THE HERALD
of Christ's Kingdom

VOL. XXXI January 1948 No. 1
Table of Contents

New Year Thoughts

Encouraging Messages

New Year Thoughts

Our Year Text for 1948
"WATCH!" - Mark 13:37

THIS SINGLE word, set apart from its text, is suggested to the Israel of God as the key­ thought for the new year into which we are entering. There is an impressiveness and force in it, thus isolated, that may well stir our hearts, for it is the direct admonition of our Lord uttered in connection with the prophecy concerning his return. The lapse of nineteen centuries has not diminished its strong note of concern, exhortation, and warning. The fleet passing of another of our own few years but emphasizes' the need for solemn alertness as we face the significant future. It comes to us all indi­vidually as a personal message from the Master himself and thus, alone and apart from our fellow­ Christians, we must heed its warning implications. But hear the context! 

"Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore; for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning; lest coming sud­denly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say unto all, WATCH." - Mark 13:32-37. 

Four times in the span of these few verses do we note this all-important word, WATCH -- in each case the Greek word, Gregoreo, meaning to be awake and vigilant. Concerning the great and notable day of which Jesus here spoke, two facts only are announced -the certainty of its coming, and its suddenness or unexpectedness. The element of uncertainty is in­tended not to excite the imagination to curiosity, but to arouse the conscience to vigilance, and the heart to fidelity. Each servant of Christ holds everything in trust for his Lord, and uses time, talents, means, life itself, for his glory. Fidelity to such trust shall be rewarded, if persevered in to the end. 'Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And it he shall come in 'the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those serv­ants." - Luke 12:37, 38. 

The return of Christ and our gathering together unto him is the most cherished hope in the heart of each true Christian. In these latter days so much study and thought have been devoted to a considera­tion of the Scriptures bearing on this subject that perhaps little more can be added. It is probably true that at this late stage of the Church's experi­ence, each individual has more or less become set in his own convictions. In a spirit not of compromise but of conciliation, it were well for us to seek a com­mon ground .of understanding. It is impossible to avoid the conclusion, when we carefully consider all our Lord's words bearing on his return, that fulness of knowledge will not be ours until we have passed beyond the veil. There will be room for individual faith and for patience with one another to the last day of our earthly pilgrimage. 

But let us examine ourselves as a collective body of believers in "Present Truth." Primarily, we can all meet on the broad platform of the Apostle's words: "all them that love His appearing." (Gk. ­Epiphaneia.) Such a love is engendered by Christ himself and is a natural consequence in any mind "fixed on Jesus." Thus we are all believers in the Second Advent and its glorious objective, the resti­tution of all things. Additionally, we believe we are living in "the last days, a time which is seeing the dissolution of human institutions to be superseded by the Divine Kingdom on earth. Our hearts jointly thrill in the realization that earth's long night of weeping is soon to terminate in a wonderful morning of joy. The fruition of our hopes in just before us. 

But as regards the details of this extraordinary time, candidness and honesty require, yea, compel us to recognize that we all lack full knowledge. Un­doubtedly some see more clearly in God's Word than their brethren. It will not do, however, to naively assume that any variation by others from our Scrip­ture-interpretations is because- of moral defection on their part. Such reasoning may appeal to the nat­ural man, an attitude which is responsible for the dreadful record of God-dishonoring religious perse­cution of past ages, so contrary to the spirit of Him who set the broadest example of tolerance, even to the seed of the Evil One, by his words "let both grow together until the harvest." (Matt. 13:30.) The spir­it of Christ constrains us to accept the fact that brethren fully consecrated to the Lord and bearing outward testimony to their spirit-begettal, can and do, sincerely and honestly, differ in their understand­ing of Scripture. "Now I know in part," the great Apostle could testify, and so may all God's people. Omniscience can be no human claim. We must wait the future for perfection of knowledge. 

Many of us believe that our Lord's return is an event of the past; that he has been invisibly present for some years now-since 1874, 1893, 1914 or some other date we have determined upon as correct. Does this sincere conviction make further watching, further alertness, unnecessary? Of course not! There are other phases of watching that are of vital im­portance. Consider Revelation 16:15: "Behold I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame." 

On the other hand our many brethren who, sin­cerely believe the Lord's presence is a future, though imminent event, have all the more reason to watch, to be alert, to be awake. For what if the Lord's pres­ence is indeed a reality now! Will the heart-growth be such that it will survive the revelation of head errors? Neither pride nor self-will may be found in the overcomers. Therefore to have our portion with them, we must watch and keep our garments. It is a reasonable belief, the writer feels, that every one of the overcoming class will pass beyond the veil still hampered by some erroneous views. If we accept this thought as true (for who can claim to under­stand all spiritual truth perfectly?), it will move us to larger measures of patience and forbearance with one another. For obviously if we knew, each one of us, what we believe erroneously, we would immedi­ately remove every last vestige of error. But since we do not know upon exactly what our heads may be wrong, it behooves us to be very careful in judg­ing our brother, for it may be that we ourselves are the ones in error. What humility of mind this thought should stir within us! How happy we should be that each "to his own Master stands or falls. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to, make him stand." - Romans 14:4. 

This generous,, true-brotherly attitude regarding our beliefs and message is well reflected by Brother Russell's words of fifty years ago: 

"The teachings which were to be presented to the nations are specified by our Lord as being --'Whatsoever I have commanded you.' This, then, proves that the kernel of the Gospel is not the Jewish Law, nor certain scientific theories and abstruse problems; but the simple teachings which our Lord delivered to the Apostles. What are these? 

"(1) He taught that all men were sinners. 

"(2) That he came into the world to 'give his life a ransom' -- a corresponding price for the sins of the whole world. 

"(3) That no man could come unto the Father, but by him. 

"(4) That all who would come by, him, must, in addition to the exercise of faith in him, also take up, his cross and follow him. 

"(5) That all believers are one with him, as the branches of a grape-vine are parts of the vine. 

"(6) That every branch to abide in him must bring forth fruit, else it will be taken away. 

"(7) That those who trust in him are to hope for and to expect his second coming -- I will come again, and receive you unto myself.' 

"(8) That the ultimate end of our hope for all promised blessings is in and through a resurrection of the dead. 

"(9) That love is the law of the New Covenant -'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, soul, and strength; and, thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself.' 

"We are fully authorized, therefore, to teach, and to believe that these are the points of, faith and practice which are necessary to both, Jews, and Gen­tiles who shall be favored with the call of this Gos­pel Age; and that nothing else is necessary or perti­nent to the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ or 'the faith once delivered to the saints.' Whoever makes the tests greater or less than these is in ERROR."­ - R2319. 

Let then the New Year find us watchful, for watch­fulness is a habitual attitude of spiritual alertness. We are not of the night but of the day, therefore let us not sleep as do others. The consummation of our hopes is at hand. Let us earnestly take heed to moral and spiritual environments, noting especially exposures to harm and loss from inimical forces with­in our own hearts and wills, from worldly allure­ments and Satanic temptations. Let there always, be a deep consciousness of spiritual danger axed damage impending from these foes within and without. And may our watchfulness include a profound sense of weakness, insufficiency, and utter unreadiness on our  own parts to meet and avert or resist -these assault­ing spiritual foes. Let there be a constant recogni­tion of God's efficient interposition and a conscious dependence upon his proffered help. Our watchful­ness must further imply an actual reliance upon his direction, guardianship, and deliverance, and a looking for and expectation of a blessed result, by reason of his certain and assuring promises. 

Let us take heed, watch and pray always (Mark 13:33), watch and pray lest we enter into temptation (Matt. 26:41), watch and stand fast in the faith (1 Cor. 16:13), watch and be sober (1 Thess. 5:6), watching thereunto with all perseverance (Eph. 6:18), watch with thanksgiving (Col. 4:2), watch unto prayer (1 Pet. 4:7), be watchful and strength­en the things that remain. - Rev. 3:2, 3. 

"And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." - Luke 21:34-36. 

For some of us, this may be our last year of watch­ing. What shall be the results of such faithful alert­ness to the end? "Blessed is the man that heareth Me, watching daily at My gates. "Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching." "Blessed is he that watcheth." (Prov. 8:34; Luke 12:37; Rev. 16:15.) For such shall enter into the "joys of their Lord." They shall stand be­fore the Son of man. 

"I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me." - Hab. 2:1. 

And still, as of old, so today does our Master speak: 

"I say unto all, WATCH!" 
"My soul, be on thy guard;
Ten thousand foes arise;
The hosts of sin are pressing hard
To draw thee from the prize. 

"O! WATCH, and fight, and pray;
The battle ne'er give o'er;
Renew it boldly every day,
And help divine implore. 

"Ne'er think the vict'ry won,
Nor once at ease sit down;
Thine arduous work will not be done,
Till thou halt gained thy crown." 

- W. J. Siekman.

The Vision Glorious 

"That ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." - Eph. 1:18.  

OF GRACE divine, so wonderful, the half was never told." In these words of familiar verse what a truth is expressed. Many gifted tongues and numerous able pens have portrayed in prose, in speech, and in poetry much of the glory of God's character, and much of the loveliness of our Lord Jesus,

as their divine attributes are seen op. crating in the redemption of both the Church and the world. But though so much has been written and spoken in praise of God's loving kindness, ages more might come and go while tongue and pen con­tinue to extol his goodness, to set forth inspiring re­views of how Jesus "loved the Church and gave him­self for it," and to tell of how in the divine purposes of God this Church is to be as a special treasure to God himself, "the riches of the glory of his inheri­tance in the saints" and sharer in the divine and eternal life and glory of his Son, yet there would still be the same great truth in the words, "The half was never told." This is true for the reason that the highest reach of vision attained by "holy men of old," or the clearest insight possessed by in­spired Apostles, could carry them only to that, as yet, fixed boundary line-"Now we see through a glass darkly." Prophets in profound interest "search­ed diligently" to comprehend the favor awaiting those to be chosen of God in this Age of grace for the Bride of Christ; and ardent, spirit-enlightened believers thus called have not been wanting who have "meditated day and night" over the pages of God's Word, desiring to understand the deep things per­taining to our high calling of God in Christ Jesus; and though great indeed has been the gathered trea­sures of knowledge -- things new and old -- revealing how great is "the inheritance of the saints in light," yet, "we know in part" is still the ultimate of at­tainment thus far reached. 

True, God reveals to the spiritually minded, things not to be known by the natural man, giving reality to "things not seen" by the natural eye, but fair and beautiful to the eye of faith. Nevertheless it is still a truth even as regards those possessed of spiritual vision, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, [all] the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." (1 Cor. 2:9.) Even in the matter of our future body, how very limited is our knowledge. Paul tells us we shall, when changed in the resurrection, "bear the image of the heavenly," as wee have borne the image of the earthly here. He tells us also that we will be "fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." (1 Cor. 15:49; Phil. 3:21.) But what can we now know of that new body, "a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" awaiting us when "our earth­ly house of this tabernacle" in which we groan, is "dissolved"? The answer is an inspired one: "It doth not yet appear what we shall be" when we see him as he is and possess his divine likeness and na­ture. Thus with all that we have had given us of knowledge concerning our future heritage-and how priceless we consider what we have!-yet of "the un­searchable riches of Christ," and of "the love of Christ which surpasseth knowledge" how much there is still to explore! Of "ages to come" comparative­ly little is known by us. We know the saints will be highly honored in unnumbered future ages. Such we are told is a part of God's plans for those times, "in order that he might exhibit, in those ages which are approaching, the surpassing wealth of his favor, by kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. (Eph. 2:7, Diaglott.) But who can begin to tell what shall be the character and scope of those future favors and glories to -be enjoyed by Christ and his Bride? Bound­less the possibilities, and impossible of utterance by tongue or pen are those delights yet to be the inher­itance of the "heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ." Truly we know only in part, knowing nothing yet as we shall know when perfected, and in his likeness, and as ages to come unfold the diversi­fied wisdom of God. 

VISIONS OF THE LOVE THAT SAVED AND CALLED US 

As in the natural life so in the spiritual, a clear vision is a great boon. The eye of the body may be injured and clearness of sight be destroyed, so "the eyes of the heart" may be injured even to com­plete blindness. In the spiritual realm of things the boast may be of sight when in reality the need of clear vision may be painfully apparent. The eye-salve of meekness and love is a constant necessity if spir­itual vision is to be strong and clear. 

It is important to remember that in our approach to God, and in our desire to enjoy the light of his countenance, there are true and false motivating fac­tors. There is need of the single eye that the whole body may be full of light. "Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart." "Walking iii the light as he 'is in the light" therefore represents a heart established in righteousness, and filled with gratitude for the light and favors enjoy­ed. And the underlying principle of the love and gratitude with which we please and honor God is well illustrated in the simple but profound state­ment of the Apostle John in his first epistle (1 John 4:19) "We love him, because he first loved us." Love for God is recognized by all as a consistent and essential attitude of mind on the part of any believer.' But it is "love out of a pure heart fervently" -that alone meets the condition on which the glorious vision we need may be had. Self-interest often so mars the spiritual vision that the genuine fervency of love to God is wanting. Many have outwardly served God largely because of a fear taught by the precepts of men, be it that invention of men, eternal torment, or any other man-made instrument of slavish -fear. And even among those who have escaped from such delusions and are no longer governed thereby, there is still the old self-life tendency to fear and destroy. The danger is ever present of giving far more thought to what it is hoped the goodness of God will yet reward our efforts with, than of being so over­whelmed with what he has done for us that we could not but love him "with a pure heart fervently." "What shall I render unto the Lord for all his mer­cies toward me?" represents the proper attitude of heart. 

How great is the danger of thinking more often of "our little all on the altar" than of the redeem­ing love of Christ, which should ever make the whole realm of nature a paltry offering by which to show our devotion. If we would realize "the vision glori­ous" by which gratitude becomes the sweet incense of true worship, we must never lose sight of the fact that we were once sinners even as others and have been "purged from our old sins" by a love. and a sacrifice we by no means merited. Never can we af­ford to lose a deep sense of wonderment over being loved and cleansed by redeeming grace. If true love and thankfulness be our spirit and the motivating force in our response to God, there will never come a time when we would cease to sing with joyful grati­tude:

"Guilty, vile, and helpless, we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He.
'Full Atonement!' Can it be?
"Hallelujah! what a Savior!" 

And again­ --

"Gethsemane can I forget?
Or there Thy conflict see,
Thine agony and blood sweat,
And not remember Thee? 

"Remember Thee and all Thy pains,
And all Thy love to me;
Yea, while a breath, a pulse remains,
I will remember Thee." 

Glorious vision indeed! a vision calculated to dissolve even a heart seared by self-interest, or circum­scribed by any misconceptions of God's abounding mercy-a vision "shedding the love of God abroad" in the heart, and filling it with "the love wherewith he loved us" until it flows out in the same wide circles into which his love reaches; and when his grace has well refined the heart, ah, 

"Then of grace I'll know the sum,
And in Thy likeness be,
When Thou hast in Thy Kingdom come
And dost remember me." 

Not alone has grace redeemed us, saving us from condemnation and death, but we have a calling to "a station we could ne'er by merit win." A "high calling of God in Christ Jesus," it is indeed. If the vision of this grace toward us has grown dim, or the time, seems long before our expectation of being with him passes into the actual realization of so great salvation, we should take time again to ponder over that soul-stirring first chapter of Ephesians. What a sweep of vision it presents! By that vision we are­ carried far back into the eternity that is past and be­hold God choosing and predestinating the Church in Christ Jesus. We are carried -through intervening, time until all things are under the feet of our Lord and Head. For this place of closest intimacy with him we have been "sealed with that holy spirit of promise," -the "earnest of our inheritance." We, his. Bride-to-be, are to become "the full development of. him who is filling all things with all." (Diaglott.) Stupendous vision! Forever with the Lord! Angels, all heavenly beings "made subject" to him, but his Bride made one with him in all his glory and pow­er! The veil still intervenes between us and that in. which our hope, love, and faith are anchored, but the vision granted us even now is gloriously bright: and blessed, transcending all we can ask or think May we ere long enter into the reality. 

As we have just seen, there lies before 'the elect Church a marvelous day of cooperation with her Lord in the blessings of his reign. And it is our confi­dence that it will not now be long 

"Till with the vision glorious,
Her longing eyes are blest,
And the great Church victorious
Shall be the Church at rest." 

A Church at rest indeed -- at rest from the weariness of toil such as known in the days of her pilgrimage, and at rest from all that is faulty and unprofitable-, in a service joyfully undertaken for him now but. imperfectly performed. But in another important sense she will not be at rest. Of him who associ­ates her with himself in that glad day it is written, "He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law." (Isa. 42:4.) Not until earth's remot­est 'bounds are covered with the knowledge of the glory of -the Lord, ocean deep, will he rest' from the service of restoring man and his appointed paradise to their designed place in God's mighty universe. "He shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied." He whose- "delights were with the sons of men" in that far-off creative day, can be satisfied only when he sees those, creative purposes completed, and, praise his, name, he will not be discouraged nor hindered in the attainment of that great objective. In all of this his beloved Bride is to share! 

Perhaps there is much of truth in the statement credited to some one, that the greatest conceptions we could weave together now of what heaven itself will be to those whom God will gather there, would fall far short of even being an accurate picture of man's earthly paradise restored, so limited are our conceptions of heaven's realities. Be that as it may, yet it remains beyond our power to describe it in all that it will display of glory and beauty, peace and righteousness. 

BEAUTIFUL VISION OF THE FINISHED WORK OF VISION ELECT 

Think of just -a few of the glories of that finished work, when "Mine Elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands." (Isa. 65:22.) There the will of God will be done throughout the earth, and peace and everlasting joy' abide for ever. There every man will bear the stamp of -the original image of his Creator, and love pervade all the relationships of man with man. "Iniquity shall not arise the second time." 'The tabernacle of God will be with men, and heaven and earth be. joined in perpetual praise to him. What a vision of rest and peace may be gathered from the sacred Book as it reveals this much of earth's coming glory. Joyful fellowship, deathless love, uncontaminated purity, unending bliss, our vision beholds. And yet, of the fulness of blessing that day will bring to man, and of the joy the divine family of heaven will have in its ac­complishment and perpetuation, we can only quote again, "The half was never told." 

Let us consider this picture a little further. We are specially concerned now to observe how this "vi­sion glorious" affects our lives today. It is well enough to be informed about the purposes of God respecting the multitudes of men to be the subjects of his Kingdom rule, and of its ultimate consumma­tion, but there is something else in this vision we cannot afford to miss. The lives of all who profess to hold the hope of being sharers with Christ in so great a work as awaits the overcoming Church, ought to be filled and profoundly influenced by this vision; but are there many who are thus affected? The ones who are, may be readily recognized. If, as is indi­cated in the Scriptures, the test to be applied when "the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of his glory" will be the possession of a spirit of loving thoughtfulness and unselfish interest in others, is it not apparent that the beginning of such character development will be manifested here and now, Surely so! If so be that we are to reign with him over a sadly degraded race, our characters must be "conformed to the image of God's dear Son." Our spirit will need to be such as will be moved with the deepest compassion for every human wreck, -and of long-suffering patience toward the weak, until they, climbing perhaps slowly up the "highway of holi­ness,"" shall have reached the goal of life, or until sin and sinner have proved finally and utterly in­separable. Manifestly such must be the disposition of earth's future judges, for God would never entrust the destiny of a race so dearly purchased to any but such as possess his own heart love. 

What then is the real test of our fitness for so great a responsibility in future days? The test is likeness to Jesus, who came not to condemn the world but to save it, and who has redeemed his Church, once sinners even as others, "out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation." Sa­viors these, who shall come up with Christ on Mount Zion to rule the earth in equity and love, having themselves been schooled in love for so great a task. 

THE FAR-FLUNG VISTA OF AGES TO COME 

Brethren, beloved, have we come to rejoice in God's goodness, in its wideness as the sea, and feel its mighty influences enlarging our sympathies and giving us greater love for all? Have we come to know a love for the groaning creation so deep and fervent that we cultivate the hope that by far the greater number of earth's inhabitants will yet attain to ever­lasting life, and in anticipation we seem even now to be singing the joy we shall have in the consumma­tion of the great work we shall' be privileged to share if we are faithful? Ah, then, ours is the blessed and precious assurance in the present hour that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. Because we are now tasting of the pow­ers, the joys, the love of that Age to come, we shall no longer by false reasoning of our own make the love of God too narrow to enfold a brother loyal at heart, nor rob him of that smile of the Master we so covet for ourselves. Lest we hear these words spoken to us when the Lord rises up to close the door, "In­asmuch as ye failed to love the least of these my brethren, ye failed to love me," let us ever live with­in the spirit of the vision and under the influence of the undiscouraged love that will yet fill the earth with a happy human family in full accord with their benevolent Creator, who willeth not the death of any. He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God; he receives and reflects his spirit. 

As previously suggested, our knowledge of what shall be the order of the "Ages to come" is limited. The Bible takes us onward to the complete over­throw - of all evil, and to the time when man and his home shall be as God had purposed; beyond that a few suggestions only are given. We have, neverthe­less, plenty of foundation for the thought that eter­nal ages will see wonderful exhibitions of God's de­signs for other portions of his dominion. When this earth, like the "lost sheep" among the worlds of the universe, has been reclaimed and, made glorious as God's footstool, and filled with perfected beings just a little lower than the angels, then what shall be the portion of the Church? Shall there still be great and transcendent things to undertake and en­joy? Among the promises contained in the Ninety ­first Psalm there is one of those suggestions by which we may peer into eternal ages yet to be. The promise is "With, long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation." (Psa. 91:16.) Be showing him my salvation, is said to be the thought intended. To the ones for whom this Psalm contains so much com­fort, "long life" cannot have reference to the brief span of earthly life, be it "threescore years and ten" or more, but rather to that "eternal life Jesus prom­ised those who became identified with him. So the statement of the Psalmist seems to convey the thought of a continuous revealing of his salvation on the part of God to those who attain to glory, -- honor, and immortality. It suggests that Go-d will be open­ing up to us through the Ages an ever-unfolding ex­hibition of his grace in his loving-kindness to us. 

In this connection may we not reason from things known as principles in God's operations and there­by form proper conclusions as to the future joys and privileges of the Bride, the Lamb's Wife. Is it not manifest that all stages of experience through which we, pass are intended to be preparatory in character? Has, it not been so in the case of the Son himself? The very fact that he was the creative instrument whereby the earth and man had existence, made it fitting that be, should thereafter have the still great­er privilege of redeeming the lost inheritance. Then by his higher privilege as the One who redeemed the world, he was fitted for the still higher station he now holds at the Father's right hand. Have we any reason to believe that there are for him no further heights of delightful cooperation with the Father, whose universe embraces perhaps a hundred thousand million other worlds? Has he exhausted all the possibilities of an infinite Creator who delights to give, and give, and give again? And will it not be so with the redeemed Church? The rich possessions God gives us even now, are by their faithful use made to, fit us for still greater things. New faculties and pow­ers are developed, and each new fitness prepares us for a still higher sphere. May it not be then that "the inheritance of the saints in light" will ever be a progressive possession, each new inheritance bring­ing to, light the unthought of and untiring activi­ties of God in his delight to give overflowing joy to his creatures, and each age-task completed, prepare us for other and endless undertakings throughout the "ages to come"? 

This far-flung vista of the ages, though as yet dim­ly seen "through a glass darkly," must be intended to inspire and purify our hearts. And blessed indeed are we to whom such visions are given. How can we be otherwise than drawn to God in a complete devotion, and because of the "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" spread before us in his grace, be enabled to finish our course with joy, and no more be cast down amid present conditions. Surely "the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places, and ours is a goodly heritage" of the most precious hopes. 

Shall we not, then, in these last hours remember that what has been for so long a time our faith vision, will soon be a realized possession. For long we have asked in wonderment, "Face to face -what will it be? when with rapture I behold him, Jesus Christ who died for me." Now it is possible that we shall ere long in the undimmed light of heaven behold the One who loved us so. And' what shall it be to see him in all his glory, and receive from him that measure of joy and blessedness which only a spirit body like unto his own could have the capacity to receive! How blessed the thought that this happi­ness is not merely for a swiftly passing hour, but for eternity unto those whom he redeemed from among men to share his glory. All the pleasures that await us in heaven when we "enter into the joy of our Lord" will bear the same momentous stamp --"Eternal." Earth has been the place of fleeting joys, of transitory pain and pleasure, but "for ever and ever" is the span of every treasured gift of the heavenly Lover to the Bride of his heart. 

As we view this "vision glorious" now by faith, but on which soon our "longing eyes" will, feast, what more can we say than that which seems to have been given us by inspiration to say, "Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou has laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!"­ - Psa. 31:19.  

- J. J. Blackburn.

Items of Interest 

Recently Deceased

Mrs. Gertrude Austin, Waco, Neb. - (July).

Mrs. M. E. Grazley. Sylvan Lake. Alta. - (July).

Mrs. Walter H. Bandy. Kissimmee, Fla. - (October).

Mrs. Jane C. Burge, Birmingham, Eng. - (October).

Mrs. Annette Dickinson, Pasadena. Calif. - (October).

Mrs. Mabel Hags, Pasadena, Cal. - (October).

Mrs. Frances D. Moyer, Pomona, Calif. - (October).

Mr. Archibald Farquharson. Bronx, N. Y: (November).

Mr. E. H. Hoverstock, Richmond, Va. - (November).

Anglo-Samaria

"Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." - Matt, 11:5, 6.

 AT THE backside of the desert, near the moun­tain of God, Moses "turned aside" from watch­ing the flock of the Midianite to more closely scrutinize the phenomena of a flaming thorn-bush that was not consumed. All the Truth people, at some time in their lives, have "turned aside" from absorption in their earthly occupations to investigate the light in the desert, the Truth which shines through the afflicted and fire-tried Church. 

Now that they are, in the narrow way, following in the steps of him who is the Light of the world, there comes a temptation at times to "turn aside" again to investigate glowing subjects which may seemingly have striking similarities to the light which led them to God. It was an angel of God which ap­peared to Moses in the flame of the bush. Satan can also appear as an angel of light in an attempt to make us turn aside from our race course while the darkness "overtakes us." (John 12:35, Revised.) We do not go into darkness, it overtakes us. 

It is perfectly proper to investigate new theories, new lights, if we do it to the glory of God and of Christ. If we find the new theories diminishing this glory we have already beheld, we should promptly turn our back upon them and dismiss them from our mind. If they are making less grand and glorious the vision we have already received of God's Justice, Wisdom, Love, and Power, they are lowering the blinds over the spiritual windows of the soul, the eyes of our understanding. Any investigation must be in the light of Divine Revelation and proven truth. Sometimes teachings (Universalism for ex­ample) seem to magnify God's attributes but at the expense of plain statements of the Word. 

"Blessed are your eyes," said our Master, "for they see." How we rejoiced when our eyes were opened to see the full scope of the Abrahamic promise! Abraham would not only be the father of many na­tions but his seed, Christ, would be the "Everlast­ing Father" or Life-giver of all nations. (Isa. 9:6.) Thus Abraham, through Christ, would have an ever­lasting seed of many nations, all mankind. 

Isaiah, seemingly voicing the disappointment of the disciples immediately after the crucifixion, said concerning Christ (Isa. 53:8): "Who shall declare [record] his generation [posterity] for he was cut off out of the land of the living." Then in verse 11, with prophetic vision and finality, Isaiah says: "He shall see his seed" when, as the Second Adam (1 Cor. 15:45) the "life-giving spirit," he becomes the Ever­lasting Father of many nations. The "seed" here, we understand, could not refer to the Church of Christ because the Church are his brethren, begot­ten by his Father. 

Since Christ is to be the Everlasting Father, 'we can understand (Rev. 22:16) how Christ, the "offspring" of David, would, as the Everlasting Father, become the "root," the life-giver and sustainer of David when David is raised from death and returned to the land promised him. We can see the proper meaning of Psalm 45:16: "Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth," which shows that Christ's "seed" or posterity of "many nations" will include, his "fathers," the ancient faith-heroes of old, Abra­ham, Isaac, Jacob, and others who will be made leaders and rulers in the Kingdom. 

This tracing of Abraham's family list or genealogy through Christ in fulfillment of the oath-bound covenant has been the application of the key of the Divine Plan, the revelation of the mystery hid from ages, since the foundation of the world. 

Any turning aside or investigation of a seemingly similar doctrine of Christ's earthly rule which causes us to lose sight of the Scriptures mentioned, would hardly be conducive to growth as new creatures in Christ, or a strengthening for our continuation in the Way. Any willingness to neglect or let these Scriptures "slip" (Heb. 2:1) that we may accept a less exalted and less glorifying view of God's cove­nant-keeping would mean that cataracts are forming over the eyes of our understanding. Yet we fear that some Bible students stand in danger of this af­fliction when they are reading and using the termi­nology and applications of Anglo-Israel, which say that Abraham's fatherhood of many nations "could not be fulfilled in Christ." Anglo-Israel teaches that instead of the many-nationed seed of. Abraham, being an everlasting seed, a race regenerated and bearing the image and likeness of God, they are a very un­godlike association of present-day mixed Israelitish­ Gentile nations, who are the children of wrath even as others. Anglo-Israel also teaches that, "possession of the land of Palestine, possessing the material (?) gate (Gen. 22:17) of material (?) enemies, inher­iting the heathen for a possession and ruling over heathen people" is a birthright, not of the Christ from Judah, but of the aforementioned mixed-breed nations who are uncircumcised of either heart or body, and who supposedly are descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel. The words in quotations above are from an Anglo-Israel pamphlet. The "ma­terial gate," they elsewhere explain, really means "gates," referring to the gates ' of travel and trade such as the Straits of Gibraltar, Suez, Panama Canal, etc. 

"Why," some may inquire who have never turned aside long enough to closely examine Anglo-Israel's dividing and interpretation of the Word, "Why do the Anglo-Israelites and the Bible students who agree with them, deny that Christ could be the father of the 'many nations' promised Abraham, or that he could possess the gate of his enemies, or that he could inherit the heathen and rule over them'"? 

In order to get the answer clearly and firmly fixed in our minds, it is necessary to refresh our memories with a few Scriptures, possibly hitherto unstressed, and then to "compare things that differ." - Phil. 1:9, 11, margin. 

When God gave Abraham the ordinance of cir­cumcision, it was a very binding obligation, because it was a token of the covenant by which Abraham was to become father of many nations or "heir of the world." God said: "My covenant shall be in your flesh, and the uncircumcised manchild whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant." The expression, "in your flesh," shows how insep­arable the great covenant is from the sanctifying, in­eradicable token, sign, or "seal." (Rom. 4:11.) Fully a fourth of the words of the covenant are occupied in giving the most definite, emphatic, and explicit directions as to where, when, and on whom the mark is to be placed.' To fail through neglect or refusal to bear the token was to "break the covenant" or to "tear up the contract" as we would say today. On the night that Israel became a nation Abraham's children received another "token" from God (Exod. 12:13), the failure to observe which, allowed their first-born to suffer the same fate as the uncircum­cised and accursed Egyptians. God's "tokens" are not to be ignored. To presume that God lightly re­gards or forgets his requirements, or to presume that he is bound to keep his promise to those who "tear up the contract," would, it seems, approach near to resulting in what David calls "presumptuous sin," just as the same kind of presuming brought on the same fate as that suffered by the Egyptian Gentiles. If the United States and the British Commonwealth of nations are descendants of the Samaritan Israel­ites, it would appear that after twenty-four hundred years of continuous spurning and disregard of the "seal," or nearly two and a half millenniums of mocking God, it would be presumptuous to expect God to honor a "broken" and therefore non-existent "covenant." Clearly they have been "cut off" from the covenant "people," since they refused the seal over two thousand years ago. 

A partial answer to the above query may be the stressing of the words in Gen. 17:6: "And kings shall come out of thee"; and at the same time the ignor­ing of the words of Rev. 1:6; 5:11 and Rev. 20.4, "And hast made them unto our God kings and priests: and they shall reign on the earth." 

Those who wish to follow the Anglo-Israel lead on Gen. 17:6' and insist that these "kings" must be by physical generation, must also stress the word "thee," meaning that the generation must not be mixed with Gentile descent. God said, "The covenant shall be in thy flesh," not in the descendants of Ham or of Japheth. If Abraham's son should marry a daughter of Japheth, a grandson would be as much a descend­ant of Japheth, whom God had not blessed, as he would be of Abraham. If this grandson then married another descendant of Japheth, the great grandson would be more a son of Japheth than he would be of Abraham, and thus Japheth, or one of his descendants contemporary with Abraham, would be the "father of many nations" instead of Abraham. That is why Abraham would not allow a bride to be select­ed for his son Isaac from the Canaanites, among whom he dwelt. They were under a curse. (Gen. 9:25-27.) He sent by camel caravan over hundreds of miles to select a relative from his father's family. 

The rite of circumcision had in itself indicated that Abraham's flesh, the channel of the coming "Seed," was to be kept clean. Isaiah later said, as quoted by Paul (2 Cor. 6:17): "Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." A fragment of the "ten lost tribes" residing in Samaria had disregarded Isaiah's advice and intermarried with the "unclean" Assyrians whom Shalmaneser had brought in. (2 Kings 17:24.) They failed to keep "separate." God showed his displeasure by classi­fying them as Gentiles and withholding the ministry of the Gospel from them until Christ's work was over. Jesus said, "The fields are white unto harvest," and "the harvest is great" (John 4:35; Matt. 9:37), yet the territory of Samaria was as a region accursed. The disciples were positively forbidden to enter its confines. It was not permitted to hear the Gospel of the Kingdom. If these mixed-breed Israelites, who still practiced circumcision, called Jacob their father, and kept the five books of Moses, were counted un­worthy by the Lord of hearing of the Kingdom, when they had been mixing with the Gentiles only some seven hundred years, how can we suppose that God would consider mixed-breed Israelites today, after twenty-six hundred years of mixing and going uncir­cumcised, to be worthy of so much blessing? 

If the British-American nations are descendants of the ten lost tribes, they are Samaritans. Shalmaneser emptied only the territory of Samaria. He picked them up en masse and scattered them as a farmer would his wheat, from Asia Minor to the eastern outposts of his kingdom in Media. The pop­ulation of an area possibly thirty or forty miles in, its greatest breadth was sifted out over a thousand­ mile wide empire. Then, conjecturally and presum­ably, we are told, they began a national migration westward, keeping no genealogies, spurning the seal of the covenant, marrying indiscriminately without restrictions and "becoming one flesh" (Gen. 2:24) with the godless heathen Gentiles. 

The fact that Shalmaneser is recorded in 2 Kings 17:24 as having brought Gentiles into only the. "cities of Samaria" "instead of," or in place of the children of Israel, whom he had carried away, is strong proof that only Israelites residing in Samaria were remov­ed to Assyria. These incoming Gentiles intermarried with the surrounding fringe of remaining Israelites, and their mixed-breed descendants were called Sa­maritans. The outgoing Israelites intermarried with the Gentiles and became so fused and 'indistinguish­able that they "did not know that they were Israel­ites," according to an Anglo-Israel writer. Since the outgoing Israelites submerged themselves and lost their identity among the Gentiles so much more than the ones who became Samaritans, it seems unfair to the Samaritans to deprive them of the honor of be­ing called Israel (a prince with God) and yet apply the term proudly to the much more faithless and unworthy, modern-day descendants-if the British­ American Commonwealth of nations are descendants. It would also seem to cast reflection on our Master's powers of perception. How can we see that the (at least nearly full-blooded Gentile) British-Americans are Israel, while Christ could not see that the cir­cumcised, law-reading, half-breeds of Samaria were Israelites? Instead, he made a sharp and profound distinction between them and Israel. If the hybrid descendants of those Israelites who remained in Samaria were called Samaritans instead of Israelites, much more, surely, should we call the hybrid descend­ants of those who were taken out of Samaria, Samari­tans. 

Japheth's descendants populated Europe and the adjacent "isles." (Gen. 11:5.) Across Japheth's land to the "isles" of Britain moved the mixed-breed de­scendants of the captives from Samaria, becoming more and more "the fulness [filled full of the blood] of the Gentiles" or full-blooded Gentiles. This is intimated in Genesis 48:19 (margin) where Jacob said concerning Ephraim, "His seed shall become a fulness of Goyim [Gentiles]." This was the very reason why Samaria, the district settled by Ephraim, was "out of bounds" and closed to the harvest work­ers of Christ during his lifetime. Samaria was "the fulness of the Gentiles," and not the "multitude of nations" which the Anglo-Samaritans (?) believe that Ephraim is today. 

Any Gentile, willing to be circumcised, and join himself to the family of Israel, keeping their law, was accepted as a child of Abraham and of his cov­enant. Likewise any Israelite who refused the or­dinance of circumcision, neglected the law of his God, and joined himself to the unclean Gentiles, was given up to the Gentiles. This is very evidently the meaning of 1 Kings 14:16, exemplified by Christ putting the Samaritans in the same category as the Gentiles. 

To show how thoroughly the captive tribes had for­gotten their God, recall the unusual opportunity they had of returning to Palestine, which they com­pletely ignored. In the days of the sixth or sev­enth generation after their removal from Samaria, an offer went forth from King Cyrus throughout the whole Assyrian empire to help with "silver and gold and goods and beasts beside the free-will offering for the house of God." This was addressed to "all" the "people of God." (Ezra 1:1-4.) How many of the captives from Samaria acknowledged that they were "people of God"? Not one! Not one took ad­vantage of the King's offer. If the captives ever made their exodus into the west to the "isles" of Japheth, this would be the logical time, when they had royal permission; but if they took advantage of the permission to migrate to a new land farther away from their God-given home than they were while in cap­tivity, and even spurned the "free-will offering for the house of God," what more reason could God have for giving them up? How could they more fully "deny him"? We are told that "if we deny him, he also will deny us." 

If our Anglo-Samaritan friends say that their sup­posedly captive-ancestors made their westward flight before the 'accession of Cyrus, is it not strange that Cyrus would be so completely ignorant of it and go to the great expense of dispatching couriers throughout the breadth of his vast domain to a non­existent people? 

Of course a third possible reason for the non-re­turn of the ten-tribe remnant was that during the interval between their captivity and Cyrus' decree they had become so fused and of "one flesh" with their captors that they truly were no longer "the peo­ple of God," having no interest and no right in the privileges held out by the king. They had denied their God, broken their covenant, and become one with the Gentiles, who were "without God and with­out hope in the world." 

The "seed" which would bless "all the families of the earth," God told Abraham, would come through Isaac. (Gen. 21:12.) Sarah's insistence that the birth­right, the right to inherit the family property, be transferred from Ishmael, the first-born, to Isaac was also to be adhered to, even against Abraham's natur­al desires. Seemingly as a concession and a comfort to Abraham, God promised that Ishmael would be­come a "nation." Then when Rebekah, Abraham's daughter-in-law, was with child, the Lord said to her, "Two nations are within thy womb." (Gen. 25:23.) Here we see three nations (of whom Abraham was forefather) promised, but these were not the fulfillment of Gen. 17:16 (the promise of a "multitude of nations"), because Ishmael and Esau, two who were to "become" nations, were both first-born or birth­right holders and "the genealogy (the family list, the posterity of the promise) is not to be reckoned after (or according to) the birthright." (1 Chron. 5:1.) This pronouncement in Chronicles was made be­cause Jacob, like his grandfather, transferred the birth­right from Reuben, Leah's first-born,' to Joseph, Rachel's first-born. (Gen. 48:3-5; 49:22-26.) Why was not the genealogy to be "reckoned after the birthright"? Because the "seed," Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:16), was a descendant through Judah, the fourth-born of Leah! And Jesus is to be the "Everlasting Father" of all nations. 

Our Anglo-Samaritan friends have published a volume entitled, "Judah's Scepter and Joseph's Birth­right." It endeavors to show that the fatherhood of "many nations" cannot come through Christ (of Judah) but must come through Manasseh and Ephraim (of Joseph, the birthright receiver) because they think the genealogy is to be reckoned after the birthright, whereas the Scripture clearly states, "The genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright." They quote 1 Chronicles 5:2, "For Judah prevailed above his brethren and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph's." They fail to quote the sentence immediately preceding this verse, which is 'seemingly inserted for the very purpose of guard­ing against the mistake so evident in the Anglo-Sa­aritan treatment of the Scriptures. After quoting, "the birthright was Joseph's," if they had added "and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright," it could have been seen that the "genealogy," the family list, the "many nations" were not to come through or "be reckoned after" the "birth­right" tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim. The birth­right, the right to inherit his father's estate, was Joseph's; and his descendants, Ephraim and Manas­seh, did come into possession of the country of Samaria, where Jacob's well was, and where Abraham and Sarah were buried, the richest and most produc­tive of all the land apportioned to the twelve tribes. Here was set up the capital of the ten tribes where Jereboam revolted and forbade his people to wor­ship any more at Jerusalem, giving them, instead, the golden calves at Bethel and Shechem. 

Mr. Allen, author of "Judah's Scepter and Joseph's Birthright," says that some of the families of the ten tribes (who would not bow down to the golden calves) together- with the Levites residing in Israel­itish, or ten-tribe territory, migrated into Judah where they could still worship at God's temple. Thus, Judah's territory contained not only the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi, but a remnant of the ten tribes, as well. Later, according to Smith's Bible Dictionary, additional numbers of the ten tribes came under the authority or influence of the King of Judah. The ten-tribe kingdom contracted in ter­ritory and numbers until, at the time of their cap­tivity, there was only a remnant of that kingdom which was contained within the confines of Samaria. Therefore it was only a remnant which was carried away and not the ten tribes themselves, as some mis­takenly believe. The majority of these tribes was left, although considered at that time as being of Judah, because, as shown in 2 Chronicles 30, they responded so heartily to Hezekiah's invitation to come to Jerusalem and worship only five years be­fore Samaria was carried away.

Our Lord's itinerary covered the territory of all the tribes with the exception of that part of Ephraim and Manasseh called Samaria. In Matthew 11:23, our Lord shows his intention to cover "all the towns of Israel," saying: "I am not sent save to the lost sheep of the House of Israel." 

Now our Anglo-Samaritan friends say that at the time of Jesus' ministry, Israel, the ten tribes, were far away in Great Britain, so Jesus could not preach to those sheep as long as he stayed in Palestine. Yet Jesus said that the people he was preaching to were Israel, still in the land of Promise and not in the Brit­ish Isles. Just how well qualified are we or Anglo-Samaria to say that our Lord was so tragically mistak­en that he labored under a delusion forty-two months, thinking that he was preaching to the ten tribes when they were actually all carried away seven hun­dred years or more before he arrived. Furthermore, he claimed to be "sent" by God. Are we to say that God "sent" him by mistake into Palestine to preach to Israel, when Israel had been removed by God's own providence long before to the "isles',' of Japheth, of the Gentiles! - Gen. 11:5. 

Writers and broadcasters of Anglo-Samaritan articles are very intent on showing that the term "Israel," after the rebellion, was never applied to the two-.tribe kingdom of Judah, but always and only to the ten-tribe kingdom, which in the days of its cap­tivity had been shrunken to and contained in the little valley of Samaria. When, therefore, Jesus de­clared he was sent and directed his Apostles into "all the cities of Israel," it seems clear enough that Israel, the ten tribes, as well as Judah and Benjamin were all there within the reach of. his Gospel and his miracles. The only ones beyond the circle of his blessings were those in the forbidden valley of Sa­maria (.the very center of the land of Israel), and the Gentiles in the towns outside of Israel. There­fore the descendants of these people whom Christ called Israel are still Israel today, although Anglo­Samaritan's teaching is to the contrary. 

Having briefly turned aside from our progress in the study of the Truth to examine the Anglo-Sa­maritan or British Samaritan theory, can we truly say that anything in their offerings thus far viewed, adds aught to the system of Truth which we now hold as presented in the Studies in the Scriptures? Have they given us a grander, more intimate view of the Wisdom, Justice, Power, and Love of our God, causing us to love him and reverence him more than our present knowledge of Truth, that is, the Truth we held before turning aside? Are we to agree that the fatherhood of many nations, the possession of and rule over the heathen, and the possession of the "Gate of his enemies" cannot be fulfilled in Christ? . 

Let us pray for one another that we may prove all things and hold fast to that which is good, giving "the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip." 

- Contributed.

The Question Box 

Question:

In Romans 3:28 St. Paul says that we are justified by faith without the deeds of the Law. St. James, in chapter 2, verse 24 of his Epistle, tells us that by works a man is justified and not by faith only. How are these apparently inconsistent statements to be reconciled?  

Answer:

We are glad the statements are referred to as only "apparently" inconsistent, for we are persuaded and will endeavor to show that no real inconsistency exists. 

First we inquire: When .St. Paul says we are jus­tified by faith without deeds or works, to what works does he refer? The answer, as all will agree, is: Works of or done under the Law, the Law of Moses. St. James, however, in speaking of works, refers to works of faith, to good and acceptable works. Now St. Paul never calls the works which he says do not justify, good works, but he calls them simply "works" -works o f the Law-deeds of the Law-dead works. These have nothing to do with the works of faith. Of these St. Paul elsewhere speaks, and by a remark­able contrast he calls them again and again "good works." For instance: "By grace are ye saved through faith . . . not of works, lest any man should boast; for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good, works." - Eph. 2:8-11. 

Here surely is a most pointed intimation that the works which do not justify, are not good, or in other words, are works before justification. As to whether works after, which are good, whether they justify or not, he does not decide so expressly as St. James, the error he had to resist leading his argument in another direction. Against the Judaizing teachers who were opposing" his ministry, he says only, that our works must begin, continue, and end in faith. 

Again, elsewhere St. Paul speaks of abounding in every good work, of being adorned with good works, of being well reported of for good works, diligently following every good work, of the good works of some being manifest beforehand, of being rich in good works, of being prepared unto every good work, of being thoroughly furnished unto all good works, of being a pattern of good works, of being zealous of good works, of being ready to every good work, of being careful to maintain good works, of, provoking unto love and good works, of being made perfect in every good work. - 2 Cor. 9:8; 1 Tim. 2:11; 5:11; 5:25; 6:18; 2 Tim. 2:21; 3:17; Titus 2:7, 14; 3:1, 8, 14; Heb. 11:24; 13:21. 

When St. James tells us that a man is justified by works, he means, of course, good works, but he says only "works." Why does not St. Paul do the same? Why is he also careful to add the word "good"? We answer: It is because, in his discussions, St. Paul had also to do with a sort of works with which St. James had not to do because in those discussions the word "works" had already been appropriated by him to those of the Law, and therefore the, epithet "good" was necessary, lest works of faith should be confused with works of Law. 

We see, then, that St. Paul, while conclusively showing that we are justified by faith without the deeds of the Law, is far from asserting thereby that we are justified by faith without the deeds of the Gospel, and that he does not deny what St. James affirms, that by works (the good works by which faith is made perfect) a man is justified, and not by faith only. 

- P. L. Read.

The Purpose of the Refiner 

Malachi 3:3 says: "And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." Notice the word, sit. A woman read this verse and said, "I shall find out all I can about the way silver is refined." So she visited a silver refinery. She watched the process for a time and then said to the man who sat by the boiling liquid, "Do you always sit at your work?" 

"Oh, yes," he replied. "You see the liquid needs con­stant and careful attention. All the scum must be taken off and the fire must never get too hot." 

"How do you know when the refining work is done?" queried the woman. 

The answer was: "It is done when I can see my face in the molten metal." 

Here is Romans 8:28, 29 in our lives. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his pur­pose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predesti­nate to be conformed to the image of his Son." This is the purpose of every trial in our lives-to make us more like Jesus. 

- E. A. Williams.

You Tell on Yourself

You tell what you are by the friends you seek,
By the very manner in which you speak,
By the way you employ your leisure time,
By the use you make of the dollar and dime. 

You tell what you are by the things you wear,
By the spirit in which you burdens bear,
By the kind of things at which you laugh,
By records you play on the phonograph. 

You tell what you are by the way you walk,
By the things of which you delight to talk,
By the manner in which you bear defeat,
By so simple a thing as how you eat. 

By the books you choose from the well-filled shelf,
In these ways and more you tell on yourself,
So there's really no particle of sense
In an effort to keep up false pretense. 

- The Lighted Pathway.

The Glory of God 

God is the eternal fountain of honor and the spring of glory; in him it dwells essentially, from him it de­rives originally; and when an action is glorious, or a man is honorable, it is because the action is pleasing to God in the relation of obedience or imitation, and be­cause the man is honored by God, and by God's vice­gerent. And therefore God cannot be dishonored, be­cause all honor comes from himself; he cannot but be glorified, because to be himself is to be infinitely glori­ous. And yet he is pleased to say that our sins dishon­or him, and our obedience does glorify him. But as the sun, the great eye of the world, prying into the recesses of racks and the hollowness of valleys, receives species or visible forms from these objects, but he beholds them only by that light which proceeds from himself: so does God, who is the light of that eye; he receives reflexes and returns from us, and these he calls glorifications of himself, but they are such which are made so by his own gracious acceptation. For God cannot be glorified by anything but by himself, and by his own instruments, which he makes as mirrors to reflect his own excellen­cy; that, by seeing the glory of such emanations, he may rejoice in his own works, because they are images of his infinity. Thus when he made the beauteous frame of heaven and earth, he rejoiced in it and glorified him­self; because it was the glass in which he beheld his wisdom and almighty power. And when God destroyed the old world, in that also he glorified himself; for in those waters he saw the image of his justice-they were the looking-glass for that attribute. 

All the actions of a holy life do constitute the mass and body of all those instruments whereby God is pleased to glorify himself. For if God is glorified in the sun and moon, in the rare fabric of the honey-combs, in the discipline of bees, in the economy of ants, in the little houses of birds, in the curiosity of an eye, God being pleased to delight in those little images and reflexes of himself from those pretty mirrors, which, like a crevice in a wall, through a narrow perspective, transmit the species of a vast excellency; much rather shall God be pleased to behold himself in the glasses of our obedience, in the emissions of our will and understanding; these being rational and apt instruments to express him, far better than the natural, as being nearer communications of himself. 

- Jeremy Taylor.

"O, fill me with Thy fulness, Lord,
Until my very heart o'erflow
In kindling thought and glowing word,
Thy love to tell, Thy praise to show."

Encouraging Messages

Dear Brethren:

It was my privilege recently to visit the U. S. A. in connection with my profession, and the opportunity was also afforded me to, visit the friends in the localities to which my work took me. So much love and practical sympathy was shown to me on behalf of my English brethren that the only way I can hope to acknowledge all these services is through the good offices of the "Herald."

Wherever my contacts were made there were urgent requests for knowledge of the food conditions, and of the difficulties of life generally in the old country, for which deep concern was shown. The Scripture was truly demonstrated that "if one suffer, all suffer." The sym­pathy took the practical shape of sending clothes, ma­terial, and food to various of our English brethren. Some gave the writer the responsibility of receiving money to dispatch food parcels to friends in need We accepted this as being a token of love for Christ, and as being done unto him. Whilst we know that our Lord is never unmindful of these love-tokens, we would add to the collective thanks of the receivers our own testimony to the joy there was in having this evidence of love as it radiated from each giver. Those who love are born [be­gotten] of God who is the great "Giver," and it is a wonderful experience to see God's children display the generous quality of their Father. Every spot touched in the 3,060 miles of my journey became sacred with some memory of a loving service. 

I know that the love shown to me was but the evi­dence of that which would have been given to any of my English brethren who had the same opportunity, and so on behalf of all, once again, "'Thank you," and may God give us grace to receive the end of our faith, and con­tinue our fellowship above. 

Yours in Him,
Stephen A. Couling. -- Eng.

  Dear Brethren:

Through a lady I learned that one can get the "Her­ald of Christ's Kingdom." I am a servant and disciple of Jesus, and I value this paper very much. I would be very grateful if you would send it to me, and will remit as soon as it is possible to send money. As a result of the cruel war, good Christian papers are not found here. I lost everything -I had. I am twenty-one years old, and now, with my little five-year old brother, live with my mother-in-law. We have a little room, but no glass in the window. It was destroyed during the war. The winter -is cold, and, we are always glad when it is past. We hope conditions will soon be better. Things surely cannot continue much longer as they are. Our trust is in God. If it is possible, please send me the "Herald." God bless you.

I. H. -- Germany. 

Beloved Brethren in Christ. Greetings, with 1 Peter 1:3-9 . . . . 

We thank you very much, dear brethren, for your ex­pressions of love and fellowship in Christ. Love is the strong tie that binds and has its origin in heaven-plant-. ed by the heavenly Father into this world of sin. And if it can be revealed so wonderfully here, in men born of dust, what will it be when in a transfigured body it has found its proper place! Though our bodies are to be the temples of the holy spirit,, and bearers of love, through the spirit, yet how subject we are to the frail­ties and weaknesses of our bodies, because not wholly dead; and so our old weaknesses can still find lodging in us. Hence come discords, conflicts, strifes; but when that which is perfect is come, then all this will be done away. (1 Cor. 13.) Notwithstanding, if we with "open face" keep our eyes on the Lord, our perfect Pattern, beholding him, we will be changed from glory to glory in­to his image. - 2 Cor. 3:18. 

Is it not worthy of note that we read that our heaven­ly Father is love, not that he has love, even though the latter is true also. But his whole being is flooded with love. Thinking along these lines it becomes clearer that with all the necessary knowledge, one thing is most need­ful-to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, etc. (Phil. 3:11, 11.) Therefore (verse 14) the important thing, as with the Apostle, is to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling. Everything else takes second place, even though valuable and even though it may add to our joy. 

Oh, dear brethren, when I think of what the Lord, said in 'his parable of the Vine, and again in his High-priestly prayer (John 15:17), and of how Paul in Phil. 2:1-5 emphasizes the importance of being one with Christ, having the same love, being of one mind-then witness the present separation amongst the followers of the Son of God, a deep sadness comes over me. My brother and I have come to see that it is all the result of improper tests -- certain teachings being made tests, -- instead of the possession of the spirit and 'Christlikeness. Surely, when our final judgment. comes, the Lord will not ask first how we understand- this or that doctrine, but, have we been conformed to the image of his Son. Not questions of chronology, not of the time of the end, nor of the pyramid, nor other points not fundamental. We may be able to figure out certain points of time and be looking forward to that, and at the same time neglect the inner life and the readiness to meet the Lord by watching unto prayer. We do not mean to. discourage the study of chronology, but it must, never become the all-important thing. It is decidedly important that the Lord himself and his Word be our measuring rod and the center of our life and thinking. Therefore no one should urge up on us the, acceptance of certain doctrines, no matter how well learned a brother or man of God he may seem. Lib­erty is a precious heritage. If love reigns in our hearts, we will be tolerant toward others and our dif­ferences of opinion on doctrines that are not fundamental should not cause discord among brethren. In this we have of recent years had some wonderful experiences. 

We are of the impression, dear brethren, that you too have this largeness of heart toward the brethren and are emphasizing the importance of liberty -- liberty in Christ. Because of your stand for this love and liberty which Paul sets forth in Phil. 3:15; 1:15-19, we rejoice, and feel that we are one with you. When may we expect a visit from one of the brethren? . . We would rejoice greatly to see you. 

We thank you, dear brethren, for your willing sacri­fice in that you wish to be of assistance to us here. The last food package has not yet arrived.* God grant that, it may not be lost. We will write again as soon as it is­ received. The Lord reward you.

With greetings of love,
Yours in our Lord,
O. and A. S. - Germany.

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* As we are about to go to Press 'another 'letter is at hand,' ex­pressing "heartfelt gratitude" on receipt off the package.

Dear Brethren: 

On August 21, I received notice that you ordered a CARE Food Package sent to us. This we received on Oc­tober 11 in perfect condition. We thanked our heavenly Father on our knees for this great gift, and we also want to thank you dear friends for your active love and sacri­fice. Perhaps you cannot imagine what it means here­in our devastated country to receive a package that con­tains food. 

Our wrong must be great in the eyes of God if our people have to suffer so much-although the people are only partly to blame.. They were driven by ambitious leaders in the wrong direction. Our country is the land of. the Reformation. God gave it much light; therefore he requires, much. For this reason we have the heavy -­burden he has put upon us. We, the believers, do not fail to pray to God for the people who do not repent even yet. To a certain extent even we believers are guilty, with our suffering people. We will do as once Daniel did. - Daniel 9. 

You have our heartfelt thanks, dear friends, for think­ing of us. When we eat our daily bread, we think of our loved ones in America who have helped us so much. The Lord, whom we all serve, bless you and all who have­ contributed to this gift. . . 

You probably know that we all came from East Prus­sia. The husbands of my two sisters are still there not being allowed as yet to leave. One of them, is taking ­care of his sister and family whose husband was killed, and the family of a second sister who was shot to death, whose husband is still in the concentration camp, He writes that they are in need of -clothing and shoes and are wondering if some American friends would help them-,, out. The children's ages are 12 to 17. The brothers are of medium size. We would gladly have shared our gifts with them, but we are not allowed to send packages. 

With Christian greetings in which my two-dear sisters; and niece who are included in my household join,

Yours in the service of the Lord,
E. S. -- Germany.   

The two sisters add a little note, as follows: 

We are unable to express the happiness your package has brought. Only the Lord knows, how your love touches our hearts. He has proved us hard, but he also lays balsam upon our wounds. You have our heartfelt thanks, and our greetings, with Matthew, 25:40.  

- I S. and M. K.

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