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THE HERALD
of Christ's Kingdom

VOL. XXXVIII Apiril 1955 No. 4
Table of Contents

"UNTIL HE COME"

Our Glorious Hope

Immanuel's Land

Half Hour Meditations on Romans

My High Calling

Wise Counsel from a Faithful Pastor

"We Shall Be Like Him"

The Question Box

Lord, Here I Bring Myself

"Suffer Little Children to Come"

Recently Deceased

"This Do in Remembrance of Me"

"For as often as ye eat this Bread, and drink this Cup, ye do show, the Lord's death till He come." - 1 Cor. 11:26

CHRIST OUR Passover is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." (1 Cor. 5:7, 8.) Here, in one sentence, brief, but pregnant with meaning, the beloved Apostle Paul, writing as always under the guidance and in the power of the Holy Spirit, draws our attention to the great Antitype, the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world, of whom the Jewish Passover lamb was but a type.

How well the type prefigured our Lord! To begin with, the lamb selected was to be without blemish, reminding us of the fact that our Lord Jesus had no blemish of sin in himself, and that he did not contract any stain or spot of sin by his contacts with the world. As the Apostle Peter reminds us: "We were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." - l Pet. 1:19.

The blood of the typical lamb was sprinkled on the doorposts and lintels of the Israelite's house, but the blood of Jesus, the unforfeited life which was made available to us by the shedding of his blood, has been graciously applied to our hearts, removing from us the burden of unforgiven sin, setting us free from all consciousness of evil.

Again, in instituting the typical passover, we read in the 12th chapter of Exodus that the Lord said unto Moses: "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you." How truly this feature is fulfilled in the experience of a consecrated believer of this Gospel Age! Everything in his life dates from the time when he came "under the blood." Before that, all is darkness; before that, all is death. He does not care to even think of the darkness of his unconverted days, and when he does occasionally mention them, it is only that his Savior may be the more magnified in the hearts and minds of those to whom he speaks; and that the contrast of that past with his present happy state may awaken in him a still greater sense of gratitude and devotion.

JESUS OUR PASSOVER LAMB

As the Jews fed on the literal lamb, so we are to feed on Christ; that is to say, we are to appropriate to ourselves, by faith, his merit, the value of his sacrifice. Not only so, but if we would be strong spiritually, and prepared for the deliverance in the morning of the new dispensation, we must eat of the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. What is it to "eat" of the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth? Ah! this means much more than might at first be supposed. It involves not merely a belief in the truth concerning Christ and his atonement -- it goes beyond even a confession of that belief. It includes a loving surrender to this and related truths, so that they are grasped by the moral, no less than by the intellectual side of our complex nature. Thus partaken of, the truth will accomplish our sanctification; day by day, the renewing of our minds with his precious Word will gradually transform us into his likeness.

In the typical arrangements bitter herbs were included, which aided and whetted the Israelites' appetite for the lamb and unleavened bread. Commenting on this feature, Brother Russell has observed that instead of these, "we have bitter experiences and trials which the Lord prepares for us, and which help to wean our affections from earthly things and to give us increased appetite to feed upon the Lamb and the unleavened Bread of Truth. We, too, are to remember that we have here no continuing city; but as pilgrims, strangers, staff in hand, we are to gird ourselves for our journey to the Heavenly Canaan, to all the glorious things which God has in reservation for the Church of the First-borns, in association with our Redeemer, as kings and priests unto God."

On the night of his betrayal, just before his crucifixion, our Lord Jesus clearly identified himself as the antitypical Passover Lamb. Peter and John had been sent ahead, and in the "upper room" to which they had been led, they had "made ready the Passover." At the appointed time, "when the hour was come," he gathered his Apostles round him and said: "With desire have I desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." "It was necessary that as Jews they should celebrate the Passover Supper on that night -- the night of the anniversary of the slaying of the Passover lamb in Egypt, of the saving of the typical first-borns from the typical 'prince of this world' -- Pharaoh -- the same date on which the real Passover Lamb was to be slain. But as soon as the requirements of the type had been fulfilled, our Lord Jesus instituted a new Memorial upon the old foundation, saying, 'Do this in remembrance of me.'" *----------------------------

* In our February issue we noted that the appropriate time for observing the Memorial this year will be after six o'clock in the evening, on Tuesday, April 5.

"THIS DO IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME"

We recall the circumstances of the first Memorial -- the blessing of the Bread and the Cup, the fruit of the vine, and of our Lord's words in connection therewith. Year by year, as we "keep the feast," and the time of our departure draws nigh, the appropriateness of the symbol's, and the humility and love of our Lord are more deeply impressed on our hearts, and the longing desire within us grows more earnest that we, too, though imperfect, may faithfully follow in his steps.

Quoting again from our dear Brother Russell: "In presenting to the disciples the unleavened bread as a memorial, Jesus said, 'Take, eat; this is my body.' The evident meaning of his words is, This symbolizes, or represents, my body. The bread was not actually his body; for in no sense 'had his body yet been broken. In no sense would it then have been possible for them to have partaken of him actually or antitypically, the sacrifice not being as yet finished. But the picture is complete when we recognize that the unleavened (pure, unfermented) bread represented our Lord's sinless flesh, leaven being a symbol of sin under the Law, and especially commanded to be put away at the Passover season. On another occasion Jesus gave a lesson which interprets to us this symbol. He said, 'The Bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.' 'I am the Bread of Life.' 'I am the living Bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this Bread, he shall live forever; and the Bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.' - John 6:33, 35, 51.

"In order to appreciate how we are to eat, or appropriate, this living Bread, it is necessary for us to understand just what the bread signifies. According to our Lord's explanation of the matter, it was his flesh which he sacrificed for us. It was not his prehuman existence as a spirit being that was sacrificed, although that was laid down and its glory laid aside, in order that he might take our human nature. It was the fact that our Lord Jesus was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners -- without any contamination from Father Adam, and hence free from sin -- that enabled him to become the Redeemer of Adam and his race, that permitted him to give his life 'a Ransom for all, to be testified in due time.'-1 Tim. 2:3-6.

"When we see that it was the pure, spotless nature of our Lord Jesus that was laid down on behalf of sinners, we see what it is that we are privileged to appropriate. The very thing that he laid down for us we are to 'eat,' appropriate to ourselves; that is to say, his perfect human life was given to redeem all the race of man from condemnation to death, to enable them to return to human perfection and everlasting life, if they would; and we are to realize this and accept him as our Savior from death."

The unforfeited life of Jesus, laid down in sacrifice for us in obedience to the Father's will, is thus seen to be that which alone has value in the Father's sight. As the Apostle declares: "the Man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all." (1 Tim. 2:6.) It is important to observe, however, that the work of recovering Adam and his race from the power of sin and death, while based on that ransom price, goes beyond the mere provision of the ransom. While the provision was made now nearly two thousand years ago, it is manifest that the work of recovering Adam and his race from the power of sin and death has not yet been accomplished; indeed it has scarcely begun. The only disposition thus far of that ransom has been to make it available for the Church, and this only by faith. Only by faith has even the Church passed "from death unto life"; not even this little flock has been fully recovered from the power of sin and death; still less has the rest of the race. Manifestly, then, it will require a considerable time (the Scriptures indicate the entire thousand years of Messiah's Kingdom), to restore, to deliver, to set free, from the power of sin and death, Adam and his children. Evident it is, that the work of restoration, for which the foundation was laid nearly two thousand years ago, is still to be accomplished. To quote once again from our Pastor:

"In order that any of the race of Adam might profit by the sacrifice of Jesus, it was necessary that be should rise from the tomb on the divine plane of life, that he should ascend to the Father and deposit the sacrificial merit of his death in the hands of justice, and receive from the Father 'all power in heaven and in earth.' As relates to the world, it was necessary also that in the Father's due time he should come again to earth a glorious divine Being, then to be to the whole world a Mediator, Prophet, Priest, and King, to assist back to perfection and to harmony with God all who will avail themselves of the wonderful privileges then to be offered."

This blessing, restoration to human perfection (not perfection on the spirit plane, but on the human plane) which will be the happy portion of the entire race (all the willing and obedient), the Church of this Gospel Age receive now, by faith; that is to say, human perfection is reckoned to them by God. And the partaking of the unleavened bread at the Memorial season means to us, primarily, the appropriation, by faith, of this right to perfect human life, with all its privileges, the blessing which, at the cost of his own life, our Lord procured for us. Likewise the fruit of the vine symbolizes our Savior's life given for us, his human life, his being, poured out unto death on our behalf; and the appropriation of this by us also signifies, primarily, our acceptance of restitution rights and privileges secured by our Lord's sacrifice of these.

TWO ADDITIONAL SIGNIFICATIONS

In our showing forth the Lord's death in this, the way appointed (1 Cor. 11:26), we may not improperly associate in our minds two additional thoughts of great beauty and solemnity: (1) Our consecration to be "dead with him" (Col. 2:20), even as we remember the Apostle's words, "If we be dead with him, we shall also live with him (2 Tim. 2:11), and (2) the oneness of spirit which obtains between fellow-members of the Christ company.

The fruit of the vine fitly represents the life given by Jesus, the sacrifice-the death-"this is my blood [symbol of life given up in death] of the New Covenant, shed for many for the remission of sins"; "Drink ye all of it." (Matt. 26:27, 28.) It is by the giving up of his life as a ransom for the life of the Adamic race, which sin had forfeited, that a right to life comes to man. (Ram. 5:18, 19.) Jesus' shed blood is the "ransom for all"; and the dominant idea of our "feast" is this fact and the benefits which as consecrated believers we derive therefrom; but in addition we may remember also and rejoice in the fact that we may (indeed we have covenanted, have we not? to) drink of his cup, even as (though beyond their then understanding) he spake to his close disciples: "Ye shall indeed drink of my cup." (Matt. 20:23.) Verily this is a "high calling" (Phil. 3:14), and well might we question our ability to drink (unaided) of his cup. But our sufficiency is of God, and so with the Apostle we too count all things loss, that we may know the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings (Phil. 3:10), not repining, but all the more rejoicing at any evidence which may come to us that the sufferings of Christ may be abounding in us. - 2 Cor. 1:5.

With regard to our second additional thought that of the oneness of spirit possessed by fellow members of "his body," the Church (Eph. 1:23), how close to the heart of our Lord does this thought bring us when we recall that it was just about the time when he instituted this "remembrancer" that he offered that matchless intercessory prayer on our behalf, that is recorded in the 17th chapter of John: "That they all may be one." (Not his close disciples only, but us also, who have since believed.) "As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us." (John 17:20, 21.) What thoughts are these, which just before his passion our Lord entertained with regard to his consecrated followers! What grand and noble hopes respecting the mutual love, the sympathy, affection, and interest which should prevail amongst the members of this "one Body" of our Lord!

WHO MAY PARTICIPATE?

Just one word more. Who may participate in this memorial? To this question we would reply: No one should join in this celebration who does not trust in Christ as his or her personal Savior from sin and death, and who does not purpose to walk worthy of the Name of Jesus, in his footsteps wherever they may lead, to the best of his or her ability. No one should come to the Lord's table lightly, carelessly, but, as the Apostle exhorts: "Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup." (1 Cor. 11:27-29.) But on the other hand none should absent himself or refrain from this communion from a sense of unworthiness. Thank God for a sense of sin, for a keen conscience about it, but let not that keep any away. "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." - (1 John 2:1; 1:9.) Thus cleansed, let us draw near, gladly confessing our love for our Lord, rejoicing in the pleasure and privilege of remembering him in this, the way appointed. "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come." -1 Cor. 11:26.

- P. L. Read.

"UNTIL HE COME"

'Till He come!' -- Oh, let the words
Linger on the trembling chords;
Let the little while between,
In their golden light be seen;
Let us think how heaven and home
Lie beyond that 'Till He come.'

"When the weary ones we love
Enter on their rest above,
Seems the earth so poor and vast,
All our life -- joy overcast?
Hush! be every murmur dumb;
It is only 'Till He come.'

"Clouds and conflicts 'round us press;
Would we have one sorrow less?
All the sharpness of the cross,
All that tells the world is loss,
Death and darkness and the tomb
Only whisper, 'Till He come.'

"See, the feast of love is spread.
Drink the wine and break the bread;
Sweet memorials! -- till the Lord
Call us 'round His heavenly board;
Some from earth, from heaven some,
Severed only -- till He come!"

Our Glorious Hope

"As touching the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question." - Acts 23:6.

THE DETERMINATION of the basis of Christian orthodoxy, that is, the true faith or teaching, has been the earnest desire and effort of fifty or sixty generations of Bible students and theologians, over a period of eighteen hundred years. Today, each of the many sects of Christendom sincerely believes that its creed only is truly orthodox. But the uncreed fettered, free Bible student holds that the Bible teaching alone is the basis of orthodoxy.

'There are several Bible criteria, or tests, or measures of orthodoxy. The basic test is belief in a benignant God: "He that cometh unto God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." (Heb. 11:6.) The next is acceptance of Jesus Christ as the exclusive Agent of God for man's salvation. Jesus said: "All things have been delivered unto Me of My Father: and no one knoweth . . . the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal Him." - Matt. 11:27.

There are numerous other measures of the reality, sincerity, and propriety of Christian faith, including self-sacrifice; activity and zeal in service; purification of life ("even as He is pure"); and joyful anticipation of a future life with the Lord (a crown reserved for "all those who love His appearing"). Not disregarding these but building upon them, the further supreme and searching test of true faith is belief and reliance upon the teaching of Christ regarding the resurrection of the dead. This touchstone differentiates not only between accurate and inaccurate Christian faith, but also between-Christianity and all false religions. It was the question the Apostle Paul raised, that provoked such an uproar in the Jewish Sanhedrin when they were examining him, that the Roman chiliarch who had him in charge thought they would tear him in pieces, as related in Acts 23:1-10. And it is the question that brings into sharp conflict the statements concerning man's nature, made by God , through His Son, His Prophets, and His Apostles, with the falsehood told by Satan to Mother Eve in the Garden of Eden. For this falsehood Satan was denounced by our Lord, declared to be "a murderer from the beginning," and to have "no truth in him." "He is a liar, and the father thereof." (John 8:44.) Strangely enough, it seems much easier for the human mind to grasp and believe the Satanic lie, than the truth as stated by man's Creator, who certainly should know how he is constituted.

It is not the purpose of this article to present an exhaustive discussion of the mortal nature of man, of death as the penalty of disobedience imposed upon the race in the person of Adam, its progenitor. and of the Way opened for man's possible recovery therefrom through the Gospel of Jesus Christ-including both the living and the dead, those that have "done good" and those that have "done, evil." Nor need we remind you' that there is a "second death" reserved for those who, thus called forth from the tomb to a life and an enlightenment not obscured by Satan's lies and unhindered by Satan's rule, refuse to accept God's amnesty and restoration to His family and Fatherhood. Such, we know, as will not then obey "That Prophet" shall be "destroyed from among the people. (Acts 21:22-24.) All this ground is fully covered by publications of this Institute, which are free for the asking, or at nominal cost in book form.

It is enough here to remind our readers that God placed Father Adam under a test of obedience, which involved his refraining from partaking of the fruit of a certain tree in his Garden home. Satan, in the beginning of his contact with the human family (as referred to by Jesus in John 8:44) assured Mother Eve that if she and her mate should eat of "the tree that is in the midst of the Garden," forbidden to them by their Creator, instead of dying as He had said, they should "become as gods, knowing both good and evil" and incidentally immortal. The outcome of the primitive experiment in disobeying God must thus inevitably prove either God or Satan a deceiver. The evidence as to which told the truth has been presented to mankind and the universe for nearly six thousand years. The inevitable termination of the life of every human being in death is a continuing and should be a convincing proof to every think ing being that God is true, and His Adversary a liar, as Jesus said. The Devil has tried, with considerable success, to vitiate this conclusion by inculcating through various agencies, the doctrine of the immortality of the human soul, so that to those who accept this theory, death becomes merely a change of scene. But the complete extinction of life and consciousness in death is everywhere taught in the Bible. "Put not your trust in princes," says the Psalmist, "nor in the son of Adam, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." Solomon, with divinely given wisdom, thus engrossed the truth: "The living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything . for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol [Hebrew for the grave] whither thougoest." - Psa. 146:3, 4; Eccl. 9:5, 10.

Surely these statements (of many to the same end) are sufficiently explicit! Nor is the New Testament less positive. Jesus' promise of restoration from death was to "the dead all who are in the tombs." (John 5:25-29.) He knew they were not in heaven, or a hell of torment, or purgatory, or any other state of consciousness. And the basis of that nominal "Christian" theology, which in reality is Platonic, Egyptian, and Satanic, is shattered by the Apostolic statement that it is the supreme Potentate, "King of kings and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable; whom no man hath seen nor can see." God alone had inherent immortality, as explained by the Lord Jesus; but He has power to impart such life, and has done so to the Son; and the Son extends it to those becoming members of His Bride, His Church. The Prophet Isaiah foretold these things, embracing fundamental truths and transactions of tremendous import in both heaven and earth. In a passage hailing a special Servant of Jehovah who "shall be exalted and be lifted up, and shall be very high," and who was to become the Sin-Bearer for all mankind, making "His soul an offering for sin, the Prophet, speaking in-the name of Jehovah, says: "I will divide Him a portion [of immortality] with The Great [i.e. Myself], and He shall divide the spoil [of His victory over death and the grave -- immortality] with the strong" -- those strong enough in their determination to participate in His victory, to "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. (Those of our readers desiring to verify these statements from the Scriptures, and to note' their- marvelous harmony and cohesion, are referred to: 1 Tim. 6:15, 16; Eph. 5:13; John 5:19-29; Isa. 52:13-15; 53:1-12; Rev. 3:21; 14:4.)

Confronted with these facts in millions of books and hundreds of millions of tracts distributed , throughout Christendom during the past fifty years, it would seem that the prevalent erroneous conception of the human soul as immortal should have been generally if not unanimously replaced by an acceptance of the Scriptural doctrine of the resurrection, as the basis of the Christian's hope of a future life. Not so, however; the acceptance of Satan's falsehood that, because we have eaten of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and of evil, we have become as gods and cannot die, is so flattering to man's vanity, and it is so impressed on his thinking from infancy, and is so intrenched in the popular Church creeds, that it will require the fiat of the returning Christ, "Behold, I make all things new," to destroy the "covering" and rend the "veil" from mankind's eyes, so that they may accept His proffer of "the water [symbolizing Truth] of life freely" -- on His terms, not theirs. - Rev. 21;5-8; Isa. 25:7.

In these latter days God has made it easier to accept the doctrine of the resurrection than heretofore, by permitting mankind's searching mind to discover means of recording, preserving, and reproducing a considerable portion of a human being's, personality and accomplishments. The monuments, statuary, hieroglyphics, cuneiform inscriptions, and crude drawings, coming down to us from ancient peoples, give us but a limited knowledge of their appearance, their lives, and their ideas. Great modern libraries of books, of motion picture films and of phonograph recordings, permit the recreation ^at will of the ideas, the appearance, and the voices of recently deceased men. Science could manufacture an apparent replica of the body of a dead man; as, for example, of President Woodrow Wilson, duplicating his appearance as shown in existing motion pictures, place therein a phonograph 'record of his thoughts, for utterance in his own voice; all so cunningly constructed .as to deceive one who had known the man in life; yet it would be only a robot, not having a brain to think new thoughts, a bodily metabolism to continue its existence, and .a consciousness of personality that would, constitute a re-creation or resurrection of the .man, so that he would know himself. This last accomplishment God has "placed in His own power," and that of the Son, to whom He has imparted it. This ability is the peculiar "glory of God." To believe this doctrine constitutes Christian orthodoxy, regarding the hope of everlasting life.

Demonstrating the power of God to resurrect a dead man, Jesus stood before the tomb of Lazarus and assured Martha, "Thy brother shall live again." Martha, being only a Hebrew woman, instructed in that nation's ancient Scriptures but not infected with Greek or Egyptian philosophy, nor with modern "systematic theology," replied: "I know he shall live again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus associated Himself with that Day and its promise by declaring: "I am the resurrection and the life; believe, and thou shalt see the glory of God." Then He commanded: "Lazarus, come forth!" -- and Lazarus came forth from the tomb. Jesus said "Loose him [from all grave clothes] and let him go." This was a sample and type of a universal Reviving, and Loosing "at that Day." - John 11:1-44.

The glory of God particularly associated with the resurrection of the dead, is again referred to by the Apostle in Romans 6:4: "Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father." And the great Day of which Martha spoke, in which is to be revealed this particular and peculiar glory of God, was foretold by the Prophet Isaiah among others, declaring the universality of its application: "The glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it." -Isa. 40:3-8.

Space forbids a discussion here of the differences in the resurrection; of the best or "first resurrection" of the Church, and the, "better resurrection" of the holy men of the old dispensation, both to be prior to the general resurrection. Nor can we more than refer to the secret imparted by the Apostle, that in the end of the Age there would come a time when "we all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed." For further details and particulars, we again refer the interested reader to the exhaustive publications supplied by the Institute. - Rev. 20:4-6; Heb. 11:35; 1 Cor. 15:51, 52.

Those who in simple faith have accepted the Scriptural doctrine of the resurrection, have not sorrowed as do those who have no such hope. When their loved ones died they have known that in effect they have only "fallen asleep," because they would surely awake, refreshed, in the Morning. Such separations are ever hard to bear, but how consoling to know that they are, only temporary! They have never been for so very long, for (at longest) the sorrowing ones soon have joined their loved ones in sleep, or now, as we believe, are "changed in a moment" to be with the Lord, and to join in preparations for the General Resurrection -- for "their works do follow with them." "Sorrows may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the Morning." - Rev. 14:13; Psa. 30:5.

It will, be the Resurrection Morning, heralding The Day. The glory of God, revealed, shall not only cause the dead to awake, but theearth also to "bud and blossom as the rose. "The tabernacle of God"

the "Mighty God" of Isaiah 9:6, "the great God and our Savior" referred to in Paul's Epistle to Timothy (2 Tim. 2:13) -- shall then be with men, "and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away.

"He that testifieth these things saith, Yea; I come quickly. Amen: come, Lord Jesus." - Rev. 21 and 22.

- Horace E. Hollister.

Immanuel's Land

The sands of time are sinking,
The dawn of heaven breaks,
The summer morn I've sighed for --
The fair, sweet morn awakes.
Dark, dark bath been the midnight,
But dayspring is at hand,
And glory, glory dwelleth

In Immanuel's land.
O, Christ He is the fountain,
The deep, sweet well of love!
The streams on earth I've tasted,
More deep I'll drink above:
There, to an ocean fulness,
His mercy doth expand;
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Immanuel's land.

The Bride eyes not her garment,
But her dear Bridegroom's face:
I will not gaze at glory,
But on my King of grace --
Not at tae crown He giveth,
But on His pierced hand;
The Lamb is all the glory
Of Immanuel's land.

With mercy and with judgment
My web of time He wove,
And aye the dews of sorrow
Were lustred by His love.

I'll bless the hand that guided,
I'll praise the heart that planned,
When throned where glory dwelleth,
In Immanuel's land.

- Mrs. A. R. Cousin.

Half Hour Meditations on Romans

No. 3

"Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to an Apostle Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to an Apostle." - Rom. 1:1

IN THE last Meditations we began a review of the life experiences of St. Paul. At that time we considered to some extent his early life and conversion and noted the providential circumstances that led him to become "a servant of Jesus Christ."

In the words of another ". . . he is indeed Jesus Christ's bondservant; not his ally merely or his subject or his friend. Recently, writing to the Galatian converts, he has been vindicating the glorious liberty of the Christian, set free at once from the curse of the law and from the mastery of self. [Those formerly under the Law Covenant from its "curse" and all from the mastery of self.] But there too, at the close (Rom. 6:17), he has dwelt on his own sacred bondage; the brand of his Master, Jesus. The liberty of the Gospel is the silver side of the same shield who side of gold is an unconditional vassalage to the liberating Lord. Our freedom is in the Lord alone; and to be in the Lord is to belong to him, as wholly as a healthy hand belongs, in its freedom, to the physical center of life and will. To be a bondservant is terrible in the abstract. To be Jesus Christ's bond servant is Paradise in the concrete. Self surrender taken alone is a plunge into a cold void. When it is surrender to the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal. 2:20), it is the bright homecoming of the soul to the seat and sphere of life and power" (Moule).

A Witness of Christ's Resurrection

The particular form of service to which he has been called, he tells us, is that of an apostle. It is a rare commission, and we could well pause to give it a larger place in our meditations here. However, we must content ourselves at this time with noting that the Eleven and Paul were our Lords chosen witnesses of his resurrection (John 15:17; Luke 24:46-48; Acts 1:8, 22). Their general commission did not greatly differ from that of the other disciples nor from our own, which we understand is to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to the meek (Isa. 61:1, 2; Matt. 10:5-7; Luke 4:17-21; 10:1-17). But their special mission was not of witnessing. Among the many things concerning Jesus to which they were to bear faithful testimony, the most important of all was the fact of his resurrection. A very little reflection is sufficient to enable us to grasp the significance of this.

Let us suppose for a moment that the Gospel message had come to us complete in every detail except in this one particular, namely that no mention was made of our Lords resurrection or the testimony concerning it was wavering and unreliable. In that case where would our hopes be today? What would be our hope of life beyond the grave? Our hope would be the same as that of those two disciples on the way to Emmaus before they knew that Jesus had been raised from the dead (Luke 24:13- 35). Their hopes were buried in his grave. They had trusted in Jesus and had entertained high hopes but now, since Jesus had died, they were sad, their hopes having withered (Luke 24:17).

How different with them when the fact of his resurrection was made known. What joy displaced their dejection! It became true of them then as it has for us who have believed since. They and we have been begotten again unto a hope of life by his resurrection (1 Pet. 1:3). Because he lives we have grounds for hoping that we shall live also (John 14:19). In his resurrection lies our assurance (Acts 17:31).

But while it is our privilege today to let Jesus Christ have full sway in our lives, to let him be indeed our Lord, while it is our joy to make humble and glad confession of this fact, and while in our hearts we may believe the testimony of the Apostles that he was raised from the dead and in this lies our salvation (Rom. 10:9, 10), this does not constitute us witnesses of but merely believers in his resurrection. Blessed indeed are we who not having seen, have yet believed (John 20:29). It remains true that the testimony of these Twelve Foundations is that on which we with the rest of the church depend (Rev. 24:14; Eph 2:20-22).

It is an interesting study and by no means unrelated to our subject to trace in the Acts of the Apostles how they proceeded to carry out their commission. Our Lord had said, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). But first they were to receive "power." "Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem," was his word, "until ye be endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). Accordingly we find them waiting at Jerusalem in prayer and supplication until they had received the promise of the Father (Acts 1:14). Then commenced the work of witnessing, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4). One cannot but be impressed with the prominence given to the resurrection of Jesus in this their first witness, given under the guidance and in the power of the Holy Spirit:

"Men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth . . . ye by wicked hands have crucified and slain: whom God raised up, having loosed the pains [grip, Fenton] of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it" (Acts 2:22-24).

"This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses" (Acts 2:32).

"Ye . . . killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses" (Acts 3:15).

"They taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead" (Acts 4:2).

"Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole" (Acts 4:10).

"The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew" (Acts 4:33).

But soon a crisis came, and with the martyrdom of Stephen commenced "a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria" (Acts 8:1). This had the effect of extending the witness throughout those regions (see Acts 8:14, 25).

The Apostle to the Gentiles

So far the sacred historian has recorded the witness of the Apostles given "in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Sarmaria," but what of the third and by far the greatest part of their commission: carrying their wit ness to "the uttermost part of the earth"? Would not this involve witnessing to the despised Gentiles? Up to this time, even by those "which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen," the word had been preached "to none but unto Jews only" (Acts 11:19). That the "unsearchable riches of Christ" should be preached to the Gentiles, that the latter were to share equally with the Jews in the blessings of the Gospel was wholly foreign to the Apostles conception. A tremendous revolution of thought would be necessary ere they could proceed with their witness.

This was brought about by means of a vision granted to the Apostle Peter. Therein he learned "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common" (Acts 10:15). His subsequent experience with Cornelius convinced him "that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him (Acts 10:34,35).

It is not without deep interest that in this extension of the witness to the Gentiles we note the same prominence given to the resurrection of Jesus.

We are witnesses of all things which he [Jesus] did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem: whom they slew and hanged on a tree: him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead (Acts 10:39 41).

"But while to the Apostle Peter was thus granted the privilege of extending the Gospel invitation to the Gentiles, as he had previously on the day of Pentecost, God had in preparation to the Jews a special agent whom he was about to call to this glorious, though difficult, ministry -- one who "by the grace of God" was to "labor more abundantly than they all" (1 Cor. 15:10).

Have I Not Seen Jesus Christ Our Lord?

In our previous Meditation we considered the inner experiences of this Apostle as the power of the risen Lord was exercised in his heart. It is, however, of the very highest importance that we distinguish the Damascus experience from all the visions with which he was afterwards honored, and which are recorded in the Acts and in the Epistles. We have already noticed that the Apostles were our Lords chosen witnesses of his resurrection and unless St. Paul had seen the risen Christ he could not qualify as a witness. "The attempt has been made in modern times to explain in a purely natural way the sudden revolution that passed over the feelings, convictions, and life of Saul," but as Godet has pointed out, this "transforms the narratives in the Acts into fictitious representations, since, according to this explanation, Saul's fellow travelers could have been nothing at all." "They did not discern the Person who spoke to him, so it is said (Acts 9:7), but they were struck with a brightness surpassing that of ordinary sunlight (Acts 22:9; 26:13); they did not hear distinctly the words addressed to him (Acts 22:9), but they heard the sound of a voice (Acts 9:7). . . . It must therefore be admitted that while Saul alone saw the Lord and understood his words, his fellow travelers observed and heard something extraordinary; and this last particular suffices to prove the objectivity of the appearance."

Conybeare and Howson have written on this subject very interestingly and instructively as follows: "No journey was ever taken on which so much interest is concentrated as this of St. Paul from Jerusalem to Damascus. It is so critical a passage in history of Gods dealings with man, and we feel it to be so closely bound up with all our best knowledge and best happiness in this life, and with all our hopes for the world to come, that the mind is delighted to dwell upon it, and we are eager to learn all its details.

"If the importance we are intended to attach to particular events in early Christianity is to be measured by the prominence assigned to them in the Sacred Records, we must confess that next after the Passion of our blessed Lord the event to which our serious attention is especially called is the conversion of St. Paul. Besides various allusions to it in his own Epistles, three detailed narratives of the occurrence are found in the Acts. Once it is related by St. Luke (Acts 9), twice by the Apostle himself -- in his address to his countrymen at Jerusalem (Acts 22), in his defense before Agrippa at Caesarea (Acts 26).

"In . . . the Acts we are told that it was about noon, at mid day when the great light shone suddenly from heaven (Acts 22:6, Acts 26:13). And those who have had experience of the glare of a mid day sun in the East will best understand the description of that light, which is said to have been a light above the brightness of the sun shining round about Paul and them that journeyed with him. All fell to the ground in terror (Acts 26:14) or stood dumb with amazement (Acts 9:7).

Suddenly surrounded by a light so terrible and incomprehensible, they were afraid. They heard not the voice of him that spake to Paul (Acts 22:9), or if they heard a voice, they saw no man (Acts 9:7). The whole scene was evidently one of the utmost confusion: and the accounts are such as to express, in the most striking manner, the bewilderment and alarm of the travelers.

"But while the others were stunned, stupefied and confused, a clear light broke in terribly on the soul of one of those who were prostrated on the ground. A voice spoke articulately to him, which to the rest was a sound mysterious and indistinct. He heard what they did not hear. He saw what they did not see. To them the awful sound was without a meaning: he heard the voice of the Son of God. To them it was a bright light which suddenly surrounded them: he saw JESUS, whom he was persecuting. The awful dialogue can be given only in the language of scripture. Yet we may reverentially observe that the words Jesus spoke were in the Hebrew tongue. The same language in which during his earthly life he spoke to Peter and to John, to the blind man by the walls of Jericho, to the woman who washed his feet with her tears. The same sacred language was used when he spoke from heaven to his persecutor on earth. And as on earth he had always spoken in parables, so it was now. That voice which had drawn lessons from the lillies that grew in Galilee, and from the birds that flew over the mountain slopes near the Sea of Tiberias was now pleased to call his last Apostle with a figure of the like significance: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goad. As the ox rebels in vain against the goad of its master and as all its struggles do nought but increase its distress, so is thy rebellion vain against the power of my grace. I have admonished thee by the word of my truth, by the death of my saints, by the voice of thy conscience. Struggle no more against conviction, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

An Apostle by the Will of God

"It is evident that this revelation was not merely an inward impression made on the mind of Saul during a trance or ecstasy. It was the direct perception of the visible presence of Jesus Christ. This is asserted in various passages, both positively and incidentally. In his first letter to the Corinthians, when he contends for the validity of his own apostleship, his argument is, Am I not an Apostle? Have I not seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? (1 Cor. 9:1). And when he adduces the evidence for the truth of the resurrection, his argument is again, He was seen . .. by Cephas . . . by James . . . by all the Apostles . . . last of all by me . . . as one born out of due time (Acts 15:8). By Cephas and by James at Jerusalem the reality of Saul's conversion was doubted (Acts 9:26, 27). Barnabas brought him to the Apostles, and related to them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and had spoken with Him. And similarly Ananias had said to him at their first meeting in Damascus, The Lord hath sent me, even Jesus who appeared to thee in the way as thou comest (Acts 9:17).

The God of our fathers hath chosen thee that thou shouldest see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth (Acts 22:14). The very words spoken by the Savior imply the same important truth. He does not say, I am the God -- the Eternal Word -- the Lord of men and angels, but he says I am Jesus (Acts 9:5; Acts 26:15); Jesus of Nazareth (Acts 22:8).

"The direct and immediate character of this call, without the intervention of any human agency, is an other point on which St. Paul himself, in the course of his apostolic life, laid the utmost stress; and one it is incumbent on us to notice here. A called Apostle, an Apostle by the will of God, an Apostle sent not from men nor by man but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. These are the phrases under which he described himself in the cases where his authority was in danger of being questioned.

No human instrumentality intervened to throw the slightest doubt upon the reality of the communication between Christ himself and the Apostle of the heathen.

As he was directly and miraculously called, so was the work to which he was set apart immediately indicated, in which in after years he always gloried: the work of preaching among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Unless indeed we are to consider the words he used before Agrippa as a condensed statement of all that was revealed to him, both in his vision on the way and afterwards by Ananias in the city: . . . He said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest: but rise, and stand upon thy feet; for to this end I have appeared unto thee, to ordain thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things wherein I will appear unto thee. And thee have I chosen from the House of Israel, and from among the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God; that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among the sanctified, by faith in me.

"But the full intimation of all the labors and sufferings that were before him was still reserved. He was told to arise and go into the city, and there is should be told him what it had been ordained that he should do. He arose humbled and subdued and ready to obey whatever might be the will of him who had spoken to him from heaven. When he opened his eyes all was dark around him. The brilliancy of the vision had made him blind. Those who were with him saw, as before, the trees and the sky and the road leading to Damascus. He was in darkness, and they led him by the hand into the city. Saul came into Damascus not as he had expected -- to triumph in an enterprise on which his soul was set, to brave all difficulties and dangers, to enter into houses and carry off prisoners to Jerusalem -- but he himself passed like a prisoner beneath the gateway and through the colonnades of the street called Straight. He saw not the crowd of those who gazed on him; he was led by the hands of others, trembling and helpless to the house of Judas, his dark and solitary lodging.

"Three days the blindness continued. In the history of the world, only one other space of three days duration of equal importance can be mentioned. The conflict of Saul's feelings was so great and his remorse so piercing and deep that during this time he neither ate nor drank. He could have no communion with the Christians, for they had been terrified by the news of his approach. And the unconverted Jews could have no sympathy with his present state of mind. He fasted and prayed in silence. The recollections of his early years, the passages of the ancient scriptures he had never understood, the thoughts of his own cruelty and violence, the memory of the last looks of Stephen all crowded into his mind and made the three days equal to long years of repentance. If we may imagine one feeling above all others to have kept possession of his heart, it would be the feeling suggested by the expostulation of Christ: Why persecutest thou ME? This feeling would be attended with thoughts of peace, with hope, and with faith. He waited on God, and in his blindness a vision was granted to him. He seemed to behold one who came in to him, and he knew by revelation that his name was Ananias. It appeared to him that the stranger laid his hand on him that he might receive his sight.

"Ananias came into the house where Saul, faint and exhausted with three days abstinence, still remained in darkness. When he laid his hands on Saul's head, as the vision had foretold, immediately he would be recognized as the messenger of God, even before he spoke: Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost [Spirit]. These words were followed, as were the words of Jesus himself when he spoke to the blind, with an instantaneous dissipation of darkness: There fell from his eyes as it had been scales; and he received sight forthwith (Acts 9:18). Or, in his own more vivid express: the same hour he looked up on the face of Ananias (Acts 22:13). It was a face he had never seen before. But the expression of Christian love assured him of reconciliation with God. He learned that the God of his fathers had chosen him to know his will, to see that Just One, to hear the voice of his mouth, to be his witness unto all men. He was baptized, his body was strengthened with food, and his soul was made strong to suffer great things for the name of Jesus and to bear that Name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel. "

Extending the Witness

But while those unacquainted with the scriptures might, if they chose, not find ample proof of his apostleship along the lines above indicated, we who have rejoiced in "his" Gospel find the seal of his apostleship in our hearts and lives. Surely, if any amongst us should be found calling into question his apostleship (whoso readeth, let him understand), his reply to the Corinthians of his time would come with equal force to such: "If to others I am not an apostle, yet certainly I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord" (1 Cor. 9:2, Diaglott). As the light has shined into our hearts from his inspired writings, we have with James and Cephas and John perceived that Paul was entrusted with the glad tidings for the uncircumcision, even as Peter was for the circumcision; ". . . He that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me [Paul] toward the Gentiles. . ." (Gal. 2:8).

With the raising up of this special servant, this Apostle by way of call, the work of witnessing takes on larger dimensions. Missionary journeys are undertaken, and it is seen that by means of missions the "uttermost part of the earth" must receive its witness of Jesus. Soon the inevitable conflict arises between the fast growing Gentile Christianity and those followers of the Lord formerly under the old Law Covenant. The first council of the Christian church harmonizes this conflict. In the chapters of the Book of the Acts which follow, the religion of Jesus is seen to be unlimited by Mosaic Law. Next, "We are told of perplexing hindrances to the movements of St. Paul and his colleagues, until a supernatural vision solves the problem. St. Paul sees a man of Macedonia who cries, Come over and help us. The opening of the Gospel to Europe is the new departure. As the Apostles cross over to Macedonia, the country of the future, the region of infinite progress receives the new religion from the more stationary orient in which it had had its birth. A new stage has been accomplished towards the Christianization of the whole world.

"With this enlargement in the sphere of action is united again an enlargement in the methods of the sacred task. To the missionary journey is now added the missionary epistle and four Pauline epistles find their place in this section of New Testament history.

The significance of this stage is immense. It is not merely that the ministry of the written word is added to the ministry of the spoken word; there is enlargement in the conception of Christianity itself. Hitherto evangelization has limited itself to the etymological significance of the word: there has been simply a proclamation of the good tidings of Christ. But the work for which the epistle is to be an instrument is the growing doctrine of Christianity and the realization of that doctrine in church government as well as in Christian life. The church of Thessalonica, looking (like the other churches) for the immediate coming of the Master has been perplexed by the death of some of its members. The Epistles to the Thessalonians solve their perplexities with the largeness of the Christian hope. Another church has been entangled in disputes with upholders of the Mosaic Law. The Epistle to the Galatians insists on Christian freedom. The succession of missionary epistles embody the gradually developing theology in a series of solutions to the multiplying difficulties of the churches.

"So wide now has become the enlargement in the Apostles conception of their work and their methods that the question at this point is where this embryonic history of world evangelization is to stop. The answer to this question from the standpoint of that age was summed up in one word: Rome. Rome was the center of civilization, the symbol of world unity. Hence in the final section of the Book of Acts a series of strange providences is found to bring the Apostle of the Gentiles to Rome. And before he journeys thither he sends forward his Epistle to the Romans. In this is expounded to the metropolis of universal civilization the harmonization of Jewish and Gentile Christianity . . . ."(Moulton).

-- P. L. Read

My High Calling

I Corinthians 1:26

God calls just a few from the greatest and strong,
But comes to the weakest, sinful and wrong;
The chiefest of sinners He calls in His grace
Through Jesus, the Way, to the light of His face.

Thus great is the favor to me He has shown,
When leaving all else to be His alone!
Forsaking earth's treasures, be they ever so fair,
That I in His Kingdom of glory may share.

What a joy to my heart, and peace to my soul,
An aim for my life, with heaven my goal;
In His Word is my comfort, His Spirit my Guide,
I know He will keep me whatever betide.

My companion is Jesus, His presence my stay;
His grace all-sufficient, a strength for my day.
My pathway He brightens with words of good cheer
As onward we walk in friendship so dear.

Oh! what can earth offer with which to compare
My hope of a heaven with Jesus to share?
Salvation so great, and a calling so clear!
A treasure to cherish and ever hold dear.

- J. J. Blackburn.

Wise Counsel from a Faithful Pastor

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." - Galatians 5:1

IT WOULD not be surprising if a 'strong government,' a monarchy, would some day replace this present Great Republic; and it is entirely probable that one common standard of religious belief will be deemed expedient and will be promulgated, to teach outside of which will 'be treated and punished as a political offense."

So wrote our late Pastor nearly seventy years ago and, in the same connection, he said: "The same necessity for restricting liberty on political and social questions will probably be supposed to apply equally to freedom of expression on religious questions, which' really lie at the foundation of all liberty." - S. S. Vol. II, p. B263.

Yes-it was because he was such a discerning student of Bible prophecy, and realized that religious questions really do lie at the foundation of all liberty, that he so strongly, and so consistently urged against repressive, restrictive or coercive measures, designed to hinder freedom of expression in the Church.

Some, who have written appreciatively of the "Wise Counsel" series of articles which have appeared in recent Heralds, have asked if Brother Russell continued to the end to be the same great lover of liberty he was in his earlier years, or whether as he grew older, and more mature, and particularly during and after the "sin-offering and covenants" controversies, he did not greatly modify his liberal position and counsel. These inquiries, I think, are best answered by himself, in the following paragraphs, published in 1914.

"We must never forget that our authorization to meet as brethren is the Master's Word: 'Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.' (Matt. 18:20.) As this is our charter-right for meeting as the Lord's people, we must concede an equal right under it to all of God's people who may choose to meet in his name at any place and at any time. We should remember the Bible illustration of this principle: On one -occasion the twelve disciples had returned from a preaching tour, and St. John said to Jesus, 'Master, we saw one casting out devils in, thy name; and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not; for he that is not against us is for us.' (Luke 9: 49, 50.) This one forbidden by John would correspond well with some now holding meetings other than those which we attend. What did Jesus say? 'Forbid him not; for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name that can lightly speak evil of me.' - Mark 9:38-40.

"Here is a general principle, which will serve to guide, to instruct God's people of today respecting his will in similar matters. We, of course, think our arrangements most pleasing to the Lord, or we would not have them so. If others think differently, the responsibility is with them and with the Lord. It is not for us to forbid them, but it is for the Lord to bless them or not to bless them, according to his wisdom in the management of his work.

"Some one may suggest, Would not this thought, acted upon, break up the meetings of the Lord's people into very small Classes? We reply that this must depend upon the brethren themselves. They have the right to meet in twos and threes or in larger numbers. If they can find it to their advantage to meet in larger groups, no doubt they will be glad to do so. This means a great deal of liberty in the Church within the lines of the word and spirit of Jesus' teaching, directly and through his Apostles.

Brethren meeting as a class should understand that in so doing they properly waive, or make void, some of their personal liberties and privileges. Individual preferences are to be more or less subjected to Class preferences. Even the majority of the Class should be considerate of the wishes of the minority, and if possible, should moderate the arrangements, so that all can be accommodated and pleased in respect: to speakers, and in respect to place and character of meetings. No one should selfishly consider merely his own preferences and welfare. The spirit of cooperation, the Golden Rule, the spirit of love, should prevail. And as this is true, all those filled with the spirit of the Master and living close to him will find fellowship one with another in yielding personal preferences in the interest of the whole number.

CONSCIENCE TO BE RESPECTED

"The only things that may not be yielded to the will of the majority are matters of conscience. No one is to do what he believes to be sin, injustice, wrong, even though all the remainder of the brethren think it right. And no one is to leave undone what his conscience dictates, even though so directed by all the remainder of the brethren of the Class.

"Conscience is always to be respected -- never to be throttled or violated. Nor is any one who stands faithful to his conscience to be disesteemed therefore by his brethren, even if their consciences view the matter differently. On the contrary, his courage in standing by his convictions is to be considered estimable.

"On these principles liberty may be maintained in the Body of Christ; and we shall find blessing in proportion as those of one mind can fellowship with each other. Where fellowship is not maintained, the assembling is neither desirable nor in harmony with the divine arrangement. But where the brethren find it advantageous, to meet in different classes, it will usually be found, we believe, that originally too great restraint of personal liberty was exercised, and that the majority were too careless of the sentiments of the brethren constituting the minority.

"But even where it may be found necessary or desirable to have more than one gathering of the Lord's people in one city, it certainly still is true that they should have one heart and one mind, and be of one brotherhood under the Anointed Head. They should consider each other's interests, and do all in their power 'to provoke one another to love and to good works.' - Hebrews 10:24." --R5501.

Less than a year previously he had written: "If . . . a Class finds that it cannot agree, and would make better progress as two Classes, we would concur in that conclusion as a wise one, as much as we would deplore the necessity of a division. Such a separation would not necessarily alienate either Class from the Lord's people, nor from the Society, because both acknowledge Jesus as their Redeemer, and both acknowledge that his blood is primarily efficacious." - Reprints R5285.

Let us apply these words to any given case. Here is a Class, we will say, which, much as Brother Russell deplores it, separates on the "sin-offering, covenants, presence of the Lord" issues. What course does Brother Russell pursue? Does he say: "I'll serve the one, and not the other"? Does he say: "I'll find out which of them seems closest to my view, and serve it, forsaking the other"? No, indeed! He says their separation from each other will not necessarily separate neither from the Society; which, since he controlled all the Society's property and activities, was his modest way of speaking of himself. If one or both Classes became alienated from him, its it not clear that, whatever the reasons given, the true cause was something else, and not these doctrinal matters themselves? Brethren, where the spirit of Christ, the spirit of brotherly love, prevails, people do not separate for any reason. Doctrinal differences, except on the fundamental items of our faith, have never in themselves brought about a division, and they did -not do so during those controversial years. Separations, indeed, did take place during those controversies. But they did not result from those controversies. Differences of opinion are unhappy only when they sharpen tempers and occasion ill-will. Otherwise they may be found profitable in our education in the school of Christ.

STILL MORE LIBERTY -- THE REAL NEED OF THE CHURCH

There is an instructive paragraph from Brother Russell's pen on this very point in the Sixth Volume. Let me quote it here in concluding this discussion:

"The Apostle declares that it is the Lord's pleasure that theme be no schism in the Body -- no splits, no divisions. With human methods divisions are unavoidable -except as in Papacy's period of triumph, when the nominal system became powerful and used drastic methods of persecution in dealing with all not fully in accord with itself. That, however, was a unity of force, of compulsion -- an outward unity, and not a unity of the heart. Those whom the Son makes free can never participate heartily in such unions, in which personal liberty is utterly destroyed. The difficulty with the Protestant denominations is not that they are too liberal and, therefore, have separated into many fragments, butt rather that they still have much of the spirit of the mother institution, without possessing the power which she at one time exercised for quelling and suppressing liberty of thought. We will, doubtless, surprise many by saying, that instead of having too many divisions or splits of the kind we now see on every hand, the real need of the Church of Christ is still more liberty-until each individual member shall stand free and independent of all human bonds, creeds, confessions, etc. With each individual Christian standing fast in the liberty wherewith the was made free by the Lord (Gal. 5:1; John 8:32), and each individual Christian united in loyalty to the Lord and to his Word, very quickly the original unity which the Scriptures inculcated would be discerned and all true children of God, all members, of the New Creation, would find themselves drawn to each other member similarly free, and bound each to the other by the cords of love far more strongly than are 'men bound in earthly systems and societies. 'The love of Christ constraineth us' (holds us together.-Young's Concordance). - 2 Cor. 5:14." - S.S. Vol. VI, pages F241, F242.

- P. L. Read.

"We Shall Be Like Him"

We shall be like Him. O, how rich the promise!
What greater could our Father's love prepare?
Few are the words, and softly are they spoken,
But who shall tell the glories hidden there?

We shall be like Him, for we'll have His nature,
He'll lift us up and with His glory bless;
He took our sin, O wondrous condescension!
That He might clothe us in His righteousness.

He bore our sickness, fainted with our weakness,
That He might give us perfect strength and health;
He walked with us in poverty and hunger,
To make us sharers of His boundless wealth.

We shall be like Him, raised above all weakness,
Forever past all weariness and pain;
Even death itself shall have no power to touch us,
When like our risen Lord with Him we reign.

While now in gracious love He calls us brethren,
And we His spotless robe with gladness wear,
Faith grasps the promise of the glorious future
"We shall be like Him when He shall appear."

O, what has earth our thirsting souls to offer,
Compared with that abundant life to come?
How poor its pleasures and how dim its splendor,
Beside the glory of the promised throne!

- S. M. Hodgdon.

The Question Box

John 2:19

Question:

Will you please explain our Lord's words in John 2:19 where he is reported to have said to the Jews, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

Answer:

The Jews to whom our Lord spoke understood him to refer to the Jewish temple, for they replied: "Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?" (John 2:20.) However, our Lord did not refer to the Jewish temple, but as St. John explains in John 2:21, "He spake of the temple of his body."

The question next arises as to the meaning of this expression, "the temple of his body." I think the primary reference of our Lord was to his own impending death and resurrection, but that his words may be understood as applying also to his mystical Body, the Church, of which he is the all-glorious Head.

From John 2:22 it appears that at the time our Lord spoke, the disciples themselves did not understand the import of his words, but that "when he was risen" they recalled them; evidently regarding his personal resurrection as their fulfillment. Then also "they believed the Scripture," --doubtless that Scripture which predicted his resurrection so unmistakably namely, Psalm 16:10.

In stating my belief, as I have foregoing, that the primary; reference of our Lord was to his own death and resurrection, let me not be misunderstood. I do not at all mean to say or imply that his resurrection body and the human body destroyed on Calvary were the same. The, true thought is expressed by St. Peter: "Put to death in flesh he was made alive in spirit." (1 Pet. 3:18, Diaglott) word for word translation.) "We know no man after the flesh," says St. Paul. "Even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now know we him so no more." - 2 Cor. 5:16.

But while our Lord's words had their primary reference to himself, they find an application also to the Church -- to that company who seek to walk in his steps.

In 1 Cor. 3:16 the Apostle questions the Church as follows: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you?" And again: "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." - Verse 17.

Moreover, in his second letter to the same Church the Apostle again employs this symbolism: "What agreement hath the temple of God with idols?" "For ye are the temple of God, the living One." (2 Cor. 6:16.) Indeed, an able scholar of other days (A. J. Gordon) tells us that the Greek phrase, "ton naon ton Theou" translated "the Temple of God" occurs in the New Testament ten times only, and that in every case it refers to the Church.*

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* The ten places are: Matt. 26:61; 1 Cor. 3:16; 1 Cor. 3:17; 1 Cor. 3:17; 1 Cor. 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; 2 Thess. 2:4; Rev. 3:12; Rev. 11:1; Rev. 11:19.

The conclusion, then, is that it was first of himself, and then of his Body, the Church, our Lord spoke. The Jews did, indeed, destroy the Head, and all down through the Gospel Age the various members of the Body of Christ have been called upon to "suffer with him," to be "dead with him," "to lay down their lives for the brethren." This Body of Christ (the members of which have been selected, one here, one there, some from within the nominal churches, some from without them-some from every kindred, tribe, and nation), has been in process of destruction from the time of Jesus until now, and very soon, if I mistake not, the last member will have proved himself "faithful unto death."

But how are we to understand our Lord's further word in respect to his raising up of the temple of his Body, in three days? I think St. Peter gives us a clue in his Second Epistle, chapter 3, verse 8 (2 Pet. 3:8), where we read: "Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." The destruction of the temple of God, which is the Church, began in the fifth thousand-year day of the world, in the destruction of the chief Corner-stone, and it has progressed since, during the remainder of the fifth day, all of the sixth day, and we are now in the beginning of the seventh day, "very early in the morning. And the promise of the Lord is that the, chief, or first resurrection, "his" resurrection, shall be completed about this time. Speaking of the Church, the Psalmist (Psa. 46:5) declares,

"God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God shall help her, and that right early (margin, when the morning appeareth)." Our Lord was a part of three days dead and was raised a spirit being, by the Father, on the third day, early in the morning; so likewise the Church which is his Body will be raised on the third day, the third thousand-year day from the time he spoke (the seventh thousand-year day of the world), early in the morning.

- P. L. Read

Lord, Here I Bring Myself

Lord, here I bring myself,
'Tis all I have to give,
My heart's desire is wholly this
Henceforth for Thee to live;

To own no will but Thine,
To suffer loss or shame,
All things to bear, if only I
May glorify Thy name;

Henceforth mine every power
Each day for Thee to use,
My hands, my feet, my lips, mine all,
As thou, my Lord, shalt choose.

Dear Lord, my constant prayer
Is for increase of grace,
That I by faith may walk with Thee,
Till I behold Thy face.

"Suffer Little Children to Come"

Parents have inquired on several occasions respecting their children and how they should in some manner indicate that they had dedicated them to the Lord. We, of course, declined to baptize the infants, because such a course would have been contrary to the Word of God -- because baptism is therein stated to be for believers -- an outward expression or symbolization of their consecration to the service of the Lord, even unto death, and of their faith that, so doing, they would be sharers with the Lord in the likeness of his resurrection.

However, we remembered how Samuel in childhood had been presented to the Lord in consecration, and of how our own parents had told us that they had devoted us to the Lord and his service in infancy, and of how all Jewish boys were, in a sense, set apart to holiness, in harmony with the Lord's - will. We remembered also how children were brought to Jesus by their parents, that he should bless them or pray a blessing upon them. We remember that the disciples thought this too insignificant a work for the Master and were sending them away, when Jesus called to them, saying, "Suffer [permit] the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the Kingdom of God." (Mark 10:14.) W e gave notice that hereafter we will have a Child-Blessing Service in the evening of each Sunday we are in Brooklyn. And we see no reason why we may not extend this opportunity to any who desire it on the occasion of our visit to any of the Classes-in conjunction with the less public meeting.

It is our opinion that the influence of this service upon the parents and upon the children will be favorable, impressing upon the former their responsibilities. The fact that the children have been formally devoted to God in public may assist the parents in fulfilling their obligations and later assist the children as they shall come to a knowledge of the fact that they were thus committed to Divine care by their parents.

Nothing in this, however, should be understood as signifying a law, or even an obligation or custom. It is arranged merely for the convenience of those who desire it. Nor need such a service be performed merely by one person. Any one serving as a minister of the Truth would, at the request of the parents of an infant, be fully justified in thus publicly stating the matter and asking the Divine blessing.

- Reprints, page R4823.

Recently Deceased

Brother J. Brennen, Redlands, Calif. - (February).
Brother F. M. Gibbens, Crichton, Ala. - (March).
Brother Carl Luttichau, Copenhagen, Denmark - (January).
Sister Elizabeth E. McCurdy, Brooklyn, N. Y. - (February)
Sister Mary Ross Taylor, Inglewood, Calif. - (January).
Sister E. M. Whan, Miami, Fla. - (March).

1955 Index