev. 19:9) The Diaglott translation is better: “And he says to me, ‘Write: Blessed are those who have been invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ He also said to me, ‘These are the true words of God.’”

That Servant taught four elect classes, two heavenly classes and two earthly classes ─ the Ancient Worthies of Hebrews, chapter 11, won before the High Calling was open, the Little Flock, the Great Company referred to in the Scriptures as the “great multitude” and the unbegotten class we call Youthful Worthies. That Servant taught in Reprint 5761, column 2, paragraphs 1 and 2 as follows:

“THOSE CONSECRATING BETWEEN THE AGES”

“It is our thought that with the closing of the ‘door’ of this Gospel Age there will be no more begetting of the Holy Spirit to the spirit nature. Any afterward coming to God through consecration, before the inauguration of the restitution work, will be accepted by Him, not to the spirit plane of being, but to the earthly plane. Such would come in under the same conditions as the Ancient Worthies who were accepted of God. The Ancient Worthies came in, no call being opened to them ─ the High Calling not being yet open and the restitution opportunities not open. But they freely gave themselves up to God without knowing what blessings their consecration would bring, except that they had the intimation that they would, in the future life, have a ‘better resurrection’ than would the remainder of the world.

“Our thought is that whoever under such conditions as these will make a full consecration to the Lord, to leave all to follow in His ways, and will live up faithfully, loyally, to that consecration, may be privileged to be counted as a similar class to those who preceded this Gospel Age. We know of no reason why the Lord would refuse to receive these who make a consecration after the close of the Gospel Age High Calling and before the full opening of the Millennium.”

The question is: Is there a calling given in the Scriptures for the two classes that will receive an earthly reward? We do not know of any Scripture that says there is a calling for these classes. However, there is an opportunity to serve the Lord in faith and obedience. That is the requirement for these classes. They are not on trial for life, but for faith and obedience. If unfaithful they will be demoted to the world and have restitution opportunity as described in Acts 3:19-23. It seems they would be in a worse condition than some who had never made a consecration to do God’s will while evil and sin are in the ascendancy. But we leave such things for The Christ to judge during the Kingdom (Acts 17:31). If faithful, however, they will be the visible earthly rulers ─ “Princes in all the earth.” (Psa. 45:16)

That Servant gave three ways that would indicate that the door to the High Calling is closed. (1) By a definite Bible statement of the exact date; (2) By such a reversal of public sentiment with reference to the truth, that fidelity and zeal for its service would no longer meet with opposition, and when suffering with Christ for the truth’s sake (Rom. 8:17) would no longer be possible; (3) Such a condition of affairs obtaining in the world that all opportunity for such service would be effectually obstructed, thus leaving no oppor-tunities for candidates to enter into the work and to develop and prove their love and faithfulness by their activity and endurance. (Thy Kingdom Come, Volume 3, p. 207, par. 2)

We believe the second way applies to our times, as we receive no persecution for believing the Truth. Most people do not care what we believe. Persecution today is mainly political. But we should witness the Truth when we have opportunity. Witnessing, together with our untoward experiences in illness, disappoint-ments and hardships will develop in us a character pleasing to the Lord. “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (2 Tim. 2:3) If our trials are too much for us to endure and be faithful, He will make a way of escape, “that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor. 10:13)

As for No. 3, there will come a time when “they will not endure sound doctrine.” (2 Tim. 4:3) This will be in Anarchy, but for now we still find some who will listen to “sound doctrine,” and we should be diligent in serving the Lord at every opportunity.

We do not find a definite Bible statement teaching us that the door to the High Calling is closed. However, we have no definite Bible statement for many of the dates that Brother Russell presented, such as 1874, 1878, 1881, and 1914, but all are given to us by Bible Chronology. That Servant predicted that 1914 would be the end of Gentile Times. World War One began right on schedule and confirmed our belief.     

When Brother Russell announced that the Kingdom was set up September 21, 1914 in Reprint 5632, column 2, par. 4, we believe the ejecting of the nations began then and is still going on. The peoples of the world are protesting that their governments are unfair. The marching of the people against all institutions is God’s great army. When the Kingdom was set up September 21, 1914 the Saints were sealed in the heart, but had to be sealed in the forehead (sealed intellectually ─ know the truth) to participate in the Smiting of the Nations going on as given in the 1915 Reprint. The Smiting was done by the distribution of tracts and other reading matter, as well as the Photo-Drama. Did Brother Russell make the announcement that the Kingdom was set up by his own imagination or by Bible Chronology?

Brother Russell wrote many times of the unbegotten class which we call Youthful Worthies. One instance is in Parousia Volume Six: “And we may be sure that any consecrating and performing a full sacrifice of themselves in the interest of the Lord’s cause after the heavenly class is complete, will find that the Lord has plenty of blessings of some other kind still to give; and that all of His blessings are for such consecrators, self-sacrificers. Possibly they may be counted in with the Ancient Worthies who had the sacrificing disposition that is pleasing to God prior to the beginning of the high calling.” (Volume Six of Studies In The Scriptures, p. 157, top)

The Ancient Worthies were “faithful and obedient” and will have a “better resurrection” than the world in the Kingdom ─ they will be resurrected perfect (Heb. 11:39,40) The Ancient and Youthful Worthies are on trial for faith and obedience and not for life as were the Saints. If the Worthies are unfaithful they will go back into the world for restitution purposes.

(Reprint 478, October 1996)

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“TO HELL WITH LIMBO SAY THEOLOGIANS:  The Roman Catholic Church may soon jettison a disputed but long-held belief in an ethereal bit of real estate on the outskirts of heaven known as limbo. According to Catholic tradition (though not official church doctrine), limbo is the dwelling place of worthy nonbelievers and babies who die before they can be baptized.  But a commission of theologians that met in Vatican City last month is expected to recommend to Pope Benedict XVI that limbo be officially dropped from church teachings.

“The idea of limbo originated in the Middle Ages, but it has been contested for years.  In 1984, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the current pontiff said the concept of limbo had “never been a definitive truth of the faith.” The word itself comes from the Latin limbus, meaning edge or hem.  This hemline of heaven was reserved for those who do not deserve heaven or the suffering of purgatory and hell.

“While an official doctrine on limbo is still, well, in limbo, a draft catechism reportedly says that unbaptized babies who die – and presumably, aborted fetuses will be seen as fit to enter heaven.  An official announcement is expected within a year or so.”

(US News & World Report – January 9, 2006)

Comment:  It doesn’t matter whether the tradition of limbo is done away with, the Catholic Church still has the catechism which says that unbaptized babies who die will go to heaven. It seems, if this is the case, that we all would be better off dying in infancy without baptism rather than having to live many years battling “this evil world” and Satan.

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HERE THEY COME AGAIN

In 1948 when Israel became a State, the Islamic nations attacked them and vowed to wipe them off the map.  But Israel prevailed against them with the help of the Lord. Then in the 1967 six days war, they again were attacked with the announcement that they would be chased out into the sea.  Again the Lord was with them and their enemies were beaten. Now here comes Hizbollah, backed and financed by Iran and Syria, two Islamic nations, and their aim is to kill every Jew they possibly can.  We sincerely believe that they, too, will be defeated, with the help of the Lord.  They have struck out twice and will do so this third time.

The Lord told Israel: “Fear thou not O Jacob my servant; for I will make a full end of all nations whither I have driven thee; but I will not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in measure; yet I will not leave thee wholly unpunished.” (Jer. 46:28) And in Zech. 12:9: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” This does not mean that He will destroy the people of all the nations, although some will be destroyed, but it means that they will be destroyed as nations. This includes, not only non-Christian nations, but also the Christian nations who come against Jerusalem. In fact, the Christian nations will probably suffer more because they have had more light, truth and freedom, which they did not properly appreciate.

But the Lord also says that He will “destroy all the wicked.” (Psa. 145:20)  If these terrorist nations were to be left here when the Kingdom takes hold, they would be a hindrance to peace and good-will.

It is regrettable that many innocents have been injured or killed and we have great sympathy for these and their families. But God has often used warfare in His progressive Plan, as he did in ancient times and as he did in the above incidents in 1948 and 1974. So if this warfare brings the Kingdom closer at hand, we will accept and endure it.

When those who suffered in this war are returned from the grave with their injures healed, we believe they will be able to appreciate the Kingdom blessings even more than some who have had it relatively easy in their present lives.

So we earnestly pray for that Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth.

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 “DE-DESERTIFICATION:  Israelis scientists using know-how gained from decades of dealing with desert soil, are at the forefront of the global effort to solve the problem of increasing drylands caused by global warming, growing world population and exploitation of natural resources.

“Among experiments currently being conducted in Israel to prevent desertification of drylands are projects to recycle waste water, speed up plant growth and raise fish in desert ponds.”  (World Jewry, July/August 2006)

(“The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.” ─ Isaiah 35:1)