The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1912-03-19


sand years in Gods sight are but as
yesterday" or even shorter, "as a
watch in the night" The six great
Days of a thousand years each, In
which sin and death have reigned, are
| to be followed by a great Sabbath of
rest from evil-a thousand years Of
refreshment, refrigeration, upbuild-
ing, restitutlon.-Acts iii, 1928.
"The Mystery Of God.D
The purpose of the nineteen centu-
rfes between the time when Jesus died
as mans Redeemer and the time when
He will take His Throne as the Re-
stOrer of Adam and his race Is spoken
OF as q Mystery, because the great
work of grace herein accomplished is
measurably hidden from the world.
The Jews do not understand 1t; they
expected that Messiah's Kingdom and
their own national exaltation would
have come long ago. They cannot tell
noW why they have been for eighteen
centuries outcast from the Divine IA
vor. 1t is mystery to them.
The Scriptures tell us who may
know or understand this Mystery and
when 1t will be finished. They say,
1.-THE secret Of the Lord is with them
that fear Him, and He will show them
His Covenant" They tell us that in
the days of the voice Of the Seventh
Angel, when he shall begin to sound,
the mystery of God shall be finished, ,"
which He hath kept secret from the
foundation of the world. Saint Paul
refers to this mystery, saying that it
was hidden from past Ages and Dis
pensations," and that it SIS now re-
vealed to the saints" He explains
what it is, namely, that we should be
fellow-heirs and of the same Body
with our Observation-Disclosures lii, 9.
This clearly means that the entire
Church class, sometimes called "the
Body of Christ, which is the Church"
and sometimes styled "the Bride, the
Lambs Wife" is to be sharer with the
Redeemer in the sufferings Of the pres
ent life and in the glories Of the fu-
ture. The nearly nineteen centuries
of this Age, therefore, according to the
Scriptures, have been for the purpose.
not of giving the world its trial for
everlasting life or death, but for the
trying, testing, the electing or selecting
Of the Church, and her perfecting with
her Lord as sharers in Ills resurrec-
tion,'' ''the First Resurrection. Philip
plans iii, 10; Revelation XIX, 9.
We have in the past made two seri-
Gus mistakes respecting the Divine pur-
poses. One was that we assumed with
out Scriptural authority that the whole
world is now on trial for eternal life,
failing to see that it is merely the elect
Church, the consecrated class. The
other mistake is that we reasoned as
though the Church were part of the
world and, therefore, that the trial of
the Church meant the trial Of the
world. But hearken to the Scriptures
respecting the Church: aye are not Of
the world, even as am not of the
world" 81 have chosen you out of the
world" and again, Let your light so
shine before men that they, seeing your
good works, may glorify your Father
which is in heaven" ain the day OF
their Visitation. "-I Peter Ii, II.
Two Different Rewards.
We should notice also the wide diff
ference between the reward promised
the Church and that pronered the
world. In both cases the reward will
be everlasting life. In both cases this
will mean full harmony with God, be-
cause "All the wicked will God de-
stroy." And again we read that 'fWho-
soeveF hath the Son hath life, and
whosoever hath not the Son shall not
see life" So, then, the attainment of
everlasting life, either by the Church
class or by the world, will mean COM
ing into full harmony with the heaven
ly Father and with the Lord Jesus, by
the merit of Christ's sacrifice. It will
mean a full turning away from sin
and a full devotion to God and to right
eousness.
The difference will be as to nature.
The reward for the world will be
earthly nature, human nature, with
everlasting life in an earthly Paradise
or Eden-world-wide. Mankind never
lost spiritual or heavenly condition
through Adams disobedience, nor in
any other manner. He never had such
condition or nature, or a right to it,
that he could lose 1t. He was made
man, "a little lower than the angels"
His crown of glory and honor was an
earthly crown. His dominion was over
the birds of the air, over cattle and
over the fish Of the sea. This which he
lost Jesus paid the redemption price
for at Calvary; and these things lost
are the very things which Jesus and
His elect Bride will restore to mankind
during the thousand years of the Mes
sianic Kingdom. Thus we read: "The
Son of man came to seek and to save
that aohich toas lost
Partakers of the Divine Nature.
The reward of the Church, eternal
life, perfection and harmony with God,
will be on the spirit plane-wholly
different from the human. Man in
perfection will again be little lower
than the angels; but the Church, as
the Body of Christ, will share with
her Lord in His exaltatiOn, "far above
angels, principalities and powers and
every name that is named'-the divine
nature. This reward comes to the
Church under a special covenant Of
sacrifice, which the Bible specifies.
This Church class. like her Lord,
must sacrifice the earthly nature,
earthly interests, hopes and aims, and
must be begotten of the Father to a
heavenly, spiritual nature, In order to
be a sharer in the First Resurrection;
and she must enter into her reward be-
fore the Messianic Kingdom can be es-
tablished for the blessing of mankind
in general-the saving of the world
from sin and from death.
Thus the Apostle wrote that the
groaning creation waits for the mani
festation of the sons of God" Romans
viii, 49, Now are we the sons Of
God, but it doth not yet appear what
we shall be chow glorious, how great.
but we know that when He shall APP
pear we shall be like Him." Our res
direction change will make us like the
Savior; as it written, I'VE shall all
be changed. in a moment, in twin
king" because flesh and blood can
not inherit the Kingdom of heaven"
"commsnde5h All to Repent"
Come back again to Saint Paul's
words. He does not say that God
commanded the Church to sacrifice, for
If sacrifice were a command it would
cease to be a sacrifice. Nowhere are
Gods people commanded to present |
their bodies living sacrifices, nor to
IL