The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1911-04-04

These the fire" will not consume.
Others will be proved to be an admix-
ture of hay and stubble, which will be
consumed, though themselves win be
saved from the fire Il Corinthians iii,
II. 13).
The tribe of Levi pictured the entire
Church of the First born" but 1t con-
tanned two classes-the little dock' Of
priests and the great company Of Lee
vites-the Bride class and the servant
class, none Of whom have any inner
itance in the earth. all of whom have
the heavenly Inheritance.
As Isaac typif1ed our Lord, the Re
deemer, and as Rebecca typified the
| Bride class, SO Rebeccas maideBs typi-
fed this great company class. This
same thought is brought to our atten-
| ton In Psalm xiv. where the Bride
class is pictured as being presented
to Jehovah in the end of this Age in
glory, honor and immortality. illustrat-
| ed by raiment of fine needlework and
gold Following the Bride come the
virgins, her companions. who follow
her. These also will be greatly hon.
ored. greatly blessed though theirs will
be a less honor. This great company"
will not constitute the Kingdom. al
though they will be identified with 1t
and its wonderful salvation and bless
ing for mankind.
Keeping or Breaking Commandments.
The Great Teachers declaration that
they who break Gods commandments
and teach others so to do shall be
called ''least in the Kingdom" has cans
ed considerable perplexity In the past.
The question has been, How could any
one be at at all for the Kingdom who
breaks Gods commandments and
teaches others so TO do? The answer
is that many of Gods people have la
and have done things which they
ought not to have done and left un-
done the things which they ought to
have done. AS an illustration. John
Calvin, noble man as he was, burned
his Christian brother. Servetus. Such
violation of the Divine commands and
such wrong teaching must. according
to our human judgment, assign Brother
Calvin to lesser place in the King
dom than II he had more carefully,
more earnestly sought the will and
Spirit of God However, II Is not for
us to judge. We are merely seeking
to ascertain the spirit of our Lords
words.
Begotten Of the Holy Spirit and priv
- 81, Ill,
to be guided of the Holy Spirit. we
should be so faithful In the study of
the Scriptures as not to be mistaken
In respect to the general application of
their meaning. Wrong practice and
false teachings do not always repre-
sent disloyalty to God. but they surely
do always represent slackness or mat
tention to the Divine message; though
we may be sure of the Lords faithful
ness in enlightening all who are of the
proper. tenchable spirit.
John the Baptist's Class.
To what class does John the Baptist
belong. and what will be his share in
the Kingdom. according to our text?
Since the call Of God began with the
call of the Church. and since the
Church began at the First Advent Of
JESUS. it follows that no one was called
Of God to salvation prior to Jesus time
none for forty-one hundred and fifty
years after sin entered the world.
God did. however. recognize the 10y
atty of heart of His Prophet Enoch
and communed with him and blessed
him. etc. God also recognized Abra-
hams faith and spirit of obedience,
and lsaac's and Jacobs. and that of
Moses and Aaron and numerous proph-
cts and other faithful ones less notable.
Did he not call these? We answer
that he did not call them to salvation.
for no salvation could be positively
offered until the Redeemer had sacri-
feed: nor were they called to the King
dom. Tor the same reason. God did
tell them that in due time He would
bless all the world. He did tell them
that In due time the great Ruler of
the world would come forth from
Abraham's posterity In the line of
Isaac and Jacob and the nation of Is
rael. But telling them OF coming
blessing and giving them eternal life
are different matters. st. Paul de-
clares that none OF them got eyeriast-
ing life. and that by the deeds of the
Law no flesh can be justified before
God"
lsraePs Law Covenant served to
instruct the Chosen People 1t was
call to do right, and a promise of
eternal life If they would keep the
Law. HE that doeth these things
shall live" Israel learned the lesson
that perfect Law could not be kept by
imperfect beings. Some of them and
some Of the Gentiles In due time heard
of Jesus and how God has provided
justification through His sacrifcial
death.
God Provides Some Better Thing For
the Church Than For Ancient
Worthless
st. Paul tells us the status of those
noble characters, Of whom John the
Baptist was the last They were vol
unteer servants of God, SO to speak
Those of them who were born under
the Law Covenant. by their faith lived
above 1t and will be fully rewarded.
although they lived before any specific
call or offer of eternal Life was made
Their faith and obedience were pleas
ing to God; as st. Paul relates, "All
these died In faith, not having receiv-
ed the things promised them, God
having provided some better thing for
us (the Gospel church,. that they with
out US should not be made perfect
Hebrews XII. l3. 40).
THE Church of the First-born" is to
be perfected first and on the spirit
plane. "partakers of the divine ma
ture" I'll Peter 1, ~. In due time those
Ancient Worthless will come forth
from the tomb to receive the blessing
which God declares shall be the re-
ward Of their loyalty. AS the Church
will have the better resurrection" on
the spirit plane, so those Ancient
Worthless will have the better resur-
rection" on the earthly plane. They
win come forth from the tomb actual
ly perfect, while the remainder of
mankind Will be obliged to attain per-
lection by the slow process of faith,
works, obedience. during the thousand
years of the Kingdom.
Ancient Worthless Will Be Princes In
All the Earth.
Moreover, those Ancient Worthless,
while not members of the Kingdom,
per Sc. which will be spiritual. will be
members of that Kingdom In It's earth
~ phase They will be the Kingdoms
earthly representatives. princes or
rulers. in all the earth. as the Scrip