The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1912-12-24
The Heavenly Three.

The Heavenly Three.
Following the testimony of the Word
of God, we recognize Jehovah God
Himself, from everlasting to everlast-
ing God, the Head, the King, the Fa-
Their, of whom are all things. Next to
the Father we recognize u Heavenly
Lord, whose name at first was the Lo
Cos, the Word of God. His Messenger.
who subsequently was made flesh,
dwelt among us and redeemed US; and
who, as a reward, has been exalted to
the Divine nature and is set at the
right hand Of Jehovah God, to begin
His work of blessing mankind. He
waits also until the Church, His Bride,
shall have been completed and shall
have passed beyond the veil, to be for
ever with Him on the Divine plane.
His Joint-heir.
These are the Heavenly Three-all
of the Divine Nature, far above all
other natures, all other planes of ex-
istence. Yet always we are to re-
member that the Head of the Church
is Christ, and the Head of Christ is
| God, as st. Paul declares: for although
all Of Gods blessings are bv the Son,
i yet those blessings are all from the
Father Corinthians viii. g.
In passing, we should note how
these Scriptures and all the Scriptures
| continually show that the Heavenly
Father was o His own Son and that
the Heavenly Son was not His own
Father. In our text the Master de-
clares, ''In My Fathers House are
many mansions" Jesus. the chief Son.
has special privileges and special pow
er; and it is by the Fathers arrange
ment that the Bride. the Lambs Wife.
is to be brought into the highest of
Heavenly mansions. the Divine ma
ture, to be Joint heir with her Lord in
His Messianlc reign and In His ever
lasting glory thereafter.
~ Go to Prepare a Place."
But why did Jesus need to 20 to pre-
pare a place? His disciples did not
wish Him to go and leave them. When
eve He spoke along this line they
were grieved and perplexed; and on
n occasion st. Peter brought upon
himself a special rebuke by saying.
BE it far from Thee, Lord; these
things shall not happen unto Thee
The disciples were like children. They
had absolute confidence that they were
to share with Messiah the glories of
His Messianic Kingdom. They won
dered why Jesus did not stay with
them and attend to the establishment
Of the Kingdom at that time; or If 1t
were necessary to wait for a season.
why He might not tarry with them
instead Of going to the Father, as He
had often told them that He would do.
Our Lord did not wish to give them
any intimation respecting the length of
the Gospel Age. lest the knowledge
should discourage them. Therefore He
merely said, 1T is e~xpedient for you
that | go away'-necessary for you
Unless He should go away. the Holy
Spirit would not come upon them. They
would not receive that power from OH
High, of which He had told them,
which they saw e~xemplified in Him.
and which they experienced when He
put His power upon them and sent
them forth as His representatives to
work miracles and to proclaim the Cos
pei of the Kingdom.
After Pentecost, when enlightened by
the Holy Spirit, they could understand
the necessity for Jesus leaving and for
His receiving the Holy Spirit begetting
to the Divine nature. They, like all
mankind, were children Of Adam and
therefore inheritors of his death SEN
| tence. The Father could not, according
to His own just laws, recognize sinners
as sons. Before they could receive the
Divine begetting Of the Holy Spirit
they must first be justified In the Dr.
vine sight.
1t was to justify the Household Of
Faith that Jesus assembled on High.
there to appear in the presence of God
for u.s." He imputed to us before the
Father the merit of His own sacrifice,
and proposed to adopt us as His men,
bers. Then Divine Justice accepted the
Advocates proposal, and that meant
the acceptance of u proffered sacri-
fees. as the members of Jesus.
Ten days after our Lord left His
Apostles, the Pentecostal blessing
came upon them. st. Peter explains
that 1t was the Heavenly Fathers rec
ognition Of His acceptance of the fol-
lowers of Jesus who were entering into
covenant relationship through Him by
the covenant of ~self-sacrifce. The
-1-I III -w,Ar@1-.A-&
members Of the Household Of Faith to
the end of this Age. As a result, the
Holy Spirit came upon the ~consecrated.
They were to be made children of God;
and IF children, then heirs, heirs Of
God and joint-heirs with Christ, our
Lord, If so be that we suffer with Him,
that we may be also glorihed together"
Romans viii, IT.
Growth In Grace.
Mistakenly, in the past, many of US
have supposed Justification to be the
goal of the Christian-merely the for
| giveness of sins. Now we see that
this was a great mistake. Now we
see that justification by faith is only
a stepping-stone to sanchfcation-the
begetting Of the Holy Spirit as New
Creatures In Christ. Moreover, we
see that even our sanctifcation by the
begetting of the Holy Spirit is not
sufficient, nor our goal.
The Spirit begotten ones must grow
In grace, In knowledge, in all the fruits
and graces OF the Holy Spirit. They
must be tested and proved as to their
loyalty and faithfulness. Fiery trials,
testings, tribulations, must be allowed
TO come against them to prove the
depth and sincerity of their love for
God. Graciously, their testfngs are
not along the lines of the flesh. which
is acknowledged to be imperfect, weak,
and which is acceptable as a sacrifice
only through the merit of Jesus. Their
testings and acceptance are according
to their mind, their will, as New Crea-
lures in Christ.
~ Will Come Again."
The Master would be absent during
the period of the selection of the Bride
class-in Heaven itself. Yet by His
Spirit or Power. the Holy Spirit. which
is also the Spirit or Power Of the
Father, He would have full knowl-
edge of all the affairs Of His people
and would ~providentially make 'ali
things work together for good to them
that love Him." Suffer they must: en-
dure trials and testings they must. in
order to prove their loyalty ever unto
death; but His grace would be snf-
icient for them. and His strength
would be made perfect in their weak
nesses; and He would never leave
them, In the sense Of abandoning
J thom So Iann as thau maald ahido