THE HERALD
of Christ's Kingdom

VOL. XXXIV June 1951 No. 6
Table of Contents

Seeing With Opened Eyes of the Heart

God's Foreknowledge in the Permission of Evil

"The Hidden Life"

Notes on Immortality

The Letter to the Colossians

Replete With Self

Recently Deceased

Seeing With Opened Eyes of the Heart

"Having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." -- Eph. 1:18.

THE PRECEDING verses of this chapter reach a most fitting conclusion in the prayer with which it ends. Paul has been seated in the heavenlies, and in thought carrying his readers out into the lengths and breadths of their inheritance in Christ. But how well the knew that it is possible to have ears that hear not, and eyes that see not. He knew too that among those who do see, there are de­grees of spiritual sight. Some are blind, some are short sighted and "cannot see afar off." Some do not want to see, and none are so blind as those who will not see. Some are content to see in salvation a way of escape, a self centered perspective, wholly incon­sistent with the character of the high calling of God through Christ. Therefore the Apostle sees the need of all having "a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of God, having the eyes of the heart enlightened." The opening of their mental eves was much, but unless there was the further open­ing of the eyes of the heart, there would be no such vision as Paul wanted them to experience. What an immense difference this inner seeing with the heart makes. There is a wealth of enjoyment in possess­ing "The seeing eyes, which see best by the light in the heart that lies." The attitude and powers of the deeper mind will determine the degree of vision habitually exercised, very well illustrated in the thought contained in the lines:

"Two men looked through prison bars,
One saw mud, the other stars."

One had eyes to see only his immediate environment of limitation and plight, the other could realize that "prison bars do not a prison make" to a mind capable of ascending beyond the distant stars. Or to carry the thought into another realm, think of these two men as being, one of them limited in vision to the lower level of being habitually absorbed in the question of "What shall I eat, and wherewithal be clothed," the other possessed of those higher sensibilities which lift man above the animal. Place these two men in some spot where nature is clothed with; splendor, their eyes, will look on the same landscape, see the same hills and valleys, the same variety of colors; the first man will see but little of the real beauty of the scene, while the other man will covet the skill of the poet or artist to put that gorgeous picture in an expression of the heart: And so this natural dis­tinction finds its correspondency in the spiritual realm. Paul, therefore, seeing with the inner eyes of the heart, the riches of God's grace, and of his inheritance in the saints, cannot but desire the same vision for all his brethren. And in that vision there are three things he particularly prays that they may see, namely, the greatness of their hope in Christ, the wealth of God's possession in them, and the power he can exercise to bring all their hopes to fruition.

What then, is that hope? What is the final objec­tive in the mind of God for us? Those who "cannot see afar off" will see it largely as a matter of escaping condemnation, of deliverance from the world of toil and strife, and of reaching a place "where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest." Or it may be that a place of honor in the Kingdom looms large before their eyes as an incentive also. All of these the overcoming saints will surely gain, but is it such things Paul has chiefly in mind? No indeed! He is far from encouraging a viewpoint largely centered in the thought of a reward for service rendered, es­pecially in view of the very imperfect character of any service performed. And he is by no means en­couraging a seeking mostly of heaven as a refuge from the storm and stress of life, a sort of anodyne hope, something to assuage the pain of present dis­tress. This view would not be worthy of such a char­acter as Paul. It would be too much in character to the man 'who in natural things centered life in the problem of what to eat and wear. No! the Apostle looked over an inheritance so vast and rich that he fain would lift all eyes to the same thing. What a glorious hope he set before us! Can we not hear him say:

"O glorious hope of heavenly love!
It lifts me up to things above;
It bears on eagle wings;
It gives my joyful soul a taste,
And makes me, even here, to feast
With Jesus' priests and kings."

THE SUPREME OBJECTIVE OF TRUE HOPE

Strange indeed that any one should be disposed to aspire to anything lower in attainment than the highest possibilities. To be so disposed would seem to suggest the limited spiritual vision. It is easy and trite to say, "I shall be satisfied when I awake in Thy likeness," but the test, of the genuineness of such a statement on the part of any one, lies in the degree of concentrated hope and longing pointing in that direction. This is an outstanding thing in Paul's life, summed up in five short words, "This one thing I do." And as he wove those words into his beautifully expressed ideals, did some one remind him of present limitations, of inherent weaknesses,, and suggest that he was aiming far too high? If so, we can be sure of the answer he made. His whole attitude was that of knowing that if he aimed an arrow at the stars, it would go very much higher than if aimed at an object within reach on the lower levels. He sees the attainable set beyond the horizon of the present life, and that end, and nothing short of that end holds his undivided ' attention. And what is it? He tells us: "I press along the line, towards the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." To gain this objective he suffers the loss of all things, counting them all as "vile refuse" to the end, he says, "that I may gain Christ," "be found in him," "know him and the power of his resurrection" -- an end he has not fully attained when he writes, but which is never to be lost sight of until he has laid hold on all that for which the Lord had laid hold on him.

What a noble spirit, what a commendable view of Christian life this was for Paul, and how attrac­tive it should be to us. No ideal could be more ele­vating in its tone, or more spiritually effective in power to make great attainments such as this, the most desirable of all our aims in life.

Stated in brief words, Paul was visualizing these great worth while attainments: to know Christ in­timately, to love him supremely, to serve him in com­plete self abnegation, to follow him unquestionably as one who could truthfully say, "Where he leads me I will follow." He wanted to be like Christ, and like him in such a way as to make manifest "the savour of his knowledge in every place." (2 Cor. 2:14.) He wanted it to be so much more than theoretical for him to say, "Christ liveth in me." Thus in the aims he pursues, the affections he cherishes, the person of Christ is the center. For himself and for the breth­ren, he loves Christ as indeed the Author and Fin­isher of Christian faith, the Alpha and Omega of all our translation into the Kingdom of light and heaven­ly glory. When life is thus centered in Christ, and faith lays hold with a sure confidence not to be cast away, that he who hath begun the good work in us is abundantly able to complete it, will we not realize more clearly that such are our high calling possibili­ties. If God from eternity past predestined us to be holy and unblemished, to be wholly conformed to the image of his Son, to be made meet for the in­heritance of the saints in light, we can hold no lower hope for ourselves and be pleasing to him. And why should we not he like Paul in our concentration on this objective, and like him in his faith in believing that end a glorious reality for himself. Why should we not, when, "by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us; which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stead­fast, and which entereth into that within the veil; whither the Forerunner is for us entered. (Heb. 6:18-20.) What a great "recompense of reward"! What a glorious hope, made attainable for us through the grace and love of God. "Unto him be glory in the Church by Jesus Christ, throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." -- Eph. 3:21.

GOD'S RICHES IN HIS SAINTS

We come now to the second of the things pre­viously mentioned as things Paul 'desires' for his brethren -- that of the wealth of possession God would have us know he has in us. Does it not seem in­credible that (rod could consider himself enriched through anything we could bring to him of affection or service? How profoundly this revelation should affect us! Surely we could never take such a place in his purposes without the most assured foundation for so undeserved a favor. But it is all blessedly true. "God his chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty." (1 Cor. 1:27.) Thus it becomes the privilege of the lowly to rejoice with Mary in her song: "He that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is his name.... He hath put down the mighty from their seats,, and exalted them of low degree." (Luke 1:49, 52.) And as though to remove all doubt from our minds that such a, place in God's affections and estimation could be ours, we have the word of assurance given us: "He that spared not his own Spin, but delivered him, up for us, all, how shall he not with him also freely give us, all things." "If children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." (Rom. 8:32, 17.) Since, then, God spared not his own Son for our salvation, and chose us in. him before the world's foundation to be his peculiar treasure, he must set an infinite value upon us. Precious thought!

Who can tell the value our heavenly Father sets upon the tested and, demonstrated fidelity of his children as through much tribulation they hold loyally to him? Who can know the intensity of affec­tion he feels toward one of his trusting and devoted saints? All human illustrations of such love, be they ever so outstanding, must fail to be any adequate ex­ample of his Father -- love for those who reverence him. And so, though, "Beneath his feet all the worlds lie spread in their starry splendor, our sun. With its train of planets no more than one glimmer­ing spot of light among ten thousand," yet amidst this magnificence, what is the sight that wins his tender, fatherly regard? "Thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity," "to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a con­trite spirit, and trembleth at my word." The Creator rejoices in his works as at the beginning -- heaven and earth is his dominion. But these are not his "inheritance." His inheritance is in the love of his chil­dren, in the character of his saints. We are to be ''to the praise of his glory." We are to his praise now, and also his joy of heart when he beholds us grow­ing upward in Godlike qualities of mind and heart, growing in grace and knowledge, possessing more and more of purity, gentleness, love, and patience. How great then will be his pleasure in those who can be presented "faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy"! (Jude 24.) Who of us can fail to be moved with gratitude for such a place among the treasured possessions of our God? May he in his never failing goodness give us increasing evi­dences of "what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe." -- Eph. 1:19.

ACCORDING TO HIS MIGHTY POWER

This is our last of the three things for which Paul fervently asks on behalf of his brethren. The Apostle rejoiced in a gospel of which he could say, it "is the power of God unto salvation." He well knows that one might see these wonderful possessions as features of God's plan for his elect Church, and that one might cherish such aspirations, but all would be but a mirage unless this third thing was within the reach of every aspiring believer. 'This is therefore the "power" inherent in the Gospel of which Paul was not ashamed. As we read his confident state­ments in chapters I and III of his Ephesian letter, should we not be constrained to say with full assur­ance and joy, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" Think of such words as these, "According to the work­ing of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenlies." "We have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated accord­ing to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man." "Unto him that is able to do exceeding abun­dantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." -- Eph. 1:19, 20, 11; 3:16, 20.

This is the power we can count on for attaining all of that for which the Lord has laid hold of us. Let us properly appraise it, and then with the Apostle affirm with confidence, "We are not of those who draw back, but of those who go on to the saving of the soul. This is energy for all our weakness, sufficiency for all our needs. Christ with­in the heart can reverse the currents of life, setting in motion those onward and upward, influences by which we are "changed from glory to glory. We are asked to think of Jesus as dead and laid away in the tomb of Joseph. He could never have raised himself from that grave, the Apostle would remind us, but he was raised by the power of the Father. Now we lift our eyes and see him at the right hand of God exalted. Are we not being urged then in the appeal of these several Texts to measure the power of God's almighty hand in thus raising our Lord from death and placing him far above angels, principalities and powers, and then like David encourage ourselves in the Lord, that this almighty power is underneath us, to accomplish for us our complete raising up to the same lofty heights, where we shall be through all the ages "to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ."

Ours is the happy privilege of being of those who have trusted in Christ. We have heard the word of truth, the Gospel of our salvation. We have been sealed with the holy spirit of promise, and thereby received the "earnest of our inheritance until the re­demption of the promised possession, unto the praise of his glory." (Eph. 1:13, 14.) Are we to finally re­ceive that inheritance? As we have just seen, there is no reason for our not possessing it. Unlimited resources are at our command. Every influence of grace and love lies in God's revealed will to draw us onward to this glorious end. What more can he say than to us he has said, in revelations of his grace in Christ, making us accepted in that beloved One. Exceeding great and precious promises are ours to receive in faith, and experience their influ­ence in separating us completely from all that is not conducive to or in accord with our spiritual pros­pects. Surely he draws us with such cords of love, and binds us to himself inseparably. He holds us "in his own right hand and will not let us go." But there can be failure. We can fail, utterly fail to abide in Christ. Awful possibility! How shall we avoid so great a logs? Keep a single eye, an enlight­ened heart, and hold fast till we enter with him into our inheritance.

 -- J. J. Blackburn.

God's Foreknowledge in the Permission of Evil

God's Prescience - PART II

"Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world." "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else: I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." - Acts 15:18; Isaiah 46:9, 10.

DOCTRINAL error firmly rooted, in the mind often leads to an extreme of illogical reasoning against the corrective light. No­where is this tendency more pronounced than in the arguments advanced against this under­standing of God's purpose in the permission of evil. This understanding has 'been denounced as uni­versalism, and the argument advanced that under such a purpose "God would be compelled to save even the Devil" On the contrary, there is nothing whatever savoring of universalism in this view of God's purpose. The thought back of this drastic criticism Mould appear to be, that under such a pur­pose in the permission of evil, God could not in jus­tice eternally condemn any one. God's purpose to­ward his creatures in future ages, in the prevention of sin by a timely writing of his law in their hearts through instruction in righteousness, which has been 'made possible by the knowledge made available through the circumstances of permitted evil, obligates him in no way to a lenient policy toward incorrigible sinners of the present and past. As eternal life is based on perfect love attainment, their salvation is not possible. In substance their fate is in their enmity toward righteousness and their refusal of it.

While the writing of God's law in the hearts of his creatures did not have its actual beginning in Eden, the revealing of the principles of right and wrong began with the entrance of sin into Jehovah's domain through the Eden incident. Under God's decree, "The wages of sin is death." They who choose sin in preference to righteousness must reap its penalty.. Those who consent to God's law will be rendered sin­-Proof by having that law written in their hearts. The writing, of God's law in the heart is not a mere knowl­edge of this law, but the indelible imprint of it in the moral nature of the individual. A knowledge of God's law greater than the recognition of the prin­ciple of right and wrong, is not essential to responsi­bility for willful wickedness.

As for the Devil's responsibility, he is entirely with­out excuse. His deception of Eve was no sudden re­grettable impulse, but a carefully worked' out plot, in which he was fully awake to a responsible knowl­edge of right and wrong as indicated in his argument to Eve. The Devil's endeavor to gain the allegiance of the human pair was frustrated by God. But in­stead of being led to repentance by God's lenient policy toward him in his rebellious course, his heart was still further hardened against God.

The Lord's statement recorded in Genesis 3:22, "Behold the man has become as one of us to know good and evil," is cited as supposed proof that the angels were acquainted with these principles before Adam's fall into sin. The angels had witnessed the Eden incident and as a result, the principle of evil was revealed to them. The Devil had awakened to the principle of evil some time prior to his actual rebellion. Granting that the angels were not entirely ignorant of possible evil, their grasp of it could not have been sufficient to be of practical value. There­fore the primary purpose of this statement would ap­pear to be as testimony, that prior to Adam's sin he was entirely unacquainted with the principles of good and evil. This testimony is of special value in this­ day when it is being erroneously declared that Adam possessed a clear knowledge of right and wrong prior to his sin.

God's statement to Pharaoh through. Moses of the purpose for which he raised him up, as recorded in Exodus 9:16 and quoted by the Apostle Paul in Rom­ans 9:17, is used by some as the basic Scripture in support of their teaching advanced on God's purpose in the permission of evil. The interpretation given this text is that Pharaoh represented the Devil, and therefore God's. statement to Pharaoh of the purpose for which he raised him up applies literally to the Devil. The writer does not dispute that Pharaoh was ­a type of the Devil, but the evidence is clear that God's use of Pharaoh was as type only. All types are only miniatures of greater realities to which they point. Therefore, as Pharaoh typed one far greater than himself, even so God's statement to him of the purpose for which he raised him up, typed a far greater purpose than the one for which God raised him to power.

In the type it was the fame of God's power over Pharaoh that was declared throughout the earth. This manifest power was also proof that Jehovah is the true God. But it was in this limited respect as a type only that God's name was "declared throughout the earth" in that day; for God's attributes, as these are reflected in his law, had not yet been brought to light. It was for the purpose of revealing God's at­tributes that his law might be made manifest to all his creatures that the Devil's plot was permitted by God, and that God's name, as represented in these revealed attributes, might be declared, not only throughout the earth, but throughout Jehovah's en­tire domain. God raised Lucifer up to an honorary position of trust. He betrayed that trust, as God foreknew he would, because of the sinful pride already in his heart. "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." -- Prov. 16:18.

THE SIMILITUDE OF ADAM'S TRANSGRESSION

An evident misinterpretation, of Romans 5:14 is used to support the argument that the condemnation resting upon Adam is much greater than that upon his posterity. The failure to consider the explanatory testimony of the preceding verse, which is necessary to an understanding of this Scripture, has led to a mistaken idea of its meaning. These verses should be considered together, as follows: "For until the law, sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come."

The Apostle's meaning in this inspired statement is clear. Prior to Moses, Adam's descendants were under no law but that of conscience: for God's law had not been declared; and as stated by the Apostle, "Sin is not imputed when there is no law." Adam's sin was imputed to him because he was under a stat­ute of obedience. "The similitude of Adam's trans­gression" consists in the conscious violation of a de­clared law of God. Extending from Abel to Moses was a line of godly men, to whom God accounted their faith as righteousness.. These men had not sinned after "the similitude of Adam's transgression," as there was no declared law of God to violate. Hence their sins were not imputed to them; yet death reigned over them the same as over others. As "a clean thing cannot come forth from an unclean," they were born under the condemnation of death; and they died­ not because of responsibility for their sins, but be­cause they were "conceived in sin and shapen in in­iquity," in a heritage from Adam.. The Apostle sums the matter up in these words: "Therefore, as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to con­demnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." -- Rom. 5:18, 19.

Not until the giving of the law was there an imput­ing of sin "after the similitude of Adam's transgres­sion." This does not mean that the wicked were not held responsible for their wickedness, as all men were acquainted with the principles of right and wrong. Prior to the declaring of the law, they were ignorant of the breadth and scope of these principles, and had perverted ideas in regard to them, yet their conscience either approved or condemned them according to their attitude toward these recognized principles, and, their behavior in connection with them. Therefore their sins were judged by the law of conscience: for God's law, not having been as yet declared, they were under no other law. "For as many as have sinned without law, shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned within the law, shall be judged by the law." (Rom. 2:12.) Those who sin within the law, sin "after the similitude of Adam's transgression," for they are knowingly disobedient to the declared statutes of God's law. The Apostle Paul says of him­self: "Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But in taking occasion by the com­mandment, wrought in me all manner of concupi­scence. For without the law, sin was dead." -- Rom. 7:7, 8.

Those of us who have come to a knowledge of God's law stand in an entirely different relationship to sin from that of those to whom God's law has not been declared. And this responsibility constitutes our sins as sins "after the similitude of Adam's transgression." Our sins are not sins of willful wickedness. Neither was Adam's sin a sin of willful wickedness. Nor was his sin worse in any degree than our sins. We may consider our sins "unintentional sin" if, we choose; neverthe­less we are knowingly disobedient to God's law when we commit them; and we are 'no more deserving of God's mercy than was Adam.

COMMISSION NOT HELD UP

As God looked beyond Adamic sin to a redeemed people, the mitigating circumstances of Adam's sin, which permitted of a ransom for him and this poster­ity, made unnecessary the delaying of the divine au­thorization, to "be fruitful, and multiply, and replen­ish the earth." This authorization was in no sense of the word a mandate, but distinctly a commission carrying the thought of a granted privilege, rather than that of an imperative command. The terming of this authorization, "The Divine mandate," has through this high sounding and impressive term, such a psychological influence upon the minds of the breth­ren to accept the teachings involved, as to savor of demon suggestion. The view that the birth of a pos­terity to Adam was permitted of God to furnish hu­man material for the purpose of demonstrating his sovereignty over the power of the Devil, places God theoretically on a par with him.

The Devil's rebellion was a challenge to God's om­nipotence. God demonstrated his sovereign power in the Eden incident by thwarting the Devil's pur­pose. The Devil failed to gain any of the objectives of his nefarious plot further than the mere turning of the human pair into sin; for because of their con­demnation, his plot was foiled. He based the entire success o£ it on the evil thought that God was a liar, and would not carry out his declared penalty for dis­obedience, And while the Devil turned the human pair into sin, he failed utterly in gaining their alle­giance. It is true that in the Devil's continued rebellion against God, he has gained the allegiance of a large part of Adam's descendants, but this has been through God's non-interference, and is a situation only remotely related to the Devil's original purpose.

 -- H. Sillaway.

(To be continued)

"The Hidden Life"

"Your life is hid with Christ in God." - Col. 3:3.

AS A convincing proof that God has been creat­ing "a church within the church," reference was made in our previous article to our Lord's fi­nal messages to the churches. (Rev. chapter 2 and 3.) The appeal to these messages would be germane to our argument in any case, for it is the distinction made by our Lord between "star" and -- "candlestick"' which constitutes the evidence we wish to present. Whether therefore we take the messages as directed to the seven churches named, or to the whole uni­versal church, the point of distinction is the same -- ­it is that of "star" versus "candlestick," or "star" alongside "candlestick."

It is an arresting picture from which these two de­scriptive terms are taken. Being caught up into a deeply spiritual ecstatic state; which he describes as "being in the spirit," John saw a group of seven gold­en candlesticks (or lampstands) so positioned that their lay out permitted the presence, in their midst, of an extraordinary Personage, garbed and function­ing like a priest. His voice had the deep boom as of many waters, while out of his mouth went forth a sharp two-edged sword. In his hand was held a clus­ter of seven stars. Recovering from his swoon John heard him identify himself as One who was both "First and Last" -- the Living One -- who had been dead and was now alive for evermore, and who now pos­sessed the keys of death and hades! Then John was commissioned to write of these things, past,, present, and to come, among which things was the mystery­ ("the sacred secret" -- Rotherham) of the seven stars and of the seven golden candlesticks. "The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks are seven churches."

That this was, a representation of our Lord Jesus in his priestly supervision of the church cannot very easily be doubted -- for that is exactly the relationship to his people which he foreshadowed in his last High­ Priestly prayer on earth. Looking forward from that somber night and that ever to be remembered ''upper room" to the days when his loved ones would be carry­ing the message of his death and resurrection through­out the world, the soon to be crucified Master prayed, "As thou didst send me into the world, even so sent I them' into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself [I set myself apart], that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. (John 17:18, 19.) Look­ing forward from that night, Jesus, openly, in their hearing; devoted and dedicated himself to be their' Guardian and Protector, while producing in their heart the same holy demeanor and response towards the Truth which he possessed himself.

It is this same relationship and superintending oversight which we find depicted in symbolic utter­ance by the Revelator's pen, for -- apart from all quib­ble and controversy Jesus is here symbolized as caus­ing the lampstands to emit their light -- feeding, trim­ming, and attending to their needs, in order that their light might shine forth in a dark place, and illumi­nate what otherwise would be a state of utter black­ness.

"The ... candlesticks are ... churches." Whether therefore they were but seven Levantine churches, or a universal seven -- phased church, matters not for the purpose of our present review; the candlesticks were representative of churches. Everything about a candle­stick relates it to the earth; its base must be positioned on the earth, its light must be diffused in the earth. But they do not themselves create their light, nor dis­pel the darker shades of ignorance which spread around. They, the churches thus symbolized, hold forth and diffuse their light in proportion as the Oil of Grace is brought into contact with the fire of the divine spirit. Thus while dwelling on the earth, they stand as so many lampstands of light and truth in a world of darkness and of sin. And it has been to this end that Jesus Christ has attended them and cared for them day by day, from the beginning to the end.

In striking contrast with the location of the Lamp­stand, we discern that the stars are held in the Super­visor's right hand. But even so, they are not dis­severed from the churches, for each star respectively is the "angel" of its church. Each star is a light­ bearer too, but unlike the light of the candlestick, its light is not ear-1 -- derived. Its light is depicted as heavenly light -- a point of heavenly light diffusing through a darkened sky.

Who or what do these heavenly light bearers repre­sent? Our answer is, they represent the spiritually ­illumined few, who have come to understand things which eye saw not, which ear had never previously heard, and which have never entered into the heart of man -- things which pertain to a heavenly Call, and have been revealed to the recipients by the spirit of God alone.

It has been a fond belief among the ordained min­istry in the Christian church to believe itself the "star" fast held in the Savior's right hand. Perhaps no one has delineated this more forcefully than the dear de­parted pious Joseph A. Seiss, in his explanation of this symbolism, but from which we feel ourselves duty bound to dissent:

"The seven stars are the angels [ministers] of the seven churches" and as such they are distinct from the candlesticks. Christ walks among the candlesticks, but he holds these ministers in his right hand.  . . Ministers have relations to Christ and to the church which ordinary church members have not. They par­take directly of Christ's authority, and are responsible directly to him and are upheld by his right hand, be­yond the power of men or angels to displace them.

"What a lesson for ministers, as to the holiness of their office, the solemnity of their responsibilities, the necessity for unswerving fidelity and the exercise, of every confidence in their sacred functions. They are in Christ's hand. If they are unfaithful, none can deliver them out of that hand, but if true to their position, none can touch them or quench their light."

A little further on he says, "They are stars because they are illuminators, and because they are heads and leaders of the flocks over which the holy ghost hath placed them. They are angels or messengers because God hath sent them and made them his representa­tives, the guardians of his churches, and the stewards of his mysteries. They are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech by them. They are, for the purposes of their office 'in Christ's stead.' - 2 Cor. 5:20."

Thus far our worthy brother. But we must not overlook the fact also that for many generations Anglican Bishops, and other church superintendents of equal status, have used these seven Epistles to the Churches as their evidence (in part at least) when ordaining candidates to the ministry, deducing here ­from the proof that the now accepted candidate has entered into a class apart from the lay member of the church. In both Roman and Anglican Church the ordained one has become a priest. In the broader sections of the church he has become, at least, a "min­ister," with the celebration of the Church's rites -- the Lord's Supper, baptism, marriage, burial -- as his spe­cial prerogatives. This distinction between clergy and laity is almost as universal as the Christian Church itself.

But there was no such separated body in the church when John wrote and sent these letters to the seven churches whose names they bear. The separation of clergy from laity belongs to a considerably later day. It is obvious from all Scripture testimony that no Apostle had received authority from the Lord thus to divide between the members of the flock, and most certainly John, as the last, member of the Apostolic band, would not have sanctioned, much less have in­stituted it. Yet though there was no separated clergy in his day, there was an "angel" (otherwise a "star" ) associated with each church, to whom, and through whom, the message to each church was conveyed. On either principle of application there was an angel in each church when Jesus sent, through John, this final communication to them. If the contemporaneous principle be the correct one, then all the seven angels were in existence in John's own day; if the historical application be correct, at least the angel to the Church of Ephesus had already taken his place in the uni­versal church.

In the light of Scripture testimony the clergy came at length to usurp the place of the more deeply spiri­tual element in the church -- the few upon whom the spirit of God rested in fuller measure. God only could "call" and "ordain" to the ministry, as when by the inspiration of his, holy spirit he said to the Church at Antioch, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." (Acts 13:2.) No special license or sanction was required to preach the Word or to baptize, as the Book of Acts so frequently indicates. Even when scattered abroad, faithful men. went everywhere preaching the Word. Always, everywhere, the holy spirit was then the super, visor of the work and ministry.

It may be true, in the course of history, that mem­bers of the clergy were among the class represented in the star, but it is just as true, on the other hand, that many of them were not. And further, even if they were, they had neither advantage nor superiority over the unordained member of the church, provided the latter, as well as the former, had received the en­lightening power of the holy spirit. So also today, it is not the imposition of a bishop's hands, nor the wearing of the clerical garb that distinguishes "star" from "candlestick," but the unction from the Holy One. The same distinction can exist today, as it did in Paul's own day, entirely apart from an ordained ministry, for God has not abrogated his right to call, and illuminate to greater extent, those whom he wills.­ Perhaps with that we can leave this usurping claim, and seek to ascertain wherein the true "star" class may be distinguished from the "candlestick."

Throughout the whole Christian era there has ex­isted a dual ministry -- a ministry of reason, and a deeper ministry of faith. The ministry of reason has appealed to the intellectual and reasoning powers of men, presenting the evidences of the Holy Word to the consideration of thoughtful men. Man's own ex­perience tells him that something within himself is not what it ought to be, for his own and his neigh­bor's good. The Bible, and its messenger, tells him that the internal malady is sin. Again, man's exper­ience assures him that his neighbor is as himself, and that the internal malady is a universal thing -- that it existed in his father's day, as well as in his own. The Bible, and its messenger, informs him that God pro­poses to grapple with this malady in his own time and way. From these few simple premises the doctrines of ransom and restitution can be deduced. In this same way a reasonable basis for the whole Plan of God can be laid down, acceptable and satisfying to the highest and noblest faculties of man. True, the presentation of these facts and evidences have not in the past run so easily as that, but it is man, not the Holy Book, which has bungled the ministry. Within the life span of some who thoughtfully peruse these words, the message has been presented in that satisfy­ing way and it did its work repeatedly. That is the ministry of the candlestick, and is a ministry open to one and all who believe the Word of God. It is the ministry of "the light" shilling in a dark world, a ministry of text, and fact, and evidence based on the Holy Word and presented to convince the inquir­ing, thoughtful mind.

There is yet a deeper ministry based on a Supervis­ing Providence, a story of a loving Shepherd's care adapted to the needs of every trusting soul, in every land and cline, in every age and circumstance. It is the story of something new and vital proceeding from a living, loving Savior's intervention and oversight in the daily life, coming crew and fresh every moment, of every day, to each and all. Behind and under­neath it is the verbal promise in the Holy Book, but it is more than mere citation nor remembrance of a text. It is a promise come to life, a promise fitted to experience, a promise come to fruit and flower for my (the priest's) special need and sustenance! It is much or little to me, in proportion to my faith. I cannot begin even the first step to reason all this out -- why it should be as it is; why it should come just when it does; why it thrills and satisfies as nothing else ever can -- but 'I just take it, and drink it in, on simple faith, and my soul is satisfied. Herein lies the ministry of the "star" -- the angel ministry of the Christian Church. It is a ministry for the Church' "within," by those who watch over the Church's own state of soul; a ministry on behalf of him in whose right hand they are kept, and to whom; they must answer for its state; a most blessed ministry indeed, that may be much better "felt" than "telt, as our Scottish friends might say.

There is much more here that might need to be said were this a more direct study of "the Presence in the midst, instead of being by way of mere con­tributory evidence to another theme, but enough has been deduced to show, on any basis of interpretation, that he who supervises and directs the Christian Church has had a twofold guardianship over its faithful ministry, which thus endorses and supports the thought that there has ever been "a church with­in the church" since the Christian Church began.

Thus far we have submitted Scripture evidence that an inner core of worshipers has been surrounded by an outer fringe. It is not for us to say who be­longs to which, nor to assign ourselves a place in the angel ministry and allocate our brother to the candle­stick. That is God's prerogative alone. He only knows the depths of every heart, and he alone can grade his "vessels unto this responsibility or that.

But nothing should be more easily obvious to us, as we survey the general pattern of church life and experience, than that some believers live their lives at greater depths than others do. All the long way through, the Christian Church has had its Martha and Mary types, each type fulfilling faithfully the work apportioned for it to do. It has not been any believer's fault that he was blessed with Martha's hands, instead of Mary's heart. Both types have had their place and each within its, allotted sphere could respond with faithful service to the Lord. Perhaps no reader will have need to gainsay the thought that none but the tiniest few, throughout the whole Chris­tian Age, lived their lives at the same degree of in­tensity as did Peter, Paul, and John. Even here there were differences, but it is surely safe to say, that life, for these three, at least, was at white heat -- intense with a height and depth of fervency that ate them up. To such as these the life of faith means much; it ex­acts much, but compensatingly it gives much. These are men of large capacity initially, but when desire and thirst increase with every, phase of service and ex­perience, development, in spiritual fiber, as well as in intensified capacity, knows no bounds short of copy  likeness to the Lord. It is theirs some better day, to shine as with the glory of the sun. (1 Cor. 15:31.) But alongside these there is to be a glory of "the moon" and even of "the stars," yea, even of many stars -- for these have many differences in brilliancy and glory. It has not been given to all, "to live the life" in all its heights and depths as it was given to the foregoing illustrious three,  yet notwithstanding that, there have been many zealous souls who have lived and walked with God, not always in the bril­liant glare of front-rank publicity, but in the quieter retreats of monastic cell or humble cot.

The story of the church as seen and read by men is not one that any student can exult about. It has its lights and shades; its nobler and its baser parts, Never has it been all that it should have been, or even as it might have been. Always it has been opposed and hampered by a wily foe, whose policy, it was to interject his counterfeits of men and practice into its devotions, yet in spite of all its faults it were better that such church should be, than that darkness, total and complete, should reign everywhere. Even in its very darkest days Christendom had something that heathendom had not. Formalism and ritual may have occupied the forefront of the view, but every­where, in (many ,lands, thousands of pious souls, in spite of candle, image, and ceremony, loved and served the Lord with sincere intent, while here and there, were one's and two's whose deeper vision broke through the ceremonial crust to the purer atmosphere of a higher life. Obviously he who walked amid the candlesticks, notwithstanding all the wide scope of its perversity, did not disavow or disown his Church for the dear sake of this choicer few. Always through these darker centuries his Eye was watching their belabored steps, and ever and again his Hand reached down to render help to such as could respond. Throughout the dark centuries, because his Father's Plan was what it was, he too, tolerated and per­mitted much that grieved him to the heart.

Through all the varied changes which afflicted Christendom -- its rupture into East and West, its capitulation and subjugation to. Patriarch and Pope; its separations and disintegration into numerous dis­senting sects, the two-phased experience of "star" and "candlestick" continued unbroken and un­changed. The "inner" Church existed in ev­ery part -- Patriarchial, Papal, and Reformed -- yet was exclusive to none of them. Much there was that was sordid and defiled, but there was truth and fervent piety in the midst of it. Much there was that was masked and hid the Lord beneath Cathedral pomp and ritual, but occupant of monastic cell and. humble cot well knew the way to God's Secret Place, notwithstanding that. Each man found the level of his depth thereby disclosed -- to some the showy scene was everything, to others it was nauseating in the ex­treme. To some the visible alone could present ap­peal; to others the invisible was the focus of desire.

Thus, through all the years, a long thin line of scattered, seeking saints has lived and died, never found as whole communities or as established churches anywhere, but mainly found as one's and two's. Dear men of God! treading lonely paths with God and Christ; unknown, unaided save by heavenly Grace; how poor the Church would have been with­out their "other -- worldliness" -- seeking the things above. Ostracized, driven apart, a hidden kernel within an outer shell -- a hidden church within the church -- such was their happy lot!

Among the many mysteries peculiar to this Gospel Age this mystery of a "church within a church" is one of the most mysterious. It cannot be accounted for by any combination of natural facts. There is but one key to open up the mystery, and to that, ref­erence has already been made. The heavenly Call, supervening on the Repentance Call, is "not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth," but only of God that showeth mercy. Among so many who have found satisfaction in things that are external and visible has been a saintly few who endured as seeing only "the invisible"; who worshiped not in "this mountain or that, but "in spirit and in truth." Deep things of God called to the depths within their souls and who, when wooed and won, surrendered them­selves wholly to the heavenly Call. A watchful Eye surveyed them longingly, and having assessed and weighed beforetime the deep potentialities possessed, directed in its own Providential way, its invitation to them to arise and follow in the footsteps of his be­loved Son. Thus they whom God had previously watched and had foreknown (known before the Call), had been called into the fellowship of his sufferings. -- Rom. 8:29, 30.

In all this deeper and more advanced experience the Majesty of God would be exercising its own sole prerogative to call only whom he would, and none might enter into that 'experience (with all its holy joy) save he that was called of God.

That thousands upon thousands who have consti­tuted the external church of God have neither known, nor understood, and consequently have not shared this deep experience is a fact beyond dispute. Hence when the "called one" has attempted to describe his joys and deep experience, the rigid dogmatist and fiery controversialist too oft has discounted his words and happiness as a mere mystic's dream -- as symptoms of a disordered imagination; or as uncontrolled fantasy originating in an over-tense spiritual desire for things of another world, much too impracticable for a mundane world like this where enticements of the world, the flesh, and the devil are still so strong and so difficult to overcome; and as altogether unsuited for a Church called upon to cope with the more com­mon needs of man in his drab and common round of mortal life.

This very conflict over the centuries of the "mystic" and the "practic" -- the "spiritual" and the "natural -- is an unmistakable proof that life in the Christian' Church has been lived on different planes, at differ­ing depths and intensities, and that some have had joys and experiences which others have not known. Even with the same Holy Book in their hands its use and serviceability has been different; awaking re­sponses of divergent: -- kinds. That this is not mere fancy on the writer's part is open to all who will seek proof from Scripture, history, and, general re­ligious experience -- a hidden mystery open to proof to those who seek it in the right way.

To live as a man among men in a seeming natural way, and yet to live as a child of God above and be­yond men is a mystery indeed to those outside the Call! To live a life adapted to this earth, in its best and highest sense, and yet to live ever bending up­wards towards another world -- towards a heavenly home and a Christ-like destiny is a thing most difficult to explain except to those of other worldly mind, The natural mind (even the religious mind) may understand the things of this world, but it does not understand those things which eye has never seen, which ear has never heard, nor human heart conceived; and which have been re­served by God for those of truly spiritual mind.

To those who do understand, it is truly an inspir­ing thought to know that the Purpose of God concerning the Church of this Gospel Age has not been the failure it may seem, to the superficial mind, to have been. That Intention and Purpose have been accomplished. A little band of zealous faithful souls will have been changed and transformed into the likeness of their Lord. Scripture, history, and experi­ence all alike, attest the fact that this company can­not have been numerous -- at most a little flock -- a little flock gathered from a larger flock -- a "separa­tion" taken from a "separation" -- a Church created and taken from the bosom of a larger Church!

Was it not exactly thus in Israel? Was not the house of Levi taken from the tribes of Israel and then the house of Aaron separated out of this? Was not the comparative little flock of Aaron's sons the only part of the white robed tribe who had access to the place of the hidden life -- with its specific rights and privileges and its exclusive duties and services?

There is surely more in this than meets the natural eye, for herein is the patterned basis 'on which the deep and fundamental mysteries of New Testament truth have been built, and which must be seen and clearly recognized if those New Testament truths are to be apprehended and understood in their relation to the Age that now is, and to the Age that is to come.

The outstanding fact that marks all this distinctive­ness of experience is, first, that Aaron and his sons were called of God to a more, sacred ministry than the rest of Levi's family, and were anointed by the sacred oil at His express direction and command and second, that Jesus and his brethren have similar­ly been called, but on a higher plane, to a deeper, fuller service involving sacrifice and death, and have received "anointing" with the spirit of the Living God to equip and fit them to appear and stand before him in his Holiest Place. They are thus called to a deeper life -- a hidden life -- a life that is hid with Christ in God.

-- T. Holmes, Eng.

Notes on Immortality

(At the request of the president of one of our Middle-west colleges, the following notes were recently submitted to him by the writer. They are presented here with the thought that, they may be of interest to our readers. Those acquainted with the six, volumes of Scripture Studies will recognize the large debt, these notes owe to those volumes, especially Vol. 1 and Vol. V. -- P. L. R.)

In the following paragraphs is outlined what I be­lieve to be the teaching of the Bible on this important subject.

It will be found convenient to consider the matter under eight main headings, which may first be stated, and then discussed, in the following order:

1. The, terms Mortality and Immortality Examined.

2. The terms Immortality and Everlasting Life Distinguished

3. What is Man?

4. The Church Distinguished from the Remainder of Mankind

5. Athanasia

6. The Hope of the Church

7. The World's Hope

8. Summary

(1) THE TERMS "MORTALITY" AND "IMMORTALITY" EXAMINED

Immortality signifies a state or condition in which death is an impossibility. Most people limit the word to mean everlasting life Immortality, however, means inherent life, a condition in which death could not occur. This point will be more fully developed later in these notes.

To the word mortality, however, more often than not, an entirely false meaning is assigned. The com­mon idea is that it signifies a condition in which death is unavoidable. This understanding is erroneous. The word signifies a state in which death is a possi­bility, but by no means a certainty.

With these points recognized we are prepared to consider the creation of Adam. Adam was created mortal; created in a condition in which death was a possibility or everlasting life was a possibility; accord­ing as he pleased or displeased his wise, just, and lov­ing Creator. Had he remained obedient, he would have continued living until now -- and forever -- and yet all the time he would have remained mortal, li­able to death if disobedient. Nor would such a con­dition be one of uncertainty; for God, with whom he had to do, is unchangeable; hence Adam would have had full assurance of everlasting life so long as he continued loyal and obedient to the Creator. More than this could not reasonably be asked.

Previous to his disobedience Adam enjoyed life in full measure, abut not inherent life -- immortality. His was a life sustained by "every tree of the garden" save the one tree forbidden; and so Tong, as lie continued in obedience and in harmony with his Maker, his life was secure -- the sustaining elements -- would not be de­nied. Thus seen, Adam had life; and death was en­tirely -- avoidable; yet he was in such a condition that death was possible -- he was mortal.

(2) THE TERMS IMMORTALITY
AND EVERLASTING LIFE DISTINGUISHED

Everlasting life and Immortality are not synony­mous terms, although such a view is commonly held. The word "immortal" means more than power to live everlastingly; and, according to the Scriptures, while millions may ultimately enjoy everlasting life, only a very few will be made possessors of immortality­ -- sharers of the Divine nature.

This quality of immortality originally inhered in Jehovah alone, as it is written:. "the Father hath life in himself" (John 5:26); that is to say, his existence is not a derived one, nor a sustained one. Any being,, whose existence depends in any manner upon another, or upon conditions such as food, air, light, etc., is not immortal.

To any who suppose that the Bible abounds with such expressions as immortal soul, undying soul, nev­er dying soul, etc., could be offered no better advice than that they take a Bible concordance and look for these words and others of similar import: They will find none.

According to the Scriptures the holy angels are en­joying life everlasting, but are nevertheless only mor­tal; that is to say, the everlastingness of their angelic existence is not because they are immortal (or death­ proof) and so could not be destroyed by their Cre­ator, but because he desires that they shall live as long as they will use their lives in accord with his just and loving arrangements. Not only are they not now immortal, but there is no intimation that they ever will be. Proof that they are mortal may be seen from the fact that Satan, who was once a chief of their number, is to be destroyed. (Heb. 2:14.) The fact that he can be destroyed proves that angels, as a class of beings, are mortal.

(3) WHAT IS MAN?

The answer to this question, if given from. the so­ called orthodox theological standpoint would be about as follows: Man is a composite being of three parts, body, spirit, and soul: the body is born after the usual manner of animal birth, except that at the time of birth God interposes, and in some inscrutable manner implants in the body a spirit and a soul which are parts of himself, and which, being parts of God, are indestructible, and therefore can never die. These two parts, spirit and soul, orthodoxy is unable to dis­tinguish, and hence uses the terms interchangeably at convenience. Both terms (spirit and soul) are under­stood to mean the real man, while the flesh is consid­ered to, be merely the outward clothing of the real man,, in which he dwells for the years of this earthly life, as in a house. At death, orthodoxy says, the real man is let out of this prison house of flesh, and finds himself in a condition much more congenial.

In other words, orthodoxy claims that the real man is not an earthly being, but a spirit being wholly un­adapted to the earth, except through its experiences in the fleshly body. When set free from the body by death, it is argued that a great blessing has been ex­perienced, although the man, while he lived, made every effort to continue to live in the fleshly house, using surgery, medicines, and every hygienic appli­ance and invention to prolong the life in the flesh which, it is claimed, is poorly adapted to his uses and enjoyment.

Nor is this view confined to people of civilized lands; in a general way all heathen people have practi­cally the same thought respecting man; the viewpoint finds support in all their philosophies.

To the question, What is man? the scientific an­swer, stated in simple language, would be: Man is an animal of the highest type yet developed and known. He has a body 'which differs from the bodies of other animals, in that it is the highest and noblest develop­ment. His brain structure corresponds to that of the lower animals, but is of a better developed and more refined order, with added and larger capacities, which constitute man by nature the lord, the king of the lower creation. Man's breath or spirit of life is like that of other animals. Man's organism and spark of life are from his progenitors, in the same manner that the beasts receive their life and bodies from their pro­genitors.

Science recognizes every man as a sentient being; but as to the future, beyond the grave, science has no suggestion to offer, finding nothing whereon to base a conclusion, or even a reasonable hypothesis.

When we turn to the Bible for an answer to our question we find that the Scriptures, while agreeing with both the orthodox and the scientific viewpoints in some respects, contradict both along some of their most important lines.

King Solomon, it is well known, was famous for his wisdom and learning. When to him it was suggested that, whereas the life of the lower orders of creation ceased at death, that of human beings continued on the other side the grave, his comment was: "Who can prove it?" While he knew that human beings were endowed with moral attributes not possessed by the lower animals, yet, so far as the kind of life they pos­sessed, his observation was: "That which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one [the same] thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one [kind of] breath; so that a man [in this respect] hath no preeminence above a beast ... all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again."­ - Eccl. 3:19-21.

Nor was this conclusion which Solomon reached different from that of other Scripture writers. The thought which he expressed in another place, namely, that "there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave" (Eccl. 9:10) is their united testimony. David, in the Psalms, declares that in the very day one dies, his thoughts perish. (Psa. 146:4.) Job, discussing the same question, says: The dead man's "sons come to honor and he knoweth it not; they come to dishonor, but he perceiveth it not of them." - Job. 14:21.

What, then, is the soul? The Bible account of the creation of Oman reads as follows: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed -- [or blew] into his nostrils the breath [or wind] of lives; and man became a living soul." (Gen. 2:7.) From this account it appears that the body was formed first, but it was not a man, it was not a soul or being until an­imated. It had eyes, but saw nothing; a mouth, but no taste; nostrils, but no sense of smell; a heart, but it pulsated not; blood, but it was cold, lifeless; lungs, but they moved not. It was not a man, but an inan­imate body.

The second step in the process of man's creation was to give vitality to the properly formed, and in every way prepared body, and this is described by the words: "blew into his nostrils the breath of lives." As the vitalizing breath entered, the hangs expanded, the blood corpuscles were oxygenized and passed to the heart, which organ in turn propelled there to every part of the body, awakening all the prepared, but hitherto dormant nerves to sensation and energy. In an instant the energy reached the brain, and think­ing, perceiving, reasoning, looking, touching, smelling, feeling, and tasting commenced. That which was a lifeless human organism had become a man, a sen­tient being; the "living soul" condition mentioned in the text had been reached.

This has been illustrated by the candle. For in­stance, the candle, unlighted, would correspond to. an inanimate human body; the lighting of the candle would correspond to the spark of life originally im­planted by the Creator; the flame, or light, corre­sponds to the sentient being, or intelligence; the oxygenized atmosphere which unites with the carbon of the candle in supporting the flame corresponds to the breath of life or spirit of life which unites with the physical organism in. producing, soul or intelligent existence.

If an accident should destroy the candle, the flame, of course, would cease; so, if the human body be de­stroyed, the soul, the life, the intelligence, ceases, or, if the supply of air were cut off from the candle flame, as by an extinguisher or snuffer, or by submerging the candle in water, the light would be extinguished, even though the candle remained unimpaired; so the soul, the life or existence of man would cease if the breath of life, were cut off by drowning, or asphyxia­tion, while the body might be comparatively sound.

As the lighted candle might be used under favor­able conditions to light other candles, but the flame once extinguished could neither relight itself nor other candles, so the human body, while alive, as living soul or being, can start or propagate other souls or beings -- offspring; but so soon as the spark of life is gone, soul or being has ceased, and all power to think, feel, or propagate, has ceased.

A candle might be relighted by any one having, the ability; but the human body, bereft of the spark of life, wasteth away, -- returneth to the dust from which it was taken, and the spark, of life cannot be re-en­kindled except by a miracle.

(4) THE CHURCH DISTINGUISHED FROM THE REMAINDER OF MANKIND

A fruitful source of confusion in the minds of Christian people, when attempting to obtain the Scriptural views ' as to the nature of man, is their failure to distinguish between mankind in general and the Church, the little flock, which during the Gospel Age (the past 2,000 years) God has been se­lecting from amongst men, fitting and preparing them for new and super human conditions -- spiritual con­ditions. Failing to "rightly divide the sword of truth," they apply to all men the statements and promises of the Scriptures, especially of the New Testament, which are addressed only to the Church, and which have no bearing whatever upon the hopes of restitu­tion to human perfection, held out to all others of mankind. These great and precious promises are pro­portionately as untrue of the world as, they are true of the Church.  

There are literally scores of New Testament state­ments which are not applicable to mankind in gen­eral, but merely to the Church, begotten again by the holy spirit to a new spirit nature. To realize this it is only necessary to notice carefully the salutations by which' the Apostles introduce their various Epistles. They are not addressed, as is supposed by many, to mankind in general, but to the Church, "the saints," "the household of faith"; to those who will attain unto the "first resurrection" "as distinguished from the gen­eral resurrection' which is to follow theirs.

(5) ATHANASIA

Scholars tell us that immortality is the correct trans­lation of only one Greek word, the word "athanasia" (deathlessness). It appears only three times in the New Testament, as follows:

"This mortal must put on immortality." - 1 Cor. 15:53;

"When this mortal shall have put on immortality." - 1 Cor. 15:54;

"Who only hath immortality." - l Tim. 6:16.

Evidently the first two of these Scriptures relate to the individual members of the glorified Church, and the third to our glorified Lord Jesus (the Father here, as elsewhere in the Scriptures, being excepted from comparison; see 1 Cor. 15:27).

(6) THE HOPE OF THE CHURCH

The hope of the Church is that she may be like her Lord, "see him as he is," be made "partaker of the divine nature (immortality), and share his glory as his joint-heir. - 1 John 3:2; John 17:24; Rom. 8:17; 2 Pet. 1:4.

The present mission of the Church is the perfecting of its members for their future work of service; to develop in herself every grace; to be God's witness to the world; and to prepare to be Kings and Priests in the next Age. -- Eph. 4:12; Matt. 24:14; Rev. 1:6; 20:6.

(7) THE WORLD'S HOPE

The hope for the world lies in the blessings of knowledge and opportunity to be brought to all by Christ's Millennial Kingdom -- the restitution of all that was lost' in Adam, to all the willing and obedient, at the hands of their Redeemer and his glorified Church -- when all the willfully, wicked will be de­stroyed. -- Acts 3:19-23; Isa. 35.

(8) SUMMARY

To sum up then The proper recognition of the meaning of the terms mortal and immortal, and their use in the Scriptures, destroys the very foundation of the doctrine of eternal torment. It is based upon the unscriptural theory that God created man immortal, that he cannot cease to exist, and that God cannot destroy him; hence the argument is that the incor­rigible must live on somewhere, somehow, and the conclusion is that since they are out of harmony with God their eternity must be one of misery. But God's Word assures us that he has provided against such a perpetuation of sirs and sinners; that man is mortal, and that the full penalty of willful sin against full light and knowledge will not be a life in torment, but a second death. "'The soul that sinneth, it shall die."

When incorrigible sinners have been destroyed, (not continued alive in any sense of the word, anywhere, but destroyed, Psa. 145:20) both immortal and mortal beings, will live forever in joy and happiness and love; the first class possessing a nature incapable of death, having inherent life -- life in themselves (John 5:26); and the latter having a nature susceptible to death, yet, because of perfection of being, and knowledge of the evil and sinfulness of sin, giving no cause for death. They, being, approved by God's law, shall be everlastingly supplied with those elements necessary to sustain them in perfection, and shall never die.

 -- P. L. Read.

The Letter to the Colossians

"When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested in. glory." - Col. 3:4, R. V.

(Continued from last issue)

As surely as Jesus' humiliation and obedience "led to the cross, and the cross to the empty grave, and the empty grave to the throne, so surely does the throne lead to the coming again in glory. And as with Christ, so with His servants, the manifestation in glory is the certain end of all the preceding, as surely as the flower is of the tiny green leaves that peep above the frost-bound earth in bleak March days. Nothing in that future, however glorious and wonderful, but has its germ and vital beginning in our union with Christ here by humble faith. The great hopes which we may cherish are gathered up here into these words­, --  'shall be manifested with Him.' That is far more than was conveyed by the old translation -- 'shall ap­pear.' The roots of our being shall be disclosed, for He shall come, 'and every eye shall see Him.'" In the same sense that every eye shall see Him, the Church also shall "with Him be manifested in glory." A full manifestation of the Church in the present time would not be a pleasant spectacle. How' thankful we are that there is so much hidden; and how thankful we can be that in the revealing, the glory will go to the One in whom our lives are now hid. All the world will realize that those then associated with Him are those who formerly were such as they, who met just such temptations as assailed them, and who were just as weak as themselves, but victors through Him who loved us and bought us, because "strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, unto all patience, and endurance with joy." (Roan. 8:37: 1 Cor. 15:57; 1 John 5:4; 2 Cor. 2:14; Col. 1:11; see R. V. and Diaglott.) The inner man of the heart will no longer carry about a body with traits that need to be concealed, for his will be the completed character-likeness to his heavenly Father-"His name shall be in their foreheads." (Rev. 14:1; 7:3; 22:4.) "Then shall the righteous blaze forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father." - Matt. 13:43.

Note that it is not merely a manifestation to the Church but a manifestation "with Him" who is to be revealed to the entire creation. Then, without spot or wrinkle or blemish or any such thing (Eph. 5:27), "prepared unto every good work" (2 Tim. 2:21), they shall be joined with Him in a blessed union instituted by our heavenly Father Himself, and which none can sever. They are ready to enter up­on the blessed association that will be theirs as Bride of the Lamb. Eternally they shall serve, like Martha, in a service that shall never for a moment interfere with their sitting as Mary in rapt attention at His blessed feet. So "shall they ever be with the Lord." - ­1 Thess. 4:17; John 12:26; 14:23; 17:24; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23.

"Manifest with Him in glory"! Who can speak of the self-revealing splendor of the great I AM? "He is light." Any effort to describe or even to imagine His glory would only dim His luster; nor can our imper­fect understanding comprehend the glories of the resurrected Lord standing in the heart of that blaze. We, like the Apostles on the Mount of Transfigura­tion, would fear to enter into that cloud. (Luke 9:34.) Who can even faintly suggest the glory of those who shall "awake in His likeness"! (Psa. 17:15.) And this is not a shining forth as a comet, nor as one of the short-lived stars which frequently mystify the astron­omers. "They shall shine as the brightness of the firmament for ever and ever." - Dan. 12:3; Matt. 13:43; 1 Cor. 15:41, 42.

THE CHRISTIAN'S PRACTICAL AID

The injunctions that head this chapter are not for those who are clinging to the things of the earth in the mistaken conviction that they can serve two mas­ters, but for those who seek the Kingdom of God in faith's assurance that all such things as are necessary of this earth will be added to them by our heavenly Father's grace. (Matt. 6:33.) "Godliness is profitable unto all things." (1 Tim. 4:8.) To the mind set on heavenly things, the earth has nothing to offer. "But then, indeed, I even esteem all things to be a loss [Gr: "bones thrown to the dogs in the streets"] on account of the excellency of the knowledge of the Anointed Jesus my Lord; on whose account I suffered the loss of all things, and consider them to be vile refuse, so that I may gain Christ." (Phil. 3:8, Diaglott.) And what joy it will be to turn the bones, well laden with the meat of divine grace, over to the Gentile "dogs" in His due time. The present is but the vestibule of an in­finite future, not only for the Church, but also for the world.

The world has made considerable progress in many respects, but it. is yet far from fully appreciating the importance of forming correct habits of thought. Most of us as children are permitted to form thinking habits that can be eradicated only by years of en­deavor, if ever, before the principle is even suggested to us that "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." - Prov. 23:7.

If there is any subject with which, one finds he is able to discourse with freedom, it must be that he has thought much along that line. "Out of the abun­dance of the heart the mouth speaketh." (Matt. 12: 34.) If therefore that one cannot talk freely of spiritual things, the Apostle's suggestion seems to be the one necessary remedy: "Set your mind on things that are above." Daily the pressure of earthly things increases on every side, and with that increasing pressure, the necessity for greater vigilance in the matter of "re­deeming the time." (Eph. 5:15, 16; Col. 4:5.) In the rush of our day there is danger for all, that quiet medi­tation on heavenly things will be a lost art. "A book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name." (Mal. 3:16.) The mind of the flesh knows well that it must sort its affairs out into things important, mod­erately important, useless and injurious. The Chris­tian who has not done this will find little time for "thinking on" that wonderful list the Apostle gives us of those things that will continue through the great time of destruction ahead. (Phil. 4:8.) Ours will be but a painful and fruitless creeping along the lower levels of the- earth unless we "see the King in His beauty and the land that is very far off." (Isa. 33:17.) Only in the secret place of the Most High, with our doors shut about us, can we escape the destructive fury being visited on a commercial and war-mad world. (Isa. 26:20.) Fortunately those doors are ready to welcome us at all times, whatever our business and however driving our necessities.

There is a delicacy of thought and a carefulness on the part of our translators suggested by the comma which the Revised Versions have placed after "where Christ is" that assures us that, however imperfect their work may be, their hearts seem to have been earnestly desiring to give us a true representation of the divine thought in the original. His presence there makes very definite our hope, for He that went to prepare a place for us (John 14:2, 3), having died that we might live, now that He ever lives to make interces­sion for us will not permit any outside influence to interfere with our attaining the heavenly inheritance which is ours in Christ Jesus. (Eph. 1: 11.) May the "God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory" give unto us "a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him; having the eyes of our hearts enlightened, that we may know what is the hope of His calling, what the riches of the glory of His in­heritance in the saints, and what the exceeding great­ness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to that working of the strength of His might which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and made Him to sit at His own right hand in the heavenly places." (Eph. 1:17-20, R. V.) "And now, my little children, abide in. Him; that, if He shall be manifested, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming." - 1 John 2:28, R. V.

- P. E. Thomson.

Replete With Self

If thou couldst empty all thyself of self,
Like to a shell dishabited,
Then might He find thee on the ocean shelf
And say, "This is not dead";
And fill thee with Himself instead.
 
But thou art all replete with very THOU
And hast such shrewd, activity
That when He comes, He says, "This is enow
Unto itself -- 'Twere better let it be,
It is so small and full, there is no room for Me."

- T. E. Brown.

Brother J. Brown, Los Angeles, Cal. -- (May).
Brother Alexander Campbell, Sharon, Pa. -- (March).
Sister Emma H.. Judson, Sorrento, Fla. -- (February).
Sister Magdalene Koerber, Brooklyn, N. Y. -- (February).
Brother. Johann Oltxaans, Hannover, Germany -- (April).
Brother W. I. Ott, Los Angeles, Cal. -- (April).
Sister Clara I. Snyder, Allentown, Pa. -- (April).
Brother F. W. Williamson, Baton Rouge, La. -- (May).