Bible Students Monthly, December 1911
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Religious and Scientific Gleanings
MR. ROCKEFELLER'S FORMER
PASTOR AN EVOLUTIONIST
Rev. Dr. Abed Claims Bible is Founded on a Myth.
Rev. Dr. Aked, until recently of the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, is quoted in the “New York Press” as follows:— “The flood is not believed to be a fact in history by a student of the Scriptures or by a student of science. The story of the flood and many others tn the Bible are too much at variance with themselves to warrant belief in them as history. It may be startling to be told that the Bible is founded on a myth, but—.”
We admire frankness. We believe that all ministers who disbelieve the Bible should be frank enough to say bo. Then it would rest with their congregations to decide whether or not th6y desired their services at fat salaries. The truth is that the majority of the ministers, less Courageous then Dr. Aked, less conscientious, less honest, fear to lose their job and hence falsify in a negative manner, by allowing the people to suppose that they still hold to the vows which they took at the time of their ordination to the ministry.
We disagree with Dr. Aked when he says that Bible students do not believe the -stories of the flood, etc; The people Who disbelieve the Bible do very little Studying, as we might expect. The people who are Bib’.' students, especially if they get the proper light upon it, find their faith in it continually increasing. We would like to recommend to Dr. Aked and others who doubt the stories of the Bible respecting creation and the flood that they read a book entitled “The New Creation,” published by the Bible Students Association, Brooklyn, N. Y. Well did the Lord through the Prophets of old testify of our day, “The wisdom of their wise men ."hall perish. The understanding of their prudent men shall not be manifest.” (Isaiah 29:14.) Would that those who are losing their , faith in the Bible could get a glimpse of its real beauties and harmonies from the standpoint of “The Divine Plan of the Ages, or Bible Keys.” What a revelation it would make—what a recurrence to the testimony of the Word of God respecting the fall, the redemption and restitution!
Those who deny the fall of our first parents, wh.o claim that primitive man was cousin to the ape, should not claim to be Christians at all. Why? Because the Redeemer declares that He “came to seek and to save that which was lost,” while these wise men tell us that nothing was lost and that everything is being gained and was being gained before Jesus came into the world.
Another reason why they should not claim to be Christians is that they disbelieve the only record which tells about Jesus and reveals Him as a Savior. Jesus believed the story of the fall, the story of the flood, the story of Jonah and the great fish, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, etc. He quoted these as true. If He was t not as wise as Dr. Aked to know the truth from untruth, then evidently He ■was not as suitable a person to be the Savior of the world as Dr. Aked would be, and all should be worshiping and reverencing and following Dr. Aked and the Higher Critics and Evolutionists, instead of Jesus.
It is nothing short of foolishness to say that Jesus was the Son of God, the world’s Redeemer and Messiah, and yet to say that He was deceived by the tnyths of primitive man and less wise than Dr. Aked, et. al., in respect to what constitutes truth.
On the other hand, if it be claimed that ,Jesus was wise and that the Bible misrepresents Him and that He never endorsed the story of Adam and Eve and the flood, Jonah and the great fish, etc., then the Bible record is a falsification and unworthy of any belief or acceptance. In that event, where will Dr. Aked find another, better, fuller record concerning’ Christ and what Dr. Aked’s “wisdom of this world” decides on the subject?
The sooner we give up the folly of claiming to be Christians while denying the foundation of Christianity, the better it will be for ourselves and everybody else. It is such insincerity that is nauseating the world and making professed ministers of Christ and their preaching a byword.
IMBECILITY AND EPILEPSY
MARK TOPERS’ CHILDREN
That the sins of alcoholic parents are visited upon the children unro the third generation was shown by Dr. Alfred Gordon, of Philadelphia, who presented a mass of careful statistics showing that many cases of insanity, ■epilepsy, imbecility and immorality exist chiefly in those whose parents and /grandparents were topers. He spoke at the fortieth annual meeting of the American Society for the Study of Alcohol and Narcotics, in convention in Philadelphia.
His study embraces 298 cases of mental deficiency observed in 117 families, taking into consideration only the living members, the mortality of children at an early age being very great. He declared that alcoholism is unquestionably one of the direct causes of imbecility, idiocy and feeblemindedness in the offspring.
“The pictures traced from facts, gathered with a great deal of accuracy, show that alcoholized individuals create degenerates... and the , mental’y feeble,” said Doctor Gordon. “They, in their turn, continue the chain endlessly, if not interrupted. One such family is capable of throwing into the community dozens of useless or dangerous individuals.”
Creates Mental Degenerates.
Dr. D. H. Kress, superintendent of a sanatorium in Washington, discussed “The Relation of Narcotics to Race Suicide and Longevity
After pointing out the small birth rate in France, England and Germany, Doctor Kress said that no country is more endangered by race suicide than the United States. Turning to Baltimore, he said there were 8375 births 'there in 1875, and yet in 1910, when the population had increased about 100 per cent., the number of births was only 8796.
He urged before an increase in the birth rate an improvement in the quality of the children born. “Sterility and high living,” he said, “are the chief causes of the trouble. Drunkenness, where women nurse their own children, is rare.”
Criticises Use of Coffee.
The use of caffeine in various forms, notably coffee, was greatly deplored, and the speaker declared such an inebriate more hopeless than one addicted to alcohol.
“The Prevention of Inebriety” was treated by Dr. G. Milton Linthicum in an interesting paper. In concluding his remarks he said:—
“Legislation must follow education, and not education legislation. The keyword of the prevention of inebriety must be education — education of the child, education of the youth, education of the fathers and mothers, of the medical students, the young physicians, teachers, professors and lawmakers as to the true, scientific facts of alcoholism and inebriety, and then only can we hope to prevent inebriety.”
FREE LITERATURE!
Send postal card request for free copies of this paper. Some of the interesting subjects you may have for asking are:—■
Where are the Dead?
Calamities—Why Permitted?
Creed Idols Smashed!
The Rich Man in Hell.
Thieves in Paradise.
The Resurrection.
What Is the Soul?
Spiritism is Demonism!
When God was Alone!
Cardinal Gibbons’ Sermon.
OUR TEXT IS A PART of the Divine prophecy of the blessings which will come to Israel and to the whole world during Messiah’s glorious reign of a thousand years—beginning with the close of this Gospel Era. Succeeding verses tell that in that glorious Epoch landlordism will be a thing of the past. “They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them; they shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat.” Additionally we read, “They shall not labor in vain nor bring forth for trouble.” Further we read that then “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together and the lion shall eat fodder like the bullock.”’
No Spiritual Sheep, Oxen, Wolves, Etc.
No end of confusion has been created by the attempt of well-meaning people to apply these prophecies as the reward of the Church in heaven. Nothing in the Scriptures warrants us in thinking that there will be spiritual, heavenly sheep and oxen, wolves and lions, vines and houses, planting and building. Those who reject the clear, Bible teaching respecting a Messianic reign of righteousness cannot understand the Bible at all Not a single passage of the Old Testament tells of heavenly hopes or promises. Only a few of them teach heavenly things at all, and then indirectly.
As, for instance, in the types of the Old Testament the garments of the High Priest, glorious and beautiful, symbolize, we believe, the heavenly grandeur, honors and glories of Messiah during the period of His reign. Similarly, God’s promise to Abraham declares that his Seed, his posterity, shall be as the stars of heaven and as the sands of the seashore. Nothing in this statement would necessarily teach a heavenly state or condition. Only by the aid of the New Testament and the Holy Scriptures’ illumination can we see that two Seeds of Abraham are distinctly referred to, the stars indirectly implying the Spiritual Seed, while the sands of the seashore refer to Abraham’s Natural Seed. As it is written, “I have constituted thee a father of many nations”—like unto God.
So the Spiritual Seed of Abraham la now being developed. With its completion this Age will end, and the Natural Seed of Abraham will return to special favor and become the leading nation of the world, under the guidance and direction of the spiritual and invisible, yet All-Powerful, Kingdom of Messiah.
The blessing through natural Israel will gradually extend to every nation, in that the door will be opened by which all nations may come into and become a part of Abraham’s Seed, and thus into harmony with Messiah’s Kingdom. Whosoever refuses this great privilege, and blessing of Messiah’s Kingdom will be destroyed from among the people* in the Second Death.
Hundred Year Old Children
Centenarians of the present time are few, and they by no means are like children. Usually they are wrinkled and haggard. We are to remember, however, the Bible record that several of the earlier members of Adam’s race lived’ nine hundred years, or rather, they were more than nine hundred years in coming fully under the sentence against sinners. “By one man’s disobedience , sin entered into the world, and death as a result of sin; and thus death passed upon all men, because all are sinners (Romans 5:12).
Gradually, and especially since the flood, when a great change took place in our cosmogony, human longevity has decreased, while mental, moral and physical ailments have increased. Several of Adam’s children did not have their first born child until after they were a century old. In confirmation of this, and correspondingly in contradiction of the Evolution theory, We find that the Ancients were stronger than we, mentally as well as physical
SINNER, ONE HUNDRED YEARS OLD, YET ONLY A CHILD, ELECTROCUTED
Thenceforth there shall be no more [death of] an infant of days, nor of an old man who hath not filled his days, for the dying one shall be but the child at an hundred years old—a sinner at a hundred years old, he shall be accursed”—cut off from life.—Isa. 65: 20.
ly; for they intermarried brothers with sisters and cousins without injury, whereas today the mental weakness of the race is such that one out of every one hundred and fifty adults is in an insane asylum, and the marriage of brothers and sisters is prohibited, and even the marriage of second cousins is disapproved and held responsible for increasing weak-mindedness.
We see, then, that our text, describing Messiah’s Kingdom, merely explains that Restitution blessings will recover mankind from the effects of the fall, so that it shall then be as it was in Adam’s day—that full human maturity will be reached in a century, and that a man dying then would be dying in childhood, so to speak, as compared with the remainder of the race. The further guarantee is that none will die even at a hundred years of age, except wilful sinners who, refusing to submit themselves to the regulations of Messiah’s Kingdom, will then be cut off from life as unworthy of any further favor at the hands of the great Redeemer — Messiah—all of whose dealings will represent Divine Justice, Wisdom, Love and Power.
Man’s Years as a Tree’s.
The Scriptures tell us that under Messiah’s Kingdom the days of a man -Shall be as the days of a tree. And it is believed that some trees live to be at least a thousand years old. This is God’s provision for every man—every member of the human family—after He shall have accomplished the wdrk of the Gospel Age, the selection of the Spiritual Seed of Abraham, typified by the priests and Levites, “Tba Church of the First-born, whose names are written in heaven.”
Messiah’s Kingdom is to. dominate the earth for a thousand years, with a view of blessing Adam and all of his posterity — with a view of uplifting them from sin and degradation and death. The uplifting influences will begin at once, following the great time of trouble with which the Kingdom will be inaugurated. The judgments of the Lord will be abroad in the earth and the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. None shall longer need say to his neighbor or his brother, “Know thou the Lord; for all shall know Him, from the least unto the greatest of them,” for “the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the whole earth” (Jer. 31: 34; Isaiah 11: 9).
Whoever, then, by obedience to the laws of the Kingdom will avail himself of the blessed privileges of Restitution (Acts 3: 19-21), will not only be helped upward out of mental, moral and physical Imperfection, step by step toward perfection, but, so long as he progresses, he may live—clear down to the end of that blessed thousand years. If we had never seen trees; if our own experiences had been with vegetation such as perishes within a year, we might have difficulty in believing some one who would tell us of having seen trees centuries old. Such a statement would seem as unreasonable to us as to tell us that humanity could live on earth for a thousand years, or forever.
Have we not indeed seen children old and wrinkled looking, yet only in their teens? And have we not seen others cheerful, fresh and comparatively young-looking at sixty and seventy?
All Unrighteousness is Sin.
At the present time (xod “winks” at much of the wrong-doing that there is in the world. He does not interfere with it. But of course every transgression carries with it naturally more or less of a depraving influence on the transgressor’s mind and bodyo The conscience is the most tender and the most important element of our human nature. Whoever violates it, whoever injures it, much or little,, will proportionately be disadvantaged in the future and will have all th® more difficulty in rising up gradually
(Continued on 2d page, 2d column.)
ghc pic ^indents JUonthly;
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f J ate sin, must still be reckoned on, and
’jj.. -<■*' ■ ........ - thus every idle word and every idle
THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. thought, every idle and vicious action NOT MFnr rxirw of the present time, by making its
NOT MERE UNION. mark upon the characters of men> is
•----- providing for corresponding difficul-
We have been told a thousand times, ties on their part in that glorious day what we have never needed to be told of their opportunities.
St all, that the prayer of our Savior, The suggestion of our text is that
that all His people should be one, does the great Messiah will not temporize, J ’ ' " — - for the entire period of His reign,
not contemplate the solidarity of one universal ecclesiasticism. We ought , all to understand the difference be-I tween union and unity. Union is the V joining together, and may exist organ-' ically and outwardly where there is no essential oneness of life and purpose; that is to say, union may be mechanical, like a tree that has been made by nailing branches to a trunk, with twigs tied on with wire. Such a tree lacks essential oneness and can
never bear fruit.
But unity means essential oneness, as when a tree grows its own twigs. The unity for which Christ prayed is a unity of aim, of life, of spirit. He
prayed that the various parts of His church, even to the individual members of it, might stand so related to each other that they would co-operate with one mind and one spirit in saving men.
Evidently the Apostles so understood His doctrine; for they did not undertake to bind into one ecclesiasticism ’ |he various churches which they planted in varidtiS regions 6f the’ world. These churches were largely self-governing, subject to no instituted, general, governing body, subject only to the authority of the Apostles and their own constituted local authorities.
And yet when the occasion arose, as occasion did arise over the question ©f the circumcision of the Gentiles, every church was ready to hear the decision of a council ready to pass on such a question. They were organ-, Ically Separate, as to their ordinary ongoing, and yet they were essentially united; there was no union, but there was unity. This is what Christ contemplated, and we are bold to say it was all He contemplated. *
Having put this in the clear, we now have a question to ask: What is the attitude of Christ toward an ec-
clesiastical arrangement which is at war with this purpose of His to preserve unity in His church? Does such an ecclesiastical arrangement align itself obediently under this great prayer of His? Or does it violate the whole purpose and meaning of His prayer?
We have a further question: Is the
ecclesiastical situation of American Methodism such as to promote unity, or have we an arrangement that in hundreds of places scandalizes the name of unity? If any one thinks to cut the ground from under the present trend of American Methodism by showing that Christ did not pray for organic union, let that somebody tell us whether we have what Christ did pray for, and tell us whether the present situation is at war with what He prayed for and whether this trend is really in the direction of fulfilling the prayer of the Master. —• Western Methodist.
CLOTHING FOR RESTITUTION
TIMES.
“Wool not the product of sheep is being utilized abroad for the making of men’s clothing. This is known as “limestone wool.” and is made in an electric furnace. Powdered limestone, mixed with certain chemicals, is thrown into the furnace, and, after passing through a furious air blast, it is tossed out as fluffy white wool. When it comes from the furnace the wool is dyed and made into lengths like cloth. A pair of trousers or a coat made of this material cannot, it is claimed, be burned or damaged by grease, and is as flexible as cloth made of sheep’s wool.”—Everyday Life.
INSANITY GREATLY ON INCREASE.
In 1905 the population of Massachusetts was 3,003,635. In that year there were 11,664 insane patients in the care of the State, including epileptics and inebriates. October 1, 1909, there were 14,374 insane in State institutions, or one to every 227 of the population, which, according to the last census, was 3,366,416. Tne increase in population was only 362,779, while the increase in the accumulation of all classes of insane patients was 2710. Therefore, in the last five years the increase in insanity has been 11.16 per 'ent. greater sthan the increase in population.
(Continued from first page.) out of his degradation and weaknesses, even with all the helps that will then be available. Thus will be fulfilled the Scriptural declaration, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that also shall he reap.” With all mankind redeemed, there will be nothing whatever of the past chargeable against any on the books
years is
considerable period of
of Divine Justice. The great “High Priest,’’ by His better sacrifices, will t have made full satisfaction to the de-| mands of Justice, but the weaknesses, ' mental, moral and physical, resulting “from more or less wilful and deliber-with those who do not show a proper appreciation of opportunities when fully brought in contact with them and clearly understanding the terms of Divine grace. But one hundred probation and surely every reasonable mind will concede that so long a delay in meeting out the full penalty of sin. Second Death, manifests the extreme limit of reasonable mercy.
The Church’s Trial Shorter.
' The Church, whose trial is in pro-‘ gress during this Gospel Age, receives ' individually a much shorter period of probation than our text declares will be granted to mankind in the future. God’s saintly people are expected to develop character and to approve themselves to God as “overcomers” within a very brief space of life. And not only so, but they are required to “walk by faith and not by sight.” They merely have God’s Word as re-■ scects His Justice and Love and gracious plans, while, in the next Age, the world will have the actuality instead of the promise—the world will walk by sight. “The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together” (Isaiah 40: 5).
The world during Messiah’s reign will be privileged to walk on a Highway of Holiness, from which all the stumbling stones will have been gathered out. But the overcomers of the Church class are required to walk in the narrow way, steep, difficult, rugged, and beset with snares of the Adversary. “For we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Corinthians 2: 11).
We are not to forget, however, that these differences between . the Church and the world are fully offset by the differences of reward. The overcomers
of the Church are to be rewarded with glory, honor, immortality, “the divine nature,” and be joint-heirs in the Kingdom, as members of the great Messiah. The world is to have no such change of nature from human to spirit, but is to have the earthly nature restored or perfected in them, if obedient, and to enjoy the earthly
Eden. Truly God’s ways are equal. True and righteous are Thy ways, Lord God Almighty! (Revelation 15:3,4.)
Humanity’s Final Test.
The Church’s test takes place in the present life. And in each member thereof the matter of worthiness or unworthiness of eternal life on the spirit plane for all time is determined
PASTOR RUSSELL’S SCRIPTURE STUDIES.
These volumes deserve a careful study by all who are not thoroughly satisfied with the Bible interpretations of the .“dark * ages.” They can be bought for a trifle or borrowed free. Address us.
Respecting the first volume of this work “The Atlanta Constitution” says editorially:—
“It is impossible to read this book without loving the writer and pondering his wonderful solution of the great mysteries that have troubled us all our lives. There is hardly a family to be found that has not lost some loved one who died outside the church—outside the plan of salvation, and, if Calvinism be true, outside of all hope and inside of eternal torment and despair.
“This wonderful book makes no assertions that are not well sustained by the Scriptures. It is built up stone by stone, and upon every stone is the text, and it becomes a pyramid of God’s love and mercy and wisdom. There is nothing in the Bible that the author denies or doubts, but there are many texts that he throws a flood of light upon that seems to uncover their meaning.”
* # *
The set of six volumes, cloth, 3,000 pages, is supplied by the BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, NO. 17 HICKS ST., BROOKLYN, N. Y., for the usual price of one such volume, namely, $2. This includes postage or expressage to your home, anywhere.
at death. Not so with humanity in general. Ab we have just seen, some may live for only a hundred years and then be cut off in the Second Death, because found unworthy of further opportunity. Others, by availing themselves of the privileges and rendering obedience to the laws of the Kingdom, may live to the very close of the thousand years, and be found unworthy of eternal life. Still others may so fully appreciate Divine Wisdom, Justice, Love and Power and may become so obedient thereto that God will be pleased to grant them eternal life. Their days, their lives, will be far more than the days of a tree.
The world of mankind, at the conclusion of Messiah’s reign of righteousness, will have attained again the perfection originally enjoyed by father Adam. Like him they will be in Eden, which then will be world-wide. Those perfect human beings will be required to stand a test—to demonstrate, to prove their absolute loyalty to God and His righteous laws, as Adam was tried, tested, proven in Eden. As Adam was promised eternal life if his test proved him loyal to his Maker, so his restored race will have before them the offer of eternal life if they shall manifest their obedience satisfactorily.
Satan Loosed From Prison.
We are not informed of the particulars of the test that will then be applied to mankind. We merely have the figurative declaration that Satan, sin and everything which Satan represents will be loosed for a little season at the close of Messiah’s reign (Revelation 20: 7-10). The world, full of perfected humanity, “as the sand of the seashore,” will all be subjected to the test. But how many, or what proportion of the whole, will prove loyal, and what proportion disloyail, we are not informed.
All that we know on the subject, and all that is necessary for us to know, is that the trial will be thorough and just and that all found faithful will have eternal life, and all found unfaithful will be counted as followers of Satan and, with him, will be destroyed in the Second Death.
The test which God will apply will be so searching, so thorough, that although His creatures will still be free moral agents, He is able to guarantee that thenceforth there shall be no more sighing, no more crying, no more dying, because all the former things of sin and death shall have passed away.
Salvation of the Church AND THE
Salvation of the World
“So Great S< Nation, which began to be spoken by our Lord, and was confirmed unto us t>y those who heard Him.”—Heb. 2:3.
IN THE PAST many of us misunderstood these words—“so great salvation”—and have thought them to apply merely to an “elect” few of the saintly followers of our great Redeemer. Surely it should not be thought strange if a closer examination of God’s Word would demonstrate to us that as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways and plans higher than ours (Isa. 55:9). It should not surprise us to find that our forefathers were generally in considerable darkness ,in respect to “the length and breadth and height and depth of the love of God, which passeth all understanding” (Eph. 3:18, 19).' It should not surprise us to find that our Savior will yet see the fruitage of the travail of His soul and be satisfied (Isa. 53:11), and that this satisfaction will result from the salvation of more than the “little flock,” who walk in His steps and who, like Him, “present their bodies living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God,” in the service of Truth and righteousness.
There are several ways of treating this thought, that more than an “elect” few are eventually to reach eternal life through the Redeemer of mankind. One way, which many adopt, is to claim that our Lord and the Apostles did not really mean to establish so high a standard of saintship as their words imply, and then to conclude that the unsaintly will gain eternal life as well as the saintly—all except the degenerately wicked. This view of matters, which is the common one, is undoubtedly prompted by sympathy for friends, relatives, neighbors and the heathen; but it is wholly contrary to God’s Word.
Another view still held by some is that everybody but the saintly will suffer torture eternally and hopelessly.
The third theory which we desire to present here is the one we believe to be in. accord with every text of Scripture, and in accord with Justice, Wisdom, Love and Power Divine, and in accord with sanctified common sense. We have time for only an outline of this Plan, which is most comprehensive, as follows:
The Reward* Life—The Punishment^ Death.
Not a word is said about the hundred-year old sinner1—child-*—being sent: to eternal torment, just as there is not. a word said in the Bible to the effect that Adam or his children were con» demned to eternal torments. The sen* tence upon Adam, which his race, shares by heredity, was a death sentence. This just but awful penalty has wrought havoc with our race — sickness, sorrow, pain, dying, death.
God’s mercy has provided the redemption of Adam and his race* through His Son, who* died, the Just for the unjust. The death of Jesus* is the price which will eventually secure the release of Adam and all of' his posterity from the death sentence* and give to them resurrection privileges provided through Messiah’s Kingdom reign.
But every one who has been enlightened, and brought to a clear knowledge of God and to the opportunities* provided for his salvation from sin* and death, is more responsible for the* manner in which he accepts or refuses* “the gift of God, eternal life through* Jesus Christ our Lord.” As the wilful, intelligent sinner in the Church now is sentenced to the Second Death* (Hebrews 6: 6; 10: 28-31), so, our text tells us, it will be with the masses* of mankind during the Messianic reign. If they wilfully reject reconciliation* to God, they will die the Second Death, God has provided a redemption an& recovery from the first death, but assures us that the Second Death witf-be an eternal one.
Electrocution.
Instant death from electric shock* will be the method of executing the* penalty of wilful sinners during the next Age, and not hanging nor decapitation. Thus it was that in olden times* two of Aaron’s sons, having violated their relationship with God and having disobeyed Him, were smitten to death. Fire from the Lord smote them —an electric flash. We may be sure that torture will not be needlessly inflicted on such. They will lose everything, but will not be tortured. Stripes* or punishments, chastisements, are-sometimes used of the Lord, but always in a reformatory manner — “He chasteneth every son whom He re-ceiveth.” He chastens none others — none for whom chastising would accomplish no blessing. Such will be smitten down in the Second Death,
The Saintly New Creation
Salvation in no sense began before the Redeemer’s birth, forty-one hundred and twenty-eight years after the* fall of our first parents. In all that long period nobody was saved. The-Apostle declares in our text that salvation began to be preached by Jesus. Again we read that Jesus brought life and immortality to light through His Gospel (2 Tim. 1:10). So, then, life and immortality and the Gospel Message began to be preached by our Lord and were not preached before His day. Indeed we can see that if there is “none other Name given under heaven or amongst men whereby we must be saved,” than the Name of Jesus, then it could not have been preached; nothing could be preached previously except the Divine declaration that God purposed in due time to redeem mankind from sin and death through a Savior and a Great One—One able to save unto the uttermost all that would come unto the Father through Him.
This reasoning is surely true to the facts. Search all through the Old Testament and there is found no promise of eternal life set forth except by the Law given to the one little nation of Israel. That Law declared that he that doeth these things shall live by his obedience thereto (Rom. 10:5), and the Apostle assures us that Jews died because none of them kept the Law— because no imperfect human being could possibly meet the requirements of God’s perfect Law. “By the deeds of the Law shall no flesh be justified in His sight” (Rom. 3:20).
The Apostle, further explaining the matter, says, “Wherefore, then, serveth the Law?” He replies to his question, “It was added because of transgression until the promised Seed: should come.”—Gal. 3:19.
The Promised Seed
The Apostle’s words direct ,ou» thoughts back to Eden, when God declared that the Seed of the woman would at some future time bruise the Serpent’s head. But that Seed did not exist for “over four thousand years after, and has not yet crushed the Serpent’s head—destroyed sin and tbt works of Satan.
The Apostle’s words again remind us of God’s promise to Abraham, “In thy Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 28:14). Abraham was not thus blessed, nor were any others thus blessed, however faithful they were. All the blessing was to come through Abraham’s Seed and could not be dispensed before His coming. Hence the Apostle, referring to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the faithful of past time, declared, “AH these died in faith, not having received the promise” (Heb. 11:13)—the blessing—reconciliation to God and eternal life.
And when Jesus came He did not attempt to bless the world, but on the contrary, in His prayer, declared, “I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given Me” (John 17:9) •—the saintly, the “very elect” (Matt. 24: 24). These He called, these He taught— “Israelites indeed.” These He directed to give the same message to others, not for the conversion of the world, but for the calling, instruction and edification of “the Church, which is the Body of Christ.” The message to these from first to last was that they were called to suffer with Him, that they might also reign with Him.
life everlasting or death everlasting. And only the faithful footstep followers will gain the glory, honor, immortality and joint-heirship with Him in His Kingdom. These are the “elect,” the “very elect.” These are such as make their calling and election sure by so running as to obtain this great prize of membership in the Body of Christ.
These elect ones experience a change of nature, and in the future will not be human beings, but partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). They will be inducted into the perfection of the divine nature in the First Resurrection, the chief resurrection, in which they will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, because flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.—1 Cor. 15:50-52.
Human Salvation Is Restitution
We all gagged at the thought that the heathen and everybody except saints would be consigned to an eternity of torture, yet we all recognized that heaven is not a place of development but a condition of perfection. We were perplexed, mystified. We did not follow our Bibles with sufficient care. Many of us twisted the Scriptures, wrested, them from their plainly obvious
all opportunity to thus sacrifice the human nature and become joint-heirs with Christ and partakers of the heavenly nature.
Then will be introduced a new period styled, in the Scriptures, “Times (or years) of Restitution.” The acceptable day for the Church’s sacrifice has lasted for nearly nineteen centuries. And we know how long the “Times of Restitution” will last—a thousand years. The Apostle Peter tells us just when these ‘‘Restitution Times” will begin. They did not egin in his day. They have not begun yet. They will begin as a result of the Second Advent of Jesus the Messiah, and the establishment of His Kingdom and righteousness, “Times of refreshing shall come from he presence of the Lord and He shall send Jesus Christ, as before was preached unto you, whom the heavens must retain until the Times of Restitution of xll things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began. For Moses verily said unto the fathers, A Prophet like unto me (of whom I am
but a type or figure) shall the Lord your God raise up unto you from amongst your brethren. Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall speak unto you. And it shall come to pass that the soul that will not obey that Prophet shall be destroyed from amongst the people” (Acts 3:19-23)—in the Second Death.
This great Prophet has been in pro--cess of raising up for now nearly nineteen centuries. And when the last member of His Body shall have passed beyond the veil, He will stand forth in the glories of His Kingdom to rule, judge, instruct, restore and bless all the families of the earth with opportunity for restoration to all that was lost in Eden and redeemed at Calvary., These “Restitution Times” are beautifully referred to in a poem known to many of our readers, written by one who was identified with the Christian Standard office brethren:—
A thousand years, earth’s coming glorys *Tis the glad day so long foretold;
’Tis the bright morn of Zion’s glory Prophets foresaw in times of old.
“The Church Which Is the Body of import, and always t® our own ir-
Christ”
jury. Some went in the direction of
.In the past many of us have over- Universalism; others halfway, and still Church is, others abandoned the Holy Book. Now
looked the fact that the
figuratively, “the Body of Christ”—to we see where we erred.
be hereafter, as the Apostle declares,
God has two salvations; one for
“the Church which is His Body.” And Church and a totally different one
the for the
again, We are members in particular the world. The salvation for of the Body of Christ, which is the Church is to _ heavenly nature, spirit
Church (1 Cor. 12:27). In a word, then, bodies, and joint-heirship with the the entire Christ includes the members Master in His Kingdom, which flesh of the Body with the glorious Head and blood cannot inherit, as we have of the Body. And this glorious Christ, already seen. The other salvation, for which will be completed by the close mankind, is an earthly one, called in of this Gospel Age, will as a whole be the Scriptures “Restitution.” Man was
the promised Seed of Abraham.
From this viewpoint we can see why God’s long-promised blessing has not yet reached the world, but from this viewpoint we can also see that He is merely selecting or electing the Church, the Seed of Abraham. The promise to Abraham is, “In thy Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed,” and, as we have seen, the Seed of Abraham is “Jesus the Head and the Church His Body.” In a word, our previous view of the Divine Plan was too narrow. We saw the election of the Church, but did not see God’s gracious purposes for “All the families of the earth.” The Church, as the Scriptures declare, is merely a “first-fruits” unto God of His creatures and is not, by any means, the entire harvest. Let us here re-
not an angel originally, not a spirit being, but as the Scriptures declare,
“The first man was of earthy.”
It was that earthy man, the image of his Creator,
the earth,
perfect, in for whose
happiness Eden was specially prepared. By obedience to God he might have continued to enjoy his Eden home everlastingly. By disobedience he first lost his fellowship with God, then his Eden home, and after nine hundred and thirty years of toiling with thorns and thistles in sweat of face, the death penalty upon him reached completion —he died. Adam’s race, sharing his weaknesses by laws of heredity, have also shared death with him.
“World Through Him Might Be Saved”
The Scriptures tell us that God’s real
Character of Love Required of Heavenly Aspirants
If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us.—I John 4:12.
*J*HERE IS a great difference between x human or animal love, such as
the members another, and text refers, members of
of a family have for one that love to which this
The love required of the Body of Christ is a
love resulting from mutual ship to the Lord, and comes Spirit of God dwelling in God-like love, which marks
relation-from the them—a them as
of His Spirit, having been begotten to His disposition. There should be something about the character of the Lord’s people which would demonstrate on all occasions that they possess true
love for one another. If the case the lack of love reflection upon them all.
As we learn to love one
this is not would be a
another the
member matter.
as Isaac promise”
St. Paul’s explanation of this He declares, “We, brethren, was, are the children of the (Gal. 4:28)—the heirs of the
purpose in
sending Jesus into the
world was that the “world through
Him might
be saved”
not the
promise—through us all the families of the earth are to be blessed.
No Second Chance In This
It might indeed be said in one sense of the word that since Father Adam was placed on trial in Eden with a reward of eternal life before him or a penalty of death, and that since he lost his chance of eternal life by disobedience, therefore any chance of eternal life coming to him or to any member of his race would, of necessity, be a second chance. This is undoubtedly true. .From this standpoint every member of the human family must eventually have a second chance for eternal life, because it was for this very purpose that our Redeemer left the heavenly glory, was made flesh, dwelt amongst us and “died, the Just for the unjust.” Whoever enjoys this second chance must expect no more, because “Christ dieth no more.” But, as we have already seen, nobody had a second chance for eternal life prior to the coming of our Redeemer Into the world. “He brought life and immortality to light.” He died, the Just for the unjust, to make recon
love of God is being perfected in us, the true, benevolent love which the Lord commands. The Lord said that we should love one another as He has loved us—to the extent of being willing to lay down our lives for one another. We are not to love some of the brethren some of the time, and some of the brethren all of the time; but we should love all of the brethren all of the time; and overlook their frailties and imperfections, taking that high standpoint from which God views them, forgiving one another, as God, for Christ’s sake, overlooks our blemishes. We ought to forgive those who trespass against us as we hope and trust that God will forgive our trespasses. No one can be of the “elect” class unless this love be perfected in him. He may not gain so full a control of the flesh that he will never speak sharply, hastily, etc., but he must reach the place where he will be perfect in intention before he can
abstaining from evil and loving our neighbor as ourselves would not fulfil the Law as given to the New Creature by the Lord; but it would fill the Law of Justice given to the Jews.
But our Lord magnified that Law and also gave us a new command. The Love that should be in His followers, His disciples, was shown in His words, “Love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12.) To do this would be far more than to do no injury to another. It would be laying down our lives for one another. This is far beyond any requirement of the law. Justice could not say, “You must go over and clean the snow from your neighbor’s pavement”; but Justice would say, “You must not throw any snow upon your neighbor’s pavement.” But Love says more than this. The new Law that is given to us is the Law of Sacrifice. We who are in the Body of Christ must love one another as Jesus loved us, to the extent of sacrificing our interests, our comforts, our privileges^ in the interest of others.
He who does not find his heart in harmony with this Law of the New Creation—love, mercy, kindness, gentleness, goodness—lacks the evidence, or proof, that he is in any sense accepted of God as a joint-heir w;ith Christ. If we have not love tn our heart for the brethren, and the love of gentleness and benevolence toward all men, and even toward the brute creation, we have not the spirit which will carry us through in making the sacrifices necessary under present conditions. It will be only a question of time with such when the power of pride or vainglory holding them in
ciliation for iniquity—and this sage of so great salvation began spoken by our Lord.
The comparatively few who heard the Gospel since Jesus’
mes-to be
have day—
“Good tidings of great joy which shall be unto all people,” these, the comparatively few, who have heard of “the only name given under heaven or amongst men whereby we must be saved”—are the only ones who in any sense of the word have had their second chance. Indeed we might, Scrip-turally, limit the matter much further and say that the Gospel has been hidden from the majority of those who heard it; their mental eyes and ears being deaf and blind, they did not comprehend the message, and therefore could not reject it.
The “high calling” and “so great salvation” which so few have really heard and seen is referred to by our great Redeemer saying, “Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.” “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. * * * But God hath revealed them unto us by His spirit” (1 Cor. 2:14). In other words, only the Spirit-begotten ones are now on trial for
salvation of the Church; that was an incidental feature. The Church is selected that as the Bride or Queen during the Messianic Kingdom she may be associated with her Lord, the King, as the Seed of Abraham, in the-bles-sing, the saving, of Adam and his family, or so many of them as shall be willing, from sin and death conditions. We remember the Master’s words to the effect that “He came to seek and to save (recover) that which was lost.” We have just seen that it was a human life, human perfection and an earthly home that were lost. It is these, then, that Jesus proposes in due time to recover for Adam and his family. The Messianic reign of Jesus and His Body—the Anointed, The Christ, The Messiah—will be for the purpose of blessing Adam and all of his race with glorious opportunities of an earthly salvation. The uplifting, restoring influences of Messiah's Kingdom will affect not only Adam and his race, but also the earth itself. Gradually Paradise Lost, as a little garden of Eden, will become Paradise Regained, as the world beautiful. Then the wilderness shall blossom as a rose and the solitary places shall be glad.
“Times of Restitution” worked much ill to his neighbors. viXrv* we°mustVnot'o^lv'nuron
At °ur Lor^s First A+lVenr™tJe “hen With S°°d intention> doubtless, some the whole armor of God butywe must ceptable time began—the time when of our Catholic friends and some of be beroes in the strife and wage an God, having accepted the sacrifice of our Protestant friends have worked ill aggressive warfare upon the lusts of Christ Jesus, became willing through to tbeir neighbors. We cannot say the eye and flesh and pride of life and Him to accept the sacrifices of all who that because they worked ill to their ajj the foes of desire to become His disciples—to take neighbors they had no love, but that purity up their cross and follow Him through tbey djd not bave to tbe degree evil report and good report even unto required by the Law; for perfect love death. The entire Gospel Age • anti- would work no ill to his neighbor. Truth and. for types Israel’s Day of Atonement, and Whoever would work ill to his neigh- inspire us or we shall never be victory
the sacrifices of our Lord and the bor, with full knowledge, would not Bove will keep us faithful even unto
Church, His Body, are the “better sac- have love. death and make us meet for the in-
rifices,” foreshadowed by the bullock heritance of the saints in light. Where
and the goat offered typically by the Goes Beyond the Jewish Law fervent love rules in the heart it Jews. This is the acceptable year of — implies that the heart is fully submit-
the Lord which Jesus declared (Isa. - Th^e +LS ni ted to the Bord, and that means that
61:2; Luke 4:19). God’s faithful people J”™* is thJ nine-tenths of the battle is already
of this acceptable day are glad to be tJ Hw was won‘ But even then’ as the AP°stle
invited to present their bodies living Jud* ^ays (Jude 21), we must keep
sacrifices, holy and acceptable unto God.” (Rom. 12:1.) In the end of this acceptable day will come the end of
be accepted as dom.
The Apostle worketh no ill
a member of the
Paul says that to his neighbor;
fore, love is the fulfilling of the
What say the Scriptures About Sheol-
Hades—Hell
the way of
King- asunder and
self-sacrifice will snap selfishness tak'j full
control. We are to keep the Law in “Love our minds. But while our minds are
there- perfect, we find imperfections of the Law.” flesh which hinder us from doing all which that wish to do. Hence, we need
(Rom. 13:10.) The Divine Law ........ . _____
the Apostle had specially before his the sufficiency that is in Christ. We mind was the Law given to Israel— are trusting that God will accept the “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God &o°d intentions of the heart, of the with all thy heart and with all thy mind,. instead of counting against us soul and with all thy might;” and, imperfections of our flesh.
“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- An Aggressive as
self.” (Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18.) This Law of God fulfilled—filled full, completely
Warfare
of our flesh.
Well as Defensive Necessary
God would have
nave us watch for evl-
-requires that the heart shall be denceg of His will and profit by all lull of love. All the mind and soul the experiences which He permits to and strength are required to fulfil this come to us in our every-day life, Bawt. Love worketh no ill to his humbly accepting any discipline; and neighbor. . Yet one might work ill having this spirit we shall be led on through ignorance and superstition from grace to grace and from victory and misunderstanding, through im- unto victOry. Merely to stand nnfl
perfection of the flesh, while his heart battle on the defensive is very weanintentions were good. rr>n^c,„a
Saul of Tarsus
doubtless,
some and gains no victory.
To gain
some fbe whole armor of God, but we must
Goes Beyond the Jewish Law
There is a force in the word therefore in the text, “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore, love is the fulfilling of the Law.” The Law was
Love—love for
righteousness
the Lord, for
and
the
righteousness—must
. ... - _ t) UUC OCX J O IUUU.C iilJ, W C lUUOt
given to restrain wrong deeds, wrong ourselves in the love of God, in watch= words, wrong sentiments toward an- -
other. That Law was evidently not
intended to that should no ill. One
enumerate all the things not be done, for it works
fulness and prayer and zeal, and grace will abound where love abounds.
______ might, therefore, fulfil the ex- Law of the Ten Commandments if he
CHURCH FEDERATION.
Of interest to Methodists, Presby<
A very interesting pamphlet, ___
plaining every verse in the Bible in works no ill to his neighbor, but loves terians, Baptists, Lutherans, Congre-= which the original words are found him as himself. The word therefore gationalists, Disciples, Roman Catho< that are translated into the English gives us the thought that the Apostle lies, etc. A full number of this papef as “Hell,” will be sent on postal card had in mind the Jewish Law and not devoted to the discussion of the sub< request, free of charge to any one. the Law of the New Creation. Merely jeci. Send post-card for copy—free.
“The Keys of Death and of Hell**
“0 grave [sheol, hades—hell], where is thy victory?”—I Cor. 15:55.
Death is spoken of throughout the Bible as an enemy. Merely hymn-book theology presents it as a friend, an angel sent of God. Death is introduced to our attention in the Bible as the penalty for sin, with the
heir with Him in His Kingdom.
Dur-
distinct understanding that not transgressed the Divine he need not have died, nor been cast out of his Eden
had Adam commands ever have home. St.
Paul emphasizes the fact that death is the penalty of sin and that the resurrection of the dead will come to mankind as the result of the redemptive work of Christ. He says, “Since by man comes death, by man also comes the resurrection of the dead.
For as all in Adam die, even so all 21.
ing the past nineteen centuries God, by His Word and providences, has been calling and drawing a “little flock” to Christ to be His Bride.
And not until all of these shall be called, drawn, tested, proven faithful unto death as followers in the Master’s footsteps, will the elect Body be complete and the slaying of the great monsters, Sin and Death, be begun and accomplished. For that day the saints are waiting and praying, “Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly!” And for that day the whole creation is waiting, although not clearly informed respecting the blessings in store for them—Rom.
in Christ shall be made alive; but every man in his own order,” band or cohort.—1 Cor. 15:21-23.
As Genesis introduces death as a penalty for sin, Revelation concludes the great drama by pointing out Christ’s victory and the destruction of sin and death, the release of all the members of Adam’s family from his sentence and eventually the bringing
“The Last Enemy”—Death.
St. Paul points us to the great Deliverer, the glorified Messiah, at the time when He shall take the Kingdom under the whole heavens and begin the fulfilment of the prayer He taught us, “Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as in heaven.” He tells us He must reign until He shall have put all enemies under His feet—“The last en-
of all the willing back to fellowship emy that shall be destroyed is death’
with God and to eternal life. Between these two extremes of Divine Revelation are the assurances of the Prophets and the words of Jesus and His Apostles explaining the processes of
(1 Cor. 15:26). The meaning is clear. Messiah’s Kingdom will address itself
promptly to the rectification of every form of ■ -
redemption and
reconciliation. St.
political,
unrighteousness, social, religious.
Paul summarizes these with the statement, “By one man[’s disobedience] sin entered into the world, and death as the result of sin, and thus death passed upon all men, because all are sinners. * * * As by one man’s disobedience [the] many were made sin-
rule the world with a rod of
financial, He will iron and
ners, so by [the] many 5:12-19.
Death
the obedience of one shall be made righteous.”—Rom.,
a Ravenous Monster
In the poetic language of Scripture death is symbolically represented as a great monster which has been swallowing up the human family, never
satisfied. Millions on already been devoured.
millions have Mankind in
vain has looked for a Deliverer—for
one able to vanquish death liver the prisoners from the on-house of sheol, hades, This monster was granted
and to degreat pris-the grave, permission
to devour the race by Him who created us, because we were unworthy
of eternal life, backed by the mighty, and He own decision.
Death, therefore, is mandate of the Al-cannot overthrow His
The Divine proposition is that whoever would meet the requirements of Justice against Adam and his race might purchase or ransom them, and have full right to deliver them from the prison-house, the tomb. For four thousand years there were promises looking forward to this great Messianic Deliverer, but only promises— nothing was accomplished. Finally, in due time, God sent forth His Son.
He says that “He came not to condemn the world (not to add to its condemnation, not to add to its sorrow or pain or trouble or hopelessness), but that the world through Him might be saved” from death—have life, perfect and everlasting, deliverance from the jaws of the monster and from his prison-house. But although more than eighteen centuries have since elapsed, the race is being swallowed up of this great monster, death, more voraciously than ever—ninety thousand every day. His prison-house, sheol, hades,
every nation and every system or ■ element contrary to the Divine stan- : dards of righteousness will be broken to shivers with His “iron rod.” Thus will righteousness be established in the • earth in the midst of “a time of trouble such as never was since there was a ■ nation.” ;
But the putting .down of sin will be ■ but the beginning of Messiah’s work. , Satan being bound, and the reign of sin thus estopped, each transgression ' will receive a just recompense and each good endeavor a just reward. Gradually mankind will rise out»of sin and therefore proportionately . come from under the power of death, until ' all the willing and obedient shall be fully delivered from all danger as respects the monster which has devoured our race for sixty centuries. Not only so, but those twenty thousand millions who have gone into the prison-house of ddath will be released—• not all at once, but gradually, as .the Apostle declares, “Every man in his own order,” or band.
By the close of the thousand years of Messiah’s reign, His victory over Sin and Death will be complete. Every member of Adam’s race will have been lifted from the prison-house of death. It will be a prison-house no longer, for there will be no prisoners in it; mankind will have been lifted out of the clutches of Sin and Death, weakness and depravity, by the processes of restitution, resurrection, uplifting. (Acts 3:19-23.) The victory over sin will be
Thus, as the Apostle says, with the culmination of Christ’s Kingdom, with the deliverance of all mankind from the power of Sin and Death, death will be swallowed up in victory. The Apostle probably quoted from Hosea xiii, 14, where we read, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave (sheol); I will redeem them from death; O death, I will be thy plagues (gradual destruction) ;O grave (sheol), I will be thy destruction; repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.” The Almighty will never change or turn from this decision. Death and the grave, sheol, hades (the Bible hell), are to be destroyed. Every member of Adam’s race is to be delivered by Him who redeems all.
Keys of Death and Hades
A key is a symbol of authority <xnd symbolizes a legal power to open the prison-house and to release the prisoners. Adamic death has been a legal penalty upon our race—a just penalty. But although all shared the condemnation and weakness, God foresaw that some of the race, if granted the opportunity, would gladly return to loyalty to His laws. He has, therefore, made provision through Jesus for every member of the race, great and small, rich and poor. World-wide redemption will be provided and world-wide opportunity for the coming to a knowledge of the Truth and for being uplifted, or resurrected will be afforded. The right or power to release mankind from the power of death and from the prison-house of the tomb, sheol, hades, the grave, is represented by the key in the hands of Messiah. He gained that key, that rightful authority to set us free from the grave, by the redemption which He accomplished at Calvary.
This figure of the prison-house was
used also by the Lord through Isaiah the Prophet. Is it not written that the Lord was anointed to preach a message of good tidings to the meek, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives of Sin and Death and the opening of the prison-house of death to those that are bound? And did not Jesus apply this very prophecy to Himself? (Isa. 61:1; Luke Surely our Lord opened no
4:18.) earthly
prison-doors at
His first advent. But just as surely He foretold that He would open the prison-doors and set all the captives free. His death, “the Just for the unjust,” was in order that He might have the authority to release the prisoners—by His death He secured the key.
Eventually this glorious work will be consummated, and in the consum-
mation of it the elect Church of this Gospel Age is invited to have a share. Hence the Church is called out from the world fir^t, under a special Covenant of sacrifice, that she may with her Lord, the Redeemer, become part of the Seed of Abraham on the spirit plane.—Gal. 3:29.
- Hades Cast Into Gehenna.
“And death and hell (hades) were cast into the lake of fire. This is the Second Death.”—Rev. 20:14.
In the -symbolic language of Reve-
the tomb, is supposed now twenty thousand millions children. Why the delay? plans go awry? Was the
to contain of Adam’s Did God’s Savior in-
complete, because all who love sin and are willingly its servants after being released from the condemnation of the Adamic death, will be destroyed in the Second Death. Thus Adamic Sin and Death will finally be completely routed and the prison-house of death
lation, Messiah’s reign is described as a glorious opportunity for all mankind to come back into harmony with the Almighty and to attain everlasting life through the great Mediatorial
…