THE HERALD
of Christ's Kingdom
VOL. XXI September, 1938 No. 9
Table of Contents
Things Coming to Pass
Convention Echoes From Afar
Who Shall be Able to Stand
Faithful is the Saying
Mounting up with Wings
"When ye
see these things come to pass, know ye that
the Kingdom of God is at hand." - Luke 21:31.
THE news horizon of the past month has
yielded three important items, among others, to the scanning eyes of the student of
prophecy, seeking ever for more evidences of the approaching establishment of God's
Kingdom on earth. They are first, the increasing tension in Palestine; second, Italy's
official blessing on the doctrine of racialism; and third, the growing church and state
rift in Italy.
Fear and hate haunt Palestine today.
Both Arabs and Jews live in deadly fear, not knowing when a sniper's bullet or a fragment
from a bomb will end their lives. Two years of civil war have deepened the rift between
these peoples, both of which trace their ancestry to the Patriarch Abraham, the one
through Ishmael and the other through Isaac. Despite this kinship, wrongs, real and
fancied, have reduced the land which gave the world the Gospel of goodwill and brotherhood
to one in which an atmosphere of dread and hostility and foreboding prevails. The press
daily records the shootings, bombings, and reprisals, the raids and railway wreckings.
At any moment an incident, however trivial, may start large scale rioting in which no
one's life is safe. Streets are barricaded, stores locked up, barbed-wire fences erected,
while overhead is heard the almost constant drone of British bombing planes ever on the
lookout to disperse every band of horsemen. Aeroplane patrols are now the accepted method
of control and are used throughout the Palestine and Trans-Jordan region. Villages are
bombed and even flocks and herds are blown to bits as disciplinary measures against their
rebellious owners. This is the gloomy situation today and thus do fear and hate in the
Holy Land mock the faiths it brought forth. The troubled atmosphere has been almost
continuous since April 1936, with only a few short intervals of comparative peace, and
has engendered mutual hatred between the Arabs and the Jews to such an extent that the
possibility of a just and lasting settlement is despaired of by those in authority.
It is not only the Jews in Palestine
whose situation is precarious, but the Jewish communities in all Arab countries in the
Near Middle East are most apprehensive. A continuous and systematic Fascist and Nazi
campaign of anti-Jewish propaganda is being carried on in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and
Trans-Jordania, through subsidized Arab newspapers, which is turning the whole Palestine
problem into a Moslem religious issue. This two and one half years of upheaval has
brought business almost to a standstill in Palestine, with the economic situation of the
country constantly growing worse for both Jews and Arabs as the sniping and guerrilla
warfare continues unabated. Plan after plan has met the -opposition of both sides, the
latest of which was that of partitioning the land. The Arabs insist on the complete
renunciation of the idea of a Jewish state in Palestine, while the Jews are equally
insistent on the setting up of their own independent government. When the British tried
two years ago to establish a legislative council for the government of Palestine, the
Jews refused unless they should have equal representation with the Arabs, despite the
disparity in their number, which at present is 400,000 as against an Arab population of
1,000,000. The British government, which administers Palestine under a league mandate, is
being increasingly assailed in Palestine and abroad, both by the Jewish partisans of
Zionism and by the Moslem and Fascist partisans of the Arabs. This state of things has
become so grave that it imperils British interests throughout the Moslem world. What aid
and comfort this gives to Italy may be imagined. The Palestine problem would be difficult
enough to solve if it involved merely the interests of the British Empire, the 16,000,000
Jews throughout the world and the 40,000,000 Arabic-speaking peoples in the Near East
and North Africa. But there must also be considered the 700,000,000 Christians and the
2,00,000,000 non-Arab Moslems (half of them in the British Empire). Jerusalem is as holy
a city to them as to the Jews and Arabs, and Britain cannot therefore afford to tread on
their religious susceptibilities. It is not surprising then that the British have been
accused of waiting for a miracle to extract them from their impasse in the Holy Land.
Perhaps the word miracle is not an
ill-chosen one. The student of God's Word, who can perceive the divine hand shaping the
course of history, knows from the Scriptures that the set time to favor Zion has come, and
that the restoration of the Jew to his homeland is of divine origin. (See Isa. 14:1-3, 32,
margin; Jer. 16:14, 15; Ezek. 36:24-28.) At present, the Jewish people themselves do not
realize the tremendous significance of their return to Palestine after the lapse of
eighteen centuries, and that this is the first step in the return to them of God's favor
and the subsequent promised blessing of all the families of the earth. Theirs is as yet
merely a hope for a national homeland, but in God's providence, being "beloved for
the fathers' " sake, they shall become the means of the Kingdom blessings being
spread to all nations. - See Zech. 8:23.
And now from Italy comes the news that
Premier Mussolini has reversed the Fascist policy of the past sixteen years, and that
from henceforth Italian Jews are to be regarded as strangers in their own country and
placed in a condition of inferiority, compared to the Catholic and "Aryan"
section of the population. In the words of a New
York Times editorial writer: "The shocking treatment of the Jews in Germany and
Austria and the wave of anti-Semitism which has been felt with varying force in other
countries are among the most disturbing symptoms of the strange sickness that has come
over the modern world." Strange sickness indeed, a sickness which shall result in the
death of the old order of things and the birth of a new, "wherein dwelleth
righteousness." Mussolini's change in policy to anti-Semitism as "foes of
Fascism" is in sharp contrast to his own previous tolerant attitude. Speaking
before the Chamber of Deputies on the Lateran Agreement on May 14, 1929, he said: "It
is ridiculous to think, as some say, that the synagogues should be closed. The Jews have
been in Rome since the time of kings. . . . There were 50,000 at the time of Augustus, and
they asked to be allowed to weep over the corpse of Julius Caesar. They will remain
undisturbed, as will all who believe in another religion." Three years later, in a
conversation with Emil Ludwig, the historian, he was equally emphatic both as to the
racial question and the Jews. He said then, "National pride has no need of race
ravings.... Anti-Semitism does not exist in Italy. Italian Jews have always behaved well
as citizens, and as soldiers have fought bravely. They occupy high posts in the
universities, the army, and the banks. There is a regular series of Jewish generals."
It is a far cry from this to the recent
memorandum which declares that there is now a definite Italian race which must be kept
uncontaminated by a "non-Aryan" race such as the Jews. Undoubtedly this changed
attitude arises out of a close association with Germany and the Rome-Berlin axis. The
parallel lines of development being followed by these two peoples have resulted in another
source of persecution to the harassed Jew, and again he must move on. But so the
"hunting" must continue until Israel finds rest for the soles of his feet. -
See Jer. 16:16 and Deut. 28:65.
This change by Mussolini to an
"Aryan" policy (the teaching of racial purity-a myth discredited by reputable
scientists) and thus fostering with Germany a Nordic-Aryan myth has resulted in a deeper
rift with the Catholic Church. On July 16th, the Pope made a strong speech condemning
"exaggerated nationalism" which he described as having reached such a stage that
it had become "a form of true apostasy." The Fascist authorities were quick to
reply and apparently threatened to expel all members of Catholic Action Associations from
the Fascist Party. The Pope replied in his turn with great vigor on July 28th, saying any
such action would be construed as directed against the church and the Pope himself.
Mussolini intervened in the discussion two days later with a public announcement that
Fascism intended to "go straight ahead" on the race question. Later dispatches
indicate that the difficulties between the Pope and "IL Duce" are once more
being smoothed over-neither can afford to dispense with the other's support. But theirs is
a mutually distasteful and irritating partnership. To some students of Bible prophecy it
would seem the final act of their association is pictured in the dramatic events related
in 2 Kings 9.20-37. - See also Rev. 3:20-23.
Dewsbury, Eng.
"A happy time was spent by those
who gathered at Dewsbury upon the occasion of the Whitsun Convention of British friends.
There was no mistaking the loving zeal of those who thus came together for fellowship and
encouragement, and the few days thus taken from affairs of this world and devoted to the
things of the Spirit were days of blessing indeed. The loving labors of the Dewsbury
friends in providing 'all things needful' contributed in no small measure to the success
of the gathering, and it was with appreciation of this 'holy convocation' that those
who attended look back upon that week-end."
London, Eng.
"The August Convention in London
proved to be an excellent time of instruction and fellowship. Brethren gathered from all
parts of the country and there were one or two visitors from overseas-Northern Ireland,
Canada, India -- and the visiting speakers from the United States. Incentive to spiritual
progress was in very truth the predominant characteristic of the gathering. The discourses
presented various aspects of our faith-exhortation, doctrine, exposition; and the marked
attention given to those who ministered was encouraging to witness. A very happy time of
fellowship came to an end with the singing of praise to God in the well-known hymn 'O
Worship the King, all glorious above,' and that fervent expression of faith in the
imminence of Messiah's Kingdom 'Brighter and clearer grows the light of the morning.' The
parting and the journeying homeward was surely tempered with thoughts of that final
convention when our eyes shall 'see the King in His beauty.' "
Who
Shall be Able to Stand
"Those who have, through the Plan
of the Ages, come to see the loving-kindness and mercy of the Lord are,, if they are
children -of God at all, being put to the test. If they are merely glad to find out that
there is no place of eternal torture, and that God's loving Plan includes the whole human
race, their hearts are not touched to responsiveness by this manifestation of His great
love. They will go -on their way, rejoicing that they have been delivered from the bondage
of error, but will be like the nine lepers who were healed by the Master, yet did not
return to give Him the glory, nor to offer themselves in service to Him. And these, alas,
are the majority! We are now in the great day of proving. Who will be able to stand the
test in this evil time?"
"If we be dead with Him, we
shall also live with Him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He
also will deny us: if we believe not, yet He abideth faithful; He cannot deny
Himself." - 2 Tim. 2:11-13.
THIS "faithful saying" takes
us back to the very earliest times of the Gospel Age -- to the days when the New Testament
was only in the making, and had not yet come into common use. In those days the progress
of the Gospel was largely accomplished by oral presentation, and after our Lord had
ascended on high, He bestowed special gifts upon the waiting Church which were designed to
facilitate this oral presentation, and thus aid in the development and increase of the
Church. To supplement the labors of the Apostles He gave some to be prophets, as we read
in Eph. 4:8, 11-15.
New Testament Prophets
Among the most eminent of the Christian
prophets were Barnaabas, the son of consolation; Stephen, who spake with the Holy Spirit
and with power; Agabus, who signified by the Spirit that there should be a great famine
throughout all the world; Judas and Silas, who, being prophets, ex.horted the brethren at
Antioch, and confirmed them; Symeon, who was also called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and
Manaen, the foster-brother of Herod; Timothy, the man of God; and high above all this
goodly fellowship in gifts and powers, Paul himself, who was both an Apostle and a
Prophet.
No church seems to have been without
them. In some churches, as in that of Corinth, they were so numerous, and so unrestrained
in the exercise of their peculiar gift, that the Apostle had to remind them that the
spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets; that is to say, it was, or should be,
under their control, and he enjoined them to prophesy one by one, in a decent, orderly
way, that all might learn and be comforted. - Acts 2:17, 18; 10:46; 19:6; 11:28; 15:32;
13:1; 1 Cor. 13:31, 32.
These Christian Prophets, like the
Prophets of the Old Testament, foretold things to come. Agabus, for example, predicted the
famine which fell upon the Roman Empire in the days of Claudius Caesar. The Prophets of
the Tyrian Church warned St. Paul, through the Spirit, not to go to Jerusalem. In every
city there were those by whom the Holy Spirit testified that bonds and afflictions awaited
him. Agabus, with a symbolism which must have recalled the Old Testament Prophets to
every Jewish mind, bound his own hands and feet with Paul's girdle, and said: "Thus
saith the Holy Spirit, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this
girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles."
Exposition of Truth Rather Than Forecasting of Events
Their Highest Duty
But though the Christian Prophets
possessed and used this strange power of predicting coming events, it was not their
highest gift nor was it their main duty. As Brother Russell has pointed out in the Sixth
Volume of Scripture Studies, page 246, the word prophet means also to expound, to tell
forth, or make plain a truth which until then is only dimly seen by others. The great gift
of the Prophet in every age is that he sees eternal truths and facts more clearly than
other men, and their bearing on the social and moral conditions of his own age and of
other ages; and that, discerning what the will of the Lord is, he can speak it forth with
a divine force and energy-so speak it, that it arouses the conscience and penetrates the
heart. And what the Christian Prophets valued most in their gift, what, at least, they
were taught to value most, was this very power of so speaking the truth to a man that he
could not shut out the light, but stood before it, self-convicted, and self-condemned.
When they prophesied in the Church and there came in an unbeliever, the secrets of his
heart were made manifest; and falling down on his face, he worshiped God, declaring that
God was in them of a truth. Thus, while they doubtless held meetings specially designed
for "the public," every meeting was,
or should have been, conducted in a manner, and in a spirit which lent itself to the
progress of the Gospel. (Acts 21:4; 20:22, 23; 21:1012.) Above all, these Christian
Prophets saw the secrets which had been hidden in previous times, but were now revealed to
faith, and by which the future of this world was to be shaped -- the secret of that
fatherly and redeeming love which rose to its highest expression in the gift of Christ and
the sacrifice of the Cross; the secret of the one Body of Christ, in which there was no
place for national, social, or even sexual distinctions; no place for Jew or Gentile, bond
or free, male or female, but all should be one new manhood -- the secret of the new heaven
and the new earth.
The Faithful Sayings of the New Testament
As these inspired Apostles and Prophets
labored in the ecclesias of those early days they would, from time to time, give
expression to some brief, concise summary of those truths which lie at the very foundation
of the faith. Once uttered in the Christian assemblies, they were found to be full of
truth and grace. Those who first heard them felt that the precious truths enshrined in
them had never been so happily expressed; for, remember, the New Testament was not yet in
common use; nay, they felt them to be. so happily expressed that it was impossible to
improve on them. They treasured them in their memories and hearts, cited them in their
worship, in their conversations with one another, and in their fellowship with
neighboring churches. These neighboring churches also acknowledged their charm, adopted
them, and made them their own; until at last, after twenty or thirty years' use they
became the common property of the whole church, and received the stamp of universal
approval. The church pronounced them "faithful," that is to say, perfectly
reliable, "sayings," entitled to implicit credence and "worthy of all
acceptation," that is, either deserving to be accepted by all men everywhere, or
deserving of every kind of acceptance which men could accord them, since there was food in
them for brain and heart, for imagination, for faith, for devotion.
When St. Paul wrote the Pastoral
Epistles, more than thirty years had elapsed since the day of Pentecost, since the Holy
Spirit had been poured out abundantly on the followers of Christ, since, in short, the
inspired Apostles and Prophets had commenced their labors. Hence there had been plenty
of time before St. Paul wrote his letters to Timothy and Titus for many of these prophetic
sayings to come into general use in the Church, and to gather an authority which no
disciple of Christ would for a moment dispute. In these letters we find St. Paul quoting
at least five, and possibly more than five, sayings, which bear all the marks of having
passed through the process we have just described, and of having acquired an authority to
which the whole company of the faithful would defer. For they were faithful sayings; they
had won acceptance throughout the whole Church, an unchallenged authority, simply
because they expressed the essential truths of the Gospel in concise, memorable, and
sometimes in beautiful and poetic forms. Many, if not all of them, were put to music,
and sung as hymns in their services of worship and praise. Doubtless they may be regarded
as examples of those spiritual songs with which, years before, St. Paul had exhorted the
consecrated to cheer one another's faith and hope.
If We Died with Him
Let us now turn to the special
"saying" of our text. We cited it from our Authorized Version. But the beauty of
the saying, or, at least, one of its beauties, is quite lost in that version, so we wish
now to cite it from the Revised Version, and then note the value of the changes that
version contains, and see how much it contributes to the significance of the passage. We
quote "Faithful is the saying, For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him;
if we endure, we shall also reign with Him; if we shall deny Him, He also will deny its;
if we are faithless, He abideth faithful; for He cannot deny Himself."
Scholars tell us that even this
improved translation does not fully convey the beauty of the original. For, in each of
the three first clauses, the verb is in a different tense. The first clause reads "If
we died with Him, we shall also live with Him," where the verb "died" is in
the past tense. So that, from the very construction of the clause we learn that when St.
Paul speaks of our having died, with Christ, he refers, not to something in the present,
but in the past, to an act in which, once for all, this death was accomplished. What act
could that be ? Ah! it was the act of consecration. He refers to the time when, after
exercising His providential overruling in our lives previously, and having disclosed
to our eyes of faith His own beloved Son, set forth to be a propitiation for our sins, the
Father graciously drew us by the power of His Holy Spirit to put our whole trust in Jesus
for salvation, and to surrender our redeemed lives to Him, for Him henceforth to rule
and reign and have sovereign sway therein. As in the Roman letter St. Paul affirms:
"When we were baptized into Christ we were baptized into His death." Then it was
that we died, with Christ, to the flesh, and to the lusts thereof, that we might live with
Him, live in the spirit, live unto God, or, as expressed in the Colossian letter, "Ye
died, and your life is hid with Christ in God."
If We Endure with Him
The second clause runs: "If we
endure, we shall also reign with Him;" and the verb for "endure" is in the
present tense, we suppose, to denote that endurance for Christ's sake is not a single past
act, but a state from which we are never exempt on earth; that it is a task to which we
are called night and day so long as we live. We will need to observe, too, that the word
St. Paul selects here does not mean simply a meek and patient resignation to unavoidable
sufferings, but a brave and cheerful endurance, a soldier-like fortitude and courage, a
joyful constancy, which takes pleasure and pride in bearing the ills, the losses, the
sorrows involved in a loyal love to Christ-which, for His sake, glories in tribulation
also.
If We Should Deny Him
The third clause runs: "If we
should deny Him, He also will deny us"; and the verb for "deny" is not in
the past, like the first, nor in the present, like the second, -but in the future tense.
Now in the selection of this tense we have one of those refined indications of the
delicate and generous consideration for others of which we find so many in the writings of
the Apostle, one of those strokes of a native, inborn courtesy which compels us to
exclaim: "What a gentleman Paul was!" He will conceive of our denying Christ
only as an improbable contingency, a bare possibility, in some distant and dubious
future. He has no doubts, or expresses none, that we really died to sin, when, by a full
consecration of our lives to the Lord, we put on Christ. He takes it for granted that, in
the present, we are cheerfully enduring whatever hardships and sacrifices may flow from an
unwavering loyalty to Christ. But if he must conceive the possibility of our denying
Christ, he will conceive of it only as a remote contingency, a doubtful peradventure,
a thing which has not happened yet, and is by no means likely to happen: "If we
should deny Christ, He also will deny us."
So that the literal meaning of our
faithful saying, as quoted (and slightly modified) by Paul, may be paraphrased like
this: "If we died to sin, with Christ, as no doubt we did die, when we yielded our
hearts in glad surrender to Him, we shall share His life, eternal, immortal. If we are
bravely enduring the losses, troubles, labors, persecutions, which a faithful
adherence to Christian principles involves, as no doubt we are, we shall not only live
with Christ, but reign with Him, in glory everlasting. If, unhappily, in any moment of
grave temptation, we should so far forget ourselves as to deny Christ, which is possible,
though well nigh incredible, then He must deny us; for if we are faithless, He is
faithful; He cannot deny Himself, and He Himself has warned us that, if we are ashamed
of Him before men, He will be ashamed of us, when He shall come in the glory of His Father
and of the holy angels. The Faithful One cannot love and bless the unfaithful."
The Soldier on Active Service
And now, that this faithful saying may
grow still clearer to us, and more full of meaning, let us mark how it fits into St.
Paul's general course of thought-how well it suits the context. In verse three of this
second chapter of his second letter. he had exhorted Timothy to share his labor and
affliction in the Gospel. "Thou, therefore, endure hardness, as a good soldier of
Jesus Christ," or, as the Revised Version puts it: "Suffer hardship with me, as
a good soldier of Christ Jesus." And now he sums up his exhortation with three
illustrations, or miniature parables: the soldier, the athlete, and the farmer. Let us
take his three illustrations in turn. First, the soldier. In verse four we read,
"No man . that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may
please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." The illustration may be better seen
if we read from the Revised Version: "No soldier on service entangleth himself in
the affairs of life [that is to say, of ordinary life, that he may please him who enrolled
him to be a soldier." Here we observe that he puts before us not the soldier merely
who may be on furlough, or on home ditty, in time of peace, but the soldier on active
campaign. The Greek word emphasizes this-it means the man on active duty. As such, he
allows, of course, no other interest to compete for one hour with his military calling.
Life may, in other respects, and under other circumstances, touch him at many points, but
all this is in abeyance when he is on hostile ground, and within range of the arms of the
enemy. Little would he otherwise please, or meet the wishes of, the leader, who, in view
of some enterprise of special difficulty or importance, had chosen him into the force
selected for the duty. And the Christian is to think of himself under this similitude.
From some all-important points of view, he is always on active service, on an enemy's
ground, and chosen into his Commander's expeditionary force. His inmost spirit is to be
kept detached from all such entanglement in the business of ordinary life as will mean
his being this, that, or the other thing first, and the Lord's soldier and servant second.
It is almost needless to say that this
parable cannot, any more than other parables, be pressed mechanically upon its every
detail. The Christian in ordinary life may not only engage in the ordinary duties of
life, but is bound, for his Lord's sake, to aim to do them exceptionally well. The
Christian husband, or wife, or parent, is to be, in Christ, the most faithful, the most
devoted, the most care taking, that can be. The Christian pastor, or elder, is to keep his
heart and thought open to manifold interests in human life around him, and he often may,
and sometimes must, to the great gain of his ministry of the Lord's Word which constitutes
his primary labors, direct his faculties and sympathies along lines that are mainly, if
not entirely, secular. But in whatever sphere of activity one is engaged, each must
remember that he is always on active service, and must always be first the soldier of
Christ, and second whatever else he is. He must never dare forget that all real entanglement is fatal. The Christian, enlisted as
he is in Christ's cause, must die, with Christ, to the world.
-------------------------
This is the first of two articles, the
second of which will appear in our next issue. Among the many helps we have consulted in
its Preparation we desire to make special acknowledgment of our indebtedness to our late
Pastor, C. T. Russell, Samuel Cox. and H. C. G. Moule, from all of whose expositions we
have drawn liberally.
Mounting
up with Wings
"They that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and
not be weary: and they shall walk and not faint." - Isa 40:31.
VIGOR and throbbing life is pictured in
the promise of this text! It gathers up so many of the illustrations of Christian life
found here and there in the Scriptures, and in its few opening words reveals the secret of
how these may be made true in the daily experience. A constant renewal of our spiritual
strength is a vital need, and this our text promises us. To grow "strong in the Lord
and in the power of His might" is imperative, otherwise life and experience become
vitiated and lacking in the joy of the Lord which, as the Word tells us, is our strength.
To rise above "the trivial cares of time, draw back the parting veil and see the
glories of eternity" is an exercise of faith and an outlook urgently needed in
Christian life. To mount up into heavenly places where the glories of eternity may be so
blessedly visualized as to make all other things seem as of trifling worth-how important
it is! Who can hope to lay hold of "the things not seen," and experience that
necessary separation from all that is transitory and fading, unless there is a mounting up
with wings into the heavenlies, into the vision of the eternal realities beyond the veil?
This necessary elevation of the mind to higher altitudes, and this clear undimmed
perspective, our text assures us of.
Very frequently the Lord reminds us in
His Word of the need of patient endurance and of ardent devotion to Himself if we would
"run the race set before us" and not grow weary. . We are not to forget that
"they that run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize; therefore so run that
ye may obtain." (1 Cor. 9:24.) To grow weary in well doing we are assured is fatal to
our eternal interests. Our text contains the divine antidote for soul weariness. To walk
the rugged, narrow, and ofttimes thorny way, tries the pilgrim to the utmost point of
endurance. Many there are who know from experience that "Hope deferred maketh the
heart sick." (Prov. 13:12.) The "appointed time" until which, hope must
hold fast, and faith cling to its anchor, tarries long. Each hilltop before the
heaven-bound traveler, beckons tired feet onward with the hope that from its summit the
Celestial City may burst upon the view. But one by one the summits are reached only to
reveal that other valleys and hills are yet on before, and how great is our need of some
strengthening power to continue on the upward way without fainting. This too is
contained in our precious text. What a word of comfort it is, sent to us from "the
Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort." - 2 Cor. 1:3.
But in order to secure for ourselves
the benefits outlined in these beautiful words, it is essential that the special point of
emphasis be noted. It must not be overlooked that such happy results accrue only to those
who "wait on the Lord." And of what does this waiting consist? It evidently
contains at least two important characteristics, namely, a fervent desire to know such
results, and a patient accord with the processes and times and seasons of the divine will.
There is a waiting on God which
represents an activity undiscouraged and unquenched by any seeming impossibilities. An
illustration of this is furnished us by Jesus Himself. The persistent widow pleading her
cause before the unjust judge He uses to teach that "Men ought always to pray, and
not to faint." Her determination to
"wait" on this godless judge received its reward in due time. Her fervent desire
surmounted all obstacles, and this being so with her, well does the Savior ask, "Will
not God do justice for those chosen ones of His, who are crying unto Him day and night,
and He is compassionate toward them?" (Luke 18:7, Diaglott.) When, like this
undiscouraged widow, we wait on God with
persistent faith for things we so well know He delights to give, that fervency of desire
by which we demonstrate our sincerity, must and will bring such blessings as our text
assures to those who "wait on the Lord."
They Shall Mount up with Wings
Bible illustrations, we may be sure,
are such as to fittingly present whatever lesson is intended. Thus in our text, what other
bird of which we know anything could so well illustrate the four things given as features
of Christian life? The eagle is noted for its affinity for the higher altitudes. Its
habitat is among the mountain peaks. How well it therefore represents the affinity which
should be ours for those "heavenly places in Christ Jesus." As the eagle spurns
association with birds which find their desired place in lower circles, how marked should
be our antipathy toward the ways of the children of the world, and how manifest it should
be that "our citizenship and our conversation is in heaven."
Furthermore, the eagle is reputedly of
particularly keen sight, able to see even a small prey at a great distance. Is there
anything more repeatedly affirmed in the Scriptures regarding the true saints of God than
that their spiritual vision should be acute, and of such an order as to permit them to see
"the land of far distances"; to "see the King in His beauty," and
behold the full efficacy of His atoning sacrifice by which that beauty may be imparted
to us and we eventually enthroned with Him? Again, if any fowl of the air may be thought
of as enjoying what men are pleased to
speak of as "a bird's-eye view" of things, this is surely an eagle's special
privilege. It is not necessary for us to ascend to more than a few thousand feet to note
how small things on earth can appear from that altitude. Objects which appear so large
when we stand beside or among them, diminish surprisingly as we rise above them in an
upward ascent. And is the "bird's-eye view," or more correctly expressed as
pertaining to saints, "a God's eye view," a characteristic of such as mount up
like the eagle? Surely so. To "have the mind of Christ" and to possess the
"spirit of a sound mind," it is needful to rise far above the transitory and
superficial into the understanding of things that really matter-essential that we mount
into heights from which may be seen the real factors of spiritual life, and the true
vision of eternity. All these features the eagle's ways may illustrate.
We note the text states, "They
shall mount up with wings." The word is in
the plural. Though it be but a figure of speech in its meaning to us, yet is it not
suggestive of something by which we may be assisted to reach the height of blessing
mentioned in the text. Are there wings by which
we may indeed mount up? The eagle would be earth-bound with but one wing, but with both of
its strong wings fully exercised it soars into the heavens, its native sphere. Likewise
with us, a "broken pinion" will prevent our soaring up like the eagle; and so we
have need of all the divinely appointed "wings. Let us now call to mind a few of
these lovingly provided wings.
Wings of Salvation
Remembering that our text is suggestive
of an onward and upward way, and knowing no better kind of wings by which we may know its
promises made a part of our experience than the inspired Word, which gives wings to our
faith and power to our life, we may well consider some Scriptures suggestive of this
progressive, upward realization of renewed strength, mounting up as eagles, running
without weariness, and walking without fainting. First in order then would come what we
may speak of as "wings of salvation," precious texts by which we may surely know
the certainty and the security of our standing and relationship to the Lord. What more
assuring statements can we find then in support of this certainty and security than the
two following-supported on the one side by that pledge which the One making it will never
rescind: "Him that cometh to Me I will in nowise cast out" (John 6:37); then
on the other hand a word of assuring power: "He is able to save to the uttermost all
who come unto God by Him." (Heb. 7:25.) These two texts are but two such
"wings" by which the faith and hope of every child of God may be lifted up out
of faint-heartedness and doubt as to the power of God in their lives; and though they were
in very deed "the chief of sinners" when laid hold of by the love of God, He
will not let them go until from that uttermost of sin He has brought them to the uttermost
of glory-a triumph of His grace.
If any would know a satisfactory
experience of what the Apostle designates "a full assurance of faith," it will
be necessary to keep such foundation Scriptures as these in mind. Let that foundation be
fully accepted by a living faith and reinforced by the convictions and affirmations
consistent with genuine desires for the favor of God, then instead of doubt and
uncertainty there will be the confidence expressed by that same Apostle: "I know
whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed
unto Him against that day." (2 Tim. 1:12.) Doubts and uncertainties arise when we lay
off these God given wings, these words of life from His own Book, and substitute the
thought of some efforts of our own, some leaning on the arm of flesh, or some fluctuating
emotions and feelings on which we place more importance than on the infallible and
unbreakable pledges of God. Only let us keep these "wings," so lovingly provided
for us by the God who in grace has called us,
and who through grace will finish in us the work He has begun, and ours will be a life
soaring upward on wings of salvation.
Wings of Relationship
Ours is not only a salvation from death
to life, from condemnation to justification, but a salvation embracing the most wonderful
relationships. The special character of our salvation, designated by Paul as our
"high calling in Christ Jesus," is unique and extraordinary. This happy and
blessed fact is well expressed in two other "wing" texts. In such present tense
words as these we read it "What manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that
we should be called the sons of God.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God." (1 John 3:1, 2.)
Glory, honor, and immortality we hope to receive in the future, but sonship is a present
possession. And in that relationship we may be assured that "If children, then heirs,
heirs •of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." - Rom. 8:17.
This election to membership in the
divine family of heaven is one of the sublimest doctrines in the Bible. There is a blessed
relationship to God experienced by all His perfect intelligent creations, and ultimately
this sweet and sublime relationship will be the heritage of a redeemed human family. But
the privileges we may enjoy in this respect are overwhelming revelations of grace that our
finite minds most fail to fully comprehend. Can we wonder that Paul speaks of "God's
workmanship created in Christ Jesus" - His New Creation, as "the exceeding
greatness of His power, according to the working of His mighty power." - Eph. 1:19.
Surely as we grasp the full meaning of
the two "wing" texts suggested above, and by a steadfast faith let their weight
of significance abide in our thought, we shall pass into the actual realities of this
extraordinary relationship. Once it seemed quite enough to stir our souls to sing,
"I'm the child of a King, I'm the child of a King," but now with the clear light
shining on our pathway and the divine purpose in our high calling made plain, with how
much greater joy we look forward to that gladsome time when "Bride and Bridegroom are
made one, before the great white throne." This hope is to be the grand climax of our
faith, and this hope it is that in the present hour lifts us as on wings sublime above the
turmoil of life, "And makes us even here to feast with Jesus' priests and
kings." This is no mere bit of knowledge regarding the purposes of God imparted to
us by way of information, but it is distinctly a message to the heart within us.
Calculated, it surely is, to make us know that "Godliness is profitable unto all
things, having promise of the life that now is" and holding unspeakably wonderful
things for the eternal future. Using such "wings" faithfully in daily life will
indeed keep our hearts inspired with praise, love, hope, and confidence.
Wings of Security
We are of course familiar with the
many, many ways in which our Bible reminds us that a place of refuge and security will be
our special need, and how very often we have had occasion to rejoice in the refuge
provided for us in the love of God. From Satan and his wicked spirits we need a place
whence they dare not come, and we have it "under His wings." From a world of sin
and care, ensnarements and attractions, we need some safe hiding place, and we have it
"in the secret of His presence." From doubts and fears we need a place to go
where peace abides, and we have it in His unchanging love and power. When the great
"accuser of the brethren," directly or indirectly, rises up in accusing force,
ah then, how much we need those "wings" by which we may fly away to a refuge and
hiding place. And for such wings how effectively we may use such texts as these two:
"Your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3), and "If God be for us,
who can be against us, . Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect, . . . Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ?" (Rom. 8:31, 33, 35). With the first on
the one hand, and the Apostle's ringing challenge on the other, what a sense of security
we may know. How strengthening it is to know that,
"There is a safe and secret place
Beneath the wings divine,
Reserved for every child of grace
By faith who says, 'Tis mine.
"The least and feeblest here may
bide
And rest secure in God;
Beneath His wings they safely hide,
When dangers are abroad."
"O Rock divine, O Refuge dear: a
shelter in the time of storm." When all around us seems to slip away and leave us,
when dependence on any arm seems futile, and friends misunderstand and spurn, while foes
gloat and mock, oh, how this host of foes would defeat, had saints no mercy seat, no place
of peace and security. True Christian life runs often in a solitary way. Jesus must
needs walk a lonely way, a misunderstood way, and the disciple is not above his Master.
Hence, as Jesus went oft to the place of solitude to be alone with God, so we too must
pass through those experiences where we can feel brought near to the heart of God amidst
the broken reeds on which we lean, and the fickle wavering props that so often disappoint
us. It is best for us that it should be so. Few lessons to be learned in the school of
experience are more important to us than that of the unstable nature of all outside of
divine love and power. And since faith is so precious a thing in the sight of God, and it
must be tried from every angle, blessed indeed are the wings given us to fly away into a
sense of abiding security.
With our life "hid with Christ in
God," and being "complete in Him," who indeed may lay ought to our
charge, since God has justified us? Who may condemn us since the tribunal of heaven
acquits us? Who can separate us from the love of Christ, since He holds us in His own
right hand and. will not let us go? Who indeed, or what, can be against us, if God be for
us? It is this conviction of security we need in times like these. The arm of flesh will
fail us, and how well we have learned that we dare not trust our own. With this security
realized in experience, faith will steadfastly affirm, "God is our refuge and
strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will we not fear, though the earth
be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. (Psa. 45:1, 2.)
And amid the crucial trials of faith it will give courage to say, "Though the fig
tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall
fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and
there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the
God of my salvation. - Hab. 3:17.
From this place of security faith will
know that "no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that
shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the
servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord." (Isa.
54:17.)
Then let our souls on wings sublime
rise heavenward in confident praise, assured that "neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor
height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Rom. 8:38, 39.
Wings of Heavenly Vision
There is much of meaning in the
inspired statement, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." ("Made
naked," marginal reading, Prov. 29:18.) It was because mankind in times past
"did not like to retain God in their knowledge," that they "became vain in
their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." (Rom. 1:21, 28.)
When sin eclipsed the face of God, what darkness and nakedness ensued! And how important
it is to remember that there are other ways of losing sight of the face of God, other
"earthborn clouds" by which His face becomes hidden to us. There are things not
necessarily sinful in the sense of being wicked, by which we can lose the vision of God
and of things inspirational and eternal, and thereby lose the greatest of all cleansing
and glorifying influences. The sun is a mighty orb, many times larger than this earth on
which we live, but a thing as small as a dime held close to the eye can shut it out. So in
our spiritual life, how easy it is to shut off the unobscured vision of God by trifling
things. Men, movements, theories, preferences, and prejudices, so often obscure this
needed vision, and the people, as in Laodicea, become "poor, and blind, and
naked."
But let us find some "wings"
on which we may rise to higher altitudes of vision, and by which the impetus is given us
to "mount up, to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint." Hearken to the
words of Jesus Himself: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
(Matt. 5:8.) This promise pertains to the present experience of the child of God as well
as to his future glory. It is his now to live "as seeing Him who is invisible,"
and thus we pray, "O! may no earth-born cloud arise to hide Thee from Thy servant's
eyes." And this vision of God makes the other text we now choose all the more
precious to us: "Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty, they shall behold the
land of far distances." (Marginal reading, Isa. 33:17.) By these wings we mount up
far above any other Pisgah height from which we may "view our Home beyond the
tide." What greater attainment in spiritual vision can we ask for than to have these
two texts written into our experience? What maturity it will give to our perceptions and
to our character, what balance it will give to our life and conduct, and what love and
sympathy it will produce in us because we "behold the King in His beauty," His
perfection in all admirable and desirable qualities, leading us to say truthfully,
"I shall be satisfied when I awake in Thy likeness." And what advantages accrue
to those who are granted this vision! Let us examine a few Scriptural illustrations
We think of Moses. When God would show
through him the minuteness and the greatness of His redemptive purposes, He called Moses
away from the multitude below, taking him into "the mount." There alone with God
the whole "pattern" in all its typical beauty was spread before him. From the
most important portion of the structure and the most significant sacrifice to the smallest
detail of building and offering, were shown -a complete vision imparted. In our
dispensation of special grace this vision is likewise of immense importance, in fact it is
most essential to our being settled, strengthened, and established in Christian life.
Do we not hear the Apostle calling us up to this higher elevation from where the great
realities of our present life and our future inheritance may be seen clearly. He it is
who sees from. his high vantage point that the greatest of all is love, that to know
Christ and the power of His resurrection life is of pre-eminent value, and that Christ
formed in us is the sum total of all knowledge imparted to us. Those whom God favors
with a call to this mount of vision are those who may hope to have the prayer of Paul
fulfilled to them "This I pray, that your love may yet abound more and more in
knowledge, and in all perception, in order that you may examine the differences of things;
and that you may be sincere and inoffensive in the day of Christ; having been filled
with the fruit of righteousness through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of
God." - Phil. 1:9-11.
We think again of Paul. He relates an
experience of being "caught away into the third heaven," and there heard and
saw things he could not utter because of a prohibition placed on him by the Lord. But he
also lets us know there were features to that experience he could not tell even if he
desired to make them known. "Whether in the body or out of the body" he could
not say. The experience was peculiarly his own. He had known a power, the operations of
which he could not communicate to any other. Thus in no small measure it continues to be
in the lives of those who today are saying,
"I want to scale the utmost
height,
And catch a gleam of glory bright;
But still I'll pray till heaven I've found,
'Lord lead me on to higher ground.'"
In a better rendering of
1 John 2:20 than that given in the Authorized Version we read, "Ye have received an
unction from the Holy One, and ye all know it." This suggests that there is a very
personal experience to be expected by every sincere believer, something in the way of a
witness of the Spirit in each individual's own heart, and of which there should be no
doubt at all. The end of all grace and knowledge is by no means attained when we have
reached a state where we see eve to eye with others in doctrine and the general Plan of
God. We are to make sure primarily that the full force of John's statement is true as
respects ourselves. There is to be this personal experience of the Spirit's creating
anew, and imparting by its operations the mind and character of Christ, weaning the
heart from all below, and giving reality to the things unseen and unappreciated by the
natural mind. This is something we cannot impart to another or they to us, but which no
real child of God can afford to be without; therefore, "Let us go on to
perfection."
Again the results of
this use of the wings of heavenly vision is well illustrated in the experience of John
in his Patmos exile. He records his invitation to this plane of sublime vision; and what a
significance there is in his report of what he saw! Moses was carried up into a mount to
see the divine purposes pictured in type. Paul was caught up to see features of those
purposes due to be unfolded to the Church. But John's invitation was a peculiarly
significant one, an invitation up into "a great
and high mountain." And what for? To behold the Church, "The Bride, the
Lamb's Wife." Let us gaze with him at the vision he beheld, and of which he writes,
"Come hither and I will show thee the Bride, the Lamb's Wife. And He carried me away
into a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, having
the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper
stone, clear as crystal." - Rev. 21:10, 11.
No marvel that the
efforts of men to find "the one true Church" have utterly failed! No wonder that
factional lines have ever been drawn by men in their self-assurance that they constitute
that Church! The level on which we stand must inevitably govern the scope and degree of
what we see. This is well illustrated in the manner of men's measurements today. In some
quarters we will be told that there are around four hundred million Christian people in
the world. In other quarters he will hear of lesser, but still larger numbers, and so on
down the scale. But the indisputable fact remains, if we would see the true Church of
Christ, we must like John be carried away into a high point of vision. From any other
level it is inevitable that a "mixed multitude" be taken for that "one true
Church." This by no means suggests that to any one will be given the right to
designate who of those about us are surely of that Church.
In its lesson to
us it can clearly teach that those who are using the wings of heavenly vision, to them
will be given a true understanding of the glory, light, preciousness, and crystal
clearness of character the Bride must possess; therefore all human inventions by which
that Bride may be thought to have been found are swept away, and a chaste Church, a
sanctified Church, "a Bride adorned for her Husband," is seen to be as a
"Little Flock,"-one here, one there. And this is the view that leads those who
are thus "carried away into a great and high mountain" of heavenly vision, to
pray most fervently, "Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants, and Thy glory unto
their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish Thou the
work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it." - Psa.
90:16, 17.
"Having loved His own which were in the world, He
loved them unto the end."
John 13:1
AS STUDENTS of the
Bible are aware, the Gospel by John consists of two main divisions. The first covers the
three and a half years of our Lord's public ministry, and includes the first twelve
chapters. The remaining chapters (except for the final chapter, which was added later),
relate to the last few days of our Lord's life on earth, and are occupied with an account
of His trial and death, and of His parting words of encouragement, warning and
instruction to His "friends."
Our text is taken from
the first verse of this second main division. St. John is writing at the close of a long
life. Many years have passed since that "feet-washing" in the "upper
room," and he realizes now what was not so clearly discerned at the time, that only
matchless love on the part of the Master could explain the events he is now to record. And
so he prefaces his remarks with the words: "Having loved His own which were in the
world, He loved them unto the end." - John 13:1.
During the period of His
public ministry the Apostles had been closely associated with our Lord. They had seen His
mighty works of healing the sick, restoring the blind, and raising the dead. They had
heard Him turn back upon themselves the arguments of those who sought to trick Him into
some utterance which could be conjured into a semblance of sedition. They had enjoyed the
fellowship of the quiet hour with Him. They had heard that marvelous Sermon on the Mount;
but still, and in spite of these experiences, they came into that upper room with hearts
in a condition not conducive to the intimacies which were to characterize these last
hours of fellowship.
As he now looks
back, doubtless St. John remembers his own spirit then. He remembers, too, no doubt, how
all of them were filled with wrong ambitions and jealousies which pushed aside their finer
feelings. None were in the frame of mind to perform the menial task of washing the others'
feet. It was with pride and resentment toward one another that they gathered to celebrate
the Passover, that age-old custom of their fathers which commemorated the birth of their
nation. Emancipation from the Roman yoke rather than emancipation from the thraldom of
sin and selfishness was uppermost in their minds, as is instanced by the expressed wish of
the mother of Zebedee's children that one of her sons should sit on our Lord's right hand
and the other on His left, in the kingdom they all expected to see shortly established on
earth. It is no marvel that He answered: "Ye know not what ye ask."
How little they did know
of the bitterness of the cup they would be required to drink, or of the baptism with which
they should be baptized. They had failed to see the significance of the Master's words
spoken to them when He called them to Him and said, "Ye know that the princes of the
Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon.
them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be
your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the
Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom
for many."-Matt. 20:25-28.
Results of the Quiet Hour
When they entered that
upper room they were in no better mood to appreciate the things of the Spirit than their
fathers were to sing the songs of Zion in a strange land. When they left that upper room a
marvelous change had taken place in them. The love with which He loved them had
penetrated their selfishness and they were of a different spirit, for the Master had
prayed for them. He prayed, not for the world, but for them which the Father had given
Him. "All Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I am glorified in them." What
a wonderful testimony coming from the Savior of the world and extending on beyond them to
each and every one who through their word should believe! It is the love with which He
loved them that bade them "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe
also in Me." It is this love which binds them as close to Him as the branches to the
vine, and which promises them another comforter, and assures them that He will not leave
them, but will be with them to the end of the Age.
The result of that quiet
hour was to draw these men, from whom He must so soon be separated, into a union with
Himself which should never be broken. Here they had, in these brief hours, learned to say,
"Now are we sure that Thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should
ask Thee: by this we believe that Thou camest forth from God." There was no longer a
doubt, there was no longer an envious thought. Their pride had been swept away because
they had come to a greater measure of understanding. They had, to some degree, been
prepared for the coming of the Holy Spirit upon them at Pentecost. They had learned
somewhat of that new commandment, "That ye love one another: even as I have loved
you, that ye also love one another."
Here was a new
thought to the followers of the Master. They had been taught the Mosaic law, to love their
neighbors, also even their enemies, those who should despitefully use them; but now He
commands them to love one another and to do so even as He loved each of them. Here is
introduced a strong personal tie between all who name the name of Christ. Here comes a
separation from the world in a real sense, for He tells them that by this love for one
another, all men shall know them as His disciples. This mutual love shall be their badge
of recognition of their fellowship with Him.
This new
commandment does not abrogate the other, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself," but it does introduce into the matter a new thought and that new thought
is, that there are several kinds, or phases, of love.
Another in writing
on the subject of the central teaching of Jesus Christ, speaks as follows:
"How many
kinds, measures, and tones of meaning are comprehended in this word 'Love'! So it is in
common language, and even when one specific use of it has been excluded. So it is in
Scripture. There is a difference in the love of God as God, of Jesus Christ as Savior, of
our friends and relations, of our neighbors, of our enemies, of our people, of our
kind. It is all love, but with what various combinations of idea and measures of
feeling! So on the divine side, the Father loved the Son God loved the world: Jesus loved
His own (in that common character): He loved them as individuals: He 'loved Martha and
Mary and Lazarus,' and there was one disciple 'whom Jesus loved.' We are all sensible of
the differences of impression conveyed in these connections though it would be vain to
attempt to describe them."
How Jesus Loved His Own
If this be true, and this new commandment
does introduce a new thought into the Christian religion, might it not be well for all
followers of the Master to determine if possible in just what way they should accept and
apply this new commandment. Just how did Jesus love His own, which were in the world then
and who are in the world at this present time? There is no room for doubt that He loved
them and loved them to the end. And why did He so love them?
We gather from His
prayer to the Father that the Father Himself had given Him these, and He realizes that
they are sensitive in a measure to the thought that He is the way, the truth, and the
life; that after all there is a bond of sympathy and understanding between Him and them
which makes them one; that He had kept them all except the son of perdition, and in them
He finds the material needed for the founding of the new order of things; that under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit here are those capable of giving impetus to a movement which
shall accomplish all He tame to do by the giving of His flesh, the ransom price.. The
immediate requirement was to make of these, and others, to follow, who should believe
through their word, a special class of joint-heirs with Him. With this thought in mind it
becomes clear why He gave to them this new commandment that they should love one another
as He had loved them, and why He loved them to the end.
As followers of
the Lord, His disciples must be ruled by the same spirit which governed Him, and they must
eliminate self as He had done, as indicated by His statement, "I do nothing of
Myself, whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto Me, so I speak."
In order to accomplish this self negation they must be taught a lesson of humility. As He
loved them, so must they love one another. As He ministered to them, so must they minister
to one another. There had been no separated apostles or disciples until He had chosen
them, and there was no body of Christian followers until the day of Pentecost. So there
had been no occasion to love one another in this special manner. The contacts of these
last hours brings forcefully to them this distinction in their manner of loving. They must
in honor prefer one another. Ministering to the Body members seems to have been a
prominent virtue of the early Church because of this special type of love for the
brethren. Peter evidently had this understanding where he sets forth that array of
Christian virtues, and finishes them by saying, Add to your brotherly love, love, as
given in the Revised Version marginal reading.
Transforming Power of Love
The washing of their
feet is but an incident which establishes a principle. As He served them, so should they
serve one another. As He laid down His life for them, so should they lay down their
lives-not necessarily to die for one another, but to live a life of sacrifice for one
another.
It was in this
upper room that the Master changed the hearts of these men from ambitious, scheming ones
to hearts in which faith was now firmly established. A vision of the higher things was
being implanted, and a measure of that legacy of peace was being experienced-that peace
which none could give as could the Master, for none possessed it as He. It was the
result of a perfect harmony with the heavenly Father, a complete filling with the Holy
Spirit, and an evidence of that love with which He loved them to the end, and which should
characterize their love for one another from this time on to the end of their lives
the kind of love by which all men should know them that are His true followers of the
present time. They came from this experience with the Master, doubtless, with their pride
and ambition completely burned in the fire of shame, for they had seen this
exemplification of the Master's love, and they understood that that love was all
embracing.
His exhibition of
love recalled to their minds the events of the past years. And so it is when one sees the
Master stooping at his feet with basin and towel. His own importance fades from his mind
as he comes to see in this show of love and devotion that "He loved us and gave
Himself for us." It is then he changes the tense from the past to the present, and
cries within his soul, "He loves me and
gives Himself for me." The real meaning of that sacrifice is seen now in all its
beauty and grandeur. How can pride and ambition stand in the presence of so great a thing.
He sees now how the Master loved, and he sees how he must love the household of faith in
order to fill to the utmost the Master's expectation.
The love of Christ
for the world was for mankind in general-He so loved them as to give Himself a ransom
for them. For this reason He came into the world and took upon Himself the nature of man,
a perfect man, that He might be a corresponding price; thus meeting the requirements of
Justice, in order that they who believe on Him should have everlasting life. This was the
love of God and of the blessed Savior for the world.
There were and are
those. who are in the world but not of the world, and for these He has manifested a
different kind of love. The proof of this is, the results seen in a limited number of
mankind. These have been drawn unto God through Him from the camp condition into the court
condition, justified by faith; therefore they have "peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ: by whom also we [the consecrated] have access by faith into this grace
wherein we [the consecrated] stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not
only so, but we glory in tribulation also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and
patience experience; and experience hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love
of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us." This
is the transformation and growth which the love of Christ produces in His own whom He
loves to the uttermost.
These must love as
He had loved, and not only so but as He loves them still, for He loves them to the end,
not the end of their lives, but unto the end of His love, and we know that His love has no
end, no limitation. "I have loved thee with an everlasting love." It is the love
that carried Him victoriously from that upper room across the Brook Kedron into the Garden
of Gethsemane with its bitter experience. It carried Him through the humiliation and
suffering of His arrest by the mob, His experiences before the Jewish council, and Pilot's
hall of judgment. It supported Him on the cross. It triumphed in His resurrection and
ascension.
A contemplation of
the upper room on that night and of His experiences later must awaken in the heart of the
consecrated believer a sense of gratitude, a realization of the cost of His sacrifice in
so far as the human mind can know it, and a determination to put aside the things of the
flesh, to submit to a cleansing from the carnal things of the mind. The value of the
things of this life is governed largely by the cost to us in effort, suffering,
sacrifice, and if this be true, how great must our Lord's love be for His own. Even a
consecrated mind can not wholly perceive, but what gratitude should it arouse. With what
circumspection should we walk that we bring no reproach upon His name under whose
banner we are enlisted.
Dear brethren, who
name the name of Christ, let us examine ourselves and see if there be any evil in us. Let
us say with the Psalmist: "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my
thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting." And may we be so filled with love for one another that we can say with
truth and comfort, "O Lord, Thou hast searched me, and known me." And may we be
able to add, We love as Thou dost love, even to the uttermost.
"I will mention the loving kindnesses of the
Lord, and. the praises of the Lord."
- Isa. 63:7.
Dear Brethren in
Christ:
It were an utter
impossibility to fully declare our Heavenly Father's goodness to His creatures, and
infinitely more so to even mention all His
loving kindnesses to His consecrated children. But let us who have made the covenant
with Him (Psa. 50:5) continually remind ourselves and one another of His constant
"crowning" with His loving kindness and tender mercies. - Psa. 103:4.
It was soon after
reaching Florida last February on my Pilgrim trip, started in January, that I was
summoned home by the sudden death of my only brother in the flesh. May I here express
briefly my gratitude to the dear ones in Christ who, in loving messages, reminded me of
Jesus' cheering words to Martha: "Thy brother shall rise again."
After the funeral
I returned to Florida by boat. I have in my "mind's eye" at this moment the
beautiful scene at the pier when several of the dear ones of New York and Brooklyn so
kindly bade me "bon voyage" and left with me loving reminders of their interest
and prayers on my behalf. I was enabled by His grace to resume the work in a trip lasting
nearly five months and taking me through twenty-five States, reaching home July 28th. In
compliance with request, I submit a few observations en route.
Our Father gave
rich blessings all the way, but, wisely, not wholly apart from trials of faith. (1 Pet.
1:7.) Turning south from Brooklyn in January, many blessings were ours in Wilmington,
Baltimore, Washington, D. C., New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama on the way.
Florida was at the
height of its winter resort season, which found some of the Lord's dear people almost too
busy to receive a Pilgrim. But in practically all instances they either made room or
arranged for the visit later, when the rush season had passed its crest. Much blessing
from the Lord was enjoyed in the two visits with the dear brethren in Jacksonville and
also with partly isolated friends living in forest glades draped with the lovely Florida
moss, hanging in great profusion from the tall live oaks. Among these dear ones were aged
Brothers McGee and Wagner. Holding outdoor services on the porch amidst such a sylvan
scene in early March was our unique privilege at Brother and Sister McGee's forest home.
Continuing across
the State westward gave rich blessings of fellowship in Christ with dear ones at
Orlando, Lakeland, with two former well-known colporteurs at Zephyrhills, at Tampa, Indian
Rocks, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, then across the vast Everglades in a bus, running the
gauntlet of forest fires, "at your own
risk," which were then raging along a thirty-mile front on the "Tamiami
trail." Coming up the east coast from Miami, where special blessings were not unmixed
with peculiar trials, we had fellowship with dear ones at Fort Lauderdale, Stuart,
Ormond, and Daytona, at which latter place we found one of our former Pilgrims of Brother
Russell's time.
At St. Petersburg,
besides precious fellowship with the Class meeting in the home of one of the friends, and
also the sweet privilege of participation in the memorial of our Lord's death, we rested a
week at the home of a dear brother.
Diverting our
projected Pacific Coast trip by doctor's advice, we turned northward after precious
meetings at New Orleans, with memorable stops at Jackson, Miss., and Memphis, Tenn. A
special privilege was ours to be the first to visit the newly-formed Class located at a
farm near Maben, Miss., meeting for study and worship Saturday evenings.
It was our joy to
meet once more with the dear friends at St. Louis and Granite City, at West Frankfort, and
with our beloved Brother and Sister at Canton, Ill., who also kindly took me along with
them to the Aurora Convention. It would indeed be difficult, to fully appraise the rich
blessings of the three precious conventions I was permitted to participate in-at Aurora,
Detroit, and the, one-day gathering with the dear new Class in Cleveland, less than a year
old. The sweet spirit pervading each of these gatherings of the Lord's people seemed very
like the "dear old days" of Brother Russell's time, as we recall them.
Rich and manifold
were the spiritual blessings at Minneapolis, Waukesha, Milwaukee, and other places in
Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois, with three precious meetings at Chicago, also with the
dear brethren in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and lastly in New York State, each
worthy of special note did space permit, and a cause for deep gratitude to our Heavenly
Father and our dear Redeemer, who hath provided these favors by His own great sacrifice on
our behalf.
With five dear
ones symbolizing by water immersion the sinking of their wills into the will of God at the
Aurora Convention, six at Detroit, and five more in the Chemung River near Elmira, N. Y.,
there came a deep inspiration and a fervent renewal of our own consecration vow to be
"faithful unto death," at any cost, to Him who has so graciously invited us to
share His exceeding great reward-to be dead with Him that we may live with Him, to be
joint-sacrificers with Him now that we may be also joint-heirs with Him in His glorious
Kingdom, and have share in bringing the blessings promised to a waiting world. To each
of these dear "new" brethren: Col. 2:6, 7 and 1 Cor. 16:23, 24. Reaffirming our
own solemn pledge of three-score years ago, we repeated:
"Into Thy
hands, O God, I gladly fall,
And give to Thee my life, my will, my all;
Do with me as Thou wilt for I am Thine,
Whatever is Thy will, is also mine."
Reaching
Jamestown, N. Y., precious memories came of our first visit there with dear Sister Friese
twenty nine years ago at the wonderful Celoron Convention on the shores of lovely Lake
Chautauqua. Here we were specially reminded of Rom. 8:28, for the letter sent some days
before telling of the hospital illness of the only known sister there, and canceling my
appointment, failed to reach me, and hence no one answered when I called at the home. A
neighbor young man kindly came and told of the sister's illness, and while seeking divine
guidance in silent prayer there on the sidewalk, a car with three men drew up to take
the one with whom I was speaking to the lake for swimming, and they all graciously
invited me to ride with them to the sister's cottage seven miles up the lake. There I had
an hour of fellowship and a prayer with the dear isolated sister, who told me she was
one of the large company that symbolized their consecration by immersion in that very
lake,, with Brother Russell standing by, twenty-eight years before. Others of that company
had passed beyond the veil or moved away until she was the only one left here, at the
scene of one of the most memorable of the early I.B.S.A. conventions. God had kept her
through the long years intervening. There was vividly reproduced in my mind that baptismal
scene which I had assisted in nearly thirty years ago.
May each one of
us, beloved brethren, who has placed his all -upon the altar, be doubly on guard in these
evil days, and remember that in Him alone is "grace
sufficient" for all our need. (Phil. 4:19;1 Pet. 5:10.) Asking your prayers,
Your brother in
His love and service,
Harvey A. Friese.
Dear Brethren,
The privilege of service
afforded me by the Bible Students' Committee, personally and as a committee, has been one
that I have valued and greatly appreciated. The experiences of service and fellowship with
the brethren since my former writing have been of the same nature as those already
reported to you -- just such as are continually met with in America, thus further
demonstrating the similarity of our testings, and the oneness of the Body.
Shortly after the
Dewsbury convention it was my privilege to address a small audience, about forty-five in
all, composed mostly of strangers to the Truth. Several prominent members of the
organization owning the hall, an adult Bible school, were present and manifested their
interest by arranging for monthly meetings to be addressed by one of our brethren. In
another city where there is no class, a conversation while doing some buying opened the
way for a public meeting on one of my free days. I was not aware of the nature of the
group I was invited to address until reaching their gathering place -- a church hall. They
were found to be a very interesting group of young people who gather weekly for study of
the Word. Sufficient interest was evinced so that an invitation was given one of our
brethren to serve them. Though their meetings are discontinued during August and
September, they indicated to the brother who addressed them later that they may ask him to
serve them again in the fall. While these meetings seem to show that such privileges of
addressing the public are not a thing of the past, yet all the in here seem to be that
since the brethren have not the means to advertise or hold the large public assemblies
such as were the custom in the past, the "Kingdom Cards" recently prepared by
the brethren here, will. bring the largest results, giving most for the effort and money
expended.
Because of the
different construction of the railway carriages of this country, more intimate contact is
had. Where the people are of a type that will enter into conversation with strangers,
there are many more opportunities than in America of -witnessing for the Lord, and a small
portion of such privileges left me with some hope that good might have been accomplished.
A far more interesting experience than any of these, because of seeming to have been
arranged by the Lord, was the meeting and comforting of a bruised heart. A change of
trains had given me an hour's liberty, and my walk took me into the village church. The
organist was there, waiting to be taken by the rector to a hospital where his wife lay
perhaps dying. There was no lack in the kindness shown him by his church friends, but the
message of comfort left with him, I could hope might bear fruitage in this life or the
one to come, of which latter he had heard little if any before.
Since we have been
promised a report of the August Convention by one of the English brethren, I need only
speak of my great enjoyment of it, and my admiration for the orderly way in which
everything planned for spiritual benefit and physical comfort was conducted. The meeting
here of friends previously contacted added greatly too the pleasure of this occasion. It
has also been my privilege in the closing weeks of this trip to pay return visits to a few
Classes, rejoicing to find an even greater blessing in the renewal of our fellowship.
At one point a
Class that has not been able to meet for several years, was brought together in happy
fellowship by the zeal of one brother, forty participating.
Both going to and
returning from England I was permitted to serve at a Sunday service on the boat, and in
each instance there was considerable evidence
of interest, particularly on the part of one of the stewards, going over, and, on the
return trip, of a Persian who was coming to the United States -- a refugee who gave
evidence of desiring further light on Christianity and the Bible. Doubtless the interest
in these services was much increased by reason of the fact that on both the American and
English shores a number of the brethren were at the pier to bid me farewell -- about 60 in
the latter instance.
On the return, as
during a night of waiting our boat lay in the entrance to New York harbor, a realization
of the preciousness of Home and all that the harbor lights symbolize, came to us with
increased force, and our eternal Home and the privilege of soon gathering there for a
reunion with the dear ones of our old and our new acquaintances grew the more precious.
Your brother by His grace,
Paul E. Thomson.
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