€367-371) he bought in the sacrificing of his own in such measure as will be sufficient to supply every member of Adam’s race. Each member of our race as he shall respond to the knowledge that shall then be filling the whole earth, may receive life more and more abundantly from the glorified Christ—everlasting life, the life that was lost in Adam’s disobedience and that was redeemed by Christ’s sacrifice of himself. The one from whom ali life for the world must proceed is fitly called the father of the world, since the word father signifies life-giver; and since this father gives life everlasting, 1t 13 eminently proper that he should be called the father of everlasting life or the everlasting father. Prince of Peace is another of his titles, but this one evidently will not be appropriate to him until, toward the close of the Millennial age, he shall have accomplished the putting down of everything obnoxious to divine righteousness, the -ubjugation of all things to himself—until he shall have finished the use of the iron rod in smiting the nations, in dashing them to pieces as a potter’s vessel, Then it will be seen that the motive beyond all this activity against unrighteousness was the bringing in of everlasting righteousness, the bringing in of everlasting peace, and it will be seen that the title well fits our great King, Prince of Peace, NO END OF RIGHTEOUS GOVERNMENT The seventh verse of our lesson gives another precious assurance, and that 1s that this kingdom once being attained by our Lord will never be surrendered to another, never pass into other hands. Of his government and of his peace which he will establish there will be no end. Not only Israel, but al’ mankind have been witnesses that the best of kings as well as the worst of kings have at times surrendered their dominion. and that the best of kings might be followed by the worst. How appropriate then the suggestion that when the kingdom of this great King of kings and Lord of lords shall have conquered the world and have subdued all things unto him and brought all things into harmony with the divine will, it shall never again be overturned by evil. The expression, “upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with judgment and righteousness from henceforth even forever; the zeal of the Lord shall perform this.” signifies that this great kingdom which our Lord Jesus at his second advent will establish—his church as members of his body, members of his kingdom class, his bride associated with him—will be the outcome, the antitype of that which was typically presented to Israel in the kingdom, the government of David. As previously seen, the name David signifies “Beloved,” and the David who was the first king on THE SOLON What the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY does for its patrons in the matter of securmg them wholesale rates on Bibles, etc., the SOLON AS SOCIATION docs for its members in all lines of goods; and on many lines there is a still greater discrepancy between the wholesale and the retail prices than on Bibles. The managers of the Solon are well-known to Vou. XXV ZION’S WATCH TOWER ALLEGHENY, PA., DECEMBER 15, 1904 ALLEGHENY, Pa, Israel’s throne, and of whom it was said that he sat upon the throne of the Lord, was merely a type, a figure of the greater David, the Anointed, the Messiah. Jesus Christ, the first Lord of all, and the church his body associated with him, constitute the antitypical David, the antitypical Beloved of the Lord, whose kingdom shall he an everlasting kingdom, “henceforth even forevermore.” UNENDING KINGDOM TRANSFERRED _ The Apostle points out (1 Cor. 15:28) that, at the close of his thousand-year reign, our Lord (his church associated with him) will abdicate the throne of earth. Having accomplished the work which the Father has set apart to be accomplished by the Anointed in this Millennial reign, at its close the entire authority, with the world in complete subjection to the divine law and fully restored to the divine likeness and all wilful transgressors cut off, will be surrendered to the Father’s hands, and in accordance with his pre-arrangement will be redelivered to mankind, that the perfect human family, in the image and likeness of God, may rule the world in harmony with the divine regulations. But the government will never cease, because the government which Christ establishes is the divine government, and having given up this special work, the Christ will be even more particularly associated with the Father in his throne in the general government of the universe; and since the government of earth is merely a part of the government of the universe, it will still be in that particular sense under the supervision of the glorified Christ. The zeal of the Lord shall perform this. It will not be the arm of man nor the zeal of man, however good or well meaning, which could bring to pass such wonderful changes as those which the Lord has pointed out. The Lord himself will accomplish it; he will put all things into subjection to the Son—all things, the Apostle explains, except himself, for he is excepted who thus puts all things under the Son.—1 Cor. 15:27. From this standpoint, looking back over the history of the world, we get a grand view of the divine power and wisdom and justice and love. We see how God has been continually overruling in respect to the efforts of man, to the intent that ultimately, without interfering with the free moral agency of any, every man of the whole race of Adam shall be fully and thoroughly tested and proven respecting his loyalty to the Lord, and thus respecting his worthiness of life eternal. How glorious is the divine plan! What wonder is there that with its accomplishment every voice in heaven and in earth shall be heard expressing praise and thankfulness, glory, honor, domain and might to him that sitteth upon the throne and to the Lamb? ASSOCIATION us as in every way honorable and reliable and we give this announcement without solicitation for the benefit of WartcH Tower readers,—that they all (as well as the Bible House force) may benefit by the wholesale purchasing arrangement, effecting large savings in our purchases yearly. See notice on page 2—“Clubbing Arrangements For 1905.” No. 24 WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY ANNUAL REPORT.—DEC. 1, 1903 To DEc. 1, 1904. Year by year the Lord’s work through our Society seems to be increased, and with joy we recognize it and tell it to each other. It is so great a privilege to be associated with our wonderful Redeemer-Lord in the harvesting period of this Gospel age. And every now and then we see the Chief Reaper’s personal care over the work—turning aside and making yoid some of our well intentioned efforts to serve him, and guiding and giving success in another direction. Such experiences are not disappointments in the proper sense of that word—rather they are causes for fresh rejoicing, because we desire the Lord’s will, not our own; and because they give fresh evidences that we are not fighting our own battles merely but his; and because they give added assurance that he will continue to guide us and his work to the glorious victory foretold by all the holy prohets. The year past has not been free from disappointments and heart-aches and testings of faith, perseverance and patience; but now it is gone we may well rejoice that it finds us a year nearer to the Kingdom glories, and by faith we already sing with the poet: “How light our trials then will seem, How short our pilgrim way!” The reports we are rendering will surprise many of you, in that they show but 1,024 increase in the output of Dawns, and that the subscription list of this journal, Zion’s WatcH Tower, instead of increasing greatly as we had so confidently expected, has not much more than maintained itself at the 20,000 mark of last year; and that our expenses have exceeded our receipts quite considerably. On the other hand, however, you will be surprised to note the tremendous circulation of free literature, tracts, etc., distributed—so greatly in excess of all our past records, and so greatly beyond any other tract work ever done by any or all peoples of societies. And when you scan the expense columns we are sure you will be amazed at the low cost of all [3470]
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