Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-02-09
THE KINGS DAUGHTER,
Bride of the Kings Son,
Gorgeous in Gold and Whit
DAUGHTER GLORIOUS WITHIN; HER CLOTH
ING is OF WROUGHT GOLD-sHE
THE KING IN RAIENT NORTHUMBERLAND A..

Pastor Russell, or, as ne is tamlllarly
styled. Brother RUSSELL" speaking on
the above text, he said:
Our text POLITICALLY and pictorially draws
our attention to one of those beautiful
figures by which the close and dear re-
| lationship between Christ and his elect
church is Scripturally portrayed. Wheth-
er II be the figure of the captain and his
soldiers, or the shepherd and his sheep,
the master and his servants, the head and
the body members, or the bride and the
bridegroom, each illustration Of sur
Lords relationship to the church carries
its own important lesson. But surely
none of them more important or more
beautiful than the one we are now con-
sidering-our Lord, Eie Kings Son, high
ly exalted to Jehovahs hand in the
throne and the church in glory, his Queen
and joint-heir, with him in his Millennial
Kingdom soon to be established. The
study Of these pictures of heavenly things
is intended to lift the minds of the
new creation" Gods spiritual sons,
from things earthly and sensual, to the
things eternal, which eye hath not SEEN.
nor ear heard, neither hath entered into
the heart of man, the things which GOD
hath in reservation for them that love
him supremely.-1 Cor. 2:9.
The preceding verses of the Psalm de-
scribe the grandeur of the heavenly bride
groom-that in his earthly life he was
fairer than the children of men; and that
divine grace was poured from his lips,
and that the Father, because Of his
faithfulness, greatly blessed and exalted
him. Next it tells of the inauguration of
his Millennial Kingdom at his Second Ad-
vent, when, as the Mighty One, he Will
come forth in glory and majesty, con-
quering Satin, sin and death. We are as
sured that prosperity will attend and
truth, mercy and Righteousness will be
established in the earth, even though 1t
be accomplished by a great time of trou-
BILE. His arrows of divine truth are repre-
scented as piercing all of his opponents to
the heart, even as the apostles words In
the day of Pentecost pricked his hearers
and cut them to the heart and led them
to cry out, What must we do to be
saved?"
Thus will the people fall before the ris-
ing Kingdom of Righteousness. Every
knee must bow and every tongue confess.
All who will decline to do so under those
favorable conditions of full knowledge
will be utterly destroyed from amongst
the people" (Acts 1929. Then the declar-
alton is made, Thy throne, o God, is
forever and ever; the sceptre of thy king
dom is a right sceptre. God, thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness
above thy fellows"
The Queen and the Gold of Ophir
The picture is in the future. At the
present time the church is not the Queen,
not the Bride, not in the glorious gar
ments; she is merely the "espoused viz
| gin," called to brideship. At present she
| is in her body of humiliation, or ''vile
body" according to the statement of our
/ common version. But she shall be
changed" in the first resurrection, and
thereafter be the GLORIOUS body" the
! glorious bride. (Phil. 3:21.) Now she is
! a mixed company of both wise and fool
/ ish virgins, and many strangers COM
mingle who are not virgins at all. the
| testing time is not yet finished. 1t is not
vet fully determined which, by faithful
ness, will make their calling and election
sure to a place in the bride class, and
which will constitute the virgins, her
| COMPANIONS that follow her-mentioned
| in verse land which are of the earth,
| earthly, and, never having been spirit
| beCotten, will never attain anything on
the spiritual plane. These last await the
more favorable time of restitution,
watch will come after the Bridegroom and
IT, Bride glorified, shall have taken pos
session of earth and established the heaY-
emily kingdom or dominion.-Acts 1881.
| In the Scriptures, gold. the most pre-
cious of metals, is used to symbolic the
Divine nature, Immortality, and so, in
! this picture before us, the Queen, the
bride elias in glory, is represented as hav-
ing clothing of wrought gold of the finest
kind, 1.-THE glory of Ophir." What glorl-
Gus picture is thus prophetically held up
before us as an Indictment to make our
calling and election sure. Thus, by the
gracious and glorious promises Of the
Word, does God work in us to will and TO
do His good pleasure.
IT. f,,N IN
believe that so great an honor has been
provided for the elect church. 1t is al
most too wonderful that this, which the
apostle terms "our high calling" and
"our heavenly calling" is an invitation
| for us to step, not only out Of sin, but
from the earthly plane of being, a little
] lower than the angels, to the heavenly
plane, far above angels, principalities and
powers-to the divine nature. Yet here
are the apostles words, and what else
can we make of them? He tells us that
| God has given unto us exceeding great
and precious promises, that by these we
might become partakers Of the divine ma
ture" g Pet 1:4) 1t is proper for the
Lords people to accept these great things
with that simplicity which the Scrip
lures tell us is best illustrated in ''lit-
tie child''-nothing doubling. Says St.
Paul, he who hath freely given us Christ,
shall he not with his also freely give us
/ all things?"
| st. John assents saying: Beloved. now
are we the sons of God (even in our i'm
perfect condition), but it does not yet
appear what we shall be chow glorious)
/ but we know that when He shall appear
we shall be like Him, for we shall sec
( Him as He is" I John 8: 2 To be with
Him, to share His glory, to be like Him,
] who is the express image Of the Fathers
person, is the highest possible conception
we can have Of the glorious things which
God hath in reservation for them that