Marcu 15, 1902 twinkling of an eye, shall soon obtain that blessing, and that then the great time of trouble will fully burst upon the world, and speedily bring down the high, the lofty, and the proud, and prepare the world for the reign of the Prince of Peace. Here we have consistency, at least, and harmony of Scriptures which have never been harmonized in the past, and which cannot now be harmonized from any other standpoint or with any other interpretation. Here we have the spiritual kingdom of Messiah, with all power, displacing the spiritual kingdom of Satan, and establishing order and righteousness through earthly agents of its own, and overthrowing the earthly agents of the prince of darkness, many of whom are his servants merely because “the god of this world [age] has blunded the minds of them that believe not.” “THEY WITHOUT US SHALL NOT BE MADE PERFEOT’’ HEB. 11:40 We remark, incidentally, that following the gathering of the Church to glory, as above outlined, will come the resurrection of the holy ones of the past,—‘‘Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the holy prophets,” whose resurrection will be to perfect earthly conditions, and who shall be the “princes in all the earth,” seen of men, and representatives of the invisible but all-powerful spiritual kingdom—the glorified Christ. Thus, chosen representatives of fleshly Israel will indeed rule the world, and bless it, ag the representatives and agencies of the Spiritual Israel, and the nation of Israel will be first to respond to the standard of the Lord thus set up. —Psa. 45:16; Rom. 11:25-31; Zech. 12:10. Our Lord’s parousia (presence in the world) begun in 1874, will continue till the end of the Millennial age. The word is not applicable merely to a little period of presence at the beginning of the Millennial age; Christ’s parousia and that of his chureh will continue throughout the age. Nor will the epiphania and apokalupsis be a sudden burst of glorious light; nor do these words signify a visible showing to mankind of the Lord’s person, or of the persons of his church, Let us remember his words, “Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more.” Let us remember also that, as his chureh is to be in his lnkeness, so his likeness is declared to be an “express image of the Father’s person;” it is written that he is the King eternal, immortal, invisible. (1 Tim. 1:17) Nor will it be any more necessary that the world should see with their natural eyes the Lord and his glorified ones, than that they should see the Heavenly Father: the world will see the earthly representatives of God and of Christ and of the church, when they “see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the holy prophets,” for they will be samples of perfect manhood, which is the earthly image of the invisible God. Our Lord’s epiphania (bright shining) and his apokalupsis (unveiling) began shortly after his parousia began; the bright shining of his presence is now visible to those who are walking “in the light”—to those who “are not in darkness with the world.” It is a mental illumination, an illumination to the eyes of our understanding, and not to our natural eyes. The eyes of our understanding have been opened to see him that is invisible to the natural sight. The epiphania of our ZION’S WATCH TOWER (96-99) Lord is already affecting the world also, tho not through the eyes of the understanding; for they have no eyes for such spiritual things: nevertheless, the bright shining of the Lord’s presence is influencing and affecting the whole course of the world, through an increase of knowledge on every subject specially noticeable since 1878. Eventually, all the blinded shall have opened eyes of understanding, and “EVERY EYE SHALL SEE HIM’’ Many even who are not of the watchers are noting the signs of our times and are startled, and led to exclaim, What do these things mean?—this remarkable latter-day advance in science, art and mechanical invention?.—this latter-day discontent in the midst of plenty and luxury?—this latterday growth of millionaires and paupers?—this growth of giant corporations of world-wide power and influence?—Why are national policies and public men and their utterances and doings criticized (judged) by the masses as never before?— And what means it that with an apparent growth in wealth and numbers in all denominations of Christians, there is a growing dissatisfaction, discontent in them all: a growing tendency to criticize the creeds and the preaching of everything ?—How comes it that nine-tenths of the preachers in all denominations know that their hearers desire a change, and would gladly “move on,” if they knew how to better themselves even at smaller salaries? The Scriptural answer is, The hour of God’s judgment is come; the time when “Christendom,” political, financial, social and ecclesiastical is being judged—being tried in the divine balances. And the Scriptures declare that she will be found wanting, and will be adjudged unworthy to further administer the affairs of earth, which will be turned over to the elect “little flock,” according to the divine promise.— Luke 12:32. The secret of the matter now is the same as in the Jewish “harvest,” which John explained, saying, “THERE STANDETH ONE AMONG YOU WHOM YOU KNOW NOT’’—JOHN 1:26 “Mine eyes can see the glory of the presence of the Lord; He is trampling out the winepress where the grapes of wrath are stored; I see the flaming tempest of his swift descending sword: Our King is marching on. “I can see his coming judgments, as they circle all the earth, The signs and groanings promised, to precede a second birth; I read his righteous sentence, in the crumbling thrones of earth: Our King is marching on. “The ‘Gentile Times’ are closing, for their kings have had their day; And with them sin and sorrow will forever pass away ; For the tribe of Judah’s Lion now comes to hold the sway: Our King is marching on.” * * * “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice [knock], and open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with me.”—Rev 3:20. Vou. XXIII ALLEGHENY, PA., APRIL 1, 1902 No. 7 VIEWS FROM THE WATCH TOWER A PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER'S LONGINGS Rev. Henry Van Dyke, one of the prominent ministers of the Presbyterian denomination, has felt constrained to give utterance to his conception of the needs of his church for a better and clearer statement of its present belief. We clip the below quotations :— “There is a twofold need for revision of the Westminster Confession of Faith. In the first place, the church has been studying her supreme standard, the Bible, for two hundred and fifty years since the Confession was written. She has been educated by Christ for one hundred years in the great work of missions. It is reasonable to suppose that she has learned something. Why should she not express it in her creed ? “Another reason for revision arises out of the fact that the Westminster Confession was made in a time of fierce confiict and controversy. It was natural that certain things should be stated then with greater emphasis than they would have otherwise received; that the metaphyics of the seventeenth century should creep into certain chapters; and that certain points should represent a judgment of that age rather than a permanent truth. For example, the Westminster Confession speaks of the Pope of Rome as the Antichrist. Presbyterians today do not generally believe this. Again, by expressly men tioning ‘elect infants’ the Westminster Confession leaves open the supposition that there may be ‘non-elect infants.’ Presbyterians today believe that all who die in infancy are saved by Jesus Christ. The Westminster Confession has a long metaphysical chapter on God’s eternal decree, which at least seems to teach that some men are created to be saved and others created to be damned. The Presbyterian Church today does not believe this, and to guard against misapprehension on the subject it wishes to say clearly and unmistakably that God has not put any barrier between any human goul and salvation. “Moreover, the Westminster Confession hag no chapter on the love of God for all men, on the Holy Spirit, on the Gospel, or on missions. Now the Presbyterian Church has come to believe in these things with all its heart; and it wishes to put its belief into words. “Therefore revision is needed, not because of a conflict in the church, nor because of a lack of liberty, but because faith, deepening and broadening through the study of God’s Word, craves an utterance in the language of living men. * * * * “Finally, this revision movement should give us a stronger emphasis on the truth that God is love. “Sovereignty and grace have always been the two great pil [2983]
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