Marca 15, 1905 raising up out of sin and death conditions, to perfection and life conditions. The calling forth of Lazarus, therefore, is a good picture of what may be expected early in the Millennial reign, after the living nations shall have been to some extent enlightened and brought under the influence of the heavenly Kingdom. Then all that are in their graves, order by order, elass by class, generation by generation, will come forth as Lazarus did to a measure of health and a measure of strength, but not to perfection of being. Their cases, however, will be different from his, in that his release from death was merely a temporary one: later on he died again. Those in the Millennial age, on the contrary, who will come forth under the new conditions of that Millennial kingdom, need never die again, but instead, by hearing the voice of the Son of Man, by obeying the same, going onward step by step, they shall emerge gradually from all the weight of the curse, from all the weaknesses and imperfections of the present dying condition, to the full life and perfection and joy of the life-eternal condition, at the close of the Millennial age. Theirs will be the resurrection by judgments, by disciplines, by corrections in righteousness—by their gradual attainment under the systems of rewards and punishments then in vogue— to all the glorious perfections of human nature, as our Lord declared, “Though dead, yet shall they live.” This will include not only the dead in the tombs, but also the other dead who buried their dead—those who are now nine-tenths dead and under sentence of death, but who, contrasting themselves with those in the tomb, speak of themselves as alive. Then, whosoever living shall be obedient to the Lord at heart shall never die, but will be granted an entrance to the eternal conditions beyond the Millennial age, approved by the Father as true sleep. —Matt. 25:34. LAZARUS NOT IN HEAVEN It would be preposterous to suppose that Lazarus was in heaven for four days and that the Lord in mercy and compassion called him away from blessed scenes there. The tears of ZION’S WATCH TOWER (95-99) Jesus and his failure to offer any such explanation of death, no less than his awaking of his friend Lazarus as a mark of his sympathy and love, all forbid the thought that Lazarus had been in heaven. Besides this, we have the Lord’s positive declaration that “no man has ascended up to heaven.” (John 3:13) Again the uniform testimony of Scripture is that death is death, and further our Lord’s declaration is that when Lazarus was dead he was asleep. In his sleep of death the four days were but as a moment; his awaking thought was next to the one he had when he fell asleep in death. “GREATER THINGS THAN THESE SHALL YE DO”’ Stupenaous as this miracle was, we ourselves see in some respects still greater miracles. Many of the Lord’s people have seen in themselves and in each other great transtormations spoken of in Scripture as passing from death unto life. At our recent New York Convention one person in attendance spche to the Editor after the meeting about consecration, and remarked that for some years she had been an infidel, estranged f.om the Lord and his book by her acquaintance with some whose conduct in life caused her to lose all faith in Christianity. She explained that the remarkable conversion of her sister-in-law by the truth had drawn her attention to it. She added, “I never saw so great a change in any human being in my life, nor did I suppose such a change possible. It led me to believe that there was a power in Christianity, and I began to investigate the religious teachings set forth in MILLENNIAL Dawns which had so powerfully affected my sister-in-law. I am convinced of its truth, and am considering the subject of consecration, and trust that you will pray for me.” “So let our lives and tongues express The glorious Gospel we profess; So let the glories in us shine, That all may know that we are thine.” READING FROM THE SWEDISH REVISED BIBLE Dear BRoTHER RUSSELL:—Herewith I hand you some interesting readings from the Revised Swedish Bible. Yours, KIHLGREN, Isa, 21:12, “The watchman answereth: Morning has come, and still it is night. If ye will ask more, [than the question in verse 11] ye may ask; come back again” [for more information?]. Isa, 28:8-13. “For all tables are full of nauseating vomits, not a clean spot is found. Who then [asks the class mentioned in verse 7?] is it he desires to learn understanding, and whom can he make to give attention to his preaching?—Are we then recently weaned from the mother’s milk, recently taken from the mother’s breast? For it is nagging upon nagging, nagging upon nagging, prating upon prating, prating upon prating, a little here, a little there [as if this class should say: ‘What does he take us for ?—we are no babies either; it was not yesterday we discarded the old-fashioned theory of the fall and the redemption of man, etc.—we are full-grown mature Higher Critics; and yet there are a few old fogies who never let us alone, but are nagging at us ceaselessly, giving out tracts, papers and books, which represent us before the public as deceivers,’ etc.] Well, yes, through stammering lips and in a strange language shall he speak to this people, he who nevertheless has said unto them: ‘Here is the place of rest, let the weary get rest; here is the place where refreshment is given out,’ but such they would not hear. And thus the Lord’s Word shall be for them, ‘nagging upon nagging, nagging upon nagging, prating upon prating, prating upon prating, a little here, a lttle there,’ so that they, as they walk on, fall backward and are crushed, become ensnared and captured.” [Refusing to accept God’s grand plan for salvation, which would give them rest, they are annoyed by those who are pointing out its beauty, which to them is merely prating, and the result is that they fall completely into the snares of the adversary]. The context seems to favor the thought brought out in this rendering, though differing from the English rendering. Vou. XXVI ALLEGHENY, PA., APRIL 1, 1905 No. “Il THE HEAVENS ROLLING TOGETHER During the past twenty-five years we have several times called attention to the Scriptures which speak of the Day of the Lord and declare that in it the “heavens shall roll together like a scroll.” (Isa. 34:4) We have pointed out that this means a coming together of the extremes of Christianity, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, Other Scriptures show us that the consolidation, federation and unification of Protestants is now in order. This is already well under way and constitutes in the symbolic book of Revelation the “image of the beast”—the symbolic beast itself represented by Papacy. We might here remark that nothing in this word “beast” is specially derogatory or invidious—neither in our use of the word mor in the Scriptural use, Throughout the Scriptures, in the symbolisms of Daniel and the Apocalypse, beasts are freely used as symbols for nations, governments, earthly power, though never used as representing the divine power—the true church, the true kingdom, which shall ultimately prevail. We have already pointed out a general organization of “the image of the beast” effected in 1846, and are waiting for what in the symbol is referred to as the “giving of life to the image.” This life, or vital energy, which the image is to receive shortly, comes from what is described as the two-horned beast, which in our understanding is the church of England and Ireland. Our expectations, as heretofore set forth in these columns, are that after the federative influences already begun in Protestantism shall have knit the joints and members the more closely the one to the other, the entire federation of Protestants will receive some kind of Episcopal sanction, recognition, or ordination through the Episcopal system, and that thenceforth Protestantism the world over will assume a more active and dogmatic influence in the civil life and political affairs of Christendom, co-operating with Roman Catholicism as a sister instituion. These are the two extremes of the heavens or ecclesiastical powers of the present time, and our Lord’s declaration that they shall be rolled togethcr as a scroll signifies, not that they will ever become one roll, but, remaining two rolls, will be drawn together by mutual interest and necessity for co-operation. These things must be expected before the outbreak of the great tribulation, which will eventuate in the symbolical burning or destruction not only of the present social structure represented as the earth. but the burning and consuming also of the symbolical heavens rolled together as a scroll. That dreadful anarchy, which will destroy everything of our present conditions and civilization, will in so doing prepare the way for the establishment of the heavenly kingdom. In view of these [3531]
Folosim fișiere de tip cookie pentru a vă oferi o experienţă mai bună online și pentru a îmbunătăți acest site. Continuând să utilizați acest site, vă dați consimțământul asupra utilizării cookie-urilor. Dacă doriți mai multe informații sau nu acceptați folosirea acestor fișiere când utilizați site-ul nostru, vă rugăm să accesați paginile Politica de ConfidențialitateCondiții de utilizare.
