THE HERALD
of Christ's Kingdom
VOL. XVII October 1, 1934 No. 10
Table of Contents
"Europe
Fears Anarchy More Than Early War"
Fellowship
in His Gospel, Love, and Light
"WHAT
SEEK YE?"
Three
Character Studies in the Third Epistle of John
Faith
WORKS
Report
of Conventions
Pilgrim
Visits
VOL. XVII October 1,
1934 No. 10
DAILY THE conviction deepens in the minds of thoughtful men that we are living in the
day when the present order must go down. It is not strange that as Bible Students we
should see these things, but from most surprising quarters come frequent evidences that
astute men of the world see not less clearly than the student of the Word the approaching
catastrophe. What they fail to see is the tremendousness of the impending fate. The
following article from Paris written by Leland Stowe and published in the New York Herald
Tribune, August 19, 1934, is quoted as an illustration of this clearness of vision:
"Paris, Aug. 18.-Letters from home indicate a deep American concern over the
possibility of war in Europe, an apprehension obviously inspired by the events in Germany
and Austria during the last months. If such
public concern exists, is it justified or exaggerated? There are two schools of
thought among European observers as to which answer is correct, but however grave the
Continent's problems may be, it would be an error to conclude that they are faced in a
panicky spirit.
"In fact, a majority opinion of qualified experts would, I believe, reveal
the conviction that there is much less danger of an early war in Europe today than in
1914, and that an aggressive war could only break out as a last resort. In other words,
any hypothetical armed conflict in the coming months would almost certainly be inspired by
the madness of desperation rather than by premeditated intent.
"But granted even this, it must be admitted that every European nation is so
weakened, economically and financially, that every government feels assured that it would
be abolished by internal explosions before any general conflict could be terminated. First
of all it is futile to discuss the war bogey unless certain important distinctions are
made. Three goblins plague Europe-war, revolution, and anarchy-and of the three, war
appears to many as the lesser menace for the months ahead, whatever may be the case two,
three or five years from now.
"Likewise, a fundamental factor behind all three must be recognized as
economic and financial distress, but universal economic insufficiency should scarcely be
expected to touch off a continental conflagration. It was a strong and prosperous Europe
which sprang to arms twenty years ago, whereas revolutions and anarchy thrive on poverty
and want. This is to say Europeans today recognize war as wholesale suicide and have no
desire to hasten their own execution.
"If Europe is to sink into another abyss, rather than do so by voluntary
sins of commission it is more likely to succumb by sins of omission-by continued helpless
drifting, while the Old World's social props rot away. That course, if it should be
permitted to persist, would appear to tend more toward revolution and anarchy than toward
a general European war. To be precise, take Germany. Until June 30's amazing purge the
Nazi's formidable militarization program and their Storm Troops machine of 2,500,000 men,
raised the serious threat of eventual war in Europe-if their militarism were maintained
unchecked for another three to five years.
"By his own riddling of the Brown Shirt ranks, Chancellor Adolf Hitler has
removed much of that immediate danger. Certainly he has dislocated, temporarily at least,
Germany's own internal strength. Some observers incline to believe that the very
jeopardizing of Hitler's force may drive him more rapidly into foreign adventure,
desperately intended to save his dictatorship.
"While admitting that Hitler appears to have demonstrated his incalculable
weakness for precipitant action, this writer is among those who would prefer to trust the
caution of the Reichswehr general staff to the judgment of a Roehm or a Heines. With
Hitler dependent upon the Reichswehr for support, it would seem that Germany's
professional generals would not now be pushed easily into risking an almost certain defeat
in another war.
"The danger of an Italian-Yugoslav clash on Austrian territory would appear
much greater, but there Great Britain's influence upon Rome would be as significant in
sedative value as France's influence upon, Belgrade. And Hitler's recent acts have
immensely solidified Anglo-French cooperation in the interest of preserving order in
Europe. No one can deny that momentous events are to be expected in Europe next Winter,
but only a maniac would start a fire in a hospital ward. Europe's hospital ward won't be
vacated of patients for a long time yet, and that fact ought to count for something."
One might be inclined to speak of it as remarkable that this writer should have
mentioned "war, revolution, and anarchy" as the "three goblins" that
menace Europe at this time, but it would be more-proper to think that the greatest miracle
that could happen in our day would be that these Scripturally foretold menaces might be so
concealed that the whole world could be standing on their brink without some one realizing
it. Step by step God's Plan goes slowly on to its completion. We may lift up our heads and
rejoice in absolute assurance that the glorious conditions promised beyond the trouble are
just as certain to arrive in God's time as are war, revolution and anarchy.*
------------------------------------------
*For a discussion of the Scriptural prophecies regarding these three phases of the
coming trouble see Watch Tower, 1898, pages 206-208; Scripture Studies, Vol. IV., Chapter
11.
What of the Future?
As we contemplate the future, doubtless many thoughts come crowding into our
minds. With the year extending from October 1, 1933 to September 30, 1934 we have reached
what would appear to be another very prominently marked date in prophecy. What may we
expect? What is likely to happen in our own country along political, economical, social,
and ecclesiastical lines? What in other countries? The government of this country would
appear to be rapidly changing into a form of State Socialism. Does this bode good or ill
for its citizens? With machinery taking more and more the place of human labor how will
the question of unemployment be solved? How will breadwinners find means of livelihood?
How will the necessary distribution of wealth be brought about? With violence or without?
What of our children? What experiences await them? And what o Palestine? Jerusalem was to
be "trodden down," but of forever, only "until the times of the Gentiles be
fulfilled." (Luke 21:24.) Are they not now fulfilled? And if so, is Jacob's trouble
near? And will it occur in connection with the final overthrow of the Papacy and the
downfall of the Mohammedan power?
Twenty years ago the winds of war broke loose and men's hearts failed them for fear.
The hearts of thinking men and women are still failing them as they look forward to those
things coming upon the earth; for such a war, symbolically referred to in the Scriptures
as a whirlwind, could not occur without leaving a terrible aftermath in its wake. And more
and more it is seen that our present day depression problems had their origin then. Since
that time we have seen strong monarchies fall, or to speak in Bible language we have seen
"hills melt like wax." (Psa. 97:5;- 46:6.) Some earthquakes (revolutions) have
taken place. Are we to look for more? And will it be only after the fire (of anarchy) has
raged that the still small voice of God will be heard? And will we be here to listen to
'that Voice? Does the fact that not until he had witnessed whirlwind, earthquake, and fire
did Elijah hear the still small voice of God, suggest that some members of the Church may
pass through all these experiences in antitype, and will we be amongst those counted
worthy to do so? - 1 Kings 19:9-14.
"Faith can Firmly Trust Him Come What May"
Ah! dear reader, these questions are easier to ask than to answer. As the poet
has said:
" I know not what awaits me,
God kindly veils mine eyes,
And o'er each step of my onward way
He makes new scenes to rise;
And every joy He sends me comes
A sweet and glad surprise."
This being true, and what child of God has not verified it in his personal experience,
small wonder that the poet continues:
"Where He may lead I'll follow,
My trust in Him repose;
And every hour in perfect peace
I'll sing, He knows, He knows."
If we have Almighty God for us who then can be against us? If the word of our
Lord Jesus is true-and we know it is true -- "I will never leave thee, nor forsake
thee," "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the Age," then
"Faith can firmly trust Him, come what may." As David sings:
"God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
Therefore will we not fear, though the earth do change,
And though the mountains be shaken into the heart of the seas;
Though' the waters thereof roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains tremble with the swelling thereof. Selah.
"There is a river, the streams whereof 'make glad the city, of God,
The holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her, at the- dawn of morning.
The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;.
He uttered His voice, the earth melted. Jehovah of Hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our Refuge. Selah."
Let us then go forward with some of the faith and assurance to which David here
gives such buoyant expression, with the determination that the future, whatever else its
distinguishing characteristics, shall be marked by a larger degree of confidence in our
gracious heavenly Father, and in His well beloved Son, our Lord. Concerning our Father,
Jesus Himself has taught us. He is All-sufficient for our every time' of need. He knoweth
the way that we take. Yes -- He knows, and loves, and cares, and has promised that no good
thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.
"That ye also may have fellowship with us." - 1 John
1:3.
THE first word in this Epistle designed to bring that which Jesus manifested in His
earthly life over into Christian experience to be known and proved by those abiding in
Christ is "fellowship." This fellowship is meant to be a fellowship in
"light" and in "love." We read in 1 John 1:5: "God is light"
and in 1 John 4:8: "God is love."
When one has been begotten of the Holy Spirit, grafted into the Vine, he is
henceforth identified with Christ in a union of nature and a communion of life. The
practical result of this being grafted into the Vine is fruit-bearing. "Herein,"
says Jesus, "is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit." Nor must we fail
to note some of the specified forms of fruit-bearing. Continuing the parable of the vine
and the branches, our Lord especially mentions two of these forms as love and joy-love for
'one another, joy to the full. To abide in Christ means a life of prayer, a life of
communion with Him, and a conformity to His commandments. (John 15:7-14.) As the very life
of the vine flows into the branches and causes them to bring forth fruit, so when the
light and love and life of God are permitted to work in our hearts, they bring about a
fellowship with Him and with all His children. As the tree is known to us by the flavor of
its fruit, so Christ is made manifest through us, if we abide in Him and His words abide
in us.
How wonderful is this fellowship in Christ! The word "fellowship" in
the Greek means "having in common." The thought then is that there is a
communion of possession and interest, a communication of life from vine to branch,
resulting in a community of possession, operation, and expression. There is a word that
greatly enriches the meaning of fellowship. This word is friendship. In connection with
this parable of the Vine, after referring to the fruit from the union, Jesus says,
"Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth:
but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made
known unto you." (John 15:15.) Friendship then implies a desire not to withhold but
to share what we know, and have, and are. Jesus has taken us into His friendship.
Companionship is included in this relationship of friendship also. The word is of Latin
derivation, meaning to "break bread together." This, in oriental custom, only
friends do. And the doing of this affords to friendship the opportunity of fellowship. We
note the words of our Lord in Rev. 3:20: 'Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man
hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with
Me. What a privilege to have the intimate fellowship of Christ! And what a privilege to
have a still more intimate connection with Christ-that of brethren, the privilege of being
sons of God.
This fellowship with Christ is not confined to the present merely, but begins in
the past and extends into the future. When He was on earth He gave Himself a ransom
sacrifice for us; He is now in heaven as our Advocate, and we fellowship with Him through
His Holy Spirit. While it is now our privilege to be children of God and enjoy the blessed
fellowship of the Divine family, the fruition will have been reached when we shall be made
like Him and see Him as He is. This hope constitutes a transforming power in our life, as
saith the Apostle: "And every one that hath this hope, purifieth himself, even as He
is pure.
Fellowship Godward, Selfward, Brotherward
To profit from this Epistle of St. John we must keep the windows of our soul open
Godward. He is the source of all spiritual life and blessing. "Our fellowship is with
the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." Therefore we are exhorted to "have
fellowship with Him," to "abide in Him," to live in such a manner that we
may "know Him," and to deny ourselves of anything that would interfere with this
bond or union between the Lord and ourselves. Those who desire to walk with God and hold
communion with Him as "a friend converses with friend, will find these glorious
results impossible to them except on the condition of holiness of heart. So long as they
indulge voluntarily in anything which they know is not approved by the Father, they erect
a wall of separation between themselves and their Heavenly Father; and He cannot and will
not take them into His bosom and reveal to them' the hidden secrets of His love."
The Truth must also be allowed to have its desired effect selfward. We are the
vessels of God into which He has chosen to pour His truth. Such a vessel must be clean. If
we have fellowship in the light and love of God and of Christ it will purify the heart and
life. We cannot receive their love in our hearts and harbor a spirit of hatred.
Again, this fellowship of spirit must flow out from us Brotherward. God has constituted
us a family, a redeemed brotherhood, and we are to demonstrate the family characteristics
received from the Father in our conduct the one toward the other. That which we receive in
fellowship with Him we are to pass on through a like true fellowship, to our brethren.
Having our window open heavenward to -bask in the sunshine of His love, we must hold our
door open earthward that others may feel the warmth and reality of that love, not in word
and in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
"Even as He Walked"
The Apostle points out the futility of mere profession. How futile to declare
ourselves in intimate communion with God's Spirit of light and love if the life does not
manifest these qualities.
So the Epistle proceeds to probe the life, using tests to which each one of us
must submit ourselves tests that distinguish the true from the false: "He that saith
he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked." In the first:
chapter, sixth verse, the Apostle uses the expression, "If we say," testing our
sincerity; and in verse seven, "But if we walk," exulting in the genuine.. We
see here that our professed fellowship with Him who is light and love is put to practical
test. We ask ourselves, brethren, Is that light and love manifested in our daily walk?
If we say that we are abiding in Him, His Spirit flowing in us and 'actuating us
should find a like expression in our life as it did in His. His walk, then, becomes the
standard by which we should strive to walk, and it is the inwardness of His life its
controlling principles, evidenced in His walk, that must control our walk -- our lives.
He Walked in the Light
How then did Jesus walk? John in his Gospel comprehends that matchless walk as a
manifestation of light and love. He walked in the light of His Father's presence by
constant communion with Him, and by a life in all things pleasing to Him. The light of His
Father's favor brought forth the commendation "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased." Jesus was in such oneness and communion with the Father that He could
say, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father," and then tracing His words and
works back to His Father as their source, He said: "The words that I speak unto you I
speak not of Myself but the Father that dwelleth in Me, .He doeth the works." (John
14:10.) Our Lord so walked in the light of His Father's face that on the cross, when this
light must of necessity be withdrawn from Him, the experience was one of utter darkness
and dismay. He .so walked that He was "the light of the world" and could invite
others to follow Him with the assurance that they would "not walk in darkness."
He Walked in Love
Oh, how He loved! He "went about doing good," ministering to the needs
of man, showing God's love to be kind and compassionate. Under test His love never
failed-He continued loving. He not only loved His own to the end, but He loved His enemies
as well. Being reviled, He reviled not again, but commended God's love in pouring out His
life for the world of mankind-for men who hated Him with cruel and malicious hatred, and
He could say while hanging on the cross: "Father, forgive them, for they know not
what they do." What a standard for His followers -- for us, brethren! Let us hear Him
saying: "Love one another as I have loved you."
Our Lord did not waste His life in any unworthy purpose, but ever had in mind the
Divine purpose. His life was the constant expression of that purpose-to do His Father's
will and finish His work, declaring that this was His very meat and drink.
"Ought Himself also so to Walk"
There is no mistaking this language. It is the Apostle's practical appeal in his
Epistle to all the truly begotten ones that they take the Lord Jesus as their pattern. We
are "so to walk." And if we are to walk as He walked, the secret must be
inward-a heart filled with His Holy Spirit. We are members of His Body, and if we
"abide in Him," we will strive to walk as He walked. Only as we so walk can we
rightly represent Him with whom we are inseparably identified. In the light of this fact
we have a great responsibility. This Divine "ought" can never be removed. The
necessity for "so" walking lies hidden in the little word "also"
-"ought himself also." Thus John associates us with our Lord. In the 14th
chapter of John's Gospel, recording the teachings of Jesus, the word "also" is
five times repeated, each time linking the begotten ones with Christ. So here in this
Epistle the word has the same significance. How beautifully and forcefully this linking
the Church with Christ is expressed in Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians: "And gave Him
to be the Head over all things to the Church, which is His Body, the fulness of Him that
filleth all in all."-1:22, 23.
It is said that on exhibition in Washington is a certain copy of the Declaration
of Independence. At first sight the penmanship appears much like that of any other copy,
but one has only to stand in a particular position to detect the features of George
Washington, the man who made the Declaration a practical reality. In his writings he is
made to live again. Just so with every one who "says," makes, the declaration,
that he has been set free from his past, only that he might enter into fellowship with the
One who procured his freedom. We who declare that we are abiding in Him "ought"
so to live and walk as to disclose the fact to neighbors and all with whom we come in
contact that there is an unmistakable likeness to our Lord.
"Walking in the Light"
"If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with
another." - 1 John 1:7.
Every privileged relationship of life carries with it a corresponding responsibility of
opportunity. We cannot walk in reliance upon our own resources. But if we have the Spirit
of God ruling in our hearts, we will have the power to demonstrate that we have been
brought out of darkness into His marvelous light. "For," says Paul, "ye
were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord; walk as children of light." - Eph.
5:8, R. V.
To know light, and therefore what it means to be in fellowship with light, we
must trace it back to its source. What is this source of light? We know that great source
is God. "God is light," and again, "In Thy light shall we see light."
In God is light in the absolute. This light coming from God makes known to us His being
and His nature.
Light is incapable of adulteration or contamination. It has no admixture of any
thing foreign to it. What a beautiful picture of our Lord Jesus Christ manifesting God's
purity, and His own purity in His walk among men. Touching the unclean.
He was not defiled. Passing through the haunts of sin and iniquity, in
sympathetic contact with the shame and sorrow of human life, He emerged sinless and
stainless. What a portrayal of the purity that must attach to and characterize the life
that hopes to become a partaker of the Divine nature.
Light is Penetrating
Light enters the least opening accessible to it. It searches out the recesses
that would otherwise remain dark and dismal. It penetrates the gloom. Science discloses
the fact that it lays hold of the lurking germ of disease, whether in the home or in the
human system.
Such is the ministry of Him who came as the world's light.. So far from sin
fastening upon Him, it could not even stand in His presence. How many times we read in the
Scriptures of His penetrating, searching insight into the hearts of men, and in many cases
it brought about a change of thought and action.
Light is powerful with a power peculiarly its own. No agency known to man travels so
swiftly or so far, yet it does its work so silently and unobtrusively. From the farthest
stellar spaces it reaches us, revealing yonder, worlds upon worlds. From our sun it bears
upon its beams a multiform ministry for the sustaining of life and the maintenance of
industry. We cannot compute the power put forth in a single day. Yet all is done
noiselessly-there is no sound; and gently-there is no jar; but a quiet, persistent giving
out of its power to heal and help. Dear brethren-all of this and so much more is our
wonderful Light, in whom is "no darkness at all," and He has brought us into a
fellowship of sharing these qualities with Himself.
He who said "I am the Light of the world" turned to His followers with
the startling declaration, "Ye are the light of the world." And we can qualify
in this only as we "walk in the light"--that is, only in abiding union with the
Light, our Lord Jesus, permitting Him .to impart His qualities to us, "For it is He
that worketh in you."
It is the Psalmist who says, "In Thy light shall we see light." The
darkness in us is made light by the presence of the Holy Spirit, linking us with the
source of all light, even with Him in whom there is no darkness. Sensitiveness to sin is
one of the signs of His illuminating, self-revealing presence. Hence it is that some of
the most godly saints, those walking in closest fellowship with Christ, are the most
conscious of their own weakness. They are living in the light that makes evident the
contrast between themselves and Him, and they realize that it is only by being in Christ
that they are acceptable to the Father.
Light Cleanses
Twice the Apostle uses this word "cleanse" "But if we walk in the
light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." "If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness." (1 John 1:7, 9.) 'If we walk in the light, and if we confess our
sins-as we meet these conditions, He is faithful and righteous to "forgive and
cleanse.
Light Reflects its Source
We must ever remember that the ministry of light does not terminate in us. The
blessing of light upon us is that it may shine through us in the world. Every sunbeam
calls attention to the mighty source from whence it springs. Every moment that it shines
the sun is magnified. In every place that it penetrates it calls attention to the glories
of the sun. So our Lord called Himself "the Light of the world" and calls us to
a life in Him that we in turn may minister light to others. His words, "Ye are the
light of the world," define our responsibility. "Let your light so shine before
men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
(Matt. 5:14.) The human eye cannot look directly at the sun, neither can any man look upon
God and live, but His glory was manifested by Jesus while He was here on earth. And when
we beheld that glory He "shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of
God in the face of Jesus Christ"-and we, are to reflect this light.
Since God is love,. one simple, practical test of our walking in the light is our
reflecting of love in the daily relationship of life. "He that saith lie is in the
light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother
abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in-him. But he that hateth
his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth,
because that darkness bath blinded his eyes." - l John 2:9-11.
Light Opposes Darkness
Light by its very nature opposes darkness. It cannot do otherwise. Light and
darkness can never make a truce.. We realize the truth of this when we read these words,
"For ye were sometimes 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. 5:8, 11.) John sees the world opposed to God, and we were
brought out of the world that we might be united to Him. -To walk in the light we must be
separate from the world and its unfruitful works of darkness and thus reprove it.
Therefore "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man
love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but
is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the
will of God abideth for ever." -- 1 John 2:15-17.
Light actuated by energy that is boundless and with ceaseless activity performs a
ministry of blessing and 'benefaction beyond our conception. Light bears in its bosom the
essential qualities of its source, borne afar for the quickening and restoring of life. It
is said that a late discovery of the light beam is that it carries the mind in music or
spoken word, much as the electric wire or the radio does.
Surely, dear brethren, the children of the Lord have much to be thankful for as
we realize the manifold ministry our Lord can perform through His light in the hearts of
His people.
Living the Radiant Life
It is evident that to walk in the light as the Apostle portrays it, must result
in a radiant life. This life will not be marked so much by an effort to bless, but by an
instinctive outflowing of blessing to others. We will cite two instances in the Old
Testament illustrative of this radiant light: In Psalms 34:5, the Psalmist tells the
experience of certain of God's people. "They looked unto Him and were
lightened." They were lightened with His light. But more-the Revised Version renders
it "and were radiant." The light leaped to their faces to be reflected with a
Divine radiance. Then we remember Moses. He went up into the Mount and God talked with
him. When he came clown they all knew where he had been. His face reflected the light of
God. It shone. \e need to have times of quiet fellowship with God and with our dear Lord,
to partake of their light, and then the life is a radiant one.
Loving as He Loved
"Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." (1
John 4:11.) We will note as we read this Epistle that the Apostle interweaves love and
light, making the two inseparable. His first reference to love is a reminder of the
"new commandment" which is its standard of expression. This word love appears
forty-six times in three brief chapters, and three chief considerations are brought to our
mind
1. Love as it is in God.
2. Love as manifested in Christ.
3. Love as manifested in and through His followers.
These three all emerge from the opening -sentence: "Behold what manner of
love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God."
(1 John 3:1.) "Behold" the amazing love of the Father-that love bestowed upon us
by the sacrifice and work of His only begotten Son, resulting in our becoming the children
of God, His begotten ones, members of His family, and here in the world to show forth His
character.
We can never know love as we have it in the New Testament till we trace it back
to its Fountainhead, in the heart and nature of God. To quote from another:
"It is well for us to realize that the Greek word for New Testament 'love'
occurs no where in secular literature, and this for the reason that this love is known
only through the revelation and experience of God Himself."
Love has no existence apart from God, and God has no existence apart from love.
Twice John affirms "God is love." This is saying far more than "God
loves." His acts might be actuated by love today, only to change tomorrow. But no
love is God's nature. He cannot deny Himself. Just as He "is light," pure and
absolute, so He "is love," unmixed and unalloyed.
Love is Impartial
Since loving with God is an expression of His nature, He is no respector of
persons. His gifts of love are not bestowed because of personal attraction; and our Lord
appeals for a "life without partiality." He bases this appeal upon" the
Father's impartial treatment of all, and the fact that we are members of His family.
"But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them
that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you, that ye
may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on
the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."-Matt.
5:44, 45.
God not merely loved, but "God $o loved the world." Again, "If God
so loved us," it was a love that so welled up that it could not contain itself.
"According to-the riches of His grace . . . He hath abounded toward us." Our
salvation is the overflow of Divine love. We were dead in trespasses and sins, children of
wrath, "But God . . . for His great love wherewith He loved us hath quickened us
together with Christ." We cannot now comprehend the wonders of such love.
Love is Sacrificial
God is love, and Jesus came to manifest the Father. "No man hath seen God at
any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared'
Him." "He that bath seen Me, hath seen the Father." (John 1:4-9.) So all
that can be said of God as love can be said of the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." Then the
Son in turn "came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a
ransom for many." What a costly thing it is to love! God our Father loved us and gave
His Son in sacrifice; Christ loved us and gave His life for us. Having given His life for
us, He now has the-gift of eternal life to give to the world, and the Divine life to give
to the Church.
Love is Kind
Divine love has this characteristic of kindness. God is kind. "Love
suffereth long and is kind." It was our Lord's love that fulfilled this picture in
life. How wonderful His love. How gentle under provocation, how long-suffering in the face
of sin and evil, how kind to the weak and weary and erring, how compassionate to the
sinful, sorrowing, and suffering. So we, brethren, the followers of the Lord, in our
growth into Christlikeness, must have this spirit of kindliness that reflects His love in
our hearts.
Love is Unfailing
"Love never faileth." This was our Lord's love from first to last.
Truly His love, rooted in the Divine nature of God which is love, fed by continual
communion with the Father, sustained at all times by the Spirit of God energizing Him-such
love as His never failed. While under the treachery of betrayal, the trial of cruel
mockery, the torture of the cross, He kept on loving. "Truly this was the Son of
God." And we are His followers. If faithful unto death, we will become partakers of
His Divine nature, which is love.
The Apostle lays great stress on a life of love as the Christian's experience. It
is in this respect particularly that he "ought himself also so to walk, even as He
walked. No one but the child of God is qualified so to walk. Love is the evidence of a
Christian life. We remember our Lord's new, commandment, "'Love one another,"
and it is the expression of our new relationship, as the children of God. We have a common
Father. The tangible evidence of this invisible family bond is love; for who would not
love his own brother? "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we
love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death." Moreover, our
love should be sacrificial, as was His, in a laying down of life for the brethren. A
loving "not in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth." God's love is
not merely a standard to live by, but a source to draw from. "Herein is love,"
says the Apostle, "not that we loved God, but that He loved us." "We love
Him because He first loved us.
Love the Test of Discipleship
This test is absolute. "If a man say I love God, and hateth his brother, he
is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he bath seen, how can Tie love God whom
he bath not seen?" If our love is partial, it is not God's love; if it makes
distinctions, loving some and hating others it has never drunk at the fountain of God's
love. The instruction is very clear, "That he who loveth God love his brother
also." It is not written merely that "God so loved," but that His love so
transforms His children that they also love as He loved. How His love, the love of Jesus,
that led Him to lay down His life for us, should constrain us to lay down our lives also.
"Love so amazing, so Divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all."
In order that light and love may do their purifying work, their transforming
work, the heart must be filled with God's Holy Spirit. We are begotten of God, through the
Word of Truth, and are therefore members of His family, and have a responsibility for
letting His life shine through us as His children. "It -is the Spirit that beareth
witness," bearing witness through the Word concerning the Son and the way of life
through Him.
There are three specified means that minister to our spiritual life, as mentioned
by the Apostle
1. The Word of God abiding in us.
2. A life of prayer.
3. A keeping of His Word in a worthy, obedient walk.
His precious Word is the means of ministering light to us. "The entrance of
Thy Word, giveth light." His Word is declared to be "living and powerful, and
sharper than any two-edged sword and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart." (Heb. 4:12.) "Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin
against Thee." Saints in all ages, having recourse to His Word, have proved its
quickening, sustaining power.
The Prayer Life
Prayer is not merely, nor chiefly, getting things from God. Prayer is God's
provision for drawing out the love of His children toward Himself. He bids them come
boldly, that they may obtain grace to help in every time of need. No Christian loves
deeply, worthily, unselfishly, who is neglecting the, prayer-life.
The life of obedience is the practical means of progress in the spiritual life,
pervading the whole Gospel. We are so to live that we "keep His commandments,"
"keep His Word, "do those things that are pleasing in His sight." "Be
not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye
may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." This first
Epistle of John ends with the words, "Keep yourselves from idols." An idol is
anything -that claims supreme place in our lives, anything that displaces God, anything
that seeks to be a substitute for God. God's children must make Christ the center, sphere,
and circumference of their lives. They must let Him fill and sanctify their hearts,
saying, "Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire
beside Thee'." As Christ turned to His followers, saying, "What seek ye?"
so would He search us today.
"What seek ye? Earth's glory, or favor, or pleasure,
The things which attract by their glitter and show,
The worldling's power, his ease or his treasure,
Which the god of this world can most fully bestow?
The many are seeking the things which will perish,
And few care for those which will not pass away.
My brother, let me earnestly ask you the question --
What is your ambition, what seek ye today?
"What seek ye? The Savior is beckoning onward,
He offers a kingdom, a crown, and a throne,
But the way to attain them lies often through sorrow,
While the cross and the path to be trod are His own.
Are you willing to follow wherever He leadeth?
Do you seek but the things which His favor can give?
If so, you will find at the end of the journey
That by dying to self, you most truly do live."
No. 3. Gaius
"I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and bare witness
unto thy truth, even as thou walkest in truth." - 3 John 3.
WITH FEW but pregnant strokes of his pencil, St. John sketches for us, in this
brief letter, three men, of each of whom it is worth our while to form as clear a
conception as we can-Demetrius, Diotrephes, and Gaius. Two of these have already engaged
our attention. We found Demetrius to have been an evangelist, a traveling evangelist or
missionary, who, for the love he bore to the Name (of Christ), had devoted himself to the
service of the Gentiles, at the cost of many toils, privations, perils; and who was
animated by a spirit so disinterested and 'brave, by a zeal so ardent' and sustained, that
he won for himself the testimony of all who were capable of appreciating truth and
goodness, of the very truth itself, and of the revered and beloved Apostle John.
Diotrephes, on the other hand, though he may have had his good points-and must have had
them, or why, should he have joined the Church at the cost of breaking with the
world?-'was a man who carried the spirit and methods of the world into the Church, and was
as self-seeking and self-confident as ever, although he now veiled his self-regarding ends
under the forms and phrases of religion. St. John charges him with only two faults; vanity
and loquacity, and neither of these charges may sound very grave. But when a man is so
vain, so bent on supremacy as that, to assert his supremacy and indulge his vanity, he is
capable of cruelty and intolerance, casting out of the Church all who stand in his way or
differ from him; when he is so loquacious as to be capable of prating wicked or malicious
words rather than hold his tongue or suffer the Church to defer to any guidance but: his
own, his faults, however innocent they may seem, have grown and darkened into crimes as
fatal to the health of his own soul as they are to the peace and welfare of the Church.
And it was. because the vanity and talkativeness of Diotrephes, long cherished and long
indulged, had reached this exorbitant and criminal pitch that St. John rebuked and
threatened to expose him."
"Behold an Israelite indeed, in Whom is no
Guile!"
"We are now to study the character of Gains, the sincere and generous host
of Demetrius, the quiet but sturdy opponent of the intolerance and tyranny of Diotrephes;
and the study should be very welcome to us since, if he has not climbed so high as the
fervent and zealous" evangelist, still less has he fallen so low as the prating lover
of pre-eminence who would not defer even to the Apostle himself. He is more on our level,
it may be, than either of the other two, and reveals a strain of character which should
not be -beyond our reach.
"With his first touch St. John strikes the groundnote, or the key-note, of
the whole music which went to make up the character of the man. Gaius was one who 'walked
in truth,' and so walked in it that men 'bore witness to his truth.' " Scholars tell
us that it is difficult to convey in one English word, or even in a paraphrase all that
the Apostle intends to suggest' by this word "truth.'" Perhaps a word which
comes as close as any to help us to a realization of. the Apostle's meaning is the word
"sincerity." Gaius was sincere, genuine, a man whose life harmonized with his
professions, whose daily conduct was the practical outcome of the truths he believed.
"Gaius cared more for deeds than for words; there was not that unhappy divorce
between his professions and his actions, his creed and his conduct, which we may see in
Diotrephes. He did not look one way, and walk another. He did not say one thing and mean
another.. He did not approve the better, and follow the worse course. There was no
hypocrisy, no insincerity in him." Not only was he "in the truth" but the
truth was in him, had taken possession of him, reigned in his heart, ruled his life; and
that so evidently that though he must have had his slips and faults, men felt as they
looked at him: This man is true, true to himself, true to his beliefs, true to his Master;
we know on what side of any question that may arise we shall find him. It will be on the
side of truth and righteousness. We can foretell his course. Come what may, no danger, no
allurement, will draw or drive him from his steadfast and habitual round, or make him
unfaithful to the faith and service of Christ.
"And we may also infer that Gaius was not one who would bring the spirit and
methods of the world into the Church. Diotrephes might be as selfish, as opinionated, as
ambitious, as subtle and scheming, as he was before he had entered the Christian
fellowship, and might pursue his ends with the old eagerness and conceit and loquacity,
pushing himself forward and keeping a foremost place in the Church, by the very means by
which he had sought eminence and success in the world. But that was not possible to a true
man, a genuine Christian, such as Gains, who really believed the truth as it is in Jesus,
and cared for nothing so much as to be conformed in heart and life to the gentle, lowly
and unworldly Son of Man."
Pure Religion and Undefiled
Nor again, could a true man, in the Apostle's sense, yield to that still more
subtle and fatal temptation by which those are overcome in whom religion degenerates, as
it seems to have done in Diotrephes, into mere sectarianism; who consider themselves good
servants of Christ, and even pillars of His Church, if they set themselves to promote
sectarian interests. True religion does not consist in, it is not always consistent with,
an eager devotion to Church business or organizational activities, although these may have
their place in our lives. True religion consists in three things: First, in a repentance
which is ever growing more deep; second, in a righteousness ever growing more pure; and
third, in a love ever growing more warm and large.
It was such a religion as this which Gaius possessed. It was his distinction that
he was in the truth, and that he was walking, that is to say, growing and advancing, in
the truth of Christ; that the truth was making him true-true in thought, in motive, in
word, in deed, insomuch that when the eye saw him, it bore witness to him.
St. James has taught us (James 1:27) that unworldliness and charity constitute
the true ritualism of the Christian Church, that these are the main forms in which a pure
and undefiled religion now finds expression. And the love of Gaius was as conspicuous as
his unworldliness. Not only had he received and entertained strangers who were also
brethren, setting forward Demetrius and other traveling evangelists on their journey; he
continued to receive and serve them even when Diotrephes forbade him and had persuaded the
Church to excommunicate those who ventured to receive them. He could do no other; for he
walked in truth. He believed that all who were in Christ were his brethren, even though
they were strangers to him; and he was bound to treat them as his brethren, even though,
for being true to his convictions, he was cut off from the [visible] Body of Christ.
"What it was exactly at which Diotrephes took offense, whether in St. John
or in Demetrius and his fellows, wee are not told;" 'but as we endeavored to show in
our last issue, "it seems probable that he objected to the missionaries from Ephesus
because they were strangers, or because they did not defer to him as he thought they
should do to a man of his consequence. Nor are we told how he induced a majority of his
fellow-members to follow him, and to cast out those who would not follow him; but it seems
probable," as we also tried to indicate, "that he appealed to their love and
respect for the memory of St: Paul, the venerated founder of their Church, and turned
their love of St. Paul into a jealousy of St. John's authority, if not into a suspicion of
his teaching. When the beloved Apostle complains, 'Diotrephes receiveth not us,' but
'prateth against us with malicious words,' we cannot but suspect that Diotrephes had set
the less wise and experienced members of the Church on asking: 'What right has John to
interfere in our affairs?' or even, 'Is not John departing from the lines of thought and
action laid down by Paul, and preaching another Gospel than his?' And if these questions
were once asked, and answered as Diotrephes would have them answered, it is easy to see
that Gaius' fidelity to the truth would be heavily taxed. But, because he was in the truth
and walked in the truth, he had room in his heart for all who taught, and loved, and
served the truth. St. John was as dear to him as St. Paul, and the truths taught by
the-one Apostle elicited a response from him as quick and fervent as the truths taught by
the other; for it is not men who are in the truth, but only those who hang on to its
skirts, who are afraid of any truth with which. they are not already familiar. Nor was he
to be talked out of his loyalty to truth, or threatened out of it. Truth in every form was
welcome to him, let who would teach it, let who would prate against it. It was his duty to
receive brethren even if they were strangers. It was his duty to listen to all who had the
mind of Christ, even though they knew more of that Mind than he did. And he must do his
duty, even though for doing it he were cast out from a fellowship which was very dear to
him.
"A Fellow-Worker with the Truth"
"A certain genuineness and wholeness, then, a certain staunchness and
loyalty, combined with great breadth and tolerance, seems to have been characteristic of
the hospitable and kindly Gaius. He was in the truth. He walked in truth. There was 'a
clear accord, a fruitful harmony, between his principles and his practice which gave unity
and force to his life. He could be true to truth, come whence it would. He could be true
to men, even when they were reviled and thrust out of the Church. He could be true to the
claims of Christian charity, even when his fidelity would shut him out from communion with
men whom he loved and had served. In fine, he was a man who stood on his own feet, used
his own eyes, and was faithful to the inspirations of the Divine Comforter and Guide who
had taken up His abode with him." And thus not only speaking the truth in love, but
also living it in love, he cherished and exhibited a charity, a love, from which we
suspect that not even Diotrephes was excluded, and which utterly refused to let Demetrius
go, even when it seemed that the world and the Church combined against him.
"Now this large, steadfast yet gentle loyalty to truth is as essential to a
genuine, a real, strong, Christian character now, as it was then; a loyalty which can not
only stand against the narrow intolerance of a Diotrephes, and sympathize with the
disinterested zeal of a Demetrius, but which can also bring the large generous truths in
which we believe, to bear upon our daily life and practice, and constrain us to receive
and set forward all who are serving the truth 'that we may be fellow-workers with the
truth' they teach. Before we can put ourselves even on the modest level of Gaius, we must
ask ourselves :What' risks have we run, what sacrifices have we made, what pleasant
fellowships have we put in jeopardy, that we might stand up for unpopular truths, or back
up the men who were enforcing and defending them? What toil and pain have we undergone
that we might bring our daily conduct into harmony with our convictions. What good causes
have we served and set forward, in the persons of their advocates, that we might have our
share in the good work? If we cannot give a fairly satisfactory answer to such questions
as these, we do not say that our faith is vain, or that we have no religion;. but we do
say, that our religion has not the genuine ring, that we have not compelled men to bear
witness to our truth, much less compelled the truth itself to bear witness to us."
"Let the Lower Lights be Burning"
"Remember, we are not told that Gaius talked Diotrephes down, or that he
made a masterly defense of St. John, or even that he took a prominent part whether in
managing the affairs or conducting the services of the Church. All we are told of him is
that he showed much sympathy with the strangers whom John commended to the Church, that
his sympathy took very practical forms, and that he exercised it at the risk, and perhaps
at the cost, of losing the sympathy of brethren who were not strangers, and with whom he
habitually worshiped. He may have been, he may have done, far more than -this," for
we have only a suggestion of his whole character in this one reference to him which St.
John makes. But from the Apostle's words it is clear that "he was a genuine man, of
fine character, who ran a grave risk that he might be loyal to his principles and
convictions. He may have been one of the quietest of men, with no gift for Church work,
and no ambition beyond -his gifts. But no one could really know him without feeling that
he was a true man, a true Christian, whose piety was not in word and in tongue, but in
deed and in truth. And we suppose we have all met such men, and found it good to be with
them; men with whom we felt that we must talk on higher themes than commonly haunt our
lips, and carry ourselves with a simplicity, and a sincerity, beyond that we commonly
show; men who cared little for show and form, who did not deal in glib pious phrases, or
sectarian catch-words, but who all the same made us feel that they were nearer Christ and
more like Him than many a loud professor of religion."
Dear brethren, "the discipline of life, and the advantages and privileges of
the Christian life, have been wasted on us, if, whatever our gifts or our lack of them, we
have not built up for ourselves, or are not building up, such a character as this;"
if, whatever else may be true of us, "there is no quiet sanctuary in our soul, from
which a light is sometimes seen, and prayers and songs are sometimes heard, and a hallowed
influence constantly proceeds, to prove, to all who are capable of receiving proof, that
Christ has an altar and a throne within us, and is the true Lord and Ruler of our life. If
we are really walking- in the truth, we must, in various methods, some of them very quiet
and simple, but not therefore the less effective, bear witness to the truth which guides
and shapes our way."
"Wow the end of the commandment is love out of a pure
heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." - 1 Timothy 1:5.
THE APOSTLE'S allusion to "faith unfeigned" indicates that there were in his
day some who attempted to simulate the faith which is :the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen." This feigned faith was not less efficacious than
was that other valueless kind probably unconsciously operative in most of those who
believed certain things merely 'because they had been told them, and not for that which
alone can be the reason for a genuine faith. True faith is not merely the result of a
desire to believe, but must be derived from proper sources, be built upon suitable
foundations.
Lack of Appreciation Root of Unbelief
Some may be inclined to excuse themselves from the exercise of faith, saying that
sufficient evidence has never been presented to them to justify them in having confidence
in God or in His promises. They may even say that they would like to believe but are not
able to do so. That such excusing of oneself is not justifiable seems evident when we hear
the Apostle Paul saying to the barbarians of Asia Minor that God "has not left
Himself without witness." (Acts 14:15-17.) These witnesses he found in the "rain
from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." It was
not additional proofs that were needed,' but more willingness to examine into their
meaning. Lack of appreciation of the Giver of these blessings is the root of this sin of
unbelief. So for six thousand years, man in his selfishness has greedily appropriated to
himself the bounties of God without so much as stopping for a moment to lift his head- in
gratitude. This need not surprise us when discovered as a trait of the natural man, but
what must we think of ourselves if we should find that we have been eating at the most
bountiful hoard ever spread, laden with such life-sustaining and life-giving foods as no
other table could have, and served by a most gracious Host, and that we have been
partaking of such things without proper marks of gratitude; or that we have shown our
ingratitude by at times turning to food of our own or others providing? Under 'such
circumstances faith cannot but be weak.
It is possible for one who is surrounded with myriads of forms of creatures to
willfully close his eyes to these evidences of the Great Creator's existence, to doubt the
proofs given by these numberless displays of His wisdom, justice, love, and power as well
as of His existence. Not only are we surrounded by an endless array of manifestations of
the power of an all-wise Creator, but our own bodies furnish more material for the
studying of His unlimited resources than the human mind can compass; yea, the smallest and
least intricate organ of that body is still beyond the comprehension of the wisest
scientist. The working of not one organ can be fully explained as yet. Blindness to such
overwhelming evidence that there exists a Creator infinitely greater than the creature
must be traced to an outside influence, diabolical in its character, and it is here that
the inspired Word places the blame.
The very things that are pointed out as evidences that there is no God should
rather be accepted as the very strongest of proof not only of His existence but of His
greatness. When the infidel declares that if there is a God He would most assuredly very
speedily avenge every transgression against His laws, the believing one replies that God
has "appointed a day in which He will judge." The inferiority of the creature to
its God is demonstrated by the difficulty with which even those who are striving to attain
His likeness restrain themselves until His day for the judging and the righting of all
wrongs.
Demonstrations of Power Divine
For six thousand years, God's hand, shaping and directing the affairs of the
human family, has continuously added to the evidences on which faith may properly be
based. But far outweighing such evidences is the demonstration of His power in the lives
of the men made by Him truly great in spiritual attainment, miracles of His grace far
greater than anything to be seen in the natural world. Only our God could have made of the
over-zealous Saul of Tarsus the patient Paul who was willing to endure his long exile in
Arabia until the Holy Spirit might prepare him for his mission. Only the all-wise Father
could have thought of calling on the Peter of the three denials to bear the bold witness
of the clay of Pentecost. Our loving Father alone could have produced so loving a
character in the "son of thunder" as to make him the disciple who could wait in
patience through the many years for the last message of his risen Lord, whose breast alone
held comfort for him. But not alone this lowly company of twelve inspires us to faith in
the power that can transform us "by the renewing of our minds," but we are come
"to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in
heaven." Each member of that company has a lesson for us of what it means to have
power Divine working in us.
While ever mindful that the Head of the Body is our "All in all" we
must not overlook "that which every joint supplieth," for not even the least of
God's providences for our upbuilding can be neglected without a corresponding loss. An
increase of faith is one of the many benefits which may result from a proper use of our
privilege of fellowship in this Body. The less of loveliness we trace in a fellow-member,
the more our faith will grow as we watch the potter molding the clay into a glorious
vessel fit for -eternal use. In fact the evidences that the Creator of this universe is
the appropriate One toward whom our faith should be directed are so overwhelming that
faith would naturally result without any voluntary effort on the part of any creature if
there were no voluntary opposition. The reasoning faculties of the least intelligent of
the savage tribes are sufficient to arrive at the conclusion that there is a God. It is
"by wisdom" that the civilized world knoweth not God, but faith introduces the
Spirit through which even the deep things of God may be comprehended. "The natural
man," scientist or savage, "knoweth them not for they are foolishness unto
him." But while all nature and all creation, animate and inanimate, testifies that
there is a God, the Bible is His greatest witness.
God's Witness of Himself
All faith is based on the "three that bear witness, the water, the spirit,
and the blood." The blood we consider as that power reclaiming fallen man today to
make of him a new creature, in the likeness of his God. The Spirit's witness has been seen
in its manifold works of creation and may be also discovered in the faint traces of God's
likeness still to be found in the human race, even the savage that has no knowledge of our
God showing some of these traces. To the Christian, the water of the Word is a daily
witness additional to the other witnesses which "he hath in himself." The
greatest earthly governments have based their constitutions on that Book; the greatest of
lives have been built upon its precepts. It is the greatest of books because it has
produced, and it alone could produce, the men "of whom the world was not
worthy." Miracles are not recorded there that we might wonder, the biographies of the
great and the small are not given merely for our entertainment, doctrines are not
inscribed on its pages that man might theorize about them, its precepts are not stated
that man might wander a degree or so less from the path of rectitude, but "holy men
of old were moved" to write a revelation of their God that future generations might
know Him. The Book of books was not given that we might have faith merely in its precepts,
its doctrines, its stories, or its miracles, but especially in the God of all these. Jesus
prophesied a lack of faith in the last days because he knew the deceitful human heart and
how easily it could' be satisfied with a mere faith in doctrines or stories, substituting
this meager faith for the faith which the Bible was intended to inculcate. That this was
the purpose for which the Bible was given, should be evident to all, since it is faith in
things that has caused the many separations throughout the centuries. True faith, the
faith in God, has always drawn His people together.
The Religious Life, founded on Faith
It is evident that no principle of the Christian life can operate without faith;
it is the beginning and the continuance of them all. "Not that faith is the only
Christian principle, or the only Christian grace. But it is the fundamental principle; the
prerequisite and preparatory element; especially of that love which purifies the heart and
is the 'fulfilling of the law."'
A writer of the previous century in a discussion on faith says: "In reading
the life of Mr. John Berridge, a worthy minister of the English Episcopal Church, who had
long preached the doctrine of works as the great source of hope and safety, I noticed that
his biographer, in connection with the fact of his having made some anxious inquiries and
having experienced certain peculiar exercises of mind, remarks that he 'saw the rock upon
which he had been splitting for nearly thirty years.' And the writer adds, 'immediately he
began to think on the words faith and believe; and looking into his concordance, he found
them inserted in many successive columns; and he instantly formed the resolution to preach
Jesus Christ, and salvation by faith."' Any one who will take the trouble to consult
an exhaustive concordance, upon looking up such words as faith and believe and related
words, will be impressed with the important place which faith holds in Scriptural history
and in theology. He will find that the religious life not only takes its beginning in
faith but finds its support there throughout its existence.
As faith alone can justify us from the sins of the past, it is faith alone that
can keep us from the sins of the present. It was faith that brought us to the Master's
feet; it is faith that will keep us there until His likeness is complete. Where faith
falls below this standard of faith in God Himself to a mere trust in anything that has
come from His hand, the works of that Christian must fall to a similar level. That
Christian, with the many others of his class, may appear in all ignorance before the
judgment Seat, offering his works of the flesh, only to hear the fatal words, "Depart
from me ye workers of iniquity, I never knew you." However, to examine fully into the
cause of the failure of these would require an analysis of their-love as well as of their
faith. Manifestly love must be preceded by the highest type of faith to be pure. It would
be impossible to love a God in whom once had no faith. Manifestly also the degree and
quality of the faith is the deciding factor as to the degree and quality of the love. On
examination, all other Christian graces, such as gratitude, prayer, submission, etc., will
be found to be likewise dependent upon faith. Since this is the case, we need not wonder
that "without faith it is impossible to please God."
Sure Method of Developing Faith
Not only the Word of God but the lives of many individual Christians verify the
preceding assertions. Based on a small degree of faith and that of the inferior order,
there may have been wonderful experiences, and great changes may have taken place in the
individual; but the death of the old creature will not be complete nor the new creature
rise to vigor of life, a vigor of life that will not only carry him victoriously through
the trials and difficulties of the present but will make of him a rejoicing Christian
without the basis of a strong faith. Surely it can be said of every one who comes off
eventually more than conqueror that like the Ancient Worthies of the 11th chapter of
Hebrews, he lived and died in faith. Of some of these not much could be said in
commendation of their characters except to speak of their faith, while it is true that
with the Christian, faith is but the first of Peter's long list of requirements for an
abundant entrance into the spiritual Kingdom.
No Christian is long without temptation to unbelief, but a failure on the part of
any under such tests would seem to indicate a lack of appreciation of the many blessings
which that faith has brought us in the past, and of the many graces which it has made
ours. One who is weak in faith and in love for the God which His Word reveals to us will
surely find less and less time eventually for that Word and an increasing -amount of time
will be devoted to fleshly interests. On the other hand, a sure method of developing,
faith is to devote the energies of a fully consecrated brain to the searching of the
sacred page with but one motive-an all consuming desire for God-revealing truths. Then a
lack of zeal for spiritual things, either to receive them for ourselves or to pass them on
to others, a lack of reverence for our God, a failure to appreciate the privilege of
fellowship with those who are in any degree like Him, a failure to begrudge every moment
necessarily taken from spiritual things for earthly things, or worse still, a willingness
to seek the comforts of the flesh rather than the development of the Spirit, these and
other similar symptoms must be taken as signs of a weakened faith. Death is threatening
such, for "the just shall live by faith."
"According to Your Faith"
Although it was Jesus who worked the miracle and even though He touched the eyes
of the two blind men, yet He could say to them "according to your faith be it unto
you." So with us: there is no limit to the amount of power Divine which may be
apportioned, to work in our -lives;- but the greatness of the result depends not more on
the amount of power which God has than upon the degree of faith which we exercise. It was
said of Barnabas that "he was a good man," but this was not enough; it was added
that he was "full of the Holy Spirit;" and this was not sufficient yet, for it
is added "and of faith." This made him not only a good man but a good man with
great power for good. It is faith that gives "peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ." It is by faith "we have access into this grace wherein we stand, and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God." They who are not at home in the flesh but are
daily pressing eagerly toward the heavenly home, make progress solely because they
"walk by faith."
All true followers of the Lamb can take on their lips the words of the Apostle
Paul, "the life, which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of
God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." For those who live the life of God, the
life of faith, ultimate victory is assured, "For whatsoever is begotten of God
overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our
faith." Unbelief fixes its eyes upon the things of this earth; faith can forget the
things of the present in the joys of the future.
It is not, however, until "all the powers and efforts of the intellect, and
all desires and purposes of the heart and will, are laid sacredly upon the Divine altar;
in, perfect simplicity of view; without any reservation, and without any regards, however
secret and intimate, to the claims of self; inscribed as it were, within and without, with
holiness to the Lord," that one is in a condition to exercise this faith and
appropriate to himself all the promises of the Lord. There are different degrees of self
resignation corresponding with the different degrees of faith. Since it is written that
the "just shall live by faith," and that "without faith it is impossible to
please God," how important it is therefore that we understand this Christian grace
and its relation not only to justification but also to sanctification. In our next issue
we hope to consider the subject of faith as it has to do with holiness and sanctification
of life.
"O Loved: but not enough, though dearer far
Than self and its most loved enjoyments are;
None duly loves Thee, but who, nobly free
From sensual objects, finds his All in Thee."
LET EACH one ask himself - What am I doing for God, His plan and His people? If
you are doing all that you can do, be glad and rejoice, even though that all be miserably
small, even in your own estimation. It is the will and effort to DO and to BE that our
Redeemer regards with loving favor. But if you are not doing all that you could do, be
dissatisfied with yourself; and uneasy lest your listlessness and carelessness for His
service settle it with the Master that you are unworthy to share in the work of glory as a
member of His Church glorified.
Let each one, resolve to do something each day to serve our gracious King-not to
merit salvation, but as the expression of our love for Him through whom we have
redemption, even the forgiveness of sins.
Our Lord does not despise our feeblest efforts when prompted by warm, overflowing
hearts. The servant who has but one talent and uses it faithfully will be welcomed as a
good and faithful servant, as surely as the one who uses faithfully two, five or more
talents. He that is faithful with a little can be trusted with more, and he that is
unfaithful in the use of one talent would be unfaithful with more. And every one who uses
his talents faithfully finds them increasing daily. He who cannot deliver an ovation can
speak a quiet, pointed word, or write a letter, or hand a tract, or loan or sell a
Scripture Study. When so many privileges abound on every hand, surely all have several
talents for service.
Be assured, dearly beloved, that neglect to use your privilege of serving the
truth will react to your spiritual degeneracy. As a sound faith is for the purpose of
leading to good works, so the activity of service is necessary to continued purity of
faith. It is from this cause that many are stumbling into the "outer darkness"
of agnosticism-doubt, uncertainty. - The Watch Tower.
North Brookfield, Mass.
The convention- of August 25th and 26th in North Brookfield, Mass., began with a
unique program of songs and recitations by the children. Short talks followed on the
Tabernacle, "The Bible House," and "To Know Christ." The first of
these talks taught in symbol the same lesson brought out in the last talk of the day-that
it is our privilege to dwell in the "secret place of the Most High. The talk between
these had considered the Bible as a house of many rooms in which we might make the
acquaintance of God. The topics of the second day were "Fruit Bearing,"
"Love," "The Lord's Jewels," and "Baptism." About eighty
were present on this day which ended with an impressive immersion service. Nine symbolized
their burial by baptism into His death in the waters of a beautiful crystal-clear river, a
graphic reminder of the day when our "Great Forerunner" pictured the
completeness of His consecration in the River Jordan.
Minneapolis, Minn.
"More than one hundred brethren were privileged to assemble in convention at
Minneapolis over the Labor Day week-end for a sweet season of fellowship and refreshing.
For some of those present it was the first convention, and for others it was the first one
in many years. These dear ones in particular seemed lifted up by this gathering 'together.
Those present were from widely scattered points from Manitoba on the North to Kansas and
Illinois on the South.
"The ministry of the speakers on the program was very much appreciated.
These had come great distances to be of service. A public discourse was given at which the
attendance and attention was all that could be expected. The great truths respecting our
loving Heavenly Father's Plan of salvation were brought out in a very plain and convincing
manner. The other discourses emphasized particularly our present privileges and joys in
the narrow way and we feel should be of real help to us in building with gold; silver, and
precious stones. We trust that our hearts will prove to be good ground in which the seeds
of truth sown may bring forth fruit to the glory of our Father."
Seattle, Wash.
"The Seattle Convention is another milestone passed, and we who were.
present feel we are nearer Horne. There was an average of eighty in attendance, in
addition to forty or more of the public at the Sunday evening meeting.
"During all the convention we were drawn very near our Master, and our
hearts burned with that sacred love as we heard the themes of heavenly truth discussed
words of life indeed. We were made to feel the seriousness of our calling and what it
means to have Christ formed in us, and also to .view with more sacredness our privilege of
communion with God and the intimate relationship with' Him we may now enjoy. It was heart
searching to be reminded of how the least evil in thought, word, or deed, in principle or
practice, interrupts that communion, and that our heavenly Guests can dwell in none but
pure hearts. Truly inspiring is the thought-of our- privilege of being so close to our
Lord as to have Him as our daily. Companion, One to whom we may go at any time, not only
in. respect to our own personal affairs but also in interceding for others.
"The friends voted unanimously to send loving greetings to all those who
were not present and yet were interested in the convention, and we wish you to have your
share-yes and more because you did so much to make the convention a success."
There are perhaps still some of the friends who would appreciate Pilgrim visits but
who, have made no request because they think they could not suitably provide for the
visiting brethren or because they feel their numbers are too small. Neither of these
reasons should be considered. As to the accommodations: no Pilgrim brother has yet been
asked to content himself with less than the Master had. In many instances the visit would
cost little or nothing extra in traveling expense, since the brother's route would take
him nearby. Then, too, your request might make possible, visits to other isolated brethren
on the same route.
It will facilitate the work and assist those who have matters in charge if the
friends will inform us if they wish the visits of these brethren, so that when making out
the schedule and preparing tours we will be in better position to make the appointments.
This ministry is open to all and we wish all to understand that the acceptance of the
visit of the Pilgrim does not in any way involve any individual or Class in any
obligation. Their services are for all who love the Lord Jesus Christ, and their only
desire is to lend a helping hand to all Christian brethren, that they may be edified in
the spiritual life. There is nothing that can quite take the place of personal ministry.
"A word fitly spoken how good it is" --and perhaps especially so when spoken
face to face and heart to heart.
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