VOL. XIII FEBRUARY 1940
NO. 2 The True Mark of Christian Maturity Things Coming to Pass"When ye see these things come to pass, THE advent of 1940 closes a
quarter-century period of tribulation; which, beginning in 1914 and continuing to the
present time, has been unequaled in the pages of history for world-wide turmoil and
distress of nations. In the space of twenty-five years, vast changes have occurred.
Nations have been remade; monarchies have been replaced by totalitarian states;
revolutionary concepts of government have been instituted, involving the welfare of
hundreds of millions of people. In the political, social, financial, religious, and
economic spheres, humanity has seen its institutions sorely tested by continual and
unceasing shakings. These have indeed been years that tried the spirits of men. And as the
period began with a tragic world war that crushed the nations, it has ended by ushering in
another conflict which forebodes a cataclysm greater than the previous. England and
France facing Germany in an armed deadlock whose only redeeming feature is that no mass
slaughter has yet taken place; Poland overrun; the liberties of CzechoSlovakia lost; the
small Baltic States under Russia's thumb; Soviet troops battering at Finland; China's
martyrdom continuing; Italy, Rumania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, and other nations
scattered throughout Europe and Asia arming increasingly for the dreaded moment when they
may be involved. Everywhere the picture of man's lost faith in his fellow-man; war
seemingly the only solution for civilization's troubles. To wha*t a dreadful state of
affairs has humanity been reduced! Six thousand years' permission of evil, the time
allotted for men and angels to witness the inevitable result of life lived apart from the
two greatest commandments (Matt. 22:36-40), with selfishness instead of selflessness the
ruling force in men's hearts, has now finally broughtt about a time of trouble such as
never was since there was a nation; a trouble such that, in the words of the Master,
"except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved." (Matt.
24:22.) And though voices are not lacking to warn the nations of the crisis in human
affairs and that contemporaneous events are more than temporary distresses, yet mankind
are unheeding and fail to recognize, as failed also the Jewish nation at the first
advent, the presence of One in their midst who has returned invisibly to "take unto
Himself His great power and reign." Our Master warned, paradoxical as it
may seem, that despite the tremendous upheaval in the earth, the nations would fail to
recognize the signs of the proximity of the longed -- for Kingdom of God; but that, on the
contrary, this day would come as a snare, or as Rotherham translates the text, "it
will come in by surprise upon all them that are dwelling on the face of all the
earth." (Luke 21: 35.) This is in harmony with our Lord's expressions elsewhere
(Matt. 24:37-39) and also with Peter's prophetic words: "There shall come in the
last days scoffers . . . saying, Where is the promise of His coming [Greek, parousia, presence]? for since the fathers fell
asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." (2
Peter 3:3, 4.) The gradual decline of true religious faith has brought about a condition
which is best described in the words of the Prophet Amos: "Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a
thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord." (Amos 8111.) From few of the
pulpits is there expressed a clear message of the portent of present world-wide events;
therefore, it is with pleasure that we note excerpts from a recent sermon by the Rev. Dr.
William H. Roger, pastor of the First Baptist Church of New York City. We quote from the New York Times his list of fifteen significant
signs, foreshadowing to him the imminent. return of the Lord: "Any one who is a student of world
affairs will be deeply impressed by a comparison between divine prophecies and present
conditions. The Bible is a record of prophetic testimony. Only an omniscient God can
forecast and foretell future events with accuracy. "The first shadow-sign is seen in
the antediluvian and sodomite conditions today. "The second sign is portrayed in
the increase of crime and lawlessness. "The third shadow-sign of His
coming appears in the wide-spread apostasy of the organized church and the scornful
antagonisms against God outside the church. "The fourth sign is revealed in
the numerous scoffers of the doctrine of the 'blessed hope.' "The fifth sign is manifested in
the multiple hatreds and persecutions of today. "The sixth sign displays itself in
the amazing increase of travel and knowledge. "The seventh is seen in the
'heaping together' of great wealth. "The eighth sign is revealed in
national distress and fear. "The ninth shadow is disclosed in
the preaching of and praying for peace, and the vast preparation for war. "The tenth is unfolded in the
unification of various group movements and centralization of power moving in the direction
of dictatorships. "The eleventh sign is unfolded in
the frequent occurrence of floods, drought, famine, pestilence, and earthquakes. "The twelfth is portrayed in
wide-spread unemployment, strikes, and revolution that characterize our day. "The thirteenth is seen in the
modern revival of the Roman Empire and the search for political unity in European nations. "The fourteenth sign is observed
in the return of the Jews to Palestine and the recent colonization of that land with the
discoveries of untold wealth in the chemical deposits of the Dead Sea. "The last sign is manifested in an
unexpectant church and indifferent people. "These signs of the last days are
plainly predicted in the Word of God by the Prophets, Apostles, and Christ." Such clear words of truth, so seldom
heard from pulpits in these days, must stir the heart of every true child of God who
loves Christ's appearing. Would that all religious people might give heed to the
instructions of the Bible regarding the great hope of the true Church, the second advent
of Christ. For Dr. Roger and others of similar faith, we urge a still deeper study of
God's Word, that they might perceive also the object
of Christ's return and in doing so would also recognize the various stages in the second advent and the
manifestations of His invisible presence; first through the epiphaneia and later in the apokalupsis. It is only the faithful waiting ones
who amid earth's perplexity can rejoice in the abundant evidence of their deliverance
drawing nigh.-Luke 21: 28, 31. Reports of Jewish distress continue to
stir the sympathies of all people. The forced migration of Jews of Germany, Austria,
Czecho-Slovakia, and Poland to the socalled "Jewish State" in Poland has been
temporarily interrupted. The explanation as reported by the press is "that an
outbreak of typhus and other contagious diseases had occurred among the 40,000 to 50,000
people already jammed into what was intended to be the greatest concentration camp in
history, and if the policy is continued, may become one vast charnel-house." The
heart is sickened by the reports of the sufferings inflicted upon this people. In a letter
to the New York Times, Oswald Garrison Villard
says: "The week before I was in Vienna
eight-four Jews who had been summoned to leave for Poland committed suicide, of whom
thirty-six were women. Every remaining Jew, wherever he may be in Germany or in
Czecho-Slovakia, sits in his home expecting with every ring of the door-bell that his
death sentence has arrived. Those who have been selected are compelled to leave on
twenty-four hours' notice and are allowed to take with them only 300 marks and such
clothing and belongings as they can carry -of course, few of them have the heavy winter
clothing needed for the trip to Poland. . . . The victims are jammed into open cattle
cars, without heat or conveniences of any kind, or proper food. They are days on the road,
for the trains proceed as if they were freight-trains, under conditions that would be
forbidden by law if the contents of the cars were cattle and not human beings." But with the many cruelties being
suffered by this unfortunate people, all are familiar, and it is needless to cite other
instances. It is with relief that we turn to some of the brighter aspects of the Jewish
situation. The recent National Conference of the United Palestine Appeal held in
Washington, was addressed by several notable speakers. Dr. Abba Silver said in his
key-note address that 500,000 Jews, representing "the fifth largest Jewish
community in the world," now lived in Palestine. He said that Palestine was a portion
of the world where "hope is restored to men robbed of hope, and pride to the humbled,
and the gift of mission and destiny to those cut off, spiritually dispossessed, and cast
out. of all inheritance." Dr. George Landauer, director of the
Central Bureau for the Settlement of German Jews in Palestine,. held out hope, based on
past experience, that the Polish Jews now under German rule would find their plight
materially mitigated in Palestine. He told the conference that 70,000 German Jews had been
settled in Palestine since 1933 at a cost of $5,000,000, one-third of that number having
been settled on the land as a result of large-scale planning to encourage the simultaneous
development of agricultural and industrial opportunities for the refugees. Governor Lehman of New York telegraphed
a message which in part read: "The tragic situation abroad,
where countless hopeless men and women have been driven from their homes and places of
worship by relentless persecution and hatred, compels the sympathy and cooperation of
every right thinking person. In this tragic situation Palestine is more needed than ever
as a haven of refuge for thousands of helpless, harried human beings who are hopeless and
without means of sustenance. Palestine offers to those who are fortunate enough to go
there renewed hope and renewed opportunity." Another speaker was Alfred Duff-Cooper,
former First. Lord of the Admiralty of Great Britain, who "evoked prolonged
applause when he asserted that in view of the unprecedented and 'ghastly persecution of
the Jews, which is a disgrace and a branding shame not only to the countries that are
taking part in it but to the whole of Europe and the whole of Christendom,' it was now
obligatory upon Great Britain to do more for the Jews in the rebuilding of Palestine
than she 'ever promised or intended to do before.' The policy of seeking to show no
favoritism in Palestine, either to Jews or Arabs, he said, had failed because it was
unworkable and called for a change in which the government must show 'bias upon one side
or the other.' Since the Arabs already had a great domain which they were free to govern
in their own way, Mr. Duff-Cooper suggested that if the Arabs wished no longer to remain
in Palestine, 'vast spaces of territory await their expansion.' "A resolution appealing to the
British government to open the doors of Palestine to unrestricted Jewish immigration was
adopted by the conference. "Dr. Walter D. Lowdermilk,
assistant chief of the Soil Conservation Service of the Department of Agriculture, told
the conference that the Jewish agricultural colonization of Palestine was 'one of the
most remarkable works of restoration and reclamation of waste land that I have seen in
three continents.'" It is refreshing, indeed, to see the
constant activity as regards Zionism and the Palestine development. We who can discern
behind the scenes the slowly self-fulfilling counsels of the Eternal, have indeed cause
'for rejoicing. For unquestionably the gradual restoration of Israel to their own land
is one of the strongest evidences of the near approach of God's Kingdom and also of the
completion of the true Church class. Both the present sufferings and the restoration of
the Jews are surely fulfilling Scripture upon Scripture which shall be climaxed in their
full restoration to divine favor before the astonished nations, who in their turn shall
be the recipients of divine blessings through the channel of the earthly seed of Abraham. "For I will restore health unto
thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an
Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after." "The fierce anger of
the Lord shall not return, until He have done it, and until He have performed the
intents of His heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it." - Jer. 30:17, 24. -
Contributed. "The Love of the Truth""And with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that
they might be saved." - WE ALL wish to be saved. Our text tells
of some who received the truth in St. Paul's day, but not the love of the truth,
and who were destined to be deceived by the Man of Sin and perish. This same class is
referred to in Psalms 91:7, 9, 10: "A thousand shall fall at thy side [a position
close to and therefore in the same standing and faith as the ones who do not fall]; . but
it shall not come nigh thee. . . . Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my Refuge,
even the Most High, thy habitation." Our text tells us that the loss of the truth is
caused by lack of love of the truth. St. Paul's second letter to the
Thessalonians was for the purpose of correcting a misunderstanding which had arisen as to
the time of Christ's second advent. He had said (1 Thess. 5:1-6) Christ is not coming with
outward show, but will return quietly, unobservedly, like a thief in the night. Some,
after reading this, began to teach that the day of Christ -- His second advent-was already
at hand. In the chapter of which our text is a part, St. Paul is pointing out that, at the
time he wrote, it was impossible for Jesus' second advent to have taken place, or for it
to soon occur, because there must first come a falling away from the truth. The spirit of
Anti-Christ was already at work, but the respect of God's people for the Apostle was so
great and his vigilance so keen that the Man of Sin could not progress while the Apostle
remained alive. Our text occurs in the midst of this
thesis. Its clear teaching is that many will be deceived (lose the truth) because they
received not the love of the truth. The importance, therefore, of our
theme-of knowing what the love of the truth really is and of obtaining it -- cannot be
overstated, for on this depends our whole future, even life itself. In this article we
propose to consider it under two main captions, (1) the love for the truth and (2) the
love which the truth develops in God's children. The Love for the TruthTo be worthy of a knowledge of the
truth and of being allowed to retain it, we must love the truth. To receive and hold the
truth merely as a means of showing or gaining superiority over others is not to receive
the truth in the love of it. Still less would this be true of any who might think to use a
knowledge of the Scriptures as a club with which to beat down the arguments of others. One
of the elementary lessons in the school of Christ is that the truth is always to be spoken
in love, and that this disposition not only causes us to grow up into Him in all things,
but is also a more effective way of winning others to Christ. - Eph. 4:15. When, in response to Pilate's
questioning, Jesus witnessed His good confession, declaring that it was "for this
cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is
of the truth heareth My voice," Pilate inquired, "What is truth?" - John
18:37, 38. To this question our Lord made no
reply, nor, let it be said with all reverence, could
He. Still less could we. The truth cannot
be expounded in a few remarks, or even compressed into a single sermon or article. Had
it been otherwise, Christ would not have spent three and a half years witnessing to it.
Some men would compress into the limits of one discourse or one article the truth which it
took Christ three and a half years to teach, and which He left unfinished for the Holy
Spirit to complete through the ministry of His chosen Apostles, through their oral
preaching and written epistles, attested, as both were, by lives governed by its
principles. Bible students well know that the
"truth," in our Lord's view, and in that of the Apostles, as set forth in their
inspired writings, was the glorious Gospel of God's grace -- the Gospel enfolded in the
Old Testament, unfolded in the New-the Gospel of ' God concerning His Son, which St. Paul
delighted to call "his" Gospel. This glorious Gospel, in all its fulness, is
"THE TRUTH," and as its message runs from Genesis to Revelation, we read:
"Thy Word is truth." - John 17:17. Creeds Old and NewAll this may seem very broad-some will
say, too broad-that the Bible is an old fiddle en which any tune can be played. Thus, ever
since Jesus' day various churches and organizations of people have striven to formulate
statements of belief, specifying exactly what truth is. One of the earliest of such
statements is called the Nicean Creed. This was the product of the council called by the
Roman emperor Constantine, about A. D. 325. That creed was for the purpose of compelling
conformity on the part of the bishops of the various churches to the views of the Bishop
of Rome.' While it was at first only for their guidance, soon not only the bishops but
also all members were required to subscribe to it. The result was the welding of the
church of that day into one powerful unit, which ultimately became the Papacy. Creeds UnnecessaryPractically all churches since that day
have had a creed. As a member has to confess faith in the creed to be in good standing,
creeds are sometimes called confessions of faith. The March, 1890 "Watch Tower"
reported a sermon by a Presbyterian minister, repudiating the Westminster Confession
of Faith. Brother Russell in commenting said: "Why is it necessary to use any
creed as a bond of union? Was not the church of the Apostles' day the grand illustration
of union and purity and love as it should but does not exist since bonds of union in the
shape of creeds were introduced? If all creeds and confessions were abandoned and the
Bible were accepted as the only standard of faith, would not the true union of heart and
faith in fundamentals the sooner come about, and be accompanied by personal liberty of
conscience? And if the heathen churches should be at liberty to shape their own creeds,
why should not the churches nearer home have as much liberty? And if congregations may
shape their own creeds, why should not each individual be accorded the fullest liberty to
shape his own creed? - the liberty which Christ arranged for and which the Apostles urged? "And if such liberty would
'probably' lead to occasional flashes of light uncovering the truth of God's Word and plan
more fully and leading 'nearer to Biblical ways of thought and expression, why might not
full liberty . . . under the blessing of the Holy Spirit bring fresh and clearer views now
and continually? It surely would bring not only clearer views than the Westminster
Confession contains but clearer views than any 'modern statement' of faith. Why then tie
up with a new creed Which would hinder the Spirit's teaching and shedding of fresh light
upon God's Word, and which shortly would again need revision? Why not get free and stay
free, and enjoy and walk in the light, and keep continually growing in grace and in the
knowledge and love of God?" From this we see clearly that Brother
Russell was not in favor of having a creed, either oral or written. It is for this reason that in baptismal
services he did not instruct us to ask a long list of questions of the candidates. We can
many of us remember how Brother Russell conducted such services. He asked only the most
simple and fundamental questions. "Have you accepted Jesus as your Savior? Have you
turned from sin? Have you consecrated yourself -- your all, to God?" Upon the
affirmative answer to these the candidate was given the right hand of fellowship. If we
had a creed and demanded adherence to its detailed doctrinal teachings, then would be the
time to require acquiescence before extending the right hand of fellowship. When the various Reformers came on the
scene, they protested against Papacy, and in some cases against the Protestant churches
that had gone before. The Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists, and others, for
instance, represent the descendants of John Calvin's followers. After Calvin's death
arose leaders who loved Calvin, and, believing him to be a great and good man, desired
to perpetuate his teachings in their purity, and so framed the Westminster Confession of
Faith, first, as in the case of the Nicean Creed, to limit freedom of thought and
expression on the part of their ministers, and also for each member to study and subscribe
to. One of the worst features of creeds and confessions is that they make deceivers of
people. Men have at the point of force been made to "confess" that they believe
things they did not. Others in. ignorance have accepted the creed, and later, when their
study brought out different ideas, have not dared to express them or even ask questions
for fear of being thought a heretic, or to be denying the faith or losing the light. History Repeats ItselfToday history is repeating.
Twenty-three years ago Brother Russell passed on. We all love him and appreciate his clear
and- complete statement of the truth. Now some are said to be differing from Brother
Russell's views. Personally we 'have not in five years discussed matters with any one
amongst us who expressed different views from those of Brother Russell, and we have not
heard a talk in that time which was contrary to his teachings. Nevertheless, we are
constantly hearing brethren speak against, and we read statements condemnatory of others
supposed to be out of harmony. At a recent convention certain well-known thoroughly
consecrated brethren were refused the platform on this basis, or because they associate
with some said to be out of harmony. The process of hunting down heretics
its the oldest form of persecution. It is almost as old as the Church. It started within
the Church soon after A. D. 325 and in the Nicean Creed. Now, friends, this is a serious problem
to many of us who love Brother Russell and believe his teachings but are not willing to lend ourselves to the making of a
Russellite sect which must be joined by confessing to belief in every jot and tittle of
our dear brother's writings in order to have fullest fellowship and love from some. What are we going to do about it? A
brother brought out recently in a discourse a thought which we appreciated. He compared us
now to a group in a rowboat. If one leans over to the left side, the boat is tipped, and
the tendency is for others to lean as far over the right side to compensate. The thought
is that we should not go to an extreme either way. We have a motto at home: "The
fellow who pulls on the oars doesn't have time to rock the boat." If some are
showing a sectarian spirit, there is no reason for others to show a spirit of lawlessness
or take license for liberty. Let us keep in the middle of the road. Paul said (Phil. 4:5),
"Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand." Let us be
strict with ourselves, but lenient with others. "But men make His love too narrow
by false limits of their own, and they magnify His vengeance with a zeal He will not
own." For our part we prefer Brother
Russell's teachings and his way of expressing truths to any we have ever heard or read,
but if some brother gets a blessing from some other person's way of expressing the truth,
as long as he is not beclouding fundamentals, we grant him liberty. This is what Brother
Russell said, as quoted above. The same thought is repeated in
"Scripture Studies," Volume 6, pages 240-242. Also read the November 1, 1916
"Watch Tower." Note the V. D. M. questions, page 330, how general they are-that
they are to enable each class to know by the replies that the answerer really has a
knowledge of truth. Also note that these questions are vastly different from a
corresponding list of doctrinal points set out as our belief to which a member or an elder
must categorically answer, "Yes, I believe that." The English language is too
inaccurate a vehicle of expression, and our use of it is too colloquial to make it
possible for even us who have present truth to set up a listing of doctrinal points in
creed form as a test of membership or as a test for our teachers. Love for truth, if not guided by the
love which the truth produces in us, can cause many heartaches. We must love the truth! We must be
willing to die for it! We must put into effect without delay each item of truth as it is
grasped. We must hold the truth above all else. If we love it, this will naturally follow.
Read Psalm 119:97-105. God's truth is His law, His precepts, His Word. How much do we love
it? The Love the Truth Develops in God's ChildrenThis love is described in 1 Corinthians
13:1-13. This love is the great motive power of the universe. This love is God, for the
Word says, "God is love." St. Paul's exposition of love does not tell us just
what love is. It tells how love acts and what it does in various circumstances. Godly love
is not narrow. It is not a sentimental affection. Our common version uses the word
"charity". in 1 Corinthians 13 to translate the Greek word "agape." In
some ways "charity" makes clearer the thought than the word "love,"
for "charity" means a readiness to overlook faults, spiritual benevolence,
Christian love, as well as benevolence to the poor. "Charity," however, has come
to mean to most people solely the giving of gifts to the poor, -- and many do this for
business reason only-to build good-will. The word "love" means a desire for one,
a passion, a strong, complex emotion Cor feeling, causing one to appreciate, delight in,
and crave the presence or possession of its object, and to please or promote the welfare
of the object of one's love. The Five Phases of LoveGod's love is all-inclusive. In
Christians godly love may be divided into five phases (1) Love for God., In Matthew 22:36 we are commended to
love God supremely -- "with all thy heart, soul, and mind." If we believed in
the eternal torment doctrine of the Dark Ages; if we believed God predestined infants
to damnation; if we thought God had no plan beyond the present opportunities for people
to be saved, then it might be hard to exercise this proper love for God. Having ''a
knowledge of the Plan of the Ages, the truth of God's Word. however, we are shown God in
such a lovable light that our love is called forth to Him to the supreme degree by our
contact with it. (2) Love for Christ. The Word of truth shows Jesus to be the
express image of the Father; that Jesus came to earth and died for us-to be our Savior;
"while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." The truth calls forth our love
for Jesus in the same manner and to the same degree as for God. - John 5:23. (3) Love for our neighbor. Jesus said in Matthew 22:39, "And
the second [greatest commandment] is, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
Brethren, if this great commandment were abroad in Europe today, what a difference it
would make! We would not have millions of men flying at one another with all the fiendish
implements of destruction that the widespread knowledge of our day has made possible.
How different, too, our own favored land would be if this "golden rule" were
generally adopted! Meantime, while we wait for the time when it shall be controlling
throughout the earth, the truth, received in the love of it enables us to love our
neighbors as ourselves. It does this by teaching us that God plans to bless them with
life, peace, and happiness, with those very blessings which even' now He bestows on us,
His followers. (4) Love for our enemies. "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 the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on
the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the
publicans the same?" "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in
heaven is perfect." (Matt: 5:44-48.) As we ponder this text and others, realizing
that God treated us so kindly as to send His only Son to die for us-while we were yet
sinners -the truth develops this phase of love in our hearts. Some of us had thought our
enemies would be only worldly people or members of the nominal churches, but we have
learned that the Master spoke truly when He forewarned us that often those would be our
chief opponents in the narrow way who are of our own household --often, too, those of the
household of faith, for brethren use brethren de spitefully more often and more cuttingly
than do outsiders. The truth teaches us to pray with Jesus "Father, forgive them; for
they know not what they do." (5) Love for the brethren. This type of love is higher and more
heart-searching than love for the world. The latter must be loved as ourselves, whereas
brethren are to be loved better than we love ourselves. This type of love was not
commanded in the Jewish law, it is new with the Gospel Church. (1 John 2:8-10.) It calls
for laying down life for the brethren-"love one another as I have loved you" is
Jesus' command. The Christian's death is precious in the sight of the Lord and is for the
world, but our immediate sacrifices and labors are for the brethren. Speaking plainly,
our sacrifices for one another produce a character of patience and tenderness, and these
characteristics fit us to be merciful and faithful under-priests in the Millennial Age.
"In that He Himself bath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are
tempted." (Heb. 2:18.) This, of course, applies first to Jesus, but does it not also
apply to those who follow in His steps and fill up the sufferings of Christ that are
behind? (Col. 1:24.) The importance of love for the brethren is shown in 1 John 3:14:
"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He
that loveth not his brother abideth in death [darkness]. "Seeing ye have purified your
souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see
that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently. Being begotten again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God [the truth]." (1 Pet.
1:22, 23.) The truth. therefore, enables us to love the brethren. It is the implement of
love. All phases of godly love, we have said,
are a product of the truth. How is this? How does the truth operate to produce godly love
in us? We think of four ways in which this is done: (1) "As a man thinketh in his
heart, so is he." (Prov. 23:7.) The truth is God's. This kind of love is God's, for
God is love. The truth is the product of God's loving thoughts. By thinking of, acting,
on, and loving God's truth we become imbued with God's love. "But we all, with open
face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into 'the same image
from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." - 2 Cor. 3:18. (2) God gives His Holy Spirit, which
guides His children into the truth, and through it into love. "When He, the Spirit of
truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: . . . and will show you things to
come." - John 16:3. (3) When God sees His children thinking
upon and working for His plans instead of their own, He interests Himself in His people,
and He directs their path and sends them experiences which will develop love. "Work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God that worketh in you both to
will and to do His good pleasure." - Phil. 2:12, 13. (4) Lastly, loyalty to the truth causes
opposition, and this, when it is received in the right spirit, causes the peaceable
fruits of righteousness to be developed in us. See Heb. 12:11. The Final TestBrother Russell cautioned us that the
final test would be love of the brethren. The Word of truth says (1 John 4:20), "If
you love not him whom you have seen, how can you love Him whom you have not seen?"
Emerson said: "If we saw the stars only once a year, how we would appreciate then,
but seeing them each night, we scarcely notice them." If we saw one of the Lord's
people only, once in a long while, how we would enjoy talking of the things we all love,
but seeing one another so often, we let little things come between us and interfere with
our sweet fellowship and separate us. The whole world is against us. The devil and all his
'hosts of evil are trying to trip us. Our own flesh is our greatest enemy. Aside from
God's presence with us, we are the most miserable company of people in the world. 'But
God bath chosen the foolish things of 'the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty And base things of
the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not,
to bring to nought things that are. (1 Cor. 1:27, 28.) "Let us not be desirous of
vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another." (Gal. 5:26.) "Consider
one another to provoke unto love and to good works." - Heb. 10:24. God grant all of us the love for the
truth and the love which the truth produces in His children that will keep us from being
deceived or cast away. "It takes great love to stir a
human heart - Contributed. "Clean Every Whit'A Meditation on John 13:1-17 AMONG THE many lessons this passage
contains there are two of outstanding importance which we propose to consider in this
"Meditation," and which we trust the Lord, by the power of His Holy Spirit, will
apply to our hearts as we seek to concentrate our attention upon them. These two lessons
are: (1) The necessity of a daily cleansing on the part of a consecrated Christian, and
(2) the gracious example of love, humility, and service which our Lord set, and which it
is both our privilege and pleasure, so far as lieth in us, to copy. First, then, let us consider the
necessity of our daily cleansing. In verse 10 Jesus has said to Peter, "He that is
washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit." Before we can
properly enter into the meaning of these words it is necessary to do three things: (1) Secure a better translation. (2) Read them in the light of the
custom which prevailed in the East, and (3) Take note of the special
circumstances under which they were uttered. A Better TranslationLet us first secure a better
translation. In our Authorized Version two Greek verbs which have a marked difference of
meaning are translated by one and the same English word, the word "wash." One of
these verbs means "to bathe," to get into the water; the, second verb means
" to wash," that is, to apply water to thee uncovered parts of the body, as the
hands, the head, the feet. To make the sentence exact and clear, therefore, it ought to be
rendered, as, in the Revised Version it is rendered, "He that is bathed needeth not save to wash his feet." An Eastern CustomBut how should a man who has just
bathed, just washed all over, need to wash even so much as his feet? A familiar Oriental
custom furnishes a reply. In the East it was the custom for guests to take a bath before
they went to a banquet. But as on their arrival at the house of their host, their feet,
protected only by sandals, might have contracted some defilement from the streets through
which they had passed, they found servants, provided with towels and vessels of water,
awaiting them, who washed the dust from their feet in order both that they might be saved
from discomfort and that the cushions on which they reclined might not be soiled. It was
doubtless to this custom that our Lord referred when He said: "He that is bathed need
wash only his feet." The Special CircumstancesThus far, so good. It has not been
difficult, by reference to the Revised Version, to secure a better translation and to
illustrate it from customs prevailing in the eastern countries. But now, if we are to
enter into the real meaning of the sentence, we must give a more leisurely consideration
to the circumstances in which it was uttered. These circumstances, while they are of a
very special and impressive interest in themselves, are also, when duly arranged, a
striking and instructive commentary on the words before us. But here, at the outset, it becomes
necessary to make one or two additional corrections to the translation given in our
Authorized Version. In that version, in verse 2, we read that "supper being
ended" Jesus arose and washed His disciples' feet. Indeed, it is impossible to read
the first four verses of the chapter without deriving from them the impression that it was
at the close of the feast (when such an
action would have been quite out of place) that our Lord assumed the duties of a servant'
and washed the feet of His followers. As, however, in the subsequent verses of the chapter
we find the feast is still going on, we might well suspect to find some mistake in the
translation of these verses. There is such a mistake. The words translated "and
supper being ended," ought to be rendered, as in our Revised Version, "during
supper," or, better still, "when supper was being served," or "when
supper was about to begin," or, as the Diaglott renders it, "as supper was
preparing." And, in verse 4, where we read, "He riseth from supper," we
ought to read, "He riseth from the supper," as yet untasted, and to understand,
not that He got up from eating His supper and, still less, that He got up at the close of
the supper, but that He rose from the table at which the supper was about to be served,
and before the meal as yet had begun. "He that Would Be Chief Among You"Now if we quietly note these
corrections, and if we also bear in mind St. Luke's report (Luke 22:24) of the dispute
that broke out at the supper among the disciples, the dispute as to which of them was, or
should be, the greatest, we shall have no difficulty in arranging the details of the scene
so as to arrive at their true significance. The supper took place at evening, of
course, and in the upper room, duly furnished for the Passover, which Jesus had sent
forward two of His disciples to secure. With the other ten He. had walked from Bethany to
Jerusalem in the afternoon of the day. After their hot and dusty walk their first care
would be to take off their sandals and wash their. soiled and heated feet. This office was
usually performed by the servants of the house, though sometimes a host, in receiving
guests of distinction, would himself do them the honor of taking the servant's place. But
during the Feast of the Passover, when Jerusalem was crowded with visitors from every
land, many of whom had to sleep in the streets or in tents pitched outside the walls, it
was impossible to maintain any very nice observance of the rules of hospitality. Those
who were so fortunate as to obtain apartments were expected to wait on themselves. The
host had his private friends to see to. The very servants would be too busy to wait on
strangers and transients. The laver, or basin, would be there-the large copper ewer
commonly found in Oriental houses and the "watering-pots, the large earthenware
jars, from which it might be replenished, and the towels with which the feet were to be
dried. But all else would be left to the visitor, or to the servants (slaves) he brought
with him. When the disciples of Jesus arrived at
the house of the "goodman" who had placed an apartment at the disposal of Jesus
and His friends, they doubtless found "the large upper room furnished" with
all that they required. And probably, though we have no record of the fact, one of them at
once removed the Master's sandals and washed the dust from His feet with the cool, fresh
water that stood ready to hand. But no one of them, it would seem, would stoop to perform
that kindly office for the rest. The old emulation, the old strife, as to which of them
should take the highest place, broke out among them again; and there they stood, with
dusty feet and with hot, jealous hearts, wrangling as to whose duty it was to play servant
to his brethren. The feeling "I am as good as you, and a little better" seems
for a moment to have ruled them all. No one of them had yet learned the lesson which Jesus
had so often taught, that he is the greatest who does most for the others, and he the true
chief who serves most -most efficiently, and most disinterestedly. It was to impress this
neglected lesson on them that Jesus, who had already taken His place at the table, rose
from the untasted supper, laid aside His flowing outer robe, girt a towel around Him, thus
appearing among them as one that served, poured water into the basin, and began to wash
the disciples' feet, and wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded. But for His grace they might have sat down unwashed and angry, and
we might- never have learned the dignity of
service, the glory of humility. They surely
must have felt humbled and ashamed as they saw Him whom they called Master and Lord
assuming the menial part and discharging the servant's office which they had refused.
And we, who also call Him Master and Lord,
may well learn from this act of humility that the servant is not greater than his Lord,
neither he that is sent greater than He that sent him that it is not in standing up for
our own rights and insisting on our own claims, and exalting ourselves above our
brethren, but in stooping cheerfully to the lowliest duties and the most generous
service, that we rise to the highest honors and enjoy a real fellowship with Him whose
name is above every name. "If I Wash Thee Not --"Apparently the Apostles were so
astonished at our Lord's procedure and so felt the condemnation which His course implied
that they knew not what to say, and so silence reigned, until it came Peter's turn. Peter
had a peculiar combination of character, part of which was extremely- good. He objected to
having his feet washed by the Lord, saying, "Lord, dost Thou wash my
feet" as much as to say, "It is not appropriate, Lord, that One so great as
Thou, and so holy, should serve a person of my standing, a poor fisherman full of sinful
propensities and faults." But our Lord answered that although Peter did not
understand the full meaning of the matter, He would explain to him later, when He had
finished the washing of all. "Nay," said Peter, "Thou shalt never wash my
feet," meaning that he would not allow our Lord to stoop so low on his behalf. But in
this Peter was again mistaken. Often as he had been taught to see a meaning in Christ's
actions that went beyond the action of the moment, and though Christ has just warned him
that there was in this action much more than met the eye, the impetuous Apostle cannot
wait for light, but speaks from the darkness of his self-will-an instance of blundering
haste 'which might well remind us of the virtue which resides in being "slow to
speak." Drawing hack his feet from the basin, he emphatically declines to let his
Master become his Servant. He wist not what he did, even as he understood not what Jesus
had said. And, therefore, Christ speaks to him very solemnly, and in words of direct
spiritual import: "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me"-"no
portion or share with Me," as Weymouth translates the word -- "if you will not
suffer Me, as your Host, to wash your feet, you are no guest of Mine; no portion, no dish,
is set on My table for you; you stand outside My circle, outside My fellowship." The spiritual significance which Christ
had declared His action to possess is partly disclosed in these words. For they cannot
he taken literally. It was not literally necessary that Peter's feet should be washed by
His Master and Lord in order that Peter should have either his portion on the table or his
part in the Kingdom and grace of God. But it was necessary that he should submit his
will to the will of Christ, and learn to take a law from His lips. It was necessary that
the whole round of his activities, symbolized by the feet, should be cleansed and
purified. If we believe in Christ, we also must walk even as He walked; and where shall
we get strength to walk aright save from Him, and as we follow Him who never at any time
transgressed His Father's will? This was the spiritual meaning of
Christ's rebuke to Peter. It was not enough that he should once have witnessed a good
confession, or that he should still acknowledge Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the
living God. Day by day, as often as the dust of the world, or of the worldly, selfwilled
spirit, gathered upon him, he needed to be cleansed from it, to have his stains and sins
washed away. Peter did not fully take the meaning of
our Lord's words, or he would not have uttered his second rash and hasty speech. But he
was so profoundly impressed by the solemnity of his Master's tone and manner, so
appalled at the mere thought of having no portion with Him, no place at His table, no lot
in His Kingdom, that he cried out impulsively: "Lord, not my feet only, but also my
hands and my head! Wash all of me that is uncovered, all that is open to the soils and
infections of the world!" He had missed the more delicate distinctions of his
Master's thought; but his heart was in the right place; he would do and suffer anything
rather than permit the links which bound him to Christ to be severed. And, therefore,
Jesus expresses His thought still more clearly in the words: "He that is bathed --
he that has once been plunged in the laver of regeneration; he that has become a new
creature -- needeth not save to wash his feet"; but this is a daily necessity with
him. His feet, soiled by contact with the world's dusty paths, must be cleansed if he is
to be clean every whit. The Daily Washing of the Once-BathedWhen men first truly believe in Christ,
when they sincerely accept the revelation of God's redeeming love made in and through
Christ, they are bathed, they are regenerated, they are created anew, they become new men
in Him, new creatures in Christ Jesus. While Christ had not as yet laid down His life in
death, yet He was about to do so, and in consequence of His contemplated sacrifice they
were already accepted as His disciples; their faith in Him and in His Father was
already reckoned to them for righteousness, and as soon as He had completed His
sacrifice and ascended to the Father's right hand, the Holy Spirit would be poured out
upon them, testifying fully that the Father had accepted His sacrifice on their behalf.
Even now they had a standing with God. Jesus had come forth from the Father with the glad
word or message of the salvation planned. And they had listened eagerly, and had earnestly
embraced that message. So true was this that Jesus was able to say to them,
"Now," or as Weymouth translates, "Already are ye clean [or cleansed]
through the word [or teaching] I have given you." - John 15:3. They had been with our Lord, under the
influence of His spirit of love, meekness, gentleness,
patience, humility for three years and been greatly blessed by the washing of
water by the Word He had unfolded to them. But as they would continue their journey,
along the narrow way, they would find themselves contracting fresh pollution; they would
be made painfully aware that the old nature was only reckoned dead, and would require a
life-long warfare to keep it under; they would experience temptation from such contacts as
they would make with the world's maxims and laws, or
by being brought into collision with evil which would find its way even into the
Church; and hence, though bathed, they would need to go again and again to the Fountain in
which they were first cleansed, the inexhaustible Fountain of divine mercy and grace. This, then, is the first lesson
suggested by the words "He that is bathed needeth not save to wash his feet." We
sin after we have believed. We take fresh soils
and stains after we have been renewed in the spirit of our minds. We need a daily
cleansing, though not a daily regeneration. We have the treasure of a new life in an
earthen vessel. And this new life, begotten of God the Father by the incorruptible seed of
the Word, may be checked, lowered, thwarted by the evil and selfish passions in which our
flesh still asserts its existence and power; it may be stunted by the cares and
pleasures of the world in which we live; by the frets and. anxieties that spring from the
toil by which we gain our daily bread; by an undue attention to our personal interests or
to the things of this present world; by the evil tempers stirred in us by the
contradiction of sinners or even by the contradiction of saints. Daily, therefore, we
need to be washed from these ugly and defiling stains. It is not enough that we were once quickened and enlightened, that once we
tasted of the heavenly gift and felt the powers of the age to come. Day by day we need to
seek the presence of our Lord, who, with basin and towel, stands ever ready to refresh us,
cleansing away our travel-stains that we may have our part with Him. "I Have Given You an Example"If we have learned what it means to go
day by day to the Master for the refreshing "feet washing" He stands ever
ready to minister to us, it will not be difficult for us to grasp and put into practice
the second lesson to be noted. It is summed up in verse 15: "I have given you an.
example that ye should do as I have done to you." When the Lord had first approached
Peter, who had in astonishment inquired, "Lord, dost Thou wash my feet?" our
Lord had replied, "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know
hereafter." The thought is not that he would be given to know in the
"hereafter," but that as soon as our Lord had finished washing the other
disciples' feet, He would make all plain. Thus we read, verse 12: "After He had
washed their feet and had taken His garments and was set down again, He said unto them:
Know ye what I have done to you? [or] Understand ye what I have done to you? Ye call Me
Master and Lord, and ye say well, for so I am. If I, then, your Lord and Master, have
washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an
example that ye should do as I have done to you." Here we have the entire lesson
explained. He had rendered them a service which they had held to be too mean and lowly for
them to render to each other. He had taught them, and through them He has taught us, that
it is by loving and serving one another that we copy His example, draw near to Him, and
grow like to Him. The washing of one another's feet, we
may readily see, applies to any and every humble service of life, any and every
kindness, though specially to those services and kindnesses which would be along the
lines of spiritual assistance and comfort. How many blessed opportunities we have for
comforting, strengthening, consoling one another, and assisting one another in some of the
humblest affairs of life and in respect to some of the unpleasant duties, experiences, and
trials of life. As the Apostle, in Galatians 5:13, expresses it, we are to serve one
another by love. No service we render is to be formal, but all motivated by love. Any
service done or attempted to be done in love, with the desire to do good to one of the
Lord's people, we may be sure has our Lord's approval and blessing. Let us lose no
opportunities of this kind; let us remember the Master's example; let us, like our
Master, not merely assume humility or pretend it, but actually have that humility which
will permit us to do kindness- and service to 'all with whom we come in touch,
especially those of the household of faith. That the lesson had its designed effect
on the Apostles we can scarcely doubt as we trace the record of their lives and see how
with much self denial they served the body of Christ, of which they were fellow-members,
following the example of their Head, who was chief Servant of all. And we, too, are
determined, are we not, that the lesson shall not be wasted on us. We, too, can
improve the various opportunities that come to us of serving the members of our body-the
body of the Christ-followers-in matters temporal as well as spiritual. We can be on the
alert, and when we see sadness or discouragement, be prompt to lend a helping hand to lift
our brother's burdens or our sister's sorrows, and we can let them see, by deeds as well
as by words, our anxiety to serve them-figuratively speaking, to wash their feet. The "Washing of Water by the Word"There is yet one other way in which we
may follow our Lord's example to wash. one another's feet, and that way is suggested in
Ephesians 5:26. There the Apostle speaks of Christ as loving the Church and giving Himself
for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it through the washing of water by the Word,
or, as the Diaglott renders the passage: "So that, having purified her in the bath of
water, He might sanctify her by the Word; that He might place the Church by His own side,
glorious, having no spot or blemish, or any such thing, but that she might be holy and
blameless." This purifying of the Church in the
bath of water (living water, of course, not literal water, the water of regeneration, as
it is described in Titus 3:5) and its sanctification (its dedication, its setting apart to
the service of God by means of the Word, both its letter and spirit), have been in
progress all down through the Gospel Age, and it is in progress still. Are we having a
part in this glorious work? Of course, it will be only a very small part, at most, but if
we are on the alert, opportunities will from time to time present themselves, which we
may seize, in which to pass on to others something of the refreshment which we ourselves
have derived from the comforting message of pardon, peace, and love which has been
brought to us in the Gospel. Right Motives Essential for Successful Feet-WashingIn all of our service for and on behalf
of others it is important that we be animated by right motives. When the Lord stood ready
to wash the disciples' feet, it was not to call attention to the dirty condition of their
feet, but to bring them refreshment from their travel-stains-to gently wash them away.
Thus must it be with any service we may think to render others in relation to their
spiritual progress. As Brother Russell has so well observed in the Manna comment for May
23rd: "'Ye also ought to wash one
another's feet.' This would signify that the members of Christ's body should have a mutual
watch-care over one another's welfare; to keep each other clean, holy, pure, and to assist
one another in overcoming the trials and besetments of this present evil world, arising
from the three sources of temptation, 'the world, the flesh, and the devil." And then
he goes, on to observe: "Only as we cultivate the various graces of the
spirit-meekness, patience, gentleness, brotherly-kindness, love-can we hope to be
specially helpful to others in putting on these adornments of character and purities of
life, and to get rid of defilements of the world and the flesh." "He that is bathed needeth not
save to wash his feet. "I have given you an example that
ye should do as I have done to you." "If you know these things, happy
are ye if ye do them." "Clean every whit? The True Mark of Christian MaturityPart II "Put ye on the Lord Jesus
Christ." - Rom. 13:14. AS WE have seen in our previous
discussion of this subject, if faith is exercised in the exceeding great and precious
promises of God, and we are filled with a fervent desire to attain to maturity in
Christian experience, there is nothing to prevent our reaching the goal of such
attainments. Neither our weakness nor any recognized personal inabilities need to
discourage us from the hope of reaching that maturity. Discarding all misconceptions of
what constitutes a victorious life, and confining ourselves to what we are so plainly
taught in the Scriptures on the subject, it becomes a settled and an effectual
conviction that when Paul says, "As many as be perfect, be thus minded," he
means that such maturity is to be accepted as a fact of experience. Having, then, seen. that it should be
with us as the Apostle tells us it was with him, we too will desire to "follow after,
if that we may apprehend that for which also we are apprehended of Christ Jesus."
With this in mind we come to the examination of what is really meant by the words of our
text, "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ." It is manifest that this text has in it
much more than such admonitions as, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt
be saved." Evident it is, that it means even more than that "He loved me and
gave Himself for me." It is a statement by which we are taken beyond all other texts
treating on the point of how we have been
redeemed from sin, made- accepted in Christ, and thereby are in the enjoyment of our
privileged "no-condemnation" standing in Christ. All such statements of the
Word are antecedent to the one we are now to consider in its own setting. This is
unquestionably correct, for the reason that Paul wrote the letter from which our text is
taken, "To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called saints." (Rom. 1:7.) The words
"to be" in the Authorized Version are no part of the original. The Twentieth
Century New Testament gives our text thus: "Arm yourselves with the Spirit of the
Lord Jesus"; and Moffatt renders it: "Put on the character of the Lord Jesus
Christ." And has not Paul given us his own meaning in saying on another occasion,
"Put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according
to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on
the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." - Eph.
4:22-24. The sum of all the graces is love, for
God is love. The sum of all of our knowledge and experience of that love is our being made
like God -- made like God in holiness of character. "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God
Almighty," is the cry that comes from before His throne, and therefore, without
holiness no one may see His face. The Christian life is sometimes represented as a life of
faith, of service, of devotion to be proven under ordeals of fiery trials, but it is
everywhere presented as a life lived in the pursuit of personal holiness. Other truths,
however important, are but aids to this greatest of all revealed truth concerning the will
of God for His Spirit-begotten children. "Be ye holy, for I am holy," is the
word that stands out in preeminent distinction above all others in the Bible. All of the
redemptive purposes are set forth' and carried out in order that in a perfect holiness His
redeemed creatures may approach Him without a Mediator between. Soon, a Church shall stand
in His immediate presence, "faultless," and "without spot, or wrinkle, or
any such thing," and eventually a redeemed, perfected race "shall see His face,
and His name shall be in their foreheads." - Jude 24; Eph. 5:27; Rev. 22:4. Thinking, then, of putting on the Lord
Jesus Christ, let us begin with that most important statement, in which we are given in
concise form the primary reason for God's approval of our Lord Jesus. Thus it reads,
"Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated
iniquity; therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above
Thy fellows." (Heb. 1:9.) There is no forgetting His humiliations, and all His
Calvary sufferings, all of which were borne faithfully and meritoriously. This text
appearing in both Old and New Testaments, as it does, seems suggestive. It can at least be
taken as giving emphasis to the outstanding
character of all Scripture in its demands, and the Word makes it unmistakably plain
that a supreme love of righteousness, and a corresponding hatred of iniquity must
characterize all whom He will approve. What beautiful consistency
characterizes all the ways of God. Having in His grace ordained that not the great and
wise of earth would be called to joint-heirship with His Son, but that chiefly those
considered much less great and wise would be the favored ones, it follows, then, just
because consistency marks His operations, that the supreme test of character demanded of all such
would lie within the reach of all. Due to the varied degrees of mental ability to be
found among the called, any other requirement than that made preeminently important by
God Himself must in the very nature of things be inconsistent. Many called of God have
lacked the power of deep analysis, been incapable of comprehending certain ramifications
of primary doctrines, and thereby have been limited to the simplicity that is in Christ
Jesus. But without exception, all whom our God has called and added to the Church have
clearly understood that to love righteousness for righteousness' sake, and hate all
iniquity as God hates it, is the one true primary mark of the faithful follower of the
Christ whose worthiness of exaltation was proven, both Old and New Testaments declare, in
that He was fervent in His love of righteousness and uncompromising in His attitude toward
iniquity. This, then, is how we are to "put
on the Lord Jesus Christ." We must be as He was in this respect. - It requires
maturity in spiritual understanding to "walk even as He walked" in His
attitude toward all iniquity. He hated sin in all its forms. Whether in moral
uncleanness, or in hypocritical sham, His was indeed "a pain to feel it near."
To walk with Him, then, in the close fellowship required to grow up into Him and have
His character formed in us, means our taking on of His antipathy toward all iniquity. It
means reaching the place where our greatest joy in present justification is in that
glorious truth, "He bath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in
Him." (2 Cor. 5:21.) Where this is held as the great heart-gladdening truth of the
present hour, there will be the deepest sense of joy experienced in the future prospect of
awakening in His perfect holiness. And the very best evidence of our sincerity when we
say. "I shall be satisfied when I awake in Thy likeness," lies in our present
burning desire to be holy. Attaining Victory Through ChristThere can be no question about the
plain teaching of Scripture that ours is to be a victorious life. As it has been well
expressed, it is to be an "hourly victorious, daily victorious, and finally
victorious" experience. Nowhere does the Bible give any encouragement to the
thought that sin is to be eradicated from the flesh of God's children developed under
grace. Quite to the contrary. Indeed, the more perfectly understood the Bible teachings on
this subject are, the more the fact is borne into the soul, "I know that in me, that
is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing." Just as the near vision of God caused the
Prophet to cry out, "Woe is me! for I am undone," so the clear view of our sin,
inbred and incurable as pertaining to our flesh, only serves to reveal that it is not by
its eradication, but by the counteraction of an incoming spirit of holiness, that it is
kept in subjection. The Lord Jesus was wholly triumphant over sin in all its forms. By the
gracious arrangement of God who justifies us from all sin through hiding us in Christ. we
are sharers in this triumph of Jesus, and thus, through faith, we are now reckoned as
hourly and daily victorious. A most precious standing is this -no condemnation before the
eyes of God. But the same Apostle who confessed his hopelessly corrupt state as
pertaining to the flesh, was, nevertheless, the same who declared so victoriously,
"I keep under my body, and bring it into
subjection," thus indicating that though far from believing that sin in the flesh
could be eradicated, he did assuredly believe that a victorious control of the flesh was
not only possible but in reality essential to a place among those worthy of being rated
overcomers. This attitude on the part of the
Apostle Paul would be the only consistent position for him to take in view of the very
high attainments to which he urged his converts to aspire. Such attainments we saw held
out in the texts presented in the first part of this review of Christian maturity. We
refer to such statements as "I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth
me." And now let us consider a few of those texts wherein are shown the degree of victory to which we should fervently
aspire. We will note the requirements first, then find in Christ our help. We take these few texts as
illustrative. "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the
flesh." "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its affections and
lusts." "If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall
live." "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh to
fulfil the lusts thereof." (Gal. 5:16, 24; Rom. 8:13; 13:14.) It will not be
overlooked that none of these Scriptures are negative in tone. All give the same assurance
of obtainable results. As suggested, these are given merely as illustrative texts,
supplying us with an understanding of the principle operating in all that the Word
stipulates as the attainments required of us now. They clearly teach that
notwithstanding our position in. justification and our being accredited perfect
through faith, and notwithstanding our inherent weaknesses according to the flesh, yet for
all, God does expect us to put on the Lord
Jesus Christ and live an overcoming life. Putting on Christ then, implies, a
change in the active desires of the heart. It means reaching that point in experience
where we yearn after the grandeur of the Christlike character, where beholding the
beauty of the Lord becomes the special delight of the soul. Thus we are changed into His
own likeness as clay by day we get clearer and richer views of His glorious character;
and to be made a copy of God's dear Son eclipses all other aims. "Emptied that He Might Fill Me"In concise language, "Put ye on
the Lord Jesus Christ" means that we are to become filled with His indwelling power;
that power being manifest in our entire deportment, in our life of joy, of peace, of
marked affinity for all that is pure and holy, and of a fixed antipathy toward all evil.
But to attain this experience it must never be forgotten that it is reached only in one
way, and that way is not one of lifting oneself by boot-strap methods. Christ in the heart, in the imparted power He
gives, is the way. With Christ in the heart, a living, energizing, quickening force, who
can question that old things, habits, weaknesses, besetting sins, and fleshly cravings will pass away. Who can dispute the practical operation
of the power that raised Christ from the dead, and in the face of numerous texts of
Scripture continue to look on "good intentions" as being all that power can be
expected to produce in us. What an impractical visionary Paul was if our "good
intentions" are to be the acme of victorious overcoming in Christian life. Why would
he pray that saints might be "strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner
man," and ask that they may be "filled with all the fullness of God," if
the reign of sin within is not to be broken and the power of Christ within result in no
real and practical triumph? Surely, to take such a view is to "limit the holy One of
Israel, since "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."
Faith to believe God can work in us to will and to do His good pleasure. Let us have the faith to believe that
if we yearn after righteousness as a possession of our own, we shall be filled according
to promise. Let us pray over and over the prayers of Paul as the fervent petitions of our
own intense desires; and as we do this habitually, it will become a fact of our own
experience that Jesus does save His people from their sins: that He saves us from the
guilt and power of our sins, first, by changing our standing into that of justification,
and then by perfecting our state in holiness.
Thus we put on Christ, grow tip into maturity of stature, and exhibit the distinguishing
mark of a true Christian development. By such fruits shall maturing characters be known. We Seek the Mind of ChristThough we have been reviewing the
subject of Christian maturity in its entirety, there is yet another phase of the matter
over which we may profitably concern ourselves here. There is a twofold meaning to the
Christian life. It involves both walking before God, and walking among men. Among those
very pointed and outspoken statements of the Apostle John we have reminders of this
twofold nature of Christian maturity. Hearken to his forceful presentations of
indisputable facts "He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in
darkness even until now"; and again, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his
brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he
love God whom he hath not seen?" "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is
love." (1 John 2:9; 4:20, 8.) Let us not miss the manner by which the Apostle
associates love for God and for others in practical every day life. How clearly he teaches
us that love is the sum total of the royal law of God, and to love Him with all the powers
of the heart, and one's neighbor as oneself, is the only practical evidence of having been
properly affected and matured by the grace of God. How practical his appeal is!
"Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also
to love each other"; and again, "Beloved, we should love each other; because love is from God;
and every one who loves has been begotten of God, and
knows God." - 1 John 4:11, 7. The Bible tells us that "God is
love," and Jesus is the witness that He is indeed. But Jesus is more than the witness
of that love; He is the channel of its impartation to all who receive Him as an abiding
power in the heart. It is well that we know by the experience of sins forgiven that God is
love, and by the witness of the Spirit that His love has taken us into His family circle,
but we must also know experimentally that "the love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts," that is, we are to know an impartation of that love of which God is the
sublime and perfect fountain. This, then, will mean that the degree of love required
according to the pointed statements of John, will
be acquired, and in active operation in all who have put on the Lord Jesus Christ. It
will mean "the life of Christ manifest in our mortal flesh," as Paul has stated,
and it becomes, according to John again, the final proof of our being indwelt by Christ
because we dwell in Him. "But," says John, "he who keeps His Word, truly
in this man the love of God has been made perfect. By
this we know that we are in Him." - 2 Cor. 4:11. 1 John 2:5, Diaglott. Maturity in the love of God represents
the possession of a love reaching out to a more perfect approximating of His love
divine, all love excelling. God's love reaches out into wide dimensions. Of it we sing
truthfully regarding its wideness like that of the sea. To be a possessor of that love,
then, means that in our perfecting measure of it, a measure growing increasingly as we
come to know and experience "the knowledge-surpassing love of God," there is a
wideness in our mercy, our loving-kindness, and generosity. But this divine love is one
complete whole. With us this fact is often overlooked. As illustrating this principle, we
have noted that, according to John, we cannot love God without loving all His children,
and conversely; our love for those begotten of Him testifies primarily to the fact that
we do love God. Carry the principle a little
further. If we love God for what He is and have become possessed of His love, then, as
"God so loved the world" in pitying love, so we will exhibit a similar attitude
of divine sympathy. How forcefully the words of Jesus emphasize this fact when He
urges us to be perfect like our Father in heaven, who so graciously sends His "rain
on the just and the unjust." This kind of love had its grand and practical exhibition
when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on which the blood of martyred prophets was found, and upon
which His own rejection would bring- further guilt. Its casting off was merited
--unquestionably so. The justice of its doom was in every way consistent. But what was the
attitude of Jesus, the rejected Messiah? Was He vindictive, or happy to know that
retribution would come in waves of punishment? Once again the record is, "Jesus
wept." And what means all this to us now? It
leaves us face to face with some important questions to answer, each for himself. Some of
these are: Have I so received of the love of God that I am loving Him back with the love wherewith He loves me? Do I love all whom He loves and as He loves them? Do I love my enemies with the sympathetic love they receive from God, loving them until sin and
sinner may be proven inseparable. Do I rejoice in a love that will not let me go, nor let my brother go? Can I look out over a
present-day multitude so glad to believe there may be among them a "seven thousand
who have not bowed the knee to Baal" and are known to God, and in my heart of love
prefer to believe that this is so, rather than shut them away from the tender love of
Jesus, though they walk not with me? Have I reached the degree of maturity making me glad
to give the fullest possible scope to such unrescinded statements as these? "He that hath the Son hath life."
"If any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature." Have I attained the degree
of spiritual perception by which I take the ground that love is the principle thing, and
to have Christ formed within, the one all supreme test of Christian character? If to
these questions our life of love, of mature spiritual vision, answers as that answer is
found in the character of Jesus, we have put on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and we bear the true mark of Christian maturity. - Contributed. (Concluded)
- Selected. Recently Deceased
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