January 1, 1910 (3) Your argument is not logical. If our Lord had finished his work of sacrifice he could not give his footstep followers a share therein, (4) The Scriptures nowhere say that our Lord sealed the New Covenant with his blood. Neither was it necessary for him to seal the New Covenant before he would be its Mediator. He was the Mediator of the New Covenant in the divine purpose and promise centuries before he became the man Christ-Jesus. Je was the Mediator of the New Covenant when born in Bethlehem in exactly the same sense that he was then the Savior of the world: not because he had sealed the New Covenant nor because he had saved the world, but because he was the one through whom the world’s salvation and the New Covenant for its blessing were eventually to be accomplished. Our Lord has not yet saved the world, nor has he acted as the Mediator of the New Covenant; but he will accomplish both purposes during the Millennial age; and at its conclusion the prophecy will be fulfilled, “He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied.” Our Lord was privileged to offer his church a share with himself in his Mediatorial kingdom on condition that she would share in his cup of suffering and self-sacrifice—share in his baptism into his death. So doing she shall share his reward of glory, honor and immortality in “his resurrection.” (Phil, 3:10) And sharing his glory and throne as his joint-sacrificer and joint-heir of the promise she would be with him jointly the Mediator between God and men—the world—during the Millennial age—the work of reconciling the world, or so many of them as may prove willing to receive the blessing of regeneration. (5) You are not right. There is a difference between a covenant and the law of a covenant. God’s law given to Israel summarized was, ‘“Vhou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, with all thy being and with all thy strength; and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” That law is perfect and will be the basis or law of the New Covenant. Moses as a Mediator under his covenant purposed to help Israel to keep that law, and God covenanted to give them eternal life, if they would do so. But they were unable to Keep that law perfectly in act and thought and word, and hence they reaped its condemnation of death and not its proffered blessings of life. Under that covenant Moses was privileged to arrange sacrifices and offerings for sin, and thus vear hy vear to cleanse the people for a year at a time from their original condemnation. But he had no means of actually blotting out their sins and no power or right to actually restore them to perfection and ability to keep that law. Th» New Covenant will have the same law exactly, but the Mediator having by then paid over to Justice the ransomprice of the world, secured by his own sacrificial death. will THE WATCH TOWER (14-19) then have full charge of mankind and be fully empowered to deal mercifully with their imperfections and to help them step by step out of their sin and death condition back to perfection, and to cut off the rebellious in the second death. At the close of the Millennium he will present the willing and obedient to the Father actually perfect. Thus it will be seen that God’s dealings with mankind under the typical Law Covenant, and under its antitype the New Covenant, is along the lines of actual obedience to the divine law, and not along the lines of reckoned obedience through faith. As obedience to the old Law Covenant held the reward of human pertection and life, so the rewards of the New [Law] Covenant will be similar—eternal life or eternal death. Quite to the contrary of both of these arrangements, the church is now called to a “heavenly calling” under the Abrahamic Covenant—to be members of the body of Christ, who, with Jesus her Head, will constitute the Mediator of the New Covenant. The church is “not under law, but under grace,” not judged according to the flesh and earthly restitution, but judged according to the heart and intention; and required to sacrifice restitution rights to the attainment of “the high calling” life and glory on the spirit plane as members of the Mediator of the New Covenant. (6) No, that “New Commandment” represents a higher law than was given to the Jew under the Law Covenant, hence higher also than will be given to Israel and mankind under the New Covenant. The New Commandment mentioned by our Lord is not the Father’s commandment at all, but the command of our Head, our Teacher, to all those who have entered the school of Christ and who are hoping to hecome “members” of the Anointed One~—-members of the Mediator, Prophet, Priest and King of the new dispensation. Justice could not give this new command: all that Justice could command is expressed in the law given to Israel, namely, supreme Jove of God and love for the neighbor as for one’s self. This new commandment which the Lord gave applies only to the church of this Gospel age. In effect it is this: If you would be my disciples, if you would share my throne and glory and immortality, you must have my spirit. you must do more than keep the law. You must be more than just. You must be self-sacrificing. If you would share my glory I command and direct that you love one another as I have loved you. (John 15:12) I have loved you to the extent of laying down my life for you sacrificially. You must have this same spirit and east in your lot with me in self-sacrifice. or vou cannot be my disciples, nor share my glory, and_associate in my work ag the Mediator for the blessing of Israel and mankind. Whosoever will be my disciple must take up his cross and follow me, that where I am there shall my disciple he. Surely no one can doubt the Savior’s meaning— my disciptes must die with me. Vou. XNXAI BROOKLYN, N. Y., JANUARY 15, 1910 - No. 2 WHERE ARE THE DEAD? Our Friends, Our Neighbors; the Holy, the Unholy, the Civilized, the Vile? The proper answer to this question stands related to our own destiny, colors and influences our theology and the entire trend of our lives! The correct answer gives strength, confidence, courage and assists towards the spirit of a sound mind! “Men and brethren, let me freely speak to you of the patriarch Duvid, that he is both dead and buried, and his scpulchre is with us unto this day. For David is not ascended into the heavens.” (Acts 2:29, 34.) “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man.’—John 3:13. For a man to declare himself uninterested in this subject would be to proclaim himself idiotic—thoughtless. If the ordinary affairs of this present life, food, raiment, finance, politics, ete., which concern us but for a few years, are deemed worthy of thought, study, how much more concern should we have in respect to the eternal future of ourselves and neighbors and mankind in general? Of course, so important a question has had the most profound study, ever since the reign of Sin and Death began six thousand years ago. By this time the subject should be threadbare. The entire world should be so thoroughly informed respecting this question that there would be nothing new to say and nobody curious to hear. But the large audiences of intelligent, thoughtful people which come to hear, and which listen with breathless interest to what we have to say, imply that after all the study the subject has had, but few are thoroughly satisfied with their conclusions. THE AGNOSTIC ANSWERS THE QUESTION Before presenting what we claim is the Scriptural and only satisfactory answer to our query, we think it but proper respect to the intelligence and thought of our day and of past centuries to make general inquiries on the subject and have before our minds the most profound thoughts of the most astute thinkers of our race. We cannot, however, go into this matter elaborately and give lengthy quotations. We must content ourselves with brief, synoptieal answers, which will be stated kindly and truthfully, and with a desire not to offend anybody, however much we may disagree with his conclusions. We recognize the right of every man to do his own thinking and to reach his own conclusions, whether these agree with our coneeptions or not. We begin our examination by asking our agnostic friends. who boast of their untrammeled freedom of thought, What say you, “Free-thinkers,” in reply to our query, Where are the dead? Their answer is, “We do not know. We would like to believe in a future life, but we have no proof of it. Lacking the evidences our conclusion is that man dies as does the brute beast. If our conclusion disappoints your expectations in respect to having joy for the saints, it certainly should be comforting to all as respects the vast majority of [4549]
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