9
1
9
download/literature/watchtower/1910-12.pdf
../literature/watchtower/1910/12/1910-12-1.html
WHEN
THE
NATIONS
WILL
SEEK
GOD
"That
they
should
seek
the
Lord,
if
haply
they
might
feel
after
him,
and
find
him,
though
he
be
not
far
from
everyone
of
us."-Acts
17:27.
New
Testament
eVIdences
on
this
subject
of
seeking
the
Lord
give
the
thought
that
not
very
many
are
in
the
condition
of
heart
to
seek
him
at
the
present
time.
"The
god
of
this
world
hath
blinded
t.he
minds
of
them
that
believe
not.
lest
the
glorious
light
of
the
Gospel
of
Christ"
and
the
faith
of
Jesus
should
shine
into
their
hearts.
(2
Cor.
4:4)
Neverthe
less,
as
the-
Apostle
puts
it,
God
is
"not
far
from
everyone
of
us,"
and
everyone
who
will
seek
or
feel
after
him,
he
will
be
pleased
to
bless
by
a
manifestation
of
himself.
In
faet,
this
is
the
very
object
of
this
present
Gospel
age-to
find,
to
enlighten,
to
bless
and
to
gather
into
a
special
class
tho~e
who
"hunger
and
thirst
after
righteousness."
Those
who
tllUs
seek
after
the
Lord
he
guides,
draws,
influences.
He
leads
them
to
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ,
pointing
to
him
as
the
neces
sary
way
by
whiC\h
they
may
approach
himself
and
assuring
them
that
there
is
no
other
name
given
whereby
they
can
be
saved
(Ads
-1:
12),
and
that
all
who
will
come
unto
him
through
Christ
will
he
arcepted.
Hueh
as
do
eome
in
this
way,
we
have
proven
from
our
own
pxperienecs
and
the
experienc'es
of
others,
as
well
as
from
the
'YOI'd,
arl'
met
half
way
by
the
Lord.
"Draw
nigh
unto
me,
and
I
will
draw
nigh
unto
you."
(.Tas.
4:8)
And
as
they
draw
nigh
and
eontinue
to
approaeh
doser
by
God's
grace,
they
are
hrought
by
and
by
to
a
full
realization
that
God
is
will
lIlg
to
a('('ept
them
as
saerificers,
as
"members
of
the
body
of
Christ."
If
they
fall
into
line
with
the
divine
provision
and
present
thpir
bOllies
a
livlllg
saerifiee,
they
will
be
looked
upon
as
holy.
acepptable
to
God
(Rom.
12:
1);
they
will
recognize
thp
"hi[!h
ealling"
to
"glory
and
honor
and
immortality"
with
Christ.
But
if
they
fail
to
go
on,
tllPy
will
thus
reepive
the
gra('p
of
God
in
vain.-2
Cor.
6:
1.
The
Apostle
intimates,
not
only
in
the
text
under
consid
eration.
hut
also
in
his
Epistle
to
Timothy
(1
Tim.
2:4),
that
nod
wills
that
all
men
shall
be
savl'd;
wills
it
in
the
sense
that
hp
will
awaken
them
all
from
Adamic
death
and
"bring
thl'm
to
a
knowledge
of
the
truth";
that
they
may
be
re
('overed
I'ntirply
from
all
imperfeetions
that
belong
to
Adam's
f'ondemnation,
and
thus
brought
fully
into
harmony
with
him.
Beeause
this
is
his
will..
he
has
made
ample
provisions-not
onlv
in
the
arrangl'ment
bv
which
our
Lord
died
on
behalf
of
'all
mankind,
that
he
m'ight
be
the
Ransomer
of
all,
but
a
Iso
in
thl'
provision
that
all
shall
have
thl'
opportunity
of
coming
to
this
knolY!euge
and
of
benefiting
thereby.-Heh.
2
:9.
In
this
sermon
on
Mars
Hill,
the
Apostle
Paul
pointed
out
to
the
men
at
Athens
that
this
"unknown
God,"
this
God
who
was
unknown
to
them,
is
the
great
God
who
has
divided
unto
men
their
habitation
and
determined
their
bounds;
that
he
is
the
supervisor
of
the
nations;
that
he
determineR
how
long
and
under
\\
hat
eonditious
the
nations
may
prosppr
and
what
liberties
and
opportunities
tllf'y
may
have.
Then
he
proeeeds
to
point
out
that
while
God
has
for
a
long
time
Il'tt
men
in
ignoranee
ami
winked
at
lIlany
of
their
impl'rteetions
and
flagrant
wrong-(Ioings.
as
though
he
did
not
notice
them
all,
nevertheless
another
step
has
now
been
taken
in
his
great
plan:
"Now
he
commands
all
nH'n
everywhere
to
rpppnt."
The
Apostle
further
dpdares,
I,
Panl,
have
something
to
tell
you
about
this
great
God
amI
ahout
his
message-that
al]
men
everywhere
should
repent.
Do
yon
ask
me
why
they
should
repent?
I
answer.
for
the
reason
that
Uo(1
is
pre
pared
to
forgive
them
their
sins.
on
this
<'OIHlltion:
He
was
not
prepared
to
do
this
a
short
time
ago;
he
was
not
pre
pared
to
do
this
until
Christ
died;
hut
~inl'p
Christ
has
dil'd
and
aseended
up
on
high
amI
"app('arpd
in
the
prpsen('e
of
God
for
us"-for
believers-God
is
now
Willing
to
accept
any
who
('orne
unto
him
through
.J
esus.
It
is
proper,
therefore,
that
I
should
tell
yon
that
there
is
to
be
an
opportunity
of
future
life
through
him.
And,
furthermore,
it
is
propl'r
that
I
shonld
tell
you
alw
that
"God
has
appointed
a
Day
[the
great
~Iillennial
period]
in
which
he
will
judge
[try]
the
world
in
righteousness."
The
whole
world
will
then
have
a
trial,
a
righteou'l
trial.
a
fair,
impartial
tria
I.
a
full
opportunity
"to
eome
unto
the
knowl
pdge
of
the
truth";
to
eome
to
a
knowledge
of
right
and
wrong,
a
full
opportunity
to
f'ome
to
perfed.ion
of
human
life
and
to
attain
all
that
was
lost
in
the
fall
of
man,
(Luke
19:
10)
This
message
should,
as
far
as
possible,
he
made
known
to
all
men
everywhere.
because
every
act
of
their
lives
will
have
a
bearing
upon
the
future;
it
will
either
uplift
them
to
some
extent
out
of
the
depths
of
degradation
into
whieh
the
world
has
been
plunged
through
ignoranee
and
superstition
and
bring
a
development
of
character,
or
it
will
condemn
them
and
bring
a
measure
of
retribution,
and
thus
make
the
conditions
of
the
future
more
diffieult
than
they
would
be
if
righteousness
were
sought.
\"01,.
XXX
[
BROOKLYN,
N.
Y.,
.TlTNF,
1'>,
UllO
BROTHER
RUSSELL'S
EUROPEAN
TOUR
No,
1~
-,
------cc---===c--::
[SEC.
n,-ROME
AND
~nnday.
~ray
1st,
\I
as
sppnt
in
RonlP.
'Ye
had
a
public
,pr\"ice
\\
hi('h
inllil'atpd
the
(11'f'j)
intl'rf'st
of
the
comparatinly
fpII'
prp~pnt.
Pos;;ibl,I'
as
lIlan~'
gmiu;;
of
wheat
were
fouud
as
t
hough
the
mepting
lUlil
bel'n
largl'r.
"The
Lord
knowl'th
them
that
arp
his."
On
thl'
whole,
howenr.
the
meeting
was
quite
a
<1isappointml'nt
anll
camp
far
from
fulfilling
the
prophesy
m:lllp
respeding-
the
large
attpmlan('e-based
upon
what
were
supposp,1
to
Iw
very
liheral
arrangpments
for
a
larg-e
central
alHlitoriu111
and
very
liberal
adl"Prtising.
Thp
dear
brother
who
had
the
mattpr
in
charge
no
douht
\1sp,1
his
best
iudgment,
but
his
f'xperipnep
in
such
mattprs
was
limited.
'Ye
spelled
our
disappointllll'nt
with
an
"11,"
and
trmtpd
that
thp
Lord
could
and
woulfl
overrule
the
matter
apcording
to
his
own
wisdom.
'YP
hope
to
hear
of
furtl1Pr
interest
on
the
part
of
S0111l'
present
on
that
occasion.
Our
text
was
from
Romans
1:
I
6.
'''e
had
no
appointment
at
Ypnice
or
,rienna.
and
went
0n
to
"'arsaw,
Russia.
Therp
I\'P
had
a
wry
enjoyable
time
witl,
the
class
of
about
twentv.
Brothers
Rutherford
anfl
Koetitz
accompanied
us,
and
the
lattpr
sen'ed
as
interpretl'r.
The
vpry
f'1osest
attention
I\'as
given
whill'
\\"('
endl'ayored
to
show
forth
\-arious
features
of
prespnt
truth-espedall~'
did
we
empha
size
the
dodrinl'
of
thl'
ransom.
'YP
espl'cially
endeavored
to
make
dl'ar
how
that
.Tesus
gaw
himself
sacrificially
to
the
Father
and
what
he
laid
down
of
earthl~'
right
was
the
ransom
price,
whif'h.
in
due
time.
at
the
end
of
this
agc
hf'
will
make
oyer
to
justice
on
behalf
of
"thl'
sins
of
all
thp
people."
VIP
;.howe,l
that
this
has
not
vet
hel'n
donl'.
that
the
world
still
"lieth
in
thp
'Yicked
One:"
amI
are
childrl'n
of
wrath,
and
that
onl.\'
the
churrh
has
psrapel!.
'YP
pointpll
out
tllat
tIll'
restitution
hle,sings
whidl
arp
to
go
to
thf'
11'01'1,1
\"1'1'
shortly.
a
1'1'
lIot
th"
hlessl!l<~s
II
iJi,'h
WP
Sl'f'k
who
hope
to
he
of
thl'
hl'idl'-class.
an,l
to
attain
the
spirit
na
tun'.
anll
ioint-heir~hip
with
our
Lord.
'Y"
pointpd
out
th'lt
the
ransom-priep,
not
ypt
paill
0\1'1'.
is
in
thp
hanfls
of
jus
tice,
to
our
Rellpl'lllpr's
crpdit,
anll
that
during
this
CospPl
age
HOMEWARD
BOUND]
he
imputps
the
merit
of
hi~
sa"l'iliel'
to
all
Il'ho
l}pcoml'
his
footstl'P
followers.
To
thpse
he
imputps
a
,1I1!i1'iPIWY
of
merit
to
coypr
thpir
hll'mishes
that
thus
thpir
sa{'\'iti,'es
mav
he
ac
el'ptahll'.
On
til('
basis
of
this
implltation
the
sa('rifiep~
arp
a('
ceptahle
with
the
FatllPr,
as
saith
thp
Apostlp
(Romans
12:1),
""'p
bpsel'ch
vou.
hrethrpn.
bv
thp
mpl'('ies
of
(lOll,
that
ve
prl'sl'nt
yonI'
bOflips
a
living
~aerifice,
hoI\'
amI
apceptahle
'1.0
(iod,
which
is
your
rl'asonahlp
servi('I',"
'yp
spokp
to
thr
dear
fripnlls
for
ahout
four
honrs,
hall
lllnl·heon
with
thpJl1,
ami
took
the
night
train
for
Berlin.
At
Bl'rlin
WI'
had
a
simila
rl~'
int{,\"ps,ting
srason
of
fellow
,hip
with
th"
friplllls
of
thl'
truth.
"'1'
h,"1
a
s,wial
flilllwr
togl'ther-about
two
hundrell.
Ruhsc<jupntly
wc
addre,ssed
theJl1
for
nearly
two
hours.
thp
topi('
being
thp
same
as
at
'Var
~aw.
Thl'n
C<1ml'
a
so('ial
tl'a
gpnerally
participated
in,
and
later
our
P\'pning
meeting,
which
was
well
attpnded.
~rany
of
thl'
fripnds
accompaniefl
liS
to
the
railway
station.
bidding
us
g-ood
hye
as
we
departed
for
tIll'
(ierman
Braneh
officI'
at
Bar
men.
"-e
had
an
en
ioyahlp
season
at
Barmen
fur
nearly
two
days.
speaking
to
the
deal
fril'mls
for
nearly
spven
hours
in
all.
One
service
was
for
thf'
pnbli('
and
was
attendpd
by
nearly
800,
\llan~'
of
whom
manifested
rIepp
interest.
The
meeting-s
of
the
ehun'h
varil'd
in
number.
as
not
all
were
ahle
to
atten'd
all
thl'
mertings.
on
account
of
husinE'ss
anfl
other
ohligations.
Herr
again
Wf'
emphasized
the
Atonement
for
sin,
and
showNl
the
work
of
the
Mediator
bl'twef'n
God
and
men
during
the
~li1len
nial
agp
to
bl'
wholly
hased
upon
tbp
ml'ritorious
sacrifice
of
our
RNleeml'r.
hl'gun
at
.Tordan
and
finished
at
Calvarv
'Ye
pointl'd
Ollt
thl'
graeiom;
arrangpment
wheri'hv
the
n~Pl"it
of
th'lt
sa('rifil'p
is
imputl'll
to
us
who
ac('ppt
thp
,1ivinp
invitation
to
bl'eOlllt'
IIPil's
of
GOll
allli
joint-l\('irs
with
.Tpsus
('hrisl
to
thp
hl'aH'nh'
inhl'l'itallf·l'.
amI
in
tIll'
work
of
h1<'ssiJlg
all
tllP
fami
IiI"
of
j]1t'
pal'th.
as
thp
~,'pil
of
Ahraham.
\Yr
endpavoft'll
to
make
\"pry
plain
tllat
thl'
]J1l'rit
of
the
[4629J
(190-195)
WHEN THE NATIONS WILL SEEK GOD “That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us.”—Acts 17:27. New Testament evidences on this subject of seeking the Lord give the thought that not very many are in the condition of heart to seek him at the present time. “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the glorious light of the Gospel of Christ” and the faith of Jesus should shine into their hearts. (2 Cor. 4:4) Nevertheless, as the- Apostle puts it, God is “not far from every one of us,” and every one who will seek or feel after him, he will be pleased to bless by a manifestation of himself. In fact, this is the very object of this present Gospel age—to find, to enlighten, to bless and to gather into a special class thoxe who “hunger and thirst after righteousness.” Those who thus seek after the Lord he guides, draws, influences. He leads them to the Lord Jesus Christ, pointing to him as the necessary way by which they may approach himself and assuring them that there is no other name given whereby they can be saved (Acts 4:12), and that all who will come unto him through Christ will be accepted. Such as do come in this way, we have proven from our own experiences and the experiences of others, as well as from the Word, are met half way by the Lord. “Draw nigh unto me, and I will draw nigh unto you.” (Jas. 4:8) And as they draw nigh and continue to approach closer by God’s grace, they are brought by and by to a full realization that God is willing to aecept them as sacrificers, as “members of the body of Christ.” If they fall into line with the divine provision and present their bodies a living sacrifice, they will be looked upon as holy. acceptable to God (Rom, 12:1); they will recognize the “high calling” to “glory and honor and immortality” with Christ. But if they fail to go on, they will thus receive the grace of God in vain.—2 Cor. 6:1. The Apostle intimates, not only in the text under consideration. hut also in his Epistle to Timothy (1 Tim, 2:4), that God wills that all men shall be saved; wills it in the sense that he will awaken them all from Adamic death and “bring them to a knowledge of the truth”; that they may be recovered entirely from all imperfections that belong to Adam’s condemnation, and thus brought fully into harmony with him, Because this is his will. he has made ample provisions—not only in the arrangement by which our Lord died on behalf of all mankind, that he might be the Ransomer of all, but also in the provision that all shall have the opportunity of Vou. XXXI BROOKLYN, N. Y., JUNE 15, 1910 BROTHER RUSSELL’S EUROPEAN TOUR — coming to this knowledge and of benefiting thereby.—Heh. 2:9. In this sermon on Mars Hill, the Apostle Paul pointed out to the men at Athens that this “unknown God,” this God who was unknown to them, is the great God who hag divided unto men their habitation and determined their bounds; that he is the supervisor of the nations; that he determines how long and under what conditions the nations may prosper and what liberties and opportunities they may have. Then he proceeds to point out that while God has for a long time lett men in ignorance and winked at many of their impertections and flagrant wrong-doings, as though he did not notice them all, nevertheless another step has now been taken in his great plan: “Now he commands all men everywhere to repent.” The Apostle further declares, J, Paul, have something to tell you about this great God and about his message—that all men everywhere should repent. Do you ask me why they should repent? I answer, for the reason that God is prepared to forgive them their sins, on this condition: He was not prepared to do this a short time ago; he was not prepared to do this until Christ died; but sinve Christ has died and ascended up on high and “appeared in the presence of God for us’—for believers—God is now willing to accept any who come unto him through Jesus. It is proper, therefore, that I should tell you that there is to be an opportunity of future life through him. And, furthermore, it is proper that I should tell you also that “God has appointed a Day [the great Millennial period ] in which he will judge [try] the world in righteousness.” The whole world will then have a trial, a righteous trial, a fair, impartial trial, a full opportunity “to come unto the knowledge of the truth’; to come to a knowledge of right and wrong, a full opportunity to come to perfection of human life and to attain all that was lost in the fall of man. (Luke 19:10) This message should, as far as possible, be made known to all men everywhere. because every act of their lives will have a bearing upon the future; it will either uplift them to some extent out of the depths of degradation into which the world has been plunged through ignorance and superstition and bring a development cf character, or it will condemn them and bring a measure of retribution, and thus make the conditions of the future more difficult than they would be if righteousness were sought. No. 12 [SEC. II.—ROME AND HOMEWARD BOUND] Sunday, May Ist, was spent in Rome. We had a public service which indicated the deep interest of the comparatively few present. Possibly as many grains of wheat were found as though the meeting had been larger. “The Lord knoweth them that are his.” On the whole, however, the meeting was quite a disappointment and came far from fulfilling the prophesy made respecting the large attendance—based upon what were supposed to he very liberal arrangements for a large central auditorium and very liberal advertising. The dear brother who had the matter in charge no doubt used his best judgment, but his experience in such matters was limited. We spelled our disappointment with an “HH,” and trusted that the Lord could and would overrule the matter according to his own wisdom. We hope to hear of further interest on the part of some present on that oceasion. Our text was from Romans 1:16. We had no appointment at Venice or Vienna, and went on to Warsaw, Russia. There we had a very enjovable time with the class of about twenty. Brothers Rutherford and Koetitz accompanied us, and the latter served as interpreter. The very closest attention was given while we endeavored to show forth various features of present truth—especially did we emphasize the doctrine of the ransom. We especially endeavored to make clear how that Jesus gave himself sacrificially to the Father and what he laid down of earthly right was the ransom price, which, in due time. at the end of this age he will make over to justice on behalf of “the sins of all the people.” We showed that this has not vet been done. that the world still “lieth in the Wicked One,” and are children of wrath, and that only the church has escaped. We pointed out that the restitution blessings which are to go to the world verv shortly. are not the blessings which we seek who hope to be of the bride-class. and to attain the spirit nature, and joint-heirship with our Lord. We pointed out that the ransom-price, not vet paid over, is in the hands of justice, to our Redeemer’s credit, and that during this Gospel age [4629] he imputes the merit of his sacrifice to all who become his footstep followers. To these he imputes a sufficiency of merit to cover their blemishes that thus their sacrifices may he acceptable. On the basis of this imputation the sacrifices are acceptable with the Father, as saith the Apostle (Romans 12:1), “We beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ve present vour bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” We spoke to the dear friends for about four hours, had luncheon with them, and took the night train for Berlin. At Berlin we had a similarly interesting season of fellowship with the friends of the truth. We had a social dinner together—about two hundred. Suhsequently we addressed them for nearly two hours, the topic being the same as at Warsaw. Then came a social tea generally participated in, and later our evening meeting, which was well attended. Many of the friends accompanied us to the railway station, bidding us good bye as we departed for the German Branch office at Barmen. We had an enjovable season at Barmen for nearly two days. speaking to the dear friends for nearly seven hours in all. One service was for the public and was attended by nearly 800, many of whom manifested deep interest. The meetings of the chureh varied in number, as not all were able to attend all the mectings. on account of business and other obligations. Here again we emphasized the Atonement for sin, and showed the work of the Mediator between God and men during the Millennial age to be wholly based upon the meritorious sacrifice of our Redeemer, begun at Jordan and finished at Calvary We pointed out the gracious arrangement whereby the merit of that sacrifice is imputed to us who accept the divine invitation to become heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ to the heavenly inheritance, and in the work of blessing all the families of the earth, as the Seed of Abraham. We endeavored to make very plain that the merit of the (190-195)
Pentru a vă îmbunătăți experiența pe site-ul nostru, folosim cookies și tehnologii similare. Unele cookies sunt esențiale pentru funcționalitatea de bază a site-ului nostru și nu pot fi refuzate. Puteți alege să acceptați sau să refuzați cookies suplimentare. Vrem să vă asigurăm că aceste date nu vor fi vândute sau utilizate în scopuri de marketing. Puteți ajusta preferințele dvs. în orice moment accesând Setările de Confidențialitate din subsolul paginii. Pentru mai multe informații, vă rugăm să consultați
Politica de Confidențialitate
Condiții de utilizare
.
