Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1914-07-24

zsxzssss 20. ~ greatly blessed
lRAsI02 RuSSEIg them by revealing
the leng til S.
breadths, heights and depths of the
/ Love of God for humanity.
| Pastor Russell's discourse today was
/ UNIQUE. The text was. whereby.
when ye read. We may understand ny
knowledge in the Mystery of Christ
-Ephesians 3:4.
The Scriptures clearly teach that
during this Gospel Age our God is
preparing a great Temple class, said
the Pastor. After this class shall have
been gloriied, Divine Power will OPP
/ crate through this Temple, through
which all nations will draw near to
/ God. The Priests in this Temple will
be Jesus. the great High Priest, and
the Church, the under priests. This
! High Priest will also be King-"a
Priest upon His Throne" after the
/ Order of Melcbizedek.
The Church of Christ, the speaker
claimed. is the most wonderful Secret
/ Order ever known. The Mystery Of
God. kept secret from before the foun-
dation of the world, is not yet finished,
he declared. and will not be until the
seventh trumpet sounds. Members of
/ Christ's mystical Body are in the
world. but the world knows them not
even as it knew Him not
The Degrees of the Order.
1t was then shown that membership
in this order requires compliance with
the most stringent conditions ever
known-the giving up to the Lord all
that the candidate possesses, himself
included. The first degree is the rec
ognition of Jesus Christ as our Savior
and faith in His redeeming blood
Some never progress beyond this ini-
tiatory step, and therefore know prac-
tically very little about the Order.
The second degree is conservation.
which is Immediately followed by
spirit-begetting. Those who have pro-
crossed thus far have become New
Creatures in Christ. AS these grow in
grace and the knowledge of our Lord
Jesus, they are privileged to advance
to higher degrees. In due time they
may become knights of the Temple,
very honorable degree-leaders.
AS members of the Order advance,
they learn more about the Mystery OF
Christ. The Apostle urges all Knights
of the Temple to CROWN grace, In
knowledge, in character-Hkeness to the
Grand Commander of the Order. High
Priest of our Profession, who died for
US and gave US opportunity to become
members of this fraternity. Those who
attain the highest degree shall be His
ioint-heirs in His Messianic Kingdom.
This highest degree, however. is linn
tied in number to 144,OO0 members.
Free and Accepted In Christ Jesus.
The Pastor explained that members
of this Order are free from the DOM
nation of sin, free from fear of death,
free from that condition of alienation
from God brought upon mankind
through Adams disobedence. But
they are not free to commit sin; their
very desire for close relationship with
God indicates that they hate sin
Then the speaker showed that in
Scripture the human nature of New
Creatures in Christ is pictured by a
goat. Thus on Israel's AtOnement Day
the high priest sacrificed the Lords
goat-depicting Gods acceptance OF
the conservation of the class so repre-
scented. Other Scriptures intimate that
each New Creature daily rules the
goat in his own flesh.
Since the mysteries of this Order are
spiritually discerned. only those can
understand them who belong to the Or
der. God alone knows the approved
members of His great Secret Order;
for He alone knows who are loyal at
heart. Others may wear the uniform,
learn grips and pass words; but the /
Lord knows who are His
The Founder of the Order.
The origin of the Order was next /
discussed. The Great Master Crafts /
man laid the foundation and made all /
arrangements. He is the Grand Mas |
ter, and no other is recognized by men, |
bers of the organization. He Himself
has said. zone is your Master. even
Christ; and all We are brethren
The Pastor then set forth the facts /
relative to our Lords life here on earth.
Jesus alone had the secret plans for
the Temple which God desired to have
When He was crucified.
more or less OF the Mystery was lost
sight OF; and the Scriptures intimate
that certain features of that Mystery
were not to be completed until His re-
turn. So this Secret Society await the