Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-09-07
THE VALUE OF TOLL
GIN THE SWEAT OF THY FACE SHALT
THOU EAT BREAD."-Gen., S;ls. =

BROOKLYN, n. ", Sept. Sine blDle STU
dents convention, which for several days has
been in session at Saratoga Springs, y. Y,
decided to spend fits closing days in Brooklyn
that II might be addressed there by Pastor Z. L
RUSSELL The Brooklyn Tabernacle proved in
sufficient in capacity for this large body OF
Bible students; hence the Brooklyn Academy OF
Music secured for the services Of the day.
Pastor Russell addressed the Bible students
twice: We report OF his discourSes, from
the above text. He said:
The Great Teacher said OF the lilies Of the
plain, They toll not, neither do they SPIN and
yet / say unto you, that even Solomon In all
his glory was not arrayed like one OF these
Matt, s:2s ~ Similarly we believe that In
heaven the angels freed from toll. Divine
power exercised in their interest makes toll
unnecessary. He who created the angels and
made the lilies is the same God by whose ON
nipotent power We human beings came into eN-
istence. We are surrounded by conditions which
call for labor toll and sweat Of face. as indl-
Gated In text. Why are these things 50?
Why Is less favored by his Creator than
the angels and the lilies7 The answer to this
query is found in Gods great book, the Bible.
As Bible students, the majority Of us know. Of
course, the answer to this query. And yet *
may prove beneficial to US to examine the ques-
ton afresh.
| remind you that the words Of our text
Gods comment upon the conditions which now
obtain and which were made necessary by mans
disobedience and the terms Of his sentence. As
originally created, the conditions Of sweat OF
face and battling with thorns and insects too
numerous to mention were not necessary and
were not imposed upon mankind. On the coll
| trary, Adam placed In Paradise. in the
Garden OF Eden, whose every prospect was beau
a variety and abundance OF lfe-gving fruit
| for the maintenance OF the King of earth and
his queen Mother Eve. The responsibilities OF
| the situation were merely to dress. or to keep,
| the garden-to PLUCK its fruits and to prune the
waste foliage to Adams pleasement. Every
necessity was provided as surely as in the case
| OF the angels and the lilies. The great change
which thrust our first parents from Para
disc is the result OF Original sn'-disobe-
dience to God.
The basis Of the fall may be said to have been
| the temptation Of the serpent, but otherwise,
too, we may say that 1t was the loss of faith
/ In God on the part Of Mother Eve. Had she
properly continued in faith and trust the tempt
er's suggestions Of dlsObedience would have
been promptly rejected. His suggestion that the
great Creator had been prompted by selfish
motives in forbidding the fruit Of one particu-
recognised as SANDER And the further sug-
gestton that the God OF all grace and truth lied
TO them and distorted the facts when he warned
/ that disobedleEce would result in death-tnls
Misrepresentation should have been Indignantly
resented. But, alas Mother Eve had not yet
reached that degree OF character development;
she succumbcd to the temptation, crude as II
was. Her desire for knowledge ensnared her
lesson to us in this connection Is that any
knowledge which may come TO us as Bible stu
dents. or come to others along any lines out of
( accord with the rivlne Testimony. would be
costly knowledge indeed.
| THE WAGES OF SIN is DEATH
the shifting of our first parents by a thunder
bolt, but, with gracious purposes, God permitted
| them TO have what they undoubtedly preferred
death by a dying process Of centuries. This
gave Adam and his posterIty contact with sin
/ and Its penalty. The Divine object In so doing
| is Scripturally declared TO be that all mankind
might learn OF the exceeding sinfulness Of
| SIM" its undesirability and the sureness of its
renalty-death. Had 1t not been for Gods in
/ tention to by and by send the Redeemer and to
] pay mans daath penalty, and thus TO make pos
/ StDle his reclamation fr0rn death hv
recreation processes. our race might better have
been instantly smitten to oblivion in our first
parents, and the twenty thousand millions Of
Adams children might better have remained I'M
/ torn. However. the Bible clearly reveals that
| 'as by man (Adam) came death, even 50 by
inaa flso (Jesus) comes The resurrection OF
the dead. For all IN Adam die, even so all
| in Christ shall be made alive, every man in his
own order" q Cor. 15:21-23.)
The purpose OF the Lord, clearly expressed, Is
that mankind in general shall have the blessed
opportunity OF sharing In the blessings Of the
Millennial Kingdom-the uplifting blessings the
restitution blessings, the resurrection blessings.
| st. Peter speaks OF those millennIal years Of
blessings as +" times OF restitution Of all things
which God hath spoken Of By the mouth OF
| all His holy prophets since the world began
| (Acts. 3:2i.l Very clearly we discern Gods wise
purpose to be that as mankind through Adam
are being made acquainted with sin, calamities.
death. son In due time all shall be made ac-
| quainted with Righteousness, truth and the boon
Of life eterrai In harmony with their Creator.
In that restitution time. by the contact OF the
1
sin. the whole world shall be brought to
knowledge of the truth and shall discern, not
only the justice of God, but also His wisdom.
| Thus sure enough. the forbidden fruit was Of
| the tree OF knowledge. The eating Of that fruit
did indeed bring with 1t to Mother Eve and to
| all her children knowledge. 1t has required 1000
years Of experience under the reign of sin and
| death to learn one side, and II will require an
| reign, to teach Mother Eve and her family the
other part Of the great lesson namely the
| knowledge of good. By the conclusion Of the mil
lenniHl tie entire race OF Adam win know both
good and evil experimentally, and we trust. the
majority Of them win have learned the lesson
so thoroughly that they viii be fully out Of ac-
/ acknowledging that the eating OF that fruit has
become :he channel Of these lessons IN evil, az
In good. We can see that these same lessons
might have been much more readily inculcsted
otherwise. had our first parents rejected the
| tempta: ion and proven loyal to their Creator.
The lesson to all OF US in connection with
this matter Is that there are two methods By
which the lesson OF life may be leaned-one by
present experience by stumbling and rising
| again. and the other by induction and instruc
| ticn. Our Creator stood ready to the last
method. Rut the necessities Of the case tue
xelf-wiIl. independence and dlsobedience Of our
first parents. necessitated the method which was
divnely adopted. Happy will II be for
| Gods children II We learn to have such con ,
dence in Fathers word that nothing can
turn us from strictest obedience thereto-that
neither sslf-love nor ambition may find place
IN hearts but that. the contrary. moth
ing would grieve ms more than the very Thought
Ct rliena tion separation between the Heaven
II Father and ourselves. as the poet beautifully
expresses II:
"Sua Of my soul. Father dear.
7 know no night when Thou are near.
O-ynar no earth-born cloud arise
To hide Thee from Thy servants eves"
CURSED IS THE EARTH"
Many misunderstood these words to signify
that our Creator put a special blight upon the
fruitful and beautiful earth. On the contrary,
while he could have brought the entire earth &c
full perfection before mans creation. he did not
do so, but left the greater part Of 1t in
condition accursed unfit for human use and
habitation. while man was in harmony with
God. God merely prepared the garden east
ward in Eden" for the trial. the testing the
proving Of first parents. because He knew
what would be the result Of that trial He
knew the end from the beginning. Divine fore
knowledge is the basis OF the statement, Cursed
is the earth for thy sake; II Is thus unfit for
you. in your interest. because foreknew
your transgIesslon and what conditions would
be most favorable for You. that your death sent
ence might bring you the largest degree Of
knowledge and the largest degree Of experience
in the most helpful manner.
Is Il asked how the unfitness OF the earth
could inure to mans advantage as sinner and
4.