Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-02-09

The apostle expresses this same thought, say /;
ing. Set your affection IN things that al /
above. not on things that ara on the earth.
(Col. 3:2) We are not to nezle Z, however, 4
our duties and natural obligations 10 our
earthly friends and relatives, but we are 20
terests-the spiritual. Christ. the Bridegroom
first, is the thought and he represents to as
also tho Father and the Fathers WILL
He is Thy Lord
The Psalmist proceeds: 80 shall the King
greatly desire thy beauty for he is thy
Lord and worship thou nim" All there is
the thought. If rightly admire the King;
If we rightly appreciate the wonderful privi-
as under his loving protection ana provision,
and by and by his Bride and joint-heir In
glory: If we appreciate these things. surely all
earthly things and interests Will necessarily
fade, because of their comparative tnsignin-
canoe. And these the terms upon which
the King will desire us as members OF his
demons and eternal torment If we fail to
rightly appreciate this situation and. while
not repudiatinR his love and grace, give a
portion Of our love to our fathers house and
our people. the world: but he Will not
choose us as members of his Bride class I'M
less this condition of full conservation 10
him be the attitude of our hearts. Surely this
is not unreasonable. Had we been called
even from the ranks of the highest order OF
angels to be tont-heirs with the King or
glory. the honor conferred would haze BEEN
great as to merit an undivided love, &c
votion. Surely, then. we. redeemed by MS
precious blood from our fallen. sinful STATE
and then invited to share his glory IN the
divine plan. should be enthused, 50 fiHec
with appreciation of the honor proffcTed, that
we would gladly, willingly, voluntarily lay
aside every earthly weight and interest and
strive with patience and loving devotion TO
fore us of joint-heirship with the King OF
kings and Lord OF lords.
Worship Thou Him
The esopused church. if faithful, will rec
ognize but the one head, the one Lord, the
one Bridegroom. This does not mean that
teachers, apostles and prophets. as the apos-
tie has pointed out to be the divine arrange
neither men nor councils. nor declarations, old
or new. can be properly recognized by the
betrothed church as in any sense or degree
taking the place OF the Bridegroom, the true
head of the church. nor as in any sense or
the word becoming her director or law-giver.
Others may defer to creeds. ancient or mod
ern; to council. synods and conferences-may
allow these guide them and even to dictate
to them their faith course. but not so
the Lords betrothed one. II she should be
To My Lord 1 Would Be True, Who
Bought Me With His Blood
Throughout the past history shows that
the nominal church has been so reverential
towards creeds and systems and human tradi-
lions as to quite forget our Lords words,
"One is your Master. even Christ and all We
divine instruction the nominal church Of all
denominations has established theoretically
class distinction in the church-clergy and
latty. Such. distinctions are not only unknown
to the scriptures. but opposed to their spirit
and teachings The real church, the truly
consecrated believers are all priests, as said
ST. Peter to the church in general and no. to
clergy. of whom he had no knowledge. I'VE
are a royal priesthood. that you should
show forth the praises of him who called you
out of darkness into His marvellous light"
Christ is the chief priest over these royaI
priests subordinate to him. He is their mead.
director and exemplar. well as their Re
priest is the Holy Spirit, and the same
amounting, the same Holy Spirit is upon those
who united to him, the brancn OF the
vine Those who are not this anointed, not
thus priests. not Of he church Of Christ
at all, but merely natural men, brought into
nominal church relationship through inIsur-
derstapding of the divine plan. The sooner
this plan is understood AMI the worship and
reverence and honor taken from sectarian
parties and creeds and given - the Lord.
the better The more dire;tlr he is recognized
the head of every member the more will
each depend upon and draw near to him and
have fellowship and blessing and be used and
useful in his service
Let US. dear friends. nearlxsn to the mes
sage from the Bridegroom and prove loyal
70 him. regardless of whether it brings
the smile frown Of the world and CT the
adversary! Let us hearHan to the words of
him that speaks from heaven. rather than
to the words of fellow man. however well
meaning they may be, for tEey, like ourselves,
are fallible. Thus will thu word of the Lord
be more scrutinized by us, alb less attention
be paid to the opinions of men, The result
will be greater growth in faith and knowledge.
The result will be greater watching Of the
pattern and more painstaking work in the
identifying Of the embroidery of our robe, the
development of the character Of our Betroth-
ed Thus shall we make sure to ourselves
his approval. for he greatly desires such 10y
altv to himself and his word. such principle,
such outAworking of true heart-character.
The Virgins, Her Companions
Befogged by the errors Of the dark ages we
have until lately overlooked the fact thai the
scriptures clearly teach three distinct grades
or classes of saved ones.
ID The Bride class, joint-heirs with the
Messiah in his kingdom glory.
(2) The virgins. her companions, who VIII
also be spirit beings, but on a lower plane.
and not accounted worthy to share the king
dom honors.
go The restitution class. to be blessed dur
ing the millennial reign OF Christ, with an
opportunity to be uplifted to human proteC-
ton and to possess an earthly paradise-dn
that was lost in Eden and redeemed at Cal
vary.
Our lesson today specially deals with he
Bride class. Incidentally our attention is call
ed to her virgin companions oversees IA, 49,
How glad we are that the much diversified
wisdom of God has made provision for these
various classes. upon various planes OF per-
lection and gloryi Each who shall attain
eternal life through a hearty obedience will
find his cup of blessing full to overlooking;
but the various cups will differ in their ca
pacity. The Bride class. like the Bridegroom,
mill hnNW hnNN ID