[HG267] Friday Evening, February 28, 1908.

(Chairman, STANLEY E. BOWDLE, Attorney, Cincinnati, O.)

SIXTH PROPOSITION.

The Scriptures clearly teach that the second coming of Christ will precede the millennium, and the object of both, the Second Coming and the Millennium, is the blessing of all the families of the earth.

C. T. Russell, affirmative.

L. S. White, negative.

CHAS. T. RUSSELL'S FIRST SPEECH.

The second coming of Christ is unpopular for two reasons: First, there are many who are not living up to the dictates of their own consciences, and who realize that the Lord's presence and kingdom would mean the overturning of many of their plans, schemes and practices. Second, amongst good people the subject is unpopular because of certain unscriptural theories which have become fixed or fastened upon their minds, and which we will examine later. However, no one familiar with the Bible will for one moment question that the second coming of Christ is one of its most pronounced and explicit conditions.

The question of the evening accepts as Scriptural the two propositions: First, that the second coming of Christ is clearly revealed, and is to be expected; and, second, that the millennial reign of Christ is clearly revealed and to be expected.

Neither of these propositions, therefore, requires proof text, or other setting forth.

The only question before us is: Which of these will be first? Will we have a reign of Christ without the King, and will he come at the close of the millennium, and examine our work, and say: "You have done well; I could not have improved upon these matters myself;" or will the King come first and inaugurate his own reign, and accomplish the objects thereof?

The latter, dear friends, you will understand to be my affirmation on this question, that the second coming of Christ, according to the Scriptures, as well as according to reason and logic, must precede his reign, and the glorious results predicted to be accomplished during the millennium.

Every one familiar with church history will concede that for the first two centuries of the Christian era the faith of the church was in harmony with my affirmation; namely, in the pre-millennial advent of the Lord. It was in the third century that the post-millennial doctrine began to be advocated, and took root as a doctrine of the church. Since then it has spread wonderfully, and today practically dominates Christian thought. My opponent is strictly on the popular side in his declaration of last evening that the second coming of Christ can not take place for at least one thousand-years yet, and the millennium must precede it. His view, the popular view, is termed the post-millennial view. We assert without fear that not a single passage of Scripture can be adduced to prove or even indirectly imply that the millennial kingdom of Christ, the thousand-years' reign of blessing, will occur before our Lord's second coming.

We may properly be asked why the admitted change in the third century? By that time Grecian philosophy had begun to permeate the doctrines of the church, and to teach that the dead are not dead when they die, but more alive somewhere, in heaven, hell or purgatory. This error offsets or negatives the teachings of our Lord and the apostles, that the reward of the church and the judgment or trial of the world awaited the second coming of our Redeemer and the establishment of his kingdom. Gradually the force of these Scriptures faded from the mind of the church and lost their significance.

For instance, the following: If I go away "I will come again and receive you unto myself' (John 14:3). This Scripture clearly teaching the second coming of Christ as the time for the church's reward was rendered meaningless by the acceptance of the theory that each member of the church at death passed immediately into glory, as the creeds still declare. Similarly this same error makes negative the statement: "Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be" (Rev. 22:12).

Thus the hope of "the resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust," was made meaningless as a hope when the idea prevailed that the church was to gain her reward at death, and when the judgment day came to be considered a twenty-four-hour period for a formal damning of the world, instead of, as the Scriptures teach, and as we showed on Wednesday night, its true meaning, as originally understood, was that there would be a thousand-year day of judgment, [HG268] trial or testing of the world, which would demonstrate the goat-like or sheep-like character of each, as described in Matt. 25:31-33.

The thought that the dead had already been judged and condemned suffering in torture naturally enough beclouded the true and legitimate thought that the world in general had never yet had its judgment or trial secured by the death of Jesus and provided for in God's plan by the millennial reign, the reign of righteousness, in which all should be brought to a knowledge of the truth, and to an opportunity to obtain life everlasting, or, by rejecting it, to come under the sentence of death everlasting. "The wages of sin is death." The soul that intelligently, willfully sins against light and opportunity, shall die, be utterly destroyed from amongst the people. (Acts 3:23.) An additional matter and a contributory error which contributed to this change of view, from expecting Christ to come and to establish his millennial kingdom, to the belief that the church is to bring about the millennium before the second coming of Christ, was the fact that a spirit of worldliness and ambition came in and overspread the church in the second century. The humility of Jesus and the apostles, his early disciples, began to fade before the ambitions of the clerical class, which separated itself from the generality of the church, which it styled the laity. As these clerics began to see that the incorporation of the platonic philosophy into the gospel of Christ was making Christianity more popular (by the addition of the error) their ambitions began to take shape. First came a suggestion that possibly a wrong view of matters had been entertained; that instead of the Lord meaning that his church was to bear witness in the world, and to gather out a little flock to be heirs of the kingdom to come, he possibly had meant that the church was to convert the world, and that the measure of their prosperity, associated with their errors, encouraged this thought and assisted to justify it. By and by it was accepted as the proper and correct doctrine or faith of the church, and thus it stands today, established for sixteen hundred years, and firmly fastened upon the mind of the masses, contrary to all teachings of the word of God, established merely upon the ipse dixit of human speculation and ambition.

Let us trace this error and see to what it has led. Under its influence the early church more and more gathered itself to leaders, and gradually four bishops rose up into special prominence, the bishop of Jerusalem, the bishop of Alexandria, the bishop of Constantinople and the bishop of Rome. Gradually this spirit of human leadership progressed, and the question of authority with it, so that the four bishops were competitors for the primacy or chief place of authority in the church.

It is common history, which you all know, that the bishop of Rome gradually succeeded in obtaining the highest place, and became known as "Pontifex Maximus," the chief priest in the church of Christ, and later pope, papa or father.

Meantime, with the growth of these selfish ambitions and pride, the theory that the church was intended to conquer the world, without waiting for her Lord, the King, developed, and the pope became recognized as Christ's vicegerent, which means the one who reigns instead of Christ. And since our Lord declared that when he would reign the little flock, the church, would reign with him, it seemed consistent that the pope should have a little flock associated with him and his vicegerency, or in his reign instead of Christ. Accordingly a college of cardinals was established, as representing that little flock, associated with the pope in the reign, of Christ, which was then reckoned as begun.

The work of conquering the world began, and the history of it is written in blood.

Since the claim was that the hierarchy constituted the kingdom, the popes, as the successive heads of that hierarchy, applied to themselves the various prophecies of the Scriptures which refer to the reign of Christ and his victory over the heathen, the dashing of the nations to pieces, the breaking of them as a potter's vessel, the ruling of them with a rod of iron, etc. All of these the popes understood that they were to fulfill, and they have sought to do so, and have done so to the extent that they were able, using cunning and craft such as have no equal on the pages of history.

We are not claiming, mind you, that the popes and cardinals and Christian people of that time were fraudulent in their claims and in their attempts. We are conceding to them full honesty of intention and charging the wrong to the error, and charging the error to our great adversary, who has made it his business continually to put darkness for light and light for darkness, and who has deceived all nations, as the Scriptures declare. (Rev. 20:3.) As an illustration of how the papacy honestly and conscientiously and deludedly acted along the lines of this post-millennial view, I note its application of the second Psalm to the popes. This is the Messianic Psalm, intended prophetically to set forth the work of Christ, his conquering power at his second advent.

Claiming to be the vicegerent of Christ, the pope applied these various statements of the millennial kingdom to himself. He was God's king set upon the holy hill of Zion; he would declare that he was set there by divine decree; the heavenly Father said of him, [HG269] "Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces as a potter's vessel." Hence the expectation of the papacy, was the conquering of the world, and endeavors along that line were put forth. The emissaries of the church at that time went among the heathen and gradually introduced changes from heathen festivals to Christian ones, from heathen names to Christian names, and in some instances even preserved the heathen names, as in our word "Easter," which originally was Estero, the name of a heathen goddess, in whose honor the festival was kept, but it happened appropriately as to season and was adopted as a Christian name.

Thus in a seductive manner many of the heathen were brought out of a grosser heathenism, not into the light and truth of the true religion, but into sympathy with a corruption of the truth, which was of no real advantage to them as respects the divine call of this gospel age. It did not make of them saints; it did not sanctify them in the truth; it did not bring them into heart relationship with the Lord; it did not bring them into the true discipleship and baptism into the death of Christ.

It galvanized or whitewashed their heathenism and called it Christianity, and substituted images of the saints and of the Virgin for the demigods previously reverenced, or, as our Lord said to the Pharisees in his time, it made many of its converts twofold more the children of Gehenna than they were before. Because if they had been left in their heathenism they would have been much more ready to have accepted the true light than after they had been deceived by the false doctrines of misrepresentations of God and his word.

This is true today. The heathen mind is more ready to receive the pure gospel of Christ that the "wages of sin is death"; that transgressions against light and knowledge will be sure to bring stripes and punishment either in the present life or in the future life; that Christ has redeemed the world from original sin by his death; that the Lord is now selecting a church to be the bride of Christ, and that the millennial age is to follow, in which all the families of the earth will be brought to a knowledge of the truth and to an opportunity for accepting it, and thus regaining eternal life, or, rejecting it, be destroyed in the second death. This, the true message of God's word, appeals much more strongly to the simple heathen mind than to those minds more intellectual, but corrupted by false doctrines respecting the condemnation of the race to eternal torment or to purgatory, except the comparatively few saints who will be accounted worthy of heaven.

Note the application of Psa. 2:9-12, as it was carried out by the papacy, as recorded on the pages of history. King Henry IV. of Germany had offended Gregory V2, and, as the people believed that the pope was God's representative in the world and reigned instead of Christ, his word with them was powerful, and the German king understood this. Hence, when the threat was made that his conduct against the papacy was so offensive that his throne would be declared vacant and a new king would be appointed by the papacy, the king of Germany hastened to Rome to make an apology and to receive forgiveness, and to thus maintain his throne.

History tells us that for three days he was obliged to do penance walking barefoot around the palace of the pope at Rome; that subsequently he was admitted to the papal presence, where the latter was sitting on a throne decked with gold and jewels and surrounded by his cardinals, the whole scene illuminated by colored lights which threw a rainbow effect. The king crawled on his knees to the feet of the pope. The silk stocking of the latter was removed, and the king of Germany kissed the pope's great toe in fulfillment of the declaration of this Psalm, which I will read: " Be wise, now, therefore, all ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth; serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him."

The pope had concluded to allow the king of Germany to continue on the throne of Germany on his promise of loyalty to the papacy, the kingdom of God, in which the pope was Christ's vicegerent. The crown of the king of Germany was there, and he raised it by his feet and placed it upon the king's head as he bent at his footstool. Then, the king still prostrated, the pope knocked the crown off his head with his foot, and thus indicated his power to crown or uncrown kings, and finally he let him go, the lesson being considred a sufficient one for him and a warning to all other kings.

One of the popes, Martin V., took this matter of his vicegerency of Christ so much in earnest that, according to the records, he on one occasion declared, "Am I not a very God on earth?" and then he proceeded to reason the matter out, and to show that in some respects he held a higher position than Christ ever held. Christ had never sat in such glory and dignity as he; Christ had never ruled such a spiritual empire over the kingdoms of the earth as he; and, more than this, referring to the power that priests exercise in the saying of mass, namely, the power of first turning the bread into the actual Christ, and then, after worshiping the host and calling it a living God, they break it afresh, or sacrifice Christ afresh for the sins for which that mass may be intended. The [HG270] pope said: "Have I not the power to create Christ, and is not the creator greater than the thing created? Therefore, am I not in some respects superior to Christ?"

These are indeed astounding words, yet there is reason and logic connected with them. Most evidently the difficulty lay with the false doctrines which were at the foundation, and not with the reasoning of the moment, built upon those false premises. Pope Martin was no doubt as honest as others of the popes, though more boastful. They all, however, as a whole, were boastful. As the Scriptures declare, this "little horn" or power that sprang out of the Roman Empire had an eye that signified great wisdom, and a mouth which spake great, swelling words, contrary to the Most High. (Dan. 7:8.) But I must hasten. Suffice it to say that at that time the various kingdoms of Europe became known as the kingdoms of God because they received their authority from the pope, who claimed that he was the vice-gerent of Christ and was reigning over the kingdoms of the earth by divine authority, the millennial kingdom being claimed to have begun. And, by the way, dear friends, be it noted that according to the view of the papacy the thousand-years' reign of Christ is measured from the eighth to the eighteenth centuries. The disaster which came upon that system at the hands of Napoleon and the prosperity of the Protestants since is set forth as the loosening of Satan for a little season as a fulfillment of Rev. 20:7-8.

In the Psalms and Revelation some statements are made respecting Messiah's kingdom in highly figurative language; for instance, a two-edged sword goeth forth from his mouth and with it he shall smite the nations. And again, he shall ride prosperously and that his arrows shall be sharp in the hearts of the King's enemies, by which the people shall fall under him, when the glory and majesty of his kingdom shall prevail over the earth. (Rev. 19:15; Psa. 45:4-5 These passages rightly understood refer to the sharp truths and righteous judgment of the Lord, which shall prevail during the millennial age and which will smite the people, the world, before him in the same sense that the words of the apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost cut his hearers to the heart. (Acts 2:37.) That was a blessed cutting for those people, and similarly the arrows of divine truth entering the hearts of mankind during the millennium will cause them to fall before the Messiah, and that will be a blessed falling. He shall break many hearts, but we are to remember the Scriptural declaration that he "wounds to heal," and that many of our own hearts were wounded, and that it is the wounded heart that is ready to be bound up and to be healed and to be transformed. But the papacy, full of wrong ideas respecting the claimed kingdom of God and the rights of the popes as the claimed vicegerents of Christ, exercising its authority often, did so in the most evil, most pernicious manner. Who has not read of the atrocious things done in the name of God and by the authority of the papacy, than which, we trust, the present representatives of papacy under the more enlightened conditions would not authorize, sanction or command, which were authorized and commanded during the dark ages and during the papal millennium? Matters which are not allowed to be known by Catholics, and which are .carefully excluded from their carefully edited histories of the past, and of which all are ashamed today. Respecting the atrocities committed in the name of the kingdom of God was the massacre of the Huguenots in St. Bartholomew's Day in France.

We are aware that the papacy denies that it urged, yea, commanded the king of France to perpetrate that horror, but the evidence of it is in the British Museum, represented by a special medal coined in the mint of Rome and sent to the French king as an indication of the papal approval and appreciation of his loyalty to the kingdom of God and the vicegerent of Christ.

Times have changed. Protestantism came in the fifteenth century and denounced papacy and denied its claims as the kingdom of God. Nevertheless, the great adversary succeeded in maintaining the same original principles of error in the minds of Protestants, so that the same kingdom which the pope authorized and called the kingdom of God Protestants recognize and also call the kingdom of God. So that today we have Germany still called the kingdom of God and recognized by Protestants and supporting a state church; while in Austria we have another German empire sanctioned as the kingdom of God by the papacy; and in Great Britain we have another kingdom originally recognized by the papacy which claims to still be a separate kingdom of God, the Protestant king being the head of the Church of England, as the czar of Russia is the head of the Greek Church in Russia.

We are not quarreling with these governments, which are doubtless as good as the masses of the people under them are capable of appreciating. Our complaint is that these are such as the Scriptures term the kingdoms of this world, and considered by themselves and considered by Catholics and Protestants to be the kingdom of God or parts of the kingdom of God, called "Christendom," which signifies Christ's kingdom. Our claim, dear friends, is that this whole matter is an error of Satan perpetrated in opposition to God and to the truth and to the interest of the church, but permitted of the Lord because he will [HG271] eventually cause this and all other permitted evil to redound to the glory of his name and to serve as valuable lessons to the world; and because in the present time these errors serve to make the way narrow and those who find it few, and to test and perfect the "little flock" for the heavenly kingdom, which God has promised and which shall shortly be established, and be a very different kingdom to what the world has ever yet known.

When our Lord taught us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven," he surely never referred to such a reign as that which papacy recognized as the millennial past. He certainly could not have meant to refer to the kingdoms of the present as being his kingdom. As we read in history of these kingdoms, they war with each other, and their records of selfishness and sin are all too conspicuous to require comment, and are in full harmony with the apostle's statement "that Satan is the prince of this age," and hence the over-lord of all present kingdoms. The histories of these kingdoms prove that they are not the kingdom of God's dear Son, but far more in accord with the reign of the Prince of Darkness. Every shred of liberty and blessing .and privilege which these kingdoms have accorded to the people under them have had to be insisted upon and in many instances fought for and bought with blood. In no sense can it be claimed that they have been the kingdoms such as our Lord promised, such as would lift up and bless the people and equalize their affairs, lifting up the lowly and humbling the great and proud.

But, some one will say, Brother Russell, Protestants have a slightly different view of the kingdom of God. Yes, I answer; I am glad of it, too, but the Protestant view is built upon the same errors as the papal view. It is more moderate, even as the present epoch is in every way more enlightened and more moderate than the dark ages. Less virulence of error is not what we want. We want the truth, and hence we want to get back to the teachings of Jesus and of the apostles and the early teachings of the church respecting the millennium.

The moderate Protestant view is that Christ established his kingdom at Pentecost, and that it has had a mild, beneficent reign ever since, and that it has been perfecting the world gradually, bringing in love instead of selfishness, righteousness instead of sin, and as it progresses it will finally conquer the world for Jesus. This sentiment is expressed in the hymn: "Onward, Christian soldier; Storm the world for Jesus, Conquering in his name."

Many dear children of God are greatly confused by this erroneous view, and hindered from appreciating the divine plan and understanding the Bible. They give millions yearly for the conversion of the heathen, and hope and pray that soon the Lord's kingdom will fill the whole earth. Poor, deluded souls! why can they not see the truth? Is it because error has so blinded the eyes of their understanding? The facts are these: That more than eighteen centuries have passed since the church got her commission. Her commission, indeed, was that she should go into all the world and preach the gospel, not to the Jews merely, but to every creature. But the message does not say that the preaching of the gospel will convert the world, but merely that it would be a witness, and, as the apostle declared, it would gather out of the world a people for the Lord's name, the bride class, the "little flock," the "elect," who will be glorified with Jesus at his second coming and made joint-heirs with him in his kingdom of glory. But overlooking this, our dear friends are impressed with the thought that God commissioned them to convert the world and not merely to gather the elect out of every nation, people, kindred and tongue.

What do we see? What are the facts? These: After eighteen hundred years of effort there are one billion two hundred million of heathen today, and four hundred million of nominal Christians. Dear friends, these latter include all the population of the United States, of Great Britain, of Germany, of France, Russia, Spain, Portugal, etc., because all these are counted as Christian countries, and their populations counted as sheep. Those, as Bishop Foster remarked, include black, ring-streaked and speckled, as well as white sheep, and when we remember the terms and condition of discipleship of Christ, we are forced to the conclusion that the white sheep, those that the Lord will be willing to associate with himself in the kingdom, are very few. We do not wonder then that our Lord said, "Fear not, little flock, for it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). It will be after the " little flock," the " bride class," has been gathered out and glorified with the heavenly Bridegroom and associated with him in his throne that through these the blessings of the Lord shall come to all families of the earth, and under more powerful influence than mere preaching will cause every knee to bow and every tongue confess to the glory of God. It will be in the enlightenment of that glorious millennial day and its light of righteousness that will dispel the ignorance and superstition and selfishness and vice of this present time of the reign o sin and death under the prince of this world, Satan.

It is a fact, according to statistics, with which you and I have nothing to do, that one century ago the world's population showed six hundred million [HG272] heathen, while the present census shows twelve hundred and twenty million, just twice as many. At that rate, dear friends, how long would it take to convert the world? Think of this. Remember, too, that the century just past is recognized by all Christians as having been one of the greatest of missionary activity in the history of the world. If, therefore, the conversion of the world is dependent upon the puny efforts of you and me, upon the efforts of Christendom, we are sure it will never be accomplished. and God's kingdom will never come, and his will never be done on earth as it is done in heaven. But suppose, dear friends, that the heathen outlook was not so bad. Suppose the record showed the very contrary to what it does show; that the heathen world would be all Christianized in the ordinary sense of the word, that is, civilized, what then?

Is God's will done in Christendom, "on earth as it is done in heaven"?

Surely not, if we have a proper conception of heaven. Cincinnati is probably a fair example of Christendom, probably above the average, yet none of you would for a moment think that vice and crime and selfishness and sorrow and pain and dying prevail in heaven as they prevail in Cincinnat1 And hence, if the whole world could be converted to-morrow to an equally favorable and Christian condition to that which now prevails here, it would simply mean that the world would be as far as ever from the fulfillment of our Lord's prayer, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven."

Who can not see that a great mistake has been made by us all in our expectations along these lines? Is it not time for us to return to the teachings of the word of God, to the faith of Jesus and the apostles and the early church, . respecting the second coming of Jesus and his millennial reign of righteousness then to be introduced for the blessing of all the families of the earth? It surely is.

But some one will say: " Was there not a sense in which God's kingdom was established at Pentecost, and do not our Lord's parables frequently speak of the church as the kingdom of heaven?" We answer, yes; our Lord speaks of his church as a kingdom class, called to be heirs, promised an association in his kingdom. And he speaks of us now being submissive to his will, and seeking in our hearts to be in harmony with all the laws of the kingdom which shall ultimately be introduced and made operative to all the world.

Thus, he says the kingdom of heaven is likened to good seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, after which the enemy came and oversowed it with tares, which sprang up and choked the wheat and made it unfruitful, so that the wheat-field more resembled a tare-field, and no separation was made until the harvest time. This is a picture of the church throughout the gospel age. The oversowing of the tares is that which we have described, the error, false doctrines, respecting the nature of man, that he is alive when dead, and needs no resurrection; and respecting the kingdom of God, that it came in papacy. The harvest is the end of this age, no millennium in between is shown. In the time of harvest the master of the parable says he will separate the wheat and gather it to the heavenly barn, while upon the tares will come a time of fiery tribulation, a world-wide trouble, such as was not since there was a nation. Meantime, we are told that the gathered wheat constitutes the kingdom class: "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear" (Matt. 13:43).

Another of these parables of the kingdom shows a woman, in symbolical language, a church-system, putting leaven into the family flour, until the whole mass was leavened; thus representing that the entire testimony of God's word, the food for his family, will be corrupted with the error of Satan. This is a parable of the kingdom, in the sense that it shows one of the experiences which the church would pass through in its present time of selection and preparation for the kingdom glories.

In another parable of the kingdom our Lord represents himself as the prospective King going into heaven itself, there to be invested with the legal authority and to return. On leaving his followers he gave them charge of certain pounds and talents, saying, "Occupy till I come." And we read that on his return his first work will be to reckon with his servants, the church. Subsequently he will begin his kingdom reign, and call for all those who refuse to recognize him as King, saying, "Bring them hither and slay them before me." Other Scriptures show us that when he shall assume government of the world, and when the clouds and darkness of error shall pass away, and the clear light of truth shall shine forth, and the glory of the Lord be revealed, and all flesh see it together (Isa. 40:2; 11:9; John 1:9; Isa. 60:5), then every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess. His enemies will fall before him. They will be enemies no more. It is the error that has made them enemies, the falsehood.

But if some shall be copies of Satan, and in spite of the light they will then be granted, if they will maintain opposition to God and to righteousness, the edict of that great prophet, priest and king, Jesus, the head, and the church, the body, will be that they shall be utterly destroyed from amongst the people. (Acts 3:23.) [HG273] While numerous parables represent the church as the kingdom class in embryo, getting ready for exaltation with the Lord, to sit with him in his throne, there is one parable which represents the kingdom in operation, and it shows that its reign is not before the second advent of Christ, but after it. I refer to the parable of the sheep and the goats, and I quote you the inspired record. Matt. 25:31: "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory." We are all witnesses that this great advent has not yet transpired. Let us read further and see what will be the condition of things when the Lord of glory shall take his throne, what will follow. The narrative continues: "And before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats."

The wrong thought foisted upon our minds by the adversary, that the day of judgment is a twenty-four-hour day, has blinded us to the beauty of this parable.

When we recognize that the day of the Lord, the day of Christ, the millennial day, is a thousand years, set apart for judging the world, this parable of the sheep and goats is full of meaning. Let us, therefore, hearken to the apostle's words: "Be not ignorant, brethren, of this one thing, that a day with the Lord is as a thousand years" (2 Pet. 3:8). Let us keep this in memory always in thinking of the day of judgment: God "hath appointed a day" (a thousand-year day) "in the which he will judge the world in righteousness" (grant the world a righteous trial for life eternal or death eternal) "by that man whom he hath ordained"'the Christ, Jesus the head, the church, his body, the elect of God. "Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world?" (Acts 17:31; 1 Cor. 6:2).

If the day of judgment were a twenty-four-hour day, and if the population of the world be estimated (as it reasonably may be) at twenty thousand millions, it would mean that the Lord must judge more than two hundred and fifty thousand every second. What kind of a righteous trial would that imply? Keep in memory the fact that the whole world has been tried once, representatively, in Adam, that the whole world has been under condemnation ever since, and is under it now, and that it is a death condemnation. Keep in mind that it needs no more condemnation on account of original sin. Keep in mind that the very object of his redeeming the world with his precious blood was to give to every creature another judgment, another trial, another testing of obedience or disobedience. Keep in mind that only by knowledge and faith can any be tested. Keep in mind that this means that only the church class is now tested fully, decisively. Keep in mind that the heathen who have never heard of the only name have never had a trial for life.

Keep in mind this is what the Lord has promised them as a blessing, that they shall have a judgment day. Let me quote it again: "God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained"'the Christ, head and body.

Of that glorious judgment day, or trial day, for the world, when the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the whole earth, and the blessing of a glorious opportunity for each of our race who has not yet enjoyed it, the prophet David wrote in triumphant exultation, which he certainly would not have used had he thought of the day of judgment with the ordinary misconception of the majority of Christian people today, as a day of damnation, or, as some say, doomsday. The prophet says: Ps. 96:9-13: "O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; fear before him, all the earth. Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth; the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved; he shall judge the people righteously. Let the heavens rejoice. And let the earth be glad. Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein; then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord; for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth."

God's promise was that the seed of Abraham should be the great King, who would bless Israel, and through Israel bless the world'" all the families of the earth."

Our Lord at his first advent gave the opportunity to the natural seed of Abraham to become associates with him in the fulfillment of this promise. As the Lord had foreseen, only a few Israelites indeed were fit to be of the kingdom class, and the divine purpose proceeded, and during this gospel age he has been gathering the saints, in all a " little flock," calling them from darkness to light, from sin to righteousness, from business and social cares and earthly pursuits to heavenly ones, in exhorting them to lay aside every weight and every besetting sin, and to run with patience the race for the great prize of joint-heirship with Christ in his kingdom. He has assured them that only by taking up his cross can they be truly his disciples. He has told them that they must drink of his cup, and be baptized with his baptism, if they would sit with him in his throne. He has exhorted them to present their bodies living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, and their reasonable service. He has told them that such over-comers shall sit with him in his throne, and he will give them power over the nations, and they shall judge the world. He has told these, through the apostle, that they are the bride of Christ, [HG274] and, as such, joint-heirs with him in the original promise made to Abraham. The apostle's words are: "If ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." And that promise is that through this seed all families of the earth shall be blessed. Comparatively few of the living are blessed in this most favored day. Two-thirds of the world know not the Lord at all, and of the other third very few have the eyes of their understanding opened, and, looking through the past, we find that the proportion of those enlightened has been less and less back to our Lord's first advent, and that prior to that time God's favor and revelations were all confined to the rich man, Dives, the Jewish nation.

So, then, dear friends, the blessing of all the families of the earth waits until the spiritual seed of Abraham is complete, and I say it with much joy, to my understanding the Scriptures teach that the selection of the church is nearly complete, that the bride, the Lamb's wife, will soon have made herself ready; that the marriage of the Lamb will then take place, and that following that the blessing of God will be poured out upon the world of mankind.

I have time to remind you of only one of these on this occasion. Through the prophet Joel the Lord said: "After those days" (after the days of this gospel age) "I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; but in those days" (during this gospel age) "I will pour out my Spirit on my servants and handmaidens." We know how a part of this has already been fulfilled; that God has given his Holy Spirit to his servants and handmaidens from Pentecost down to the present time, and tim remainder of the prophecy is equally sure of fulfillment; namely, that after these days, when the new dispensation shall have been fully ushered in, when the new covenant shall become operative to the world, when Messiah shall take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them all a heart of flesh, then he will pour out the Spirit upon all flesh.

And what will be the result? Those of that new time will see in reality the things which the ancients, the prophets, saw obscurely, as in a dream. It was for this glorious kingdom to be introduced by our beloved Master as King of glory that the apostle waited. He did not expect to enter it at death, but by a resurrection. He said: "I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."

Similarly the apostle John looked with loving longing to the kingdom and to the second coming of our Lord, and knew nothing about an intermediate millennial reign, but prayed: " Even so come, Lord Jesus" (2 Tim. 4:7-8; Rev. 22:20).

It is for this the apostle declares the whole creation is groaning and travailing in pain together until now, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. These sons of God are now being selected, joint-heirs with their Master in his kingdom, and not until they shall be glorified in the first resurrection can the groaning creation receive the blessing of the Lord. Because it is the kingdom of God that is to bless, rule, instruct and uplift all the willing and obedient in that day, the millennial day, in the day of Christ, when the faithful of this present age shall be priests unto God and Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

I have a little time, dear friends, at my disposal, and I will endeavor to answer our dear brother's question respecting "the mystery hidden from ages and dispensations now made known unto the saints." What is this mystery? is the question our dear brother asks. [Referring to the opening remarks of the chairman of the evening.] The apostle Paul tells us it is "Christ in you, the hope of glory." What does that mean? It means, dear friends, that the Jews in the past had the thought of Messiah; God had given them that thought through the promise to Abraham, through the promises in the law and the prophets. He had told them that Messiah should come, and that Messiah would grant a blessing to Israel, and through Israel to all the families of the earth. And when Jesus came there was a disappointment. He was not the great one that they were expecting. They said: "This is not the king that we looked for." What could this man do, traveling through the country with twelve disciples, no influence, no wealth, no fame, no power, apparently, to establish a kingdom? And so they hid as it were their faces from him. They said: "We are ashamed of him. If he be the Messiah, we would not recognize him. We are looking for a great commander, for a great king, to establish Israel as a great empire of earth, and through Israel to bless the nations."

The apostle tells us that the secret of the matter is that the time for the establishment of the Messiah's kingdom had not yet come; that instead of setting up his kingdom then, he would first gather out of Israel all who were Israelites indeed, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; he would gather these out, and these would constitute the church, his body, the Messiah, as God had intended, and which the prophets had more or less veiled in their statements, and that the whole Messiah would be not only Jesus, the Lord, the Redeemer, the head of the glorious kingdom, but also the church, his body, members in particular of the body of Christ, and this was the [HG275] mystery that was greater than they had supposeed.

This was the Messiah, composed of many members, of which the Lord Jesus was the head; that was the mystery hidden from past ages and generations, but now revealed unto the saints; namely, "Christ in you the hope of glory"'your hope of glory as members in his body; and it is for this very purpose, dear friends, that the gospel has been preached during this gospel age. How silly it would be to preach the gospel as a means of turning the hearts of men; and so the apostle says the preaching of the gospel is to the Greeks foolishness, and to the old world. They can not understand it; they say, If your God has power, why don't your God exercise his power? Why does he not manifest his ability to remedy evil conditions? Why does he permit blasphemy? If you have a God who loves us, why does he not come forward and put down the wrong? Why does he not put down distilleries, dramshops? Why does he allow war and all these other miseries, evils and afflictions? The answer, dear friends, is, "God's time to act has not yet come. He is taking out from the Gentiles a people for his name. He is not trying to take in all the Gentiles. The time to deal with the Gentiles, the heathen nations, has not yet come. He is finding out a very select class. When he came to the Jewish nation, although it was the best nation on earth, the highest developed nation in the world, he set them aside, merely taking from them such as were Israelites; indeed, those who were the most earnest and zealous, those who wanted to walk in the footsteps of the Master; and having set aside the Jewish nation in general, the work of this gospel age has been to take out the remainder of the required number, and he has been doing this according to his wisdom, and the gospel has been manifest here and there for the purpose of finding the class that he especially desires at this time, and giving this blessed message of joy with Christ.

It is a blessed message of joint-heirship with Christ, getting into his mysterious, glorious body, and the time is fast approaching when the mystery of God shall be finished. As we are told in Revelation, "In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished." I am glad it is not finished yet; I want to get a share in that mysterious body, that wonderful body, that glorious body of Christ, for we are to be in Christ, heirs with him of the glory that shall be revealed, also with him as his bride. That is the thought, you remember, in that statement of the apostle Peter in Acts 15:14-17.

God has visited the Gentiles "to take out of them a people for his name." What does that mean? A young man comes to Cincinnati to get a bride for his name.

She takes his name when she becomes his bride. And so the Lord is taking out a bride class for his name. And so we have the statement by the prophet Jeremiah: "This is his name whereby he shall be called the Lord our Righteousness;" "and this is the name which she shall be called, the Lord, our Righteousness" (Jer. 23:6; 33:16).

The word "Christ," dear friends, means "Messiah," and you and I are invited to be members of the Christ, members of the Messiah, who is going to accomplish this great work.

Notice what the apostle Peter says further in speaking about the work: "God did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name." And after this, what after this? Why, some of our friends tell us, after this the burning of the world. No, dear friends, that burning of the world is a symbolical burning. If we had that for our subject, and had the opportunity to show it, we would be very pleased to show from the apostles and prophets that it is a smybolical fire, going to burn down the institutions of the present time and prepare the world for the coming of the kingdom of Christ.

"But after this I will return and build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up; that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord who doeth these things." What does that mean?

That the Jews are going to have further favors? Yes, as you will read in Rom. 11:25-27: "I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye would be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is my covenant unto them and I shall take away their sins." He has not taken away their sins yet. They are still in blindness; but after the second coming of our Lord, their sins are to be blotted out. The sins of the whole world are to be blotted out. The new dispensation will be ushered in, and the people will be held responsible only for those things they have done in their ignorance in proportion as they knew better than they did. And the things they may have done in ignorance will be forgiven and blotted out. Then the blessing and favor of the Lord will come again upon the Jewish nation. You read that eleventh chapter of Romans, from verse 25 to verse 32, when you go home.

You will find wonderful promises of blessings there for the Jews and through the Jewish nation a blessing intended for all the families of the earth. The first favor came to the Jews, God's favored nation, according to the flesh; and then when Christ [HG276] came after the Israelites indeed were selected the rest of the nation was set aside in order that the spiritual favor could go to the Gentiles, and then the favor will return to the Jews. Then the whole world is to have a blessing. This is the mystery.

The world's hope of glory is the glorified church. You and I, dear friends, are members of that seed of Abraham. If we be in Christ, then are we Abraham's seed. That is the mystery. The seed was supposed to be one person, but Paul shows the seed includes the church; that God is now selecting the bride, the Lamb's wife.

L. S. WHITE'S FIRST REPLY.

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: Before entering directly upon my reply to the speech which you have just heard I deem it proper to state some facts which have transpired in connection with this debate. It has been in this discussion just as it always is with those who stand simply upon the New Testament and refuse to follow the inventions of man's wisdom in the work and worship of God's people. They not only have to fight for these principles and contend earnestly for every inch of ground gained, but they have to do so in most instances against the combined opposition of sectarianism in all its forms. For instance, seemingly afraid that those who originated this debate might gain a foothold in the city of Cincinnati, or at least that undue 'influence might be given to them, the Christian preachers of Cincinnati, Covington and Newport, who use organs and man-made societies in the service of God, rushed into the secular papers just before this debate with the following resolutions published to the world: "We, the ministers of the Christian Churches of Cincinnati and vicinity, publicly state that we knew nothing of the proposed discussion until we read the announcement made through the secular papers. The Rev. L. S. White is unknown to any of us, save one, either personally or by reputation. We are now informed that he belongs to a mall 'anti'-wing of the church and in no way represents the great brotherhood of which we are a part." (As I told you, last night, I do not belong to any wing; I belong to the church itself. The church you read about in the New Testament has no wings.) "The questions to be affirmed by Rev. White are not peculiar tenets of the Christian Church, and upon most of these questions, as in nearly every religious body, there is no unanimity of belief among the disciples."

"Since so many vital problems press upon the attention of Christian people in the present, demanding solution; since so much practical Christian work calls with unprecedented necessity for laborers, and waits for willing hands, we deplore the proposed discussion of some of the questions named. We feel confident that the whole undertaking will prove barren of any permanent results which could be termed beneficial."

Thus these preachers seemed to feel it necessary to wash their hands of all responsibility for, or connection with, this debate.

This presents a strange inconsistency; when the Christian Church wants to appear before the world with great numbers, it counts me and all other preachers who stand with me, among its preachers, and even prints our names in its "year book;" but when we come into their midst to contend for the simple truth of the New Testament, they repudiate us and publish their repudiation to the world. I am glad to state, however, that Brother J. L. Hill, of the Central Christian Church of Cincinnati, repudiated the resolutions which had been passed in his absence, and made a strong effort to have them set aside and others which he could indorse passed in their stead. I have been informed that after a warm contest he succeeded in getting other resolutions passed, but they have never been given to the public, and I know not what they were.

It is also a significant fact that the Christian Standard of this city, one of the most largely circulated papers in the Christian Church, has never in any way lent its influence to the debate, except to refer to it once in a four-line statement several weeks ago, notwithstanding the fact that a copy of the propositions and a personal letter were sent to that paper.

I want it distinctly understood that, no difference who may be against us, we are here to contend for the truth, not simply as it may be opposed by Elder Russell, but against man's teaching in any form which dares to go beyond the New Testament order of things.

One thing I will call your attention to in reference to Elder Russell's speech last night. The last part of Mark, sixteenth chapter, from the ninth unto the twentieth verses, inclusive, he teaches is an interpolation, that it is a spurious Scripture. I presented to him the Authorized Version, the American Revised Version, standard edition, the revision of 1881, the Living Oracles, and the Emphatic Diaglott, together with the Critical Greek Testament, with the original Greek in itself, and asked him to show from one of these where either one of them repudiated the latter part of [HG277] the sixteenth chapter of Mark as an interpolation. And he read a statement from two or three of them where the Vatican manuscripts and some other old manuscripts omitted the latter part of the sixteenth chapter of Mark, and his brethren seemed perfectly satisfied over it. Did you know that the Vatican manuscripts and some other manuscripts omit the entire Book of Revelation, together with some other parts of the New Testament?

Yet Elder Russell does not repudiate those Scriptures. Why? It does not suit him to repudiate them. It suits his purpose to repudiate Mark 16:16, where Jesus said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." Of all the translators not one of them has ever been willing to risk his scholarship in leaving out the latter part of the Book of Mark. While some of them say that some of the old manuscripts leave it out, they are uniform in the fact that the weight of testimony is in favor of retaining it as divine, and as statements from the Son of God himself. Thus I have met his objection unto the latter part of the sixteenth chapter of Mark being an interpolation. And I want to tell you now that whenever you begin to try to figure out that certain parts of the word of God are interpolations, or spurious, you are more calculated to make infidels than Christians, and I will never hold to any theory while God gives me the right exercise of my mind, that I have to reject part of the word of God to that theory.

I have some very strong counter arguments that I want to introduce against the proposition he has been affirming, before I take up his speech and follow him in the wanderings where he went. He is undertaking to prove to us that the second coming of Christ will precede the millennium. I gave you some reasons the other night why the second coming of Christ would not precede the millennium, and I am going to repeat some of these reasons at this time, because he could not answer them then, and he can not answer them now.

The idea that there are to be two resurrections of bodies, one of the righteous and another of the unrighteous, with a thousand years or a long time intervening, is not true for the following reasons, namely: 1. The righteous are to be rewarded when Christ comes. Rev. 22:12, "And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." But the righteous are to be rewarded at the general resurrection: John 5:28-29, "Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice; and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." Therefore, Christ will not come until the general resurrection.

2. The wicked will be punished when Christ comes. 2 Thess. 1:7-10, "And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power." You see great men differ. Elder Russell says that Christ is coming to save the world at that time, but Paul teaches us that when Jesus Christ comes he will come in flaming fire, taking vengeance upon people who have not obeyed the gospel here in this life. Which are you going to take, Paul or Elder Russell? But the wicked will be punished at the general resurrection. (John 5:28-29.) Therefore, the second coming of Christ and the reward of the righteous and the punishment of the wicked and the general resurrection will all be at the same time.

3. But the reward of the righteous and punishment of the wicked will be at the general judgment. Rev. 20:12-15: "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and Hades delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." But we have seen that all of this is at the second coming of Christ, and after the thousand years are finished.

(Rev. 22:12; 2 Thess. 1:7-10.) Therefore, it is certain that Christ will not come until the thousand years are finished. Neither can the bodies of any be resurrected until after the thousand years are finished. (John 5:29; Rev. 20:12-15.) 4. The Scriptures only recognize one return of Christ. The second coming of Christ, is always associated with the last judgment. Matt. 25:31-33. "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory; and before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left."

"But every man in his own order." 1 Cor. 15:23: "But every man in his own order; Christ the firstfruits; afterward, they that are' Christ's at his coming." But the last judgment is after the thousand years are finished Therefore, the second coming of Christ will not take place until the last judgment. But at the [HG278] second coming of Christ, the last judgment and the general resurrection which we have already shown, will occur at the same time. Christ will reward his people for what they have done in this life, not according to what they do in the next life.

Rev. 22:12: "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Therefore, it is certain that no one will be given an opportunity of salvation after the second coming of Christ.

In " Millennial Dawn," Volume V., page 365, Elder Russell. denies the resurrection of the body, but at the second coming of Christ there will be the general resurrection, general judgment, the thousand years will be finished. (John 5:29; Rev. 20:12-15.) But Paul teaches that we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ to receive the things done in our bodies. 2 Cor. 5:10: "For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." Therefore, the only chance of salvation we will ever have will be while we are in the body here in this preset'. life.

I want now to call your attention to the fact that the judgment comes after death, and not salvation after death. Heb. 9:27-28: "It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment." Elder Russell says after this is a thousand years' trial, and after this a thousand years' chance of salvation; but God does not talk that way. "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and to them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation," or without a sin offering. And if people can be saved at the second coming of Christ, then they can be saved without a sin offering. Christ will come without a sin offering, consequently not to save the people. Now, let us notice that twentieth chapter of Revelation and the first eight verses, on which Elder Russell undertakes to build that vague, visionary, dreamy, imaginary, long-drawn-out something, that he himself can not tell anything about that is tangible and clear. And let us get the lesson from this statement in the Book of God: "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and satan, and bound him a thousand years. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled; and after that he must be loosed a little season; and I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.

This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and he shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea."

The chain that is to bind the devil, I understand to be the word of God. The bottomless pit, where he is to be cast for a thousand years, is not the lake of fire, but the present abode of Satan and his evil spirits. There will be no escape from the lake of fire when he goes there. In verse 10, the record says, "the devil that deceived them was cast in the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophets are, and shall be tormented day and night, forever and forever."

Elder Russell represented the other night that when people are cast into hell, that there are demons there with pitchforks ready to shovel up coals of fire upon them.

I want to say to you that the word of God teaches no such thing. That is an imaginary creature in his brain, and that is what he is fighting instead of the teaching of the word of God.

The Bible plainly teaches that in the final wind-up of time, the devil himself, with his angels, will be cast into hell and they themselves will be tormented day and night, forever and forever. They will be among the number then that will be suffering this awful torment. The word of God in this thousand years' time will have such influence in this period over the human family that it will hold Satan in check and he will lose his power over them. It represents certain characters sitting upon their thrones. Thrones are symbols of rule. The people who sit on these thrones are to exercise a moral rule over the human family, not to compel them, but a moral rule through the influence of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They reign with Christ a thousand years, or a long period of time. John saw souls, not bodies, the thought is that the time will come some time in the history of the world when the spirit of New Testament Christianity will be so revived among the human family, through the church of the living God, that there will be a long period of peace and happiness here on this earth, designated as a thousand years in the word of the living God, and that is designated as the first resurrection.

These souls that [HG279] John saw, the souls of the martyrs that had been beheaded for the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ, they were resurrected among the people, not their bodies, but their spirits, among the people, influencing them, or rather the spirit of the New Testament Christianity revived or resurrected among them and they are overcoming sin; overcoming the devil; he is overcome by the word of God, and after this long reign of peace, the devil will be loosed again and will go out to fight against the Lord's people, and that will be the time that there will be a resurrection of the souls of such characters as Nero, Herod and other wicked characters of New Testament times.

And there will be then a great persecution against the church of the living God after these thousand years of the reign of peace, and I want you to notice right carefully at the beginning of the millennium the number of the unsaved was innumerable as the sands of the seashore, and that at the close of the millennium the number of the unsaved will be still innumerable as the sands of the seashore, thus showing us that Elder Russell's idea of the millennium is utterly out of harmony with the Book of God.

But I will enlarge just a little bit on some of his teachings. Does not Elder Russell teach in his writings that " faith in the ransom" will be a condition of millennial salvation? Let us see. Jesus, in his glorified condition, surrounded by his saints, in glory, will be seen when Christ comes. The scenes of that age will be a psychological bar to the presence or existence of faith, and at the time will command the presence of absolute knowledge. That will be an age of absolute knowledge concerning the claims of Christ; and where the domain of knowledge locates, faith dare not go. In fact, faith can not live for one moment in the realm of absolute knowledge. It is nonsense to talk about faith in the presence of ocular demonstration. Knowledge in the future age will take the place of faith of the present age. Then faith will be changed to sight. Now, since faith can not cross the border line of the golden age, none can be saved by it in that age, and hence that is not an age of salvation at all. If faith comes into existence in that age, the law of its production would have to change. It now comes by hearing the word of God.

(Rom. 10:17.) It would then be faith cometh by seeing, and seeing by the presence of Jesus and all his saints in glory. If faith could exist in the glory age, it would be coercive and so rob men of all moral worth.

Think of the idea of an unsaved man, having just heard the voice of the Son of God (John 5:28-29), coming forth from his grave, and being immediately introduced into the presence of Jesus and his multitude of saints, whose glories outshine the sun a thousand-fold. Think of such a man standing in the presence of such an environment, poring over any kind of testimony to the claims of Christ, however strong, and then you will think of at least one idiot in Elder Russell's "golden age." When Jesus comes in his glory we shall know (not believe), even as we are known. (1 Cor. 13:12, and 1 John 3:2.) (Matt. 25:31-46.) The sheep and the goats that Elder Russell told us about in his speech, where Jesus is represented as placing the righteous on his right hand and the wicked as the goats on his left hand, Elder Russell tells us that this takes place in the millennial period, and he tells us that when people are resurrected they are spirit beings and not in their bodies. That being true, I want to investigate it. But first to show you that scene in Matt. 25:31-46; the parable of the sheep and the goats is laid in the resurrection at the second coming of Christ. Elder Russell thinks this will all be in the millennial trial, but he is wrong in this. Some of these people are sheep for what they have done, and others are goats for what they have not done. The blessing and the curse are pronounced on the basis of the actions of their past lives. The chance of their salvation ended with this present life. But my opponent teaches that we are spirit beings after the resurrection. What then?

These spirit beings are sick; maybe they have the measles, needing a visit from the goats. Some of them are hungry. What! a spirit being hungry? A spirit being needing food to supply the waste material cast off by a perishing spirit nature? My dear brother, will you tell us what kind of food the GOATS have which is suited to spirit beings? What sort of clothing will a naked spirit being need that a GOAT may put on him? That is a scene laid down in the resurrection, and at that time those goats are wicked people on the left. Well, hear the statement of Jesus Christ.

And I will just turn for a moment and read the same to you; the forty-sixth verse of the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew reads: "And these"'the wicked, the goats'" shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." The Greek word aionios is used here and applied to the duration of the punishment of the wicked, also to the duration of the joy of the righteous, that the punishment of the wicked is to last as long as the joy Of the righteous. So Elder Russell is utterly mistaken on his interpretation of that.

My distinguished opponent teaches in the chapters on the "Two Natures Distinct," in "Millennial Dawn," Volume 1, pages 173 to 204, that the converts of the millennial age will not be born of the spirit, will not be spirit beings but pure human nature only. But he is at variance with the apostle John on this (1 John 5:1): "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God and every one that loveth him that begat loveth [HG280] him also that is begotten of him." This makes them spiritual beings and not distinct from the little flock. But in "Millennial Dawn," Volume 1, page 278, my opponent tells us that this should be "begotten" instead of "born." Agreed. Then if this doctrine be true, he is teaching that God begets the millennial converts with a divine determination that they should never be born. Any one who is not born of God is certainly not a son of God. Will he answer this question? Then whose sons will these millennial converts be? His own teachings seem to indicate that he thinks nature is conferred by birth. Many schoolboys know that nature is conferred by begetting, but that it takes birth to confer sonship. 1 John 3:2: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."

We will not have to wait for a future birth at the resurrection to make us such as my opponent falsely teaches in "Millennial Dawn," Volume 1, page 197. But we are told that we are sons in prospect by reason of our begetting, but real sons by future birth. But John teaches that believers are begotten; then, they, too, are only sons in prospect. Will he answer these two questions: 1. Will Elder Russell tell us how God planted prospects and yet failed to give them a maturing date?

2. If our faith in the ransom begets us to prospective sonship in this life, why will begetting by faith in the same ransom fall below sonship in the millennial age?

According to my distinguished opponent, the very best product in the golden-age will be human nature, and that, too, under the uninterrupted rule of right, but in this present age, when right and wrong mingle their forces, is the foundation of divine nature. According to Elder Russell, then, in the gospel age, when the devil is loosed, they make man like Christ in glory, but when the devil is chained in the bottomless pit, during the so-called millennium, and Christ is then assisted by his saints in glory, they are only able to elevate man to where Adam was at the beginning, and he sinned and fell the very first opportunity he had. If Elder Russell be right, it seems to me that the angel had better let the devil alone for the sake of better results.

Now I take up his speech where he began and follow him where he leads. He said that the second coming of Christ and the millennium are both revealed. Certainly we are both agreed upon that, but the question is, " What will be done in the second coming of Christ? What will be done in the millennium?" That is the issue, not an issue as to whether there will be a millennium or whether there will be a second coming or not, but what will be done when it does take place? He said then in the next place that the second coming of Christ must precede the millennium. I gave you the Scriptural reasons in the first part of this speech why the second coming of Christ will not and can not precede the millennium.

"The second coming of Christ is made meaningless by the idea of people being rewarded at death." Who says the people are rewarded at death? The Bible teaches that they will be rewarded at the second coming of Christ. Rev. 22:12: "My reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be."

That is, at his coming. Then he tells us that Christ is to take out a little flock, and that it is a false idea that he was to convert the world.

Well, if we had to take just what he says about it, I suppose we would have the same idea, but let us see. Mark 16:15-16, Jesus said unto them: "Go ye into all the world." What l to go into all the world? Well. Elder Russell says: "It is just to take out a little flock here. Jesus, you have that thing wrong. I have established a theory here in Allegheny, Pa., in the United States of America, the most intelligent place in the world. Jesus, you are a back number; you have that thing wrong; I am teaching my people that you are only to take out a little flock, and you must not go contrary to me; I am Charles T. Russell, of Allegheny, Pa." But Jesus said unto them: "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every' creature; he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned." That is why Elder Russell wanted to impress upon your mind that this Scripture is an interpolation, is spurious, because it does not suit his theory. But suppose we try again.

Matt. 28:18-20: "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations" (not merely the little flock, but teach all nations), "baptizing them" (that is, the taught) "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." There never have been but three sources of authority, and they are heaven, earth and hell. Jesus Christ, backed by all the authority of heaven and earth, told his disciples to go and teach all nations and baptize the taught. Any authority, then, that says the teaching of Jesus Christ is not for the world, not for all nations, came from hell, and not from earth or from God.

But I follow his teaching just a little further on this same thought. I want to sap the foundation of that false idea so utterly out of your minds that it will never sprout again. Acts 1:8, just a moment before Jesus Christ ascended to heaven he said to his disciples: "But ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in [HG281] Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Immediately after that Jesus Christ ascended into heaven.

He told us quite a number of things about the Popes and the Cardinals and the Archbishops. We are not debating about Catholicism or about the popes and the cardinals or the archbishops, or anything of the kind, but the question is, What do the Scriptures teach? What is the teaching of the word of God upon this question?

I am not interested in what popes and cardinals teach, but what does Jesus teach, what does Paul teach, what do Peter, James and John teach? He said the heathen mind today is more ready to receive the truth than some others who have heard it.

What is the matter? Because the heathen mind is not beclouded with such false theories as my opponent and many other people are constantly teaching over this country. In this country it takes ten times as much preaching of the gospel to preach the error out of the minds of the people as it does to preach the truth into their minds. When you go among the heathen with the word of God, the first important thing is to teach them that there is a God, and that Jesus Christ is his Son, and get them convinced of that fact, and it takes but little trouble to show them what to do to be saved.

But he told us something about the kingdom of God, that the kingdom of God was not yet set up. I will show you from the word of God that it is. And I will show you the very day and the very hour of the day in which the kingdom of God was set up here on this earth. Luke 12:32, Jesus said to his disciples: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom"'not this little flock here, of Elder Russell's, but the little flock that Jesus was talking to more than eighteen hundred years ago. "It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." It was to be given to the disciples of Jesus Christ, but when was it to be given? Was it to come in the millennium, or when? Mark 9:1, Jesus said unto them: "Verily I say unto you, that there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power." There is one of three things true. The kingdom of God was either set up and came with power during the lifetime of those men that heard Jesus Christ make this statement, or some of them are living till the present time, or Jesus Christ was mistaken, or, as the fourth thing true, the kingdom of God is set up.

One of these four things is bound to be true. But we follow the record on down to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. We find him dead on the cross, Mark 15:43: "Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable counselor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus." Notice this word "also," that he in common with others was waiting for the kingdom of God. Jesus said, when the power comes, the kingdom will come. But when was the power to come? Acts 1:8: "But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." When did the Holy Ghost come? He says in the fifth verse, "For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."

Then the power was to come in a few days after that. Acts 2:1-4: "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come" (fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, fifty-three days after his crucifixion), "they were all with one accord in one place.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." At that time the multitudes came together, and the Spirit of God guided Peter to preach the gospel; and Peter announced to them the claims of Jesus Christ; and they asked what they should do, and they were told to "repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." And we find in the last verse of that chapter that the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. But is that the beginning? I turn your attention to Acts 11:15, when, comparing the baptism of the Holy Spirit upon the Gentiles at the house of Cornelius with that of the disciples on the day of Pentecost, Peter says: "And as I began to speak the Holy Ghost fell on them" (that is, on the Gentiles) "as on us" (the Jews) "at the beginning." He points back to the day of Pentecost as the beginning. What hour in the day was it? Peter tells us that it was the "third hour of the day." The third hour of the day, according to the way we count time, is nine o'clock in the morning. Thus the kingdom of God had its beginning here on this earth as an actual institution at nine o'clock in the morning on the first Pentecost after the ascension and glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ; and from that time on the kingdom of God has been spoken of as in actual existence, not a future institution, but a present Institution, and I want to show you how utterly mistaken my opponent is in teaching that the kingdom of God is yet to be established.

In Col 1:13, but a few years after the day of Pentecost, Paul says: "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." There we find the kingdom in actual existence and people being translated into it. Heb. 12:28, Paul says: "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace [HG282] whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." Rev. 1:9, John says: "I, John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ." The kingdom was established back there and people were in it. And Elder Russell's idea of the kingdom being a future institution, yet to be established, is as much out of harmony with the teaching of God's word as the light of an old-fashioned brass lamp would be out of harmony with the light of God in heaven.

But he tells us in his speech that the preaching was not done to convert the world, but merely to gather out a little flock, and the people are not saved now in the gospel age by the gospel; that is not the mission of the gospel, further than to gather out the little flock. Rom. 1:16, Paul says: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Paul did not say that the gospel is a power, some power, or a part of a power, but he said it is the power of God unto salvation. I want you to notice carefully that the gospel is the one and only power that God puts forth to save the human family. 1 Cor. 1:18, Paul says: "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." Verses 21-24, "For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe" (it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe, not the foolish preaching which you are continually hearing all over this country, but what man would designate as foolishness was the wisdom of God), "for the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God."

But he tells us it is not the mission of the gospel in this world to save. Let me see.

1 Cor. 15:1-2: "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain." So this gospel is something that people are saved by.

But he tells us that there are twelve hundred million of heathen today, groping their way in darkness, without hope and without God in the world. Why is this?

Because the gospel has not been carried unto them, and such preaching as he is doing is calculated to cause them to stay in darkness. But what about it at the present time? Acts 17:30, Paul says: "The times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent." Go thou, is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and preach the message of life and salvation; tell them in the language of the word of God that God commands them to repent of their sins. But he tells us that there were six hundred million of heathen fifty years ago, and that now there are twelve hundred millions of them, and wants to know at that rate how long it would take to convert the heathen? Why has there been such a marvelous increase in the number of heathen in the last fifty years? [Elder Russell: " A century."] One reason is especially for the last forty years because this theory that Elder Russell has hatched up in his brain has been presented to the human family, and they have become more or less indifferent to it. Oh, well, they say, it does not matter, the heathen will have another opportunity anyhow; and his theory is more responsible for that than anything else on earth. [Applause.] Then he says if the Lord was to judge the world in twenty-four hours, he would have to judge two hundred and fifty thousand ever second. What was his point?

He did not say so, but intimated that it would be utterly impossible for God to do that. Jesus says, in Mark 14:36, that "with God all things are possible." It is not with me whether it is impossible for God to judge the world or not, but the question with me is, will I be ready for that judgment, and will others be ready for that judgment? He wants us to keep in mind the heathen who have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. But if you have in mind the heathen that have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, why are you going around all over this country then teaching people that they will have another chance of salvation after this life, instead of going over there and teaching them the gospel plan of salvation, and encouraging them to be saved here in this life? You are partly responsible for it, sir!

I want to give you the teaching of God's word on this question of the heathen, the statement in the word of God that teaches us about what will become of them.

Rom. 2:14-16: "For when the Gentiles" (or heathen) "which have not the law do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves. Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel."

Then he tells us that Joel said: "After those days" (Second chapter of Joel). After the gospel age, he says that God will pour out his Spirit upon all flesh. In the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, we find the [HG283] fulfillment of this, beginning at the fourteenth verse: "But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them, Ye men of Judea and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you and hearken to my words; for these are not drunken as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day, but this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel." And then Peter proceeded to quote the identical prophecy of Joel. This is too plain to be misunderstood. Peter says, "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel." Transpose that sentence: "That which was spoken by the prophet Joel is this," or, "This thing which you now see on the day of Pentecost is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel."

And whatever construction you may put upon that prophecy in the third chapter of Joel, Peter tells us it was fulfilled there on the day of Pentecost, not some time yet to come, but this is that, that which was spoken by the prophet Joel is this, which those people saw there on the day of Pentecost.

Well, he said that I said that I did not know when Christ was coming, and when the millennial age will be set up. Jesus said, in Mark 13:33, that no man knows it, no, not even the angels of heaven. No man knows it. Does he know it? He is undertaking to tell you it is in 1914. According to that, then, Elder Russell knows more than Jesus Christ, for Christ does not know when that day is coming.

CHAS. T. RUSSELL'S SECOND SPEECH.

Beginning with the last of our brother's objections, I note his statement respecting my statement that he had said that he did not know when Christ was coming. My objection was a different one from that. He said Christ could not come until after the millennium. I want to know how he knows that there is a definite time before Christ can come, and why the apostle said, "Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly."

And the apostle did not know about a millennium to come first.

Our brother mentions the passage in Romans, in which the apostle says that the heathen, not having the law, are a law unto themselves. I remind you, dear friends, of what the apostle there is discussing He is saying, you Jews have the Mosaic law – and it did not save you, and likewise the heathen, while they have not a Mosaic law, but they have a law in their consciences, and they are condemned by the law in their consciences; and they are condemned by the law of their consciences, as you Jews are condemned by the law of Moses, and then he winds up the argument by saying that "Every mouth must be stopped and the whole world become guilty before God." And then he proceeds to show that neither could the Jew be released by keeping Moses' law, neither could the heathen be released by keeping the law of conscience. That the whole world must accept Christ because there is none other name under heaven among men whereby we must be saved.

The command to repent: "God has commanded all men everywhere to repent, because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world? That is the reason he commanded them to repent, and until that day was appointed nobody was commanded to repent. That day was made sure when our Lord died. There could be no promise of a judgment to the world until the world first was redeemed from the original judgment. The first judgment came by the disobedience of man, and reached every member of the race, and God could not consistently talk about another judgment of the world until he had provided a ransom, and Christ had given himself a ransom for all, paying the penalty for the first judgment, and then the apostle says, as a result of that "God now commandeth" (he had not commanded before) "all men everywhere to repent. Because he had appointed a day in which he will judge"'another judgment.

You and I are enjoying our share of that very judgment now, dear friends, if we have heard, if our eyes have seen. We have a responsibility for what we know.

The whole world will have a judgment in due time. They have not yet come to a knowledge of the truth. You will remember what the apostle says in 1 Tim. 2:4: God "will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." And so they will in due time, as he goes on to say, " For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time" (1 Tim. 2:5-6). It must be testified in due time to every one, to experience his judgment, his trials, his responsibilities.

If when he hears it not merely with the outward ear, but with the ear of conscience, with the ear of understanding, if he then sins willfully against the message of God's grace, the responsibility is upon himself. The soul that sinneth it shall die, and be utterly destroyed from amongst the people. (Acts 3:23; Eze. 18:20.) Our brother remarked awhile ago upon my misinterpreting a passage in Hebrews, which I have not time to go into elaborately and follow his error. The passage reads: "Christ will come the second time without a sin offering unto salvation."

The brother was careful to say that he was coming "without a sin offering," but he did not quote "unto salvation." [Applause.] He is coming without a sin offering unto salvation. There is no mistake about that. He does not [HG284] need to bring another sin offering. The apostle means he paid the sin offering. The one sin offering, one for all, which he paid at Calvary. It is "to be testified in due time." It is this testimony which is given to you and me now, but it is in due time provided for others. But the brother urges our Lord said, "Go teach all nations." I reply, yes, he says, go with the message to all nations. He was making this statement in contradistinction to what he had previously said to these same disciples. He had said: "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt. 10:5-6). But now, after he had finished with the house of Israel, and had gathered out of them the true Israel of God, now he gives the command for the remainder of the gospel age and tells them that they are not to be restricted henceforth in going to the Gentiles, but now the gospel may go to all the nations, but he tells them not to expect that all will receive it; but "he that hath an ear 'let him hear." Wherever you find a hearing ear pour in all you can. When you can not find a hearing ear, go on. The Lord says, "Do not cast your pearls before swine."

Most people are swinish.

Our brother remarks about the Greek text again. I am sorry he doe, , not seem to understand about these Greek texts. If I had time I would like to go into our Bible, which was written in Greek originally. There are no manuscripts earlier than the fourth century, none whatever. The two oldest manuscripts known to the world are the Sinaitic and the Vatican, and these two oldest manuscripts are recognized by all scholars throughout the world as the most authentic and most reliable of manuscripts of the New Testament extant. These two oldest manuscripts it is that refer to Mark 16:9 to end of chapter, stating that this passage is not found in them.

We are not repudiating any part of the word of God, but what somebody added to the Book of Mark back there after the fourth century we are not responsible for.

[Applause.] Our brother remarked that the righteous are to be rewarded at the resurrection, not at death. What does he do with the righteous between death and the resurrection?

He says they are conscious in death. What are they doing all this time? Where are they? If they are not being rewarded, what are they getting there? God's method of reward is life. The Scriptures say, they have no separate life apart from God. He says the wicked will be rewarded at the second coming of Christ. Very true! Very true! They expect to be rewarded at the second coming of Christ, but what are they doing in the meantime? Our brother tells us, as I understood him the other night, that they are being roasted in the meantime. If they are not being rewarded until the resurrection, what are they doing before the time they are to be roasted?

What right have they to be punished before the time to roast them? That is not consistent. "The Lord knoweth how to preserve the unjust to the day of judgment to be punished." I stand by Peter. Not only does God know how, but he also will do it.

"The Lord shall be revealed in flaming fire." I have not time to go into details.

I remind you again, dear friends, that I will furnish a pamphlet containing a treatment of every passage containing the word "hell," from Genesis to Revelation, and all these figurative passages also, and you are very welcome to one if you will send me a card at Allegheny, Pa.

I take this opportunity of saying that thirty-seven adults were immersed this afternoon, in the Central Christian Church, this city, not baptized by water for the remission of their sins, nor entrance into the kingdom of God, but as a witness before the brethren that they had already repented of sins, had already been justified through faith in the blood of Christ and already consecrated their hearts and their lives, presenting their bodies, "living sacrifices," and thus joining Christ in his death. (Rom. 12:1.) They were haptized in water, in symbol of this.

Our brother remarks about the teaching of papacy not concerning him, but I was trying to point it out, and I could not make it plain to him, apparently, that the very teachings of papacy respecting the coming of the millennium was the very same kind of error that he is making. Papacy took the post-millennial view, and was led into gross error. Our brother has taken the post-millennial view, and is being misled into gross error. I was trying to lead him from that, but apparently have not succeeded.

Our brother remarked about restitution, and does not see how we have taken it in the "Dawn" and elsewhere, about spiritual and earthly bodies. I remarked that during the gospel age the Lord is holding forth a special invitation, he is selecting a mystery class, and that mystery class is the church, invited to the kingdom of heaven.

There is a special blessing for the world in general which it shall get by the way of restitution to that which was lost in Adam, redeemed by Jesus' death. But the church, the mystery class that God is now selecting, will not get restitution or earthly blessing, but will get the blessing of a spiritual nature in the heavenly kingdom. As the apostle Peter declared: "There are given to us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these we might become partakers of the divine nature." [HG285]

L. S. WHITE'S SECOND REPLY.

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: I am before you to make the closing speech of this debate. In ten minutes this debate will be a thing of the past, and Elder Russell and I are both agreed at least on one thing, that some day we will have to stand before the judgment-seat of Christ and give an account of the way in which we have conducted ourselves in this debate. We are responsible for what we have said and done, and you are responsible for what you have heard. I want to call your attention to that, question of the mystery that our honorable chairman first spoke of and Elder Russell undertook to show and utterly missed the point. I was just ready to speak of it when my time was called in the last speech. Elder Russell tells us that "Christ in you, the hope of glory," is the mystery. I will read from the word of God and see if he is mistaken.

Col 1:25-27: "Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God, which is given to me for you to fulfill the word of God; even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

Something had been hid back there, but was made manifest now to the saints. A mystery, Webster says, is something covered up; something hid. A revelation is something uncovered. Then this prophecy of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ had not been made known to the people before the advent of Jesus Christ, but when Christ came into the world these things were made known. "To whom," says Paul, "God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." The mystery was the things that had been kept hid in prophecy until they were fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and the "riches of the glory" was Christ in them, the hope of glory. I believe I have shown this so that any person can understand it. He has utterly failed to show you what the mystery is.

But he has told us that the Gentiles were not fit for the kingdom of God. (Acts 10:34-35.) The first time that Peter preached the gospel to the Gentiles he "opened his mouth and said, Of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. But in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him." So the Bible teaches us that they will be accepted with God, when they fear God and work righteousness. Another point he called our attention to is Abraham's seed.

Gal. 3:26-29: "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise."

If we want to be heirs according to the promise, we must come into Christ here in this life, not in the life to come, but in this life. And we are baptized into Christ.

Then he made a play on Heb. 9:27-28, Christ's coming without a sin offering unto salvation. I insist there can be no salvation without a sin offering, and Christ will come without a sin offering; consequently he will not come to save the human family at all, for if he did they could be saved without a sin offering.

Then he said he was not responsible for what somebody added to the Book of Mark in the fourth century, and some of his followers cheered. 1 would be ashamed to cheer any man for preaching infidelity. [Applause.] The scholarship of the world denies that the latter part of the sixteenth chapter of Mark is spurious.

The weight of the scholarship of the world is in favor of it being genuine Scripture. I asked him to meet me on the scholarship of the world on that question, and he declined.

In this proposition this evening he even failed to tell us what the millennium is, or what it will be. He failed to tell us how people will be saved when the time comes. I introduced a number of strong, Scriptural and clearly logical arguments to show you that Jesus Christ would not come until after the millennium; that the millennium was a resurrection of the spirit of the New Testament Christianity.

That people would live the Christian life so devotedly and earnestly that there would be a long period of time of general resurrection of the spirit of New Testament Christianity, designated as a thousand years in the word of God, which he is pleased to call the millennium. But the idea of there being a resurrection of bodies at the beginning of that period is not hinted at in the word of the living God. The general resurrection takes place after that particular time; after that time the influence of the wicked people of the earth will be revived again; there will be a resurrection, so to speak, of the spirits of the old wicked characters of the apostolic age. The influence of the devil will be loose again, and he will go out to deceive the nations of the earth again for a time, and after a time the Lord will come, the living will be changed, the dead will be raised up, the saints will be carried off to heaven and immortal glory; the wicked will be cast off into the dark world of everlasting woe and misery. I have shown you from abundant Scriptures that the second [HG286] coming of Christ, the general resurrection, the judgment, the reward of the saints and the beginning of the punishment of the wicked, all take place at one and the same time. He has utterly failed to meet me on these important Scriptures and points. Let me beg of you, while it is called today, while you have time and opportunity, to hear the word of the Son of God, obey his gospel and be saved.

Elder Russell has been telling us time and again about people who do not have ears to hear. Christ says it is because they have closed their ears. He says that "he that believeth not shall be damned." If people, then, can not hear when the gospel is presented to them, and they are lost, God is responsible and not the people. But Jesus says they will not hear. But you have an opportunity today. God says, "Come unto me, all ye ends of the earth, and be saved." Jesus says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." He does not say, "You can not come." The idea of this long, visionary, dreamy something that Elder Russell is talking to you about, is not hinted at in the word of the living God. I offered to him to become one of his disciples and go back to Texas and preach his doctrine if he would show just one place in the word of God that teaches it, and he has utterly failed. And the reason he has utterly failed to do so is because it is not there. His cause has failed, not because of the weakness of the man, but because of the weakness of the cause. He is the strongest man, not only in America, but in the world, on his side of the question, because he is the father of his side of the question. It did not originate with God; it did not originate in the word of God. It originated in the mind of Elder Charles T. Russell, of Allegheny, Pa. He planned out all of this theory, and in his imagination undertook to make the word of God prove the theory that he had planned out. Instead of making his thoughts fit the word of God, he has tried to make the word of God it his thoughts, and he is utterly wrong, and I thank God to be an humble instrument in the hands of God to show the fallacy of his teaching, and present the true teaching of the word of God, and to ask the people to accept Jesus Christ in loving obedience; to come unto him in this life and be saved. For the Bible says, "He is the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." May God bless you, help you to accept Jesus Christ, be saved in this life, and give you a happy home in heaven.

OUR FAITHFUL GUIDE

There is a limitless and mighty power
Surrounding you and me.
There is an influence that's sweet.
We feel but cannot see.
It compforts us, when hearts are crushed,
And lifts us high above
A reeling world gone mad with hate.
Into His boundless love.
It guides our trembling steps, when we
Cry Lord __" Hold thou my hand."
With wisdom, and in harmony It holds our little band.
What is this power controlling those Who search within His Word?
It is God's Holy Spirit Provided by our Lord.
O child of God, if thou would'st keep Within the narrow way.
If thou would'st make thy calling sure – Then for THIS Spirit pray.
'Tis not by might, – nor yet by power, Nor will it ever cease.
It shall preserve in unity, And in the bonds of peace.


(NOTE: The following appendix was added into the second edition printed in 1933. Although this appendix is not included in Harvest Gleanings, it is retained here for historical purposes.)

APPENDIX JUDGE RUTHERFORD'S CHALLENGE

Judge Rutherford, present head of the International Bible Student's Association, or "Russellites," issues an indefinite, undebatable challenge to those he calls the "Devil's Clergy." He has charged them with being the devil's clergy, and then challenges them to disprove it. He is strangely illogical for a "judge." He knows while he seeks to cover it, that there is not sufficient cohesion among the denominational clergy for them to formulate a joint program in the hands of a joint representative for such a discussion.

He seems to think, in a lengthy piece in the Golden Age magazine, issued from Brooklyn, N. Y., that he has proved them the clergy of the devil. He has sketched many traits of false teachers through the Bible, and assumes (the point to be proven) that he has made out his case. But to turn his gun upon him, this writer can use the same passages throughout the Bible to prove that the "judge" is himself a preacher of the devil. Judge Rutherford says a lot about the mercenary aspect of the clergy. Who has ever made more merchandise out of his religion than has the Judge? He has ridden to ignominious international note upon the carping, bickering spirit of fighting the sects; while he has in the same process been busy fashioning one; and carrying it further for his own glory. There are many preachers in America, deluded no doubt, who are every bit as sincere as the Judge.

Again, the Judge is quite egocentric. He assumes that he, as the head of a little sect, is entitled to have the honor of opposing the combined religious world, if it were possible to unite them for the battle. Who is this Judge Rutherford? As the darky said, "He recommends himself highly."

Let the Judge come down a notch or two. Let him, since he is such a great champion, be willing to defeat them one after another. Let him, if he is sincere, formulate such propositions as will fairly differentiate between him and the Churches of Christ in America, and he will have no difficulty in finding an opponent.

If Judge Rutherford is sincere, he will be willing to entertain a debatable proposition with a representative man who has the honor to represent as large a body of people as the Judge's own people. If he will not do this, it is because he is full of braggadocio, and has a swashbuckling strut for propagative purposes; thinking by this means to convince the unthinking.

Cowards talk and evade, and run. Of what stripe is the Judge?

'John Allen Hudson

WHAT WILL JUDGE RUTHERFORD SAY?

The following correspondence will speak for itself: 1519 South Florence Place, Tulsa, Okla., April 26, 1933.

Judge J. F. Rutherford, care The Golden Age, 117 Adams Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Dear Judge Rutherford: A short time since a devoted woman follower of yours appeared at my door with some literature of the International Bible Students' Association.

She broached the subject by asking if I were interested in what will soon happen in view of these distressing times. Your name was mentioned in the conversation, and I told her that I did not believe your position, and that I thought it could not be defined. Thereupon she spoke of your challenge to the clergy of America. She, furthermore, agreed to mail me a copy of The Golden Age which contains your piece upon the devil's clergy.

I do not admit that I am in that category, being as much opposed to denominationalism as you are. On the other hand, it is my firm belief that you are as purely sectarian as any one of the denominations, or the denominational clergy.

I have noted your subterfuge in that you seem to demand a representative man who shall be indorsed by all the denominations. You are aware that such a demand cannot be met. Anyway, I believe it would be a concession, were it possible beyond deserts. Since the churches of Christ in America are numerically as strong as the International Bible Students' Association, a representative man from their ranks would in that respect be on a footing equal with yourself. I have confidence that I should be enabled to coordinate behind me sufficient indorsement that, should you bring about my defeat, you would then have eliminated one body of people. It perhaps has long since come to your notice that your illustrious predecessor, Pastor Charles T. Russell, engaged in such a discussion with a representative man of the churches of Christ in Music Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1908. We are prepared to duplicate that discussion on all important points of your doctrine. Or if you will affirm in a public oral discussion, to be stenographically reported and issued in book form, that the churches of Christ in America in the aggregate constitute an organization of the devil, and that I am therefore a minister of the devil, I shall be glad to deny. And in turn I would be willing to affirm that the organization of which you are the recognized head is postapostolic in origin, is unscriptural in doctrine, and is purely human and sectarian in nature.

You must be a man of courage. You would not engage in gascanada, surely. I presume that your thought for an investigation of points of belief springs from a conscious desire to find and to impart truth, rather than as braggadocio to propagate your doctrine, If my presumption is correct, then we can work out such details as may present themselves in arranging for the discussion.

In the heading of the piece in The Golden Age, "Of What Are the Clergy of the Devil Afraid?" we get an indirect avowal of your courage. I shall, therefore, expect developments looking toward our meeting on the polemical rostrum at an early date.

Very truly yours, JOHN ALLEN HUDSON P. S.'Churches of Christ are locally independent in government, like New Testament churches. Therefore, we have no high-sounding titles or great positions. But I feel that I am representative, having served with churches in Memphis, Tenn.; Washington, D. C.; New York City; Oklahoma City; am on the editorial staff of one of our strongest periodicals; and am author of several books. But the particular problem of sufficient general indorsements would be mine and not yours, as only a representative would be advanced.

J. A. H.

Office of the President, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 124 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Mr. John Allen Hudson, 1519 South Florence Place, Tulsa, Oklahoma Dear Sir: Your letter to hand. Your accepting my challenge is not accepting the challenge that I made at all. Whenever you get a good percentage of the clergymen to sign an indorsement that you represent them, then will I debate with you, but no individual challenge will I give any attention to.

I do not know for what you stand and whether your sayings would bear any weight with the churches or not. My challenge published stands as it is stated, not subject to quibbling or change such as you want to make in it.

Yours sincerely, J. F. Rutherford ******************** 1519 South Florence Place, Tulsa, Oklahoma, May 10, 1933.

Judge J. F. Rutherford, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 124 Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Dear Judge Rutherford: Your reply, dated the 4th inst., is about what I had anticipated. I had not gained the impression that here was an absolutely fearless man who was really looking for an opponent, but rather that here was a man who was intentionally hiding behind what he knew was a safe proposition, and then who, failing to find an opponent where he knew he would find none, would procure a Gabriel's trumpet to utter defiance throughout the earth as a false means of propagating his doctrine and for personal prestige.

Yesterday afternoon I talked with the Presbyterian moderator, who is the highest dignitary of that body in the United States. The result of my conference with him was precisely what I had foreseen, and what it occurs to me you had foreseen, not only from him, but from every other great Protestant leader in the country. This man, Dr. Charles Kerr, of this city, said that it would be lending a consideration far in excess of your deserts.

He expressed himself as not believing in debates, which is the congealed sentiment of the Protestant bodies and has been for a century. In my first letter I called your attention to the fact that you surely must know this sentiment. And then I asked that you come from behind this subterfuge and assist me in drafting propositions that would be debatable. That will be no trouble if you are in earnest. Churches of Christ have always been willing to enter upon a free and full investigation of Scripture themes.

Nor will you be released from the consequence of your original call for some one to meet you in seeking to make it appear that my proposition is personal. It is no more personal than yours. You are representative of a cause. And so am I. It has most assuredly passed that stage.

And then you seek to hide a third time; but, my dear sir, I am after you.

When you run and stick your head in the sand, ostrich-like, I shall be near by to call attention to your hiding. This third point is that you do not know for what I stand. I informed you in my earlier communication that I was affiliated with Churches of Christ. Charles Scribner's Sons' general church history of Protestant bodies will furnish you an account. "The New Handbook of All Denominations" (Cokesbury Press) will inform you. The Churches of Christ census of the United States Government will inform you, and then there stand ready numbers of strong publishing houses to aid you. I am informed of what you teach, and your folk number less than Churches of Christ. If you are not really informed, I pity you. If your knowledge should exceed what you say, then you are dodging. In any event there is an unfortunate exposure.

If you will affirm that ministers of Churches of Christ generally are ministers of the devil (they are generally regarded as Protestant and are caught in your charge), then there will be something tangible that we can get hold of, and I shall be very glad to deny. That will get my brethren in such a way that an opponent will be at hand. And then to equal you in an affirmation, I will affirm that the International Bible Students' Association is post-apostolic in origin, is unscriptural in doctrine, and is purely human and sectarian in nature, as I indicated in my earlier letter.

That many thousands may know the status of affairs, I am giving this correspondence to the Gospel Advocate, Nashville, Tennessee; the Firm Foundation, Austin, Texas; the Apostolic Review, Indianapolis, Indiana; and the Christian Leader, Cincinnati, Ohio. Churches of Christ throughout America will know just how things stand. Nor will your followers any more be able to boast of your courage, as has been done.

But I sincerely hope that you will see the necessity of entertaining debatable propositions.

Yours very truly, John Allen Hudson