VOL. II. February 1, 1919 No. 3 THE
REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST VOL. II. February 15, 1919 No. 4 IS
THE DOOR INTO THE NARROW WAY CLOSED? THE
REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST VOL. II. February 1, 1919 No. 3 ACCOUNTS AUDITEDBrooklyn, N. Y., December 28, 1918. Pastoral Bible Institute, Brooklyn, N.Y. Dear Brethren, In accordance with your request we have examined the financial accounts of the General Committee elected at Pittsburgh, Pa., in January, 1918, their successors elected at Asbury Park, N. J., in July, and now organized as the Pastoral Bible Institute. We find your record of receipts and disbursements clear and that it has been carefully kept. We have checked the balance of cash on hand as shown by your books with your bank balance and cash, and find it to be properly accounted for. The list of disbursements has also been carefully examined. These seem reasonable and all in the interests of the Lord’s work. With Christian love and praying for you the Lord’s guidance and blessing in your efforts to serve Him and His Truth and people. Your brethren in Christ, Wm. J. Hollister, W. H. Kimball, H. E. Spear, Auditing Committee PERILOUS TIMES AT HAND"This know also, that in the last days perilous
times shall come."-2 Tim. 3:1 [The following remarkable article from the pen of our Pastor was written in 1910. Because it exhibits such, marvelous foresight in outlining in advance the present situation, and because it contains so much faithful advice for the Lord's people, we are reprinting it in this issue, believing it will be profitable to all.-Editorial Committee.) REALIZING
that we are now living in the very times referred to by the Apostle, some may inquire, How
can this be? Are not these times, in comparison with times past, especially favorable to
the prosperity of the Church? Time was when fire and sword and guillotine and rack were
systematically employed to exterminate the true saints of God, when the Word of God was a
book prohibited, and when the prison and the dungeon rewarded the faithful searching of
the Scriptures. And is there not also more Truth due and understood now than formerly, as
well as full liberty (if a man is pleased to exercise it) to believe and teach, either in
private or in public, whatever he believes to be Truth? Yes, such are the favorable conditions of our day. Never, in all the history of the Church, has there been a day of such privilege and blessing-such increase of knowledge and general intelligence, such facilities for the general diffusion of knowledge and such breadth of individual liberty-of conscience, of speech and of action -as to-day. The spirit of liberty is abroad in the earth, and though the wily enemies that once fettered and handcuffed and imprisoned it still live, and would fain imprison it as before, they regretfully realize that the soaring eagle is on the wing and may never be pinioned again. But hand in-hand with all these advantages, strange to say, comes the Church's greatest peril. True, there is little peril to physical life, or earthly property; but these, to the true saints, are of minor importance, for they count not their earthly life dear unto them if by any means they may attain the Divine nature and glory to which they are called. The peril of these times is to the spiritual nature of the saints and to their valuable inheritance in the exceeding great and precious promises of God, which are all yea and amen in Christ Jesus. Subtle influences are now at work seeking to dwarf and extinguish the spiritual life and to rob the saints of their glorious hope, to sap stealthily the very foundations of Christianity, and thus effectually to overthrow the whole superstructure of the Christian faith in the minds of many, causing them thus to stumble and lose their glorious inheritance as joint-heirs with Christ. The present besetments, being of this subtle character, are the more calculated to delude and ensnare, so that if one allows himself to be for a moment off his guard, the agencies of the Adversary will gain an advantage and use it to entrap the unwary one. And God will permit such snares because only those who are loyal and faithful, and therefore ever watchful, are counted worthy to escape their strong delusion. "Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."--Matthew 21:36. MANNER OF APPROACH OF THESE TIMESThe Apostle forewarns the Church, not only of the certainty of such perils, and of their character, but also of their manner of approach. On one occasion he said, "For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. (Such were the great and destructive papal Powers.) Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them,." (Acts 20:29, 30.) Some of these St. Paul and the early Church encountered in their day. St. Paul was often in peril among false brethren who, concerning the faith, had made shipwreck, and who greatly withstood his words-his efforts to build up the Church in the most holy faith. (2 Cor. 11:26; 1 Tim. 1:19; 2 Tim. 4:14-17.) And he shows that from such false brethren, brethren who have erred from the Truth and become teachers of false doctrine, will come the Church's greatest peril in these last times. (2 Tim. 2:16-18; 3:5.) And in order that we might recognize and beware of them he very minutely described them, though the clear significance of the warning is somewhat beclouded by a faulty translation, which reads as follows: "For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful,. unholy,* truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good; traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; ever learning, and never able-to come to the knowledge of the Truth." The description as here translated, the reader will observe, is incongruous; for men of such villainous character could have no form of godliness. Read the description again and consider, How could a proud, covetous, boastful blasphemer, a truce-breaker, a false accuser, incontinent and fierce, a despiser of those that are good, a heady, high-minded, 'pleasure-loving traitor, have any form of godliness whatever, or deceive anyone in this respect? *The Sinaitic, the oldest and most reliable. MS., omits the words, without natural affection," they being no part of the original text. Such a fierce character and bold blasphemer could not possibly palm himself off as a child of God; nor would he attempt it. The fact is that our translators did not fully comprehend the Apostle's language, and in rendering it into English they put the heaviest possible construction upon the Greek words, and thus the picture of these persons is overdrawn. Thus, for instance, the Greek work here rendered "blasphemers" (V. 3) is blasphemos, which signifies one speaking injuriously, or an evil-speaker. Now, judging merely by the word, regardless of the context, we would not know whether in this instance the evil-speaking is carried to the extent of revilings or not; but as it stands related to the context-in view of the after statement that these have a form of godliness (V. 5), though lacking its real power-we must conclude that those milder or more subtle forms of evil-speaking, which would be consistent with hypocritical forms of godliness, are referred to, and therefore that our English word blaspheme, though it means evil-speaking, is too strong a term by which here to translate the Greek word blasphemos; for, the, full, and generally understood significance of the-English word blaspheme is--"To speak of the Supreme Being in terms of impious irreverence, to revile or speak reproachfully of God, Christ, or the Holy Spirit-to speak wickedly of, to utter abuse or calumny against, to speak reproachfully of."--Webster. So also the word apeithes rendered "disobedient," signifies not persuaded; and the expression "disobedient to parents" would consequently signify not of the same persuasion, or not of the same mind as were the parents. The word anosios, rendered "unholy,". which signifies unkind, or unholy, would likewise, in view of the context, be, better rendered by the milder English term, unkind. The word aspondos rendered "truce breakers" (V. 3), signifies irreconcilable or implacable -i. e., stubborn or constant in enmity. The word akrates, rendered "incontinent," signifies more properly, without strength, or without self-control. Though this thought is also in the English word "incontinent," a coarser meaning generally attaches to the word. The word amemeros, rendered "fierce," signifies not mild, savage. That is, it may be a great or a small lack of mild ness, amounting in some' cases to savage bitterness. But, again, the fierce or savage idea is not compatible with any pretensions to godliness, as intimated in verse 5. The word aphilagathos, rendered "despisers of those that are good," would thus be better rendered not friendly to the good. Thus revised, the Apostle's language reads as follows: "For men shall be lovers of their own selves (selfish), covetous, boasters, proud, evil-speakers, not of the same mind as were their forefathers (i. e,, devisers of new doctrines), unthankful unkind, irreconcilable, false accusers, without self-control, not mild, not friendly to those that are good-traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God (i. e., preferring their own will or pleasure to the will or pleasure of God) ; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; ,ever learning, and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth." “MEN OF YOUR OWN SELVES SHALL ARISE SPEAKING PERVERSE THINGS”It should be observed also that the word men, in verse 2, is emphatic in the Greek text, as shown in the Emphatic Diaglott, thus indicating that a particular class of men is here referred to, which, according to the description, can be none other than those mentioned in Acts 20:29, 30, viz., men "of your own selves (men of your own company, men whom you have hitherto regarded as members of the Body of Christ, and who still claim to be such), who shall arise speaking perverse things" (perverting the Truth). But why, you ask, should anyone who had once received the Truth desire to pervert it? The Apostle answers that their object is "to draw away disciples after them." And for this purpose, of leading away disciples after them, they keep up the form of godliness, although they deny its power-the only power by means of which any of the fallen race can be reckoned godly or righteous in God's sight, viz., the power of the precious blood of Christ, which cleanseth us from all sin, as long as we appreciate and accept this salvation through faith in his blood. Well may we inquire, as we realize that we are living in the last days here referred to, Is there such a class of enemies to the Truth and to the Church actually in existence to-day? Truly, the voice of prophecy has never set up a false alarm, or foretold an uncertain event. The perilous times have come and the foretold perils are all about us. Side by side in the same communities with the humble, faithful, consecrated saints-in the same little assemblings together of those who have escaped from the bondage of Babylon, in the same households, and often at the same table of the Lord, there has also been developing a class who are "lovers of their own selves (selfish), covetous (of honors and distinction and the praise of men -ambitious), boasters (as though the credit of the Truth now due and received were in some way due to them, and as though they had a right therefore to alter and amend it at their pleasure), proud" (of that knowledge which should be received with only humility and thankfulness, and which can be retained only under these conditions). Because the light of the newly unfolding Truth has dawned upon their pathway, they, in common with the faithful saints, no longer are of the same mind as were their parents; but the goodness of God thus manifested to them instead of cultivating in them a spirit of thankfulness and co-operation, which is its design, seems to arouse a spirit of pride and -ambition, which does not long hesitate to make merchandise of the Truth for ambitious ends, however trivial and foolish those ends may be. And in pursuance of the ambitious policy, by degrees they become "evil-speakers (against the doctrine of Christ and those who believe and teach if), unkind, unfriendly to those that are good (WHO HOLD FAST THE TRUTH IN RIGHTEOUSNESS), and false accusers" (of such). As they proceed in this way they seem to lose all former strength of Christian character. They become irreconcilable to the Truth, so that neither Scripture, nor reason, nor the example of the faithful, has power to restore them. Loving their own wills more than the will of God, they grow more and more proud and boastful of their attainments--high-minded and heady. Not submitting themselves to the Head of the Body, Christ Jesus, they are ambitious to head new factions themselves, and thus they turn traitors to the Truth. They claim, too, to be very earnest students of the Word of God; and so they are, but they never come to a knowledge of the Truth. THEY ARE AFTER SOMETHING NEW, SOME NEW AND PECULIAR "FIND" in the mine of God THAT WILL ATTRACT THE WONDERING GAZE OF MANY CURIOUS DISCIPLES. But, alas for their purposes ! There are no such real curiosities in the blessed Word of God; but the zeal of these ambitious ones is equal to the emergency, and one after another the actual truths are beclouded, distorted and perverted to this ignoble end and presented as newly-found truths. And the unwary receive them as such, not recognizing At first that they are subversive of the entire system of Divine Truth. Thus their faith in the truths -already learned is unwittingly undermined; they are caught in the snare of the Enemy; and as they continue to give ear to these seductive influences they become more and more entangled, until, having lost their anchorage, they find themselves adrift on a vast sea of unbelief, floating they know not whither. Like their leaders, they may retain the form of godliness, but have lost its power. THEIR POLICIES SHALL BE VERY SEDUCTIVEBut there is another feature of the description of these false teachers, whose ambitions place so many perils in the pathway of the saints, which should not be overlooked. Verses 6 and 8 describe, or rather illustrate, the manner in which the influence of such teachers, will be brought to bear upon the Church. Their opposition is not expressed in bold, defiant terms, and emphasized and enforced with vehemence. As here intimated, their policy is crafty, deceitful, sly, under pretensions of godliness, love of truth and zeal for the Truth. Their influence will be exerted somewhat after the manner of a vile class mentioned in verse 6, who "creep into houses and lead captive silly women, laden with sin, and led away by various inordinate desires." Not that such will be the actual immoral character of these teachers, but that their policy will be similarly seductive. Their actual course is more particularly, described in verse 8 thus: "Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the Truth-men of corrupt minds (corrupted or turned aside from the Truth), reprobate concerning the faith." Thus we are shown that the opposition to the Truth will be manifested in a subtle, deceptive course similar to that of those opposers of Moses. They opposed Moses by doing something similar to what he did, thus confusing the people. God had given Moses power to do certain miracles in order to prove to Israel that Moses was his Divinely empowered agent. And Satan forthwith empowered his agents to duplicate those miracles, which they did to some extent, not perfectly, thus endeavoring to confuse the mind's of the people and to unsettle their confidence in Moses and his leading and teaching. Just so it is to-day. The studied effort of false teachers--false brethren developing in the very midst of the Church-is to offset the Truth by plausible forms of error, to unsettle confidence both in the Truth and in all teachers of the Truth, thus to lead away disciples after them and their theories. And in consequence of the allurements of these false teachers, and of the unfaithfulness of many to the love and service of the Truth which they have received, a class in the midst of the Church will give much encouragement to the ambitions of these false brethren; "for," says the Apostle (2 Tim. 4:3, 4), "The time will come when -they will not, endure sound doctrine, but after their own desires (DESIRES FOR SOMETHING NEW) shall they gather to themselves teachers, having itching ears (for new and strange things) ; and they shall turn away their ears from the Truth, and shall be turned unto fables." NOR WILL THIS CLASS BE ONLY A SMALL MINORITY; for, in order that the faithful may, not be discouraged when brought face to face with these things, they are forewarned (Psalms 91:7) that, before this conflict ends, a thousand shall fall at their side and ten thousand at their right hand. Thus, realizing that God foreknew it all and that the accomplishment of His glorious purposes is not in the least endangered thereby, they may still have confidence and joy in view of the glorious consummation of His Plan, and of their promised position in it. "FROM SUCH TURN AWAY"But how shall the faithful believers act towards these false brethren in their midst? Shall they take them by the hand, as formerly, and bid them God-speed? Shall they recognize them as brethren in Christ? Are they owned of Gold as sons? Shall we indeed walk with them and be guiltless? What does the Apostle say we shall do? He says , "From such turn away." (V. 5.) "Be not ye partakers with them; for ye were formerly darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of light . . . and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." (Eph. 5:6-11.) And the Apostle John (2 John 11) emphasizes Paul's counsel, saying, "If there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God-speed; for he that biddeth him God-speed is partaker of his evil deeds." Such "evil men," says Paul (V. 13), "shall wax worse and worse (more and more bold and aggressive, as they receive encouragement from that rapidly increasing class who will no longer endure sound doctrine), deceiving (others) and being deceived" (themselves-becoming more firmly intrenched in the snares of their own weaving, so as to make it impossible to extricate them). But, nevertheless, the time is coming when they shall proceed no further; for their folly shall be manifested unto all men, as was the folly of Jannes and Jambres, who could not forever withstand the teachings of Moses, the servant of God--V. 9. Then St. Paul proceeds to call attention to the ground of Timothy's confidence in himself as a faithful teacher of Divine Truth, saying, "But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured; but out of them all the Lord delivered me." -Vs. 10, 11. Such are always the marks of a true teacher. His doctrine will be that which the most thorough investigation of the Scriptures most clearly proves and establishes beyond all peradventure. His manner of life will be consistent both with his faith and with his consecration to the Lord. His purpose will be the building tip of the Church in the most holy faith. His faith will be positive and clear .-not mere guesswork, but knowledge based upon the sure Word of God, with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning. And his great love for the Church will be manifest, as was St. Paul's and as was Moses' love for Israel by long-suffering, patience and meek endurance of persecution, both from an opposing world and from false brethren arising in the midst of God's people. And in such persecutions no true teacher will be lacking; for "all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." (V. 12.) Such has bee% the experience of every true teacher that God has ever raised up to deliver and guide his people. Witness Noah, Moses, St. Paul and Luther. But, Beloved, our advice to you in these perilous times, when error is taking on its most baneful and deceitful forms, and when it is finding its most active agents amongst false brethren and sisters in your very midst, and when fidelity to Truth, therefore, occasions the severing of some of the tenderest social ties you have ever known, even among those with whom you once held sweet converse as you walked together to the house of God-yes, in these times let us again urge the counsel of St. Paul" Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them"; for it is written (John 6:45), "They shall be all taught of God." Whoever the human agent may be that God has made use of to bring you to a knowledge of the Truth, he was simply an index finger to help you trace it for yourself on the sacred page; and in humility and faithfulness he made no greater claim than this, assuring you that the Holy Scriptures to which he ever and continually pointed are' indeed "able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus"; and that "all Scripture, given by inspiration of God, is, profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." THE PRECIOUS TRUTH IS GOD'S MESSAGETherefore, dearly beloved, what you have learned concerning God's glorious Plan of the Ages, and concerning your privileged place in that Plan, as heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, his Son, and concerning the conditions upon which you hold this precious promise and may finally realize it, and concerning that great foundation doctrine of our redemption from sin and death through the precious blood of "the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all," upon which fact rests the whole superstructure of the wondrous and glorious Plan, hold fast these things, knowing of whom you have learned them. This precious Truth is God's message to you, not man's No such high and glorious hope could ever have entered the mind of mortal man had not God revealed it by his Spirit, as He has done through faith in His Word, in His own due time. It is all in that Word. Search and see for yourselves; and be not faithless but believing. It comes not to you on the miserable authority of vain imagination, or dreams, or' doubtful visions, but on the authority of God's most holy and authentic Word. True, it is almost too good to believe, but is it not just like our God? Does it not gloriously illustrate the breadth of His mighty mind, the scope of His marvelous wisdom and power, and the depth of His love and grace? Continue, therefore, in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured of (having proved them yourselves from the Scriptures), and be not of them who turn away their ears from the Truth and are turned unto fables. And observing those who have a form of godliness, but who, nevertheless, by their false teachings deny the power thereof, "from such turn away," and "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." We cannot serve two masters; we cannot espouse the cause of Truth and the cause of error as well; nor can we retain the friendship of God and of the advocates of error also. WHO IS ON THE LORD'S SIDE? Let them rally around the Lord's standard. All told, they will be only a "little flock." Like Gideon's band, the company now gathered by the proclamation of the harvest message of Truth must be tested and sifted until only the loyal, faithful, true-hearted, brave and valiant soldiers of the cross remain; and to these, though their numbers be small, -will the laurels of victory belong when Truth and righteousness finally prevail. LET NO MAN BOAST OF NUMBERS NOW when the highest interests of the elect of God are all bound up with the faithful few, to whom it will be the Father's good pleasure to give the Kingdom. "Count me the swords that have
come." "Count me the
swords that remain." "Lord,
those who remain are but few, THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRISTSERIES III."And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the outside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof ?"--Revelation 5:1, 2 AFTER St. John beheld the vision of Christ walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, and had received the messages which he was to deliver to the seven Churches, he states that – he looked and saw a door opened in heaven, and heard for the second time the same trumpet voice of Christ. This time it was an invitation: "Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter." (Rev. 4:1.) Immediately he was "in the spirit" (a state corresponding to a trance)! In this condition he beheld the visions recorded in the remainder of the book of Revelation. The things recorded in- chapters four and five are what we are now considering. Subsequent visions of the book from chapter six to its close may well be likened to the enacting of a drama which tells the story of developments in the Church as well as the world down to the time of Christ's glorious triumph over sin and death. The vision recorded in chapters four and five, is largely synoptical and more in the nature of -an introductory scene to this Divine drama which follows, and does not set forth except, in a prophetical sense (Chap. 5, v. 13) the matters referred to as "things which must be hereafter." THE RAINBOW ENCIRCLED THRONEIn the vision, St. John saw first a throne set in heaven, and on the throne he beheld the "Eternal One" seated. No attempt is made by him to describe the One on the throne, except the simple statement that "He that sat thereon was like a jasper and a sardine stone"; perhaps intended to be suggestive or descriptive of the glorious qualities of this Divine One. That the One who is here represented in the symbol is the Heavenly Father, there can be no question. All the symbolic transactions which occur in the scene that passed before the Apostle's vision, demonstrate that the Great Jehovah, the Author of the Divine Plan, is the One portrayed. He next beheld a rainbow, completely encircling the throne. (See Diaglott.) The rainbow in the vision was not such as is seen from the earth-an incomplete circle. This which St. John saw completely encircled the All Glorious and Perfect One. Looking at this symbolical rainbow in the light of the Genesis account (Gen. 9:12-17), will assist us to understand the significance of the rainbow-encircled throne. There we learn that the rainbow is the token of God's promise and agreement with the earth and mankind that there should never be another storm of water sweep over the earth. The flood had just passed over the earth, and the sun for the first time was shining out through the last fragments, as the storm of judgment was retreating; and this it was that produced the rainbow effect. This seems to teach that the symbolical clouds of the great time of trouble which for some years past have been gathering over the earth, and which will ultimately result in a storm of judgment; that such storm and trouble will -be for man's good and not evil for his correction and blessing. (Zeph. 3:8, 9.) The rainbow of the vision thus speaks of new hope and blessing to come out of this storm-blessing to man and his home, the earth--restitution--a "new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness." The rainbow encircled throne, then, in this aspect of the vision, describes Jehovah's throne in its general attitude and conduct towards man in redemptive grace, in providing deliverance for him from the slavery to sin and death. We have in the Scriptures several symbolic descriptions of God's throne, but they differ widely in their surroundings from this one. The "emerald" appearance of the rainbow (greenish in color) is significant of the "olive leaf" of hope and promise, that was brought to Noah by the dove, when the waters of the flood were subsiding. The "emerald" effect of the rainbow therefore seems to suggest the springing up of new life-the restitution times, subsequent to the closing scenes of this dispensation, after the world has passed through its judgment-troubles. Then all nations shall come and worship before God. -Rev. 15:4. St. John next beheld encircling the throne, four and twenty other thrones. (The word translated in our common version, "seats," is the same Greek word used in the other instance, and signifies thrones.) Seated on these thrones were four and twenty elders, clothed in white raiment, and on their heads were crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices; and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which were explained to be the "seven Spirits of God." And before the throne was there a sea of glass, like unto crystal; and in the midst of the throne and round about the throne were four "living ones." THE SEALED SCROLL
The conclusion is unavoidable that the throne and its surroundings are symbolical of the throne of Jehovah; not, however, the throne of Jehovah as it is related to His government of the universe; neither is it the throne as related to Christ's occupancy with Him during the' Gospel Age; nor the "Great White Throne" of judgment during the Millennial Age. It is designed rather, as the symbol shows, and as will be more clearly seen further on in our study, to set forth the progressive character of the Divine Plan-its orderly development-and to picture particular and important events in that great Plan, the details of which were revealed to Christ after His resurrection. St. John had been told that he was to be shown "things which must take place hereafter." He was, therefore, in this trance condition, in a state of expectancy'. He was not to have revealed to him the future things themselves, but rather the symbolic visions that represented these (then) future scenes and developments. After beholding the symbolic actors and surroundings of the throne-vision, St. John's attention was called to a sealed Book, or Scroll, in the right hand of Him that sat thereon. The sealed Scroll was evidently a symbol. It could have but one meaning-- that there were certain things in connection with God's plans and purposes for mankind, that up to the time of Christ's resurrection had been kept secret, had not been revealed to even the Savior Himself. The symbolic transaction that next passed before St. John's vision, further proves that this is its significance: "And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the Book, and to loose the seals thereof ?" - Rev. 5:2. At first St. John heard no response to this solemn question; and to him it seemed as though there was none to be found qualified or worthy to open the Book and to make known its contents. It would be in harmony with the transactions of the vision, to think that the Apostle John in this trance-state, supposed that the things to be made known to him, were contained in the sealed Scroll. Thus we account for his words: "And I wept much because no one was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon." (Rev. 5:4.) We may be sure that these transactions were of intense interest to St. John; and that his disappointment was inexpressible, is shown in the fact that he "wept much." While he was weeping, one of the twenty-four elders spoke to him words of comfort and encouragement: "Weep not: behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David , hath prevailed to open the Book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." REVEALED TO THE LAMBFollowing this, the Apostle beheld, seemingly, for the first time, another symbolic actor in the vision: "And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four living ones, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth." (V. 6.) St. John immediately recognized in this One, the Lamb of God that was to take away the sin of the world, and the vision was designed to show Christ receiving some of the rewards of His great sacrifice. He watched what was next to transpire, and beheld the Lamb approach the Eternal One, and receive the Book out of His right hand. That the reception of the Book by the Lamb marked an event of vast magnitude and became the means of solving some great problem is clearly taught by the fact that immediately, not only the actors about the throne joined in what would seem to be a hallelujah chorus of praise, thanksgiving and worship, but the Revelator heard additionally voices of a mighty throng which reverberated throughout heaven and earth, proclaiming glory and honor and blessing to Him that sat thereon and to the Lamb. Before proceeding to note the part that the symbolic personage performed in connection with this rejoicing and giving honor to the One on the throne and to the Lamb, let us consider the significance of the Lamb's receiving the sealed Book, and the breaking of the seals. As bearing upon this majestic scene, we quote the luminous exposition of our Pastor: "In Rev. 5, the Heavenly Father, the Ancient of Days, is shown seated on the heavenly throne, and in His hand a Scroll written inside and outside sealed with seven seals. That Scroll representing the Divine Plan known only to the Father, Jehovah Himself, was kept in His own power -in His own hand-until some one should be PROVED worthy to know it, and become its executor as Jehovah's honored agent and representative. The symbolic picture proceeds to show that up to the time our Lord Jesus suffered for us at Calvary, 'the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God,' no one had ever been found (proved) worthy to take up the Divine Plan and even understand it. But when our Lord Jesus had proven His loyalty to the Heavenly Father by His obedience, not only in humbling Himself, to take man's estate for the suffering of death, but also in His obedience 'even unto death,' and still further, 'even unto the [ignominious] death of the cross,' THEN and thereby He did prove Himself worthy of every confidence and trust."--Vol V., p. 36, 37. The fact that our Lord did not receive the Scroll before His death and did not understand what was on the inside would not conflict with the thought of His wonderful knowledge of Divine Truths during His earthly ministry, which was particularly indicated by the statement that at His baptism the heavens were opened unto Him. This which He saw during His ministry would correspond to what was written on the outside of the Scroll referring to certain general information and knowledge that He received during His sacrificial experience, but the minutia and detail of the Divine Plan of many of the things future were not revealed to Him until He received the Scroll and opened the seals after His resurrection. We believe the view set forth by our Pastor confirms 'this thought as follows: "Our Lord Jesus received the anointing of the Holy Spirit when He came up out of the water at His baptism. Then the heavens were opened unto Him. The higher things which He had not previously understood became clear. The Scriptures were unfolded to His view . . . During these three and a half years, He was the Messiah, the Sent of God. He was the Lion of the tribe of Judah He had sacrificed His will, but this was not sufficient: God wished 'Him to sacrifice not only His will, but actually to lay down His human life. . . . Here the words of our text find their answer. The inquiry, [Who is worthy?] compassed the period from before Jesus came into the world, up to His resurrection from the grave. God had given the most honorable One of all the host of heaven the first opportunity to prove His worthiness to loose the Scroll of God's great Plan, and to fulfill its provisions. He was given this opportunity because, as the first-born of Jehovah, He had the right to the first privilege of service. And He did not allow the privilege to go by; He accepted it; He was faithful; He humbled Himself to human nature and thus became the Lion of the tribe of Judah, of which He was born as a man. . . . "Our Lord's worthiness was not then proven. It was not until He cried with His dying breath, 'It is finished' that the demonstration was complete. . . . Speaking in vision of the three and a half years, during which our Lord is represented as slain, St. John, the Revelator, says, 'I beheld and lo, a freshly slain Lamb.' And the voices of myriads of angels were heard proclaiming, 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing! (Rev. 5:12.) Jesus had not proven Himself worthy of this !great honor when He made His consecration, but when He had finished His course in death, He was then worthy to receive glory, honor and power. After His resurrection and ascension, the Scroll was given into His hands to be opened. This means that the Divine Plan as a whole was here made known to Him-for He already had knowledge of much of this-but ALL THINGS were given Him to unloose. There had been some things that our Lord did not know. . . . A PART OF THE PLAN WAS WRITTEN ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE SCROLL, AND A PART WAS WRITTEN ON THE INSIDE. THE THINGS THAT WERE SEALED WERE NOT PROPER TO BE UNDERSTOOD BY OUR REDEEMER UNTIL HE HAD RECEIVED THE ALLPOWER AFTER HIS RESURRECTION. The execution of God's Plan was then given into His hands."--Z.16-252, 253. BREAKING THE SEALSLet us now note several important things revealed in the vision itself, and suggested in the above comments: (1) The proof is conclusive that the receiving of the Scroll by Christ, is designed to show that all power and authority to carry to completion the Heavenly Father's plans and purposes for-both the Church and the world were given to Him. (2) The opening of the Scroll indicated in the, breaking of the seven seals by Christ, shows that He had given to Him at the same time, a prophetic vision of the entire career of the Church; and of certain world powers and influences with which the Church has come in contact, as it has sought to carry out the Divine commission of proclaiming the Gospel for the purpose of taking out the foreordained number--Christ's joint-heirs. In a succeeding article the opening of the seals will be discussed at length. Here we briefly summarize as follows: (a) The white horse and its rider is pictorial of the early Church arrayed in garments of simplicity and purity, with its immaculate doctrines and perfect unity, courageously riding forth, bearing the "Good Tidings" over the earth -and designed to conquer such as had hearing ears. (b) The red, black and pale horses and their riders of the second, third and fourth seals, depict those conquering forces that had to do with the gradual rise and development of the persecuting Anti-Christ, and the worldly, formal, false Church over which he ruled.-Rev. 6:3-8. (c) The fifth seal discloses a vision of a band of faithful martyrs who suffered during the supremacy of both Pagan and Papal Rome. (Rev. 6-:9-11.)--Z.'07-233. (d) The sixth seal opens with a literal and symbolical darkening of the sun and moon, and falling of stars, and an earthquake. This brings us to the "time of the end." (Vol. IV., p. 592.) It is in connection with the fulfillment of this seal, that the sealing of the "one hundred and forty-four thousand" is seen to be accomplished. In the closing events of this seal', this class is seen as the "temple" in heaven; another class also, the "Great Company," is seen serving before the throne, having come out of the "great tribulation"--the last great time of trouble. Rev. 6:12-17; 7:1-17. It will thus be seen that the six seals cover the whole Gospel Age. It is immediately in connection with the opening of the seventh seal that the half hour's silence occurs. Let us keep well in mind then, that just as Christ opened the Scroll, He it was that saw all the things that were pictured therein, and, as above stated, they are all symbolized in chapter six, in the horsemen and their actions, of the first four seals; of the souls under the altar and their cry, of the fifth seal; of the great earthquake and celestial disturbances of the sixth seal; and finally the sealing of the 144,000 of the same sixth seal, chapter seven. By keeping in mind the fact that it was Christ that saw these things (and of course showed them to St. John) and that it was to Him (Christ) that the power was given to see them and to execute Jehovah's purposes, serves to show at what time Christ had these things given to Him. Other Scriptures plainly indicate that these powers were given to Him at the time of His resurrection. This is proven by His own statement to His disciples before the ascension. "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth."--Matt. 28:18-20. This will need to be noted very carefully, as it has an important bearing upon the interpretation of the succeeding visions. The time, then, that the events of this vision of the throne-scene occurred, was at our Lord's resurrection, when He received the Scroll. This, together with the fact that the events referred to by the loosing of the sixth seal, find the Church and Great Company in heaven, will assist to an understanding of the events referred to in the breaking of the seventh seal; which, briefly stated, signifies: (1) That a new series of visions is brought to view, covering to a great extent the same period of time as the previous six seals. In other words, as the trumpets sound under the breaking of the seventh seal, we are to look for the events symbolized by them as also beginning near the Apostle's day. (2) It would seem to locate the "about an half hour's silence in heaven" (a brief, indefinite period, as indicated in the word "about"), which precedes the seven trumpets (Rev. 8:1), as the period of the ten days of waiting for the promise of the Father, of the gift of the Holy Spirit, ,during which time nothing was to be done by the disciples -the "silence in heaven" symbolizing the quietness in the spiritual realm of operations, so far as our Lord's disciples were concerned, during those days of waiting, previous to the day of Pentecost. In the light of this view we are enabled to rightly understand and apply, in harmony with the types of the High Priest of the typical Tabernacle, the symbolical vision of the angel that came to the altar, receiving the "much incense for (Diaglott) the prayers of the saints." (Rev. 8:3-5.) The angel, of course, as the symbols show, applies to Christ. Let him that readeth understand! Of this, however, we shall speak more particularly when we come to examine that vision. Referring again to that most remarkable scene: when the Lamb had taken the book out of the hand of the Enthroned One, St. John saw "the four living ones and the four and twenty elders fall down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou are worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed (us) to God with thy blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation; and thou didst make them to our God a Royalty and a Priesthood, and they shall reign on (over) the earth."--Rev. 5:9, 10. (Diaglott.) We quote the following from our Pastor: "It is at this point that the picture we are considering (Rev. 5:9-13) shows our Lord Jesus as the Lamb that had been slain, before whom obeisance was made, and who was proclaimed, 'Worthy the Lamb!' . . . Thus is pictured to us the high exaltation of the Heavenly Father"s representative, the Messenger [servant] of the Covenant. Because of His humility and complete submission and obedience to the Father's will, He is proclaimed thenceforth the sharer of the Father's throne, and by the Father's own arrangement, the proclamation was made throughout the Heavenly hosts, 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.' [It will be noted that these last words were spoken, not sung, by the angels. Only redeemed ones are represented as singing.] "And finally 'every creature shall catch the thought that Jehovah has very highly exalted His Only Begotten Son, even to association with Himself in the Kingdom, and shout their approval saying, 'The blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne [of the universe-Jehovah] and unto the Lamb.'"--Vol. V., p. 37. .It will be noted that this last expression of obeisance (V. 13) was prophetic, and looked forward to the time, of the consummation of the Father's great Plan. OTHER SIGNIFICANT SYMBOLSIn the light of all the foregoing, the Revelator's statement, Chapter 4, verse 5, becomes more luminous. "Out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices." This language is descriptive of the general effect and results upon mankind in connection with the carrying out of this great Drama-the Divine Plan. Several times throughout the book of Revelation, St. John describes in this language what he heard and saw. Lightnings are forcefully significant of diffusions or flashes or knowledge, truth. "His lightnings enlightened the world." (Psa. 97:4.) Voices signify proclamations and general discussions of subjects by those being enlightened. Thunderings are symbolic of tumults" controversies accompanying the dissemination and spread of knowledge. (Z.'83-7, 8.) Down through the centuries as the Divine Plan has progressed, these effects-disturbances, commotions--have been noted among mankind, and particularly are these results to be seen in connection with those events that' mark the close of this dispensation, the overthrow of Satan's Empire and the coming in of -the Kingdom. of God; of which we shall say more hereafter.-Rev. 8:5; 11:19; 16:18. Another matter to which much emphasis is given throughout this vision is that of the four and twenty elders. This is one of those features we are leaving to be taken up at another time. Suffice it here to say that these four and twenty elders are represented as occupying prominent positions and close relationship to Jehovah; they are represented repeatedly as joining in song and praise and worship to God. It will be noted, too, by the careful Student, that only redeemed ones are represented as singing the song of redeeming love; that this song which they sung was a new one which only saints could sing; that accordingly this group of illustrious characters must be representative of some class of holy ones who partake of God's redeeming grace through Christ, and who have special enlightenment and who are accorded special ministry in connection with the execution of the Divine Plan. In Chapter 11:16-18, describing events that are to occur in connection with the sounding of the seventh trumpet, these elders all fall down and worship God, giving thanks, and rehearse everything. that is to occur in connection with the reign of Christ. There is but one class in all the
Scriptures that is represented as having such knowledge of Heavenly Divine Truth. Let him that readeth understand! There is shown repeatedly, in the vision, in close contact with the throne, what is termed in our Common Version "four beasts," but more properly rendered in the original, "four living ones." This term, "living ones," together with the description of their operations and movements seem to be most suggestive and descriptive of the four great attributes of Jehovah-Wisdom, justice, Love and Power. The first "living one" was likened to a lion, the second a calf (ox) , the third had the -face of a (perfect) man; and the fourth Was like a flying eagle. As has already been clearly discovered in our study of the Divine Plan of the Ages, in the execution of the various features of Jehovah's purpose for the redemption of the human family, these four attributes are seen to be harmoniously active. The harmonious operations of these "four living ones" -Wisdom, Justice, Love and Power-are beautifully described in the closing expressions of the booklet, "Tabernacle Shadows," from which we quote: "Love led to the whole redemptive plan arranged by Divine Wisdom. It was because God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son to redeem it by paying to Justice the ransom price. So Love has been active, preparing for the redemption ever since sin entered; yes, from 'before the foundation of the world.'--1 Pet. 1:20. 'Love first contrived the way To save rebellious man.' "When the Atonement Day sacrifices (bullock and goat -the Anointed Jesus and the Church) are complete, Love tarries to see the results of its Plan. When the blood is sprinkled justice cries, It is enough; it is finished! Then comes the mordent when Love and Power may act, and swiftly they wing their flight to bless the RANSOMED race. When justice is satisfied, Power starts upon its errand, which is co-extensive with that of Love, using the same agency-Christ, the Ark or safe depository of Divine favors. "The Plan of the Ages devised by Divine Wisdom is the essence of unfathomable Love, based upon uncompromising justice, and will be fully accomplished by Divine Power." We have a beautiful picture of this throne in grace in Psalm 89:14. There we read: "Justice and judgment are the habitation of Thy throne; mercy and truth shall go before Thy face." That this pictures Jehovah's throne in redemptive grace is confirmed by the words that follow: "Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, 0 Lord, in the light of Thy countenance. In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted. For Thou art the glory of their strength: and in Thy favor our horn shall be exalted. For the Lord is our defense; and the Holy One of Israel is our King." Next we are told that this "grace" is found in the Mighty One upon whom He has laid help. "Then thou spakest in vision to Thy Holy One, and saidst, I have laid help upon One that is mighty. I have exalted One chosen out of the people. I have found David [type of Christ] my servant, with my holy oil have I anointed Him."-Psa. 89:19, 20. Thus, the "four living ones," represented as being in the midst of, and round about the throne, seem to set forth the administration of God's government, or the throne method, of action in grace. We believe this explains why it is that the "living ones" and the "elders" are represented as united in singing the "new song," the song of redemption through the. blood of the Lamb, but the angels in the outer circle take no part. Thus it is seen that the throne method of operation- in grace, is connected with redeemed ones and not with angels; although all the Heavenly hosts are ultimately seen to join in the acclamation of "blessing and honor and glory and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." THE TEN COMMANDMENTS-FEBRUARY 16--Exodus 20:1-17--Golden Text.--"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself."--Luke
10:27. In THE THIRD MONTH, early in June, just fifty days from the Passover when the Israelites started from Egypt, they arrived at the base of Mt* Sinai. The exact mountain is uncertain , but some authorities incline to the traditional Jebel Mousa, "Mountain of Moses," 7,363 feet above the sea, in the wild, mountainous region of the glorious range of granite mountains of which Sinai is the nucleus. One writer, describing this mount, says: "The cliff, rising like a huge altar in front of the whole congregation, and visible against the sky in lonely grandeur, from end to end, of the whole plain, is the very image of the 'mount that might be touched,' and from which the voice of God might be heard, far and wide, over the stillness of the plain below, widened at that point to its utmost extent by the confluence of all the contiguous valleys." THE GIVING OF THE LAWThe transaction at Mt. Sinai was so arranged as deeply to impress all who were present. It was to be another lesson for the people respecting God, His right to control them and His will concerning them. Boundary marks were fixed around the mountain, which was declared holy because of the Lord's presence in it; a man or beast trespassing upon it was subject to death: meantime the mountain shook with earthquakes, and fire and smoke, thunders and lightnings, and trumpet-like sounds and voices manifested to the Israelites the importance of the event at hand. But if the Lord thus impressed them by the solemnity of their surroundings with the importance of the covenant which He was about to make with them, His message to them, introducing the commandments, was very gracious and gentle. In this preamble He reminds them that He, the Lord, had brought them out of the land of Egypt: they had by this time gotten beyond any desire to return to Egypt; they were learning to trust in the Lord, to realize His care and protection and deliverance from enemies and from want. Meantime, the people, in obedience to the Lord's direction, had purified themselves, their clothing and their camp; and, as directed, they were endeavoring to abstain from all impurities, as a prerequisite to their meeting with and entering into covenant relationship with the Lord of Hosts. The spiritual Israelite also has something analogous to this. First he must realize the justice of God and the greatness of God, and his own unworthiness and weaknesses; he must see something of the terrors of Sinai before he will be in the proper condition to receive the favors which our Lord desires to bestow. Properly, he too will-seek to purge himself so far as possible from all filth of the flesh. NEW COVENANT TO BE INAUGURATEDBut a greater lesson is included in this type. In this still larger view Moses typified Christ Jesus the Head, and the Church, His Body, complete; in this larger view Israel typifies so many of the world of mankind as are desirous of entering covenant relationship with God; in this larger view the fire and smoke and voices and trumpets and earthquakes of Mt. Sinai represent the great time of trouble and manifestations of Divine power which are to come in the end of this Gospel Age to convince the world of its need of the Lord's help and to make the world ready to enter into the New Covenant. In this larger view the three days of purification, setting bounds about the Mount, etc., represent the period of this Gospel Age from the First Advent down to the glorification of the Church typified in the going up of Moses into the mountain, to be the representative of the people, to receive the Lord's Law and to bring it down to the people. Thus counting the matter according to the days of the week, a thousand years to each day, our Lord's First Advent occurred earl on the fifth day. The fifth day has passed, the sixth day has passed, and we are now in the early morning of the seventh or "Millennial" Day; and it is in this third day "early in. the morning" that the antitypical Moses (Chris and the Church) is to ascend into the mountain, Kingdom of the Lord. It is in this third day, and very shortly now we believe, that the great and terrible manifestations 6 Divine dignity and majesty are to be made known to the world in general. This is in full accord with the statement of the Apostle referring to this time, and to this same type. (Heb 12:22-29.) For some time the Lord has been dealing with the world with a view to the bringing in of the New Covenant. Two (thousand year) days ago we approached the mountain, the Kingdom of God; there God, through the antitype of Moses, began to mark out the bounds of the Kingdom class, who might and who might not approach, come into the Kingdom. From that time the proclamation of purification has been made, the people being commanded to cleanse themselves; or, as the Apostle again says, "The times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom He hath ordained"--Christ.--Acts 17:30, 31. The instruction to purify and to get ready has been more or less heard and more or less heeded throughout the world; and now, shortly, we may expect the marshaling of the people as described in Ex. 19:17-20, so graphically described by the Apostle as picturing the events with which the present age is to close: "Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven." He explains that in the great changes now at hand the transformation will be a complete one, which will thoroughly shake out and remove everything in connection with the civil, religious and social affairs of man that is not in harmony with the laws of the Kingdom--the Millennial Kingdom. Only the faithful who shall constitute the Kingdom class shall stand the shaking of this time.--Heb. 12:26-28. SIGNIFICANCE OF TWO TABLESThe law delivered to Moses was upon
two tables of stone. Although not so specified, it is a generally accepted opinion that
the first four commandments were upon one stone and the remaining six upon the other. This
would make about an even division as respects the matter; but more particularly' it
divides as between the duties of Israel toward God and toward' men. As the first four
commands of the Decalogue note man's first obligation and responsibility to his Creator,
so the remaining six mark out his responsibilities toward his fellow-creatures. We can,
undoubtedly, gain some valuable lessons in the study of these commands given to Israel at
Mt. Sinai, constituting the basis of the Law Covenant: nevertheless, it is proper,
especially in view of the gross misunderstanding prevalent upon the subject, that in
considering these commands, Christians should remember that they were not, given to them,
but to the Jews; that as we are with Christ, members of the seed of Abraham, we are under
a covenant of sacrifice. Old things have passed away and all things have become new to the
new creature in Christ Jesus, whether Jew or Gentile. The profitable lessons we may learn through the study of these commands given to others, are of the same kind as the lessons we learn in studying the various types and ceremonies of that Jewish Covenant, which the Apostle assures us were but shadows of good things coming after them. (Heb. 10:1.) We have the good things, the spiritual things, the higher things; nevertheless, we learned to appreciate these higher things the more by noticing their types and shadows and by contrasting them with the higher things. For instance, although we study the things written in the law concerning the typical Day of Atonement, and its sacrificial ceremonies, etc., we do not do so with a view to repeating those sacrifices of bulls and of goats which can never take away sin; but with a view to seeing the more clearly the full force and meaning of the better sacrifices, the antitypical, which do take away the sin of the world. So with the Ten Commandments. God would not address these to any member of the house of sons, adopted into His family and begotten of His Spirit, because they would be inappropriate to such, and really be a denial on God's part that they had become sons or that they had His Spirit; for "If any man have not the spirit of Christ He is none of His," and certainly the man begotten of the Holy Spirit, possessed of the mind of Christ, would no more need to be told that he should do no murder, that he should not steal, etc., than that he should not take God's name profanely. None of these things would anyone begotten of the Spirit of God be disposed to do; and, hence, it would not have been appropriate in God to have made that Jewish Law the basis of the Covenant into which He has invited the Church to enter, as children, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ their Lord, if so be that they suffer with Him. THE LAW OF THE COVENANT(1) "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." The thought is not that they were prohibited from having other gods before Jehovah, in the sense of superiority, implying that they might have some gods on an equality with or inferior to Him. Rather the thought is that they should have no other gods in His presence-that so long as they recognized Jehovah as their God, none others were to be recognized in any sense or degree. (2) The Second Commandment is an elaboration of the first, lest the people might say, We will have no other gods, but we will make for us images to represent our one God so that they may help the mind through the eye. But the Lord prohibits this, and we can readily see the wisdom of the prohibition. Many Christian people have felt that they could pray before pictures of the Lord or while looking at a crucifix, better than without such an aid: indeed we know that Greek and Roman Catholics throughout the world (nearly three times as numerous as those termed Protestants) continually use images, pictures, beads, etc., as reminders and helps to the mind and faith; but we believe that the effect has been seriously injurious; the tendency downward rather than upward, and that this, to some extent, accounts for the fact that the races using images, etc., are inferior to those not using them, but practicing the higher and purer worship of God which recognizes no intermediary, no crucifix, no image, no picture, but communes directly with the Lord. The Gospel Church has a still higher thought than was given to the Jews on this subject. Our Master's words suggest that even fathers and mothers and wives and children might intrude upon our love and devotion and take the place of the Lord in our affections; and that this must not be permitted by any who would be of the elect. In comparison we must love less than God all other beings, so that the first strength of our love and devotion may be given to our Creator. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, soul and strength." This would also include the thought that wealth, or self or ambition must not be permitted to take the chief place in those who would be the Lord's. (3) The command to the Israelite that he should not take God's name in vain, did not signify that he should not name the name of the Lord, yet going to an extreme in 'the matter the Israelites avoided the covenant name of God-Jehovah. The expression, "in vain," evidently signified lightly, frivolously or in any other than a sacred or reverential manner. No such command is needed by the "new creature in Christ." How could he willingly or intentionally speak lightly or irreverently of his Heavenly Father, after being begotten of the Holy Spirit? To have a will to speak otherwise than reverently would be sure indication that he had not been begotten of the Holy Spirit; that he was a bastard and not a son. However, there is a sense in which we may well take a lesson from this command to Israel, a sense in which it is applicable to spiritual as well as natural Israel. As a people Israel had taken God's name-they had professed themselves to be God's people, under His guidance and leadership; it was their duty to see to it that this should not be a vain, empty, or meaningless covenant, or agreement; that it should be carried out to the full. So with us spiritual Israelites, we have entered into a covenant with. God; we have named the name of the Lord upon us, calling ourselves His people, claiming Him as our Father, and confessing Jesus as our Redeemer. It is proper for us to remember that this solemn profession or obligation or covenant is not a vain, frivolous matter; that it should be entered into with solemnity, and with full appreciation of its importance and of our responsibilities under it. The Lord will not hold us. guiltless, if, having taken His name upon us and receiving His benediction as His children, we then either sin willfully or in any degree reflect dishonor upon Him whose name we bear. "REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY"(4) The Fourth Commandment designates the seventh day of the week for rest, not only for the head of the family but for every member of it, including servants and cattle and visitors. It was made the duty of the head of the family to see to it that this Divine command was carried out in his home, for the. blessing of himself as well as for the comfort and good of those under his care. The new Law of Love, the basis of the Covenant of sacrifice into I which we spiritual Israelites, as the "house of sons," have entered, has no command respecting the seventh day of the week, nor indeed respecting any day. If it was good that the Israelites should rest, would it not be good also that we should rest one day in the seven? Yes, surely; on general principles it is advisable that all men observe such a rule of physical rest from toil one day in seven. Is there any reason why we should object to the seventh day of the week for such a rest? None whatever so far as the Christian is concerned. Being left without a specific law on the subject, he is at liberty to make such arrangements for his rest as will be most profitable to him under the general Law of Love. Being without a specific law on the subject Christian people, desiring to have one day of seven for worship, gradually fixed upon the first day of the week as being the one which to them would have the largest meaning, because of its being the Memorial of the Lord's resurrection, and hence, the Memorial of the Christian's joy and faith and hope with respect to the eternal life promised through our Redeemer. Do you consider the choice of the first day of the week a good one? We certainly are glad that through out the civilized lands the first day of the week is so observed; we are glad, too, that it is not observed according to the Jewish law, merely as a day of physical rest, but rather that it is much used by Christians as a day of fellowship of spirit and growth in grace, knowledge and love. The seventh day commanded to the Jew -as his rest day, while it was beneficial to him, was also typical: it typified the Christians' rest of faith, this heart relationship to the Lord, in which, as children of God, all such may continually rejoice-every day and every night. So the Apostle explains the matter (Heb. 4:4-11), declaring further that there is a still larger rest remaining; namely, the eternal life condition to be entered into on the great seventh day-the Millennial Age. (5) The Fifth Commandment taught the Jew the sacredness of the family relationship-that the children should honor the parents, which implies that the parents should not only so instruct their children, but that, so far as possible, they should strive to live before them such lives as would reasonably call forth such respect, obedience, honor. -A promise of long life is 'attached to this commandment. We may esteem on general principles that children obedient to their parents would be the more inclined to be obedient to the laws of their country and to the laws of their Creator, and that such obedience would be favorable to old age. If we would seek a higher meaning for this commandment, under the Law of Love, its first meaning to the Lord's people would be that they should honor their Father in Heaven, and His gracious arrangement, by which they have been begotten to the new nature (Gal. 4:22-31) ; and such honor to God and such respect for their covenant of sacrifice with Him are certainly -the terms upon which they may hope for a share in the Heavenly Canaan. (6) "Thou shalt do no murder"--the Revised Version rendering-is much to be preferred to the Common Version, "Thou shalt not kill." Murder is Always wrong; killing is sometimes right, sometimes duty. The life of the lower animals was given to man according to his necessities (Gen. 9:3), but we deprecate that which is misnamed sport-the destruction of birds and beasts and fishes wantonly-for no good purpose, but merely to gratify a savage desire to take life. That this command was not intended to prohibit the taking of human life under certain circumstances is evident from the fact that' the same law made provision for the killing of murderers. To the Church, the new creatures in Christ, a still higher law governs on this subject. Our Law of Love, the New Command, covers it completely. He who loves his neighbor will surely not murder him. But our Teacher gave a still higher thought respecting this feature of the law, and the way in which we, His followers, should view it, when He declared that for one brother to have hatred toward another was to have the murder spirit-the spirit which, under certain conditions, might lead to murder. According to this definition the person who angrily wishes hat another were dead commits murder in his heart. On the contrary, the spirit of love wishes well to the neighbor -yea, even though he be an enemy, desires that he may come into harmony with the Lord, and ultimately attain life everlasting, and so desires these things as to seek by word and act to render him any assistance possible. (7) The seventh of these commands, "Thou shalt -not commit adultery," was greatly magnified by our Lord's declaration to the effect that evil desires, though not accomplished for lack of opportunity, were as really violations of this commandment as though the act had been committed. How the magnifying glass of the Law of Love enlarges and intensifies the words, the acts, the thoughts, of life! There is in this a lesson of purity of thought which should be profitable to all the Lord's people; for although we are not in the flesh but in the spirit, as new creatures, and in our trial or judgment, nevertheless, the new mind deals with and operates through the mortal body, and must continually strive to bring it into the fullest subjection possible. Hence, it is valuable for us to know just how the Lord esteems such matters, that we may put the greater guard upon the very thoughts and intentions of our hearts. We may be sure that it was not of accident that the Apostle wrote respecting the wisdom from above, "first pure." Our own purity, in the sense of our justification by faith, comes before we can have any standing or relationship with the Lord or be begotten into His family; and this same purity which is made the foundation of the new life, and given to us reckonedly, must be appreciated by us and lived up to as closely as possible. And the clearer view we get as to what constitutes impurity in the Lord's sight, the better will we be able so to regulate and govern our mortal bodies, our acts, our words, our very thoughts, as to bring them into as close conformity to the will of God as possible. (8) The eighth of these commands, "Thou shalt not steal," is of much greater depth and breadth than many are inclined to suppose. In the light of the Law of Love, stealing may properly be understood to apply to the defrauding of, a neighbor, friend or enemy, in any manner depriving him of his rights or liberties as well as of his money or property. It would apply also to the stealing of a good name from another, as Shakespeare has pointed out. This command would be infracted, in the light of the Law of Love, by any transaction in which a neighbor would be worsted in a bargain, provided anything had been secreted or any deception calculated to warp his judgment in the making of the bargain had been practiced. From this standpoint there is a, great deal of "respectable" stealing done to-day--not only by misrepresentation of the goods by shop-keepers and by untruthful advertisements, but also amongst dealers of stock exchanges who, directly or indirectly, throw out wrong information to mislead, and by others in fraudulent organizations whose financial standing, etc., is often grossly misrepresented to enable the organizers to steal from those who become the purchasers of the stock at more than its real value. (9) The ninth of these commands, although it does not directly prohibit false statements, does necessarily prohibit any statement which would mislead a neighbor to his injury, and herein we see a superior wisdom in the light of this command. We might make a declaration that at a certain hour we will do a certain thing. We are at full liberty to change our mind and not to do that thing, provided our conduct in this shall not injure our neighbor in any sense or degree. To whatever extent our testimony on any subject would be inclined to lead friends or neighbors or anyone to take any course which would be injurious to themselves or others, and which they would not otherwise have taken, to that extent We are bound under the Law of Love. We may do all the good we please to a neighbor, but we may do him no injury. This is the spirit of the Apostle's injunction that we say, "If the Lord will" we will do thus and so. We are to consider the Lord's will in all we undertake, and His will in brief, is that we honor Him and do good, not evil, to fellow-men. False witness applies to the telling of lies, but it goes deeper than this and applies to any misrepresentation, whether it be by direct statement or indirectly by such a statement as would permit a wrong inference to be drawn. Indeed, amongst refined people this subterfuge, by which they palliate their consciences, and at the same time gratify their spiteful hearts, is very common. One may even bear false witness by the nod of his head, by the shrugging of his shoulder, or by silence-if a misstatement be made in such a connection that silence might be understood to mean consent. There is no point, or feature, of the entire Law of Love, as it bears upon our relationship to fellow-creatures, that needs more of our attention than this point. It seems difficult for Christians -to learn thoroughly the Master's lessons, that, if they have anything unpleasant to say respecting a brother or sister, any criticism of the private life or affairs to offer, it should be offered to him or her alone and not to others. Perhaps on no other score does the Adversary succeed so well in doing mischief amongst the Lord's people-in planting roots of bitterness, producing misunderstanding, anger, malice, hatred and strife. Let us permit love to do her perfect work in this relationship to our fellows. A difference is to be observed in respect to criticisms of doctrines publicly uttered. The criticism of an error should be as publicly made as the error was publicly set forth, if it be of importance. The thing then to determine would be our liberties and responsibilities, and we might have neither. But if we possessed both, our criticisms should be only in love, not in boastfulness, but in humility; desiring only to serve the truth and the brethren. Humility will suggest, too, that we be sure we are right before proceeding to criticize. Even then some points of truth can generally be approved while the points of error are being criticized. (10) The tenth of these commandments, and the last of the whole, deals with covetousness. As the last it stands in an important place, and when fully appreciated is seen to have a bearing upon, all the other commandments. Covetousness implies discontent. It, therefore, generally lies at the bottom of slander, false witness, theft, adultery, murder, and disobedience to parents. Indeed, in some respects we may suppose that/it lies at the bottom of any disloyalty to God also. Was it not covetousness on the part of Satan which first led him to disloyalty and sin? In becoming new creatures in Christ we are supposed to eradicate from our hearts everything that could in any sense of the word develop into covetousness-by the consecration of our wills, our hearts, to the Lord, by the acceptance of His will as instead of our own. From this standpoint, as the Apostle declares, "Godliness with contentment [absence of covetousness] is great gain." Indeed, viewed from the proper standpoint 'of the new creature, we have nothing to covet, because in becoming the Lord's we have become joint-heirs with our Redeemer to all the riches of Divine grace, so that the Apostle could .say, "All things are yours . . . and ye are Christ's and Christ is God's'' All the graces of the spirit are opposed to covetousness -meekness, gentleness, brotherly kindness, love, all forbid that we should covet the things of our brethren or the things of the world. This seems to be a danger point with many, and when we remember that it has proven to be the wreck-rock for many, it behooves us to be extremely careful to covet merely the Lord's favor and the gifts and talents by which we can best serve one another and not ourselves. MOSES PRAYING FOR ISRAEL-FEBRUARY 23--Exodus 32:1-34:9--Golden Text.--"The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working."--James 5:16. AFTER the people had assented to the, Law and the Covenant based upon it, Moses killed an animal, which represented himself, the Mediator of that Covenant, and he sprinkled the blood of the animal upon the Book of the Covenant, which represented the Lord and His faithfulness to all of His promises; and he sprinkled of the blood also upon the people-possibly, not upon the two millions, but upon representatives of the whole, the heads or chiefs of the tribes. Thus in type, or symbol, Moses stood pledge to God on behalf of the people, and to the people on behalf of God that the provisions on both sides should be carried out. It was after this solemn and significant ceremony, that by the Lord's direction Moses went up into the mountain as the people's representative--for communion with the Lord, and to receive from Him the Decalogue written on tables of stone, which the Jews traditionally claim were of sapphire. '.He was hidden from the eyes of the people by a cloud, and by "the glory of the Lord, like devouring fire on the top of the mount." (Ex. 24:17.) Days and weeks passed, 40 days in all, and there was no sight of their leader. (Ex. 24:18.) This absence of their leader, in whom they reposed great confidence, might have resulted in great blessing to the Israelites had they been in a proper condition of heart. Although, under the circumstances, forty days-nearly six weeks-would seem to be quite a considerable absence , without communication, it might have had the effect of impressing upon the minds of the people the fact that, after all, not Moses, but God, was their Leader, and that He had merely used Moses thus far as His servant, and that if anything had befallen this servant the Lord, who had begun the good work of their deliverance, in fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, was abundantly able to provide them another leader, and that nothing could have happened to Moses aside from Divine foreknowledge and ability to prevent. This would have been a great lesson of faith and patience, beneficial to them for the remainder of life. But, instead, they had "an evil heart of unbelief,"\ which quickly forgot the Lord's deliverance from the Egyptians, His leading through the Red Sea, the destruction of the hosts of Pharaoh in pursuit of them, the Covenant promise which He had just executed with them, and the manna which they were gathering daily; all these mercies of God were evidently underestimated-not fully and rightly appreciated, and their measurable unthankfulness and ingratitude became the basis of their fall into sin and idolatry, in gross violation of the covenant they had just made. WORSHIPPING THE GOLDEN CALFIngratitude toward God would naturally mean ingratitude toward the servant whom He had used for their deliverance; hence the disrespectful language in which they referred to their great deliverer as "this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt"--the man who was to lead us into the land of promise, and who now has gotten lost himself, in the mountain. The wide difference between the character and disposition. of Moses and that of the majority of the Israelites is shown by the fact that at this very time, while they were thus speaking lightly of him, Moses was importuning the Lord for them. The Lord made known to Moses in the mountain that Israel had gotten into serious sin, and by way of testing his fidelity as their appointed mediator, whose blood had typically sprinkled the people and thus pledged himself on their behalf, the Lord proposed to him the blotting out of the entire nation of Israel, and the taking of Moses as the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the head of a new nation. But faithfully, Moses had plead for those whom he represented. He thus showed himself a worthy type of the greater Mediator, of the New Covenant, the Christ, Head and Body, who has been appointed to make mediation for the sins of the people-reconciliation through His blood. The conduct of the Israelites in this matter shows up the weaknesses of the fallen human nature. They wanted to worship, and they desired to gratify this natural inclination in connection with fallen tendencies. They would worship God, but they would have an outward emblem or sign representing Him--additionally, no doubt, they craved some gratification of lewdness and licentiousness, which were marked elements of the idolatrous worship of Egypt, with which for a long time they had been in contact. They appealed to Aaron, Moses' brother, as second in command of the host-telling him of their religious sentiments, their desires for worship, their need of some external sign or representation of God, and that this was the more necessary in view of the long absence of Moses and the possibility that he would never return to the leadership, and that the people must have something upon which to center their attention, either a living man representing God, or an idol, an image, representing Him, etc., etc. The weakness of Aaron, in contrast with the strength of his brother Moses, is very markedly shown in this incident, and clearly exemplifies the wisdom of God in the choice of Moses to be the leader of the people, even though at the outset the latter in meekness ignored his own abilities and suggested to the Lord his brother Aaron for the leader. Whether Aaron really entered into the spirit of the people, and concluded with the leaders who appealed to him that it would be the wisest thing to make the image, or whether he did it as an expedient to hold the people in check until Moses' return, by conceding the demands which he really did not approve, we are unable to determine It is possible that his course in calling for the earrings, etc., was first of all with a view to dissuading the people from the course suggested, by making it cost them considerable sacrifice in the way, of their personal adornments. It may be, too, that he trusted that during the time necessary to the engraving of the moulds, the melting of the jewels, and the molding of the calf, Moses would appear and reassume the leadership and command the people. However, whatever were his thoughts and motives, he displayed a weakness of character far from commendable, one which should teach all who providentially come into places of influence and power amongst God's people, that there is but one right way to do; namely, not to participate in sin-not to become a participator in wrong, but meekly yet firmly to stand up for principle, for righteousness, at any cost--leaving the results with the Lord without fear, knowing that He is the real Leader of the people, and that attempts to compromise with wrong would be at the expense of Divine approval, and therefore too costly to be considered for a moment. The golden calf having been made, the next thing in order, of course, would be an altar for sacrificing to it, which accordingly was made, and then the program of a "feast to Jehovah." This shows that the idolatry here started was not different' from the kind' -practiced'' to-day in Christian Churches) where images, pictures, crucifixes, etc., are worshipped. Those who use these assure us that they do not worship the crucifixes, statues, etc., but merely use these as symbols or emblems of the Lord, and that their worship is to Him. So evidently the Israelites were not worshipping the golden calf as being their god, but as merely to represent God; for the program which drew them together to the worship distinctly specified that it was a feast unto Jehovah although Jehovah did not acknowledge their feast nor accept the worship connected therewith, because it was in violation of the principles and regulations which He had enjoined. THE COVENANT WITH JEHOVAH BROKENFull of religious fervor, the people arose early on the morning of the feast, offering to the Lord burnt offerings which He could not' accept, and peace offerings under conditions upon which He could not be at peace. The burnt offerings were entirely consumed, but the peace offerings were eaten by the people, and constituted their feast. The day was given up to revelry; they sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play-dances and supposedly lewd conduct, after the manner of heathen, professedly to the honor of God. It was at this juncture, at the close of the forty days, that Moses reappeared in their midst, and soon 'caused consternation by his proper and emphatic denunciation of the proceedings and. of all who were instrumental in their inauguration. As he came down from the mountain he heard the shouts of the people, but discerned that they did not indicate either victory or dispute in warfare, but rather that they were Voices of singing and revelry; and as he came in sight of the golden calf and the idolatrous worship, and realized how quickly and grossly the people had violated the Divine command on the subject, he dashed the tables of the Law upon the rocks and broke them in fragments --symbolically thus intimating an illustration of the failure of Israel to keep the Law; and ultimately the complete failure of the Law Covenant, as we know it did fail in respect to Israel in general at our Lord's First Advent. THE PUNISHMENT
The revelers were disquieted by the appearance of the great commander and his indignant rebuke of their irreligious fervor. Aaron came in for his share of this, but promptly acknowledged his error, pleading as ail excuse the demands of the people; his own weakness in the matter being too evident to require pleading. The one man stood up against a nation of two millions of people, denounced their sin, announced himself as being on the side of the Lord and thoroughly opposed to such infractions of His Law, and called upon such of the people as were on the Lord's side to desist from sin and come to His side in opposition to it. Although overmastered and cowed. in the presence of their God-appointed leader, the chief men of all the tribes except one seem to have resented Moses' reproofs. That one tribe was the tribe of Levi, typical of the household of faith from which the Royal Priesthood is now being selected. This tribe, although to some extent led astray with the rest, and to some extent leaders, through Aaron, in the wrong course, was at heart on the Lord's side; and when the rebuke came and the Lord's will and way were clearly set before them through their leader, they promptly came to the side of the Lord on the question. The leaders of the other tribes were not ready to admit that their course was a wrong one, not willing to submit themselves promptly, and the result was the destruction of about three thousand of the leaders in the wrong way, and the full return of the remainder of Israel into harmony with the Lord and with acknowledgment of their transgression. On the next day after this punishment of the leaders Moses more fully explained to the people the enormity of their sin, and went up again into the mountain, for them, as their representative, to make an atonement for them with the Lord. This incident well illustrates the general tendency, more or less, of fallen man to substitute something of his own creation, either as instead of the Lord or in addition to the Lord, as an object of worship. The worship of the golden calf symbolizes or pictures in a general and very forceful way the worship of the mammon of wealth, of earthly riches, honor, influence, etc. At our Lord's First Advent He found Israel nominally worshipping Jehovah, nominally very zealous of His worship' but really worshippers of mammon, worshippers of riches and honor of men, of dignities and titles, of place and position. 'We may draw another lesson still closer to ourselves and in full harmony with the foregoing. We may remember that natural Israel and the First Advent of our Lord, were patterns of spiritual Israel and the Second Advent of Christ when He will appear to inaugurate the New Covenant; that as He came. to His own professed Israelites, yet found them unready to receive Him, so at His Second 'Coming, professed spiritual Israel, styled Christendom, will be equally unready to receive* Him; and that as He found only a remnant of the whole of natural Israel ready for the higher plane of the Gospel Age, so in the end of this Age He will find only a Little Flock in all, ready for the higher plane of the Kingdom-ready for the change to glory, honor, immortality and joint-heirship with Himself and participation in the Kingdom work. THE GOLDEN CALF OF MODERN TIMESWe have seen that one of the principal difficulties in the way of Israel at the First Advent was the fact that they were mammon worshippers. Is this also illustrative of the condition of nominal spiritual Israel at the present time? Is it, or is it not true that nominal Israel of to-day blends the worship of God and the worship of Mammon? Is it, or is it not true that while nominally worshipping Jehovah the vast majority are bowing down to the golden calf of wealth, honor of men, dignity, titles, etc., etc.? We fear that it is only too true that there never was a time when money, influence, power, and honors of men 'were more exalted or worshipped or more striven for than at present. We are not making wholesale condemnations, nor suggesting that no excuse or allowance should be made in this matter. On the contrary, we would claim that it is true of many to-day, as it was true of Aaron, that they are led, yea, almost forced, into the positions which they occupy in respect to the worship of Mammon, in respect to their obedience and servility to the popular sentiment-to the general craze for the worship of the golden calf; the worship of great human institutions; the worship of wealth; the worship of titles and influence, and the tendency to be identified with these and in some .measure to share in the glory, both by contributing to and by participation in their revels. It is nearly nineteen centuries since provision was made for the sealing of the New Covenant with the precious blood of the divinely appointed Mediator, and He left His people and ascended up on high-going up into the mountain, into the presence of God. His absence was longer protracted than had been expected, and meantime many of those who had trusted in Him and waited for Him' and expected His coming again to lead His people into the land of promise, have ceased to expect Him, and are claiming that He will not come again to lead and deliver them-are claiming that it is necessary that other leaders should take charge and deliver the people. The heads of the various parties in conference have decided, not that Mammon shall be to them instead of God, but that Mammon shall be the representative of God, to lead the people to success; that Mammon shall convert and civilize the world; that Mammon and human effort shall bring in for the groaning creation, in a natural way, the various blessings craved, and cause the earth to blossom as the rose. Meantime the Leader whom God had appointed to bring the deliverance, returns, is present. He is justly wroth and indignant at present conditions. He has set up His standard of truth and righteousness, and is even now standing at the gate of the camp, and is calling, as did Moses in the type, "Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto Me I And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves unto Him." (Ex. 32:26.) Let all who are truly the Lord's, however much they may leave been entangled with the popular fallacies of our day, with its love of money and titles, its selfishness, love of honor of men, etc.--let all of the true-hearted be prompt to take their places on the Lord's side. Shortly, the great time of trouble will accomplish its work, 'which will mean the complete overthrow of all who uphold the worship of Mammon, however much they claim that it is really the worship and service of Jehovah. HE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATIONMoses as a Mediator showed himself grandly as a man, and beautifully typified the faithfulness of our Lord and Redeemer. How pathetic is Moses' plea-"If thou wilt forgive their sins." He left the sentence incomplete, as though it were beyond thinking that God could permit such an infraction of the Covenant that was being instituted. But Moses proceeds and expresses to the Lord His willingness, His preference, that if Israel's sin cannot be forgiven he also may be blotted out of the book of life. We exclaim, Noble man! Pure patriot! And we take ,to ourselves a lesson of unselfish devotion to others. But when we look from Moses the type, to Jesus the antitype, we see the same lesson brought out in a still more pronounced form. The One appointed to be the Mediator of the New Covenant realizing that it is impossible for God to forgive sin, to blot out sin, gave His own life as the redemption price for sinners. He actually did what Moses proffered to do and meant, for He gave not merely a prospect of life and a temporary existence such as Moses possessed, but He gave His all, laying down His rights to eternal life as a man, on our behalf. But though the Father was pleased with this devotion-indeed, had foreseen it, and had made this arrangement for the cancellation of man's, guilt and sentence of death, yet He purposed that the great Mediator of the Covenant, through whose blood--death--it will ultimately be sealed, should not suffer everlasting extinction, but that on the contrary He would reward Him for His nobility and devotion, both to men and to God's Law, by raising Him from the dead to a still higher plane of life -to glory, honor and immortality.--Phil. 2:5-11. And as the Lord said to Moses, "Go now; and lead the people unto the place" designated, so He has appointed that the Greater Mediator to be, who has actually given His life for all the world typified by Israel, and has received the hew life with superior power and glory, should be the Leader and the Commander of the people, and bring whosoever of them wills back into full accord with God, back to the Edenic conditions, the land of promise. But as the Lord said to Moses in respect 'to -the people and their sin, so it will be with mankind; viz., "Their sins shall be visited upon them." They will receive stripes or chastisements in proportion as they participated willingly or knowingly in a course of sin. So it will be during the Millennial Age; although the Lord will forgive the original sin, and remit its penalty of death, nevertheless, to whatever extent men have sinned willfully on their own account, against light and knowledge and opportunity, in that same proportion they are personally responsible, and will be obliged to suffer stripes of chastisements even while being brought by the Redeemer back from the plane of death to the plane of perfection, harmony with God and everlasting life. And those who will not profit by the lessons, who will not obey that Great Teacher and Leader', the antitype of Moses, shall be "cut off from amongst the people," as the Lord has declared.-Acts 3:23. VOICE FROM ACROSS THE SEACUP WAS REPLENISHED DEAR BROTHERS IN THE LORD:The HERALD reached me on Saturday as I
was preparing a word of cheer to give to -the dear brethren at the Forest Gate
Home-gathering in the evening. My thoughts were in connection with Dan. 12:12, and its,
message of joy coupled with the "joyful sound" of Psalm 89. I can assure you that my cup was
replenished when I read through some of the pages of the HERALD for the first -time. I
heartily thank you for it, and would like to have it come regularly to me, because it
breathes the same spirit which has invariably accompanied all our beloved Brother
Russell's writings and utterances. I am glad, dear brothers, that you have imbibed that
spirit and are thus enabled to "pour forth the oil.'.' "For we must share if we would keep That good thing from above, Failing to give we cease to have Such is the Law of Love." Surely of late baneful influences have
been at work among the Lord's dear sheep, and all of like precious faith should gladly
welcome this effort to call attention to the old paths, and "in silence to wait on
Him still," instead of struggling amid turmoil and strife with a vain hope of hearing
His voice. If any Pilgrim brother comes this way,
this home shall be a well "Guarded" haven for him, and there will be a similar
welcome accorded to him as was accorded to our beloved Brother Russell in times past. How
we loved that Brother! How we loved his gentle and noble demeanor! And how we even looked
forward to hear his oft-repeated words of genial humor when we met--"Still on Guard,
brother?" Little things and great things all had their place in him, and we loved him
because we desired to follow him as he followed the Lord. Though the difficulties that have
arisen in this country among the brethren appeared to differ from those which have
troubled them on your side, yet on closer examination we find the root cause to be the
same, and now the truth is uncovered in respect to the difficulties in Australia, we have
this view confirmed beyond a doubt-the master-hand of the great Adversary is apparent. Kindly provide Sr. Guard and me with
the HERALD regularly and with the remaining money from enclosure provide two of the Lord's
poor each with a year's supply, and be courageous and faithfully maintain the resolves
expressed in this first copy, and I feel assured the Lord will add His blessing. Yours in His love, FRED'K G. GUARD, Eng VOL. II. February 15, 1919 No. 4 IS THE DOOR INTO
THE NARROW WAY CLOSED?
"And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came;
and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was
shut."--Matt. 25:10. THUS did Jesus surely cause His disciples to cast their mental eyes forward to the conclusion of this Age when the work He was then inaugurating would be concluded, and all the faithful enter into the joys of the Kingdom. These words of the Master have become the occasion of strange and fanciful views regarding conditions and affairs pertaining to the Lord's people at the conclusion of this Age. The general prevailing conception has long been, however, that ever since Jesus' First Advent God has been dealing and working with the human family for the purpose of saving from eternal torment such as He has been able to influence; that the present life is supposed to furnish 'the only opportunity that any man will ever have; that therefore the door mentioned by Jesus refers to the opportunity that the faithful few, who will constitute the redeemed, will have, at death of entering the portals of heaven. The revelation of Truth that has come to God's people during the past fifty years has done much to dispel the mist and haze that has come down to us from the Dark Ages on this subject of human salvation. In the light of this clearer unfolding of the Lord's Word it is now clearly seen that while the great Divine purpose for human salvation has been progressing in grand order throughout the Ages, yet everything thus far accomplished has been in the nature of PREPARATION for that work; that the saving of mankind and reclaiming them from the tomb has never really yet commenced. We have seen that this Gospel Age has been a most important step in this preparatory process, viz., the selection and development of the Royal Priesthood, composed of Christ the Head, and the Church His Body; these. to constitute God's instrumentality. for the world's blessing. (1 Pet. 2:9;. Rev. 20:6.) Moreover, with the completion of this Royal Priesthood, will commence the great work of human salvation, including the bringing into subordination and putting down of all the forces of, evil, which work will be carried to a victorious conclusion, reclaiming whosoever wills of fallen humanity and bringing them back to the image and likeness of God where they may forever dwell on a perfect earth--paradise restored. These same Scriptures assure us that all willful opposers will be destroyed in the Second Death. -Acts 3:23; Rev. 20:12-15; 21:8. Today, therefore, a considerable number of Bible students are agreed that the door mentioned by Jesus does not pertain to the opportunity that mankind will have of entering into life in the Millennial Age, but has specific reference to the opportunity or the opening of the way into the Kingdom; the way whereby the faithful few during this Gospel Age may make their calling and election sure to joint-heirship with Christ in the Kingdom. That Jesus opened this way is confirmed by a number of plain Bible statements. His own words are, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." The Apostle's words likewise are, that Christ brought "life and immortality to light through the Gospel." He, Christ, opened up for us the "new and living way." And this way the Master again referred to when He said, "Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life" (immortality). THE NARROW WAY OF SELF-SACRIFICEFor nearly nineteen centuries justified believers have been invited to walk the Narrow Way by making a full consecration to God-denying themselves, taking up the cross and walking in their Master's footsteps. Neither has God expressed any threats in connection with this, heavenly calling, nor endeavored to coerce any to enter and walk the Narrow Way; rather it is set before such as have ears to hear, as a privilege and opportunity: "IF ANY MAN WILL COME AFTER ME." All such are enjoined to so run as to obtain the heavenly prize, to be given to all who are faithful in the end of the Age. The entire life time of each individual is required in the process of making ready. At no particular time in advance of his departing this life, is, he promised that the fight will be over and that he can cease his efforts and struggles in the Narrow Way and consider that his calling and election have been made sure. The strongest proof of this is found in our Master's loving words, "Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life." All Bible students who carefully discriminate and weigh all the messages of our Father's Word, well know that the faithful few who successfully walk the Narrow Way unto the end are promised the reward of the Kingdom at the. end of the Age, and that such final entrance into the Kingdom in glory by the First Resurrection is undoubtedly the door referred to by Jesus which will be closed with the passing beyond the veil of the last member of the Church it! the end of this Age.-Matt. 25:13-19; Rev. 20:4, 6. We cannot therefore avoid the conclusion that our Lord's Words, "And the door was shut" most explicitly assure us that a time comes when the full number designed of God to compose the Royal Priesthood of the coming dispensation, will pass in, and that then no more can enter because the door will immediately be shut. Moreover, this is the only door mentioned by our Lord or the Apostles as having to do with the conclusion of the work of this Age. But we are asked at this time to consider if there is not, what might be properly called, the door into the Narrow Way? and inasmuch as a time comes when the door into the Kingdom, the glorified state, is shut, must we not believe that the door or entrance into the Narrow Way, also- closes and that, at least a brief space in advance of the closing of the door into the Kingdom? Our reply is, that we regard this supposition as altogether a reasonable one-that it is entirely proper to regard the entrance' into the Narrow Way as closing, in connection with the shutting of the door into the Kingdom; for surely God would not invite into the Narrow Way of self-sacrifice and self-denial any who could not enter into the Kingdom on account of the door being shut. It is therefore proper to speak of the privilege of entering the Narrow Way as the DOOR OF OPPORTUNITY; and this is in full line with the view expressed by our Pastor, as it is remembered that frequently in his writings he spoke of the "door of opportunity." Thus we read from the pen of our Pastor: THE DOOR OF OPPORTUNITY."An open 'door' symbolizes AN OPPORTUNITY OF ENTRANCE TO CERTAIN CONDITIONS AND PRIVILEGES; a shut door represents THE TERMINATION OF SUCH PRIVILEGE OR OPPORTUNITY. The privilege, invitation or opportunity of the Gospel Age, granting, under restrictive conditions, to believers in Christ, entrance into joint-heirship with Him in the Heavenly Kingdom and to the Divine nature, is the 'door' by which we 'have access into this grace [favor] wherein we stand;' namely, into the hope of sharing the glory of God. (Rom. 5:2.) This door, which has stood open throughout the entire Age, is sometime to be closed; and the door in the parable of the virgins marks this close-THE TERMINATION OF ALL SUCH OPPORTUNITIES AND PRIVILEGES. This parable of the virgins merely portrays the events in the close of this Age among those of the true Church living at that time."--Vol. III, p. 206. But still the question is urged, in view of the fact that the time known as the forty years of the Harvest, is past and in view of all the circumstances of our day, are we not to conclude that the door into the Narrow Way has already closed, and that none can now enter, and that all who are in the Narrow Way must make their calling and election sure, and that therefore no more can fall out by the way? We, reply, that we must express our emphatic disagreement with any such conclusion. As for the forty year period of the Harvest, now some years in the past, we still regard the explanation of our Pastor as reasonable, that that period represented the general time allotted for the gathering of the wheat class, and the sealing of the servants of God in their foreheads, but that this would not preclude the possibility of there being a gleaning work which has continued on, and which may properly be regarded as extending up to the present time, and possibly, even some distance in the future. We do not believe that there are any circumstances at this time that indicate or constitute any proof that the door into the Narrow Way has closed. Relative to the sealing of the servants of the Lord as recorded in Rev. 7:1-3, we read that the four winds (of strife) are restrained from injuring the earth and sea (the social earth, society, representing the governments; and the "sea," the anarchistic masses of the people) until the elect are sealed in their foreheads. All who are conversant with the writings of our Pastor, will recognize that the four winds have not yet come together to form the whirlwind;, and that the governments and the anarchistic masses of mankind have not thus far been injured or destroyed by the world's greatest time of trouble--the "whirlwind." Evidently the sealing of the servants of God is continuing on, and even if the full number had been sealed (given an intellectual appreciation of the Divine Truths due at this time) this would not prove that no more could enter into the Narrow Way for the reason that various Scriptures indicate that it is in every way possible for those who have experienced the sealing and who have been made partakers of the Holy .Spirit, to lose this precious gift and to lose the blessing of the sealing. (Heb. 6:4-6; 10:26-29.) We believe that the words of our Pastor again throw further light on this subject "Consider this 'door' of opportunity and privilege, soon to close. Our Lord called it a gate, and said that during the Gospel Age it would be difficult both to find and to enter it, and advised us to make great effort to enter, if we, would share the immortality and Kingdom honors, to which it and- no other door leads. He said, therefore, 'Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in and shall not be able, when once the Master of the house hath risen up and shut to the door.' (Luke 13:25.) This Narrow Way, as we have already seen, is the way of self-sacrifice in the interest of the Lord's Plan and work. The way is made narrow by the circumstances of the present time, by the opposition of the worldly spirit against truth and righteousness, so that whoever walks in the footprints of our Leader and Forerunner will find the way narrow or difficult and must suffer persecution. To walk in this way, as our Lord set us an example that we should follow in His steps, implies not only a passive conformity to His disposition or spirit, but also an active, energetic zeal in the promulgation of His Truth at all hazards. And all who walk in this Narrow Way, faithful as He was faithful, unto death, have fellowship in His sufferings, and will also in due time have fellowship in His glory, at the marriage feast, in the glory to be revealed at His appearing and Kingdom.-Phil. 3:10; 1 Pet. 4:13. "In view of its glorious termination, the opportunity to walk in this Narrow Way of self-sacrifice for the Truth's sake is the grandest privilege that was ever offered to any creature. THE PRIVILEGE OF SUFFERING WITH CHRIST AND IN HIS CAUSE, after first recognizing Him as our Redeemer, IS THEREFORE THE DOOR, AND THE ONLY DOOR OF OPPORTUNITY by which the glory to follow, as the bride and joint-heir of Christ, can be reached."--Vol. III, p. 206, 207. Let us note carefully, dear brethren, what is here called to our attention, namely, that the door into the Narrow Way is represented in the privilege of "self-sacrifice in the interest of the Lord's Plan and work," and that "the privilege of suffering with Christ in His cause . . . is therefore the door, and the only door of opportunity, by which the glory to follow, as the bride and joint-heir of Christ, can be reached." We quote again: "BIBLE DOES NOT GIVE EXACT DATE""There are three ways in which the closing of this door might be indicated: first, by a definite Bible statement of the exact date; second, by such a reversal of public sentiment with reference to the Truth, that fidelity and zeal in its service would no longer meet with opposition, and when suffering with Christ for the Truth's sake (Rom. 8:17) would be no longer possible; or third, by such a condition of affairs obtaining in the world that all opportunity for such service would be effectually obstructed, thus leaving no opportunities for candidates to enter into the work and to develop and prove their love and faithfulness by their activity and endurance." Concerning the first way above mentioned our Pastor says: "THE BIBLE DOES NOT GIVE THE EXACT DATE -. . . But we have a clear intimation that THE DOOR WILL BE SHUT in the manner last named; for, before the Millennial day breaks, we are forewarned of a dark night wherein no man can labor--'The morning cometh, and also the night.'--Isa. 21:12. "The Narrow Way opened to us is the privilege and, opportunity of co-operating with our Lord now, when to manifest His spirit of meekness and zeal and loyalty to God and His Truth will be at the cost of earthly advantage; when, to champion His cause and the Truths which He advanced will make us, to say the least, very unpopular; and when our endeavors to honor His name and bless our fellow-men with the Truth, by letting our light shine, bring upon us reproach, misrepresentation and persecution in some form. And if, as we have seen, THE NARROW GATEWAY OPENED MEANS THE PRIVILEGE OF THUS SACRIFICING, FAITHFULLY, UNTO DEATH, at whatever cost, it follows that the CLOSING OF ALL SUCH OPPORTUNITY for such fellowship of service and suffering would be THE CLOSING OF THE DOOR, the barring of the Narrow Way to the future glory and joint-heirship; our reign with Christ being conditioned on our faithfulness in His service, which now means suffering with Him."--Rom. 8:17; 6:8.--Vol. III, p. 208. We believe the language of our Pastor above sets forth the only proper logical deduction to be drawn from the various Scriptures bearing upon the subject. We might delve deeply into the various types and symbols of both the Old and New Testaments and enter into various ramifications involving a labyrinth of fine spun thought and multiply texts of Scripture and ultimately work out a theory, but it would be only a theory-mere conjecture and speculation. But, dear brethren, would such a course be wise and bring to us happy results? We believe that all will agree that it would not. Let us remember that our Lord has not left us to do any guessing or theorizing upon this or. any other subject. The Master, Himself, did not do any guessing, nor did any of His Apostles. What they gave out as Truth was set before the early Christians as being their positive knowledge upon the subject and they cautioned against everything in the nature of theorizing or speculation. (1 Tim. 1.4, 4.7, 2 Pet. 1:16, 17.) We believe our Pastor stated the truth when he said, "The Bible does not give the exact date." Let us not fail to get the meaning of his words quoted above. Let us note the other two ways that he suggests by which the closing of the door into the Narrow Way might be indicated: "By such a reversal of public sentiment with reference to the Truth" that loyalty to it would no longer meet with opposition, "and suffering with Christ for the Truth's sake would no longer be possible." Or, "by such a condition of affairs obtaining in the world that all opportunity for such service would be effectually obstructed, thus leaving no opportunities for candidates to enter into the work." We believe that all will agree that neither one of these two conditions at the present time exist. There is yet no such reversal of public sentiment favorable to the Truth, but on the contrary all who are zealous in bearing the message continue to realize the promised consequences -the contempt, disesteem, and odium of the world. Neither can any claim that the condition has obtained that obstructs all opportunity for service. On the contrary, all about us there are wonderful opportunities yet of bearing the message orally and by the printed page, and such opportunities are now on the increase rather than on the wane; and yet our Pastor stated as his view that the "door would be shut in the manner last named," that is by all opportunities being obstructed. Let us read again: "Thus the door of opportunity to engage, with Christ our Lord, in the work of the Gospel Age, will be closed when 'the night cometh wherein no man can work.' "THE CLOSING IN OF THIS NIGHT WILL EVIDENTLY PUT A STOP TO ANY FURTHER LABOR TO DISSEMINATE THE TRUTH, which, misunderstood by the public generally, will probably be accused of being the cause of much of the anarchy and confusion then prevailing. . . . Nor should we expect that the coming of night and the closing of the door will be sudden, but rather that it will be a gradual obstructing and closing down of the Harvest work. . . . "OBSERVE THAT, WHEN THIS NIGHT COMETH, WHEN THE REAPERS MUST CEASE their labors, it will prove that this final work of the Gospel Age is accomplished; that the elect number of 'the Bride of Christ have all been 'Sealed' and 'gathered' into a condition of separateness from the worldly-into the barn condition (Matt. 13:30); for GOD WILL NOT PERMIT ANYTHING TO PUT AN END TO HIS WORK UNTIL IT IS FINISHED. THEN, all the true and faithful servants of God will have been sealed in their foreheads; and, the work of the Gospel Age being finished, NO MORE CAN ENTER INTO THAT WORK OR. REAP its rich reward, foretold in the 'exceeding great and precious promises' as the reward of the faithful who enter while the 'door' is open."--2 Pet. 1:4. Vol. III, p. 210, 211, 212. IF WE SUFFER WITH HIM WE SHALL REIGN WITH HIMThe teaching of the above language very clearly is that the door into the Narrow Way, should not be considered as closed as long as there are opportunities for service sacrificing for Christ's sake, and of having fellowship in His suffering. The question is, are there still opportunities of sacrificing for the Truth's sake and for Christ's sake and of suffering as a result of walking in His footsteps? Are there still opportunities of bearing the cross after Him? Most assuredly there are abundant opportunities of entering into all the above experiences. Here, then, we have the strongest evidences that the door is still open as this is the logic both of our Pastor's argument and that of the Scriptures. The sealing of the servants of God continues and will be brought to a close by the "dark night wherein no man can work." In 1914 our Pastor wrote: "We have every reason at present to believe that the number of the Elect is not yet completed, because of many crowns having been forfeited. We see coming in, day by day and week by week, some who give evidence of the Lord's acceptance, who evidence that the Lord is permitting them to lay down their lives in His service. But the time will undoubtedly come in the near future when the number of the Elect will be complete. Then only such vacancies as might still occur by some falling out would remain. In that case there might be a number in the consecrated attitude, whom God would accept to take the places of some who would drop out. These would receive the begetting of the Holy Spirit, and would find opportunities for serving the Truth and for suffering for the Truth's sake."--Z.'14-68. While of course we do not claim that there is the same number of vacancies in the Bride Class now as there was in 1914, we do believe there are strong evidences that there are still vacancies to be filled, for the same reason that our Pastor gave for his so believing in 1914, namely that "we see some coming in . . . who give evidence of the Lords acceptance, who evidence that the Lord is permitting them to lay down their lives in His service." It is this point that our Pastor regarded as strong evidence that the door into the Narrow Way was not closed in 1914. We desire, dear brethren, that our position in this matter be clearly seen and that it be understood by all that we do not think that the proof is at all sufficient to warrant us in taking the stand that the door into the Narrow Way was shut in April, 1916, nor in April, 1917, neither in March nor in April, 1918; nor do we think there is anything to prove that the door is even yet shut. Our position rather is that we believe that it is not within the province of any to fix anything definite with regard to the shutting of the door into the Narrow Way. The Scriptures assure us that it is the Master Himself who will shut the door. For us to enter therefore into a system of speculation upon the subject and thus divert both the attention of ourselves and others away from the great matter of making our calling and election sure would certainly work injury to us as new creatures, and might ultimately result in the loss of our crowns completely. Shall we not then be on guard against the wiles of the Adversary and not be lured into a sense' or feeling of security in the settled belief that we, as God's people, having been sealed with the knowledge of the Truth, and that "the door is shut" and no more can come in upon the High-Calling, and therefore, there is no possibility of our falling away and going into outer darkness. Let us then, dear brethren, not be ourselves alarmed, nor try to alarm others with regard to the door being closed, and thus have our attention diverted away from the great purpose to which we have dedicated our lives; let us not think to be "wise above what is written." In view of the fact that as our Pastor says the "Bible does not give the exact date," we do well to leave the entire matter in the hands of the Lord; and whether the door is closed or not closed, let us, dear brethren, labor on in the work of the ministry to which the saints all down through the Age have consecrated their lives, namely, that of bearing testimony to the Truth of gracious heavenly love, of proclaiming the message of the risen Savior, and of His presence now as earth's new King; let us not grow weary in the prosecution of this our Divine commission; and thus by pointing the hungering and thirsting to the better way, and by seeking to comfort all that mourn, we shall indeed prove true to the Divine vision which certainly applies to the last members of the Body of Christ: "How beautiful upon the-mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth 'peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!"--Isa. 52:7. THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRISTSERIES IV."Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive
power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing."--Rev. 5:12. THE OPENING OF THE SEALED BOOKENTERING now upon the fourth article of this series on the Apocalypse, it is to make inquiry with regard to the significance, to footstep followers of Christ, of what transpired as the seven seals that bound the mystical Scroll, were broken by the Lamb. Again we remind the reader that from the standpoint from which we are permitted to read St. John's Revelation, and from which we now look back upon more than eighteen centuries filled with events of tremendous importance since that Revelation was given, the conviction is forced upon us that there is but one proper method or school of interpretation and that is the historical view. Thus we find that our Pastor held closely to this method in all his investigations of the Revelation. His exposition of the sealed Scroll was no exception to this rule, for it is seen that he held most closely to the historical school of interpretation. We quote herein his exposition: "The opening of the seals has progressed during all the Gospel Age. The whole Plan of God is represented in this Book-the Scroll. It has required all of the present Age and will require all of the next Age to complete the Plan. . . . We may suppose that the Lord Jesus was made aware of all its features after His ascension to the presence of Jehovah. We who are God's people are seeking to know these things more and more fully. The Master declared that as the Father revealed them unto Him, so would He reveal them unto us; but this revelation has been gradual as the successive seals have been broken. "Brethren, beloved in Christ, realizing that our God has hitherto counted us worthy to look upon the wondrous Scroll of His great Plan, which has been unsealed for us by Jesus our- Lord, let us continue to prove ourselves worthy to look therein and to comprehend the glorious things of His Word, by faithfulness, obedience, and loyalty to this Plan in everything! Let our appreciation continually increase for our wondrous privilege in being permitted to share this blessed ministry of bearing Divine Truth to other hungry hearts, that they also may rejoice in the Lord and in the power of His might!"--Z.'16-253. It will indeed be worth while that we give careful attention to these utterances as proving his belief in the historical interpretation: (1) "The opening of the seals [the unfolding of the thinks contained therein] has progressed during all the Gospel Age." (2) "It has required all the present Age, and will require all the next Age to complete the Plan" (i. e. to fulfil everything contained in the seven-sealed BookScroll). (3) Though the Lord Jesus was made aware of important features of the Divine Plan during His earthly ministry, as represented by what was written on the outside of the Scroll , yet the Scroll, inwardly and as a whole, was revealed to Him fully in connection with His resurrection and ascension. (4) "We, who are God's people are seeking to know these things more and more fully." (5) "The Master declared that as the Father revealed them unto Him so would He reveal them unto us." (6) This revealing "has been gradual, as the successive seals have been broken" (as history has unveiled their prophetic fulfillments). (7) "Realizing that our God has hitherto counted us worthy to look upon the wonderful Scroll," let us continue to prove ourselves worthy to look therein and to comprehend the glorious things. SIGNIFICANCE AND TIME OF FULFILMENTOur Pastor did not write particularly with reference to the first four seals, but from his expositions of the fifth and sixth seals we are supplied the key by which we believe we are permitted to discover not only the significance but also to locate on the stream of time, when the first four seals had their fulfilment and the nature of the events to which they refer. Hence, before beginning our examination of Rev. 6:1-8, we will note briefly our Pastor's statement with reference to the fifth seal--"And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held." We quote his ,interpretation of the fifth seal: "We perceive that much of the evil done against the Lord's holy ones of the past has thus far failed of punishment. Great systems which, in the name of the Lord and in the name of religion, persecuted the true Church have practiced and prospered, and not yet received their just recompense of reward. Some of these martyrs of the past are pictured to us under the fifth seal as inquiring: 'How long, 0 Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth.' (Rev. 6:10.) This is a symbolical picture of justice long deferred crying for vengeance, representing those who are actually dead and know not anything and cannot know anything until the resurrection. The answer to this query before the seat of justice is given. We are told that it would be but A LITTLE WHILE UNTIL OTHERS ARE SIMILARLY MALTREATED, and the intimation is given that then the judgment will come which will compensate for the whole. This [time] is the awful trouble of the near future, when great Babylon will go down as a great millstone into the sea, when every man's hand will be against his neighbor's in anarchy, when there will be no peace to him that goeth out or to him that cometh in--a time of trouble such as was not since there was a nation nor ever shall be afterwards. "It is that trouble which the Little Flock, the Lord's goat class of faithful sacrificers will escape directly or indirectly and that the Great Company class will not escape, but on the contrary share "--Z.'07-233. There is much in this comment that reveals to us our Pastor's understanding of a number of things. We confine ourselves, however, to the particular matter under consideration-that of establishing the time and nature of the events in the fulfillment of the first four seals. In doing this we wish to emphasize certain utterances in the comment: (1) "Great systems [in the past] in the name of the Lord and in the name of, religion persecuted the true Church." This statement could have reference to only ,the Pagan and Papal religious systems, particularly the latter. (2) Some of these persecuted, martyred ones--those at the opening of the fifth seal, are represented as crying for justice to be done them which seemed long deferred. (3) They received the reply that it would be but a "little while" compared to the long time in which justice had been deferred, before these persecutors would be dealt with. Without noting other features of this comment we give a brief summary: To us it is a most logical conclusion that these martyred ones represent those who laid down their lives in sacrifice, during the time of the Pagan and Papal persecutions which included that long period represented in the "time, and times and half a time"--the 1260 years of Papal supremacy, which began 539 and ended in 1799. The period between this and the time when justice would be meted out, is called in the vision a "little season," and in the comment a "little while." The events of the fifth seal, then, were fully disclosed (fulfilled) in the beginning of 1799. This enables us to see that the events symbolized in the "horsemen" of the first four seals cover the whole Gospel Age up to 1799, and describes the rise and development of the persecuting power of the Papacy, covering its career as a persecutor. As further establishing this we cite our Pastor's interpretation of the opening scenes of the sixth seal, found in the Biblical Comments on Re v. 6:12-16, and the expositions from -which they are taken in Vol. IV, p. 587-592. The events of the sixth seal were understood by him as beginning their fulfillment in the "time of the end," about the time of the "martyr cry" of the fifth seal-about 1799. THE FIRST SEAL OPENED
"And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living ones saying as with a voice of thunder, 'Come.' And I saw and behold! a white horse and he who sat 'on him having a bow; and a crown was given to him; and he came out conquering and that he might conquer."--Rev. 6:1, 2. (Diaglott.) Let it be noted first, that whatever connection the "living one" has with the vision, the invitation by him--"Come," is not addressed, as some have taught, to St. John, but rather to the horseman (the word "see" not being in the original.) The horse and his-rider were not to St. John's vision mere pictures on the Scroll; they were the same to the Apostle as though a real living horseman appeared. The scene of the horseman's action was the earth. In our study of symbolic prophecy we have already learned, from those portions which the Scriptures themselves interpret, that there are two rules to observe: Before we endeavor to understand the application or fulfillment of a symbol we should first study the symbol itself; moreover, we should never look for the fulfillment of a symbol in the same phase of life as that from which the symbol is drawn. The only exception to this, is, where objects are used which from their very nature, nothing could be found to describe, as the Redeemer or the Deity. Where these appear and are clothed in symbols, they always refer to themselves. Therefore, in seeking to understand the meaning of the vision, let us first study carefully the symbol and discover from what phase of life it is taken. Very evidently the horseman is a warrior, as seen from the "bow," a common weapon of warfare at that time. This is also manifest from the fact that "he went forth conquering and to conquer." The symbol, then, is drawn from military life in the Roman empire, a phase of life with which St. John was very familiar. The fact that a crown was given to him indicates: (1) That he was a victorious warrior. (2) That he was not a rebel, but warred in the interest of his own rightful king or ruler. (3) That he was rewarded for his successful service. The symbol -therefore is that of a Roman General or Commander who goes forth making conquests in the interests of his king, bringing into subjection new peoples and provinces, causing them to become subjects of his king or ruler. The symbol being taken from the military life of the Roman Empire, we inquire, In what phase of life shall we find its fulfillment? The answer is, there can be but one phase of life that we as Christians should look for the fulfillment of the symbol, and that is the religious phase. But what was there in the religious world that is similar to a warrior making conquests and bringing peoples to yield submission to his king? The reply is that the warrior upon the white horse is manifestly a representation of the true and faithful servants of Christ in the form of the early Church, as in obedience to His command they went forth on their mission of proclaiming the pure Truth-the Word, causing eventually the overthrow of Pagan idolatry, and bringing many of its adherents to yield willing and glad submission to Christ, their King. It evidently has reference to the rapid spread of Gospel Truth in the first and second centuries during the "Ephesus" and the beginning of the "Smyrna" period. The horse represents truth or doctrine. The horse being "white" symbolizes both purity and victory-pure doctrines. Being crowned symbolizes success, and reward. It will be well here to notice that in contrast to the horseman of the second, seal, this one brought peace to his government. The significance of this will be noted as we consider the opening of the second seal. The historian has not failed to record the rapid. spread of Gospel Truth in the first and second centuries. The words of Origen who lived 185 A.D., in his reply to Celsus describes the marvelous progress Christianity made at this time as follows: "Anyone who examines the subject will see that Jesus attempted and successfully accomplished works beyond the reach of human power. 'For although from the very beginning all things opposed the spread of his doctrine in the world, .both the princes of the time, and their chief captains and generals, and all, to speak generally, who were possessed of the smallest influence, and in addition to these the rulers of the different cities, and the soldiers and the people, yet it proved victorious as being the Word of God, the nature of which is such that it cannot be hindered; and becoming more powerful than all its adversaries, it made itself master of the whole of Greece, and a considerable portion of barbarian lands, and converted a countless number of souls to his religion." Tertulian, another
Christian writer of the same time, says: "The outcry is, that the State is filled with Christians; that they are in the fields, in the citadels, in the islands; they, the Pagans, make lamentation as for some calamity, that both sexes, every age and condition, even high rank, are passing over to the profession of the Christian faith." The historian, Gibbon, has said: "While the Roman world was invaded by open violence, or undermined by slow decay, a pure and humble religion quietly insinuated itself into the minds of men; grew up in silence and obscurity; derived new vigor from opposition; and finally erected the triumphal banner of the Cross on the ruins of the Capital. Nor was the influence of Christianity confined to the period or to the limits of the Roman Empire. After a revolution of thirteen or fourteen centuries, that religion is still professed by the nations of Europe, the most distinguished portions of human kind in arts and learning, as well as in arms. . . . It has been most widely diffused in the most distant shores of Asia and Africa; and by the means of European Colonies has been firmly established from Canada to Chile, in a world unknown to the ancients." While we recognize the fact that this rapid spread of Christianity ultimately led to a decline in spirituality and developed into a world-wide formal profession, yet wherever this has gone, a few comparatively of the true followers of Christ have been found. In this manner has God's purpose been accomplished in the gathering out and developing and testing of the Elect Class. It must also be remembered that Christianity has exerted a powerful influence for good in holding up a standard of righteousness to the nations and exerting an enlightening influence resulting more and more in, at least, outward civilization. THE SECOND SEAL OPENED."And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living one saying, 'Come.' And there came out another, a red horse, and to the one sitting on him was it given to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill each other; and there was given to him a great sword."--Rev. 6:3, 4. (Diaglott.) In examining this symbolic horseman, we discover from the "great sword" that was given him, that he like the first, was also a warrior; the only difference in this respect being that the "great sword", is suggestive of greater destructiveness than the bow. Like Me first horseman he is an aggressive warrior. The warfare of this second horseman takes peace from the earth. The significance of this is that he makes use of his "great sword" in the endeavor to overthrow the empire he ought to uphold, and thereby destroys the peace he should be striving to promote. This warrior is a usurper, and has turned his hand against his own government. Unlike the first warrior he was not crowned, because his conquests are made for selfish ends. Civil war is here described. This symbol, like the other, is drawn from military arid political life in the Roman Empire. A familiarity with the history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire will enable us to call to mind the long line of conspirators and usurpers, that rapidly followed each other from the reign of Commodus, 183 A.D. to Diocletian, 284 A.D. These conspirators and their conspiracies made the lives of the rulers insecure, and frequently resulted in strife, blood-shed and disaster among the people. Of all conflicts among men, civil war is one of the I most terrible and cruel in its effects. Here then we have the symbol. Where shall we look for its fulfillment? This also is found in the religious world. The agents symbolized by this horseman are false teachers who usurp the power of Christ. It is what the Savior called, "Nicolaitanism," which early began to be established in the Church. It refers to the creation of the office of Diocesan Bishops, which came about in this way: It was the custom of the Lord's consecrated in each city to meet together for convenience, in different assemblies. Necessarily, there would be a bishop or elder (which in the Scriptures are synonymous titles), of each of these assemblies. All were elected by and served, as elders or bishops, the congregations that elected them. Before the second century closed, disagreement and strife arose concerning the settlement of disputes, either of doctrine or Church government. Councils were held , at which certain persons were appointed who were given jurisdiction over a certain number of Churches, to whom everything of this kind was referred. These decisions were final. These persons to whom were given the name Diocesan Bishops, after a little time, used their offices as a means of carrying out their own selfish purposes, claiming of course that these were of God. It was the beginning of. what finally in the early part of the 6th century (539 A.D.) culminated in the usurpation of power by the Bishop of Rome as head of all the Churches over the world. This began about the middle of the second century and by the powers assumed and exercised by these so-called Bishops, discord, strife and divisions (instead of peace, concord and unity) were introduced into the Church. We quote from Lord's "Old Roman. World," cited in Vol. II, p. 285: "In this (second) century the polity of the Church was quietly organized. There was an organized fellowship among the members; bishops had become influential; not in society but among the Christians; dioceses and parishes were established; there was a distinction between city and rural bishops; delegates of Churches assembled to discuss points of faith or suppress nascent heresies; the diocesan system was developed, and ecclesiastical centralization commenced; deacons began to be reckoned among the higher clergy; the weapons of excommunication were forged; missionary efforts were carried on; the festivals of the Church were created." We quote from our Pastor:' "These various appellations [of Papacy] and brief descriptions indicate a base, subtle, hypocritical, deceptive, tyrannical and cruel character, developed in the midst of the Christian Church; at first creeping in and up very gradually, then rapidly ascending in power and influence until it reaches the very pinnacle of earthly power, wealth and glory, meanwhile exerting its influence against the truth and against the saints, and for its own aggrandizement, claiming, to the last, peculiar sanctity and authority and power from God."--Vol. II, p. 272. The color of the horse changing from white to red denotes that the pure doctrines had become defiled, false, impure doctrines being substituted and thus took peace (that spirit of faithful and harmonious co-operation) and left a state of strife and contention, envy and jealousy among God's professed people. THE THIRD SEAL OPENED"And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living one saying, 'Come,' and I saw and behold! a black horse, and he who sat on him, having a balance in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living ones saying, a chenix of wheat for a denarius, and three chenices of barley for a denarius; and the oil and the wine thou must not injure."--Rev. 6:5,6. (Diaglott.) This symbol is that of a civil ruler exercising the authority of a judge as shown by the balance (scales) in his hand; also by the mention of the wheat, barley, oil and wine, the thought being that he exercised power over these articles. It describes a class of Roman Emperors who instituted a series- of unjust and excessive taxations, thereby causing poverty and famine among their subjects. A chenix was a little over a quart; a denarius was a day's wages for the average man. This would in ordinary times buy eight quarts of wheat, and a proportionate quantity of barley. This utterance implies great scarcity, indeed famine, want. This is the symbol. The fulfillment therefore reveals a still further decline in the professed Church. It refers to those so-called teachers, bishops, etc., who professing to be placed over the flock to feed it, robbed the flock of spirituality and that which supported spiritual life. Discontinuing to preach Christ and the Word, these substituted forms and ceremonies instead. There was introduced at this time into the Church, formal fastings, celibacy and asceticism as a so-called means of sanctification. Its development was gradual, throughout the 3rd century, and has continued ever since in the Romish Church and in some others. We quote again from Lord's "Old Roman World" cited in Vol. II, p. 286: It was not till the Fourth Century--when imperial persecution had stopped; when [the Roman Emperor] Constantine was converted; when the Church was allied with the State; when the early faith was itself corrupted; when superstition and vain philosophy had entered the ranks of the faithful; when bishops became courtiers; when Churches became both rich and splendid; . , . when monachists (monks) had established a false principle of virtue, . . . that men of rank entered the Church . . . . The Church was not only impregnated with the errors of Pagan philosophy, but it adopted many of the ceremonies of oriental worship. . - . Communion tables become imposing altars typical of Jewish sacrifices, and the relics of martyrs were preserved as sacred amulets. Monastic life also ripened into a grand system of penance and expiatory rites. Armies of monks retired to gloomy and isolated places, and abandoned themselves to rhapsodies and fastings and self expiation. They were a dismal and fanatical set of men overlooking the practical aims of life. The Emperor decided points of faith." Note the explanation of our Pastor: "As already stated, a great falling away had occurred, from primitive purity and simplicity and freedom into creed-bound ambitious factions. . . . And though the Reformation, three centuries ago, ushered in an era of Bible study and liberty of thought, and led to the rejection of many evils and errors, yet the counterfeit was on so elaborate a scale, so complete in all its parts and arrangements, and had so thoroughly deceived the whole world that, even after Luther and many others had recognized Papacy as the outcome of the great falling away-the Anti-Christ of prophecy-they, while denouncing it as a system, held firmly to the false theory which led to its peculiar errors of doctrine and practice. To this day the great majority of Protestants of all denominations support the theory of Anti-Christ that Christ's Kingdom has been set up. Some have endeavored to do as Papacy did-to organize their Church under, some one person as its head--while others supply the place of this head, with a council or synod; but all are under the delusion imposed by the false and misleading interpretations of Scripture doctrines started by Anti-Christ--that now, and not at a future time, is the reign of Christ's Kingdom."--Vol. II, p. 291, 301. Civil war, the symbol of the second seal, generally produces famine, that of the third, and herein we see the close connection between both. the symbol, and the fulfillment of the second and the third seals. THE FOURTH SEAL OPENED"And when he opened the fourth seal I heard the fourth living one saying, 'Come.' And I saw and behold! a pale horse, and one was sitting on him, whose name was death, and hades followed after him; and there was given to him authority over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with death, and by the wild beasts of the earth."--Rev. 6:7, 8. (Diaglott.) In this symbolic horseman (personified as death) and his follower, hades (the state of death), we see a combination of the evils of the two preceding seals with the addition, to destroy with wild beasts. As showing that this is a symbolic picture we quote our Pastor: "It would require a very strong imagination to harmonize this statement with the commonly accepted view that hades is a place of torment of such immense size as to be capable of receiving and torturing the fifty thousand millions of the, earth's population. Nor could anyone see the slightest consistency in using a symbol representing such a place of torment riding on horseback.. But the reasonableness of the symbols, death and the state of death, destruction . . . stalking through the earth and sweeping off large proportions of the human family is entirely consistent. We content ourselves here with merely showing this reasonableness, without offering any explanation of the symbols."--Vol. V, p. 378, 379. This symbol is also drawn from-the political life of the Roman Empire. It is that of a Roman Emperor, who, like the second horseman, causes civil strife and war in the empire, and like the third, reduces his subjects to want and, famine by excessive taxation. The significant addition to this is that he causes them to be killed by wild beasts in the arena. The fact that the horseman is personified as "death," and that "hades" followed him is designed to add to the force of his inhuman and unspeakable cruelty. The fulfillment is, like the others, found in the religious world. It portrays the heading up of the Anti-Christ, the establishment of the great, persecuting Papal Hierarchy, which claimed and assumed to rule in the place of Christ on the earth. This system commanded and encouraged all the evils of the two preceding symbolic horsemen, namely, the substitution of forms and ceremonies for the preaching of the Word of God--the introduction of formal fastings, celibacy and asceticism (monasticism), as a so-called means of sanctification. This system also introduced many other idolatrous practices into the Church. That, however, which is particularly described in this symbolic horseman is his "killing with the beasts of the earth." The beasts of the earth represent the governments of the divided Roman Empire. The meaning of the symbol is that the evil religious system, the Papacy, incited these governments, represented in their rulers, to persecute and put to death, those Christians who refused to submit to its false teachings, its rule and authority. In the loosing of the seals Christ saw the gradual decline and fall of the Church, and the establishment of this wicked false system, that had given to it power over the saints until* a "time, times and a dividing of time."--Dan. 7:21, 25; Rev. 13:1-8. It is to the martyrs of this system that our Pastor referred in the words already quoted in this article. The doings of the fourth symbolic horseman reaches to 1799, when the "saints were delivered out of his hand" and his power to put to death ceased. He was given authority to kill with the "wild beasts of the earth." History has for all time decided the meaning of this symbol. We quote: "The persecutions of the Christians under Pagan Rome were not worthy of comparison with those under Papal Rome, being less frequent, more limited in extent and much less severe. It is stated on the authority of the early Christians, that the majority of the Roman magistrates who exercised in the provinces the authority of the Emperor or of the senate, and in whose hands was the power of life and death, behaved like men of polished manners and liberal education, who respected the rules of justice. They frequently declined the odious task of persecution, and dismissed charges against the Christians with contempt . . . . or suggested to accused Christians some legal evasion . . . . How different the persecutions of Papacy, which laid hold not only of prominent opposers, but of all, and whose persecutions lasted, not for a few months only, but incessantly! '. . . Kings and princes who trembled for the security of their crowns, if they to any extent incurred the Pope's displeasure, and whose realms might be laid under a dreaded interdict, should they or their people refuse to render absolute obedience to the Pope's commands were sworn to exterminate heresy, and admonished to purify their provinces, from heretical perversity, on the pain of having their dominions wrested from them; and those barons who neglected to aid in the work of persecution, forfeited their estates. Kings and princes, therefore were not tardy in their efforts to comply with the mandates of the Papacy; . . . as early as the year A. D. 630 the Council of Toledo compelled the King of Spain on his accession to the throne, to swear- to tolerate no heretical subjects in the Spanish dominions. . . . The Council of Oxford in 1160 consigned a company of Waldenses who bad emigrated from Gascony to England, to the secular arm for punishment. Accordingly King Henry II ordered them, men and women, to be publicly whipped, branded on the cheek with a 'red-hot iron, and driven half naked out of the city in the dead of winter; and none were permitted to show them pity or to grant them the slightest favor. . . . "The Waldenses and Albigenses were the most numerous bodies of Protestants against Papacy; and when the literary awakening of the thirteenth century came it was mainly from these that the truth shown out, though reflected and intensified in utterance by Wycliffe, Huss, Luther and others.- And their doctrines, backed by simplicity and morality, shown out with greater lustre, in contrast to the pompous pride and flagrant immoralities of the then exalted Papacy. "Then it was that popes, councils, theologians, kings, crusaders and inquisitors combined their fiendish powers to exterminate every opponent, and to extinguish the faintest rays of dawning light. Pope Innocent III first sent missionaries to the districts in which the doctrines of the Albigenses had gained foothold, to preach Romanism, work miracles, etc.; but, finding these efforts unavailing he proclaimed a crusade against them, and offered to all who would engage in it the pardon of all sins and an immediate passport to heaven, without passing through purgatory. With full faith in the pope's power to bestow the promised rewards, half a million men-French, German and Italian-rallied around the standard of the cross, for the defence of Catholicism, and the extinction of heresy. Then followed a series of battles and sieges covering a space of twenty years. The city of Beziers was stormed and taken in 1209, and the citizens, without regard for age or sex, perished by the sword to the number of sixty thousand, as reported by several historians. The blood of those who fled to Churches and were murdered there by the holy crusades, drenched the altars, and flowed through the streets."--Vol. 11, p. 330, 331, 333, 334, 335, 336. Thus did our Lord Jesus, in the breaking of these four seals, have given to Him a knowledge of the rise and exaltation of the false, persecuting Church system; thus did He have revealed to Him the cruel and terribly trying circumstances and conditions which the Heavenly Father in His infinite wisdom saw best to permit in order to develop the Little Flock of joint-heirs of the Kingdom. The details, the times and seasons, etc., of this history, are more minutely described in succeeding visions. THE REPORT OF THE SPIES-MARCH 2--NUMBERS 13:1-14:38--Golden Text.--"This is the victory
that hath overcome the world, even our faith."--1 John 5:4. AFTER a dreary, tiresome march through "the great and terrible wilderness" of Paran, the Israelites had reached the very borders of their Promised Land. Kadesh-barnea is situated on the northeast corner of the vast Wilderness of Paran, which occupied the larger part of the central wilderness from the great wall of Egypt on the west to the borders of the Arabah and Edom on the east; and from the Sinai region on the south to the Mediterranean Sea and the border land of southern Palestine. To them, as to Dr. Trumbull when he came upon it after many difficulties, Kadesh-barnea "was a wonderful sight. Out from the barren and desolate stretch of the burning desert-waste, we had come with magical suddenness into an oasis of verdure and beauty, unlooked for, and hardly conceivable in such a region. A carpet of grass covered the ground. Fig trees, laden with fruit nearly ripe enough for eating, were along the shelter of the southern hillside. Shrubs and flowers showed themselves in variety and profusion. Running water gurgled under the waving grass." It was "a strategic stronghold on the southern border of Canaan, immediately accessible from the main road out of the southern desert Canaanward, yet secluded from it." Hence this place was admirably adapted for the purpose of resting while preparing for the conquest; for a basis for their campaign; and, as proved to be necessary, for the headquarters of the nation from which the people could go forth with their flocks and herds and support themselves. Moses was directed to select twelve men, one from each tribe, each one a prince and a leader, a man of intelligence, who was supposed to be trustworthy, to spy out the land of Caanan and to report the facts as they really were. The names are given, the familiar ones being Caleb and Joshua. The saying pleased Moses well (Deut. 1:23), not because it was best in itself, but best under the circumstances. Neither could Moses, nor can any ruler now, do what-he really knows to be best in itself, if the people he governs are unfitted or unwilling. God would have won the victory for Israel now if they had trusted HIM. They had not yet learned this lesson, and were unwilling to rest all on Jehovah. This caution in sending the spies was not condemned of the Lord; nevertheless, the people who for more than a year had been guided in all of their affairs by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night-directing their marchings, locations and camps, the time of their stay, etc.--the people who had been miraculously fed with the quail and who had experienced the continuous miracle of the manna, and who had witnessed the discomfiture of their enemies by Divine power when the hands of Moses were held up;--these people might have had faith enough in the Lord to have continued under His leadership whensoever and wheresoever He led them, confident of His care and of His power. The twelve spies quite probably separated into small groups and thus made the more extensive investigation; however, their return seems to have been at one time, which is rather against this supposition. Ten of the number reported. favorably as respected the land, but unfavorably respecting the possibilities of conquering it; the other two, Joshua and Caleb, with greater faith in the Lord, were less apprehensive and assured the people, "Let us go up at once and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it." However, the people had not fully learned the lesson of faith in God their Leader, and hence the report of the majority thoroughly aroused their fears and discouraged them from attempting the conquest. THE MAJORITY REPORTThe majority report was given with an appearance of great equity, telling on the one hand, that the land indeed was a goodly one, and exhibiting in demonstration some fruits, amongst which was the renowned bunch of grapes from Eschol, which they had carried suspended on a pole between two of their number; but, on the other hand, they seem to have exaggerated in their description of the difficulties having reached a conclusion in their own minds they sought to impress it upon their report; and, like many of our own day, considered that in order to secure their end, a little exaggeration was justifiable-the people were giants and the Israelites in comparison as grass hoppers; the cities were immense and were walled up to heaven; the land though rich, as evidenced by the fruits they brought, they reported "eateth up the inhabitants thereof"; meaning either that local warfare was prevalent or that it was a pestilential land, not healthful, or that as a whole it was a barren land and the samples of fruitage they brought represented exceptional portions. No wonder the people who had looked forward so longingly to this land of promise, felt greatly discouraged; such a report would be well calculated to discourage anybody. Yet it was just such a report as the people in general would have made, since it was made by their representatives out of every tribe. The report was ail "evil" one, not only in that it exaggerated the difficulties, but in that it also entirely ignored the Divine supervision of the past. Among other things that inspired fear was the report of the giants--Nephilim: these they represented as being descendants of the Nephilim, or giants which had caused such terror to the world before the flood. (Gen. 6:4.) The people were so thoroughly disheartened that they set up a great wail of despair. It was a night of sadness when they had expected joy; it seemed to crush out all the hope which had previously buoyed them up in the journey; they murmured against the Lord as well as against Moses and Aaron, declaring that they would have preferred to have died in Egypt or in the wilderness. They seem to have concluded that the Lord through Moses would now force them into the land of Canaan-seemed to see themselves destroyed by the sword, and their families a prey to their enemies. In their frenzy they said, Let us choose from our number a leader instead of Moses, reverse the program-return to Egypt and call it the land of favor! THE MINORITY REPORTIt must have been a sad occasion for the meek Moses; once before the people had proposed to choose another captain or leader, but this was during his absence in Mt. Sinai; now in his presence they repudiated him and all that he had endeavored to do for them. Only Joshua and Caleb stood by the Lord and defended Moses and Aaron who had fallen on their faces before the assembly; these two professed faith in the Lord, saying, "If the Lord .delight in us then He will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us; their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us; fear them not." Forty years later, an old man of eighty, Caleb proved his brave words by conquering the very region that had terrified the ten spies, driving out the gigantic Anakim, and making his ancestral Hebron his own.-Josh. 14:6-14. The outward facts were the same as those reported by the ten. But they knew that God wanted them to take possession of the land. It had been promised ages before. This was the meaning of their deliverances, and of the wonders God had wrought for them, and of their journey .through the wilderness, of their year at Sinai, of the difficulties by the way which had, been overcome. It was this that gave them faith. It was this that made them right in their determination to enter upon the land. It was this that made their report good. But these noble and courageous words of faith spoken by Joshua and Caleb were lost upon the angry people.;, discontent and fear had gained thorough control of their minds, so that instead of loving and appreciating these noble men and their counsel, they were about to stone them to death. Then the Lord interfered as on a previous occasion; a bright light shining out from the Tabernacle reminded the people that the Lord their Leader was - not only gracious and careful, but just; and that He could and would punish transgression as before. A pestilence broke out amongst them, and among its first victims were the ten spies who had brought the discouraging report. Moses pointed out these matters to them and showed what a lack of confidence in God their Leader they had manifested. He gave them also the Lord's message that because of- unbelief they had failed to improve their opportunities, and in consequence none of them above twenty years of age should ever enter the land of promise-the youth and children being held of the Lord as not responsible, were exempted. The Lord explained to them that for every day that the spies had spent in searching the land to bring an evil report, there should be a year of delay in eventually reaching it. Thus God here answered -their prayer. "Would to God that we had died in the wilderness! "-God determined that they should all die there. A very important lesson we should note in connection with the two reports brought by the spies from Canaan is, that the majority report or view of a matter is not always to be regarded as the truthful or correct view; nor that the majority view always represents the Lord's good pleasure. Alas, it has generally been the reverse down through the ages, even amongst God's professed people. God foreseeing that the majority during the supremacy of Satan's empire could be so easily deceived and influenced to choose a wrong course, warned His typical people saying, "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil."' (Ex. 23:2.) History tells us in letters written in blood that those who have properly and truthfully represented the Lord all down the stream of time HAVE BEEN THE FEW-THE MINORITY-the Little Flock to whom it is the Lord's good pleasure to give the Kingdom. Shortly after the punishment of the ten spies and their sympathizers, the courage of the Israelites revived and they determined that having come thus far to enter the land of promise they would go forward and take possession of it; they would ignore the Lord's declaration that they might not now have it; they would take it anyway for themselves. Another evidence is here given of their lack of faith in the Lord; they did not realize as they should have done how much the Lord's hand had been connected with all their progress thus far, and that without Him they could do nothing. When they informed Moses of their purpose, he refused his consent and co-operation, and forewarned them of disaster in any enterprise in which the Lord was not their Leader, nevertheless they marshaled a host and went forth, soon to retreat in disorder before their enemies, leaving numbers of their brethren slain upon the field of battle. It was a difficult matter for them to learn to rely, not upon themselves, but upon the Lord. Thence their journey turned again into the wilderness. How apt indeed are the following lines from Shakespeare: "There
is a tide in the affairs of men LESSONS FOR SPIRITUAL ISRAELITESThat the land of Canaan and its rest from the wilderness journeying is intended to be a type for the spiritual Israelites, is clearly shown by the Apostle in his reference to it, and to how Joshua led the people into its rest. (Heb. 4:3-8.) Canaan evidently cannot typify the perfect heavenly state into which the Church hopes to enter; because when Israel did enter Canaan there were years of battling with the inhabitants thereof, finally overcoming them by the Lord's assisting power. The Scriptures teach us, on the contrary, that when the Church shall have experienced the First Resurrection change, all her trials and difficulties, her conflicts with the Amalekites and Hittites and Jebusites and Philistines will be ended;--that which is perfect shall have come, and that which is in part shall have been done away. The lesson for spiritual Israelites in connection with these Canaan fightings is that they are to be like Joshua and Caleb, and by faith are to enter into the land and confirm the Lord's promises and give a good report thereof. By faith we have already entered into Divine favor; we must have already tasted that the Lord is gracious; we have already experienced forgiveness of sins; we know as the remainder of mankind know not-even those who seek righteousness and harmony with God that the Lord's power is not limited. We realize that we are fully able to meet the conflicts and difficulties and trials belonging to a consecrated life. By faith we are already living in this Kingdom; already we are battling with the world, the flesh and the devil, day by day, but at the same time resting-in the promises of the Lord; in the strength and grace which He supplies; in the victories which He grants us. It will be remembered that the name
Joshua is otherwise translated Jesus (see Heb. 4:8) and means "deliverer of His
people-help of God." The name Caleb signifies "dog"; and this reminds us
that the poor of this world, rich in faith, who are to be heirs of the Kingdom with their
Lord Jesus, were represented in our Lord's parable as being on a level with the dogs. As
the rich man, representing fleshly Israel, to whom belonged the promises as the child of
Abraham, 'failed to enter into them because of his unbelief and rejection of Jesus, and
was cast off from Divine favor for a time, so Lazarus represented those "dogs"
who have, during this Gospel Age been accepted as children of Abraham through faith.
Viewing Joshua and Caleb from this standpoint as representing the. Lord and the faithful
though despised few who share with Him the people's wrath for their good report, we can
see that these alone, at the present time, have the proper faith in God to enter into His
rest in advance of the world, and to make full consecration of themselves to Him and His
service, and to battle with the world, the flesh and the devil, and to conquer through the
blood of the Lamb. And these, now by faith fighting the good fight, shall in the near
future as God's representatives lead forward all the hosts of His people-redeemed
mankind-who, learning lessons of bitter experience in the wilderness condition, will
eventually be glad to enter into Millennial Canaan, there to inherit the rich promises of
God's Word. The essence of this lesson is
represented in the Golden Text. Faith and trust in the Lord is the paramount essential for
acceptance and blessing at His hand--"Without faith it is impossible to please
God." "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." If
we leave the world (Egypt) to become the Lord's people, and receive the lessons of
experience at His hand with proper faith in Him, the outcome will surely be a readiness
and promptness to make a full consecration, a full submission of ourselves to do the
Lord's will; to follow His leadings; to inherit whatsover He has for us. And if the faith
be of the proper kind we will say with the Prophet, "I, will fear no evil for Thou
art with me-Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me." Such, and such alone, can be.
led of the Lord in this present Gospel Age, in which we must walk by faith and not by
sight. Such alone will have the confidence to go forward encountering the various
oppositions within and without in the present time. Such will eventually be God's
representatives and leaders in the blessing of the world in the Millennial Age. Let us
learn well the lesson of faith, of trust; as God informs us of His appreciation of this
quality, and that He can deal with us only in proportion as we possess it, so in our own
experiences we find that we love most to assist and encourage those who manifest an
abiding confidence in us. JOSHUA, PATRIOT AND LEADER-MARCH 9--JOSHUA
1:1-9--Golden Text "Be strong and of a good
courage."-- Joshua 1:6. At KADESH-BARNEA, where the Israelites arrived fifteen months after the Exodus, they remained approximately 38 years, leaving there probably about nine months before taking possession of Palestine. During all this time Kadesh was their central nucleus or rendezvous, from which they could -go into other parts of the lands around them with their cattle. It is not at all likely that they remained in Kadesh all the time, Among the incidents of peculiar and special interest to Christians that happened during that time, was that of the deflection of Moses as recorded in the 20th chapter of Numbers. In the Wilderness of Sin, Israel came to Meribah. Here was a waterless region and they bitterly charged their thirst to Moses. God told Moses and Aaron to take their wonder-working rod, gather the people together, "and speak to the rock before their eyes," and water would come forth, as once before in a like case of need. (Ex. 17:6.) But Moses was indignant and stirred to the depths of his soul, because the people forgot all the times he had helped them. He upbraided them, "Hear now, ye rebels! Must we fetch you water out of the rock?" Then "he smote the rock with his rod twice," passionately, "and the water came forth abundantly. . . . And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed not in Me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them." The smiting the first time was by the Lord's direction, and the waters gushed forth, but the second time the Lord said to Moses, "Speak unto the rock," but instead he smote the rock a second time. In this he spoiled a type, while he made another type. Christ Jesus, the true Rock, was to be smitten but once for our sins, and as a result of that one smiting at Calvary the water of life would be obtained for all true Israelites to all time; and if for a season the flow was stopped it was only necessary that the Rock should be invoked in the name of the Lord, that the waters might again flow forth. Christ dieth no more; death has no dominion over Him; therefore in the type the rock should not have been smitten a second time. But the second smiting, nevertheless, made a new type, because as the Apostle explains, there are some now who crucify Christ afresh, and put Him to an open shame-some of His professed followers denying or ignoring the value of the original sacrifice, denying the blood that bought them, are counted as committing the sin unto death-Second Death-and of these Moses became a type, and as a type of a class which would have to do with the antitype of the rock, he was debarred from Canaan.--Heb. 6:4-6. THE FIERY SERPENTSAnother incident was at of the plague of fiery serpents which
was administered as a punishment upon the Israelites because they murmured against the
whole Divine arrangement, especially complaining that there was no water, and that the
Manna that they gathered daily was too light-not strong enough for them. They craved the,
flesh-pots of Egypt. Similarly some of spiritual Israel, not properly grasping the hopes
and promises, not sufficiently living by faith on every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God, find themselves in a half-starved condition because unable to appropriate a
sufficiency of the spiritual food. from lack of spiritual faith and hope. They crave the
worldly things, and long to satisfy the carnal appetite; and feel themselves in a measure
of bondage under the antitypical Moses. As a punishment for this rebellious condition the
Lord permitted to come upon Israel a host of fiery serpents, the particular kind of which
is not certain. They are supposed to have been called the fiery serpents because of red
streaks upon the head, and because of a glistening of the skin in the sunlight. Such
serpents are found in those desert parts and are very ferocious, very poisonous. The
Israelites began to realize that the chastisement of the Lord was upon them, and they
cried to Moses for help, saying, "We have sinned because we have spoken against the
Lord and against thee; pray unto. the Lord that He take away the serpents from us."
And Moses prayed for them. How often it is thus with spiritual Israelites. It seems in many instances to require several adversities to awaken them, to cause them to appreciate the great antitypical Moses, the Christ, And to come unto the Father through Him for relief. In this connection we remember the words of the Prophet, and see that they well apply to the experiences of many of the Lord's spiritual family, "Before I was afflicted I went astray."--Psa. 119:67. By Divine direction Moses erected on a pole a serpent made of brass, apparently of immense size and capable of being seen by the Israelites from quite a distance. By this means God would teach natural Israel a lesson of faith. They had sinned, the punishment of their sins was upon them, but His mercy was extended to those who would recognize it by faith. We might not have discovered without Divine aid the antitypical signification of this incident. But our, Lord Himself directs our attention to the fact that the Israelites bitten by those serpents, represented or typified sinners bitten by sin and suffering from the consequences thereof--the fall, He calls our attention to the fact that He Himself was the great antitype of that brazen serpent lifted up in-the wilderness-that by His crucifixion He who knew no sin was made a curse for us who were transgressors. From our Lord's explanation we perceive the great truth taught by this type, namely, that in no other way has God provided for eternal life, for the people, than by the acceptance of Christ-yea, more than this, the acceptance of Christ crucified. Our lesson takes us down to the close of Moses' life and the transfer of the responsibility of the nation's government to that of Joshua. As a prophet, or teacher and lawgiver, he, under the instruction of the Lord, was far in advance, not only of others of his time but of the many since, who have sought to copy and to improve upon the laws which he laid down. In all of this, however, he was merely a type of the great Prophet, Priest and King whom God purposed. should in due time accomplish a still greater deliverance for a still mightier host to a still better Kingdom of Promise-the Millennial Kingdom. Moses did not take the title of king or priest, although the humbler title of prophet, teacher or representative of God, represented also in his case the kingly and priestly functions that we have seen. In his valedictory Moses proceeded to rehearse to Israel the Law of the Lord in full, reciting the blessings that would come from obedience to this law, and the, curses which would surely follow a disobedient course. He even proceeded to prophesy (Deut. 30:1-11), and pointed out that Israel would experience both the blessings and the curses, and that as a result they would ultimately be scattered throughout the earth, but that God, in infinite mercy, would remember them and finally bring them back to Himself, and circumcise their hearts, a type of which circumcision they already had in the flesh.-Compare Rom. 11:25-30. The time of Israel's return to Divine favor at the close of the Gospel Age is the period mentioned by the Lord through the Prophet Jeremiah, saying, "After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people; and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."-Jer. 31:33,34. At this time the Israelites were in the land of Moab, at the northern end of the Dead Sea, opposite Jericho, and nearly in line with the city of Jerusalem. They awaited the Lord's direction, by the pillar of cloud, before crossing Jordan to take possession of Canaan. Here, 'Moses' work being accomplished, the Lord led him up to Mount Pisgah's top, a lofty peak 3,586 feet above the sea-level. From this point an extended panoramic view was possible -is possible today. Here Moses saw much with his natural eyes, but much more with the eye of faith, seeing the promises which God had made to the tribes of Israel, through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and by His own mouth. He saw of, the travail of his soul, and was satisfied. We hear not a murmur respecting the transfer of leadership and the cessation of his own labors. If God had used him in his service to the extent that He was pleased to do, the servant was thankful and satisfied. "So Moses, the servant of God, died"--not from weakness and infirmity of age, for "his eye was not dimmed nor his natural force abated"; he died according to the Word of the Lord. Throughout His life he had been the Lord's servant, used and blessed as such, protected and kept by the power of God through the many vicissitudes of life, and he who thus kept him, buried him in one of the many little inaccessible valleys of this Mount Pisgah. The Lord not only hid Moses in the grave, but hid the grave, so that no man knoweth its place. Ruskin's words in his delightful thoughts on the falling leaves are especially descriptive of Moses: "We, also careless of a monument by the grave, should build it in the world--A MONUMENT BY WHICH MEN MAY BE TAUGHT TO REMEMBER, NOT WHERE WE DIED, BUT WHERE WE LIVED." GOD CHANGES LEADERSHIP
Joshua, the newly appointed leader of Israel, had been Moses' "minister" or servant, not in a menial sense, but in that higher sense in which we speak of "ministers of the Lord," Ministers of State, Prime Ministers, etc. He was eighty years of age at this time, and hence must have been forty when Israel left Egypt All the circumstances seem to indicate that Joshua was a man of large faith and large courage; moreover, we remember that notwithstanding his high position as Moses' chosen minister, he seems to have been entirely void of that ambition which led to the overthrow of Korah, Dathan and Abiram and many of the princes of Israel; and which previously had affected Miriam and Aaron. Although he is not mentioned as being so meek as Moses, we may from all these considerations judge that the one whom the Lord chose for Moses' successor was indeed a meek man, and that his courage, exemplified in every feature of his history, was the result of his faith in the Lord and not the result of self-confidence. The lesson to be drawn from this by spiritual Israel is the one mentioned by our Lord; namely, "Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." (Luke '14:11.) In this Joshua was a type of our Lord Jesus who, in turn, is the pattern which must be followed by all those who would be finally acceptable in the Lord. The Apostle's argument along this line, to all the spiritual Israelites, is, 'Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time."--1 Peter 5 -6. Israel unquestioningly accepted the Lord's choice of a leader. As a people they were evidently learning something by their experience in the wilderness training. school. At the beginning of their sojourn they were scarcely willing to recognize even Moses; but now they had come along so far as to be able to see that the Lord was their real Leader, and that even though Moses had died without bringing them into the promised land, God who had made the promise of Canaan to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and themselves, was abundantly able to accomplish His promise, and hence they were willing to accept whatever leadership the Lord should indicate. Spiritual Israelites, too,
are to learn the same lesson human leaders are important in their way-in so far as they
are the Divine choice-so far as we can see fulfilled in them the Lord's promised guidance
of His people. Bu we are never to think of human leaders as indispensable and God is likely to do again as in this case of Moses
namely, to remove a trusted leader and to appoint another in his stead, to the intent that
His people may learn that He is their real Leader, that with Him as their Guide the
will surely have success, and that without Him all
earthly leadership would be in vain. Three times in this lesson is Joshua encouraged by the Lord, "Be strong and of a good courage," "Be thou strong and very courageous," etc. (vs. 6, 7, 9.) There are different kinds of courage; one sort is begotten of egotism an self-reliance, another kind is begotten of a recklessness which fails to take into account the difficulties of the situation, but the courage which the Lord inculcates and which all spiritual Israelites are to seek to possess is the one which, while coolly and calmly discerning the trials and difficulties of the way, and while humbly realizing its insufficiency for the occasion, -is supported by a faith in the Lord--a trust in the Divine promises which enables them to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. This was to be Joshua's- courage an& it is to be ours in respect to, all the things of the present life, as well as in respect to all the things of the Kingdom, confidence in the Lord whose servants we are, and whose work He has commissioned us to perform. CROSSING THE JORDANThe land of Promise, Canaan, is frequently described in the Scriptures as a goodly land, "a land flowing with milk and honey," a figurative expression representing its general prosperity and productiveness. That the inhabitants were wealthy is attested by recently unearthed Egyptian histories of about that time. The Israelites needed to be encouraged for so great an undertaking, and hence the various tribes of Canaanites were mentioned by Joshua, that they might know that they were all included in the Lord's bequest; and that they might know that, He had taken cognizance of the whole situation. It was much to Israel's advantage that these various tribes of Canaanites were distinctly. separate, and did not co-operate to any particular degree. Moreover, they evidently felt secure in that the River Jordan separated between the hosts of Israel and their land, and being quite a swift river, it would be very difficult for a multitude to cross without boats or bridges, and many of them. The crossing took place when the Jordan was overflowing its banks, and was therefore much wider than usual; -and we may presume that the Canaanites would feel so much the more secure, and less vigilant in any attempt to repel an invasion, supposing the river to be specially impassable at this particular season. Had the crossing been undertaken when the river was low, the Canaanites would have undoubtedly disputed the way; and Israel would have had a severe battle with poor weapons against a probably well equipped enemy. Besides, the miracle God intended to work would have seemed much less forcible at any other season of the year. Israel needed this further miracle and evidence of Divine power and intervention on their behalf to give them courage for the work before them. We are not to question the power of God in respect to this miracle, in whatever manner it was accomplished; but in looking for the manner we are to presume, as far as possible, that the Lord used some natural means in connection with it. A man from each of the twelve tribes was selected; each one was to carry a stone from the midst of the Jordan to the shore, and these twelve large stones were to-be set up as a memorial, a reminder to Israelites for coming generations of how the Lord had brought them over Jordan.--Josh. 4:2, 9. Joshua's directions were that the people should look out for the Ark of the Lord, that it-representing the Lord would precede them. According to these directions about three-quarters of a mile intervened between the Ark and the people, it going to the north of them and they following it within that distance. At the proper place it stood, and its bearers, the priests, walked down to the river until their feet touched the water. The Israelites were intently watching what would be the program, and to the astonishment of all, when the priests'-feet touched the water the river began to shrink. Step by step they went onward into the channel, while the river grew smaller and smaller, until it was entirely dried up, and then the Ark rested in the middle of the river-bed, while-according to the directions of Joshua-the people on the bank crossed over quickly into the land of promise. Thus so large a body of people crossed the river quickly, to the surprise and terror of their enemies, who supposed themselves surely safe from an attack behind such a barrier as the swollen Jordan. But, Do you believe it? some one asks. We could readily see that if the waters above could be made to stand up in a heap a very swift river like the Jordan would speedily empty itself and leave a very dry channel; but what kind of a miracle would this be that would cause the waters of a whole river to stand up in a heap? 'Many will read the account with unbelief. Let us who have gotten so many precious things from the Bible learn, not to discard any of its presentations lightly, but rather to anticipate that they must be true and seek a reasonable explanation of them. In this case we have not very far to seek, for the account says (v. 16), that the waters which came down from above stood and rose up in this heap, a great way off at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. Thus we see that the waters did not pile up within a few feet or a few inches of the priests and the Ark, but that they piled up a great way off. Following this cue, Professor Wright examined the bed of the Jordan some miles above the place of this miracle, and found that near the town of Adam the river passes through a deep gorge, and that a land slide at this point had probably stopped the river and caused it to form into a lake or a great heap of waters north of the obstruction. Such a cutting off of the waters from above speedily drained the river bed, and the filling of the lake to the level of the obstruction or the giving way of the latter allowed the river to rise again after the Israelites had passed. THE LORD WENT BEFORE THEMA general lesson is taught by the fact that the Ark preceded and remained in the river-bed until all of the people had passed over. This to them was the Lord's guarantee of the safety of their passage, and the evidence that their privilege and opportunity of thus quickly entering into possession was of the Lord. A lesson to all spiritual
Israelites should be, "In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy
paths" (Prov. 3:6); and again, "Without Me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5);
and again, "My help cometh from the Lord" (Psa. 121:2) ; and again, "I can
do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Phil. 4-13); and again,
"All things are yours, for ye are Christ's and Christ is God's." (I Cor.
3:22,23.) Let us in the strength of these Divine promises enter into the blessings of the
Lord more and more day by day, and allow His leadings past and present to give us courage
and fortitude for the future. "Who led us last will lead us still, Be calm and sink into His will." There was a limited time in which those who had faith and a desire to cross over could do so, after which the passage would be impossible. So with us there is an acceptable time, a day of favor,, in which, if we will, we may present our bodies living sacrifices, holy acceptable to God, our reasonable service. We know not how long the Lord will allow this favorable opportunity in any measure to stand open-we know not how soon the number of the Elect will be complete. But as many as are of a courageous heart should proceed at once to a full consecration and to an entrance by faith upon the new life-as New Creatures. Let us not be deterred by fear of the giants with whom we will be obliged to contend, in fighting against- the weaknesses and sin-habits of the old nature. Let us not be discouraged with the thought of the high walls and fortifications of entrenched sin. Let us remember that if God be for us He is greater than all that could be against us. As the Lord promised the Israelites that He would be with them to drive out before them the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Gergashites, the Amorites and the Jebusites, the proper course for the Israelites would have been to have waged at once a warfare of extermination against these peoples of the land, for this was the Divine command. Those people typified the sins with which we must contend earnestly and over which we must have a victory of extermination. For various reasons the Israelites compromised with their enemies and as a result suffered from them in future years, sometimes being dominated by them. Similarly spiritual Israelites who compromise with sins in their own flesh are sure to have difficulty therefrom and to find the battle between the flesh and the spirit sometimes won by the flesh. Some have been inclined to question the justice of God's giving to Israel the land of Canaan, already inhabited by others--the justice of not only permitting but commanding them to destroy the inhabitants of that land, and to take possession of it as their own. The reply is that "the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof." He, therefore, had the right to give Canaan to the descendants of Abraham without giving a reason why to any creature. He had a right to give it when and how and to whom He pleased. He does, however, condescend to inform us that in blotting out these many little nations of Palestine, descendants of Noah's grandson 'Canaan, He did so not along arbitrary lines but along lines of justice. These Canaanites were not ignorant savages, but quite civilized peoples who, after the manner of the Sodomites, had gone into great excesses of licentious idolatry. In Abraham's time God foresaw where their course would lead them, but He delayed to bring the promised seed of Abraham into their land for a time, because, as we read, "the 'iniquity of the Amorites was not yet come to the full."--Gen. 15:16. We are to remember in this connection that the destruction of Israel's enemies did not signify the sending of them to eternal torment. The Lord thus allowed them to be consigned to the prison-house of death to await the Millennial morning and an awakening by the Redeemer from the sleep of death under much more favorable conditions than they had ever previously enjoyed. "LED FORTH BY THE RIGHT WAY"In applying these matters to ourselves, let us have in our minds the precious words: "And He led them forth by the right way." With spiritual Israel it is particularly true that the Lord leads in the right way, in the best way; and that therefore all truly His people should be careful to note His leadings and quick in following them. In the end we will surely see that He has led us in the right way, however different that way may be from the one we would have chosen for ourselves. The difficulty With many is that the Way that they take is not the one which the Lord led and hence not the best way, even though the Lord may overrule their waywardness so that it shall not work to them a great injury which otherwise might have been theirs. Let us then, with full faith in Him who has led us hitherto, go forth through the coming days conquering and to conquer, strong not in ourselves but in Him who has called us and led us hitherto. ENCOURAGING LETTERSCHRISTIAN FRIENDS: I write to thank you very much for the last two copies of THE HERALD, especially the last one, just to hand, containing that article on "Christian Liberty and Union;" which article is itself surely worth more by far, to anyone at all interested in Christianity and the truths relating to it, than a whole year's subscription price. I regard that article especially, but other articles also, which this paper contains, as intensely interesting. I regret that I cannot subscribe at once' for your HERALD, being a blind man, but will hope to do so later on. I would like you to send me three or four copies of this last issue, containing that article re Christian Liberty, etc.; and state your charge, which I will remit, and will send the papers to some of my special friends that they may subscribe if they will. I note that you are not showing any enmity toward others, but simply doing what you can for the cause of the Lord, for which I am very glad indeed, as much disputing and contentions savors of destruction. May the Good Lord bless you in your work. Yours in His Service, A.
W. B., New York. DEAR BRETHREN: I have just heard that you are now publishing a periodical and that same is in harmony with our dear Brother Russell's Will, and I shall therefore be glad if you will forward a copy on to me, Number 1 if possible, and what the subscription is, and I-will forward same on to you. At the same time I shall be glad if you will also forward a copy to Brother and as soon as I get your reply I will forward you a money order for the year's subscription. I am glad to say that we are still rejoicing in those Truths that were brought to light through "that servant," and we are receiving rich blessings at the hands of our dear Heavenly Father. May the Lord continue to be your sufficient grace and strength in these evil days in which we are living, and my prayer for you is that you may continue to do everything in harmony with our Heavenly Father's will. With much love in Him, Your brother in the One Hope, P. W. N., England. DEAR BRETHREN: We, the Montreal Class, desire to thank you for the prompt services rendered us by the visit of Pilgrim Brother Streeter. We received a great blessing and it has enabled us to stand more firmly in the liberty of Christ, and we are sure that you Brethren have been used of the Lord to go ahead with the work left by Brother Russell, and we hope to co-operate in the good work of sending forth the good message of the Kingdom. Our hearts rejoice to see so many of the Lord's people standing free, holding fast the beginning of their confidence, and may we all follow closely in the Master's footsteps in doing the Father's will. We desire an interest in your prayers, and we will pray for you that the Lord will bless you in the sending forth of meat in due season. We are, Your Brethren in the One Hope, MONTREAL ECCLESIA. DEAR BRETHREN: Loving greetings in the name of our dear Lord and Master! The Providence Ecclesia held their business meeting last Wednesday night, and it took me back to our annual business meetings of years ago. There was just one spirit manifested throughout, and that was the Lord's spirit. Everyone nominated for Elder, Deacon, Deaconess, etc., was elected without a dissenting vote, and all motions made were also unanimously carried. There were no contrary-minds there. Now for the reason of writing you! this letter. At the meeting above referred to, the Providence Ecclesia unanimously voted that the Secretary should write the Pastoral Bible Institute and express. to them that they have its hearty support in every way, believing that the Institute is being used of the Lord, and that it is the intention and purpose of the Providence Ecclesia by the Lord's grace to help in the work to the extent possible. In order that it may assist financially as well as otherwise, a "Good Hopes" box has been arranged for, and all moneys deposited in it will be remitted to you at the 'close of each quarter, as suggested in THE HERALD. Although nothing definite as to the amount of quarterly remittance can be stated at this time, we may, however, be able to approximate the amount after a few Sundays. The moral support of the Ecclesia you have always had and will continue to have. While the Pastoral Bible Institute were well aware of the fact as to how they stood in the estimation of the Providence Ecclesia, yet the Class thought it might be a further encouragement to them to let them know by a unanimous vote that it was with them in their efforts to serve the Lord and His people along the lines as outlined. With much love to all the dear co-laborers, we are, Your brethren in the Lord, PROVIDENCE ECCLESIA. DEAR BRETHREN: I write to say that I have received the copies of THE: HERALD to date, and have been greatly blessed and strengthened by their contents. All the articles are good and helpful, but may I say that the one entitled, "Christian Liberty, Fellowship and Unity," comes to us with special force and instruction in these days of testing which have been upon many of the Lord's children along these very lines for months past. Also the article on "Moses, the Leader of Israel" is most suggestive, directing our thoughts to 'the probable fact that the seven last plagues on Egypt are typical* of the retributive judgments yet to be visited upon the careless and wicked world before they will be ready to pray, that the desire of all nations may come and that the Lord may assume the sovereignty of the earth, "the purchased possession," the homestead of mankind. The spirit of love and moderation which shines forth on every page of THE HERALD is truly refreshing and will assuredly greatly assist in overcoming the judging, smiting spirit which apparently pervades, the hearts of so many of the Lord's dear people. Bro. Nicholson's letter was a great delight to me, as many years ago when my attention was first called to "present Truth," as we speak of it, he it was who, by his kindly counsels and ministrations, assisted me to grasp our dear Bro. Russell's wonderful explanations of all that previously had been dark and mysterious concerning the doctrinal truths of Scripture. Therefore it was certainly an encouragement to me to know that he, with so many others, had taken a strong and decided stand for liberty of conscience, the fellowship which we have in Christ Jesus and in Him alone, and unity in essentials and freedom in non-essentials. Since reading Bro. Davey's letter I have daily remembered him and the work in India at the Throne of Grace; and if for no other, reason, this one fact of communion with others of like precious faith through the pages of THE HERALD, makes it of priceless. value. Am enclosing a postal order for five subscriptions for THE HERALD, with the addresses. If possible I will be glad to have the papers sent from December 1, 1918; if not, kindly send from January 1, 1919. Finally, I desire to say that I most heartily approve of the Charter of the Pastoral Bible Institute, and the basis on which it rests, namely, one vote for one individual member, which removes the Institute from an 'unjust commercial foundation. May the blessing of the Lord rest upon this effort to resume the Harvest work, especially the Pastoral Work which Brother Russell left -to us, as it were a heritage of service for the closing months or years of the Age, is the earnest prayer of Your sister in His Name; MRS. J. H., Canada. |
