VOL.
XLVIII May/June 1965 No. 3
"The Way, the Truth, the Life"
Notice of Postponement of Annual Meeting The Unction From the Holy One"If by any
means I may advance into 'the out-resurrection, WHITSUNTIDE,
WHICH is the seventh Sunday after Easter, and the following Monday and Tuesday,
has been observed for many centuries by many Christians as the memorial of the
day of Pentecost, which occurred fifty days after the resurrection of our
Lord. On
that day the Holy Spirit descended upon the early disciples in "tongues of
fire," as a visible sign of their setting apart to the service of God, and
of the beginning of a new life within them, wherein they should "walk, not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Not
since that day has the Spirit been visibly bestowed; yet every true child of
God is aware that he has received the same begetting. "You have an anointing
from the Holy One, and ye all know it." - l John 2:20, Emph. Diag.,
Sinaitic and Vatican MSS. Why Bestowed?What
is the purpose of this begetting? What is the meaning of the gift, and what is
the intent of Him who bestows it? Is it that the recipient might "speak
with tongues," or that he should thenceforth have an access-or an excess
of emotional religious fervor? Nay; it is of far greater significance and
consequences. Jesus,
in His patient effort to make clear to the Jewish ruler Nicodemus some of the
things of the spirit world, told him that "that which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." This statement
seems basic and clear. It may be logically expanded to say: "That which is
begotten of the flesh will be born [if not stillborn] a being of flesh; that
which is begotten of the Spirit will be born [if it comes to birth] a
spirit-being," The birth follows the begetting, and partakes of its
nature. Spirit PowersIn
the same conversation Jesus explained that those "born of the Spirit"
have powers of action and of invisibility to human perception totally unknown
to man. "The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear its sound, but you
do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with every one
who has been born of the Spirit." "God
is a spirit"; "heaven is His throne and the earth is His footstool.
The nature, laws, and conditions of the spirit world are vastly different from
those of the earth. In the one particular of temperature the physicists and
astronomers tell us that the universe has a range of tens of thousands of
degrees Fahrenheit; our human life can endure a variation of "barely' one
hundred fifty degrees. We cannot conceive of life existing at four hundred
degrees below zero, or at ten thousand degrees above; yet the spirit world has
joyful existence under these and other inconceivable conditions, If
we were planning to move our residence to, say, Africa or Australia, we should
try to learn all we could about life there-in fact to go there in our minds and so prepare ourselves for our new
environment. We would commence our new life there in anticipation; and that is exactly what the Pentecostal begetting
of the Spirit is-the mental seed-planting of a new spirit-life; a "lively
hope," or new hope of life. To this embryonic spirit-life such various
Scriptures refer as: "a new creature"; "the renewing [literally,
up-newing] of your mind"; "walking in newness of life";
"set your affections on things above"; etc., etc. The Metamorphosis, or Transformation"There
is a physical body, and there is a spirit body." The change from one to
the other, tremendous as it is, is a mere detail to the power with which the
begotten one has to do. The actual operation is dismissed in the Scriptures in
a few sentences. "He giveth it a body as it pleaseth Him." "He
will change the body of our humiliation into the likeness of His own glorious
body." Moreover, this change will be accomplished instantaneously,
"in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye." But
the mental, moral, and emotional transformation from the human to the spirit
nature is a far more complicated and lengthy process, and requires the
candidate's full, continuous, and careful cooperation. Practically the whole of
the New testament is devoted to describing, facilitating, and inspiring this
process. It requires rigid self-abnegation, self-discipline, and
self-sacrifice, that is, of the human self. "The flesh-desires oppose the
spirit, and the spirit-desires oppose the flesh, for these are contrary to each
other; that not whatsoever things ye may be wishing,
these ye should be doing." Every
sincere candidate for spirit-birth knows this to be true. Are We Sincere?What
does it mean to us? Are we carefully cherishing and cultivating that flame of
life that we have received, or are we permitting "the cares of this world
and the deceitfulness of riches" to "quench the Spirit"? Are we
"putting to death the deeds of the body" that we may live; or are we
"living after the flesh," which is mortal-"death-doomed"?
Are we "giving ourselves wholly to these things, that our profit may be
manifest to all," as the Apostle advised his "beloved son"
Timothy? Are we cultivating and bringing forth in our lives the ripening
"fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering,"
etc.; or are the "works of the flesh" still all too manifest in our
relationships-family, church, business? Is our love like God's sunshine and
rain, universal and impartial-"perfect," as Jesus admonished us it
should be; or is it sectional (sectional) -- only for those who agree with us? Self-examinationThese
are practical questions, of supreme importance. They should be addressed, in
all seriousness, to ourselves. "Examine yourselves, whether ye be, in the
faith"-not a creed, but the confidence and reliance in and upon the Lord,
with reason on your part for Him to have faith in you. "Prove ye yourselves. Or do ye not know yourselves that
Jesus Christ is in you, unless you are disapproved?" For
"if we examine ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged
by the Lord, we are corrected, that we may not be condemned with the
world." "Quench
not the Spirit." -
H. E. Hollister ------------------------------------------ (Note:
Scriptural quotations in the foregoing article follow the text of the three
oldest Greek MSS., and the literal renderings of the Emphatic Diaglott,
Rotherham, and Strong's Greek Dictionary.) Tolerance"Love
suffereth long, and is kind." - 1 Cor. 13:4 THERE
IS no quality of the Christian character more important than that of tolerance.
The lack of it has been back of most of the terrible persecutions and
martyrdoms that have come to followers of Christ since the introduction of
Christianity into the world. Foxe's Book of Martyrs, and the many histories
recording the dreadful persecutions and manifold sufferings and tortures of
Christ's true followers, would never have been written but for the absence of
this most important trait of character-likeness to our divine Lord and Master.
Intolerance has existed in all ages, and has been that which more than anything
else has misrepresented true Christianity. And sad and strange to say, it has
not only been manifested on the part of apostate Christians, but it is found to
exist in the lives of true Christians; indeed, it will hardly be an
exaggeration to say that nearly all Christians have at some time been guilty of
giving expression to intolerance, and have to a greater or less extent at some
time in their Christian experience, exhibited it, even in their dealings with
their fellow-Christians. It appears that but few people have a true and proper
appreciation of what tolerance
really is. Some learned, devout Christians have even questioned the correctness
of our dictionaries in defining it. One of the reasons for this is, doubtless,
because of the failure to see that tolerance is an. inner disposition or state. In fact, all the various traits or
manifestations of Christian character are based upon, and grow out of, the
inward condition of the heart. Murder is defined generally as the commission of
the act or deed in taking life. It is defined in the Scriptures as the disposition of hatred that is expressed
in a desire or wish to commit the deed which has hatred back of it. That
we may appreciate the wrong views- held as to the meaning of tolerance, we will
examine what some others have said. A learned and godly writer has quoted some
utterances of eminent men in regard to this matter. One of these has said:
"The only foundation for tolerance is a degree of skepticism." * --------------------------------------- *
Charles James Fox. "John
Harvard, in the university that bears his name, declared of the Puritans by
whom that college was created: 'They were intolerant, as all men the world over
in all time have always been and will always be when they are in solemn earnest
for the truth,' " How utterly unscriptural, how unchristlike are these
statements which imply that this disposition is a proper one to possess. This
godly man who quotes the above writer, has given: us a true definition of
tolerance as exhibited in Christ Himself, the true model and example for His
followers, and it is with a pleasurable feeling that we listen to his words: "Tolerance is the willing
consent that other men should hold and ex press opinions with which we
disagree, until they are convinced by reason that those opinions are
untrue." TOLERANCE IS FORBEARANCEAs
we have said, tolerance is a disposition, an inner quality of character; a. willing, not a forced, consent that others should hold and express 'opinions
until they are convinced by reason and Scripture that they are wrong.
Toleration is the behavior in which that disposition finds expression. It is
possible to have the latter and not possess the former." "The consent
is a willing one; it is not a mere
yielding of compulsion." One has said: "It
might have all the power to put down the error by force which pope or
parliament ever possessed, and it would
never for a moment dream of using it. On the other hand, it is simply consent. Tolerance is not called to champion the cause in which it disbelieves,
nor to lend trumpets through which what it believes to be error may be blown; for
it is the very essence of tolerance that there should be a disagreement. . .
And the error, which is not to be yielded until it is convinced of its untruth'
by reason, must be attacked ' by reason; and so the right and duty of earnest
discussion is included as a part of tolerance. And the tolerance which is
patient toward what it counts honest error,
is utterly impatient towards dishonesty, toward hypocrisy, toward self-conceit,
toward cant, whether it be [exhibited] on the side of what the-honest man
thinks to be error, or of that which he thinks to be true." Another
writer has said that "it is the natural
feeling of all of us that charity [we would say tolerance] is founded upon
the uncertainty of truth." "I believe," says this same writer,
"it is founded upon the certainty of truth." Two very strong
evidences,, then, of the existence of true tolerance in a follower of Christ
are, positive conviction, and sympathy with' other: men whose convictions
differ with your own. It is only by the possession of these two qualities that.
tolerance becomes "a clear, definable, respectable position for a man to
stand in." Furthermore, true tolerance is exhibited toward our fellow-men
just in "proportion to the earnestness with which we hold our well-proven
truth." Conviction of truth is
the first, and an absolutely necessary element to an exhibition of true
tolerance. It is only when we are thoroughly convinced that what we hold is
truth, that true tolerance has an opportunity to manifest itself. On the other
hand, it is almost certain to be the case that when a Christian becomes the
most thoroughly, convinced of truth and its importance, that then it is apt to
become to him a terrible thing for another to differ with him. Before we see
the truth and its importance, it is a matter of very little concern or consequence
to us what another believes about the matter. It is just at the point when we
become thoroughly convinced of truth that the exhibition of intolerant
bigotry is manifested and the temptation to "lift the axe or kindle the
fires of persecution" has to be resisted, and the cultivation of true
tolerance inculcated. The professed Christian, however, who is indifferent in
the matter, who has no real creed or belief of his own, and who has no strong
conviction that his belief is correct, has no opportunity to manifest true
tolerance. He may call himself tolerant toward his fellow-Christians because
he is willing that they should believe what they please, but he lacks the first
element of true tolerance, which is that of a strong conviction that what he
holds is the truth: IMITATIONS OF TOLERANCETolerance,
being a disposition of, the heart, like other traits of character, has its
imitations or counterfeits. We mention three. One of these may be properly
termed the tolerance of indifference. If it is a matter of indifference to me
whether a thing is truth or not, why should I not be perfectly willing to let
my Christian brother believe what he chooses to believe. This is frequently
defined as tolerance, but it is not Scriptural, Christlike tolerance. Then we
have that which is akin to this, that may be denominated the tolerance of
helplessness; for example, we allow another to hold error because we cannot
help ourselves. This
is sometimes called the "tolerance of persecuted minorities." Neither
is this true Christian tolerance, for the reason that the disposition of
intolerance may be possessed, but because of a lack of authority or power to
exercise that disposition,, it is suppressed. Then we have what 'might be
called the tolerance of policy, which means simply that we allow another to
hold what we believe is error because we think it might stir up strife and
division if we attempted to stamp it out. These three kinds of what are sometimes
called tolerance, are not real Christian tolerance. While there may be some
-commendable qualities in them, they lack either a strong conviction of truth,
as does the first, or the inner trait or disposition, as do the two last. We
will now endeavor to illustrate what calls for the exercise of tolerance; and
this will help us to understand whether real, commendable tolerance is
possessed First of all, we notice what may be termed the tolerance that is
exhibited because of pure respect for a man because he is a man. We. may
entirely, disagree with a man's opinion or belief, and yet we may cordially
acknowledge that if he is honest in his belief, he has as good a right, to his
own opinion or convictions as we have to ours -- and this for the simple
reason that he is a man and, as such, this is his right. Next
we have what is properly termed the tolerance that is exhibited as a result of
Christian love and sympathy. We may feel sure that our Christian brother's
opinions are wrong, but the fact that we know and recognize that he has the
spirit of Christ and therefore is a true Christian, enables us, or should
enable us, to willingly and cordially allow him to hold those opinions until
either by our efforts or those of
some one else, or by his own reasoning powers, he becomes convinced that he is
wrong. THE PURPOSE OF TRUTHNext
we have the tolerance that is exhibited as the result of an enlarged view of
truth. It should be much easier to exhibit true tolerance from this standpoint.
Such an one, if he have learned the truth at the Master's feet, and if he have
(as such always have) made, a proper use of the truth, will realize, possibly
for the first time, that sacred truth is very much larger than' his own
conception of it. Such Christians experience, or should experience, an enlargement
of the heart as they come to realize how great, how wonderful, is God's love
for His creatures; that all sacred truth comes from Him; and that He is the
great Caretaker and Preserver of truth.. Such have come to know that the Bible,
which contains His truth, is for man, and will eventually be known and
understood by all. As God freely lets His truth be misunderstood, and waits in
perfect patience for the time appointed by Him when it will be freed from
misconceptions and shine out clear and bright, so ought not we be patient, knowing that this is His purpose? While
it is without question that truth is the most important of all the trusts
committed to the servant of God, it should ever and always be kept before the
mind that truth is not an end in itself, but is rather a means to accomplish an
end. Therefore, truth is not committed to the servant of God as a sacred trust,
to be guarded and defended as a miser does his treasures, but rather as an
instrument to be used for the great and all-important work of character development.
While it is commendable that we dread a stain of error on the truth, we should dread vastly more the losing sight
of what the truth was given for. We will not be called to account,' when we
stand before our divine Lord and Master to render up our stewardship, as to
how faithfully we have fenced in, or contended for, or safeguarded, or defended
the truth; it will rather be concerning
what use we have made of the truth in allowing it to change, to transform our
characters into the likeness of our Lord and Master.. The larger our
knowledge or view of truth becomes, the larger the measure of that
character-likeness of our Lord and Master will be required on our part. It
is possible, indeed it is with sorrow that we say it, that the real purpose or
object of the enlarged view of truth now so graciously given, is thwarted in
the lives of many who have received it by a
kind of pride that we know so much, as well as a spirit of intolerance
manifested among us. One of the very purposes of the truth is to make us meek
and humble, as well as charitable toward one another, and patient- and kind
toward those who are blinded by the god of this world; and in the proportion
that it fails to work this change in our own lives, in that proportion will we
fail in recommending it to others and, in drawing them to become meek and
humble followers of the divine Master. OPPOSITION TO BIBLE STUDYAgain,
this feeling of pride exhibits itself in causing some of us to think that we
possess all the truth; that we are no longer to be Bible students, truth seekers,
in the true and proper sense of those terms. The moment we cease to search the
Scriptures, that moment we cease to be either "Truth people" or
"Bible students." Satan's efforts have ever been to hinder the
progress of the Truth, for the success of his-empire of darkness depends upon
holding the people in darkness and ignorance. Consequently, varied have been
his tactics by which he has sought to hold in check or throttle those, who
would press on in the path of light and truth. One of his most successful
methods has been to arrest the attention of the truth seeker upon some visible
instrumentality that the Lord has used in a special way to blaze and prepare
the way for the onward march of others. How often in the past, multitudes have made the very grave mistake
of supposing and concluding that their leader had received all the truth,
had been made the complete custodian over all the volume of divine revelation,
and that there was nothing more to be learned, and accordingly have set about
to make a little fence around their leader and the measure of truth they
possessed, thus narrowing down their opportunities and preventing any further
progress. It. is amongst such as make this serious error that we so frequently
discern the most radical intolerance and the largest measure of bigotry. Nor is
the Christian leader to whom many may have been led to look, always to blame
for the error his followers thus make. In fact, history clearly reveals that
the real reformers, the true and worthy leaders, have never claimed to have
mastered all the truth; have never taught their, followers to believe that
there was nothing more to be learned by those who came after them. To the contrary,
we find that all true reformers and teachers of divine truth have humbly
acknowledged the fact that what they have succeeded in bringing forth was only a part of the Truth -- their quota, or
such as it seemed good to divine Providence to impart to each in his day -- and
that there was more to follow. Such leaders have encouraged those who received
their messages to continue to be truth seekers and to continue to progress in
the path of light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The Bible,
of all books, stands for liberty and progress, and bids the humble believer
throw off all human fetters and bondages, and to walk in the light as Christ is
in the light. Surely
God's people in these days have much for which to be thankful along the line of
the unfolding of truth, but we do well to remember that neither ourselves nor those who have gone before us have
mastered all the truth of divine revelation; that there is much in the Bible not yet revealed, and therefore we
should continue to search our Bibles for more truth, keeping in mind always the
great end to be accomplished in the obtainment of truth. The character is the
end to be accomplished; the truth is
simply the means to accomplish that end. The
Scripture truths that are required to constitute one a Christian, while of
paramount importance, are very few; and these, when experienced in the life,
are all that are required to admit one into fellowship with other Christians,
in other words, to make one a member of the true Church, which is the Body of
Christ. More truth, to be sure, is required for the Christian's growth and
development, but it should ever be remembered that while the various churches
of human organization have insisted upon more than these to make one a member of their church, we do not find
any others than these stipulated or taught by Christ and the inspired Apostles
to become a member of the true Church which He founded. The
true standards of fellowship and membership "ought not to be one whit
more, as well as not one whit less than the standard by which a man would have
a right to count himself, and to think that Christ would count him, a true
servant of the Lord of Christians." If a company of the Lord's followers
dare not make this their standard, they ought to "rejoice that there are
forms of worship and groups of believers, in which those Christians for whom
she has no place, may find fellowship with one another and feed their souls on
truth." -
Condensed from the writings of R. E. Streeter "The Way, the Truth, the Life"
"The
Way, the Truth, the Life." "We know
that we have passed from death unto life." - 1 John 3:14. THROUGHOUT
our Lord's teachings he made it clear that an understanding of God's purposes
is reserved for those who are in harmony of heart with the Father. The Apostle
Paul explained this in several ways, and particularly in his second letter to
Timothy where he links "rightly divide the word of truth" with
"give diligence to present thyself approved unto God." - 2 Tim.
2:15, R. V. When
the Jews marveled at Jesus' teaching, saying, "How knoweth this man
learning, having never learned?" Jesus replied, "My doctrine is not
mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the
doctrine, . . ." (John 7:16, 17.) From these and many other passages it is
clear that the development of Scriptural understanding is dependent on our
making ourselves acceptable unto God. At
the outset he requires that we shall demonstrate a sincere faith, for without
faith there is no basis for the Lord's "mighty works." (Matt. 13:58.)
To understand the deep things of God, however, we need the guidance of the holy
spirit, which God grants only to those who have made an acceptable consecration
of their lives and wills. Thus we learn of God's purposes not by our own
intellectual efforts, but by submitting ourselves to God so that his holy
spirit may reveal him and his purposes to us. This
brings us to the crux of all our searching after truth, for the holy spirit is
the spirit of divine love, and if we are to retain its sanctifying and
enlightening influence, we must allow its loving spirit to permeate our
lives. In
the famous 13th chapter of the first letter to the Church at Corinth the
Apostle Paul left us in no doubt regarding the pre-eminence of love. "If I
have . . . all knowledge," he wrote, "and all faith . . . but have
not love, I am nothing." "Follow after love," he added, and
then, as a supplementary consideration, "desire spiritual gifts." Throughout
our Lord's earthly ministry he emphasized above all things the overwhelming
importance of love. In his first' recorded address he exhorted his disciples
to love even their enemies, adding that in this way they might become
"perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." - Matt.
5:48. Love,
Jesus explained, governs our entire relationship with our Lord and with the
Father. "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love
him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him." (John 14:23.)
"As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you; continue ye in my
love." (John 15:9.) In these closing days of the old dispensation, when
real and imagined differences have divided the brethren, are we not in danger
of losing sight of the fact that no matter how profound we believe our
understanding of God's Word to be, it is "as nothing if we have not love. It
may seem that love for the brethren is easy compared with love for our
enemies, but that does not seem to the thought which our Lord gave to the
disciples. We might say with equal truth that it is easier for a mother to love
her own child than the child of a stranger, but the strength of mother love is
nevertheless known to be much greater. So it is with that higher love for the
brethren. If we have the holy spirit within us, we shall find no difficulty in
recognizing it in others. Thus shall we know that the divine spirit of love is
within us. The
Psalmist wrote, "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to
dwell together in unity." (Psa. 133:1.) In the 55th Psalm he shows how
real is this love between brethren by describing the, pain which is caused when
it is withheld. "For it is not an enemy that reproached me, he wrote,
"then would I have borne it, but it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide,
and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the
house of God in company." - Psa. 55:12-14. The
Master knew that the evidence of the holy spirit of love within us would be
shown in love for the brethren, and so during the last Supper with his disciples
he said, "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you." (John 13:34.)
Later, he added, as if to emphasize the seriousness of this new charge,
"If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15.) By this test of
love for the brethren, Jesus explained, "shall all men know that ye are my
disciples." The
Apostle John, who conveyed to us so wonderfully the Christian doctrine of love,
stated that by this test we shall know that we are acceptable to God. "We
know that we have passed from death unto life," he wrote, "because we
love the brethren." (1 John 3:14.) 'There will be difficulties, of course,
as Brother Russell showed so clearly in his comments on this passage of
Scripture: "It
would indeed be easy to love the brethren and to lay down our lives for them if
they were all like our dear Master and Exemplar; (but they are not. The
inspired Apostle tells us that among the brethren are not many noble, not many
great, not many wise, not many learned, not marry rich. Now then, we may see
why the Lord enjoined upon us that
we should love one another, and rather implied that it would be a difficult
matter to do so at all times, to make
allowances for the weaknesses of the flesh and
the imperfections of judgment in one another. And this is exactly wheat the
Apostle John declares, saying, 'We
know that we have passed from death unto life; because we love the
brethren.'" The
cultivation of that higher standard of love which is understood in Christ's
word's, "love as I have loved you," is vital if the child of God is
to make his calling and election sure. Too often it is regarded only as a very
desirable quality exercised primarily for the benefit of others, but this standard of conduct is sometimes reached by those who are not even professing
Christians. The Lord requires much more from us: namely, that our love for others
shall not be an end in itself, but
evidence of the development of a loving character. "Now the end of the
commandment is love out of a pure heart." (1 Tim. 1:5.) That is to say,
explained Brother Russell, that the object of all instruction and discipline on
God's part is to bring us to this character-likeness of himself. Learning to
love the brethren is part of our development, and its expression is, therefore,
a symptom, not of some merit of our own, but
of the holy spirit of love within us. The
Scriptures clearly distinguish between the duty love (Greek-Phileo), which we are to show to all, and the higher love
(Greek-Agape), which Jesus showed to the Father and which he enjoins us to
cultivate. The Apostle Peter shows that brotherly kindness or Phileo love is a necessary step in our spiritual development,
but he put its acquisition at an earlier stage than the higher love which is
to crown all our spiritual endeavor. (2 Peter 1:7.) This is the love of which
the Apostle Paul said, "suffereth long and is kind . . . envieth not . .
vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly,
seeketh not her own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; rejoiceth
not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with truth; covereth all things [with a
mantle of sympathy], believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all
things. (1 Cor. 13:18, R. V.) Finally, he concludes that love is the thing
that "never faileth." Its acquisition indicates that the new creature
has reached a high standard of character development. "The
fruit of the spirit is love," wrote the Apostle Paul, and using another
metaphor, Christ referred to the fruit of the spirit as a "light" --
"Ye are the light of the world." It is the holy spirit within us that
provides that light and causes us to shine both in love to the brethren and in
doctrinal truth. Our Master knew, nevertheless, that many unconsecrated
brethren would obtain a knowledge of true doctrine from those who are living
under the influence of the holy spirit, although those who are not growing in
Christ may not appreciate the depth of the truths they are taught. Only those
who have the Lord's holy spirit, however, can have that rare and precious
quality of love by which "all men shall know that ye are my
disciples." - John 13:35. Let
us therefore put first things first by continued diligence in our consecration,
maintain God's loving holy spirit as ruler of our lives and wills, and let us
give evidence of this by the love' we have one to another. On that basis and on
that alone will the Lord help us to resolve our differences and maintain the
unity of faith. "Beloved, let us love
one another; for love is of God.; and every one that loveth, is born [R.V.
"begotten"] of God and knoweth God. ... If we love one another, God
dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us." - 1 John 4:7, 8, 12. -L. H. Bunker, Eng. Death -- What Is It?"All go unto one
place." - Ecclesiastes
3:20. THE
FIRST perfect man Adam by disobedience to the Divine command forfeited his
right to life and entailed upon himself and his race the penalty of death, for
by reason of inherited weaknesses "all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God." (Rom. 3:23.) The truth of this Scripture statement is
demonstrated by the inability of anyone to fully obey the Decalogue of Mt.
Sinai-the Divine Law which measures a perfect man's ability and right to
eternal life. Says the Apostle: "We know that all that the Law says is
addressed to those who are living subject to the Law, in order that every mouth
may be silenced, and that the whole world may await sentence from God. For no
man living will be declared righteous before him on the ground of obedience to
Law. Law simply brings a knowledge of sin." Hence "There is not one
intelligent, not one seeker after God. All have turned aside; they have alike
become worthless; there is no one who does good -no, not one. " - Rom.
3:19, 20, 10-12, Weymouth. This
universal judgment should not cause us to resentfully conclude that God is
unrighteous in bringing the human race into existence only to remand them to
death. Life, even under present circumstances, is a precious gift from the
Creator, who has, further, given Scripture assurance that humanity's
experiences are objectively disciplinary and destined for eventual and eternal blessing.
A study in the philosophy of the ransom sacrifice will disclose marvelous
wisdom in the Divine inclusion of all mankind in Adam's sentence. For the
present, let us note this whisper of hope: "The creation was made subject
to frailty (not voluntarily, but by him who placed it under); in hope that
even the creation itself will be emancipated from the slavery of corruption
into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. " - Rom. 8:20, 21, Diaglott. In
these words we glimpse God's Love in a promise for the future, though as yet
"the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness" (Rom. 1:18) in the "covering cast over all
people." (Isa. 25:7.) For human beings are dying, and dying at the
appalling rate of 100,000 every day, with billions already entered into the
tomb!
How
unutterably tragic is death with its legacy of tears and broken hearts!
Friends, relatives, loved ones-where are they now? Through the ages this
ever-present question has occupied the minds of the world's greatest thinkers.
Let us note their conclusions before considering the answer of the Scriptures. VIEWS ON THE DEATH-STATEAtheism
answers: "There is no God. The Universe is a fortuitous agglomeration of
atoms, and mankind but a strange 'disease' in one corner of it. Death is
merciful extinction; oblivion, the ultimate destiny of all." Agnosticism
answers: "We do not know. By his very nature man is incapable of forming
trustworthy conclusions concerning ultimate reality. Knowledge of reality is
therefore a huge undemonstrable assumption. There may be a God and there may be
none: there may be a hereafter and there may be none." Science
answers: "Our knowledge is based on the accurate experimental evaluation
of physical phenomena. We find the human body to be composed of the chemical
elements found in the earth, built up into innumerable and highly complex living
cells. Substantially the same type of organism is possessed by the lesser
creatures; man differing in his larger and finer-structured brain and greater
reasoning capacity. We know nothing of the life-principle which animates him.
There is no evidence of any inner non-physical entity that might survive
death - the dissolution of the body elements." Philosophy
in general answers "The brief and disordered limitations of the present
life are incompatible with the inherent capabilities of a being such as man
with his fine sensibilities, great intellectual powers, and remarkable moral
sense. Reason concludes that such a superior being must have a greater destiny
in some future state. But where this future state will be, and whether it is
attained at the moment of death or after an interval, we do not know." Catholicism
(Greek and Roman) answers: "All men possess immortal souls. All who die
outside the pale of our church are doomed to an eternity of conscious and
horrible torment. Members of our church who die endure a purgatorial
experience for an allotted time; after which they enter the realms of eternal
joy." Protestantism
answers: " Consciousness does not end with death. He who believes in
Jesus Christ will at death go immediately to heavenly bliss. All unbelievers go
to a hell of eternal torment." It
were a wearisome task to list the answers of Spiritism, Theosophy,
Swedenborgianism, Christian Science, Rosicrusianism, Mohammedanism, Taoism,
Confucianism, Buddhism, and other religions and religious philosophies. All,
however, have this in common-a belief that in one state or another there is survival and consciousness
after death. As
we turn to seek from the Scriptures an answer to our question, we do well to
heed Professor Young's admonitory words in the Commentary to his Literal
Translation of the Bible: "The Bible is not a difficult book; the
subjects it treats of are, in some respects, 'hard to be understood,' but the
language in which they are expressed is generally - it might be said uniformly
- simple. The danger lies in attaching to the simple words of Scripture
meanings which they might, could, would, or should have, and of straining the meaning to the utmost
extent of which the words are capable. Starting with preconceived notions,
formed it may be insensibly, the words are tortured to support them. ... The
plain grammatical and historical interpretation is the only clue out of this
labyrinth. It is the only certain plan, as it is the easiest. The question is
not-What may this teach? but -- What does it teach?" These
are sound words from a famous Bible scholar. Let us therefore divest ourselves
of human preconceptions, and rigidly excluding personal bias, analytically
examine the Bible's teaching concerning the present state of the dead, commencing
with a re-examination of man's nature. THE NATURE OF MANWhat
is Man, this strange creature that God has called into being? In contemplative
awe the Psalmist speaks thus:
From
Moffatt's beautiful translation of these verses from Psalm 139 we turn to a
much earlier Scripture. In Genesis 2:7, we read: "And
the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." This
is the record of Inspiration. To it all subsequent Scripture, and all human
reasonings, must conform. We note the simple facts: a - Dust plus breath equals a living soul. b - Man has a body; man has a breath of life; man becomes (not has) a living soul. Analyzing
and expanding this Scripture, we have 1 -
"The Lord God formed [cut out, carved, fashioned] man of the dust
[elements] of the ground," The
account describes the body as formed first. The wonderful organism was as yet
unanimated. It had eyes, but
saw nothing; ears, but heard nothing; a mouth, but spoke nothing; a tongue, 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 a corpse. 2 -
"and breathed [Heb. naphach - inflated; blew] into his nostrils the breath [Heb. neshamah -- wind] of life [Heb. caiyah - lives, plural, i.e., such as was
common to all living animals]," The
second step in the creative process to give vitality to the properly prepared
body; and this is described by the words, "blew into his nostrils the
breath of life." When a healthy person has been drowned, and animation is
wholly suspended, resuscitation has been effected by working the arms and thus
the lungs as a bellows, and so gradually establishing the breath in the
nostrils. In Adam's case it of course required no labored effort on the part of
the Creator to cause the perfect organism to breathe the life-giving oxygen
of the atmosphere. 3 -
"and man became
a living
soul [Heb. nephesh
- a breathing
creature; i.e., a sentient being]." As
the vitalizing breath entered, the lungs expanded, the blood corpuscles were
oxygenized and passed to the heart, which in turn propelled it 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 thought, perception,
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. In other words the term "living soul" means neither
more nor less than the term "sentient being"; i.e., a being capable
of sensation, perception, thought. It
is not generally known that the Scriptures speak of "souls" in connection
with the lower animals. They, as well as man, are sentient beings or creatures
of intelligence, only of lower orders. They, as well as man, can see, hear,
feel, taste and smell; and each can reason, up to the standard of his organism,
though none as abstrusely nor on as high a plane as man. In the first, second,
and ninth chapters of Genesis the term, "living soul" (nephesh) is applied in the Hebrew
language to the lower animals nine times, but the translators of our English
Bible (as though careful to protect the common belief in an immortal, soul)
have used other expressions, so that the reader is kept in ignorance of this
fact. We cite some examples: "God
said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving [creeping] creature that hath life [Heb., nephesh - soul]." (Gen. 1:20.) This was on the
fifth creative day, or period, long before man's creation. "God
created great sea-monsters, and every living creature [Heb., nephesh - living soul] that moveth, which the waters
brought forth abundantly. " (Gen. 1:21.) This also was in the fifth
"day"-before man's creation. These were fish souls. "God
said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature [Heb. nephesh - living soul] after his kind -cattle and
creeping thing and beast." (Gen. 1:24.) These were dry land souls, higher
than the fishes; but man, human soul or being, had not yet been created. "And
God said . . . To every beast of the earth and to every fowl of the air, and to
everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life [living soul - nephesh] I
have given every green herb for meat." - Gen. 1:30. "Out
of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of
the air; . . . and whatever Adam called every living creature [Heb., living soul - nephesh], that was the name thereof." - Gen. 2:19. MORTALITY AND IMMORTALITYHaving
Scripturally determined that man does not possess a soul, but is a soul (sentient being) in
common with the lower creatures, let us examine some associated terms upon
which much misconception exists. Two of these are mortality and immortality. The general definition of
mortal is dying;
and of
immortal, everlasting,
but both are
incorrect from a Scriptural standpoint as is obvious when they are applied to
answer the simple question--Was Adam created mortal or immortal? If
the answer be that he was created mortal (dying, according to the erroneous common definition)
we inquire, How could God sentence him to death if he were already a dying creature
and never had been otherwise? And if created dying, how could the Apostle (Rom. 5:12) declare that Adam's
death came by his sin? If
the answer be that he was created immortal (everlasting, according to the erroneous
common definition), we inquire, How then was he threatened with, and afterward
sentenced to death; and how could he die if he were death-proof? and why the
necessity of depriving him of access to the trees of life, lest he cat and live forever? - Gen. 3:22. It
should be obvious that these two terms are incorrectly defined; and we submit
the following as the true definitions: Immortal
(literally, not mortal) -- the state or condition in
which death
is impossible -- a death-proof, incorruptible, indestructible, imperishable condition.
Any being whose existence is dependent upon a source of life from without
himself, is not immortal. Consequently immortality is not a quality possessed
by men, angels, archangels, or even the Son of God before and during the time
he "was made flesh and dwelt among us." This quality inheres in God
alone, as it is written: "The Father hath life in himself" (John 5:26); i.e., his
existence is not derived, nor a sustained one. He is "the King eternal, immortal, invisible." (1 Tim.
1:17.) "He only hath
immortality" (1 Tim. 6:16) as an innate or original quality of being.
(This last Scripture may be held to apply to our Lord Jesus Christ in his present
"highly exalted" condition, the express image of the Father's
person," with the Father excepted in all comparisons according to the rule
of interpretation laid down by the same writer in 1 Corinthians 15:27.) Mortal
-- signifies dieable,
a state or
condition in which death is possible if the elements sustaining life are
withdrawn. One possessing mortality possesses life dependent upon God for its
continuance. Men are mortal, for in God (in his providence) they live and move and have their being.
Likewise the angelic host, who, though mortal, are enjoying life everlasting. Satan, also an angel,
is mortal, and it is distinctly declared
that in due time he will be destroyed. (Heb. 2:14.) Adam was created mortal - in a condition in which death
was a possibility, or everlasting life a possibility; according as he pleased
or displeased the Creator. Had he remained obedient he would have continued
living until now - and forever -- and yet all the time he would have been mortal, liable to death if
disobedient. The
theological doctrine of an "immortal," "never-dying," or
"ever-living soul" (expressions found nowhere in the Hebrew, Greek,
or English Scriptures), is a unique example of an opinion destitute of any
foundation in the Bible, and in fact contradicting it, yet held firmly by large
numbers of educated and intelligent Christians on the mistaken supposition that
it is taught therein. This error, so prolific of many others, is directly
traceable to Grecian philosophy, particularly Plato's "sublimest
hallucination" -- the immortality of the soul -which as part of the good
man's lofty moral teaching, when the early Christian Church became enamored of
this world, passed easily and imperceptibly into Christian Theology, molding
its phraseology and thought about the future punishment of sin. This
unconscious engrafting on the teachings of the Bible has been a source of
endless confusion, which persists even to our own day in the consideration of
Death, and Hell, the place of the dead. DEATH AND HELLAdam
was the first to incur death. To him it was plainly stated: "In the day
that thou eatest thereof dying thou shalt die. . . . thou shalt return unto
the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust
shalt thou return." (Gen. 2:17; 3:19.) Adam disobeyed, he was deprived of
the life-sustaining fruits, the dying process commenced, and after 930 years
he died, "in the day" of his disobedience, within the 1000-year
"day" of the Lord. (See 2 Pet. 3:8.) The animating breath of life
being withdrawn, the body organism disintegrated into "dust," and
Adam, as a sentient being or soul ceased to exist. There is not the slightest
suggestion in the sacred record that he continued to exist in some other
state, much less that he was subjected to horrible torments. St. Paul plainly
declares, "The wages of sin is death." (Rom. 6:23.) Death according
to the Bible is purely and simply "cessation of life." Life is
existence -death is non-existence. Reasoning otherwise perpetuates the original
Satanic lie: "Ye shall not surely die." The
doctrine of eternal torment, which crept into the Church with the falling away
from Apostolic teaching, gained much force from the time when men tortured
others for what they called heresies. The word "hell" became
associated with this terrible theory as the place of
torment, where
fire-proof demons were supposed to torture for ever and ever those who were
consigned thither by God. This is by no means, however, the original meaning of
the word "hell." Originally it meant a "hidden" or
"covered" place and was, therefore, a proper translation of the
Hebrew sheol
and the
Greek hales;
equivalent
terms which in the Bible denote all the graves in the world viewed as one,
i.e., Gravedom, the dominion of death. In other words, the hidden
death-state, in which all the dead, good and bad, are at rest, termed
"sleep." It is very important that we should realize that there is
no thought of eternal torment in the Bible use of the words "sheol"
and "hades." In
this connection, it is interesting to read Archbishop Whateley's words: "It
must be allowed to be strange that the word 'sleep' should so often be applied
to the condition of the departed if they are in a state of as lively
consciousness and sensibility as before death, and in actual perception of
more unmixed pleasure or pain." Also
those of Dr. Weymouth (translator of the New Testament in Modern Speech): "My
mind fails to conceive a grosser misrepresentation of language than when the
five or six strongest words which the Greek tongue possesses, signifying 'destroy'
or 'destruction,' are explained to mean maintaining an everlasting but wretched
existence." We cite some scriptures dealing directly
with the question, "Where are the Dead?"
To
emphasize these Bible truths we contrast them with the traditions of men: (1)
The Bible says -- In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. - Gen.
2:17.
(2)
The Bible says -- The wages of sin is death - Rom. 6:23.
(3)
The Bible says -- The soul that sinneth, it shall die. - Ezek. 18:4.
(4)
The Bible says -- The King only hath immortality. - 1 Tim. 6: 16.
(5)
The Bible says -- Death is extinction of life. - Psa. 146:4.
(6)
The Bible says -- The dead all go to one place; the grave. - Eccles. 3:20.
(7)
The Bible says -- The dead are asleep. - 1 Thess. 4:13.
(8)
The Bible says -- The dead know not anything. - Eccles. 9:5.
We
therefore conclude with the conviction that the teaching of the Scriptures is
that the
dead are DEAD;
are in a state
of complete non-existence, of cessation of being. And such would be their
eternal state except as we shall find hope in the Scriptures of a resurrection
from the dead. And this is exactly the wonderful hope the Bible holds forth for
all mankind, for it is centered in Him who gave Himself a ransom for all, and
who has promised: "Marvel not at this; for an hour is coming, in which all that are
in the graves shall hear my voice, AND SHALL COME FORTH." - W.
J. Siekman. The Question BoxQuestion: In
Isaiah 28:10 and again in Isa. 28:13 these words appear: "Precept upon
precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little,
there a little." The words are generally understood to teach that our Lord
fits his instruction to his true followers gradually, as they are able to
receive it; starting with the milk of the Word 'in their spiritual infancy and
holding back solid food until they start to grow. 'My question is: How can this
Scripture be thus understood in relation to its context, and especially in
view of the words with which Isa. 28:13 closes: "that they might go, and
fall backward, and the broken, and snared, and taken." Answer: The
context, of course, must always determine. The taken into consideration in Bible study;
any understanding which does not harmonize a text with its context is likely to
prove erroneous or, at best, partial. Let us consider the passage in its
setting. It
was in the early years of the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah, that the 28th
chapter of Isaiah was written. For some years the people had been under the
yoke of Assyria; that yoke had become intolerable; they were determined to
liberate themselves from it. Isaiah,
of course, was just as much a lover of freedom as the rest of the nation;
there was no truer patriot than he. But he knew that the people, could not
count on the help of God while they continued godless and corrupt; their yoke,
he knew, was but the manifestation of the divine displeasure. Accordingly, he
counseled them to wait to strengthen themselves in piety, in an unselfish
devotion to the public welfare, and in the practice of private virtue until,
God being once more on their side, they would be able to break the power of
Assyria and assert their independence. The
counsel was unwelcome. They had no mind for private or public reformation; nor
were they disposed to wait. They, preferred, instead, to try their hand at
international diplomacy and statecraft. What if they were to call Egypt to their
help against Assyria, to set the one military tyranny, of the time against the
other? Might they not thus work out their salvation? "No!"
said Isaiah. "Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help ... but look not
unto the Holy One of Israel." (Isa. 31:1; 30:1-4.) Against this proposed
Egyptian alliance he set his face as a flint. But there were not wanting other
counselors who opposed him. There were plenty of priests in Jerusalem, plenty
of prophets, even who, sharing as they did in the popular vices, were willing
to pander to the spirit of the times. These
false counselors, it is evident from Isa. 28:7, had lost their way through
strong drink.; It may have been that at one time they had had clear vision and
could reach sound judgment, but certainly this was not now the case. Maters in
Israel though they were, it was necessary for Isaiah, if he were to have any
hope of penetrating their dull powers of comprehension, to speak with great
simplicity -- to speak to them not as to masters, but babes. And this, of
course, they would and did resent. In their drunken carousals, erring in
vision, stumbling in judgment, with their tables full of vomit (Isa. 28:7, 8)
they would sneeringly ask: "Whom
would he, Isaiah, teach knowledge? And to whom would he make a message
intelligible? To them weaned from the milk, just taken from the breasts? With
him it is always precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line,
line upon line, here a little, there a little. " - Isa. 28:9, 10. In a
footnote to Isa. 28:10 Rotherham gives the actual Hebrew words and then cites
Davies' Hebrew Lexicon as follows: "The repetition and assonance of the
short words are intended to set forth mimetically the drunken babble of the
scoffers." Others have pointed out that the words may be translated in
many ways; for, in the original, they are more like the babble of drunken men
than sober, intelligent speech. At the same time, although the words maniifestly imply
the condition of those who uttered them, they were evidently designed as a burlesque imitation of the great simplicity of speech which Isaiah used. Isaiah. 28:is so constructed as to imitate
their thickened and difficult pronunciation. Monosyllable is heaped upon
monosyllable; and, no doubt, the speakers tipsily adopted the tones of fond
mothers addressing their babes and little tots. Using the Hebrew words of the
verse, one of these shameless roisterers would say: "Tsav la-tsav, tsav
la-tsav; kav lakav, kav la-kav; zeeir sham, zeeir sham; that is how that simpleton Isaiah speaks."
And then, doubtless, a drunken laugh would go round the table, and half a dozen
of them would be repeating: "Tsav la-tsav, tsav la-tsav." What
really angered these men was that Isaiah treated them as though they were
children only just weaned. They were weary of hearing him repeat the first
rudiments of morality, and apply them to the sins and needs of the time. How
dared he tutor them, who were themselves teachers!
How dared he treat them as babes who were grown men, distinguished men, the
foremost men and statesmen of the nation! It
is easy to imagine how these proud, prosperous men would lisp or stammer out
their drunken sneers over their wine, at the solitary, unsuccessful Prophet,
and think it a remarkably good joke to make him, and his message, and the very
manner in which he uttered it, a theme of mockery and contempt. Nor is it
difficult to imagine the righteous indignation with which he would turn on
these blind guides, who were only too surely leading their blind followers
into the ditch, and forewarn them that the retribution they had provoked by
their sins would speedily overtake them. In effect he said to them: You mock at the simple words
which, under divine inspiration, I have been moved to speak, and you lisp out
your base and drunken imitations of them-you, who should be the first to
welcome and act upon the Word of God. Know then, that God will punish your sin by
a people
of stammering [Rotherham translates: jabbering] lips and an alien tongue. (Isa. 28:11.) God has taught
you, by the very words which you deride, where you might find rest and freedom,
how you might. give, peace to the people who are weary of war and its calamities;
but.. you would not listen. (Isa. 28:12.) To you the Word of the Lord has
become mere baby-talk, at which you jest. (Isa. 28:13.) Know, then, that that
Word, which might have been a light to your path, shall blaze up into a
consuming fire. You jeer at it as an endless series of petty injunctions;
instead it shall inflict on you an endless series of intolerable calamities.
In the very teeth of that Word you are about to strike a blow for freedom;
seeking it in your own way, not in God's way; but as a reward and consequence
of your disobedience, the Word, that might have given you freedom and a stable security and peace,
shall become a stone on which you shall fall and be broken, a net in which you
shall be taken and bound, a trap in which you shall be caught and imprisoned.
(Last words of Isa. 28:13.) The
prediction was fulfilled. The fierce Assyrians, when they heard that the
Hebrews had allied themselves with Egypt, once more swept through the land.
The very men who had jabbered their scornful. imitations of Isaiah's words, who
had affected to think that he used the broken and imperfect dialect which
mothers employ to their babes, were destroyed or taken captive by the Assyrian
troops, whose language, according to the scholars, while it closely resembled
that of the Hebrews, had just those differences which made it sound to them
like an imperfect and barbarous dialect. So terrible, and so exact, was the
retribution that fell on their sin. That
St. Paul understood Isaiah's words in the manner outlined foregoing is evident
from the use he makes of them in his first letter to the Corinthians. At Corinth
there was a great deal of speaking in unknown tongues, often without profit to
either speakers or hearers. In chapter 14 of his first letter to that Church,
the Apostle deals with the matter in some detail. After showing that the gift
of tongues was inferior to that of prophecy, that without the gift of
interpretation it was entirely useless, and that thus exercised it was
manifestly misused, he illustrates his point by a reference to this very
passage. (Isa. 28:11, 12.) "In the law it is written: 'With men of other
tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will
they not hear me, saith the Lord.' " (1 Cor. 14:21.) The Prophet's
contemporaries scoffingly rejected his instruction, which seemed to them
childish; and be warned them that the next divine message would come to them
from Assyrian lips -- the conquerors with their foreign speech would be upon
them, though even so terrible an experience would not bring the frivolous
Israelites to listen to their God. And so, (this is the inference which, in
his discussion o f the
gift o f tongues, St. Paul draws from the Isaiah passage) tongues are for a sign not to those who
believe, but to the unbelievers; and not a sign, apparently, which would
induce them to repent and be saved, but one which would confirm them still more
in their obstinacy or indifference; for will they not say that you are mad (1 Cor. 14:23) just as Israel would not hearken? (Isa. 28:12.) St. Paul's
citation, of course, has only the value of illustration; there was, in Isaiah, no
prediction
of the
Corinthian situation. In
the light of the foregoing discussion may we not summarize our answer to the
question thus: 1.
That our Lord graciously suits the instruction of his true followers according
to their several stages of development is a truth none will question. It is
abundantly attested in the Scriptures. - 1 Pet. 2:2; Heb. 5:12, 13; 1 Cor. 3:2. 2.
That this is not the sense in which the words were originally used in Isaiah,
chapter 28, is also clear. On the contrary, instead of being a description of
the abundance and variety of the means of grace which God has granted to the
Church; the words in Isa. 28:10 really constitute a drunken sneer at the
simplicity of Isaiah's message to the people of his time. His use of the same
words, in Isa. 28:13, was (as Rotherham, in a footnote to that Isa.
28:suggests) a "giving back to the scoffers their own words-now as a stern
threatening" of the coming Assyrian conquest. The sincere (unadulterated)
milk of the Word which Isaiah gave them did not produce the happy results it
might have done but, because not mixed with faith in them that heard it, proved
to be a forewarning of impending disaster. - P. L. Read. Unity Versus Confederacy
"Behold
how good and how pleasant it is for brethren GOD
our Father has formed a Priesthood, of which the Lord Jesus is the Head, and it
is a family loved of Christ, washed from their sins by him in his own blood,
anointed with the holy spirit and separated from the world unto God a
priesthood of his own selection. A
priestly standing is one of constant subjection to the revealed will of God and
an abiding consciousness of his presence. In this elevated and exalted
position we walk in the liberty of Christ, holding him as our Head, subject to
him in all, things, and "not servants of man." Being made free from
sin we are servants of righteousness, servants of God. (Rom. 6:18, 22.) Our
blessed occupation during this night of the world's darkness is to stand in the
House of the Lord, to praise his Name and "worship him in spirit and in
truth." But no true worship can be rendered to God if the soul is in
bondage. As
believers we have received an unction from the Holy One, Christ Jesus, our
anointed Head. Moreover, we have an infallible interpreter ever present with
us, and dwelling in us, the spirit of truth, the holy spirit, so that we
are-without excuse if we abide by human wisdom instead of cleaving to the Word
of God, or if we willingly remain in ignorance of what that Word declares. May
the Lord preserve us from walking in the false light of our carnal wisdom.
Ought we not to consider his Word sufficient for our instruction and guidance
in all matters of the Gospel truth, worship, and service? It is well for us to
confine ourselves within the limits of his Holy Word, to hold all the truths it
contains, adding nothing to them and omitting none of them. What
is to be the course of the true-hearted worshiper? The answer has been supplied
by the Apostle in his letter to Titus, outlining the work of the ministry,
"In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works," thereby
manifesting that it is a doctrine (teaching) of love, joy, and peace in the
holy spirit, and that by consistent holy living ewe may "adorn the
doctrine of God our Savior in all things." "For the grace of God that
bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us, that, denying
ungodliness and worldy lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly,
in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious
appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." - Titus 2:11-14. God's
Word is sufficiently full and sufficiently accurate, enabling us to discern
between truth and error; and the fashioning of creeds as the vehicles of truth
is not holding God's Word to be sufficient unto every good work. God has laid
down his own definitions, measurements, and dimensions of the truth, and it is
our place to bow reverently and to believe what he has recorded touching the
work of the Lord Jesus and the eternal salvation and inheritance which are
obtained for us by his own blood. After
having the evidence that we are prospective members of Christ's Body, there is
great danger of stretching out the hand to defend or maintain these
arrangements by the exercise of human wisdom, even the appeal to human writings
and human standards which, however true, can never embrace the fullness of God's
Word. "Many, O Lord, my God, are thy wonderful work." When we seek to
count up his mercies towards us, they are passing knowledge; they are beyond
all calculation, and it will take us an eternity
of unbroken rest and blessedness to discover them. We
have no external, beacon to direct us, but we have that which is far better,
the indwelling of the holy spirit, and this same spirit teaches us to abide in
him, for without him we can do nothing. Thus, he would have us seek to know his
mind and will in all things, that is, in every fresh change that we propose. In
this respect, the Word must first be consulted that we may ascertain whether
the counsel of our hearts is in any way opposed to the smallest injunctions of
Christ. If so, it is plain that we have not the full guidance of God for our
undertaking. God
through Christ Jesus is the Guardian of his truth and if we really have
received the unction from the Holy One, there would be no divided Church; all
would dwell together in unity, not merely to meet and fellowship together, but
to abide in One-and that "with all saints. "But wherever separation
comes in and divides believers from one another, the bond of brotherhood is
made to yield to some other bond; the tie of life and union with Christ,
witnessed by the holy spirit's presence and power, is sacrificed to some
fleshly association." The bond that links God's people together is the
love of Christ. He has bound us up with himself, in one bundle of life, no
longer aliens or strangers but children and heirs, and he is not ashamed to
call us brethren. He being raised' from the dead and exalted to the right hand
of God shed forth that blessed spirit, giving gifts which should fit his Body
members for, their various places in the Body, knitting them together in the
unity of the spirit, that they might grow into him in all things, "which is
the Head, even Christ." The
spirit's unity is described in the seven unities which follow: One Body, one
hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of
all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Eph. 4:2-6.) These are
all God-given, and if we do not endeavor to hold these truths in which every
believer is supposed from the first to have been grounded and settled, we will
surely become entangled again in that yoke of bondage from which God through
Christ has set us free. "A
religion of form and ceremony, which is in truth a religion mixed with
idolatry, will always consist well with worldliness." St. Paul saw the
germs of a sectarian spirit working in the early Church and he spoke to them as
carnal, saying, "Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified, for you? or were
ye baptized in the name of Paul?" - l Cor. 1:12, 13. Again,
there is danger that the "I am of Christ" may be used in a sectarian
way. It may be adopted in the way" of a proud and boastful assertion to
imply that others are not "of him" because they are not taking the
same course or viewing certain subjects of truth exactly in the same way. This
tendency was also displayed in the early Church. Even John rebuked one who was
clearly on the Lord's side "because he followeth not with us." (Luke
9:49.) The Master's reply to John should make us stop and think. So,
then, anything on our part which hinders the edifying of the one Body as a
whole is a breach of the unity of the spirit. With such the holy spirit is grieved
and the Word of God becomes of none effect; and love, that bond of perfectness, is chilled in the heart. We have a solemn warning in the following
words of the Prophet Isaiah, "Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that
compass yourselves about with sparks; walk in the light of your fire, and in
the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand, ye shall lie
down in sorrow." - Isa. 50:11. May
the God of all grace keep his people from compassing themselves about with
sparks of human reason and expediency, for "they that make a graven image
are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they
are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; That they may be ashamed. Who
hath formed a 'god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?
Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed; and the workmen, they are of men: let
them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they
shall be ashamed." (Isa. 44:9-11.) The Prophet Isaiah thus clearly reveals
that creature worship in any form is disapproved of God. "See thou do it
not; worship God." (Rev. 22:8, 9.) "With all lowliness and meekness,
with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love," let us
"endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace."
- T. G. Smith Notice of Postponement of Annual MeetingThe
Annual Meeting of the Pastoral Bible Institute, due to be scheduled for
Saturday, June 5, has been postponed to Saturday, September 18. Plans are now
underway to hold it in Atlantic City, New Jersey. We are
making this early announcement so
that Institute members, who might wish to participate in conventions
now being planned by Associated Bible Students in various parts of the country
to be held during the summer will know that they need not reserve the June date
for the Institute's Annual Meeting. Further
particulars as to the hour and
place of meeting
will be announced later. RECENTLY DECEASED
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