The Watchtower, April 1, 1887
VOL. VIII. PITTSBURGH, PA., APRIL, 1887. NO. 8.
Zion's Watch Tower
AND
HERALD OF CHRIST'S PRESENCE.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY.
TOWER PUBLISHING COMPANY, PITTSBURGH, PA.
BUSINESS OFFICE: No. 151 Robinson St., Allegheny, Pa. C. T. RUSSELL, EDITOR.
The Editor recognizes a responsibility to the Master, relative to what shall appear in these columns, which he cannot and does not cast aside; yet he should not be understood as endorsing every expression of correspondents, or of articles selected from other periodicals.
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION.
TERMS:--FIFTY CENTS A YEAR, POSTAGE FREE. Including special number (Millennial Dawn, Vol. I., paper bound) seventy five cents. Remit by draft, P.O. Money Order, or Registered Letter, payable to C. T. RUSSELL.
FOREIGN TERMS.
Three shillings per year. Including "Special Number," four shillings. Remit by Foreign Postal Money Order.
TAKE NOTICE.
This paper will be sent free to any of the Lord's poor who will send a card yearly requesting it. Freely we have received and freely we would give the truth. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat-- yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." And you that have it--"Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently--and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness."--`ISAIAH 55:1,2`.
LET HIM that hath two papers loan one unto them that have none. And as this number is specially suited to new readers, order as many copies as you can use to advantage--free.
WE commend to every earnest reader desirous of spreading the truth, the plan set forth in last month's "VIEW FROM THE TOWER." Many have acted on it. One brother sold 59 copies of the paper bound DAWN, in part of one week, after the price was reduced. The book sells itself best. Do little talking about it. The Table of Contents and the book itself will do it better. Expect that every intelligent Christian should want the book and talk and act in harmony with that conviction, and your success will be accordingly. We feel sure now of selling the 50,000 proposed, and if the TRACT SOCIETY'S funds will justify, we will certainly try to make it eighty or one hundred thousand.
VIEW FROM THE TOWER.
As this issue of the TOWER will be used largely as a sample paper, and will, we trust, reach at least one hundred thousand readers, we take this opportunity of extending to such the right hand of friendship. The common brotherhood of all mankind, through Adam, is cemented and bound tighter by our sympathy for each other as common sufferers under the curse of death, which passed upon us all. And the weaknesses, and aches, and pains, the blindness and lameness, mental as well as physical, under which we all labor, should quicken our sympathy and love for those who have fallen lowest, or become most blinded. This broad love, thank God, is ours, as we believe it is His for all his creatures. We come to greet you, and to point you to the cure for all our maladies, and inspire hope and incite you to love toward God, whom you only need to know, to love; and whom you may come to know through his word and his plans therein revealed, which embrace and provide for you and all mankind abundantly.
But our message is specially to the saints, those already consecrated to God, the truth-seekers, the "children of the light," the "little flock," the "Royal Priesthood," the "holy people," the "peculiar people," "The church of the first born" ones, "whose names are written in heaven," the living "members of the one body," of which Christ Jesus is the only head, prospectively "the Bride, the Lamb's wife" and "joint-heir"--you we specially greet, extending to you both hands, sympathizing and rejoicing with you as "new creatures," "partakers of the divine nature," and also sympathizing with you in the weaknesses of the flesh; for we have our treasure (the new mind or spirit,) in earthen vessels.
We trust that our non-recognition of sectarian names, in which some glory, may be no barrier to your communion with us; for let us remind you that the Scriptures recognize sects, and divisions, and party fences, and lines among the true saints of God, only to condemn them as evidences of carnality, contrary to the spirit and teaching of our Lord and Master. The apostle suggests--While ye say I am of Luther, I of Calvin, I of Wesley, is it not a sign of carnality? Is Christ, the head, divided? If so, his body, the church, may be excused for dividing and separating themselves by creeds and party names from others. But were Luther or Calvin crucified for you? Or were you baptised in the name of Wesley?--See `1 Cor. 1:11-13` and `3:4-8`.
We address you, then, and desire to know you and to be known of you, not as members of earthly, human, carnal sects, but as we above addressed you, as members with us, and with all saints, of the
ONE BODY of Christ, whose names are written in heaven, in our Lord's book of life.
We come to you with a message which fills and overflows our own hearts with joy and praise. The night of the permitted reign of evil is near a close and the prince of darkness, and error, and superstition will soon be bound by the prince of light --Immanuel; and all his works of darkness shall be scattered and undone by the bright shining of the "Sun of righteousness" with healing in his beams, to bless all the race of men for whom he died.
"Go ye forth to meet him"--separate yourself from the world and the spirit of it; come forth out of Babylon, as well as out of Egypt, and flee ye by the narrow way that ye may meet your King and Bridegroom. The time for presentation to him is at hand, and as the Bride makes herself ready (`Rev. 19:7`), we have no time to waste. Only the fellow-members of the one body can help you, and your assistance is needed to help such that all may shortly enter into the joys of their Lord.
Once we supposed that the grand consummation of the hopes of the Bride would be the death-knell of the world's hope, but now, thank God, as the distorted shadows of the night scatter before the rising Sun of the grand Millennial day, we can see that God's ways and plans are higher and wider than we once supposed. And as it is written, He has put a new song in our mouths--even the loving-kindness of our God. The dawning light shows us that our fear was taught us not of his Word, but by the precepts of men (`Isa. 29:13`). We find that the prince of darkness, taking advantage of the natural fears of the fallen race, distorted horribly the punishments prescribed for sin by God, making death, the sentence, to mean the very opposite --life in torment, so as to prevent our seeing God's love, wisdom, and justice, and to prevent our full reconciliation to him and our recognition of him as our FATHER.
But now, beloved, as we awake and arouse ourselves, and look unto the Redeemer and Life-giver, we find that the terrible things we supposed so real were only nightmares, from which it is so refreshing to escape.
We have so much to tell you, and it is all so good, we scarcely know where to begin; but in this issue we present some of the simpler thoughts, just to give you a taste of our heavenly food which is meat indeed, giving spiritual health and strength which we never knew before, instead of the spiritual lassitude, and doubts, and wavering hopes, and fears and gropings in darkness, which once were ours.
The TOWER comes to you as unpretentiously as the ministers of the early church. We present no list of titled and world-renowned contributors, none whose fame would command your attention to the subjects we present. But we come to you with the Bible as God's Word, and seek to enlist your attention to its statements, and your obedience to its requirements, and thus we hope to lead the hearts and minds of some of God's children away from the jarring confusion of precept and doctrine, prevalent among the various sects (divisions) of Christians, into the harmony, beauty, simplicity, and confidence, which come from the study of God's Word and its acceptance as a harmonious whole and a self-interpreter.
It would be natural that you should wonder how these things could be true, yet not recognized long ago by earnest Christians; and why so many of those in the churches manifest such a bitter opposition to things so full of harmony with God's Word, and so fully vindicating the justice, wisdom and love of our heavenly Father.
In answer to your supposed queries, we suggest that if a broad view of God's dealings and revelation be taken, it will be seen that he has a broad, comprehensive, and benevolent plan with reference to men, the order and details of which began to be recognized since Pentecost. The light of revelation shines with special brightness on the ends of the ages. Upon the ending of the Jewish Age, which was the beginning of the Gospel Age, new and special light shone out relative to the blessed privileges about to be enjoyed in the Gospel Age. Remember, too, that it came from the Scriptures, written long before, but which were never before appreciated or understood. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter and Paul, all quoted the prophecies and applied them to the events taking place in their day--the opening of the Gospel Age. The prophecies had been there for centuries, but the revelation or understanding of them was reserved for those in the ends of the ages. (See `1 Cor. 10:11`.) So now, in the closing of the Gospel Age and dawning of the grand Millennial Age, we should expect the light to shine out brightly relative to God's plans for this incoming age. And so it does. Search and see. Gem after gem of precious truth now glows with unparalleled lustre to the diligent searcher, not because of his superior ability to find it, but because God's due time has come for such to understand it. Soon the blessed bow of promise shall be seen to span the whole heavens, and weeping earth shall dry her tears and shout for joy.
It is no more surprising that these truths relative to God's plan for the blessing of all mankind should have been but dimly seen heretofore, than that the call of the Gentiles to be heirs of the Abrahamic promise, (`Acts 11:18`; `Eph. 3:5,7`; `Gal. 3:29`,) should have been but dimly seen until the Gospel Age began to dawn. We can understand scriptural statements only as they become due. Thus--"Light, (truth, was long ago) sown for the righteous." When due, the light springs up and gradually unfolds. Thus our Father has made abundant provision for the household of faith; and the true servants shall bring forth things both new and old, that the household may have meat in due season. The cause of the opposition on the part of many to the truth now due, is the failure to recognize this progressive and unfolding character of God's revelation of his plans. Most Christians take for granted that good men of the past, who walked in the light then due, had all the truth worth knowing. Knox, Calvin, Luther, Wesley and others were, we believe, good men and sincere, earnest Christians; but more truth is due in our day than in theirs. According to God's plan, the light should shine more and more until the perfect day. Many Christians of to-day make a great mistake, and sit in comparative darkness, when they might be walking in glorious light, because they search the theology of these men instead of the Word of God.
Turn away from musty creeds of times past and give more earnest heed to the ever living, ever fresh, ever unfolding, ever new Word of God. Again, others take the Bible and search it only for the purpose of seeing how nearly they can make it to fit either their mental or written creed. If your habit has been such, we hope you will at once resolve to lay aside all human teachings as authoritative, and hereafter judge all you hear or read by the statements of God's Word. If you believe anything, make sure that you have Scriptural statements warranting it. Prove all things, hold fast that which is good, and cast away all else.
The action of the nominal church today, relative to the light now shining, clearly resembles that of the Jewish church relative to light in the end of their age. They reject every new ray of light because it would conflict with some cherished theory or statement of their creed. They are so full of their own plans and arrangements for converting the world, that they are unwilling to hear that God has a better, grander, and infinitely more comprehensive way of dealing with evil, and blessing and teaching the world. Their ears are so stopped by the din and confusion of their own religious efforts that they cannot discern the plan of Jehovah.
Satan is doubtless interested in the promotion of the confusion of sects, and stimulates and encourages that zeal which is not according to knowledge, and thus hinders their hearing Jehovah's voice, saying, "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen: I will be exalted in the earth" (`Ps. 46:10`). Even so, let every heart respond, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven."
EXTRACTS FROM INTERESTING LETTERS.
St. Louis, Mo., March 7th, '87.
DEAR BROTHER C. T. RUSSELL:--I am highly delighted with the February No. W. TOWER, especially so with "The Time is Short" and "No Variableness, Neither Shadow of Turning," and with the March No. which came in this A.M. Indeed I am always refreshed, strengthened by each Z.W.T. more and more, and my heart (mind) swells with gratitude and love to
God for such interpretations of His Word. The Article "Whose Wife Shall She Be?" is clear, reasonable, manifestly Scriptural, deep, logical and convincing, on a subject which I never saw so plainly before. This only shows how many mysteries are no doubt hidden in God's Word, yet to be revealed to his faithful ones.
I preach more or less every day. My heart is in the work and must do it. O how I would like to spend an hour or two with you, but I am afraid I shall not be able to visit you this next anniversary Supper. If I should have no one with me, I will celebrate the Supper alone, with the Lord, and hope you will not forget me in your feasting and prayers.
Truly yours in the Service of the truth,
DR. J. R. M__________.
Kansas, February 10th, '87.
MY DEAR FRIEND:--I enclose money for two of the paper bound DAWN. The book is beyond rubies. I am also very thankful for the "TOWER" and pray our loving Father may long bless you to hold up the standard of truth. Such articles as "The Time is Short" bring us into very close fellowship: every word is as a nail in a sure place.
I am respectfully D. B__________.
Buffalo, N.Y.
DEAR SIR:--I have enclosed herewith a money order for five dollars, which I desire to give to the TRACT FUND. I received knowledge of the truth through the distribution of tracts in Buffalo by the Society, and I have taken this opportunity to slightly repay for what I have received.
Yours in Christ, C. B__________.
BROTHER ADAMSON writes concerning the plan suggested in the March "VIEW:" "Of course 50,000 DAWNS can be sold and should be, before 1888 A.D. I was reckoning what would be my proportion and concluded on 1000. So I order 20 copies paper bound and find I will have to order 20 every week. Having sold about 100 I must sell at least 20 per week for the remaining 43 weeks of the year. If 1000 subscribers to TOWER would sell each 30 copies during the year, the big part of the job would be over. All could do this at the very low price now decided on, 25 cts. each. I have a small boy here who sold several DAWNS at former prices, 50 cents.
While the discussion concerning the Second death of the incorrigible is going on, I call your attention to Amalek and their figure in history and the Bible. I believe both agree that Amalek was utterly destroyed nationally and individually. But while I saw plainly for some time that Amalekites appear to type those who enter the second death, the reason being given seems to add force. They lifted up their hand against the throne of the Lord after they knew it as such, and never was the Lord's hand lifted to bear so heavily on any other people.--`Exodus 17:14-17` and margin.
Well, Rochester is pretty well worked. I have six sets of boys loaning packets. Have articles every week in Sunday papers. I shall encourage all correspondents to try hard to sell 50 to 100 DAWNS a piece this year. Regards, Christian love, and joined by Sister A. J. B. ADAMSON.
New Lebanon.
MY DEAR BRO. RUSSELL:--I have just laid aside DAWN; I was reading "Jehovah's Day;" I am much impressed by what I have just read. Although I have read this chapter previously, yet it came to me under many new and impressive features; hence I conclude that I am but a child in the primary department of the school of Christ; that I have but tasted of the spring-branch, and that the fountain is farther up the mountain side, of which if I desire to drink I must continue to climb.
Well, I am become unpopular to the Reformed sect; they became fearful; so I don't preach for them any more. My own sect begin to mistrust me, but I am not sure what they will do, as I am about the only minister they know of who will preach for them caring nothing as to whether they pay him or not. All that is wrong with me, is that I care as little whether my preaching pleases them, as I do whether they give me anything for it. I am not popular and what is worse (to them) I am not trying to be. I do what I can to spread the truth while earning my living by farming. Yours in our Lord, J. P. M__________.
TELESCOPIC AND MICROSCOPIC VISION.
The human eye is beautifully adapted to human needs and human enjoyment, yet only when aided by the telescope and the microscope, do we discover those wonders of nature which hold us in mute astonishment. The naked eye gathers in much of the glory that surrounds us, but unaided it cannot explore the seeming secrets of nature.
Assisted by the telescope men view the distant heavenly bodies, and study their order of arrangement, magnitudes, distances, motions, periods of revolution, eclipses, etc., and the causes of their various phenomena; and aided by the microscope we are enabled to study forms of earthly life and agencies of power invisible because of their minuteness. Thus telescopic and microscopic vision together display the glory of God's work. But suppose the eye were so formed as to have naturally both the telescopic and microscopic vision; would it be to human advantage? No, the vision of immensity, were it continually spread before us, would be wearisome to eye and brain, and leave no field for investigation and the joy of finding something new; and the constant vision of infinitesimal matter and life would mar almost every thing of beauty.
As the natural eye is aided by the telescope and the microscope, to behold the wonders of the material universe, so we find the Word of God furnishing both the telescope and the microscope of divine truth. By the aid of the divine telescope we have been enabled to view God's plan as a whole, and to see that it contemplates the highest perfection, glory, and permanent establishment, of all things in the heavens and in the earth. By its aid we are enabled also to study the order of God's plan, to estimate the relative magnitudes of his various promises, to compute the distances in time, to observe the orderly motions in the various parts of God's plan, to mark the periods of the revolving ages and dispensations, and also to discover the causes by which such changes are brought about.
You who have learned to use it, adjust your telescope again, that you may view the wondrous plan of God, which is wide as the material universe which he created, and includes in its gracious provisions all of his creatures both heavenly and earthly.
Viewing it as a whole, we have seen its order to be, first creation; secondly, discipline and development; thirdly perfection, blessedness and eternal glory. We first find that Jehovah's direct creation began and ended in his Son, our Lord and Saviour, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last.--`Rev. 22:13`.
He was the first and only begotten, and by him as Jehovah's agent, is all the divine purpose to be accomplished (`Rev. 1:8`). In the works of creation he was Jehovah's active agent--"all things were made by him and without him was not anything made" (`John 1:3`). And now we find him the agent in the development and perfecting of all things. It was Jehovah's power delegated to the Son, and it was Jehovah's glorious plan which he delighted to accomplish. All glory and praise then to Jehovah's infinite wisdom and power and boundless love displayed in his marvelous plan, and honor and praise to Jesus, who delighted to accomplish his will, though it cost him humiliation unto death--even the death of the cross; and praise again to the Father who hath therefore highly exalted him and made him partaker of the divine nature and given him all power in heaven and in earth--that henceforth all may honor the Son even as they honor the Father also.
Let glory, honor and praise echo and re-echo to the utmost bound of the vast created universe, planned by Jehovah and accomplished by his power through his worthy, well beloved, and highly honored Son, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last, the Alpha and Omega of his creation. The Father's delight is in the Son, and the Father's glory is manifested in him. Yet the glory of the Son never has and never will eclipse the glory of the Father. The Father has declared, "I am Jehovah: that is my name; and mine honor to another I give not." (`Isa. 42:8`.) The Son never attempted to diminish the Father's glory, but always to add to it, saying, "My Father is greater than I," and it is my delight to do his will. (`John 14:28`, `Psa. 40:8`, `John 4:34`.) The glory of the wondrous plan, displayed in creation, redemption, restitution, and eternal perfection and glory of all things in heaven and in earth, belongs chiefly and primarily to Jehovah, and secondarily to his Son, who has been the honored chief instrument in its accomplishment.
Leaving our observations of his creative work, we turn to view the great plan for the discipline and development of his intelligent creatures. We have seen that all were created perfect, yet free to choose good or evil, and that for wise and benevolent purposes in God's economy, evil has been permitted to run its dreadful course in the human race and among some of the angels. We see also that the great plan for human redemption and restoration, is so far reaching in its results as to finally settle the great controversy between good and evil for all time and for all creatures. Evil is now permitted to exist and flourish for purposes of discipline and development, and when this is accomplished, it shall be forever banished, never again to mar the face of God's finished work.
But again, leaving these observations, turn your telescope to the still more distant future. Dimly outlined because of its greater distance, the glorious future of eternal blessedness bursts upon our enraptured vision, beginning at the close of the Millennium with the great jubilee of jubilees, the jubilee of the universe, when Christ shall have put all enemies under his feet (`1 Cor. 15:25`). There all tears shall have been wiped away, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things will have passed away. And God himself will be with them and be their God.--`Rev. 21:3,4`.
Having taken these telescopic observations of the outlines of God's great plan, we note the order of its development, and from the data furnished in the Scriptures, and our observations of passing events, we are enabled to compute the distance in time, even to the final consummation--to the great jubilee of jubilees. We have already marked the completed revolution of several great dispensational periods, and now realize that we are in the ending of another and just approaching the dawn of the Day of Christ, whose blessed reign shall wipe out the last vestige of evil and usher in the universal jubilee.
As we study these great revolutions in their minor details, we discover the principles and causes of their movements. We see that the first dispensation, under the ministration of angels, completed its revolution at the time of the flood, proving the inability of angelic power to rescue man (`Heb. 2:2,5`); we see the law dispensation closing at the first advent of Christ, proving the inability of man to save himself by obedience to the law; now we see also the gospel dispensation ending, completing the selection of God's anointed priest, who alone can accomplish the great work. At the same time we see the reign of evil completing its course. In all these great and the many minor movements of the various agencies of God's plan which have been brought to our attention, we see the one central and unchangeable purpose of God--the final, permanent establishment of righteousness, peace and everlasting bliss on a basis which recognizes the freedom of the individual will, yet by the tender cord of love links that will indissolubly to the divine will as the only condition of everlasting life and favor.
Seeing the grandeur of the work to be accomplished through our Lord Jesus, and the high honor bestowed upon him by the Father, we are enabled to estimate, to some extent, the exceeding great and precious promises to the members of his church--the "eternal weight of glory" to be shared by his joint-heirs. And indeed this is the chief object and value of these glorious telescopic visions of the divine purpose; and that we may be encouraged to pursue the narrow way to its end, we should take frequent observations. Astronomers, as they study the material universe, become completely absorbed in it, and seem to live in an atmosphere and to be filled with a joy above other men; but how much more inspiring are the views which we have been permitted to take, and the wonderful truths and calculations deduced from them? Here is a science which towers above every other, and a philosophy which, divinely directed, probes the hitherto hidden things of God.
But, none can enter the watch-tower of Zion, or use the divine telescope, who do not come with meek and teachable spirit, with consecrated hearts, and a student's purpose to know the truth. To such the Lord will blessedly disclose the riches of his grace.
But what of the microscope? Thus far we have only been glancing briefly at the telescopic visions of God's Word; but what, in comparison, we may term the microscopic views, also wondrously declare the glory of God. They declare his glory most emphatically to the natural man, for they are such as the natural man can more readily grasp and accept. These relate to the natural man, and his restoration to human perfection. The telescopic views are chiefly for those who are "new creatures" and heirs together with Christ. We turn the telescope heavenward, the microscope earthward; and the latter discloses the promises of restitution. Close examination shows the blessedness of that restored estate--perfect human nature--and the necessary discipline to lead the race to it; the judgments of God in the punishments of the wicked for their correction, and rewarding the righteous; and the doom pronounced against present evil systems, ecclesiastical, civil and social, which, defying the power of the Almighty, bind and oppress mankind.
These microscopic views disclose to the vision of faith a physical earth that shall be man's Paradise restored--"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad ...and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon....And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water." They point us to the fact that all obstacles shall be removed from the way to holiness-- "No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon; it shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there." They show that all eyes and ears shall be opened to receive the truth, to be instructed in the right ways of the Lord--"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing." They tell of the joyful progress of mankind toward perfection under that wise and beneficent reign of Christ--"And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."--`Isa. 35`.
Thus these microscopic views reveal the blessed transformation which not only awaits mankind, but which also awaits the earth, which was "made to be inhabited."
"And still new beauties do we see,
And still increasing light."
Let every child of God search out these treasures of divine truth, long buried by divine wisdom, for our present comfort and joy, and proclaim to the world the blessed assurance that its paradise is to be restored, and that the great Restorer is soon to begin the glorious work.
Truth on every subject has always met with opposition. Science and philosophy have had to contend for every inch of footing gained. The use of the telescope and microscope were once condemned as improper prying into God's secrets. And none the less is the searching of the Scriptures, thus making use of the Divinely-given telescope and microscope, opposed to-day on the very same ground--an improper prying into the mysteries of God. Blinded indeed is that child of God who cannot discern such sophistry, and the dark source from whence such suggestions come. Does our Father give us a revelation of his will and purposes, and forbid our study of it? Let us search and see, and be filled with the spirit and inspiration of these blessed truths; so shall we be enabled to run joyfully and with patience the race set before us.
MRS. C. T. R.
IS THIS YOUR GOD?
The fool hath said, there is no God;
And skeptics sanction with a nod;
Because the churchling cannot tell
Why God has made a burning hell:
A burning hell, and full of woe,
Into which the race must go:
A place where Satan rules supreme;
Where Saints look on calm and serene:
A place where all must howl in rage,
Except the few whom grace engaged--
A few whom God is pleased to save,
And plant above the fiery wave,
To view with joy and happiness,
Their brethren in their deep distress.
No deep concern in these is found
For fallen man in misery bound.
A drop of water is asked in vain,
And scoffed at by the elect train.
A wailing host bemoan their fate;
A chosen few laugh, ah! too late!!
An idol, grim, o'errules, with rod,
This scene of riot, as a God.
Is this your God? Not such I own
Whose will in heaven and earth be done.
Man views himself and sees within
A noble creature marred by sin;
But from the debris of the wreck
A promise rises as a speck,
And in the darkness of that day,
Shines as a dim lamp, far away:
Amid that darkness as of night,
The lamp gives forth a feeble light.
In course of time the promised oil,
In this same lamp makes night recoil;
The night will flee, but leave behind
A lasting lesson to mankind--
A lesson in which he learns to know
The awfulness of sin and woe;
Of death, and what it cost to save
Man from the power of the grave.
There is a God, the humble say,
Whose plan reveals a coming day,
In which His Judgment will disclose
The cause of all our pain and woes.
When Christ, the Mighty One, shall be
The king of heaven, and earth and sea,
His Saints shall share with him the Throne,
With Him shall reign, from zone to zone.
The scepter wielded in His name,
Shall make the nations know His fame.
His power shall reach from land to land,
And lead sin's captives by the hand
From out the charnel-house of death,
To reinstate them by His breath.
In that great age the Law will be
So clear and plain that all can see
Its purpose, and His right to reign,
And Law and Order to maintain.
When thus far God's revealed plan
Shall have been wrought with sinful man,
Then each abiding soul shall claim
A right to live in Jesus' name.
But he, who will the Law abuse,
Shall be cast out as base refuse;
Deprived of life, deprived of breath,
A victim to the "Second Death."
When every soul which Jesus bought,
Shall have been to perfection brought,
The Age of glory will begin,
With man forever freed from sin.
No evil then will mar the race,
The cause of it will have no place;
For God has said and cannot lie,
The soul that sins shall surely die.
Hence into the lake of burning fire,
He casts the tempter with all his ire,
From which there can be no salvation,
It simply means--annihilation.
A glorious host exulting sing
Hosannas to the heavenly King,
Whose plan to full perfection brought,
By far transcends their highest thought.
Is this your God? Him do I own:
His will in earth and heaven be done.
J. P. MARTIN.
"THEIR fear toward me is taught by the precept of men."--Jehovah (`Isa. 29:13`).
ENDEAVOR to be always patient with the faults of others, for thou hast faults and imperfections of thine own that require a reciprocation of forbearance. If thou art not able to make thyself that which thou wishest to be, how canst thou expect to mould another in conformity to thy will? --Kempis.
I AM NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL.
"I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation--to every one that believeth."--`Rom. 1:16`.
The gospel, the good news or good tidings, is so good and so grand, that those who really see and understand it, have no occasion for feeling shame when they tell to others all they can of its height and depth, and length and breadth.
It needs no apology on God's part, neither on the part of any of his ambassadors. In this respect it differs from all human theories which claim to be the gospel; for all schemes of human origin are necessarily imperfect, like their formulators. Of God's work alone can it be said, "His work is perfect." His thoughts are not as our thoughts, nor his ways as our ways; for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are his ways higher than our ways, and his thoughts higher than our thoughts.--`Isa. 55:9`.
Much is taught by those claiming to be true shepherds of God's flock which God has never authorized--much that misrepresents his character and plan. To ascertain, therefore, what is God's truth we must have some way to decide what is human theory, and what is really the plan of God, which he declares is much higher than human expectation.
Some feel bound to take some very generally received view and therefore inquire, What do the majority of mankind believe? But they soon find that the vast majority are heathens who have purely their own human ideas, and are entirely unguided by a divine revelation. The next inquiry is, What do those believe who accept of the Bible as a divine revelation of God's plan? When the answer comes, that those who accept the Word
of God, are divided into hundreds of sects and factions, some larger and some smaller, some older and some newer, and that these contradict each other and oppose each other on almost every point of doctrine, while all have earnest advocates, and include among their adherents some pious, God-fearing people, the question becomes a most perplexing one--Which of these sects of Christendom is right?
Interviewing the various sects we are warmly received, and by each assured that they have the matter right--they have the "good tidings of great joy" and know well the great plan of the Infinite God. And then they begin to tell us, some with one modification and some with another, that the good news which God has declared shall be for all people, is really good news for only a few, and dreadful in the extreme for the vast majority. They tell us that the vast majority are to be tortured unpityingly throughout ages of ages--eternity; and that a "little flock" a mere "remnant" or "handful," is to be saved from that awful torture (whether by an election with which they have nothing to do, or whether otherwise chosen, these sects do not agree). And the eternal and monotonous service of this handful of favored ones shall be to watch their groaning, agonizing, tortured fellow beings, among them close relatives and dear friends, and the meanwhile sing praises to God for such a manifestation of his love (?) and justice (?). To do so, their tender feelings of sympathy and compassion would have to be changed to feelings of fiendish brutality--otherwise they could not enjoy such an eternity.
We confess that if offered our choice between the two classes, whether we would be with such a God to all eternity and hypocritically sing his praises, while witnessing such fiendish torturing of fellow creatures, perpetuated by his will and power, to gratify such horrible malignity, or whether we would choose to honestly denounce his injustice, and to share the torture, we know not which would be preferable. Surely we would a thousand times prefer to be blotted from existence, rather than share in such a carnival of horror, anguish and woe. Ah! there is no "good tidings" about that message. Not only is the joy for all people lacking, but it contains joy for none. Satan himself would weary of such horrors and diabolic pleasures, before eternity had fairly begun.
Heart-sick, we turn from their revolting description, inquiring if this be the "good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people," what would bad tidings be, in their estimation? With confusion and a blush of shame, our friends begin to apologize for God and his plan, and finally they confess, that they do not understand it, and that their Confessions of Faith contradict their own sentiments of justice and right, that they received their ideas largely through the traditions of their forefathers, from which they only find relief in the thought, that the Judge of all the earth will do right.--`Gen. 18:25`.
Ah! well we know that their hearts are better, purer, more just and more Godlike, than their creeds. Thank God that it is so. But as reasonable beings why accept and teach that which their own hearts as well as the Scriptures brand as a most wicked slander and blasphemy on the character of the God they worship, and whom in spite of their false theology they love? All should see that such confusion of thought and such misrepresentation of the character and plan of God comes of the blinding influence of Satan through sects and creeds. And why blindly support the various clashing creeds which your conscience in spite of long years of training, declares unjust, ungodlike and unholy, and a libel against the all-wise and benevolent Jehovah? It is very evident that such a message is not the gospel, not the "good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." It is very bad tidings --the most awful tidings which ever reached the ears of men. But thank God, this is not his message, his gospel. It originated with the great Adversary of God and men, who took advantage of man's fallen condition, selfish ambitions, etc., mixed these horrible and distorting errors with a little truth, called it gospel and placed it in the hand of Papacy, who in turn caused all nations to drink of her mixed wine of "wrath" (`Rev. 18:3`). Her message has intoxicated the world, taken away reason and blinded the eyes of men to the truth.
If this doctrine of eternal torment were true, it would be better far that man had never been created; for the torture of billions of beings eternally could never be compensated for by the joys (?) of others witnessing their torture, even if the numbers were reversed--if the few were in torture and the majority witnesses in glory. In fact, for those of noble mind and impulses to witness the tortures of others, would more than mar every joy; it would be torture to them, from which they would gladly escape in annihilation.
If such be the natural feelings of fallen, imperfect men, what would be the sentiments of the perfect man, as originally created--in the likeness of God? To worship such a God, as we have described to us by the various Christian sects, to sympathize with such a plan, and to be in full harmony with it, would require the obliteration of every impulse of love and pity, the extinction of every noble trait and feeling. The logic of such a gospel would be to prove the great Creator an arch-fiend, cruel and malignant in the extreme. And all who now are seeking nearness to God and to his spirit would need to be changed to fiends also, to enjoy witnessing such an awful, eternal carnival of torture.
But thank God! His ways and plans are higher, not lower than ours, and even our best minds and most just and noble hearts, need the direction and inspiration of his Word to enable us to grasp even measurably, the heights and depths and lengths and breadths of that wisdom, love and power which his glorious plan reveals. We must enter into closest sympathy, before we can see what God has wrought and praise him as we ought.
The great cloud of error which overspread the plan of God in the second and third centuries, and which deepened into a death pall under Papacy's supremacy, has been but partly cleared away since the thunder-storm of the Reformation, and nothing will scatter it fully, until the Sun of Righteousness shall be fully risen. But now in the dawn of that grand Day the "friends" of God are privileged to see and know concerning his plans, that which the masses of God's professed children, blinded by the various obscuring influences and agencies of Satan-- priestcraft, tradition, etc., cannot yet see.
The gospel which the apostles preached was not such bad tidings, and they were not ashamed of it and had no need to blush or apologize for any part of it. Nor did they keep back a part: Paul declares, "I have not shunned to declare unto you all the council of God." (`Acts 20:27`.) In every part of it he could greatly rejoice, and of none of it was he ashamed. In all of this whole council of God, Paul said not one word about the everlasting torture, mental or physical, of a single member of the human family. Why? Because that is no part of God's plan. Not one creature that God has made will be tortured everlastingly. The thought is absurd in the extreme and contradictory not only to every element of the divine likeness in us, but contradictory to every testimony of God's word. The theory is supported only by creeds, formulated in the darkness of past centuries by mistaken men, who had not fully escaped from the influence of Rome's mixed wine of wrath, many of whom undoubtedly were conscientious and all of them probably much better than their creeds-- much more just and benevolent than they represented God to be.
Even in the Bible this blasphemous doctrine has sought to entrench itself, putting a gloss and coloring upon certain passages, favorable to this wrath-intoxicated view, as for instance the misuse of the words hell, damnation, etc., which, with the meaning generally attached, grossly misrepresent the true sense of the Greek and Hebrew terms. (See TOWER for May, 1886.) They have succeeded also through hymns and commentaries and catechisms in twisting and coloring some of the parables and "dark sayings" of our Lord and certain parts of the symbolism of the book of Revelation (which book as a whole they do not profess to understand), so that under this false light these seem to favor their bad-tidings. But when the light of the knowledge of the goodness and glory of God, shining in the face of Jesus Christ, shines into our hearts and illuminates our understanding, it makes every parable and every symbol eloquent in the praise of divine justice, wisdom, love and power; and to form part of the "Good-tidings of great joy, which shall [sometime] be to all people."
Thank God, all who thus see light in his light, from his standpoint, are "not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ." The question then arises, Whence this light, by which we may see the glory of God, in the harmony and symmetry of his plan. If none of the various sects claiming to be the church of Christ possess it, where shall we look for it? We answer, It beams from
THE WORD OF GOD.
While the various denominations each claim to accept the Bible as the rule of faith, the fact is, that they do not do so: hence the jarring discord of their teachings on almost every doctrine.
While education and habit of thought have much to do with our way of looking at matters, yet to suppose that honest minded men, whose sole desire is to learn the will and plan of God could each go to the Bible, desiring to there be taught of God, and then arrive at all the dissimilar religious views we see about us, would
certainly imply one of two things: either that God's Word is not a revelation, but a deceiving enigma--a labyrinth of confusion, or else that man in his fallen condition is so wretchedly twisted, that it is impossible for him to reason with his Creator or to understand the Scriptures.
But the Lord and the Apostles as well as common sense contradict both of these views. Paul says "The holy Scriptures are able to make thee wise"--"That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished." (`2 Tim. 3:15-17`.) And our Lord said, "If any man will do his [my Father's] will, he shall know of the doctrine" (`John 7:17`). Consequently we must look elsewhere for the fault, the cause of this discord of jarring sects and creeds. And if it is not the Bible that is to blame, it must be that professed Bible students do not study it properly. Yes, it is here that the fault lies. Earnest, zealous, Christian men and women come to the Bible with prejudiced minds, full of creeds and theories of various sects, to which they are strongly attached by
chains of veneration, and habit, and family ties, and social ties, and fears, and pride, and spiritual laziness. They come to the Bible not to be taught of God, but to prove to themselves and others, that their theories or the theories of their sect ARE RIGHT. And by ignoring passages or their contexts, which do not suit their views, and by bending and straining others, each seeker generally gets what he seeks, and confirms himself in his prejudices. At the same time, thank God, he that seeketh truth and submits his own will, and the theories of all others, to the light of God's Word, desiring to find the truth and to discover the error, is not left in darkness, doubt and confusion, but "shall know of the [true] doctrine."
Nor should we ignore the assistance of any of God's children in seeking an understanding of the Scriptures, but we should give attention to them only so far and so long, as they teach and explain the Bible, in harmony with the Bible. Whenever we find a brother, a teacher, either of high or low degree, in learning or talents, ABLE TO EXPOUND and to harmonize the Bible with itself, our attention should be earnestly given; for such a one is a teacher sent of God, and we are safe so long as we prove all things by the Word of God, and accept of theories and interpretations not because of the teacher, but because of the Scriptures, which his teachings show forth and harmonize.
But religious teachers of to-day would be almost ignored, if this rule were followed, for they know little of the Bible except some passages committed to memory in youth, and some looked out for special occasions. And three-fourths of all the discourses, delivered in Christian pulpits, if examined by the average hearer in the light of the text chosen and its connections with the preceding and succeeding verses, would be found at wide variance and often directly contradictory of the Word of God. But satisfied with their sect, the many "at ease in Zion" think not of searching the Scriptures, nor of proving or disproving the doctrines proclaimed.
As for the teachers, with many it is a business or rather a "profession" merely. They were taught in seminaries not how to search the Scriptures, but the reverse-- not to study the Bible, nor to expect to learn anything from it; for if they should learn anything new by their search, it would of necessity be something their sect would not endorse, and hence they would come in conflict with their party and its theology and be cut off. They are taught the theology of the sect controlling the seminary, and are expected to know and teach neither more nor less so long as they are in its ministry. In fact, generally they are bound by a solemn vow to believe and teach according to the creed of the sect strictly. Why then should they urge their students to "Search the Scriptures?" Rather, like the Church of Rome their influence is exerted to restrain investigation within the sectarian limits. With the implied threat of disfellowship, they urge their ministers and students not to search continually for truth, but to accept the voice of their sect as infallible. They do not openly proclaim their sectarian infallibility and the bondage of their ministers for very shame, remembering that this was the very ground on which their founders originally protested against the church of Rome, claiming the right of individual judgment in the interpretation of the Scriptures-- hence the name Protestants.
Were it not for this sectarian influence over the members and teachers of the sects, how quickly might all the saints who hunger and thirst after truth come into unity and harmony of spirit and doctrine--all teachable and all "taught of God." The Word of God would be more reverenced and would be "quick and powerful," while an "ear-tickling," world-serving, sect-bound clergy would be justly despised. This state of things is even now at the doors. The reason it is not more noticeable is, that the saints, the truth-seekers, are comparatively few, the great mass of the nominal church (all sects) being children of the world, unconsecrated, deceived by their teachers into the false assumption that they are Christians, and that by joining the sect and adding to its numbers and wealth they are joining the real Church of Christ, whose "names are written in heaven."
Convinced then, that we must individually seek the good tidings in God's Word, let us next inquire, What is the Gospel, of which we and the apostles and our Lord need not be ashamed?--
WHAT IS THE REAL GOSPEL?
The real gospel is like a tree, it has a trunk or central part and out of this central glad tidings as branches, proceed various favors, each of which is a special additional feature of the "glad-tidings." The trunk, the primary "good tidings," is the news of our ransom: That Christ died for our sins, and thus redeemed us from sin and its penalty, death, by paying a corresponding price (`1 Tim. 2:6`) for Adam and all his race. And in consequence of this redemption he shall in due time deliver all from the dominion of sin and death into the liberty and favors of children of God, forfeited for all by Adam. The assurance which this gives is, that all that was lost through Adam shall be restored through Christ, who declares that he came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost.
Adam held the blessings and favors of God (life, etc.) conditionally: If obedient, he might enjoy life and home and divine favor forever. His failure terminated his trial, and God sentenced him to death as unworthy to ever enjoy the blessings originally offered to him. Our Lord Jesus redeemed all the race from that condemnation, by enduring the death penalty for all as the representative of Adam, and thus he provides a renewal of the original favor of life, and renews the trial, making it this time an individual test of worthiness or unworthiness to enjoy the divine favors everlastingly, the condition again being obedience.
God's plan is, to make the sinner a party to his own recovery, by arranging that an interest in Christ's meritorious sacrifice, our ransom price, can be had upon one condition only, namely: The sinner must desire and strive for reconciliation with God and must recognize Jesus' sacrifice as the only ground for that reconciliation. In other words faith in the ransom is made as indispensable to the sinner's salvation from condemnation, as the giving of the ransom. Being thus justified by faith in Christ, he is granted a new trial for everlasting life, the condition of which is obedience to the extent of ability, as step by step they are directed and disciplined up to full perfection of being. Hence the importance of telling all men of the redemption accomplished, and the importance also of their accepting the message by faith. Everyone believing in him shall not be ashamed. Whosoever shall call for mercy and reconciliation, upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved, recovered, to that which was lost. But none can call upon the Lord without knowing of him; hence the necessity not only that Christ should give "himself a ransom for all," but also that it should be "TESTIFIED [to all] in due time." Compare `Rom. 10:13-15` with `1 Tim. 2:6`.*
So then this message, that a ransom has been given for all, which guarantees a restitution of great privileges and favors once forfeited, is the very center and body of the "good tidings," and it is proclaimed in order that sinners may believe it and thus obtain its favor of reconciliation and a new trial for life. But so fallen and prejudiced has mankind become, that he is an easy prey to his great enemy, Satan, who blinds the eyes of the vast majority, so that they cannot and do not see the simplicity and beauty of the divine remedy for sin and its sting--death. He blinds many with superstition and degradation, many more with priest-craft and false theologies, which misrepresent and distort the plan of God; and those in a fair way to receive the light, he blinds and chokes with thorns of care and thistles of wealth, so that few thus far have really heard with unprejudiced ears this gospel of great joy, which shall yet be unto all people.
So then, if there be not a future time more favorable to their hearing than the present, the "good tidings" would not be "to all people." But the plan of God provides for all and the ransom covered all and the declaration is, that it "shall be to all people;" and this implies not only a testifying, but also a hearing. This implies
*The context to the above, `Rom. 10:18`, will be treated in our next issue and will be shown to be in fullest accord with all the deductions of this article.
also an awakening from death of those who have not heard, and also the binding or restraining of Satan's power at such a time, so that all may hear of God's favor, call for the favor he provides, be reconciled to God through the death of His Son, and have their second or individual trial for life everlasting.
Meantime God knew of the blinding influences of the world, the (fallen) flesh and the devil, and could have counteracted them as easily during the Gospel age as in the Millennial age, but another feature of his plan made proper the permission of Satan and evil until the end of this age. This part of the plan constitutes an additional feature of the gospel or "good tidings," which applies not directly to all people as the other, but to a "few," a "little flock." This feature or branch of the gospel is concerning a "high calling," a "heavenly calling." It is not independent of the other "good tidings" however; quite the reverse, it grows out of the good tidings of the ransom, as a branch grows out of a tree trunk, and yet rests in it as a foundation. In this figure of a tree the roots illustrate the divine wisdom, love, justice, and power, which though entirely out of sight, are the real sources of every favor and blessing, which has been or shall yet be developed in the full completion of the plan of redemption. The main central branch, representing the call during the gospel age of the little flock to the divine nature, is an ingrafted branch, whose fruitage will be very choice, (the few of the divine nature), while the many natural branches, proceeding from the trunk of this tree, will represent the manifold favors and blessings of God; and the fruit from these brought to perfection will be humanity in general. As in our figure every branch, natural or ingrafted, depends upon the nourishment supplied by the root, through the TRUNK, so all favors are from and directly supplied to us by divine wisdom, love and power, the root which holds and supplies all favor, and yet all comes through the RANSOM, which our Lord Jesus gave for all, which is the central trunk. A branch or twig, attempting to grow up out of the roots directly and not out of the trunk, we call a "sucker." It can bring no fruit to maturity and is cut off. So every one attempting to deal directly with the divine supply, ignoring the ransom, is cut off as a thief and a robber.
During this age the natural (favors) branches have been kept pruned off, so that they could not bear fruit until the special or ingrafted branch "of the divine nature" had brought forth its fruit--the "little flock," "the body of Christ." Their portion is that of favor added to favor, good tidings added to good tidings. Redeemed and reconciled and offered a new trial for life, like all the rest of their race, these who have heard and accepted during this age, have been invited to become joint-heirs with Christ in his glory and honor and kingdom to come, by which Satan will be bound, and the "good tidings" of ransom and restitution made known to all, for faith and acceptance. With Christ, their Redeemer, as well as their chief or head, these are now being prepared by obedience and suffering and trials of faith and patience for opening the blind eyes, unstopping the deaf ears, and lifting up the fallen, until all shall know the Lord from the least to the greatest-- until the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the whole earth, until all branches of divine favor, proceeding out of the ransom for all, shall have brought forth as fruitage a perfect race enjoying all that was lost and redeemed.
Even now amid opposition and weaknesses and discouragements, at the cost of much self-sacrifice the members of the body of Christ delight to do what they can of this work of blessing and lifting up the fallen and depraved, and thus they prove themselves worthy of the grander, glorious, and successful service as God's co-workers and ambassadors of the future.
So then we find, that the message which God has sent us, preaching peace and life by the blood of the cross to every one that believeth, is indeed the central good tidings. And since it shall be testified to all in due time, we see, how it will be good tidings "to all people." This is the "everlasting [good news] gospel," mentioned in the symbol of `Rev. 14:6`. It already is being sounded forth and must during the Millennial age now dawning, reach every nation and kindred and tongue and people.
Paul says, that God declared this gospel beforehand to Abraham, in the promise: "In thee and thy seed [Christ, and his little flock of overcomers--members of his body, `Gal. 3:16,29`] shall all the families of the earth be blessed.--`Gen. 28:14`. This good tidings, given to Abraham, is exactly the same we here present, the blessing is the reconciliation and a second trial under most favorable circumstances for all the families of the earth, secured by God's favor through the ransom for all, given by Christ. The message to Abraham, of the blessing of the world, incidentally hints at the "high calling," showing the "seed" to be highly exalted as God's agency for blessing all. And Paul points out this seed, saying--"Which seed is Christ" (`Gal. 3:16`); and "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs [of this high honor] according to the promise."--`Gal. 3:29`.
When the angels announced the birth of our Saviour (though they saw not the philosophy of the divine plan of redemption and reconciliation, as God has since revealed it to his saints by his spirit) they added the Hallelujah chorus, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." They sang prophetically of the grand outcome of the message they bore, the "good tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all people."
…