JANUARY

1939

SPEAKERS' APPOINTMENTSIT IS desired to make the listing of speakers' ap-

pointments a greater service to the friends generally ,and for this reason we are undertaking to list the ad -dresses where the lectures are to be given, as well a sthe hour of the meetings . It is not possible, of course ,to furnish this information in every instance. We wil lbe glad however, if the classes being served by visitin gspeakers will, if they so desire, forward the necessar yinformation to us so that in future issues we can givea fuller listing of the time and place of meeting.

BROTHER H. E. ANDERSON

Philadelphia, Pa., 18th & Arch Streets, 3 P . M., Jan . 15

BROTHER T. E. BARBER

Worcester, JMass Jan 1 5Lynn, Mass 2 2

Boston, Mass., 30 Huntington Ave 2 9Beverly, Mass 2 9

BROTHER J. A. BELLPaterson, N . .I .1169 Van Houten St ., 3 P . M. Jan, 29

BROTHER C. P. BRIDGE SBoston , Mass ., 30 Huntington Ave Jan 8

BROTHER N . CONSTAN TPaterson, N . J., 169 Van Houten Street, 3 P . M., Jan. 8

BROTHER DAVID DINWOODIEBrooklyn, N. Y., 109 Remsen Street, 3 P. M., Jan. 22

BROTHER P. KOLLIMANLancaster, Pa Jan . 8

BROTHER O . MAGNUSON

Jersey City, N . J ., (Convention*) Jan 1 5

Brooklyn, N. Y . , 109 Remsen Street, 3 P . M 1 5

BROTHER C BORGE R. MAYNARD

Hawthorne, Calif., 13110 Doty St ., 7 :45 P. M . , Jan. 15

BROTHER N. M. MOLENAA R

Santa Aria, Calif ., 1342 Cypress, 10 :30 A. M .

Jan. 1 5

BROTHER A. L. MUI R

Aurora, Ill„ Jan . 4

Matoon, Ill 5 .St . Louis, Mo 6- 8

Warrensburg, Mo 9

Kansas City, Kans 10,1 1

St. Joseph, Mo 1 2

Topeka, Kans 13

Neodesha, Kans 14,15Wichita, Kans 1 6

Hutchinson, Kans 1 7

Oklahoma City, Okla 1 8

Shawnee, Okla 1 9

Dallas, Texas 2 0

Houston-Galveston, Texas, 22, 23

Memphis, Tenn Jan 25

Donelson, Tenn 2 6Chattanooga, Tenn 27

BROTHER ROBERT E . NASH

Mentone, Calif., 1352 Olivine St ., . 2Q: J'.., M.

Jan. 8

BROTHER C . C. PEOPLDayton, Ohio, Jan . 1Richmond, Ind : 8Cincinnati, Ohio ; 22Piqua, Ohio, 29

BROTHER WALTER SARGEAN T

Jersey City, N. J ., (Convention*) Jan. 15

Baltimore, Md., 4 West Eager Street 3` 1x 2 2Washington, D. C 2 3Richmond, Va 24, 2 5Jacksonville, Fla 2 7Orlando, Fla 2 9

BROTHER J . H. L. TRAUTFELTE R

Philadelphia, Pa ., 18th & Arch Streets, 3 P . M., Jan. 2 2

BROTHER J . I. VAN HORN E

East Liverpool, Ohio, Jan 8

BROTHER G. M. WILSON

Buffalo, N. Y Jan . 8

BROTHER W. N. WOODWORT H

Brooklyn, N . Y., 109 Remsen Street, Jan . 8

Jersey City, N. J., (Convention*) 15

Paterson, N . J ., 169 Van Houten St ., 3. P . M.

22

Brooklyn, N. Y., (Convention*)

2 9

BROTHER C . W. ZAHNO W

Ithaca N. Y. and Vicinity Jan. 1-6

Norristown, Pa 8Hawthorne, N. J 10

Brooklyn, N. Y., 108 Montague St ., 8 P. M 11

Laurelton, N . Y., 133 228th Street, 8 P . M 12

Rutherford, N. J., 112 Mountain Way, 8 :15 P. M , 13

Paterson, N . J., 169 Van Houten St ., 3 P. M 1 5

*(Convention Annoycements on page 33)

FREE TRACT SThe following is a list of free tracts on hand that

may be ordered in any quantity desired. These fourpage leaflets present a brief but clear message of th ecoming Kingdom and are ideal for use in witness work.

"The Coming World Dictator""Coming Back From Hell Soon"

"Calamities —Why Permitted ""The Hope of Universal Peace"

"Do You Know? "Where are the Dead? "

"Earth's Coming Glory ""What Is the Soul?"

"Why Not Live Forever?"

the DAW NA Herald of Christ's Presence

Vol . 7, No.4

JANUARY 1939

One Dollar a Year

Entered as second class matter at the Brooklyn, N. Y. Post Office, October 17, 1932, under Act of March 3,1879 . Published monthly by Dawn Publishers, Inc ., 136 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, N . Y. British Address : BibleStudents Committee, 24, Darwin Road, Welling, Kent, England ; Australian address : Berean Bible Institute,

No. 19 Ermington Pl ., Kew E. 4, Melbourne, Vic ., Australia.

THIS MONTH

NEWS AND VIEWS"He Uttered His Voice—The Earth Melted"

2

THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL

The Judgment Day—The second and concluding articl ein a series dealing with the manner in which God con-trols His intelligent creatures by means of instruction sgiven to them by which they learn to know and obeyHis will.

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

Through Our Window in 1939—A glance at the pros-pects of the new year as seen in the light of the truthof God's Word .

9

If Thine Eye be Single—A heart searching study ofthe condition laid dawn by the Master requisite to ou renjoying the blessings of the heavenly vision of truth . 11

Apparent Failures—A contributed article calculated t oencourage the Christian by reminding him of that ,which, from the Lord's standpoint, constitutes success. 15

The Chastenings of the Lord—Another article in theseries on "The Epistle to the Hebrews ."

1 9

INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSONS

2 2

2 3

2 4

Peter Preaches at Pentecost (Feb . 5)

25

Peter Heals a Lame Man (Feb . 12)

26

CHILDREN'S HOUR

The Reign of Solomon—Another story for the childrenby Uncle Eb .

27

TALKING THINGS OVER

Cooperation and Liberty

Use of Consolation Cards

An Old Man's Story

Peter Sees Christ's Glory (Jan. 15

Peter Denies His Lord (Jan. 22)

Peter Declares His Love (Jan. 29)

29

30

32

NEXT MONTH

THE COMING DICTATORSHIPOF HEAVE N

Today the world is being made ,to suffer by the ruthless methodsof ambitious and selfish govern -mental dictatorships ; but ere longthe will of Him who so loved the ,world as to send His Son to diefor it, is to be imposed upon al lpeople, in answer to the prayer,."Thy Kingdom. come, Thy will h&done, in earth as it is donerzheaven." This article deals with ,the manner in which Christ will'.bring about this glorious consum-mation of the divine plan .

RIGHTEOUS REPROOFan d

FORGIVENESS OF WRON G

This article is a reprint fro mthe old Watch Towers, and wetrust will prove helpful to all th efriends. As followers of theMaster, Christians are being are-pared to judge the world duringthe future Judgment Day, henc ethe importance of learning how-to properly apply the principlesof justice . and righteousness intheir dealings with each othernow .

God talks to us through His.Word, and it is necessary, if weare to learn to know Him andknow His will for us, to give heedto what He says . This articlepoints out how inappropriate i tis for anyone to talk back to theLord, or in any way to questio nthe wisdom of what He tells usthrough His Word .

SILENT BEFORE GO D

N EM/$an d

"HE UTTERED HIS VOICE--THE EARTH MELTED"

UMAN wisdom is utterly unable to pierc ethe storm clouds of trouble that hang overa distressed world at the beginning of thenew year and predict with any degree o f

certainty the details of developments that will be un-folded before us as day by day the scenes which makeup the closing drama of the present world unfoldbefore us . Nor would it be advantageous to be abl eto do so. To the Christian it is sufficient that as eachevent in the world transpires he is able to see furtherevidence of the approaching new order, the long -foretold and glorious Kingdom of the Messiah .

Nineteen thirty-eight was a most momentou syear when viewed in the light of divine prophecy .Crises, wars, distress and calamities here there an dafar, constituted the daily diet of news that fille dthe papers, magazines and radio programs most o fthe time throughout the year . Even the customaryChristmas festival which usually promotes at least ameasure of outward peace and goodwill seemed thistime to lose much of its magic influence so that abov ethe singing of the hymns of peace on earth and good -will toward men could be heard the angry muttering sand threats of the world 's many selfish and war -making rulers. A very vivid cross-sectional view ofthe world's condition at the Christmas season ofnineteen thirty-eight is given to us in Cavalcade, aBritish news magazine, under date of December 10 .We quote in part :

" What used to be known as the season of goodwilland peace on earth draws near. In a couple of weeks

a large portion of mankind will be celebrating a festi-val dedicated to the Man who preached a gospel o fbrotherly love and universal kindness. Millions—withhatred in their hearts—will pay lip service to One wh oknew no hatred .

"Disrupted World"How far mankind has strayed from the sublim e

philosophy is revealed by a quick glance at the worldscene today . Never in the history of man has thereexisted at any one period such universal turmoil a sthat which now currently scars the face of the globe .[See Daniel 12 :1 . ]

"It is as though a madness has seized civilization—a madness which impels man to destroy—to pour ou tmost of his wealth on the things which shall hastenhis own doom.

"Tale of Wo e"And each day seems to produce a new outbreak of

the malady in some part of the globe. The news

papers, the radio news, even the newsreels, are ' in thes edays chiefly—and inevitably—catalogues of calamity. "

Shortly after the Great Crisis of last September —an event so outstanding that many of the World' spresent developments are dated from Munich—Her rHitler promised the people of the German, Reichpeace for Christmas ; but even before Christmas ar-rived the agitation provoked by totalitarian state sbegan to produce trouble spots in a number of places ;and apparently the development of these artificiall yprovoked grievances will, ere we get very far intonineteen thirty-nine, again result in greatly straine drelations between the various nations involved, thusrenewing the dangers of a world war. Whether th ebreaking point will be reached within the year, . ornot, is impossible to predict ; but one thing is certain.namely, that each recurring crisis leaves the worldorder weaker and more shattered . It is this gradualbreaking down of the structure of so-called civiliza-tion that is described in the Bible as the "melting "of the earth . See Psalms 46 :6.

It is the competition between the three popularforms of government—Democracy ; Fascism or Naz-ism ; and Socialism or Communism—that seems to berapidly fulfilling the foretold melting down of earth' ssociety, coincident with the Lord's return to estab-lish His Kingdom. Concerning this the prophe twrites ; "The. hills [kingdoms] melted like wax atthe presence of the Lord . " In describing the condi-tions in the earth which bring about this melting, theprophet says : "Clouds and darkness are round aboutHim ; righteousness and judgment are the habitationof His throne . A fire goeth before. Him, and burnethup His enemies round about . His lightnings enlight-ened the world : the earth saw, and trembled . "—Psalms 97 : 2-5 .

Even in . democratic America the. necessity of cul-tivating friendly cooperation among the nations ofthe Western Hemisphere to prevent the importingof Fascism probably accounts largely for the genia lpolicy of the United States towards its neighbors, andespecially toward Mexico . In the latter country largeestates belonging to Americans have- been expro-priated for division among the people ; the great oi lcompanies have been taken over and the productio nof oil has become a government monopoly .

And the United States is making great efforts ,through the display of naval strength and otherwise ,to impress her weaker neighbors to the . south of herability to protect them in the event of aggressionfrom European countries. These efforts are quickl ycountered by the completion of commercial pacts be-tween Italy and some of the South American coun-

January 1939

tries ; backed up by an announced purpose of send-ing an armada of air planes across the ocean to ou rLatin neighbors on a mission of " goodwill." Thus ,by these straws in the wind, it can be clearly see nthat the class struggle going on within and among th egreat powers of Europe is destined to sooner or late rreach the Americas, with probably equally devastat-ing results . Realizing this, the United States is pre -paring to build and equip more than ten thousandfighting air planes, and each year to train twentythousand pilots all for the purpose of preventing,if possible, the encroachment of forces which wil lhasten the melting of the American idea of civiliza-tion .

In Russia the melting, occasioned by the breakingdown of old ideas and standards, is being accom-plished most rapidly. There all property was takenby the State without exception, and is operated forthe benefit of the workers. Fascism and Nazismwere expected to preserve property rights, and wer esupported, if not created, by the property owning an dindustrialist classes, to prevent the development ofSocialism. In operation, however, it appears tha tthese dictatorships are powerless to maintain the for-mer status with respect to property rights . Theymust make concessions to the people in order to re-tain their enthusiasm and support for these new form sof governments which exact so much devotion an dservice from their citizens .

This, no doubt, is one of the immediate contribut-ing causes of the seizing of Jewish property and th edesire for the expulsion of the Jews. The govern-ments involved need this wealth, and through theirpropaganda agencies they are able to make the peopl ebelieve it is being used for the common good. Thisalso, in part, would seem to be the explanation ofthe actual and threatened expropriation of churchproperty within these totalitarian states . But what-ever the motives and immediate causes back of thi sgeneral breaking down of an order consisting of th eprivileged few and the under-privileged masses, w ecan see that the "melting " processes are in operation,causing all the former foundations of the earth t otremble .

Back of the economic pressure upon the dictato rgovernments, we can see that they are used as God' sinstruments to drive the Jewish people back to thei rown land ; and in the case of the false church systems ,to execute the judgments so definitely stated in Rev -elation and 'elsewhere in the Lord 's Word. In bothcases these are unprotected and defenseless, henc ethe first to feel the heat of the melting time . TheJews are a distinct race, have great wealth, and ye thave no national government to protect them. Thefalse church now seems to have reached the "widow "condition and none of her former protectors or "hus-bands"—civil governments—come forward to es-pouse her cause against her spoilers ; although som estand afar off and bewail her torment, they are fearfu lto come to her aid lest they be made to feel her tor-ment .—Rev. 17 :16-18 ; 18 :9, 10 .

3

The following reflections on the 20th anniversar yof Armistice Day, penned by Harry Elmer Barnes, .Ph. D., reveal the plight of the world and the disap-pointment resulting from the "war to end wars" :

"Among the outstanding announced aims of theAllies during the great conflict were the followingIt was promised that the World War would put an endto armaments and the expenditures connected there -with . We had a promise of the end of military prepon-derance of any one great power or group of powers .We were told that the war would put an end to thesecret diplomacy and secret treaties which did so muc hto cause the war.

"Perhaps the most widely publicized of al !l the warideals was the determination to make the world saf efor democracy. Likewise we were assured that arro-gant nationalism would be curbed and an adequat eworld organization would be created . It was maintain-ed that the economic causes of war would be resolutelyattacked. Economic imperialism would be ended, col-onialism discouraged and tariff reductions broughtabout on a wide scale .

"Let us see how far these laudable objectives hav ebeen realized . In 1937 the world spent just 500 pe rcent more for armaments than it spent in 1913, the le . fpre-war year . Further, there has been a very notabl eincrease of armament expenditures in 1938 over 1937 .

"There is no evidence whatsoever that secret diplo-macy has been ended or that secret treaties are nolonger made . It seems probable that the actual diplo-macy leading up to the Munich conference last Septem-ber was thoroughly secret . What the public got wasonly the stageplAy designed to dupe the French an dBritish populace and to deceive world opinion .

"Far from making the world safe for democracy ,the World War succeeded in putting democracy ingreater jeopardy than at any time since the collapse of

the revolutions of 1848 .

"These are not pleasant reflections, but they repre-sent the stark truth, and the quicker we recognize thi s'fact the better. Only by so doing can we take steps toavert another world war. Above all, these facts re-veal the absurdity of trying to promote peace and civ-ilization by means of war." (New York World-Telegram . )

So the poor world is confused ; and no wonder.As yet the people generally reject the testimony ofthe Bible, the only reliable source of information ,which can tell them the meaning of present condi-tions, so they continue to stumble on in darkness an din distress . That we are living in a "time of troubl esuch as never was since there was a nation" is fur-ther attested by an article appearing in the Ne wYork Times magazine, entitled, "Can We ConquerWar ?" No definite answer is given to the questionin the article, but the writer does show that what ishappening in the world today is not a case of historyrepeating itself, as is often claimed, hence that historyfurnishes no clue to guide us in what to expect in thenear or distant future . We quote :

" History has no answer to the question, not onlybecause the peace movement is so new, but because theprocesses of history are no longer the same now as the ywere in the pre-scientific era . Then life repeated itselfand the future was like the past. But now the worldis changing into new forms continually [melting],more and more unlike wha had been. Therefore th ehistorian cannot forecast the answer to the question w eare pursuing [Can we conquer war!] . "

So the distressed people of the world enter nine -teen thirty-nine wondering what the weeks and themonths may bring forth in the way of further blood -shed and suffering. The Bible alone tells us whatis to be the final outcome ; namely, the establishmentof the Messianic Kingdom . But first must come th ecomplete dissolution, or "melting" of the presentorder ; and it is this that students of the propheti cWord can now see taking place on every hand . Butto appreciate how fully the "melting" processes arealready under way we must keep in mind that it i sthe "world," or "earth, " that existed prior to theend of the Gentile Times in 1914 that is being dis-solved. Finally, of course, the forces that are bring-ing about this dissolution will also go into "perdi-tion," but at present it is chiefly the pre-war worldorder that is disappearing .

And, as we have seen, wherever either the Com-munist or Fascist powers spread, it spells doom fo rthat order of things that was once called civilization .And no part of the earth today is free from the in-fluences of one or another of these post-war forms o fgovernment . For the moment Fascism seems to b espreading itself the most rapidly ; and as we enter thenew year we find the "unclean spirit"—propaganda—eminating from this source stirring up trouble ina number of places .

Hitler is looking more particularly to the East, andprobably before the year is over will attempt to gaina foothold in the Ukrane, with the hope that fromthere he may be able to strike successfully at Russia .At the same time his recently announced intention o fincreasing Germany's naval strength—particularly i nsubmarines—is worrying Great Britain so that shehas hurriedly sent a commission to Germany to se eif these plans cannot he modified . Coincident withthis Italy is making territorial demands which com-plicates the situation still further . Concerning thesetwo items a writer in the New York Herald Tribunesays that the Fascist partners are seemingly workingto deliver blows at the London-Paris axis, with thethought, possibly, of wringing further concession sfrom Chamberlain when he visits Mussolini early i nJanuary .

Thus, no matter from what angle we view' worldconditions today, we see changes taking place whic hare aptly symbolized by the terra "melt . " The hillsare indeed melting like wax at the presence of th eLord : and the trouble spots that appear from tim eto time are much like the bubbling of melting wax ,Both Fascism and Communism are now being usedto affect these world changes, and sooner or later

The Dawn

these two mighty forces will doubtless come to grips ,and then will appear the final phase of the meltin gprocess, when world-wide anarchy will bring thepeople to the place where they will gladly welcomethe incoming Kingdom of the Messiah .

In the 46th Psalm—from which the caption at th ehead of this article is taken—the earth is said to be"removed," and also to "melt," but in neither cas eis the literal earth referred to, for in the 10th versewe find that the literal earth still exists and tha tGod's name is exalted in it. The text reads, "B estill and know that I am God, I will be exalted amongthe nations, I will be exalted in the earth ."

Today the earth is filled with much "noise," con-sisting of the clashing and clanging of human threat sand claims. St. Peter, in fact said, that the presen tsymbolic heavens and earth were to pass away witha great "noise" But finally the time will come whe nthe warring factions of earth will be told that theyhave made enough noise, that now they are to bestill and recognize the authority of the new Kingdo min their midst . It is for this outcome that the peopleof God are looking and praying ; meanwhile rejoicingin the fact that while surrounded with trouble o nevery hand yet the God of Jacob continues to be thei rrefuge and strength .

Because of the glorious vision of truth in whic hthe followers of the Master are privileged to rejoice ,they do "not fear, though the earth be removed, an dthough the mountains he carried into the midst of th esea ; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled ,though the mountains shake with the swelling there -of . There is a river, the streams whereof make gladthe city of God, the holy of the tabernacle of the mosthigh. God is in the midst of her, she shall not b emoved. God will help her, and that right early . Theheathen raged, the kingdoms were moved, He uttere dHis voice, the earth melted. Come behold the worksof the Lord, what desolations He hath made in th eearth . Ile maketh wars to cease unto the ends ofthe earth, He breaketh the bow and cutteth the spearin sunder ; He burneth the chariot in the fire.. Bestill and know that I am God : I will be exalted amongthe nations, I will he exalted in the earth . The Lor dof hosts is with us ; the God of Jacob is our refuge . "

Then, the 47th Psalm continues on with a furtherdescription of the exercise of Kingdom power overthe nations . It tells us that the Lord is to be a "greatKing over all the earth . Also, that the Lord is goneup with a "shout" and with the sound of a "trumpet . "This, evidently, is descriptive of further details ofthe manner in which Christ takes over the rulershi pof the earth ; and is perhaps what St. Paul had i nmind when he wrote that Christ would descend fromheaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel ,and with the trump of God . (1 Thes . 4 :16.) In the

last verse the Psalmist declares, "The princes of th epeople [the ancient worthies] are gathered togethe r[from the tomb], even the people of the God ofAbraham : for the shields [protections] of the earthbelong unto God : He is greatly exalted .

h

Id 5 And the angel of the Loancelled unto Abraham out of heaventhe second time,

16 And said, By myself have Isworn, eaith the Loan, for becausethou host done this thing, and bas tnot withheld thy son, thine only son :

17 That in blessing I will blessthee, and in multiplying I will mu! .tiply thy seed as the stars of theheaven, and as the sand whichis npon the sea shore ; and thy

e seed shall possess the gate of hisenemies;

18 And In thy seed shall all th enations of the earth be blessal, be-cause. thou host obeyed my voice.

Gen.22 :15-18 . . . al .3 ; 88 And the scripture, lbresering

that Cod would justify the heathenthrough faith, preached before thegospel unto Abraham„saying, In

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2 And I John saw the holynew Jerusalem, coming down fromGod out of heaven, prepared 'as

I n brhle adorned for her husband( 3 And I heard a vent voice out\ of heaven saying, Behold, the ta-t bernacle of God is with men, and

he will dwell with them, and theyshall be his people, and God him-self shall be with them, aad Letheir God.

4 And God shall wipe away alltears from their eyes ; and thereshall be no more death, neithersorrow, nor crying, neither shallthere be any more pain : for theformer things are passed awe y.

5 Anil he that sat upon the thronesaid. Behold, I make all things new ,.tnd he said unto me, Write : for'these noels are true and faithful .

Rev. 21 :2 -5 .

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8 And 'all flesh shall seethe sal-vation of Cod

Lu . 3 : 6 .

The Judgment. Day

"And if any man hear My words ,and believe not, I judge him not ; . . .the word that I have spoken, thesame shall judge him in the lastday."--John 12 :47, 48 .

THE Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 4 :17 inquires as to what will be theend of those, who, in this presentage, do not hear and obey the gospelof our Lord Jesus Christ . Peter

aloes not, in this passage, give us th eanswer to his question, but in thewords of our text the Master does ,declaring that those who do not no wbelieve His words are held over forjudgment until the "last day," andthat then they will be judged by Hi swords . That is, the divine word willthen be the basis of judgment, evenas it is at the present time .

Thus we see that in the future ageof judgment, God's Word, His com-mandments, will continue to be th emeans by which He will deal wit hand control the people. And weshall see as we continue our study,that just as the whole world of man -kind was plunged into death, andhas been walking through the "val-lev of the shadow of death" becaus eof disobedience to the divine word ,so in the age of judgment all wil lbe given a full and comprehensiv eo-tnortunity to obey the word, an dthose who obey will live—everlast-ingly .

In Acts 17 :30, 31, we read : "Andthe times of this ignorance °Go dwinked at ; but now commandeth al lmen everywhere to repent : becaus eHe hath appointed a day, in thewhich, He will judge the world inrighteousness by that man whom H ehath ordained ; whereof He hat hgiven assurance unto all men, in thatHe hath raised Him from the dead . "Notice, in this passage, how the ig-norance of a former time is contrast-ed with the call to. repentance and

the future work of judgment . Jesuswill be the Judge in that futurejudgment day, and because Hi swords, which, in John 12 :48, 49, Hetells us are in reality the command-ments of His Father, will be thebasis of judgment, we get thethought that the judgment work willinvolve the enlightenment of thepeople with respect to what the di-vine commandments really are, incontrast to the ages of the past dur-ing which ignorance of the divin eword has been well nigh universal .

Judgment—TrialThe -judgment day mentioned in the

Bible is often erroneously thought ofas being merely a time during whichrewards would be distributed to therighteous, and punishments metedout to sinners ; the matter of whowere righteous and who were sinner shaving been definitely determined in -advance. If this were true, the judg-ment day would be "doom's day "for nearly all of' the human race .But the Scriptures do not bear ou tthis thought. Rather, from th estandpoint of the Bible, the judg-ment day of the future is seen to b ea day of enlightenment, and upo nthe basis of this enlightenment, atime of trial to determine w:ho wil land who will not he worthy of ever-lasting life .

Those who, during this Gospel age,hear the words of Christ in a suf-ficiently comprehensive manner t obelieve on Him and undertake t ofollow Him, are now on trial ; bu tsuch compose a very small percent-age of the human family . And eve nthis opportunity was not afforded t oany who lived prior to the first ad-vent of Christ. In Acts 4 :12 we readconcerning Christ, that "ther e there isnone other name under heaven givenamong men, whereby we must be

saved ." This shows that the mil -lions who died prior to the first ad-vent of Christ, as well as the millionwho have died since without a trueknowledge of Him, are without ahope of salvation except as we takethe view outlined in the Scriptures ;namely, that the great future day ofjudgment has been set aside in tri gdivine plan as a time during whichall these are to be awakened fro mthe sleep of death, enlightened andthereby given an opportunity to be-lieve, obey, and live .

Paul raises the question, "Howshall they believe in Him of who mthey have not heard" (Rom . 10 :14.) And in 1 Timothy 2 :3-6, he ex-plains that it is God's will that allshall be saved (awakened from th esleep of death) and given a knowl-edge of the truth concerning Jesusand His redemptive work—that th egreat truth of God's provision oflife as it centers in Christ Jesus i sto be "testified in ` due time." Andthat "due time" for the vast ma-jority is the world's judgment day.

The Opening of the BooksThe Revelator gives us a picture o f

the future judgment work, saying,"And I saw the dead, small andgreat, stand before God ; and thehooks were opened ; and another bookwas opened, which is the book oflife : and the dead were judged ou tof those things which were writte niu the books, according to theirworks . And the sea gave u p thedead which were in it ; and death andhell delivered up the dead which wer ein them : and they were judged everyman according to their works."—Rev. 20 :12, 13 .

The "books" referred to in th epassage just quoted are not, as some-times mistakenly supposed, the rec-ords of the past lives of those to be

This lack of understanding re-sults, the prophet shows, in a gen-eral turning of matters upside down .But finally, the "book" is opened :"In that day shall the deaf hear th ewords of the book, and the eyes ofthe blind shall see out of obscurity ,and out of darkness ." (Verse 18. )The period designated as "that day"is clearly shown by the context t obe the Kingdom period, or Judg-ment Day, during which the worldis on trial and those who then dem-onstrate themselves as being the"meek of the earth" are rejoicing inthe Kingdom blessings . Verse 19says : "The meek also shall increas etheir joy in the Lord, and the pooramong men shall rejoice in the HolyOne of Israel . "

In the beginning of Revelation 20,we are told of the binding of Satan ;and it is towards the end of thi ssame chapter that the opening of thebooks is described . Through Isaiah ,the Lord gives us the same informa-tion ; assuring us that when the tim ecomes for the deaf to hear the word sof the book, it will also mean that"the terrible one (Satan] is brough tto naught, and the scorner is con-sumed, and all that watch for ini-quity are cut off." (Verse 20.) Thetime in the divine plan when thisblessing comes to the people isclearly indicated in verses 22 and 23,which read : "Therefore thus saiththe Lord, who redeemed Abraham,,concerning the house of Jacob, Ja-cob, shall not now be ashamed,neither shall his face now ,wax pale.But when he seeth his children, th ework of Mine hands, in the midst

of him ; they shall sanctify My name ,and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob ,and shall fear the God of Israel."This shows that when the books areopened the resurrection will be tak-ing place, hence Jacob will be backfrom the grave, and also his children.

And then, in the next verse, thelast of the chapter, we are given afurther clue as to the effect of th eopening of the books. We quote :"They also that erred in spirit shal lcome to understanding, and theythat murmured shall learn doctrine . "Doctrine is teaching, and because tonearly the whole world the teachingsof Christ—the commandments o fGod—have been a sealed book, the yhave never had a real opportunity o fknowing the divine will and, upo nthe basis of such knowledge, beingable to render obedience . Indeed,because the time for the enlighten-ment of all the people had not com ein Jesus' day, He quoted the proph-ecy of Isaiah to show why He sooften spoke in dark sayings so thatthe people could not understandHim—"He hatli blinded their eyes,and hardened their heart ; that theyshould not see with their eyes, norunderstand with their heart, and beconverted, and I should heal them."--John 12 :40 .

To Save the World

The foregoing passage would b edifficult, indeed, to understand shoul dwe take the view that the opportun-ity for salvation is limited to th epresent life . But when we get the en-larged vision of the divine plan asit is revealed in the Bible, it appearsquite different .

Indeed, it is in this very dis-course of Jesus that the words ofour text are fohnd in which He ex-plains that those who do not believ ebecause of inability to understand ,are held over until the "last . day "to be judged. And the Master ex-plains that His purpose in cominginto the world was to bring salvation ,not condemnation ; and this salvationreaches the people as they are en-lightened concerning the will andpurpose of God.

Just as Jesus purposely spoke inparables so that only a few hav ebeen able to understand—that is,those who now have the "hearin gear"—so the prophet explains thatthe Lord has caused a spirit of dee psleep to come upon the professe dteachers of the people, and hathclosed their eyes . And it is becauseof this, the prophet explains, thatthe "vision of all is become unt oyou as the words of a book that issealed." (Isa. 29 :10, 11 .) The prin-ciple expressed by the apostle when

The Dawn

he raised the question, "How shallthey hear without a teacher?" showsthat inasmuch as the prophets andteachers are unable to understandthe "book," the people in generalare therefore left in darkness . Henceit is true, that "darkness shall coverthe earth, and gross darkness th epeople. "—Isa . 60 :2 .

In addition to the fact that as yetno effort has been made on the par tof God to enlighten the world of ,mankind in general, there also hasbeen the blinding influences of Satan ,the god of "this present evil world,"of whom it is said that he 'hathblinded the minds of them which be-lieve not, lest the light of the glor-ious gospel of Christ, who is th eimage of God, should shine unt othem." (2 Cor . 4 :4 .) But at the be-ginning of the world's Judgmen tDay, Satan is to be bound that h emight deceive the nations no more ;hence, when the "books" are opene dthere will be no counter influencesto hinder the general diffusion ofknowledge that will then be sentthroughout the earth. Of that time,the prophet writes that God will"turn to the people a pure language,lthat they may all call noon th ename of the Lord to serve Him withone . consent. "—Zeph. 3 :8, 9 .

Judged By Christ's Words

Jesus says, in our text, that thos ewho do not believe on Him now willbe judged by His words in the "lastday." It is clear, then, that it i sthese words of the Master, which H eexplains are the commands of Hi sFather, that are contained in th e"books" which will be opened dur-ing the Judgment Day. The open-ing of the books is a beautiful sym-bol of the revealing of the divinewill to the people. It will be a per-fect revelation of God's will, un-hampered in any way by the be-wildering influences of false teach-ings, and unconfused by the decep-tive doctrines of the adversary, thearch-deceiver of mankind.

Upon the basis of this revealedknowledge of God and His will, thepeople will be judged—according totheir works. Not their past works,except as their past lives have beencontrary to the light they then pos-sessed, but primarily according a stheir works "shall be."(Rev. 22 :12. )And as the works of the individual sare brought into harmony with therevealed will of God, their name sshall be placed in what is referre dto as the "book of life." Not thatthere will be a literal book, with lit-eral names written in it, No, thisis but a symbol of the fact thatthose who obey the laws of the new

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judged. This is clearly shown in th epassage by the fact that the"works" of the people are listed asseparate from the things written i nthe books ; that is, the judgment i ssaid to be based upon the thing swritten in the books, "according totheir works." The thought clearlyis that the "works" are squared upwith what is revealed in the books .What then is symbolized by theopening of the books ?

God is His own interpreter, andin Isaiah 29 :11-18 He gives us a def-inite clue as to the symbolism of th e"books," and what is implied b ytheir opening . In this passage, weare told of a "book that is sealed . "This book is given, first to one wh ois learned, and then to one who isunlearned, but neither is able to"read" it nor to reveal the mean-ing of its contents . This inabilit yto understand the "book" is use dto symbolize a lack of vision, o runderstanding on the part of th epeople .

January 1939

Kingdom will . be put in the way oflife.

Man, during his first judgmentday, back in Eden, disobeyed thedivine law, and death came as a re-sult . The future jugment day i sfor the purpose of giving all theworld an individual trial for life ,based upon a full understanding ofthe divine will, even as Adam had aclear understanding of the divine wil lin the beginning ; and the book oflife is a symbol of the blessing oflife that will come to all the obed-ient ones of that time .

The Highway Made PlainThe return to life is described in

Isaiah 35 :8 as an "highway," thatis, a public roadway ; and its des-tination is "holiness," or perfectio n—the condition that was lost byAdam because of his disobedienceto the divine law . Of that "high-way" the prophet says that it wil lbe made so plain that the "wayfar-ing men, though fools, shall not errtiherein ." Surely ',that has neve rbeen true in the past, neither is i ttrue now. Today there are a multi-tude of voices calling from all di-reetions, purporting to point out theway of salvation ; hence, unless Godtakes one specially in hand to helphim, he is quite liable to becomehopelessly confused as to which i sthe right way .

But conditions will be vastlychanged when the "books are open-ed," revealing clearly the outlineof the "highway" which leads backto life everlasting . Of that highwaythe prophet writes, "No lion shal lbe there ." Peter, speaking of thepresent time, describes Satan as a"roaring lion" who goes about seek-ing whom he may devour . But atthe beginning of the judgment day ,as we have seen, Satan will be bound ,hence will not be permitted to putup "detour" signs to lure the peopleaway from the "highway" thatleads to perfection and life .

But this does not mean universa lsalvation. It is simply that all wil lbe given a fair opportunity for sal-vation—the salvation that was pur-chased for them by the death of Je-sus, who gave Himself a ransom forall . The opening of the books wil lbe so complete during the Kingdo mperiod that any disobedience to th edivine law will be wholly wilfuleven as it was in the case of Adam .Concerning the result of that futur edisobedience the apostle says, "Andit shall come to pass, that everysoul, which will not hear that proph-et, shall be destroyed from amongthe people.''—Acts 3 :23 .

Resurrection By JudgmentJesus said, "Marvel not at this :

for the hour is coming, in the whichall that are in their graves shall hearHis voice, and shall come forth ;they that have done good, unto theresurrection of life ; and they thathave done evil, unto the resurrec-tion of judgment." (John 5 :28,29 ;Revised Version and Diaglott.) The"good" referred to in this passage,and who come forth to a resurrectionof life, are evidently, those who, hav-ing been enlightened in this !life ,and having been faithful to th elight, have passed their trial suc-cessfully. During this present Gos-pel age, this class would comprise ,primarily, the "little flock," wh owill, in the Kingdom period, be reign-ing with Christ. These, indeed, willtake part in the judging of the worl dof mankind. "Do ye not know thatthe saints shall judge the world'? "enquires the apostle .-1 Cor. 6 :2 .

Those who have done evil, on thecontrary (which, undoubtedly refer sto the vast majority of mankind i nall ages) are to come forth to a res-urrection "of judgment ." This seemslike strange language until it is ex-amined more carefully. For ex-ample, the coming forth from th egrave is shown to be but preparatoryto the "resurrection ." In this con-nection, we are reminded that whenJesus raised Lazarus from the sleepof death, He called hint to "comeforth, and he that was dead cameforth ." (John 11 :43, 44 .) But Laz-arus was not, strictly speaking, res-urrected, because he went back intodeath again in later years . However,those who are called forth from thesleep of death during the world' sjudgment day, will be called forthfor judgment or trial, and if theypass the trial successfully it wil lmean their complete raising up t operfection—the full restoration ofthat perfection that was lost be-cause of the sin in Eden . And thos ewho attain to that perfection, andwho continue to obey the divine law ,will live forever .

Thus the evil ones will come forthto a "resurrection of judgment . "The Greek word here translate d"judgment" clearly includes th ethought of a trial, or a test, leadingup to and culminating in a sentence .If the lives of these, when they ar ebrought forth from death and en-lightened by the opening of thebooks, are made to conform to th edivine will, their resurrection, orraising un will be complete, and theirnames will be permitted forever t oremain in the "book of life ." That

is, they will live forever upon therestored earth . But if, when thatfull opportunity comes to them, the ydisobey, they will be returned intodeath—the "second death . "

More Tolerable For Sodom

Iu order to assure us that th eblessings of the Judgment Day havebeen provided for all those who hav enot sinned against full light, Jesu stells us that it will be "more toler-able" for Sodom and Gomorrha inthe day of judgment than for th eJews who have rejected Him at Hi sfirst advent . (Matt . 10 :15.) Manyare the promises that point out theblessings that are coming . to thoseJews who rejected the Lord. Pauldiscusses this point in the 11th chap -ter of Romans. There he refers tothem as unbelievers, and who wer ecast off from the special privilege sof this Gospel age because of thei runbelief . Yet, explains Paul, "ther eshall come out of Sion the Deliverer ,and shall turn away ungodlinessfrom Jacob ." In fact, the apostl eexplains that God hath concludedall the Jews "in unbelief, that H emight have mercy upon all .'.'—Rom .11 :26-32 .

From this it is clearly apparentthat it is to be very "tolerable," orfavorable, for the Jews in that fu-ture day of judgment ; hence, whenJesus declares that it will be evenmore favorable for the Sodomites,we are doubly assured that the bless-ings of that day will indeed be all -comprehensive. The Prophet Ezek-iel (ch. 16 :55-63.) leaves no doubtabout the fact that the Sodomites a swell as the people of Israel are t obe brought back from the tomb ;and from Jesus' words, we can se ethat rich blessings await them i fthey then conform their lives to Hi swords which will then be revealedto them by the opening of the books .Men Make God's Love Too Narrow

How much better and broader isthe divine plan for the blessing ofthe people than the many miscon-ce p tions of that plan that have beenand still are advocated by man . Sa-tan has ever sought to misrepresen tGod's plan in this connection, an dmany are the . false arguments h esets forth through various channel sin an endeavor to show that therewill be no opportunity after deathfor any to gain life . True. . those wh owilfully disobey the light they nowhave will suffer accordingly ; and,if their light is sufficient, and theirdisobedience 'fully wilful," there wil lbe no further opportunity for them.

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'But we cannot be the judges of whois thus guilty and who is not .

There are many professed teachers'of the people who set forth th ethought that unless one accept swholeheartedly the particular inter-pretation of the Scriptures whichthey set forth, he is forever doomed .but the weakness of this position isquickly seen when we think of th emany different ones making the sameclaim, yet having divergent ideas ofwhat constitutes the will of God .Such conflicting claims must surel yleave the people in a state of be-wilderment as to which is the rightway. No, God will not make th eeternal salvation of any dependen tupon obedience to the conflictingteachings of men, no matter ho wloudly they claim that their idea scome direct from God .

Just as God made the understand-ing of His will very plain back inEden, sa in the world's future day of;trial, it will be made equally clear .The knowledge of His glory willthen fill the earth as the waters cover'the sea . (Isa. 11 :9 ; flab. 2 :14.) Al lthe blind eyes will then be opened,and all the deaf ears unstopped .(Isa, 35 :5 .) Then He will turn to the

people a pure language, or message .'(Zeph. 3 :9.) The "river of water-of life'' will be pure . (Rev . 22 :1, 2 . )Satan will be bound that he may de-ceive the nations no more . (Rev . 20 :

1, 2.) And, upon the basis of theclearly revealed will of God, the:world will be judged in righteous-ness .-=Acts 17 :31. .

Harmony and Life RestoredThus, when the grea plan of God

for human restoration to life shal lhave been completed, it will againhave been demonstrated that onlythrough obedience to the law ofGod can peace, happiness, and lif ebe attained and maintained. Then ,because the divine law will hav ebeen fully restored among men, thatharmony that is seen in the inani-mate things of God's creation wil lalso be manifested among His intel-ligent creatures here upon the earth.No longer will it be said that "onlyman is vile," because man will havelearned the terrible results of dis-obedience to the divine law, and willhave joyfully returned to the path ofobedience .

Thus man will become a willingslave to the divine law; having beenbrought into that condition of har-mony and life, not through coercion,but by choice—a choice that will b ebased upon the true knowledge o fGod, revealed by the love and pa-tience of the Creator throughout th eages of the outworking of the divin eplan. And when we realize that thi sglorious consummation of the divine

The Dawn-plan is to be realized through

the

future work of judgment, which willbe based upon His revealed word oftruth ' to the people, we can betterunderstand the significance of thosebeautiful prophetic words of thePsalmist :

"0 sing unto the Lord a new song ;for He hath done marvellous things :His right 'hand, and His holy arm ,hath 'gotten Him the victory. TheLord hath made known His salva-tion His righteousness hath Heopenly shewed in the sight of th eheathen . He hath remembered Hi smercy and His truth toward thehouse of Israel : all the ends o fthe earth have seen the salvation ofour God. Make a joyful noise unt othe Lord, all the earth : make a loudnoise, and rejoice, and sing praise.Sing unto the Lord with the harp ;with the harp, and the voice of apsalm. With trumpets and sound o fcornet make a joyful noise beforethe Lord, the King. Let the searoar, and the fulness thereof; theworld, and they that dwell therein .Let the floods clap their hands ; letthe hills be joyful together beforethe Lord ; for He cometh to judgethe earth : with righteousness shal lHe judge the world, and the peoplewith equity."—Psalm 98 .

5 CENT VEST-POCKET BOOKLET S

T1-Ll vest-pocket size booklets are proving to be verysatisfactory for general distribution ; and their use hasresulted in a greatly increased circulation of the truth .These little booklets have been found to be very con-yenient for use at public meetings . The following arehow obtainable : ,

"God and Reason "—A brief outline of God 's planAs it relates to present world conditions, showing th eremarkable fulfilment of prophecy since the expiratio nof the Gentile Times in 1914. This little booklet has'been very effective in stimulating interest in the truth .

"Hope Beyond the Grave"—A comprehensive trea-tise of the entire subject of life, death and the here-after . The soul, immortality, hell, heaven, paradise,spiritism, and related points, are discussed. So far aswe are aware, there is no other single piece of truth lit-erature which deals with all these various phases of th esubject of hope beyond the grave.

"The Day of Jehovah"—A reprint from The DivinePlan of the Ages, chapter 15 .

"The Truth About Hell"—A slightly condensed edi-tion of Brother Russell 's original hell booklet . Thisanew edition is very attractive .

"What Is Man?"---A reprint from The Atonement'Between God and Man, chapter 12.

ZIONISM IN PROPHECY

This booklet was . prepared specially as a messageof comfort to the Jews, and has had a wide circulatio namong them, both in America and in Europe . It hasalso proved to be very effective as a means of intro-ducing the truth to Gentiles. Its review of the fulfil-ment of Bible prophecies arouses interest and a desir efor further information. Single copies are 20 cents ;$1 procures 7 copies, postpaid ; and in lots of fifty ormore they are 10 cents each, carrying charges collect.

KINGDOM CARDS

The distribution of Kingdom Cards still seems to b ethe most effective method of arousing interest in th etruth message . A brother in the South reports an aver -age of one literature request for every 12 Kingdo mCards placed. These cards are adapted for eithermailing or house-to-house distribution.

Also we have on hand a specially prepared "Consola-tion Card" suited for giving to bereaved ones . Itcarries a loving message of hope and offers free, th ebooklet, "Hope Beyond the Grave . "

These cards are free and will be shipped in any quan-tity desired . Address all orders to

The Dawn, 136 Fulton St ., Brooklyn, N. Y.

Through Our Window

In 1939OME of us have been looking through ou rwindow. This window is a pure crystal, andthrough it we see many things—things per-taining to the ways of men, the course o f

time, and divers matters great and small . For ourcrystal window is the wonderful window of divineTruth .

Through our window, in this the year 1939, wecan see the palace chambers of the ages, and, in thesespacious halls, behold the aristocracy of the Fact sof Truth as they progress toward their respectivegoals with stately grace . One is impressed with thei rquiet, prevailing strength as they brush aside s'yner-stitions, specious dogmas and idle speculations . Theirpenetrating eyes appear to look through time an dthrough the world's affairs . They unlock many se-crets and rise above conventionalities and shams . Werecognize them as the world's true nobility .

Through our window, we can see that love i sstill not dead to the world . It still shines here an dthere . It is still proved by sacrifice and self-denial .And, although we know that much that passes fo rthe real thing fails to stand the test, we know tha tthe triumph of true love is assured, and its gloriousbanner, emblazoned with the light of verity and joy ,shall yet float over the world .

Through our window, too, we can see that ther eis still some faith—faith in the divine promises, faithin the destiny of man . One power that attests thisfact is natural sunli ght, which finds its counterpartin the faith of the Christian. A faithless, unbeliev-ing world would be a world lost to every good im-pulse .

Peering forth, we behold in true poise and mean-ing, the form of nature as it preaches the maiesticsermon of Reason and speaks of the eternal dram aof affairs governed by the law of Cause and Effect .Moreover, we perceive that nature's operations ar echaracterized by a marvelous simplicity notably lack-ing in almost all human acheivment .

Through our window, we discern a specious phil-osophy which teaches that the end justifies th emeans. This philosophy now prevails in the world .Also, there looms up an inconsiderate acquisitivenes sthat surges with desolating force upon society . Wesee the strength of a few brave, unselfish minds asthey endeavor to hurl back this poignant foe of tru ecivilization and real progress, pointing to the greatlaw of Reproduction in Kind and compensations

that whatsoever nations or individuals sow, the ymust invariably reap, be it good or bad, and that n oone is ever justified in doing an ill deed, even thoughthe purpose and motive seemingly were to a goodend .

By means of our seeing powers and our wonder-ful glass, we can observe that the political structur eof Europe, yes, and of the world, is so delicatelybalanced, that at any time, some trivial occurencemay overthrow the present order . The recent crisi sin Europe helps us to realize how near the brink ofruin the world is . How the world waited in sus-pense ! How it figuratively held its breath ! Woul dthose mighty winds of Revelation blow or would the ynot? They seemed on the very verge of sweepingthe world, but some great power held them back .For what reason? The Bible answers that question —"Till we have sealed the servants of our God in thei rforeheads ." When that sealing work is completed,.then the winds will be allowed to blow and will n olonger be held in restraint .

Looking through our window, we can see the ap-proach of a New Day, a New Era, A New World .In the great denouement of the divine plan there ap-pears to us the vision of Life riding in to win th evictory over Death, health and happiness coming i nto gain the mastery over tears and pain ; Love ad-vancing with potent strides to subdue those mon-strous emotions of selfness and pride . Then, too,there towers aloft the mighty form of Faith in humandestiny, faith in the possibilities of the race, confi-dence in a great, supervising Intelligence that fro mthe beginning has known the end and that beats outthe golden finality of human affairs with the mightyhammers of circumstances and events .

Still looking out, we see the one great Head of theChurch of God . Yes, we hear His voice saying,."Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men . "Moreover in vision we see heaven opened, "and be-hold a white horse ; and He that sat upon Him wascalled Faithful and True, and in righteousness H edoth judge and make war . His eyes were as a flam eof fire, and on His head were many crowns ; and Hehad a name written, that no man knew, but He Him -self . And He was clothed with a vesture dipped i nblood : and His name is called The Word of God ."—Rev. 19 :11-13 .

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And now we behold the Master as He trod Judea ' shills so long ago. We can see Him heal the deaf ,the halt and the blind . We can see Him as Heexercises power over death and speaks to the tomband says, "Lazarus, come forth !" We can see Himfeed the multitude, walk upon the water, take a coi nfrom the mouth of a fish, and baffle the catch ques-tions of the Pharisees and Scribes . We can see Himas He says to the disciples, "Whosoever he be tha tforsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My dis-ciple," and again, "Blessed are ye, when men shallrevile you, and persecute you, and shall say all man-ner of evil against you falsely, for My sake . Re-joice, and be exceeding glad : for great is your re -ward in heaven ." We can see Him as He went toCalvary as the world's great sacrifice. We can se eHim as He arose from the dead, and we can sing,

"Up from the grave He aroseWith a mighty triumph o 'er His foes.He arose from the dark domain ,And He lives forever with His saints to reign . "

And we can see Him as He ascended to heaven, andas a cloud received Him from the disciples' sight .

Again, we behold Him at His second coming. Weknow that He is here by the many evidences and thedisintegration of earth's kingdoms. We can realiz ethat the waters [peoples] are rising and the moun-tains [kingdoms] are being shaken . We can seethat the Harvest work is still going on, for some ar estill being separated from systems of bondage. Weknow that the "sealing" of the saints in their fore-heads still continues ; and we can see that some ar ecooperating with Him and doing His will in wit-nessing for the truth .

Through our window, we can see a great changetaking place in human affairs . Before the WorldWar broke out in the year 1914, there was not thatsense of insecurity which has been characteristic o fthe times since then . Religious liberty was decidedlymore general then than it is now and most of thos ewho had been thrifty and diligent. during their life -time. felt reasonably sure of the means for their need sin their declining years. But today there is no secur-ity, and in many parts of the world religious freedo mis a thing of the past .

Then, too, a considerable part of the world is atwar. Before 1914, there was much talk of the per-manence of peace . Many persons believed that an -other great war between nations would be impossible .Now, however, every one believes to the contray, fo revery intelligent person knows that a war can b eprecipitated over night . And so terrible is moder nwarfare that none of the belligerents can possiblyhope to reap rewards of victory—it means loss anddestruction to all .

. _ The young people of today are to be pitied. Theirprospects are poor, indeed, because all fields of pe-cuniary endeavor are over-crowded. -It was not verylong ago that a good mechanic and tradesman could

The Dawn

work almost anywhere, but today there are thousandsof the finest tradesmen and mechanics walking thestreets . And the population continues to increaseapace, and the profiteering system continues its ex-ploitation of the poor, and from every point of vie wthe world is in a very precarious condition.

Through our window, then, we can see the need ofthe divine Kingdom. We know that it is the oneand only hope for the poor, groaning creation. Andin the words of the Master we can pray, "Thy King-dom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is inheaven ." We can see the utter failure of all humanpolicies and aims to reestablish a fast disintegratingsociety. The world is in serious difficulty and i sunable to extricate itself . We can see that God'speople are properly pictured as standing on a sea ofglass mingled with fire—that to them the transpiringevents are clear and transparent and therefore theycan see through them the ultimate disastrous conclus-ion to this "present evil world ."

It is also evident to our mental perception thatGod is dealing with His people, that He is gather-ing together His scattered sheep. Jesus said, "Mysheep hear My voice and I know them, and they fol-low Me. They know not the voice of strangers . "( John 10 :27, 5.) So today they clearly recognize th eShepherd 's voice. Ere long the► last sheep will begathered into the fold, and then, as the Master said,"Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold :them also I must bring, and they shall hear . My voice ;and there shall be one fold, and one Shepherd :"( John 10 :16.) No doubt our Lord here referred tothe sheep of the Millennial age.

Then we can see the power of truth as it enable sus to develop the beautiful fruitage of patience, faithand love . By it, we are enabled to recognize andacknowledge all those who are laying down thei rlives for its sake and the brethren . Their hearts arenot disposed toward 'the perishing things of thi sworld, but their hope is "as an anchor of the soul,both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into thatwithin the vail . " (Heb. 6 :19.) They can say ,

" I hear a voice you cannot hear, 'Which says I must not stay ;I see a hand you cannot seeWhich beckons me away . "

And to be sure, the world cannot hear the voice o ftruth as it calls or see the invisible finger of truth a sit beckons certain ones to follow the divine principlesset forth in the Word of God and to be faithfulunto death.

A certain writer has said, "The 1providence of Go dover His sons is a very particular providence . Alltheir steps are ordered of the Lord (Psa . 37 :23 . )and the very hairs of their head are all numbered .(Luke 12 :7.) His eyes are ever upon the righteous,and His ears are open to their prayers . (1 Pet. 3 :12 .) Angels are ministering spirits sent forth to min-ister to these heirs of salvation. (Heb. ' 1 :14.) Al l

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.1a . 1um-e 193 9

things are made to worl$ together for these, wh olove God and are called according to His purpose.(Rom. 8 :28.) And no good thing is withheld fromthem. (Psa . 84 :11.) How wonderful and particula ris His care ; and they have the promise of it to theend of their trial state . God is indeed a Father toall who put their trust in Him ; but there is a widedifference between those who are His sons, and thosewho remain aliens, and even enemies ."

It was our Father who gave us the window orglass through which we are enabled to see so manythings in their true setting. Jesus was the greatestof all exponents of truth, and He prayed, saying,"Sanctify them through Thy truth ; Thy Word istruth . " (John 17 :17.) He also said, I thank thee,O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hastrevealed them unto babes ." (Luke 10 :21 .) We knowthat various persons are looking through this greatand wonderful window today, and that their heart sare cheered and blessed by the things which theysee .

We would rejoice if all could look through ou rwindow, which is indeed the Lord's window. Butall have not the seeing eye or the hearing ear fo rthe things of truth. We are glad, however, to kno wthat ere long the people of the world will be able tosee some of the things that we can see today . Whenthe New Age is ushered in, and love comes to reignin the hearts of men, its glorious banner will be

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seen to float over all the world . When war is abol-ished, they will rejoice in a peace that shall encom-pass the earth. When life wins the victory overdeath, they will sing the alleluia chorus in praise o fthat God "from Whom all blessings flow . " Andwhen the divine Kingdom is fully established, theywill forget the long nightmare of sorrow and painin the universal joy then shared by all .

After seeing some of the things already described ,we were weary and we fell asleep . It was just anatural sleep, for the body required rest . It seemedbut a brief span till we were awakened by the songsof birds . We opened our eyes and arose. Themountain 's brow was touched with rosy light . Thegreat sun was rising in a bar of gold. A new daywas here, a few more precious hours in which t ofollow the Master, to comfort the brethren, to hol dup the message of the divine Kingdom, to fight withthe sword of the spirit beneath the banner of th ecross, to rejoice in divine love and grace, and to la ydown life itself in the service of the truth .

Ah, yes, a new day with birds and flowers, withpeace, with responsibility and work, and with a vis-ion of the Lord to chase away sorrow and gloom, andto fill our hearts with inexpressible joy, had pre-sented itself to our mental vision and we were keenl yalert to all its glorious implications ; for it was areality, a never ending scene of harmonious accor dand resplendent glory .

If Thine Eye Be Single"The light of the body is the eye : therefore when

thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full oflight ; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also isfull of darkness."—Luke 11 :34-36 .

HERE has never been a time when the lightof knowledge on every subject was so prev-alent and so eagerly sought as the present ;and yet the strange paradox occurs that ,

with respect to the most important truths, an accurat eknowledge of God, His character and plans, th eworld is in dense ignorance . If is even as the Proph-et foretold, "Behold, the darkness shall cover th eearth, and gross darkness the people .", (Isa. 60 :2 .) -For the explanation of this phenomenon we must g oto the Bible ; and there we find that the conditiondid not come about by chance, but is the deliberat ework of Satan, the great adversary of God . Thisfact is clearly stated by St . Paul : "If our gospel behid, it is hid to them that are lost : In whom. the godof this world hath blinded the minds of them whichbelieve not, lest the light of the glorious gospel ofChrist, Who is the image of God, should shine unt othem . " (2 Cor. 4 :3, 4.) For centuries the most mis-leading doctrines have been labeled truth, and con -versely truth has been labeled error . This has beenSatan's way of blinding the minds of fallen man :"He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode

not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own : forhe is a liar, and the father of it . " (John 8 :44.) "Woeunto them that call evil good, and good evil ; that putdarkness for light, and light for darkness ; that putbitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter !"—Isa . 5 :20 .

The nation of Israel was greatly favored above allother nations in that God gave them His law, adapt-ed for the instruction of fallen man . He gave themalso prophetic statements of His purpose to bless allthe families of the earth through Abraham ' s seed,Notwithstanding God 's dealings with them, the greatmajority of them were unprepared to receive th eLord Jesus and His message at His first advent.As St. Paul says, "their minds were blinded," theirtable (of truth) had "become a snare " and becauseof hardness of heart and pride they had missed thevery essence and purpose of the law, which was t omake them realize their inability to gain life unde rthe law covenant, and thus to prepare them the morereadily to receive the gift of imputed righteousnessthrough Jesus . Concerning which St . John says ,"In Him [Jesus] was life ; and the life was th elight of men. And the light shineth in darkness .;and the darkness comprehended it not . "—2 Cor . 3 :14 ;Psa. 69 :22 ; Rom. 11 :9 ; John 1 :4, 5 .

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Darkness Dissipated by JesusThe darkness in which the whole race had been en-

veloped was less realized during the law dispensa-tion. St. John, himself a Jew, indicates this, whenhe says in 1 John 2 :8 : "The darkness is past, and th etrue light now shineth." For the church, the dark-ness has been dissipated by the knowledge of theabounding grace of God through Jesus . This ac-cords with the words of St. Paul in 2 Corinthian s4 :6 : "For God, who commanded the light to shineout of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to giv ethe light of the knowledge of the glory of God in th eface of ,Jesus Christ ." It was God Himself who ,through the Logos, had commanded at the beginnin gof the earth's history, "Let there be light ." And itis this same Eternal One who later sent "His onlybegotten Son" into the world to he its mental an dmoral light . " I am the light of the world," said Je-sus . "He that followeth Me shall not walk in dark-ness, but shall have the light of life ." (John 8 :12 . )In Jesus, then, as a man, was the perfect exampl egiven ; and that life was the light of men, revealin gcomplete faithfulness both in mental attitude, and con-duct of what a perfect life should be. And how dif-ferent was that Paragon, from the failures of im-perfect man ! What humility was His! What lackof over self-confidence ! What glorifying of Hi sheavenly Father ! What self-sacrificing love ! Wha ttrust in God !

"Christ Glorified Not Himself'D

In Him was life, and let us note carefully how per-fect life manifested itself . Listen to His words :

"`As I hear, I judge : and My judgment is just : be-'cause I seek not mime own will, but the will of theFather which hath sent Me . " (John 5 :30.) "The'word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father 's'which sent Me." ( John 14 :24.) "For I proceededforth and came from God ; neither came I of My -self, but He sent Me ." (John 8 :42 . )

Again with reference to His miraculous works ,He said, "Believest thou . not that I am in the Father ,and the Father in Me?. the words that I speak . untoyou I speak not of Myself : but the Father that dwell-gal in Me, He doeth the works." (John 14 :10. )What humility is here revealed in the One wh ohad been used as God 's agent in the creation of al lthings! "All things were made by Him ; and withoutHim was not anything made that was made ."—John1 :3 .

Again, when one addressed Him as "Good Mas-ter," before answering His inquirer's question, H efirst of all gives testimony to the fact that all "good-ness" is of God : and that those qualities in Himwhich prompted this one to speak of Him as "good,"were but an illustration of the goodness of God, an devidence of His Father's power and spirit in Him .As He again explained, "I do always those thingsthat please Him . " and "God giveth not the spirit by;treasure unto Him [the Son] ." . . John 8 :29 ; 3 :34 .

These illustrations of life present lessons of greatimportance to us as followers of Jesus . What roomhave we for self-confidence in either material or

The Dawnspiritual matters? What power or goodness' have weexcept as we have been emptied of self and are th esubjects of God's holy spirit and Word. Jesus as scribed all wisdom, power and grace to His Fathe ras the source as well as the great giver—to Him a swell as to all His creatures . This honoring of Hi sheavenly Father was characteristic of Jesus' teach-ings and this attitude is especially emphasized in St .John's Gospel, where we may note many 'impressiveillustrations of this principle of "greatness in humil-ity ." This characteristic of strength through depend-ence upon His Father was prophetically foretold . asJesus' testimony—the course which enabled Him toovercome in the supreme tests which the Father inHis infinite wisdom permitted : "I have set the Lord[Jehovah] always before Me : because He is at M yright hand, I shall not be moved . "Let us likewise inevery experience in which we have any measure ofsuccess,, recognize also that it is due to God ' s powerworking in us . St. Paul testifies along this line, say-ing : "But by the grace of God I am what I am : andHis grace which, was bestowed upon me was not i nvain ; but I laboured more abundantly than they all :yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me . "(1 Cor. 15 :10.) And again, "Whereunto I als olabour, striving according to His' working, ' whic hworketh in me mightily."—Col . 1 :29 .

In our text at the head of this article we have oneof our heart-searching messages expressed in figure sof speech. As Jesus was the light of the world ,so He said of His followers—they were also to b ethe light of the world . And this responsibility tolet our light shine is repeatedly expressed by bot hour I,ord and His Apostles . Luke 11 :33 emphasizesthis responsibility in the familiar words : "No man,when he bath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secretplace, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick .that they which come in may see the light ."Importance of a Single Eye

Then. in the succeeding verses—34 to 36--Jesusgives the essential internal conditions for one of Hi srepresentatives enlightened similarly to Himself, andtherefore, an efficient light-bearer. To be fully en-lightened, one must have a single eye we are told .In examining the word "single" we find that it doe snot today indicate the meaning of . the original . In-stead, it would better be translated "free from de-fect, unspotted . " And that coincides with our ow nobservation . One with defective eyes is handicapped ,he cannot clearly discern natural light. Defectivespiritual vision is a similar handicap to clear dis-cernment of truth . Neither is it enough that we be -come acquainted with great truths . To really appre-ciate these truths it is necessary that we digest an dact in harmony with them. many have learned some-thing of the origin and power of sin, and have casu-ally listened to words of divine wisdom, even as th emultitude listened to the gracious words that werespoken by Jesus . No . doubt, those words havehad some effect on many of the hearers . But ourLord, in this three-verse sermon, tells of a class whoare "doers" and not "hearers" only ; "when thineeye be single, thy whole body also is full of light . "

January 1939

Some have progressed to a point where, with sin-ful self clearly discerned, there has been awakened asincere desire for freedom from sin . Such have re-pented of sin, and some of these have gone on furtherto learn of and to accept Jesus as their redeemer, a sthe One who gave His life to be "the propitiationfor . . . the sins of the whole world . " Thus theyhave progressed to justification from sin, and throughthe increasing light they have become tentatively ofthe household of faith .

To follow the light thus far has been the experi-ence of many thousands during the Gospel age . Butto go no further is unsatisfactory to the justifiedbeliever and to the great Justifier . To the one whohas the "single eye" the righteousness imputed tohim through faith in Jesus is sooner or later recog-nized to he but a beginning ; and that those who"hunger and thirst after righteousness " have othe rsteps to take in order that they may be "filled . "In the possessor of the single eye there is then awak-ened a longing for "that holiness without which non eshall see the Lord ;" and, in accord with the Lord' sWord, the light is still further increased and reveal sthat the only way to attain personal and eternal hol-iness--and not merely imputed righteousness— is t ofollow the Lord in consecration even unto death. Asthe Apostle says : "Present your bodies a living sacri-fice . . . and be not conformed to this world but betransformed by the renewing of your mind, that y emay ascertain that good, and acceptable . and per-fect will of God ."—Rom. 12 :1-3 .

To the rational believer this invitation to come nig hGod for the present life and for eternity is most wel-come. Their attitude is the same as St . Paul's : `Butwhat things were gain to me, those things I counte dloss for Christ . Yea doubtless, and I count all thing sbut loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Chris tJesus my Lord : for Whom I have suffered the loss o fall things, and do count them but dung, that I maywin Christ ."--Phil . 3 :7-8 .

Progress in EnlightenmentFrom his original state—a child of wrath even a s

others—the one with the single eye has now com ea long way. Enlightened as to his sinful state, Jesu shas now been made unto him "wisdom, " in givinghim the knowledge of God's provision of a coveringof the believer 's sin through faith in Jesus . Further,Jesus has been made unto him "justification, "through repentance from sin and faith in His shedblood . Now he follows on, for Jesus has become hi sLeader, Teacher, Head—his sanctification has begun ,which will mean his complete setting apart to Godand holiness, and his ultimate perfection in the like-ness of Jesus—"conformed to the image of His Son . "---1 Cor . 1 :30, 31 ; Rom. 8 :28-30.

Those who have cone thus far are indeed a favore dfew as compared with the world of mankind . Andvet, even for this few, there remain varied possibilitie sas to their destiny . As St. Paul says of those t owhom he had delivered, and who had accepted, theGospel Message : "Through which you are beingsaved, if you retain a certain word I evangelized toyou . " (1 Cor. 15 :2, Diaglott .) It is still possible for

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these favored ones who have given so nmch evidenceof the single eye in their course thus far, to eitherbuild into their character structure "gold, silver ,precious stones, " representing the principles of Go das revealed in His Word ; or "wood, hay, stubble, "representing incomplete and imperfect apprehension sof God's holiness, and hence a character which wil lnot stand in the tests to which all the saints mustbe subjected.

Even after St . Paul 's confession (Phil . 3 :7, 8.) towhich we have referred, he says (Verses 12-14 .) ,"But I follow after, if that I may apprehend tha tfor which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus .Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended :but this one thing I do, forgetting those things whic hare behind, and reaching forth unto those thingswhich are before, I press toward the mark for theprize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus . "

But let us turn again to our text (Luke 11 :34 . )and note that our "whole body" shall be "full o flight" if our eye be single . (Matt . 6 :22.) This littl eword "if" indicates that something may hinder full ,complete enlightenment . Thy body shall be full o flight if—thine eye is sound . We know none wouldintentionally permit his physical eyes to become defec -tive, and so we ask what might injure our spiritualsight and hinder our becoming "full of light"? Th eanswer to our question is given in the next clause :"but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full o fdarkness." The contrast then is between the de-sirable non-defective, sound, clear eye, and the "evil "eye ; the latter causing the body to he "full of dark-ness . " What, then,. did the Lord mean in warningus against the evil eve? This expression occurs bu ta few times in the New Testament. It is found inSt . Matthew's account of this parable (Matt . 6 :22,23.), and again in Mark 7 :22, where the "evil eye"is one of the evil things proceeding out from th eheart of imperfect, fallen man . It is also found inthe parable of "the penny, " recorded in Mattes- 20 :145. In that parable, it will be recalled, the King-dom of Heaven is likened to a householder who, atthe beginning of the day, hired servants to work inhis vineyard, agreeing to pay each of them a penn yfor his day 's labor . Later in the day he hired otherservants, agreeing to pay them "whatsoever is right"for the shorter periods. At the close of the day thehouseholder instructed the steward to call the laborer sand pay them their wages, beginning with the lasthired, who had worked the shortest time . The rec-ord says that each of the laborers received a penny ,and that v hin those first hired came, they suppose dthey would receive more than those who worke da shorter time, and murmured against the house-holder, saving "These last have wrought but onehour, and thou hast made them equal unto es, which.have borne the burden and heat of the day . " Whilethere may be additional lessons to be learned from acritical examination of this parable . there is one out -standing lesson which is related to our presen tstudy. The householder ' had paid full wages t oall the laborers, even to the ones who did not work allday. It is recorded that the reason the laborersemployed at the eleventh hour had been idle thereto-

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fore was—not that they did not wish • to work, but—that "no man hath hired " them. Incidentally we arewell able to understand this reply, for today ther eare many who are idle through no fault of theirs ,and who likewise would reply if asked why they arenot at work—"Because no man hath hired us . "

However, the point of special interest at this timeis the reply of the householder (verses 13-15) : "But

he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do the eno wrong : didst not thou agree with me for a penny ?'fake that thine is, and go thy way : I will give unt othis last, even as unto thee . Is it not lawful for meto do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil ,because I am good ?" Here is a striking illustratio nof an "evil eye . " The householder asks one of themurmuring laborers, "Is thine eye evil, because Iam good ?" Perhaps he would have us infer tha tthe laborers employed at the eleventh hour were i nequal need of a full day's pay, and therefore, beinga "good," generous employer, he gave them mor ethan they had earned, but not more than they hadneed of. But if so, we see these murmurers did no tshow that same benevolent spirit . They ,wished t obe paid more than their fellow laborers ; they wishedan exaltation over those they considered their les sworthy co-workers ; they displayed a spirit of selfish-ness and not the spirit of benevolence that rejoices inthe good fortune of another : they were not pleasedthat others should receive the same reward as they .

The Parable of the PennyWhat a lesson there is in this parable for ever y

follower of the Lord ! The murmuring laborers ha dworked all day in the vineyard and yet the Lordimplied that their disposition toward their co-worker swas indicative of an "evil eye"—a disposition thathindered their seeing the benevolence of the "good "householder and rejoicing in it . This caused them ,instead, to be preoccupied with their own reward ,and displeased, discontented, because it was not more ,than that of others . Here we have the secret ofour text . The "evil eye" is here revealed as a selfis hdisposition, the desire for self-exaltation rather tha n"in honor preferring one another ." To what will suc ha disposition lead? The Lord answers in Luke 11 :34 ,"But when thine eye is evil, thy body also is ful lof darkness . " In other words, no real Drogress canbe made. in the light by anyone whose heart is sel-fish, who cannot rejoice in the good fortune or th eopportunities of service accorded his fellows in th enarrow way. How important the Master's admoni-tion then in verse 35 : "Take heed therefore that thelight which is in thee be [come] not darkness" —evidently by loss of the single eye .

The single eye, then, we recognize to be the "pureheart," or complete, all-embracing, unreserved con-secration to God. Such a disposition as manifestedby our Lord and expresed in His words : "Lo Icome to do Thy will, 0 God ; I delight to do Thywill, " What glorious opportunities for growth i ngrace belong to such !

In verse 36, our Lord completes His impressiv elesson . In this verse He gives a test or method b ywhich we may examine ourselves and know whether

The Dawnour bodies are full of light . This is a most importantfeature of the lesson. How may we be sure that ou reye is single and that our bodies are full of light ? O rif our bodies are not full of light, if there is som e"part dark," how may we discern that, seek for th ecause and apply the corrective ?

Thy Whole Body Full of LightOur Lord gives a simple illustration to answe r

these important queries . He says (verse 36 .) : "Ifthy whole body therefore be full of light, having n opart dark, the whole shall be full of light, as whenthe bright shining of a candle cloth give thee light . "In other words, if thy whole body be full of light wit hno part dark, you will be like a candlelight . Whenwe enter a room with a light in the center, we d onot find it necessary to say, "Well I must go over i nthis or that corner so I can get the light ; or on this ,or that, side of the light, in order to receive its il-lumination ." No, a light shines on all sides ; fromwhatever way approached it still shines ; it shinesout with equal brilliance on every side and in ever ydirection. And thus, our Lord says, we can tes tourselves to see whether our body is full of light .If it is, the light of God's Spirit will shine out of ou rlife in every direction . There will not he some darkside to our course in life and our character. Ourbrethren or others will not he able to say of us ,"Well, he is all right, except on that point, that sid eof his character . " A searching thought is here pre-sented by our Lord, namely, that it is possible for on eto have lightyes, even to show forth light in somerespects—but in some other respects to be "dark "or the reverse of a light-giver . Let us search ourown hearts, brethren : let us see to it that our appre-ciation and understanding of God's Word is suchthat from every standpoint we may be seen to b eholding forth the light. As St . Paul says, "That yemay he blameless and harmless, the sons of God ,without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and per -verse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in th eworld ."—Phil . 2 :15 .

Let us make sure that in our course in life, in'ourhome, our business, among the brethren, we sho wforth the great principles of God's character—love ,justice, righteousness, equity. Let us see that no tonly our doctrinal expressions are squared with th eWord of God in every detail, but that our course i nlife is such as to honor Him and not hinder our ef-fectiveness as bearers of His message. Let us seethat all the rays of light are shining clearly from usas His children : love, joy, peace, long-suffering ,'humility, meekness, gentleness . Let us cultivate thathumble spirit which recognizes that even one un-judged . " little " fault in ourself is vastly more im-portant to us—because it affects our destiny—thanmany hundreds of faults in others .

May this simple illustration our dear Master ha sgiven in this lesson abide with us and, when we ap-proach a light and receive its welcome illuminatio nand assistance, let it remind us that the test of ou rsuccess and of His approval as one of His followers ,is that our body (our life, our character) shall h e"full of light," as a candle--shedding forth the light

January 1939

on every side . "But ye are a chosen generation, aroyal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people ;that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who

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bath called you out of darkness into His marvellouslight ."—1 Pet . 2 :9 .

Contributed

Apparent Failures .'1' THE beginning of a new year is a fittingtime for the Christian to examine himsel fand to note the measure of progress he ha smade in the narrow way—how successful he

has been in doing the Heavenly Father's will . EveryChristian should think of Christ as being a true c .ample of what it means to walk in the narrow way ;yes, He should be our inspiration in all Christia nendeavor . There is much in the life of the Maste ;that stands out with considerable glamour ; such, forexample, as His miracles . While Jesus promisedthat His disciples should do greater works than there ,~ . e know from the divine plan that this phase of He,ministry illustrated principally the miraculous works

His Kingdom when the church will he joint-hei ranal colaborers with Him .

There were other phases of the 1\-taster's life ,',which, from the human viewpoint, would seem to ii idicate that He failed ; and it is some of these that w ewish to look at for the moment in the belief that theymay help us to get a better, and perhaps more en-couraging, viewpoint of our own experiences as w estrive to follow in His footsteps . Obviously, how -ever, it is necessary to be careful how we talk abou tfailures for there are some apparent failures tha tare actually successes ; even as there are some ap-parent successes that turn out to be miserable failures .Whether we succeed or fail . in our efforts depend sentirely upon how God views the matter ; and thi swas true in the case of Jesus, our pattern .

It is necessary to see a great deal further than hu-man wisdom permits in order to be able to accur-ately judge of the failure or success of a Christia nlife . As usually understood a man is a failure if h estarts out to reach a certain goal, and fails to reachit . This is failure so far as human wisdom can de-termine, but it may be only apparent failure . . Theworld is full of failures in this sense . The fact i sthat for most people today life is a tremendous strug-gle ; and in this struggle there is a successful one hereand there, but failure almost everywhere . Thosewho have to be helped and assisted through life, whohave never gotten ahead and never will, may h efound everywhere—they may have tried their bes tbut they have failed . If we add to these the number

v:ho have failed in some one direction at least, th e'L tal is greatly increased . Some succeed in busines s

loot fail at home. Some are successful in youth• butafterlife does not fulfil youth 's promise. Failure in -eludes us all when we think of failure in special al -

iens-tits .But in the Christian life everything should be view-

ed from the divine standpoint ; and when we do thi swe discover that those things which men have con -

sidered failures, turn out in reality to be glorioussuccesses . So it was in the case of the Master . Itis therefore of interest to us as His followers to not esome of the apparent failures in Jesus' life, and todiscover why they were not actually so, as this shoul dhelp to give us a touchstone, so to speak, by whic hwe can measure the success of our own endeavors t odo the Heavenly Father 's will .

His Family Did Not Believe in HimIn John 7 :5 we read, "For neither did His breth-

ren believe in Him ." Yes, Jesus seemed to fail i nHis own home . Some might be inclined to say tha ta holy life ought to be an unfailing witness ; thatgoodness finds recognition in the long run, so if aman lives in accordance therewith he will livedown opposition. But Jesus lived that kind of a lifeamong His brethren for thirty years, yet for the mostpart they did not believe on Him. And this is anamazing fact recorded in a hook written to caus eothers to believe on Him, for John says at the endof his gospel, "These things are written that ye maybelieve that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, an dthat believing ye may have life through His name ."

We could easily damage one's reputation by sayingthat his relatives do not believe in him ; but the Onewho was guiding in recording the facts concerningJesus' life was not looking at matters from the hit-man standpoint . ' This apparent failure of Jesus athome might seem to be a real failure ; but was it theMaster's fault ? Certainly not . Actually it is a mis-use of language to say that Jesus failed to make peo-ple believe on Him: ' Does the sunshine try to per-suade you that it is warm and bright? If you areunable to see beauty in the summer sky, there i snothing more to say about it . And, if most of th ebrethren of Jesus could live so long under the sam eroof with Him and not believe in Him, we know thathuman weaknesses and the influence of Satan ha dprevented them from seeing Jesus in His true light .Also, that' it was not then clue time for them t obelieve .

A beautifui character often fails to meet v, ith rec-ognition . The same thing is going on in many home stoday even as it went on back there . There are pureand lovely Christian lives which are not appreciatedby those who live with them. Like our Lord's l :)reth-ren, sonic people have neither eyes nor ears for thebeautiful things that are before them. Mach has beensaid, and properly said, about the powerful influenceof a Christ life, but it is not true to say that it is aninfluence that never fails . It fails often . Tt largelyfailed in the home of Jesus .

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It is the privilege of all of us to try as best we canwith the Lord's help to lead a true Christian life i nthe home ; but in many instances the whole homeseems in rebellion against the one who tries so hard .Where this happens the follower of the Master feel sout of place . He is not believed. No one pays anyattention to him ; no encouragement comes his way.How often indeed it has been experienced that aprophet has no honor in his own country nor amon ghis own kin. Surely, such experiences must ten dto make those who go through them feel as thoughthey have measurably failed. But this may not be so .Out of this apparent failure may arise a gloriou striumph of faith ; so let us "consider Him who en-dured such great contradiction of sinners agains tHimself, lest we be wearied and faint in our minds . "—Heb. 12 :3 .

So let us not be discouraged by the surroundingsin which divine providence has placed us, nor mour nbecause the light we seek to let shine does not pierc ethe darkness as we naturally desire that it should .Neither Ezekiel nor Jeremiah was given any encour-agement . Each was given a hard and thankless task ;and so great was the wickedness of the city to whichthey preached that it is recorded that there was no tone that executed judgment or sought the truth .Were their lives then a failure? No, not from God ' sstandpoint.

It would be a serious thing for most earnestwitnesses to the truth if they were to be judged bythe outward success of their efforts . How thankfulwe are that God does not say, "Well done, goodand successful servant," but "Well done, good and_faithful servant ." True service for God may have noapparent outward results, yet will be honored bythe great Judge who makes no mistakes . So, go on ,beloved, continue to reflect the light which has bee ngiven to you . By doing this as did Christ, you wil lbecome more gentle and Christ-like every day . And,if you should fail to influence the one over whom yourheart yearns, the great Burden-bearer understands—"His own brethren did not believe in Him . "

Hindered By UnbeliefMatthew 13 :58 reads : "And He did not many

mighty works there because of their unbelief ." Be-lief, wholehearted and sincere, is the condition upo nwhich salvation from the curse of death and reconcil-iation with God are available to fallen humanity ."God so loved the world that He gave His only be -gotten Son," but only to "whosoever believeth inHim" will the benefits of this great gift of divinelove reach the sinner. It is this principle of co-operation in connection with the receiving of theblessings of divine grace that is illustrated hi Jesus 'inability to perform miracles where the element ofbelief, of faith, was lacking.

Yes, there were times when Jesus felt Himsel ffettered and handicapped . He could not do the goodHe longed to do . Here were sick people to b e

healed, lepers to be cleansed, demoniacs to be cured ,but He stood in the midst of them, sympathetic buthelpless . He could do nothing ; the conditions rend-ered failure inevitable had He attempted it . We think

The Dawn

of a miracle as a dramatic thing, as a startling dis-play of power ; and it is ; but the greatest miracle ofrestoring the dead world to life will not be performedexcept upon the basis df belief on the part of each in-dividual who receives that great gift of life in its ful-ness ; and it was this great lesson that was taught bythe fact that unbelief hindered Jesus in the perform-ing of miracles of healing which otherwise woul dhave been possible .

"If thou canst believe, all things are possible, "Jesus said. It is as though He placed Himself i nman's hands, utterly giving Himself to them, saying,Make use of Me . If any man thirst, if any man behungry, if any he weary, let him come to Me for help .If any be sick let him con-re and be healed. The ,woman who touched the hem of His garment cam eto Him in the right spirit . But Jesus might pas sa town and not a soul be the better for it . They tiedHis hands, they stopped the fountain of His graceby unbelief . He even had to turn out the unbeliev-ing, sneering crowd before He healed Jairius' daugh-ter . The failure due to unbelief, however, was not i nJesus, but in those He had to deal with—it was theywho were faulty .

What is unbelief ? Is it open hostility? Not al -ways . Many times it is fear, or simply lack of ful lconfidence ; or perhaps a want of full acceptance, o rof preparedness . In some of these ways probablyall of us are guilty at times of a measure of unbelief .If we are out of touch with Christ, our Advocate ;if in some way or other we have gotten out of ste pin our walk with Him, He is hindered in helping usexcept as we are able to put our full confidence i nHim. As we think over our experiences in the nar-row way from this standpoint perhaps it will hel pus to realize what has been the cause of some of ou rfailures .

It was a miracle of grace in us that we were mademembers of His body ; and only the continuance ofdivine grace can keep us there . "All power in heavenand in earth is given unto Me," said the resurrectedChrist ." We know of this, but do we fully believ eit? Do we always think of our Advocate as thos ewho know that He has all power? Surely any fail-ures we experience in the narrow way must be dueto ourselves and not to the provisions of divine grac ethat have been made for us through Christ . But hereagain apparent failures, by divine grace, are trans -formed into glorious successes ; because it is throughour weakness that the Lord's strength is made th emore manifest . We may stumble and fall, but if byfaith we are able to keep our eyes fixed upon Him ,victory will be ours, hut the glory will he the Lord's .

Many Left Him

Another apparent failure of the Master is reveale din the words of John 6 :66, 67 : "From that timemany of His disciples went back, and walked no morewith Him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Wil lye also go away ?" Here again however, is merel yan apparent failure ; for Jesus knew that in the divine plan it was not to be expected that the multi-tudes would actually become faithful disciples—that

January 1939

the time for the visitation of the world in general wasyet future. Nevertheless it must have been a greattest of His faith to see one after another of thosewho apparently loved and believed in Him, walkin gno more with Him . They did not say they wer enever going back to Him, but the next day, whe nthey heard that Jesus was going to another place,instead of going after Him as they previously ha ddone, they found some reason for not going. A sort

. of a cold indifference came over them . Surely thi smust have pained the loving heart of Jesus .

We notice that the point at which so many turne dback from following the Master is where His minis -try began to reveal, more and more of the aspect o fsacrifice . There is a point up to which following th eLord is a pure delight, then it becomes increasinglyhard, because it calls for greater and greater sacri-fices . Some start out in the narrow way full ofconfidence and hope, but trials and disappointment sfollow. The path of sacrifice reveals hardships, andthe ardor of the first love cools, and then dies al -together . The experience of some who have comeinto the truth is just like that . But was Jesus' min-istry a failure simply because all who were at firs tattracted to Him did not prove to be faithful dis-ciples? Is the ministry of the truth today a failur esimply because many who at first say, "This is themost ,wonderful thing I have ever heard, " do notcontinue their interest when the aspect of sacrific eappears? Nay ! The great success of God 's plan,and of those who colabor in it during this age, is th efinding and making ready of a little flock who arewilling to sacrifice all in the Master's service. Therewere a few such in Jesus" day, and there are a fe wsuch today.

"Take Heed Unto' Thyself"

Out of this apparent failure of Jesus to keep al lthose who at first believed on Him we may gain aprofitable lesson for ourselves . We might well . askif we are continuing to follow Him as we ought, o rwhether, on the other hand, we may be ` finding ex-cuses to follow no more with Him . Probably thosewho left the Master back there did not at first ac-tually intend' to leave Him . It was simply that theydid not show up for a time or two, and finally neve rcame back. Drift ! It is so easy to drift . Relax alittle, admit the life of the world, and your spiritua llife is heading for shipwreck .

It is an awful thing to make- shipwreck of ou rspiritual lives . The writer to the Hebrews gives u smany warnings against shipwreck . (See Hebrews2 :1, margin .) If we do not watch very carefull ythe drifting process will come about unseen . Oneimportant thing as a safeguard against drifting is th eassembling of ourselves together—we must not for -sake this. We know, of course, that there is nothingthat can take the place of individual reliance uponthe Lord—we must work out our own salvation —but there is necessary encouragement and help i nregularly meeting with those of like precious fait hwherever and whenever possible .

Who can say what blessings , we might missthrough our neglect of assembling ourselves togeth -

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er? We may not have reached the stage where wegladly avail -ourselves' of an excuse not to meet withthe brethren, but we need to constantly guard agains tlukewarmness along this line. Suppose we have beenpassing through- difficult circumstances, and hav eprayed for guidance and help in our trouble . Godhas heard ' our prayer, and yet we are not consciou sof having received any answer . Why? The answer ,beloved ; may have been waiting for us at the meet-ing room, and we were not there to get it . Godknows where we should have been, and He may havesent the message there .

Have we thought of our meeting place simply a sa place where the class meets together ? It is morethan that. It is a place where God meets His peo-ple . This being true, would it be strange to sup-pose that God in His wisdom sometimes selects tha tplace to answer our prayers? If we neglect His plac eof meeting let us not complain of His failure to hea rour cry. Proof that God knows our address, and theaddress of the meeting place is found in Acts 9 :11 .

Failed to Convert JerusalemAnother of the apparent failures of the Master i s

revealed in His words as recorded in Matthew 23 :37 .We quote : "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killes tthe prophets, and stonest them that are sent untothee, how often would I have gathered thy childre ntogether, even as a hero, gathereth her chickens underher wings, and ye would not . Behold your house i sleft unto you desolate." These words are a cry fromthe heart of Jesus, revealing the severe agony whic hHe experienced in not being able to accomplish tha twhich He would like to have done . From childhoodthat beautiful city had attracted Jesus . It was thecity of David. He longed to see it cleansed and puri-fied . He had' lingered near it at the peril of Hislife, yet Christ felt that He had never won Jerusalem .

But all the failure lay at the door of man, neve rat Christ's door. An improper view of these seemin gfailures of Christ when here on earth have led me nto strange conclusions . They have argued that me nare so desperately wicked that God has been prove dhelpless to recover them. We are glad that by divinefavor we are able to say that this is not so. We re-joice that through the divine plan we are able to seethis and other experiences of our Lord as merelyapparent failures. Yes, we have seen that God,through Christ, has as yet made no attempt to conver tthe world in general . The real work of the Lordthus far has been to select from the teeming million sof the world of mankind a "little flock of followers .of the Master in the way of sacrifice, with the viewof using them later when the time comes to deal wit hthe world in general .

The world is still in the power of the evil one .Christ was the light that shined in darkness, but th edarkness comprehended it not . His family even didnot fully understand Him . He came to His ownand His own received Him not. His own

.Hiscast

Him out . His Father's house preferred money mak-ing. The city of David was filled with a crowd tha thailed Him one day as king and four days later cried"crucify. Him . " Of His little band of friends, one

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denied Him, another betrayed Him, and the restfled from Him . It was like that all through, rightfrom the beginning. There, was no room for Him inthe inn. There was no place of His own in whichto lay His head . No burial place for that broke nbody except a borrowed tomb. Humanly speaking .if ever there was a wasted life was it not the life o fJesus when here amongst men ?

But what a different conclusion is reached whe nthe whole matter is viewed from the divine' stand-point . God, who knows all things, was not taken bysurprise when the world treated Jesus as it did .Everything worked out according to foreknowledge .and from the divine standpoint the whole earthly lif eof Jesus was a complete success . The resurrectionof Jesus is a proof of this . On the cross He said ,"It is finished," and the victim. became the victor ,and through this victory His life is seen to be a glo-rious success all through. Indeed, through the greatsacrifice which He made, the joys of salvation wil lyet flow out to the whole world of mankind .As He Was, So Are We

We, like Jesus, have consecrated to do the Heaven-ly Fathers will . If we should now look at matter sfrom the standpoint of the flesh it would be easy t oconclude that we had made a wrong decision. How-ever, we must continue to view our lives in th enarrow way from the standpoint of faith . If we areconsecrated` to God, our lives are in His hands, ourways are entirely guided by Him, then ultimatesuccess is assured . If we would have things differentfrom what they are, then we are expressing our wills ,not His will—we are saying. that in one point in ou rlives our Father has misdirected us .

If we follow closely the Heavenly Father's leading ,then we may be sure that whatever our lot may b eGod has permitted it to fulfil some part of His planin us and through us . God, has a purpose in eachlife that is consecrated to Him and through whic hHe is working . . Abraham had a call which marke dhim out for a particular work . Joseph, by a seemingtragedy, was carried off to Egypt, but he said after -ward that it was God who sent Him there . Jesussaid, "To this end was I born, . and for this causecame I into the world." Paul knew that he had beencalled by a higher power, and that his life was ap-pointed by divine wisdom and foreknowledge .

There is an object in our lives . God governs by aplan which is for eternity, and that plan includesdealing with individuals . We cannot choose the partHe would have us play--that is His work . He hasa particular task appointed for each one of us. Howcan we fulfil the part He has planned for us? First ,we must be ourselves. God has arrangements fo reach of us, so we must not try to be somebody else .When Jesus said, "Be not as the hypocrites, " Hemeant in our language, Do not be an actor, do no tmerely play a part . Many fail in their service b ynot heeding this principle . Let us not leave our ow njob to take on the job of another .

Let us humbly endeavor to fill the position whic his ours to His praise and glory, then our lives wil lnot he failures . They may appear to be failures,

The Dawn

but there can be no real failures in the lives of faith-ful followers of Christ, any more than there could bea real failure in Christ's own life . He did the will o fHis Father, and not His own will—that 's why Hislife was a success . It will be the same with us, if th edoing of the will of God is the supreme goal of al lour endeavors . The spirit of Christ was that of lov-ing obedience to the Father. Let us fix our gaze onHim and try to imitate Him .

The secret of every happy and successful Chris-tian life is to do the will of God, having no desireapart from that . The end of life is to do the will o fGod, and this all must learn ~'lno obtain lasting life .The end of life is not merely doing good to others ,hut if we seek diligently to know the Father's willwe will find that He wants us to do good unto allmen, and especially unto the household of faith . In-deed, it is the will of God that we lay down our live sdoing good to others, even as Jesus slid ; but weshould ever keep God's will before us as the incen-tive for all our efforts—then there will be no failure sin our lives .

The doing of the will of God makes all lives equal-ly great and equally small . Nles, the maximumachievement of life is to do the will of God . No manor woman can do more with their lives than this .The doing of God's will may lead some Christian sout into the front of the battle, as it were, it maymean for others that they remain in the quietness o ftheir homes, waiting upon the Lord . But no matte rhow the will of God' may work out in the details o four lives, our happiness, our success, will depen dupon the measure to which we are able by His graceto yield ourselves in full obedience to His will . itmay mean to work or to wait ; to stand fast or to li estill and helpless . To he moment by moment in th ewill of God should be our ambition as Christians .And, if the surrender of our wills is complete, H ewill keep us, and guide us, and finally the victorywill be ours through our Lord Jesus Christ .

This will he success !—Conarib ted

THE DIVINE PLAN of the AGE S

The Divine Plan of the Ages will ever remain th estandard present-truth text book Though publishe doriginally more than half a century ago . it is still ti nto date, and vibrant with the living message of th eMessianic gospel . Whatever other literature may heused to introduce the truth, whether tracts . or hook -lets, those who become interested will ultimatel yneed The Divine Plan of the Ages in order to obtai na clear, detailed knowledge of the divine purpose .

We have a new, standard edition of The Divin ePlan of the Ages, hound in blue cloth, stamped ingold . These are priced at 50 cents the single copy ,postpaid ; in lots of ten, 30 cents each, postage extra .Write for special colporteur prices .

January 1939

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The Chastenings of the Lord(The Epistle to the Hebrews Series )

"Have ye forgotten the exhortation which speakethunto you as unto children : My son, despise not thouthe chastenings of the Lord, nor faint when thou artrebuked of Him; For whom 'the Lord loveth He chast-eneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. "

—Hebrews 12 :5, 6 .

NE thing that stands out prominently in theEpistle to the Hebrews is the fact that thoseto whom it was addressed were having dif-ficulty in reconciling a continued life of hard -

ship and suffering with that of being Christians . Tothem, as Hebrews, Christ was the Messiah . Forcenturies the Jewish nation had looked forward t othe coming of their Messiah in the belief that whe nHe did come a signal victory over and deliverancefrom their enemies and persecuters would be accom-plished through Him. These Hebrews had acceptedJesus as the Messiah of promise ; but their accep-tance of Him had not brought deliverance from suf-fering but an increase of it ; for now they 'must suf-fer persecution from their own brethren who ,had no taccepted Jesus as the Messiah .

In our previous studies we have noted the apostle' spainstaking care in pointing out to the Hebrews tha tthe Messianic purpose in this age is still in its pre-paratory stage ; and that those who are privilege dto be associated with Jesus in His suffering wil lalso, if faithful, share with Him in the glory of th eMessianic Kingdom. We have noted the explana-tion of chapter two that suffering was the, path t oglory for Jesus, and that He became the Captain o fthis great salvation by which many sons are. ,similarl yled' to glory. In the apostle's lesson just precedingthe passage quoted above he admonishes the reade rto "consider Him who endured such great contradic-tion of sinners against Himself" lest they "`be weariedand faint" in their minds . And then he asks thequestion, "Have ye forgotten the exhortation whichspeaketh unto you as unto children? "

It seems clear from this, as from other portionsof the epistle, that these Hebrews were inclined toforget (if they had ever clearly known) the purpos eof their being sons of , God, and as such, follower sof the Master . It seems clear also, that the chasten-ing referred to in this manner is not to be lookedupon as punishment for wrong doing, but as nec-essary training—disciplinary in character—to Tire -pare the sons of God for their future great , work inthe Messianic Kingdom . While some of the trialsthat come upon the followers of the Master may hein the nature of stripes for sins committed, yet thisdoes not seem to he what the apostle is speciallyreferring to in this instance .

The fact that the followers of Jesus are also son sof God, and brought to glory by the path of sufferingeven as He was, is clearly shown in chapter twoof the epistle . And now, in this 12th chapter, th eapostle is giving us more of the details as well assome of the reasons why this is so . We are to

look unto Jesus, who suffered, leaving us an example .We are to consider Him, in order that we may knowthat our experiences are not different nor more sever ethan His . When going through trials incident toour following the Lamb we are not to be wearied andfaint in our minds—for "have ye forgotten the ex-hortation that speaketh unto you as unto children?"reasons the apostle ?

Clearly, from this, the apostle would have us loo kupon our chastening as a part of the training exper-iences that the Lord lovingly permits to come to u sin order that we may be propery prepared for joint -heirship with Christ . And this, indeed, when viewe din the light of other Scriptures, is the purpose backof a great deal of the sufferings of the Christ . Aswe have noted in previous studies, neither the suf-ferings of Jesus, nor' the sufferings of His bod ypropitiate for sin . But this suffering is valuablein training The Christ to. deal properly with sinner swhose sins are propitiated for through the death o fChrist. And this is in keeping with the lesson ofHebrews twelve, namely, that the suffering involve din the chastenings that come upon all the sons ofGod, whom He loves, are disciplinary in character ,and intended to train them, or to perfect them, toserve as the future priesthood of the world .

The Importance of WisdomThe object of our chastenings is clearly shown

again in the Old Testament Scripture that the apostlequotes in this connection. It is found in Proverbs,chapter 3 . Nearly this ' whole chapter is telling usabout the importance of wisdom—a wisdom that ispossible to attain by those who are the sons ofGod . "Trust the Lord: With all thine heart, and lea nnot on thine own understanding," the prophet urges ."In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shal ldirect thy paths," he ' .continues . "Be not wise inthine own eyes fear the , Lord and depart from evil . "And then, after explaining the advantages of ob-serving and doing the Lord 's ways, the lesson con-tinues : "My son despise not the chastenings of th eLord, neither be weary of His corrections ; for whomthe Lord loveth He correcteth ; even as a father th eson in whom he delighteth . "

We are not to suppose that Jesus ever sinned, o rdid anything that was ,displeasing to His Father ;yet the apostle tells us that He was perfected, trained ,by the things which He suffered . It was this train-ing that prepared Jesus for His priestly office, andenabled Him to sympathetically "succor" all the mthat come unto Him. He was always perfect as aSon, but He needed training for the great work tha tGod had entrusted Him to do. It seems reasonable,therefore that the expression in Proverbs 3 :12—"theSon in whom He [the Father] delighteth," is a spec-ial reference to Jesus, the One in whom the HeavenlyFather always delighted .

If this be the correct. application of this text, thenit follows that the prophet, as well as the apostlewho quotes the passage in Hebrews twelve . is tell-

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ing us that just as the Heavenly Father trained bythe process of suffering that only begotten Son i nwhom His soul specially delighted, even so He i straining us. And this makes just one more reasonwhy we should "consider Him who endured suc hgreat contradiction of sinners against Himself, les tye be wearied and faint in your minds." What aglorious "fellowship" in the Master 's sufferings thisreally is ; and how very practical is the reason backof the suffering .

The prophet continues, "Happy is the man thatfindeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understand-ing. For the merchandise of it is better than th emerchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than finegold." (Prov. 3 :13, 14.) And what will be the"merchandise" and the "gain" with respect to th ewisdom acquired by Christ and His church throug hthe training processes of suffering? In Jesus' cas ethe Prophet Isaiah answers directly : "He shall seeof the travail of His soul and shall he satisfied : byHis knowledge shall My righteous servant justifymany ; for He shall hear their iniquity ."—Isa . 53 :11 .

As has been pointed out in these articles before,in order for the sinner to be fully reconciled to Godmore than the propitiation for sin is necessary . Inaddition to having the penalty for sin cancelledthrough the blood of Christ, he needs to be sympa-thetically dealt with by one who through experienc eunderstands his position . Jesus, by the things whichHe suffered, was prepared to render this additiona lservice . During the Millennial age "justification "will be largely upon a basis of works, and how vita la part will the work of the sympathetic priesthoo dthen play in bringing about justification .

"For He shall bear their iniquity," adds the proph-et . He died for the sins of the whole world, and now ,through His knowledge, gained by suffering, He isable to bear understandingly with their iniquitie swhilst they are making progress over the highwayto complete holiness . How wonderful indeed, there -fore, is the merchandise of wisdom, as it becomesthe stock in trade of Jesus, the beloved Son of God- -that Son in whom the soul of the Heavenly Fathe rdelighteth .

The Church Also PriestsThe church does not share in the ransom, but the

Scriptures emphatically show that she shares in thesufferings of Christ and is thus prepared to be acolaborer with Him in the future Kingdom work o fdispensing blessings of health and life. She is bap-tized for the dead . " She suffers with Him that shemay be glorified together with Him as the . "manysons" of Hebrews two . The whole creation groanethand travaileth in pain together until now waitin gfor the manifestation of these sons of God ; as show nin Romans eight . Thus it becomes clear that the"merchandise" of the wisdom gained by the churc hthrough suffering, is also intended for the blessin gof the world by aiding sinners in their return tofull harmony with God. "But if we be withoutchastisement, " the apostle ontinues, "whereof allare partakers, then are we bastards and not sons . "

The Daw n(Ch. 12 vs . 8 .) This also indicates that the chasten-ings of the Lord are not to be looked upon as pun-ishments for sin . True, there may be times whe nthe followers of the Matsu need "stripes," but thesuffering that is permitted to come to us to trainus as pupils in the school of Christ, are not to beviewed as stripes but as experiences of trainin gwhich are preparing us to be merciful priests to-gether with Jesus in administering the blessing sof the Messianic Kingdom .

Speaking then of our natural fathers. who correcte dus, and to whom we gave reverence because the ydid, the apostle adds, "For they verily for a few day schastened us after their own pleasure ; but He fo rour profit, that we might be partakers of l its hol-iness ." (Vs. 10.) Here is the lesson—"for our profit ,that we might be partakers of His holiness ." Howcould we expect to assist in leading the world o fmankind over the highs; -ay that leads to holines sunless we first of all had been properly prepared fo rthe work; by ourselves being partakers of God' sholiness ?

The Peaceable Fruits of Righteousnes sThe apostle knew full well that the ministry of

suffering is not an easy one in which to share . Heknew that the Hebrews were having difficulty i nreconciling it with their outlook of the Messiani cpurpose ; so he touches upon this aspect of it saying ."Now no chastening for the present seemeth to b ejoyous." How true ! How very, very true ! Oft-times does the heart bleed, and the follower of theMaster, even as He, feels like crying, "If it be pos-sible, let this cup pass from me ." But having enter-.ed the school of Christ, we press on, encourage dby the joy of graduation and the Kingdom work tha tlie ahead .

"But afterward," the apostle adds ; "it yields th epeaceable fruits of righteousness unto them whichare exercised thereby. " Ah yes, this is the "after -ward of joy." The suffering yields somethingthe peaceable fruits of righteousness that righteous-ness which is understood and appreciated by the wis-dom from on high, which is "first pure, then peace -able, gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercyand good fruits, without partiality and without hy-pocrisy."—James 3 :17 .

And this is the wisdom that each member of th eChrist is gradually acquiring through suffering ,through the corrective and disciplinary experience sthat come to Him as a member of that company o fsons being led to glory by the Captain of their sal-vation who Himself reached glory by the same path-way. What an asset such wisdom will be in deal-ing with the world of mankind in the next age !

This wisdom is first pure! That is, it is unmixe dwith wordlv wisdom which so often is selfish an dungodly. This wisdom is pure because it is whollyin harmony with God . Those .who acquire it ar epartakers of His holiness . Then it is peaceable . Itwill promote peace between God and men, but onlyupon the basis of God's holiness. It will offer no

January 1939

compromise, or short cut arrangements to the worl dwhereby they can return to life and to favor wit hGod. And, as we are being prepared to administe rthe laws of the Kingdom in the future, we will en-deavor to so conduct ourselves now . Yes, we willeven now, walk "as the children of the light"—asthough we were living in the full light of that ne wday.

This wisdom, the merchandise of which is so prec-ious, is, the apostle adds, "Gentle and easy to be en -treated." What a necessary quality this will be for th epriests of the next age. Indeed, it should be an out-standing characteristic of the Lord's people today .But our attainments of today are but preparator yfor the work of the future . Do we find that th etrials through which we pass are tending to mak eus more gentle? Are they teaching us patience to -ward others, especially toward those who may havewronged us, or who we suppose have wronged us ?Are we more gentle, and more easily entreated thanwhen we first entered the school of Christ? If so ,the chastenings of the Lord are beginning to yieldthe "peaceable fruits of righteousness" in our lives .

"Full of mercy and good fruits" also, is the wis-dom which is from above—the wisdom : which we areseeking to attain, and which the Lord is helping u sto attain through the disciplinary experiences b ywhich He is training us for our future position o fglory with the Master . Yes, just as Jesus wasprepared by suffering to be a merciful prist, so weare learning the quality of mercy also . And how sig-nificant that mercy should be coupled with goo dfruits . How rich will be the fruitage of mercy whenupon the basis of mercy the world of mankind i sbeing dealt with by the merciful priesthood, that Godis now preparing. Indeed, how rich should be thefruitage of mercy even now, as we deal with andassociate with each other in the church, and in ourcontacts with the world .

"Without partiality, and without hypocrisy ." Itwill never do for the priests of the next age to showpartiality in dealing with the fallen race . And partial-ity in our dealing with others even now works in -justice to many. God is no respecter of persons ,and if we are to be like God we too must learn t odeal with all impartially . It will not do for us tojudge others and say that this or that one is onl yfit for the Great Company, etc . We must' learn notto be hypercritical . Our Yea should be Yea, and ourNay, Nay. This, as well as all the other qualitiesof true wisdom are important now and will he eve nmore important in our dealing with the world ofmankind in the next age. Let us ever remember ,that it is for this future great work that we are nowbeing trained . Shall we not then take patiently th e

Viewed from this standpoint the lesson of Hebrew stwelve pertaining to the chastenings of the Lord i sseen to form an integral part of the great fact setforth by the apostle throughout the entire epistle .namely, that the brethren of Tesus are to he looke dupon not merely as those who are saved throughgrace, hut as coworkers with Him in the'divine pro-

2 1

gram of making available salvation for the whol eworld of mankind . They are to be sons in glorywith Him, trained for that position by suffering,even as He was trained . Their hope of glory i sthe hope of entering into the holiest of all ; and it i sthis hope that anchors their souls, both sure an dsteadfast .

As partakers of this heavenly calling, they are t ocount themselves as part of a priesthood—a roy-al priesthood—being trained for the future adminis-tration of divine blessings of life through the mediu mof the new covenant. Their relationship to that cov-enant is that of servants of it, not as children devel-oped under it . They are the children, or seed, of th eSarah feature of the original Abrahamic covenant ,and through them the blessings of the new covenan twill be dispensed . If we view the members of th echurch as Sons of God, Joint-heirs with Christ, an dmembers of the royal, priesthood, we will see thei rtrue position in the Epistle to the Hebrews .

111111++11+111111++111111111111+11111 -A SERVICE TO BRETHRE NWe take this occasion, at the beginning of a ne w

year, to reemphasize the fact that the opportunity o fsending in 3-months trial subscriptions to The Daw nis still open. And there is no limit to the number ofnames and addresses' youmay send to us.

Perhaps you have thought many times that you woul dsit down and make .up a list of names and addressesof Bible Students of your acquaintance, and forwar dsame to The Dawn, but have never actually done it ;but it is not too late, and the beginning of the year isan excellent time to translate' this and other good in-tentions into action .

If you have enjoyed 4The Dawn yourself ; if it in-creased your faith and joy in the Lord and in Hi struth, it should bring similar blessings to others whoat one time rejoiced in these things which we all loveso much. During the past year the "first love" ofmany has been rekindled by the message of the puregospel brought to these" through the pages of TheDawn. We thank the Lord for this, and look to Himfor guidance and help that others of His people maybe similarly blessed during this new year ; and the ex-tent of this enlarging `Ministry will depend upon thecooperation of those already blessed through thi smedium . .

Do not fear that you .may send in names which wealready have on the list, as all names received are care-fully checked to avoid duplication .

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chastenings of the Lord?

International Sunday School Lessons

PETER SEE SCHRIST'S GLORY

January 15—Matthew 17 :1-9, 14-1 81 And after six days Jesus taketh

Peter, James, and John his brother ,and bringeth them into an highmountain apart ,

2 And was transfigured beforethem : and His face did shine as thesun, and His raiment was white a sthe light .

3 And, behold, there appeared untothem Moses and Elias talking withHim .

4 Then answered Peter, and sai dunto Jesus, Lord, it is good for usto be here : if Thou wilt, let us makethree tabernacles ; one for Thee, andone for Moses, and one for Elias .

5 While He yet spake, behold, abright cloud overshadowed them : andbehold a voice out of the cloud,which said, This is My beloved Son,in Whom I am well pleased ; hear yeHim.

6 And when the disciples heard it,they fell on their face, and were soreafraid .

7 And Jesus came and touche dthem, and said, Arise, and be notafraid .

8 And when they had lifted uptheir eyes, they saw nb man, saveJesus only .

9 And as they came down fromthe mountain, Jesus charged them ,saying, Tell the vision to no man,until the Son of man be risen againfrom the dead .

** *

14 And when they were come tothe multitude, there came to Him acertain man, kneeling down to Him ,and saying,

15 Lord, have mercy on my son :for he is a lunatic, and sore vexed :for oft times he falleth into the fire,and oft into the water .

16 And I brought him to Thy dis-ciples, and they could not cure him .

17 Then Jesus answered and said,0 faithless and perverse generation ,how long shall I be with you? ho wlong shall I suffer you? bring himhither to Me.

18 And Jesus rebuked the devil ,and he departed out of him : andthe child was cured from that ver yhour .GOLDEN TEXT: We beheld Hisglory, the glory as of the only be-

gotten of the Father.—John 1 :14 .

CCORDING to St . Luke' saccount, eight days previ-ous to the events of our les-son, our Lord had told Hi s

disciples that some of them woul dnot taste of death till they had see nthe Kingdom of God (Luke 8 :28 . )Whether they would see the King-dom in actuality, or in a vision ofthe Kingdom, He did not explain .No doubt, He left them in a stat eof wonderment concerning the mat -ter, and then, at the proper time ,He took them up into a mountai nand they had a wonderful vision .

Every part of the vision seemedso real to the disciples that theythought it was actual . At a latertime, the Apostle Paul said that hehad a vision so real that he couldnot tell whether he was in the bodyor out of it . That Moses and Elia swere not actually in the mountain ,however, we know beyond a doubt ,because Jesus Himself was the firs tfruits of the resurrection—the firs tto arise from the dead .—Rom. 8 :29 ; Col . 1 :18.

Manifestly the vision on th emount in some pictorial w'ay rep -resented the glory and power o fthe divine kingdom. Thus Peterafterward said, "We have not fol-lowed cunningly devised fables ,when we made known unto you th epower and coming of bur Lor dJesus Christ, but were eye-witness-es of His majesty."2 Pet . 1 :16 .

In this remarkable vision, themountain would picture the King-dom itself . Jesus was the centra lfigure . Moses and Elijah were in-troduced evidently because the ywere typical characters ; the former ,representing the Mosaic dispensa-tion and natural Israel, and Elijah ,picturing the Church of the Gos-pel age. That Elijah was a typ eof the church there can be no doubt ,for the 1260 days that he was inthe wildernes correspond with th e1260 years of spiritual famine whil ethe church was in the wildernessduring the "dark ages . " Back inthe time of natural Israel, the per-secutor of Elijah was Jezebel, whil ethe persecutor of the church of thi sGospel Age is also called Jezebel .(Rev. 2 :20.) As Elijah came out

of' the wilderness, so the churc hemerged from a symbolic state o fwilderness at the time of the Refor-mation in the sixteenth . centuryThen Elijah 's victory over thepriests of Baal represented the ul-timate victory of the church .

The entire vision, therefore, pic-tures Jesus glorified, and with Hi min the kingdom the Elijah class ,the Gospel church, and also asso-ciated with Him, the ancientworthies portrayed by Moses . Nodoubt, the purpose of the visionwas to convince the disciples thatJesus was the promised Messiah ,that He was the mouthpiece of God,and that they should listen to hiswords ; for a voice speaking froma bright cloud said, "This is Mybeloved Son, . . . hear ye Him . "The remembrance of these thing safterward would be a great sourceof help and encouragement to Pet-er, James and John ; for they wereto undergo many hardships and t owitness what would appear to themto be a complete failure of thei rcause when its great Leader wa sput to death on Calvary .

Is it not the vision of the divin ekingdom that sustains God ' s peopl eat the present time? The world i sfull of darkness, uncertainty an ddanger ; but as we look into theWord of truth and lay hold on th egreat promises therein set forth ,we can rejoice in the assuranc ethat, in the near future, the king-dom of righteousness will "sweepaway the refuge of lies, and thewaters [of trt><thj shall overflowthe hiding place . " The vision ofthe two-fold kingdom—the heaven-ly phase, and the earthly phase —affords comfort under all the vi-cissitudes of life ,

QUESTIONS :What prophecy had Jesup mad e

concerning the kingdom either si xor eight days previous to the event sof our lesson ?

How do we know that Moses an dElijah were not netually in th emountain ?

What did noses and Elijah, re -represent ?

What lesson does the entire vis-ion bring to us?

January 1939

PETER DENIES HIS LOR D

Jan. 22—Lake 22 :31-34, 54-62

31 And the Lord said, Simon, Si-mon, behold, Satan hath desired tohave you, that he may sift you aswheat :

32 But I have prayed for thee,that thy faith fail not : and whenthou art converted, strengthen thybrethren .

33 And he said unto Him, Lord, Iam ready to go with Thee, both intoprison, and to death .

34 And he said, I tell thee, Peter ,the cock shall not crow this day ,before that thou shalt thrice denythat thou knowest Me.

54 Then took they Him, and le dHim, and brought Him into the highpriest's house . And Peter followe dafar off.

55 And when they had kindled afire in the midst of the hall, and wer eset down together, Peter sat dow namongst them.

56 But a certain maid beheld himas he sat by the fire, and earnestl ylooked upon him, and said, This manwas also with Him .

57 And he denied Him, saying,Woman, I know Him not .

58 And after a little while an -other saw him, and said, Thou artalso of them. And Peter said, Man,I am not .

59 And about the space of onehour after, another confidently af-firmed, saying, Of a truth this fel-low also was with Him : for he is aGalilean .

60 And Peter said, Man, I knownot what thou sayest . And immed-iately, while he yet spake, the cockerew .

61 And the Lord turned, and look-:d upon Peter . And Peter remem-sered the word of the Lord, how Helad said unto him, Before the coc kirow, thou shalt deny me thrice .

62 And Peter went out, and wep t)itterly .

GOLDEN TEXT : Let him thatthinketh he standeth take heed' les t

he fall .-1 Cor . 10 :12.

N THE evening of the lastsupper, the disciples had adiscussion among them-selves as to who should be

the greatest in the kingdom . Fromthe nature of the narrative, it woul dseem that this originated with Pe-ter, since a portion of the answerwas addressed especially to him.Peter, being one of the most activeand zealous of the disciples, evi-dently was a kind of leader amongthem. But the Lord realized ho wdangerous even a little prefermentand prominence might become ifnot accepted in a right way, withproper humility . Hence a warningwas given to the disciples, pointin gout that self-exaltation was not forthe people of God . Indeed, JesusHimself gave a striking example ofa spirit of humble service in thewashing of the disciples' feet .

Our Lord said that the kings ofthe world exercise dominion ove rthe people, but that it must not beso with His followers . "In honorpreferring one another," should bethe rule for the Christian. "Who-soever will be great among you ,let him be your minister ; and who-soever. Will be chief among you, lethint be your servant : even as theSon of man came not to be minis-tered unto, but to minister, an dto give His life a ransom fo rmany."—Matt . 20 :26-28 .

While the disciples were discuss-ing the matter of superiority, littledid they guess the trials that await-ed them. But Jesus knew whatwas coming, and He said to Peter,"Simon, . Simon, Satan hath desire dto have you, that he may sift youas wheat ; but I have prayed forthee, that thy faith fail not." Peterunconscious of his weakness, said ,"Lord, I am ready to go with Thee ,both into prison, and to death ."And no doubt, at the time he sai dthese words he thought he woul dbe 'loyal and faithful . But he hadmany , things to learn, both abouthimself and about the causes forwhich he stood. Very soon he wasto deny his Lord, just as Jesussaid he, would . But doubtless ,subsequently he never forgot thatexperience, and from a place of ap-parent failure, he eventually roseto sublime heights of faith, loyaltyand. trust, under the illuminationand` inspiration of the holy spirit ofthe truth .

23

From Tower Reprints, P. 1988 ,we take the following : "The pres-ent Gospel age is the appointed tim efor this cross-bearing, when all thetrue members of the body must `fillup that which is behind of the suf-ferings . of Christ ;' for the body, a swas also the Head, must be sub-jected to the discipline of sufferingand thereby proved worthy to reig nwith Him. It is important, there -fore, that we realize this ; for ifwe turn aside from the path ofhumiliation and daily cross-bearing,and strive for present exaltation sand preferment, we are forgettin gthe very conditions upon which thefuture exaltation depends, and seek-ing instead the mean rewards ofthe present . "

It is easy to censure Peter forhis deflection, but it devolves uponeach one of us to look at himselfand see if his own standing forthe truth is a strong and uncompro-mising one . Jesus said, "Whoso-ever therefore shall confess Me be-fore men, him will I confess als obefore My Father which is in heav-en." (Matt . 10 :32.) The Christianlife calls for stamina and courage .There ,can be no weaklings in thearmy that God will lead to finalvictory . These soldiers must belike the warriors of Gideon—de-voted to one great cause, animatedby a conquering zeal, and filled withfaith in the great Captain of thei rsalvation. We can be assured thatno one will "be carried to the skie son flowery beds of ease . " Thereis no such entrance to the heavenlykingdom. So then let us say ,

"Sure I must fight if I would win ,Increase my courage, Lord .I ' ll bear the cross, endure the pain ,Supported by Thy Word ."

QUESTIONS :

What led to our Lord's predictio nregarding Peter's denial of Him ?

What examples did Jesus give o ftrue humility ?

What is the practical value ofhumility in the Christian life ?

In what ways does self-exa.ita-ation manifest itself? How can i tbest be' avoided ?

Is Christ being denied by profes-sing Christians today? If so, how ?

Quote, Scripture texts showing th evalue of loyalty and faith .

PETER DECLARES

HIS LOVE

Jan. 29—John 21 :11-19

11 Simon Peter went up, and drewthe net to land full of great fishes,an hundred and fifty and three : andfor all there were so many, yet wasnot the net broken .

12 Jesus saith unto them, Com eand dine. And none of the disciplesdurst ask Him, who art Thou ?knowing that it was the Lord .

13 Jesus then cometh, and taket hbread, and giveth them, the fish like -wise .

14 This is now the third time tha tJesus shewed Himself to His dis-ciples, after that He was raised fromthe dead .

15 So when they had dined, Jesussaith to Simon Peter, Simon, son o rJonas, lovest thou Me more tha nthese? He saith unto Him, Yea ,Lord ; thou knowest that I love Thee .He saith unto him, Feed My lambs .

16 He saith to him again the sec-ond time, Simon, son of Jonas, loves tthou Mel He saith unto Him, Yea,Lord; Thou knowest that I love Thee..He saith unto him, Feed My sheep .

17 He saith unto him the thirdtime, Simon, son of Jonas, loves tthou Me? Peter was grieved becauseHe said unto him the third time,Lovest thou Me? And he said unt oHim, Lord, thou knowest all things ;thou knowest that I love Thee . Je-sus saith unto him, Feed My sheep .

18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee ,When thou wast young, thou girdes tthyself, and walkest whither thouwouldest : but when thou shalt bedid, thou shalt stretch forth th yhands, and another shall gird thee ,and carry thee whither thou would' -est not .

19 This spake He, signifying bywhat death he should glorify God .And when He had spoken this, Hesaith unto him, Follow Me ,

GOLDEN TEXT : If ye love Me,keep My commandments—John 14 :15 .

ESUS was risen from thedead, and the discipleswere aware of the fact ; forHe had manifested Him -

self on several occasions. Yeteach meeting with the Lord was abrief one, so those from Galile ewho had followed Him decided t oreturn home, and the fishermenonce more resumed their formeroccupation of fishing in the lake ofGennesaret . This, indeed, is littl eto be wondered at ; for these me nhad not yet received their new com-mission, nor, in fact, were they asyet prepared for it .

So seven of the disciples wentback to the nets and the boats, theone business with which they ha dhad experience . The fishing wasmostly done at night . This was theopportunity which the Master seiz-ed upon in order to impress uponthe disciples some further truth re-garding the plans and purposes o fGod. Early in the morning He ap-peared to them. Standing upon theshore, He called out to them to in -quire if they had any fish. Theyreplied that they had toiled al lnight and caught nothing . He toldthem to cast their net on the othe rside of the boat, and lo, it becam efilled with fish of a large size. Thenthe disciples knew that this was theLord .

When Jesus said to Simon Peter ,"Lovest thou Me?" the word use din the Greek was "agapee . " Thi swas used in the first two inquiries .This signifies love in its highest ,purest form. It is the kind of lov eexpressed in John 3 :16--"God soloved the world ." In the thirdinquiry, however, our Lord usedthe word "phileo, " which carriesthe thought and meaning of person -al attachment, the kind of love thatrelatives and friends have for eac hother. It is the latter word thatPeter used in his answers, thus de-claring his close personal affectio nfor the Lord. Having been hum-bled by recent experiences, he di dnot e claim to possess the highes tform of love as perhaps he mightonce have done . He had, indeed ,learned his lesson about boasting,and, doubtless, now feared hisown weakness . When Jesus in-quired the third time and used th eterm "phileo," it was equivalent tosaying, "Are you sure that you hav eeven common personal affection or

The Dawn

duty-love, Peter ?" And this ques-tion caused Peter to feel aggrieved .

It is noteworthy that, apart fromthe three questions concerning Hi slove, Jesus did not administer t oPeter any rebuke for his deflection.Without doubt He knew that Peterhad learned his lesson, and thatwas all that was required. There i sa valuable lesson in this for us .Some persons in Jesus ' place woul dhave required of Peter an abjectapology for his disloyalty in deny-ing him. But all that the Maste rwas concerned with was the PRES-ENT condition of the heart of thedisciple, not the PAST condition .We should not be so concerne dabout meeting out punishments a sabout recovering the erring on efrom a wrong course of action. Itis not for us to recompense evil forevil . Of Jesus it is said, " Who ,when He was reviled, reviled no tagain ; when He suffered, Hethreatened not ; but committedHimself unto Him that judgethrighteously ." (1 Pet . 2 :23.1 Andthat is the proper course for al lHis followers to pursue .

Jesus tells Peter to feed Hislambs and His sheep and thus t omanifest his love for Him. And ,no doubt, this injunction is ap-plicable to all those who profess t oserve the interests of the truth to-day. We still find the lambs andthe sheep, the immature brethren ,"babes in Christ," and the one smore advanced in the faith . Allneed to be Ifed on the spiritualfood provided by God, and thos ewho are impelled by true love willbe found rendering assistance ofthe right kind to those who nee dit. There may still be some inBabylon who are starving for the -sustaining meat of the Word . Itis, indeed, a blessed privilege tocarry to these the light and joy ofthe glorious message of the divin ekindgom .

QUESTIONS :What caused the disei p les to ; ;•o,

hack to their fishing business ?What was the full significance o f

the questions that Jesus addresse dto Simon Peter ?

Did Jesus rebuke Peter for hi sformer act of disloyalty? Howshould we act under similar eireum-stances ?

What should be our chief con -cern when a brother or sister errs ?

24

25

N THE day of Pentecost, it, which is mighty yet invisible .the apostles were together i The "cloven tongues like as of fire "in one place. This day of would signify that God was to usePentecost, as a jubilee day, the tongues of men in promulgating

followed a cycle of seven times sev -en days from the time of the in-gathering of the sheaf of the first -fruits, which was used as a "waveoffering" before the Lord, andwhich evidently typified Jesus inHis resurrection .

The outpouring of the holy spiri tat Pentecost signified the divine ,ac-ceptance of the offering for sin ,which Jesus, by this time, had pre-sented to the Father. It also meantthat 'God's people henceforth wereto be begotten to a new nature, andthat the Adamic condemnation up -on them as members of the falle nhuman family was cancelled, andthat they were to be accepted assons of God and joint-heirs wit hChrist on condition of their willing-ness to suffer with Him .

The holy spirit of God had pre--viously been manifested in variousways: At the time of creation,"the spirit of God moved upon th eface of the waters," bringing orde rout of chaos . Then, as the Apostl ePeter said, "Holy men of Godspake as they were moved by theholy spirit ." (2 Pet. 1 :21.) , Healso states that the things the yspoke and wrote they did not un-derstand, because their 'writingsand preaching were mainly for usof the Gospel age. Therefore, theoutpouring of the spirit at Pente-cost marked the beginning of anew dispensation—the dispensa-tion during which the church ' d fChrist was to be developed .

It ,was appropriate that ther eshould be an outward manifestatio nat this time. It was very import -ant that the church should have asolid foundation of faith and knowl-edge, upon which to build . Theapostles must be assured that thecause for which they had been:standing was of God, and that Godintended to stand by and supportthat cause . They had to realizethat instead of their work being

41 Then they that gladly received ended, it was only beginning, an dits word were baptized ; and the that it was to go on until the divin e;ame day were added unto them purpose should be accomplished intbont three thousand souls .

the church as a body and . in every

(;.OLDEN TEXT : Not by might, individual member thereof .

aor by power, but by My spirit, saith 'The rushing wind at Pentecostthe Lord of hosts :Zech . 4 :6.

fittingly symbolized the holy spir -

January 1939

PETER PREACHE SAT PENTECOST

February 5—Acts 2 :12-18, 36-4 1

12 And they were all amazed . and^ere in doul•t, ~aSv ucg ma to another ,What meaneth this ?

13 Others mocking said, Thes emen are full of new wine .

14 But Peter, standing up withthe eleven, lifted up his voice, andsaid unto .them, Ye men of Judea,and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem ,be this known unto you, and hearkento my words :

15 For these are not drunken, a sye sup-nose, seeing it is but the thir dhour of the day .

16 But this is that which

a sspoken by the prophet Joel ;

17 And it shall come to pass inthe last days, saith God, I will pourout My spirit upon all flesh : andyour sons and your daughters shal lprophesy, and your young men shallsee visions, and your old men shalldream dreams :

18 And on My servants and on M yhandmaidens I will pour out in thos edays of My spirit ; and they shal lprophesy .

36 Therefore let all the house o fIsrael know assuredly, that God hathmade that same Jesus, whom ye hav ecrucified, both Lord and Christ .

37 Now when they heard this, theywere nricked to the heart, and sai dunto Peter and to the rest of th eapostles, Men and brethren, whatshall we do ?

38 Then Peter said unto them ,Repent, and be baptized every oneof you in the name of Jesus Chris tfor the remission of sins, and yeshall receive the gift of the holyspirit .

39 For the promise is unto you ,and to your children, and to all tha tare afar off, even as many as theLord our Cod shall call.

40 And with many other words didhe testify and exhort, saying, Sav eyourselves from this untoward gen-eration .

the Gospel message . Here the fire .or light would suggest the bright-ness of the truth. To be sure, mir-acles were used at the beginning of .the age, but subsequently these 'passed away, just as the Apostle ',Paul said they would, but the;preaching of the Word has confine ,tied and is the means by which th eLord has been calling out from theworld the members of His church .

At Pentecost, Peter delivered apowerful discourse, and it is likely 'that the other apostles took some 'part in the service, for the numberof converts was about three thous =and. Strangers said, "We do hearthem speak in our tongues the won-derful works of God . " These won-iderful works related to our Lord'sdeath and resurrection and to the'features of the great divine plan ' ofthe' ages . Although the apostle ac -fcused the people of the death ofJesus, he said, "I wot that in ignorance ye did it, as did also you rrulers," Here, indeed, was . thekind of expression that would makea strong appeal to the hearers, andwhich is a good lesson for us today,showing, as it does, that the mosteffective method of preaching thegospel is the most loving one, yetthe one that employs great plain tness , of speech in setting forth thefacts and the principles of the truth ,and that leaves no doubt as to ou tmeaning .

As the Jewish age had its har-vest time, even so the Gospel ageends with another ingathering o fGod 's people ; and soon this workwill be completed and the divin eKingdom will then , be established .

QUESTIONS :

What did the day of Pentecos tmean to the Jews ?

In what ways had the spirit ofGod previously manifested itself ?

Explain the significance of therushing wind, and the "clventongues like as of fire . "

How does the holy spirit manifestitself today ?

What should be the character ofbar preaching at the present time?,

26

PETER HEALSA LAME MAN

February 12 —Acts 3 :1-10 ; 4 :8-12

1 Now Peter and John went u ptogether into the temple at the hourof prayer, being the ninth hour .

2 And a certain man lame fromhis mother's womb was carried ,'whom they laid daily at the gate o fthe temple which is called Beautiful,to ask alms of them that entered in-to the temple ;

3 Who seeing Peter and Johnabout to go into the temple aske dan alms .

4 And Peter, fastening his eyesupon him with John, said, Look o nus.

5 And he gave heed unto them ,expecting to receive something o fthem .

6 Then Peter said, Silver and goldhave I none ; but such as I have giveI thee : In the name of Jesus Christof Nazareth rise up and walk .

7 And he took him by the righ thand, and lifted him up : and im-mediately his feet and ankle bone sreceived strength.

8 And he leaping up stood, andwalked, and entered with them int othe temple, walking and leaping, andpraising God .

9 And all the people saw himwalking and praising God :

10 And they knew that it was h ewhich sat for alms at the Beautifulgate of the temple : and they werefilled with wonder and amazement a tthat which had happened unto him .

Acts 4 :8 Then Peter, filled, withthe holy spirit, said unto them, Yerulers of the people, and elders ofIsrael,

9 If we this day be examined ofthe good deed done to the impotentman, by what means he is mad ewhole ;

10 Be it known unto you all, an dto all the peo ple of Israel, that b ythe name of Jesus Christ of Nazar-eth, whom ye crucified, whom Godraised from the dead, even by Hi mdoth this man stand here before yo uwhole.

11 This is the stone which wasset at naught of you builders, whic his become the head of the corner .

12 Neither is there salvation inany other : for there is none othername under heaven given amongmen, whereby we must be saved .

GOLDEN TEXT : Then Peter said ,Silver and gold have I none ; butsuch as I have give I thee.—Acts 3 :6

FTER the bestowment o fthe holy spirit at Pentecost ,the disciples went frequent -ly to the temple to give ex-

pression to their new-found joy inthanksgiving and prayer . One af-ternoon at about 3 o'clock 'Peterand John attended the . temple ser-vice . These two had been with theLord for several years . They hadbeen in the Mount of Transfigura-tion, and had been in the Garden ofGethemane on the night of Jesus 'betrayal . Hence, it was naturalthat they should be a good deal i neach other 's company .

Just why the Apostle Peter di-rected to heal this lame man, w edo not know, for doubtless therewere many sick ones whom theapostles did not heal . However, itmay have been because this manwas right at heart, as manifestedby his subsequent gratitude. In-deed, his asking of alms was con-sidered quite proper at that timebecause there was no public pro -vision for the needy and helpless .It is very different today when thepoor are provided for either bytheir relatives or by the country inwhich they live ; so there is little ex-cuse for begging at the presenttime .

"Silver and gold have I none, "said the apostle . We think themeaning of these words is that hehad no silver and gold to give awayindiscriminately, since all he pos-sessed was held in trust for th eLord and consecrated to a higherservice. Of course we know thatPeter had been only a poor fisher -man, and on this particular occa-sion he may not have had any coinson his person. At any rate, he hadsomething far better than money forthis poor man—something that al lthe gold and silver in the worldcould not buy . So, while the crip-ple sought a favor, he little dream-ed of the magnitude of the boon hewas to receive, just think of it- -"In the name of Jesus Christ ofNazareth rise up and walk . " Andthen, straightway he was able towalk and leap and run . An out-standing miracle had been publicl yperformed and all who beheld theonce lame man now fully restoredto usefulness, were amazed .

And it is very much the same to -day. God's people are not rich in

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the things of this world . Mainly, itis the poor whom God has called ,and all they have is consecrated toHim. Yet, by the divine authorityvested in them through the truth ,they can say to the spiritually crip-pled, "In the name of Christ riseup and walk . " They can tell peo-ple that they need not be crawlingabout when they might be leapingand running in the joy of the Lord .A knowledge of God and His grea tplan of salvation is the one thingrequired to put people on their feettoday .

We note that Peter acknowledg-ed the source of his power. He didnot make any claim of superiorability on his own part . He cameout with the matter boldly and un-compromisingly. It was in thename of the despised Nazarine tha tthe man had been healed, and theapostle said so. It would be agreat thing if we could all follo wPeter's example and not be asham-ed of the truth, for he who i sashamed of the truth is ashamed o fGod. So, then, Peter used thismiracle as a means of preachingthe Gospel, as a text, as 'a demon-stration of the power of the risenChrist . He did not say that theman had been healed by the oper-ation of any natural law and be -cause of faith . He gave the credi tto God and he drove home the truthconcerning Jesus and His Messiah -ship with all the power at his com-mand . It was a wonderful sermonthat he preached, for he called at-tention to the future glory of thedivine Kingdom, even to the "time sof restitution of all things whichGod bath spoken by the mouth ofall His holy prophets since theworld began . " His discourse ha sbeen a great blessing to the church ,especially during the harvest perio dof the Gospel age .

QUESTIONS :

Did the apostles heal all the sickWhy was this particular man healed ?

Why has God sent the great boo nof the truth to some, while other shave been passed bv ?

Have we all something to ;rive t oothers? If so, in what ways can w e;rive it ?

How can we best honer God byour present-day service?

CHILDREN'SHOUR,

The Reign of SolomonHE reign of King David was forty year slong," said Uncle Eb. "Before the king died ,he gave some good advice to his son Solomon ,who was to succeed him on the throne . The

reign of Solomon began very favorably. One of thefirst things the new king did was to marry thedaughter of the king of Egypt . Then Solomon wen tto Gibeon and offered a thousand burnt offering supon the altar in sacrifice .

"In the early part of his reign, Solomon loved th eLord and desired to do what was right . One nigh tthe Lord appeared unto him in a dream and said ,`Ask what I shall give thee. ' And Solomon replie dto the Lord and said, `You showed great kindnessto my father, and you gave him a son to sit on hi sthrone. Yet I seem but as a little child. Give me ,therefore, an understanding heart to judge yourpeople, so that I may be able to discern between goodand bad . '

"And God was much pleased that Solomon hadasked for this boon and He said, ` Because thou has t

not asked for thyself long life, . . . neither richesfor thyself ; but hast asked for thyself understandin gto do judgment ; Behold, . . .I have given thee a wis eand understanding heart ; so that there was nonelike thee before thee, neither after thee shall anyarise like unto thee . And I have also given thee . . .riches and honor : so that there shall not be anyamong the kings like unto thee all thy days . And i fyou will keep my commandments, I will lengthen th ydays . '

"Very soon the wisdom of, Solomon was put tothe test. One day there came to the king two womenwith a little child, and each claimed that the babybelonged to her . Then Solomon called for a swordand commanded that the child be cut in two and halfgiven to each of the women. But the one to who mthe child really belonged said, `No, do not do so . butgive that woman the child, only save its life .' Thenthe king said, `Do not slay the child but give it t othe one who wished to spare its life, for she is it smother.' And all Israel heard of the king's judg-ment, and the people saw that the King had his wis-dom from God, and they were much pleased .

"Now Solomon wanted to build a temple to th eLord. And he sent the word of his intention to hi sfriend Hiram king of Tyre. And he asked Hiram to

hire an army of people to hew timbers of cedar an dof fir for the house of the Lord . And the king ofTyre was much pleased to do this . And Solomo nsent thirty thousand men to Lebanon to also becomeengaged in this work ; that is, they went there te nthousand at a time. And he had seventy thousandto bear burdens, and eighty thousand in the moun-tains to hew the timbers, and thirty-three hundredwho had charge over the others. And the kingcommanded and they brought great, costly stones tolay the foundation of the house . And the stones wer eall made ready beforehand, so that there was no ham-mer, axe, or any iron tool heard in the house whenit was being constructed .

"On the walls of the temple there were carve dfigures of cherubim, and palm trees and flowers .And the floor of the house was overlaid with gold .It took seven years to build the entire temple .

"And when the temple was completed, Solomonassembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads o fthe tribes, that they might bring up the ark of th ecovenant of the Lord out of the city of Zion . So thepriests took up the ark and they brought it up, to-gether with all the holy vessels of the tabernacle.And after the ark had been put in the holy place ;the glory of the Lord filled the house in a brightcloud, so that the priests could not remain there bu thad to come out because of the dazzling brightness .And there, at the dedication of the temple, the kin gturned to all the people and blessed them . ThenSolomon worshipped the Lord God and said, `LordGod of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heavenabove, or in earth beneath . . . But will God indeeddwell on the earth? behold, the heavens . . .cannotcontain thee ; how much less this house which I hav ehuilded ? Hearken to the supplication of Thy ser-vant, and of Thy people Israel when they shall praytoward this place : and hear Thou in heaven Thydwelling place, and when Thou hearest, forgive . '

On the eighth day Solomon sent the people awayto their homes, and blessed the king and departe djoyfully, glad at heart for all the things that the Lor dhad done for them.

"Now down in Arabia there lived the Queen ofSheba. This ruler had heard much of Solomon, andbecame curious to meet him and see if he really di dexcel in wisdom. So she came to Jerusalem with a

The Dawn

became too big in his own eyes . As a rule, mencannot stand as much prosperity as came to Sol-omon, or even a comparatively small amount of it.

"When Jesus was on earth, He referred to thereign of Solomon . He said, `The Queen of thesouth shall rise up with this generation and wil lcondemn it, for she came from the uttermost part sof the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and be- .hold, a greater than Solomon is here . ' By the`greater than Solomon' Jesus was referring to Him-self . The truth which He had was greater thananything that Solomon had. Then, He Himself wasgreater than Solomon because He was the only be -gotten Son of God, who had come down from

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very great train, with camels that bore spices an dwith very much gold, and precious stones. She pre-sented a lot of hard questions to the king, but he ha dno difficulty at all in answering them. When thisqueen had taken knowledge of all Solomon 's wisdom ,and the temple which he had built, and the meat ofhis table, and his numerous servants, and the attend-ance of his ministers and their apparel, and all theother glorious things about his palace, she realize dthat the reports which she had heard concernin ghim were not exaggerated. In fact, she declare dthe half had not been told her of the greatness, wis-dom and wealth of this monarch of Israel .

This Queen of Sheba presented to Solomon a vastquantity of gold, and an enormous amount of preciou sspices, and gems of great value. On his part KingSolomon gave unto the Queen all she asked, nor didhe refuse her anything ; and he gave her a greattreasure besides : so she turned and went to her owncountry, both she and her servants.

"Now King Solomon had a great throne of ivory ,and it was overlaid with gold . Beside the thronethere were twelve lions . All Solomon 's drinkingvessels were of gold . And he had a great fleet o fships which brought him many things from otherlands. So King Solomon excelled all the kings o fthe earth for riches and for wisdom. People camefrom far parts of the world to hear the wisdom whichGod had put in the king's heart.

"The sad thing about Solomon is that when hegrew older, he departed from the way of the Lord ,doing certain things which God had forbidden. Godthen spoke to him and told him that He would tak epart of the kingdom out of the hand of his son. Forthere was much idolatry in the land at this time .The fact is that Solomon had taken wives from peo-ples not of the nation of Israel ; and, naturally, eachof these women wanted her own religion recognize dby shrines and otherwise . Thus, therefore, the peopledrifted away from the worship of the true God, an ddid that which was an abomination in the sight of th eLord, Who had said, "I am the Lord thy God : . . .Thou shalt have no other gods before Me . Thoushalt not make unto thee any graven image, or an ylikeness of anything that is in heaven above, or tha tis in the earth beneath, or that is in the waterunder the earth .' And the people were breakingthis law to such an extent that God became angrywith them.

"King Solomon reigned in Jerusalem for fort yyears, the same length of time that David his fathe rhad reigned. Then death came upon him, and heslept with his fathers, and Rehoboam his son reign-ed in his stead .

"I think Peter wants to ask me a question . Is itnot so, Peter ?"

"Uncle Eb, would you say that Solomon was agood king or a bad king?" asked Peter .

"Solomon was a good king till he broke the com-mands of God, " replied Uncle Eb. "Perhaps he

heaven."There is also a temple which is mentioned in

the New Testament, and it is a greater temple thanthe one that Solomon built. Now I think, perhaps,not one of you can tell me just what this temple is .What is another name for it? Who knows? Or ,who can make a good guess? How about you .Paul ?"

"I think it was called Herod's Temple," sai dPaul .

"Now that wasn't a bad guess at all," said UncleEb, "for there was a Herod's temple . Yet thatwas not the -particular temple that I' mean. Whowill make another try?"

"I think you told us one time that the church ofChrist is called a temple, " replied Ruth.

"Right you are, Ruth," said our Uncle . "Andthat is the very temple that I mean . The stones inthis temple are human beings. They are commonlycalled Christians . They are taken out of that quarrywhich is the world. As followers of Jesus, they ar ecut and chiseled and shaped by their experience sand then, finally, they will be set in the glorioustemple above .

"To Christians the Apostle Paul says, `You arethe temple of the living God .' He tells us that thegreat foundation stone in this temple is Jesus Him -self ; and he says that no man can lay any otherfoundation than this . So, then, if we are to becom epart of this wonderful building, we must be es-tablished upon Jesus . "

"How can we do this, Uncle Eb?" asked John ."We can do it by believing and trusting in Jesus, "

replied Uncle Eb. "By so doing, we are showingour faith and trust in God, the great heavenly Fath-er ; for it was the Father who sent Jesus into theworld to die for us, so that we might have life .

"While the reign of Solomon was glorious unti lhe disobeyed the Lord, the reign of Jesus will b efar more glorious . Solomon made the people of Is-rael slaves to serve His purposes, but Jesus will b ethe great liberator and emancipator not only of Is-rael, but of all humanity—every nation . He willsee that everyone is kindly and mercifully dealt with .

Talking Thing Over

COOPERATION AND LIBERTY

LL of the blessings that come to us from Go dare available upon the basis of our coopera-tion with the divine Giver in the receiving ofHis gifts . He gave His beloved Son to be

our Redeemer but to receive the blessings of life mad epossible through this gift we must believe, on Christand through whole-hearted belief accept this won-drous gift. The Heavenly Father gives us His Wordof truth, but if we are to be blessed by it, we mus tstudy it and be willing to be guided by it . Indeed ,in every aspect of the Christian life we are coworker stogether with the Lord ; and this means that to theextent possible we will rejoice in the privilege of be-ing colaborers with each other .

The Scriptures make it plain that we should fel-lowship with the saints ; that we should build one an-other up in the most holy faith ; that we should notforsake the assembling of ourselves together—and somuch the more as we see the day approaching . Itseems to us that this is an important thought to keepin mind as we enter the year nineteen thirty-nine .May it be the prayer and earnest desire of all theconsecrated followers of the Master that this ne wyear will be one in which our wills shall be mor efully submerged into the will of our Heavenly Fath-er, thus the more fully cooperating with Him in Hisplans ; and also that we will appreciate, and be morefaithful in the use of, every possible opportunity tofellowship and cooperate with all others who ar ewalking in the same narrow way with us .

As individuals each one of us has a responsibilit ybefore the Lord. We must work out our own salva-tion—no one can do that for us . God works in us towill and to do of His good pleasure to the extent thatwe work with Him. But God has His own way ofworking in us, and He will not depart from it . Hence ,if we desire His cooperation our efforts must be madeto conform to His arrangements . He has, for ex-ample, provided prophets, apostles, pastors, teacher sand evangelists . All of these "gifts " from God arefor our blessing ; and through them He works in us .Then there are all the rest of us in the "body, " eachone placed therein as it has pleased God ; and all inorder that we may cooperate with each other in thedoing of His will as He expresses it through ourHead, Christ Jesus .

From the Scriptural standpoint, and while th echurch of Christ is in its preparatory stage, eachlocal ecclesia of consecrated believers is looked upon

by God as constituting the church . There was the"church at Rome," in the apostle's day, and there i sthe church at Chicago, today ; and also the churchesat hundreds of other places. Now God works in u sthrough these local assemblies of His people, an dmany of the rich blessings He has provided for u sduring the new year will be missed if we fail to mee twith those with whom it may be possible for us t omeet. As a brother suggests in one of the articlesin this issue of The Dawn, perhaps even the answersto some of our prayers are waiting for us at the meet-ing room of the local ecclesia .

The brethren of The Dawn intend that throughoutthe new year, even as in the past, their efforts to helpsafeguard the liberty of local ecclesias shall be con-tinued. And in this connection we wish to reaffirmthat whatever service we render shall be at the ful lapproval and hearty invitation of the local ecclesiasinvolved . While we appreciate the fact that larg enumbers of classes have extended to us a standinginvitation to supply speakers whenever possible, ye tin routing the pilgrim brethren we will continue togive the ecclesias the Opportunity to express thei rwishes with respect to each speaker 's appointmentthat is made .

The printing press together with modern methodsof travel obviously make possible a larger degree ofassociation and fellowship among the Lord 's peoplethan could have been enjoyed in previous periods ofthe church's history. These present-day blessingscan be used to great advantage by us all, if usedproperly. The fact that they have been misused b ysome is no valid reason why any should now feel tha ttheir only safety is in a state of almost complete iso-lation from those of like precious faith in other part sof the country or of the world . To the extent thatit was possible the various ecclesias in the earlychurch cooperated with each other in various ways ,thus widening the sphere of their fellowship an dthereby increasing their blessings. Doubtless richblessings are still in store for the Lord's people alongthis line today .

But we do feel that, in the interests of properChristian liberty, each local ecclesia should safeguar dwell its own independence of choice and action . Wehave said this many times before, but believe that atthe beginning of another year is a good time to sa yit again, and to assure the brethren that we inten dto continue fostering ' this spirit of liberty among thelocal ecclesias . Shortly we hope to make some sug-gestions in connection with the service of the truth

30

which we trust will promote still further the truespirit of Christian liberty among the ecclesias .

The desire to break away from human headship sand humanly devised channels of exclusiveness hasgreatly increased during the year that is passed .Many new ecclesias have been formed—ecclesias i nwhich Christ alone is recognized as Head . If we canjudge from present trends, many more ecclesias wil lbe formed during the present year . Let us all seek ,through cooperation, to do all we can to welcom ethese brethren and to assist them . They need ou rhelp, and we need theirs. Yes, we need the help tha t"every joint supplieth ." So may we all seek and us eall possible means of cooperating with each other andwith the Lord in this final work of "sealing" thesaints of God in their forheads ; remembering thatwe too are among those being sealed, and that there -fore as we endeavor to help others, we are also work-ing out our own salvation .

The following extracts from a few of the lettersrecently received will illustrate how additional oneshere and there are rejoicing in the pure message oftruth from the Word, and are finding rich blessing sand joys as they feed in His green pastures ; and inthe spirit of liberty and Christian helpfulness, see kto pass the message on to others :

"Dear Friends : Was so happy to know about TheDawn just at this time when I seem to be enveloped inconfusion . So glad to know that there are those wh ostill stick to the fundamentals we once learned. Pleasesend me a copy of The Divine Plan of the Ages—I wantto read that grand book again . I'm sure it will helpto dispell the confusion and gloom . Will be glad forany tracts that I can use in the service .

E . M. L . "* * *

"Dear Brethren : Kindly send me God and Reason,Tabernacle Shadows, The Divine Plan of the Ages, an dalso, Hope Beyond the Grave. Also one thousand DoYou Know tracts, and one thousand Kingdom Cards .Also, please send some Coming World Dictator Tract sand a year's subscription to The Dawn.

"I am one that has supported the Watch Towe rsince 1902 with everything possible ; but now that it steachings have changed I can no longer do so . Evident-ly the Lord is stirring up the nest cansing the eaglet sto fall out. All of them that have learned to fly (t ostand) must now fly away . . . Most clearly the trut his the test . I am glad to find some who will hold o nagainst all opposition .

—C. G. B . "* * *

"I have read a copy of The Dawn magazine, an dwould like to receive a few copies of late issues . Also ,any copies of the Bible Students News that you ma yhave . And I would also appreciate any availabl etracts and other material that would be helpful, in-cluding Kingdom Cards. I love to witness for thetruth of the Kingdom as I have opportunity, but notunder commercialized and enforced drives .'—W.I. J . '

* * *

"Dear Sirs : Please accept my subscription for TheDawn for one year . Please start it with the October

The Daw n

issue as I wish to keep the articles entitled `And Go dSaid.' I have indeed appreciated your kindness i nsending me your wonderful books . Since I have beenreading the Scripture Studies and The Dawn I can' tunderstand how I ever 'lived as long as I did withou tthis blessed belief. I thank the Lord for His favor .May He 'bless you and your work .

—R. M . "* * *

Dear Brethren : The grace of our Lord Jesus Chris tand the communion and fellowship of the holy spiri tbe with you all.

"For some time prior to the Pittsburgh Conventio nI had thought much about the prospects of revival o finterest in the truth of former Bible Students . And bytruth I mean the Plan as given to us through BrotherRussell. As an answer to my prayerful enquiry I wa sgiven a wholly unexpected opportunity to attend th econvention ; and because of what I saw and heard I a mwriting this letter . After several years spent in con-nection with the `hidden things of dishonesty, and th e`handling of the Word of God deceitfully,' it was mos trefreshing to me to witness honest brethren `by mani-festation of the truth, commending themselves to everyman's conscience in the sight of God .'—2 Cor . 4 :2 .

"I need not tell you of the great peace and joythat have come back into my life since I returned t oactive service in the truth, and how faith, hope an dlove have been augmented and enhanced by God's man-ifest approval of our efforts to assemble to study Hi sWord . And, being so Messed by Him, I am anxious t ocooperate with His people in every way possible . Re-joicing with you in the refreshing revival of interes tin the truth, and in anticipation of the coming reign o fChrist, I remain, your brother in Christ .. —W. G. B . "

* *

`Dear Brethren : I am writing in haste to send yousubscription to The Dawn . Will you also kindly sen dme five of the `Witness Bulletins. It was through thekindness of a very dear brother in Tacoma, Wash ., tha tI have again found the truth as it was revealed b yPastor Russell . . . . Count on me to do all I can toserve the Lord by showing others the truth, That i swhy I want the literature which I have requested.May the Lord bless you richly . . . .

—J . A. B . "

* * *

USE OF CONSOLATION CARD S

A few months ago we reported the results of th eefforts being made by Brother Gates, of Memphis.Tenn., in sending out the Consolation Cards to rela-tives of the deceased . Learning that God was con-tinuing to bless his efforts we have asked him for anoutline of the method he is using. In response toour request Brother Gates has sent us the followingletter, which we hope will furnish information thatmay prove helpful to others interested in this form o fwitness work :

"Dear Brethren : Christian love and greetings !Agreeable with yours of the 12th, I am outlining ourmethod of handling the Kingdom Cards : We secure our

January 1939

names from the death notices published in the news -papers . A list of survivors is usually given, and as arule their addresses are shown in sufficient detail t oenable us to reach them . In %listing the survivors oncards we show the age of the deceased, his relation t othe survivor, and if he met a tragic death, we so in-dicate, Of course this, is not really necessary, but i tgives us a better mental picture of the situation shoul dwe later have correspondence with the survivor.

"There are some instances in which we are unableto reach the survivor, either because no address i sshown, or because the person resides in a large citywhere a street address would be necessary in order toreach him. In such cases we write the following onthe printed side of one or more of the cards 'We sen dout : `We will be glad to send this booklet free to otherrelatives who will make request for same .' As a re-sult of this notation we have received requests fo r25 or 30 booklets . As a rule we do not send card sto persons residing in cities of more than about 50,000inhabitants, as the local postal authorities have advise dthat the cards would most likely be thrown; in wastebasket by them, due to insufficient address .

"We do not usually send cards to more than on eCatholic survivor . Our past experience shows thatsuch persons do not . ask for the booklet . We do sendone card, however, as we do not wish to pass th eCatholics up entirely ; and, too, the one card gives usan opportunity of witnessing.

"We seldom send cards to aunts, uncles, nephews,nieces, cousins, in-laws or grand-children. We do, how -ever, send them to grand-parents. We do not usuallysend cards to the survivors of small children ; for, aswe know, most people believe that the little ones go t oheaven at death, hence a suggestion of ` hope beyondthe grave' would most likely make no impression. Wesometimes deviate from the foregoing for a specia lreason, but follow it as a rule in order to Qbviate apossible unnecessary waste of postage .

"We do not always send cards to all survivors listed .For instance, if the deceased father was, sa,y, 45 to 50years of age, or less, and residing in, say,,Ciarksdale ,Miss ., and several surviving children are listed as alsoliving there, we do not send cards to them ; except incase of a married daughter being shown. We feel thatthe age of the deceased in such cases warrents th eassumption that the children are single and . living withthe parents. We therefore send a card to 'the wifeand place the aforementioned notation thereon;' as wefeel this will take care of those who may be interested .We follow a somewhat similar method in some case swhere the deceased was even older and has a numbe rof relatives living in the same town . That' is, we se -

a representative number from the listing, usuall ythe women folk, and then place the foregoing notationon their cards . Unless, however, the number of suchsurvivors is unusually large, we send a card to eachone.

"Our method of servicing the request is as follows :First, unless unavoidably hindered, we mail ' the bookle tthe day the request is received . After an elapse of

3 113 days we follow up with• either an offer of God andReason, or send about three tracts, one of which isalways the `Do You Know?' tract. If the follow-upis the offer of `God and Reason,' and is accepted, wewait another 13 days and offer The Divine Plan o fthe Ages. If the follow-up consisted of tracts, w ewait only 7 days before offering the First Volume. Ifthe follow-up is the offer of 'God and Reason,' and i signored, we do not usually proceed further ; althoughwe have in some instances sent along a few tracts later ,hoping to thus revive the interest . This latter, how -ever, has met with practically no success .

"We keep a record on the face of the inquirer' scard, showing how we have serviced it . For conven-ience in making this record, we have given each tracta number, as it is much easier to simply jot down anumber than to describe the tract by its title . Wekeep this record in order to prevent the possible dup-lication of literature, as 'the inquirers sometimes askfor additional literature without stating specificall ywhat is wanted, or what they have already received.

"To those requesting. .The Divine Plan of the Ages wesend a postal reading as follows :

`Dear Friend : The book you requested is go-ing forward today. We .are delighted to send it .It is our prayer that it may be as helpful to youas it has been to many others . It is the best Biblehelp obtainable from any source, so far as weknow. Indeed, it is a veritable `key' to the Scrip-tures on the many subjects it covers ; all of whic hare of great importance 'to• Christians . The authorcites' 846 Bible texts in support of his deductions ,and we suggest having your Bible handy for refer-ence as he cites them, thus satisfying yoursel frespecting his application, There are 5 additiona lvolumes, all of which cover subjects highly im-portant to Christians . )f, after reading The Di-vine Plan of the 'Ages• yeu wish these volumes weshall be delighted to loan them to . you, one at a ,time, without obligation, until you have read themall. All our literature is free . Sincerely yours ,ASSOCIATED BIBLE STUDENTS . '

"We allow 5 days to elapse before sending the Con-solation Card to surviving, relatives. We feel this ispreferable to mailing them at once., as it serves to sep-arate them somewhat from . other cards of sympathy ,thus making them a little more outstanding . It alsoallows the relatives . a little, more time in which to re -gain a measure of comppsure from their first shock .We therefore believe the card is more apt to receiv eattention than if mailed the day the newspaper notic eappears .

"IncJluding those of Oct . 24th, we had sent out 6724cards and from these we have received requests for630 booklets, an average of a little more than one re -quest to each 11 cards sent out.

"In our recent letter we said we had received aboutone request to each . four ' cards sent out offering toloan the First Volume, , but a recheck shows we were

3 2

slightly mistaken, as the ratio is a little less than on eto five . On four successive days week before last w ereceived requests for the First Volume, and we no whave them in the hands of a number of readers wh oseem to be quite interested .

"One woman here in the city seems, from all out -ward appearances, to be the most likely prospectiv egrain of wheat we have contacted in many a day. Werealize, however, that like Paul and Apollos of old,all we can do is the `sowing' and `watering .' Only ourdear Heavenly Father Himself is able to give the 'in-crease . '

"We shall appreciate your prayers that we may befaithful in our efforts to serve His precious truth a tevery opportunity afforded us . Your fellow servant inthe Lord.

—P. A . Gates"* *

We rejoice with Brother Gates in the blessings h eis enjoying through this method of sending out thelight of truth. Many others throughout the countryare likewise being blessed in their endeavors thus t obear witness to the truth . The Consolation Card sare now being quite widely used, by individuals an dby ecclesias ; but there is still room in this field ofservice . The Consolation Cards are supplied free,in any quantity desired .

The Kingdom Card work is also being blessed b ythe Lord. Kingdom Cards can he distributed fromhouse to house, or sent through the mails, as thefriends prefer . We will be glad to furnish samplesof these and the Consolation Cards ; and also anyfurther information desired, to any interested in tak-ing up one or both of these methods of making knownthe Kingdom message.

Friends will be interested to know that as a re-sult of the distribution of these cards which boreThe Dawn address, approximately 3,000 requests forliterature were received during the last ten monthsof 1938. This is in addition to the number of re -quests sent to individuals and ecclesias which use dtheir own addresses on the cards .

* * *

THE OLD MAN'S STORY

"I 've read the books they've brought to me—The comfort of the Lord .Divine Plan of the Ages wa sThe first that proved God's WordAnd showed me all the glorious boo nThe Age of Life will bring ,When earth shall wear its robes so fair ,With Christ as Lord and King .

"It told me of the Mystery,Now to the church made known,Of those Christ calls to suffer here ,And then to share His throne .It told in full of Nature planes ,The Human, the Divine,And that of Angels ; all these truth sIn radiant light did shine .

The Dawn

"And then I read the Volume Two,About the Ages vast,The Times and Seasons as they come ,And go into the past.It proves the Gentile Times are sped,'Their Kings have had their day ,And with them sin and sorrow shal lForever pass awp.y. '

Thy Kingdom Come—that was a boo kThat moved my heart to tears ,For I could see the pain and woeOf men throughout the years ,And well I knew that only Go dCould give the world reliefAnd through His matchless Kingdom sendThe anodyne of grief .

"Then Number Four—that Volume fineIs just as real todayAs when God's servant gave its truth sTo us in strong array .Great Babylon I found condemnedIn her entirety ;And yet, each fact with hope was packedOf better things to be .

"The Fifth One told me What Is Man ,And all about the Soul,And Death, and Hell, and it was wel lI came to know the whole ;For now I realize whey Chris tCame here for man to die ,And this gives peace and doubt's surceaseAnd to false creeds the lie.

"Then Volume Six, about the churchIts call, its goal above ,Its joy, its hope, the wondrous scopeOf truth and heavenly love.The Resurrection life divin eThe saints with Christ will share ,The Marriage Supper of the Lamb ,And all the glory there.

"So when I take the Bible now ,To read things old and new ,I follow all its mighty PlanAs once I failed to doRight from Creation through the year sOf shame and sorrow long,To restitution peace for man ,And earth 's rejoicing song.

"My hair is gray, my younger daysSeem as a tale that's told ;'The mourners go about the streets, 'That say I 'm growing old ;But still my heart keeps young, and stil lI want to thankful b eFor all the light, and joy, and trut hMy God has given me ."

—W. S.

January 1939

33

COMING CONVENTIONSSAN FRANCISCO, CALIF ., Jan . 8. This is the reg-

ular gathering of the friends in the San Francisco ter-ritory, which is held on the second Sunday of everyother month .

JERSEY CITY, N . J., January 15 . One-day con-vention . Sessions morning and afternoon, with an ad-vertised meeting for the public at 3 P. M. All ses-sions in Lawyers Building, Bergen Square . First meet-ing begins at 10 :30 A. M. All believers in the ransomare cordially invited .

BROOKLYN, N . Y., Jan. 29 . The usual Fifth Sunda yConvention will be held at 109 Remsen Street . Lunchserved in the hall at noon . Secretary, Mr. Wm. Josiah ,117-34 123rd St., So . Ozone Park, L. I ., N. Y .

* * *

ZION HILL SCHOOLHOUSE, near WEATHER-FORD, Texas, January 29 . The first meeting of thi s5th-Sunday gathering will be at 11 o'clock in the morn-ing, followed by lunch at the schoolhouse . The after -noon session will start at 1 :30 . You are invited tocome and fellowship with the friends . For further

information, address Mr. Robert Plumlee, Route 4,Weatherford, Texas .

LOS ANGELES, CALIF ., July 1-4 . A letter fromthe Secretary of the Los Angeles Ecclesia advising u sof their annual convention reads as follows :

"We are happy to advise that there will be a Lo sAngeles General Convention every year as long as th eLord is pleased that there should be . These conven-tions are for the purpose of bringing blessings and en-couragment to our brethren everywhere, and we trus tthat as many as can will avail themselves of the oppor-tunity of meeting with those of like precious faith. Forthe summer of 1939 we have planned a four-day con-vention . The dates are July 1 , 2, 3, and 4, which fallon Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday . We be-lieve that these dates will provide an ideal time forsuch a gathering, taking advantage of the week-endthrough to the holiday which falls on Tuesday . Weask an interest in your prayers and in the prayers o fall, that the Lord will see fit to bless this conventio nrichly to the end that His name may be praised an dHis people blessed . Your brethren in Christ, Bibl eStudents Ecclesia of Los Angeles, A . W. Abrahamsen ,Secretary. "

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Zionism in ProphecyToday the Jew is a very prominent character in

world events . This should make it very opportune tobear witness to the Messianic Kingdom hope as it re-lates to the return of divine favor to this much perse-cuted people . Many should be interested in learning whythis ancient race is now undergoing such trials ; andeven the Jews themselves should be more receptive t oa message of comfort at the present time than in th epast . "Zionism in Prophecy," then, should be a ver ytimely piece of truth literature for use just now .

"Zionism in Prophecy" points out unmistakabl yfrom the Scriptures that the time is here when God i srestoring His favor to the Jew, and shows that th epresent temporary persecution of this people is per-mitted and intended by the Lord as a means of turn-ing their hearts towards Him and towards the promise sHe has made to restore them to safety and peace in th eland that was given to their father, Abraham .

If you have not read "Zionism in Prophecy," sendfor a copy now . . They are priced at 20 cents each,single copies. .In quantity lots for witness work, 7copies for $1, . In lots of 50, or more, 10 cents each.

Tabernacle ShadodwsAn increasing number of friends are again taking u p

a study of the types and shadows of the tabernacle andits services ; and are reporting the receiving of richblessings as a result . The Tabernacle Shadow bookle thas been republished in order to supply the needs o fthe brethren who are desirous of going over these vita land fundamental truths of the divine plan again .

The new edition of Tabernacle Shadows has includedwith it, bound under the same cover for convenience,the original Berean Questions on the booklet . The ques-tions have been found to be very helpful in the studyof the types, particularly in classes . The new edition,including the questions, is priced at 25 cents each, inany quantity.

ITALIAN TRACT "THE COMING WORLD DIC-TATOR." This is a translation of the English tractby the same name .

THE DAWN 186 Fulton St ., BROOKLYN N. Y.

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That the Church is "the Temple of the Living God"—peculiarly "His workmanship" ; that its construc-tion has been in progress throughout the Gospel age—ever since Christ became the world's Redeemer andthe chief corner stone of this Temple, through which,when finished, God's blessings shall come "to all peo-ple," and they find access to Him .—1 Cor . 3 :16,17 ;Eph. 2 ;20-22 ; Gen. 28 :14 ; Gal . 3 :29 .

That meantime the chiseling, shaping and polishing,of consecrated believers in Christ's atonement for sin ,progresses ; and when the last of these "living stones, ""elect and precious," shall have been made ready, th egreat Master Workman will bring all together in th eFirst Resurrection ; and the Temple shall be filled withHis glory, and be the meeting place between God an dmen throughout the Millennium.—Rev . 15 :5-8 .

That the Basis of Hope for the Church and th eWorld, lies in the fact that "Jesus Christ, by the graceof God, tasted death for every man," "a ransom forall," and will be "the true light which lighteth everyman that cometh into the world," "in due time ."—Heb. 2 :9 ; John 1 :9 ; 1 Tim. 2 :5, 6 .

That the Hope of the Church is that she may be lik eher Lord, "see Him as He is," be a "partaker of th edivine nature," and share His glory as His joint-heir .-1 John 3 :2 ; John 17 :24 ; Rom. 8 :17; 2 Pet . 1 :4.

That the, present mission of the Church is the per-fecting of the saints for the future work of service ; todevelop in herself every grace ; to be God's witness tothe world ; and to prepare to be the kings and priest sof the next age .—Eph. 4 :12 ; Matt . 24 :14 ; Rev . 1 :6 ;20 :6.

That the hope for the World lies in the blessings o fknowledge and opportunity to be brought to all b yChrist's Millennial Kingdom—the restitution of allthat was lost in Adam, to all the willing and obedient ,at the hands of their Redeemer and His glorifie dChurch—when all the wilfully wicked will be destroyed .—Acts 3 :19-23 ; Isaiah 35 .