Oakland Tribune — Rutherford at Auditorium Says World Has Ended (April 28, 1919)

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Oakland Tribune, Monday evening, April 28, 1919, page 6 — Advertisement

RUTHERFORD AT AUDITORIUM SAYS WORLD HAS ENDED

Pastor Russell's Successor Declares New Age Has Begun and Death Will Soon Cease

Judge J. F. Rutherford, president of the International Bible Students' Association, and successor of the late Pastor Russell, spoke here last night in the Municipal auditorium to an audience that packed the house to the doors. For nearly two hours he was accorded the closest attention, as he expounded the Bible prophecies which he explained to now be in course of fulfillment. The world war and the Bolshevist movement which has followed it he declared to be clearly portrayed in the Old Testament prophecies.

With seven others, also officers and leaders of the International Bible Students Association. Judge Rutherford was sentenced last June in Brooklyn, New York, to twenty years in the federal penitentiary at Atlanta, Georgia, for having published "The Finished Mystery," a Bible commentary on the prophecies of Revelation and Ezekiel, certain passages of which were declared to be in conflict with the Espionage act, although it was claimed by the defense that the book was written in accordance with instructions left by Pastor Russell before his death and was in the printer's hands, before the espionage law was passed by Congress, and before this country entered the war. It was also claimed in behalf of the defendants that opposition to "The Finished Mystery" had been instigated by the clergy, who had antipathy toward it on purely religious grounds. Rutherford and his seven associates were released on bail in March after spending nine months in the Atlanta penitentiary. The case is now pending in the circuit court of appeals.

THE END OF THE WORLD.

The speaker in part said:

For nineteen centuries students of Divine prophecy have looked for the world to end. To now state positively that that event has occurred is rather startling in view of what has been taught in the past. I expect many clergymen to take issue with me on this question, for the reason that they have viewed it from a different standpoint. The great John Calvin taught that upon the happening of this momentous event, Jesus would return to earth, that he would sit upon a cloud, which cloud would emit fire, and which fire would totally destroy everything on earth except the wicked, and that the wicked would be provided with immortal bodies so that their torture might be eternal. Many clergymen, believing that Calvin was a profound Bible student, have followed his line of thought and have taught what he taught.

The more modern clergymen differ in their views, some saying that if the world ever ends at all, that event is so many years distant in the future that it is not worth while to consider it. The majority insist that the present order will continue forever. The most of Christian people, however, have been taught that when the world ends, the earth will be destroyed.

THE EARTH ABIDES FOREVER.

The only method of determining a question of this kind is from the Bible itself; and the Scriptures plainly teach: "Thus saith the Lord that created the heavens. God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited;" "The earth abideth forever." (Isaiah 45:18, Eccl. 1.4.) There is a wide distinction between the words "world" and "earth." The word "world," as generally used in the Scriptures, has no reference to the material globe, but means the condition of society, or the order of things prevailing during a stated period of time. St. Peter describes the first world, which endured from Adam to the flood, and which was destroyed by water. The second world began at the time of the flood, and the Apostle states that it is to be destroyed; the Apostle adding that it will be destroyed by fire. In Biblical symbolology, fire is a symbol of destruction. It does not necessarily mean literal fire, but a fiery time of trouble, destroying the old order of things and bringing in the new.

THE TIME OF THE END.

The Divine mind, foreknowing the end from the beginning, foretold the principal events that have happened, his prophets of old recorded these events, and their sayings we call prophecy. Prophecy is in fact the history of the world written in advance. The student of prophecy is charged to interpret it in the light of history. For instance, Jehovah caused the prophet Daniel to record in brief the history of the world from the beginning of the Gentile dominion until the coming of Messiah's Kingdom. Daniel said: "I heard but I understood not." In other words, he was an instrument in Jehovah's hands. God told him at that time to seal up the words of the prophecy until "the time of the end," and stated that a proof that would mark the time of the end would be the great running to and fro in the earth and an increase of knowledge. For the past 50 years especially, man has witnessed the marvellous development of rapid transit by steam, electricity and other motive power, and the wonderful increase of knowledge in various lines, all of which mark the fulfillment of the prophecy spoken by Daniel.

THE NEW WORLD.

Our purpose in this argument is to prove by competent testimony that the old world, meaning the old order of things, has come to an end and is passing away, that the new world and new order of things is being inaugurated, that the old world has been a time in which wrong-doing, oppression and suffering predominated, that the new order will gradually reverse this condition and will ultimately establish peace universal, happiness universal, and the blessings of life everlasting to all who will render themselves in obedience to the righteous laws of the new order. If the evidence does establish such as true, then it ought to be a great anchor of hope to mankind in this hour of stress. Our purpose in presenting this argument is to bring hope to the hearts of a distressed people.

GENTILE TIMES.

The Jews were God's chosen people for many centuries, and He dealt with them to the exclusion of all others. He used them to picture or foreshadow other events to transpire on a far greater scale. He announced that his favor would be shown to the Gentiles and that this period should be one of seven symbolic times. A "time" in the Scripture is 360 years; and seven of these would be 2520 years, which mark the length of the Gentile dominion. This period had its beginning when Nebuchadnezzar, by Jehovah's permission, established the first universal Gentile government, 606 B. C. Necessarily then, this period ended in the fall of 1914. A. D. Technically speaking, with reference to time, the old world ended at that date and the old order began to rapidly degenerate, disintegrate.

We now submit a number of Scriptural reasons in proof of the point that the old world or order has ended. Every man who believes in God and who believes the Bible, and that Jesus is the Son of God and that he spoke with authority, must be convinced from this testimony that the old world has ended and that the new one is beginning. Of course higher critics and teachers of evolution concerning man will not believe. But we submit the testimony of Jesus as the best of all witnesses, and his is corroborated by the testimony of others. Five days before his crucifixion his disciples approached him privately and asked this question: "Tell us, what shall be the proof of the end of the world?" - (Matthew 24:3.)

THE WORLD WAR.

We have observed that the Gentile times ended in 1914. In referring to that time, Jesus said: "The nations were angry, and thy wrath is come." Exactly on time, namely, in the autumn season of 1914, the great world-war began.

When the question was propounded to the Master by his disciples, he answered it, but his answer could not be fully understood until the events would transpire, for two reasons: First, he spoke in prophetic language and hence it could not be fully understood until fulfilled, and second, no one could have a clear understanding of it until after they had received spiritual discernment. But now, in the light of history, any reverential student of the Lord's Word can understand and appreciate His answers. First. He said:

"Then said Jesus unto them: Nation shall arise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places, all these are the beginning of sorrows." Most of the nations of Europe and America call themselves "Christian nations," and as a whole these nations are designated as "Christendom." Notwithstanding each nation claiming to be followers of the Prince of Peace, the past four years has witnessed the rising of these nations against each other, kingdom against kingdom, Catholic against Catholic, Protestant against Protestant, and the past four years have marked the bloodiest conflict the world has ever known. According to the New York Herald, the earth's population is 1,691,751,000. The total population of all the neutral countries of the earth amounted to less than 200,000,000. In other words, practically the whole world was involved, either directly or indirectly, in this great war. Such an event was never before recorded in history. This world-conflict conclusively establishes the first proof given by Jesus by which we could determine that we had reached the end of the old world, or the old order.

JEWS TO PALESTINE.

The time came when the Jews, God's chosen typical people, were cast off from His favor. And as further answer to the question as to when the world would end, Jesus said concerning the Jews: "They shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Seeing, then, that the Gentile times ended in 1914, we should expect some marked evidence of God's favor returning to the Jews about that time.

Both Jew and Gentile have looked for the return of the Jew to Palestine to mark the end of the old world and the coming of Messiah's Kingdom. Nathan Straus, the grand old man of American Jewry, in a speech at Cooper Union, New York., delivered in 1915 after the beginning of the world-war, said: "We are living in the age when we are about to realize the two-thousand-year-old hope of the Jewish people; and I am especially glad that we are witnessing the spectacle of the whole world applauding and approving and supporting our great purpose to reestablish the Jewish people on their own soil."

REVIVING HOPES.

Jesus likened the Jewish nation to a fig tree, saying that "when the tree begins to put forth its buds, know that the summer is nigh, even at the door." In corroboration of this, the prophet of Jehovah (Jeremiah 16.13-18) shows that when God's favor returns to the Jews, it marks their re-establishment in Palestine and marks the beginning of the new order of things at the end of the old world. Near the close of 1917, Great Britain determined to aid the Jews in establishing themselves in Palestine. The American Jewish Chronicle, commenting upon this, said. 'It is clear that this document means the turning point in Jewish history and may inaugurate a new and glorious chapter in the life of our people. It is by no means pure accident that two mighty Anglo-Saxon nations, Great Britain and the United States, should be the first among the great powers to recognize the Jews' right to a national homeland of their own.' During the world war the control of Palestine has been wrested from the Turk. And following shortly thereupon, a commission of Jews was dispatched from Great Britain to Palestine to organize a Jewish state. Zionism for long has had in mind the re-establishment of Jews in Palestine. The Zion Commonwealth Incorporated is the name of a corporate body which has been organized and incorporated for the very purpose of establishing a Jewish state in Zion—Jerusalem. We quote the preamble of the Zion Commonwealth Incorporated.

"We, the members and shareholders of the Zion Commonwealth Incorporated, have organized and established this company for the purpose of aiding in the settlement of Jews in Palestine and for securing for our members and their descendants rights, interests and privileges in land occupied by the Zion Commonwealth Incorporated, to the end that social justice in harmony with the ideals of the prophets of Israel may be the cornerstone of the Jewish Commonwealth in Zion."

Jehovah's prophet, referring to this same time and event, said: "It shall be said, the Lord liveth, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them; and I will bring them again unto the land that I gave unto their fathers." (Jer. 16:15.)

In the March, 1919, issue of the Maccabaean appears the following news item: "News has filtered into Paris of a great Jewish migration across hundreds of miles of hostile country toward Palestine. A million and a half Jews, it is reported, are moving toward the promised land. Great caravans of men, women and children, carrying their belongings, are trekking toward the sea. The migration, it is said, is being conducted in a manner similar to the Exodus of the Jews from the land of Pharoah."

Jesus gave the return of the Jews to Palestine as one of the most conclusive proofs of the ending of the old world and the coming in of the new.

GOSPEL TO ALL.

As additional evidence, Jesus said: "The gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then the end shall come" This has been fulfilled The Bible has been translated into every known language and carried to every nation on earth. The clergyman used to tell us that all the world must be converted and brought into the church and then the end would come But that is not what Jesus said. He stated that the testimony would be given as a witness to the world, and then the end would come.

In further reply to the disciples' query Jesus said: "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the end of the world." He then added in substance that the people gave little heed to Noah's proclamation of the end of that world. Again he said that the day would come on the people "as a thief in the night" stealthily, quietly.

JUDGE J. F. RUTHERFORD.

For 120 years Noah told the people the world that then was would end, and they scoffed at Noah and mocked at him. At the present time of distress, and when the people greatly need comfort, the clergy as a class not only fail to tell the people the meaning of this terrible trouble—that the world has ended and the Lord's kingdom is at hand but they treat the subject with silent contempt and scoff at any one who dares discuss it publicly. Of course, there are some exceptions to this rule; but they are very few.

MANIFESTO IN LONDON.

When Jerusalem fell into the hands of the British army, this, together with the great influx of Jews to Palestine, caused a few clergymen to meet in London and issue a manifesto, which was published through out the world, to the effect that the return of the Jews to Palestine indicates the near establishment of the Lord's kingdom and the end of the world.

An enterprising reporter of the Chicago Herald interviewed a large number of clergymen on the question almost all of whom scoffed at the thought. Many of them said, "I feel the present war has no more bearing on the second coming of Christ than other wars and revolutions have had." In other words, "things continue as they were from the beginning."

"Why is this so? Why is it the clergymen thus scoff?" many ask. And the Apostle Peter answers: "That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior; knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own desires, and saying. Where is the proof of his presence (and the end of the world') for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For of this they willingly are ignorant."

OTHER SIGNS.

As further proof, Jesus said the true and the false Christian should develop in the churches side by side and that in the closing days of this world the true would be gathered together unto the Lord and the others would be bound in a church federation, without regard to truth. He designated this work in the close of the world as a "harvest," and then plainly said, "The harvest is the end of the world." We now see a clear fulfillment of this, in that true worshipers of the Lord gather themselves together, disregarding former creed fences, and study the Bible and seek to do the Lord's will. Whereas the church nominal unites with other institutions for popularity among men.

Additionally, Jesus answered, the inquiry: "The sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken" In Revelation, he gives us the key to these symbols; the sun representing the gospel of Jesus Christ; the moon picturing the Mosaic law dispensation, and the stars the great ecclesiastical teachers. How wonderfully this is fulfilled now! The gospel of Messiah's kingdom means that Jesus Christ gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified to all in due time; that during the gospel age the church is selected. and thereafter the benefit of Christ's sacrifice will be extended to all men that all might have one fair and impartial trial for life.

JESUS IGNORED TODAY.

This was taught by all the apostles, by the great Master, and foretold by the teachings of all the prophets. I dare say that not 3 per cent of the clergymen in the world today preach this gospel. Truly the sun is darkened. Recently the New York American published a report of a great meeting at Carnegie hall, composed of Catholic and Protestant clergymen and Jewish rabbis. In that whole conference the name of Jesus, the great Rock of the Gospel, was not mentioned because He could not well be referred to as the Redeemer without offending the Jewish rabbis. Hence others preferred to disregard the Lord. Dr. Finley, in a speech, is quoted as saying, "If we who believe in a God (mark, there is no reference to Jesus) cannot forget our differences and our difficulties in the face of the world hatred, what hope can there be? The time is coming for Protestant, Catholic, Jew and Gentile to cooperate to the end that every child may have at least an intimation of his moral and religious inheritance."

The sacrifice of animals under the Jewish dispensation foreshadowed the great sacrifice of Jesus, which clergymen generally repudiate, because they say we are creatures of evolution and have no need of the blood of Jesus.

As ecclesiastical stars, their profession is above all others; but the great majority have fallen from the exalted position of teaching Christ Jesus and Him crucified and have taken their part in the common politics of the world, as Jesus said it would be at the end.

The best man on earth, the one who holds the highest position before God, is the honest preacher of the gospel. On the contrary, the man who poses as a teacher of the Divine Lord and then leads people into error and turns them away from the Bible is a great menace to society.

Jesus stated as a further evidence of the end of the world that the truly consecrated Christians who were humble and faithful in following Him would be persecuted because of their faithful devotion to Him and His cause. (Luke 21:12-18.) The public is well aware of the nation-wide persecution of certain Christians during the past twelve months. For the encouragement of Christians who would be called upon to endure such persecution, Jesus said: "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, lift up your heads, for your deliverance draweth nigh" (Luke 21:28).

FAMINE AND PESTILENCES.

Further answering the question as to the end of the world, Jesus said: That the war would be accompanied by famine and pestilences. It is a matter of public knowledge, frequently announced by the public press, that the nations of Europe are face to face with famine and would starve were it not for the food produced in America and transported to them. Under large headlines the Literary Digest prints: "The World Starving to Death. The grim spectre of famine is stalking through the earth and there is hardly a land in which its dread presence is not felt. A dangerous famine is creeping across Europe."

That the past twelve months has witnessed a great pestilence in the earth none will attempt to gain say. The total casualties of four years of war number approximately nine million victims. The devastating pestilence known as influenza that swept the earth during the past year claimed upwards of twelve millions of victims, and scientists throughout the earth agree that an even greater pestilence now threatens mankind. The "flu" wasn't confined wholly to the countries engaged in the war; even Eskimaux tribes and the Hottentots in the Torrid Zone fell victims to this dread disease.

DISTRESS OF NATIONS.

Continuing, Jesus said that at the end of the world there would be "upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, and men's hearts failing them for fear." Who doubts the fulfillment of this Scripture in this very hour?

Commenting on the awful time through which we are passing, President Wilson before Congress said: "These are days of great perplexity, when a great cloud hangs over the greater part of the world. It seems as if great, blind material forces have been released which had for long been held in leash and restraint."

Everywhere government officials are perplexed, financiers are in perplexity, business men are in perplexity: and generally men's hearts are failing them for fear as they face the situation.

REVOLUTION.

In the Scriptures, the term earthquake is used as the symbol of revolution. Jesus stated that revolution would follow the war as further corroborative evidence that the world had ended. All are familiar with the fearful revolution that is afflicting Russia. The public press almost daily announces that this dread condition threatens all European countries.

Revolutions are of two kinds: Bloody and bloodless. Some of the European countries have already witnessed the former. In North Dakota we have an example of the latter; a revolution changing the form or order of things without violence. In a recent issue of The Literary Digest, the North Dakota revolution is treated at length, regarding the wonderful transformation of the form of government or order of things prevailing there now. We cite these facts only for the purpose of further establishing our contention that the evidence is clear, cogent and convincing that the old world or age has ended. We believe that when the question is properly understood everybody will be glad, because it means a new order which will bring the long-looked for and long-promised blessings to mankind.

The troubles of mankind are not yet ended, the spirit of selfishness is yet prevailing, and it will require much more trouble upon mankind in order to humble the proud and put them into a proper state of mind to receive the great King, the Messiah. It was Jesus who stated, in further proof of the end of the old order, that the world would be afflicted by greater troubles. He said: "For then there shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time; no, nor ever shall be." (Matt. 24:21.) We find much consolation in these last words of the Master, because it means, when the present disturbed conditions of mankind have passed away, there shall never be another like it in all time.

CHRISTIANITY OFFERS NO HOPE.

Many discontented peoples of earth unite themselves with various radical organizations because they believe that by so doing they can bring a better order of things. Doubtless the Bolshevists believe that they can accomplish the desire of man for the establishment of a righteous government, but the Scriptures show that their efforts will fail.

The church systems, creeds and theories offer no consolation for the ills of mankind, as indeed the Scriptures show that they would not. William T. Ellis, "The Religious Rambler," writes: "It is frankly admitted that sectarianism must go into the war's scrapheap. The soldiers who, of course, will dominate in the next generation, do not care an empty cartridge worth for church and denominational distinctions."

Canon McNutt says: "A man is not a Christian because he proves himself to be a hero, and there are more heroes than saints in the army by a long way." Nominal Christianity, Catholic and Protestant, not only fail to tell the people that the old order has ended and that Messiah's Kingdom is at hand, but they teach nothing that holds out any hope for man in the future.

MILLIONS WILL NEVER DIE.

"Millions now living will never die"; this statement will be astounding to many. Yet this statement is just as true as it is also that the world has ended. Jesus taught his disciples to pray: "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is done in heaven." He pointed out that the kingdom will mark the time of the beginning of the blessing for mankind. Furthermore Jesus said: "My kingdom is not of this world" (not of the old world that is just now passing away). Thus he shows that the time for the blessing of mankind is during the incoming or new order of things. An understanding of the Divine plan shows what a wonderful provision God has made for the blessing of man with life, liberty and happiness. All mankind sprang from Adam, who was created perfect, and had a perfect home in Eden. Because of his violation of God's law, he lost the right to eternal life; the right to complete happiness, and the right to full liberty. God promised Abraham: "In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." The Apostle shows that this "seed of promise" is The Christ, the Messiah, composed of Jesus the head and the members of His body designated as the church, which means the class that has been called out from the world, selected, tried and made fit during the Gospel Age. To such Jesus said when he was about to depart from the earth: "I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go, I will come again and receive you unto myself." These thus selected the Scriptures designate as the royal (reigning) family of heaven (1 Pet. 2:9-10), and that they shall reign with Christ during his Millennial period (Revelations 20:4) and the purpose of his kingdom will be to restore all that was lost in Adam. Of that time the Apostle says: "Times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, and God shall send Jesus Christ, who before was preached unto you, whom the heavens must retain until the times of the restitution of all things which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." (Acts 3:19-21.)

Restitution or restoration means to restore that which was lost during the disobedience of Adam, namely, the right to life, liberty, and happiness. And the beginning of this restoration and blessing work must be at the establishment of Messiah's Kingdom. It follows, then, that many who are living at this time will see that kingdom established. Jesus said: "This generation (meaning the people now on earth) shall not pass away until all these things be fulfilled."

The reign of Christ is for the very purpose of destroying death by restoring mankind, those who are obedient, to life and health and happiness. As the Apostle puts it: "He shall reign until he has destroyed all enemies, and the last enemy to be destroyed is death."

ONE FAIR CHANCE.

Three thousand years ago Jehovah foretold the trouble through which the earth is now passing. He said: "Wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy (the fiery time of trouble). For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent" (Zephaniah 3:8-9).

Why turn a pure message to the people unless they are to profit by it? Again, the Lord, through his prophet, declared: "And it shall come to pass that in all the land; saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; they shall call on my name, and I will hear them; I will say, it is my people; and they shall say, The Lord is my God." (Zechariah 13:8-9.)

No one could accept the blessings of life and other blessings incident thereto without an opportunity, and he must have knowledge before this opportunity can come to him. The Apostle says: "There is one God, and one mediator, between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." (1. Tim. 2:5-6.) The due time for mankind to begin to receive this testimony is when Messiah's Kingdom is established, immediately after the great shaking of the time of trouble in the earth God's prophet says: "I will shake all nations, and, the desire of all nations shall come." (Haggai, 2:7.) When this time comes, and the proof shows it will shortly come, then he who renders himself in obedience to the Lord's law will be restored to perfect manhood, physical, mental and moral. Jesus said: "Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die," and again, "If a man keep my sayings, he shall never see death."

These Scriptures have never before been applicable. They must apply at some time. They could not apply until the Lord had offered restitution blessings to mankind. They cannot be offered until his kingdom is established. "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." The time to offer them is almost here. Then it follows that surely as Jesus spoke that when that offer is made that the man who hears, believes and obeys, shall live and shall not die. Otherwise these Scriptures are made void.

ALL IN THEIR GRAVES SHALL COME FORTH.

Millions have died in the great world war. Many are living today whose hearts are made sad because of the loss of their loved ones. Millions have died from disease and pestilence. Truly the poet has said:

"The earth is old with centuries. But for this she hangs not her head; Closer to her heart the sorrow lies; She holds so many dead."

But hope springs into the heart of one who believes the Lord's word, when he hears the Master's sweet message: "Marvel not: all that are in their graves shall come forth." The very purpose of bringing them forth is to give them a fair and impartial trial for life.

THE OLD TO BECOME YOUNG.

The Prophet Job gives a wonderful picture of the restoration of man. There are many old and decrepit and crippled and deformed ones in the earth. There are many crippled from the great war. What hope is there for them? Mark the prophetic words: "He keepeth back the soul from the grave, and his life from perishing by the sword. He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain." (Thus describing the sick and afflicted) "So that his life abhorreth bread and his soul dainty meat (picturing how nothing is satisfying). His flesh is consumed away that it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out (marking the suffering condition of humanity); yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave and his life to the destroyers. If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter (one who enables him to understand), one among a thousand to show unto man his uprightness; then he (the Lord) is gracious unto him and saith, Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom. His flesh shall be fresher than a child's; he shall return to days of his youth. He shall pray unto God and he will be favorable unto him, and he shall see (discern) his face with joy, for he will render unto man his righteousness." (Job 33:18-26). Thus the Lord pictures how the old man will be restored to the prime of manhood, and how restoration blessings will bring all who are obedient to the laws to the state of perfection.

These Scriptures must have a fulfillment at some time If this is not the correct interpretation, then will the clergymen tell the people what they do mean? We rejoice in the fact that the kingdom of the Lord is at hand. The old order is passing away forever, and the new order is coming in.

PERSECUTIONS—WHY?

Because we have taught these beautiful and wonderful truths that Jesus taught, because we have pointed to the fact that the present unrighteous order is passing away; because we have shown that Christendom has been and is a failure; because we show from the Scriptures that there is a general resurrection for all the dead and a hope of restitution blessings near at hand for mankind, we have been called in question, misrepresented and maligned before the people, persecuted by those who pretend to be Christians. We have no ill feeling, however, against our persecutors, realizing that the Scriptures state, "all in Christ, Jesus who will live godly shall suffer persecution." Jesus said concerning those who will faithfully announce his kingdom, "If the world hate you (meaning particularly ecclesiastics who have the worldly spirit because that was the class that hated him), we know that it hated me before it hated you." (John 15:18.)

We count it a great privilege to be permitted to suffer because of loyalty to righteousness and to be placed in the category of other Christians who have followed the Master's footsteps It is our privilege to announce: "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand"; and what that Kingdom means to mankind Jesus, in beautiful words, expressed:

THE KINGDOM OF GLORY.

"I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven (ecclesiastical systems, and the first earth order of things) have passed away; and there was no more sea (restless elements of society). And I, John, saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem (the new order of things) come down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." (Revelations 21:1-4).—Advertisement.

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