The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1913-01-21

faint dawnings of the greater light
which will food the world when the
great Sun Of Righteousness. Emman-
uel's Kingdom, shall be manifested
above the horizon.
Yet we must not expect all sunshine.
A great cloud is Immediately before
us, with n terrific storm. which will
convulse the present order of things
social, financial, political and religious.
The momentary chaos will yield to the
Prince of Peace, who will then take
to Himself His great power and reign.
He will say to the raging winds of
strife and the billowy waves Of trou-
BILE, Peace. be stillw and there will
be a great calm. even as was illus
trated on the Sea Of Galilee.
The storm, the Pastor stated. is some
times spoken of as a manifestation Of
Divine wrath and indignation; but he
explained that the great Jehovah is the
synonym for Justice, and Messiah Is
the synonym for Mercy Justice oper-
ates along the lines of cause and effect
Whosoever sins shall suffer From this
which win precede the establishment
Of Messiah's Kingdom will be the nat,
ural, logical result Of the operation of
the laws of Justice.
Humanity Is not using the blessings
OF this Millennial Morning In that no.
BILE and generous manner in which they
should be used Seltishness prevails
everywhere. amongst rich and poor.
The earth's present abundant supply
for mems needs should bring content
ment to high and low, rich and poor:
but it is bringing the reverse, because
the natural heart is full of selfishness,
deprayity The noble image Of the Gre
ator has been considerably lost. though
no one is totally depraved
God will allow this ferment Of self
ishness to lead on to its natural results.
In order to demonstrate to mankind the
fallacy Of that principle-in order to
prepare men to appreciate the reign of
Righteousness, equity, mercy and love.
about to be inaugurated The lesson,
he said, will be terribly severe one
kind the purposed lesson of the sinful
ness of sin, selfishness, meanness and
the beauty Of holiness, righteousness.
harmony with God.
"Ths Desert Shall Blossom"
Pastor Russell took as his text Isaiah
35:1, which declares, The desert shall
rejoice and blossom as the rose" This
prophecy is having literal fulflment
now in our Western States. He told
| Of what he had seen in Oregon and
Washington-beautiful groves bearing
delicious fruits growing where once
nothing but sage brush grew-on land
supposed at one time to be practically
valueless. The application Of water
has wrought marvellous transforms
ton, or miracle. 1t might be described
just as the Prophet portrays. Streams
break forth under the guidance of hui
man intellect, operating the marvellous
machinery and implements Of our day
He witnessed further transformations
in Colorado and California.
Our Government Is cooperating with
our intelligent fellow-citizens of the
West in the fulfilment OF the Divine
prophecy. Although the work is only
In its infancy, the results are already
marvellous. Some of the fruits are SO
beautiful, so luscious.l that we may well
wonder II there was anything superior
In the Eden of old, or IL the Paradise
promised to be established in all the
earth will be able to bring these fruits
to fuller perfection.
A similar work Of reclamation of the
desert is going on in old Arabia. Short
ly the land Of the Arabian Nights
will realize in a natural way far greater
wealth and far more wonderful changes
than those Of the fairy tales which en-
tranced our childish Imagination.
The great Sahara Desert. too. has
been examined by engineers They a.
certain that q considerable portion O
its vast area is below sea level. At /,
comparatively small cost it can be In
undated and made to rejoice with thu
remainder of the world, by sharing IL
the Millennial blessing. The Scriptures
prophesy also that the Dead Sea vii
be connected with the ocean, and tina
region become once more prosperous.
Still More Wonderful Things.
Pastor Russell, dealing with the con
text, pointed out that It tells the who'll,
story. He applied Verse to the pres
ent time, declaring that he was seeking
to carry out its command, Strengthen
ye the weak hands and confirm thu
feeble knees. Say to them that are o!
a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not
behold your God win come with venge
ance, even God with recempense; HI
will come and save you."-Verses 8, 4
The Church is here addressed
the world. True, Messiah's coming Il
to bless the world, but before the bless
ing can come to the world, the Elect
Church must first be gathered. By the
change" of the First Resurrection, tbs
Elect will cease to be Of the human
nature and viii become spirit beings
"like unto the angels" but hi9her-''par
takers of the Divine Nature"
This Elect class, the Pastor declared
is Scripturally called THE Bride, the
Lambs Wife" In all of Gods dealings
with humanity this class is to have the
prominence, as Spiritual Israel. They
are not all children Of Abraham by ma
ture, he said, but are his children by
faith; for Abraham typically was the
Father of the Faithful. Abraham rep
resented Jehovah, as Isaac typifed the
Son, Jesus, and Rebecca. Isaac's bride
typifled the Church. The first of this
company was gathered from the natur
al seed of Abraham, but the company
as whole has been completed out Of ev
cry nation, people, kindred and tongue
None, however, but sanity, holy onei
can be members of this Elect class
After its completion, the Divine bless
ing will extend through 1t to natura.
Israel, and through them to all nations
again. The blessing then to be be
slowed, however, will not be OF the
same character. They will all be earth
ly blessings-the life and health IL
Paradise will all be earthly. Only the
Church of the First-born. begotten o.
the Holy Spirit, know; and only sucf
can go on to make their calling ant
election sure and attain the birth OF
the Spirit In the resurrection All eth
ers remaining Of the human nature vii
get the blessings which God has pro
vided for humanity. These. the Pastor
said, will surpass anything Of which
the human mind has ever yet conceived
Opening the Blinded Eyes.
The miracles which Jesus did at His
First Advent were merely little illus
trations OF the much greater work