"God is greater than man." Job 33:12

No matter how wise you think you are you had best be humble before the lord!!!!! Only God is Righteous!!

Here was the purpose of God with Job. Job, conducting him­self honorably throughout his life, was an example of virtue; but he had a feeling of self-righteousness which was unwarranted, because he had nothing to boast of before the God of perfection. In order to make him perfect in the righteousness of God—not in that of the law—he was placed in, the cleansing fire of the refiner. Gospel of the Kingdom to Come

Gospel of the Kingdom to Come

Misconstrued Love

The religious people of our time, like the Jews of old, are of the opinion that God bestows all manner of good temporal things upon the one he loves. If reverses are met with, so that a person experiences the sufferings of Job, the sufferer is pointed out as a terrible sinner, whom God has forsaken. But if we follow Christ from the manger to the grave, we shall find that he encountered everything of an evil nature, and was therefore in truth "the man of sorrows."

The Antichristians interpret this to mean that Jesus bore the wrath of God "in our stead," and that we are freed from further sufferings because of this fact. If this is true, what can be the reason for the death of about fifty million martyrs, who, since the suffering and resurrection of Christ, have encountered the most horrible sufferings and the most shameful deaths on account of their obedience to the gospel of the Son of God? And why were his apostles subjected to the same sufferings as their Master? The priests and ministers of Baal, who have received their good things in this world, try to make us believe that God calls them to a still greater enjoyment when they die, because he loves them so dearly. But if this had been the road of truth leading to the kingdom of love, the Son of God would surely have journeyed thereon. Yet we see him hunted, tortured—and turned out, as from the manger among the animals where he first saw light. From, the time of his birth and on, the priests and custodians kept up the hunt until they succeeded in hanging him on the cross of Golgotha. He did not have as much of a stronghold as the birds in their nests and the foxes in their dens. Still we believe the. Father loved this faithful Son more than he could love a person polluted by sin and opposed to the law of God.

To love is a characteristic that has been imbedded in human nature. For instance, a father, who in love for his children en­dures great sufferings in order to make them happy, notices that one of the children begins to show objectionable propensities, which, if allowed to develop, will effect the destruction of the child. The child is warned but will not obey. The father understands that he must in some manner liberate his child from the destructive root. He takes upon himself this task with a terrible struggle going on within his soul. He suffers more himself than it is pos­sible for the child to suffer. The father gets the reputation of being insensate and mean, while the mother in her ignorance pets the child and endeavors to conceal its wickedness, thus nullifying the work of love which the father has performed.

When the son has grown up and the evil propensities have de­veloped, driving him in uncurbed passions along the road of crime, he awakens—though often too late—to realize his father's good intentions. Then it becomes clear to him that it was the hated father who loved him in spite of all. He will then curse his mother, who failed to teach him to control himself—who ruined him for the rest of his life because of her flatteries and foolishness. Millions of parents, in order to save themselves the annoyance of chastising their children, allow the evil inclinations of a child to grow unhampered, to the child's temporal and everlasting de­struction, only because they have misunderstood the duty of love toward their charges. H.e who ohastises the child in such a man­ner that it learns to obey and do good submits himself to suffering for the sake of ennobling the child. Natural love takes utterance in this manner. "He that loveth his son chasteneth him." (Prov. 13 :24.) "Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die."—Prov. 23:13.

God, who has a still higher goal and a much higher degree of ennoblement in mind, rebukes, chastises, and uproots, until the beautiful growth of the living Word fills the place where the weeds once grew. His desire is that the human being should be in a position to enjoy an everlasting ruling-ability; therefore the individual must first learn how to rule his own body. He must become acquainted with the law of the kingdom of God—the ten commandments—inasmuch as this law reveals the constituents of love, also how true love should take utterance with respect to his God and his fellow man through limbs cultivated by the Word.

When God made his Son the King of the whole world, the Lord of all lords, and the Prince of all princes, he guided him through the school of suffering in order to make him perfect. "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." If we add to this David's experience, "Before I was afflicted I went astray" (Psalm 119:67), and that of the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth" (Heb. 12:6), it becomes very evident that we have reached a stage where good is termed evil and evil good, hatred love, and God's love hatred.

God suffers with and for his children. But in order to create honorable children, he permits them to learn on the road of self-humiliation everything that can be of benefit to them in an exalted position. He does not spoil his beloved child by flattery, but teaches him bravely to drain the cup of suffering to the last drop; and when the time of exaltation comes, he will receive "an hundredfold" of all good things.

God loved Abraham more than he loved any of his contemporaries. Still not one of Abraham's cousins had such an humiliating social position in the eyes of the world as had this man. Just think! When the others built kingdoms for themselves, he remained a wandering, homeless stranger, well satisfied with the hardships and discomforts of tent-life, waiting for God to build for him a city—that God should fulfill his promises.—Heb. 11:8-13.

God loved Jacob because Jacob loved, valued, and believed the promises of God. Esau hated the words of God and believed not in them. Yet Esau became rich and his sons princes, while Jacob lived long in the suffering of slavery, and all manner of troubles came over him. Even his beloved Rachel was taken away from him, first by treachery and afterwards by death; he even saw the beginning of the four hundred years of slavery for his children; but he learned to perform righteousness, speak the truth, and preserve the faith.

God loved Isaiah, Job, Jeremiah, and Daniel more than he loved their respective contemporaries. But read of the sufferings they had to go through, and compare this love of God with the love which the priests and ministers of our time preach, and you will find that the latter lack all understanding of true love in all its forms.

As children of love, who love God inasmuch as he first loved us, we have certain duties toward our fellow men. Love demands that we direct the attention of our fellow men to the conditions connected with the salvation of God, with which it is necessary to comply in order to become a partaker of the promises. It also demands that we help them understand what is punishable within them, for if we do not do this it is because we do not love them. Thus it is verified that he who does not love his brother, whom he is able to see, cannot love the Son of the Invisible, whom he is unable to see, who gave his life in order to save us from de­struction.

To call a friend's attention to his unrighteousness is often con­nected with the greatest of discomfort, but no one can with a pure conscience neglect doing what is right in an endeavor to save the life which is threatened with everlasting destruction before one's very eyes. To strengthen the sinner in his sin by remaining silent or by flattering him is, to say the least, cruel. Saving your­self by permitting your fellow man to be captured by falsehood is unforgivable.

Many parents have caressed an unvirtuous child until unchastity has smothered all of the child's noble characteristics. It becomes hopelessly lost, and its soul will be demanded at the hand of the person who was so devoid of love that he evaded the demands of duty in order to save himself. May the following words of the apostle be a warning and guide to us all. He says in addition to our text:

"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in 'him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit."-1 John 4:8-13.

Oh, if we could learn to know this love as it should be known —which gives its life to save the poor, bewildered, loot, and de­ceived subjects of lie and falsehood! Elijah is a good example of love, because God took him into the abode of love; but the fawning preachers of his time received their good while they enjoyed kingly favor, while they banquetted at the tables of state, and while they became the cause of the destruction of the whole country. But they were slain by the people when the latter learned to know love as it should be known.

Purpose of Law

Why was the mercy seat of God established in the blood of Jesus and with the priests of the New Testament, who were charged to continue admonishing, after the Master's departure, a fallen generation with the words, "Be ye reconciled to God"? (2 Cor. 5:18-20.) Christ is the means of atonement, but if no law is con­nected with him which judges us guilty and causes us to feel separated from God, how are we to know that we need this means of atonement 7

Answers to these questions are to be found in our text, if we only understand it correctly. Let us then see what Paul means by "the end of the law." The word "end" is translated from the Greek word telos, the real meaning of which is object, or purpose. Thus Paul says, "For Christ is the object of the law for righteous­ness to every one that believeth." In other words, the righteous­ness demanded by the law was first revealed in and through the faith of Jesus Christ, which faith also takes shape in us if we walk according to the guidance of the Word of God in the foot­prints which faith has left behind. This is the object, or purpose, of the law. But what the law was incapable of bringing about, God has accomplished in sending his Son, who materialized, or ful­filled, through the power of faith, the requirements of the law in his own flesh, as Paul says in Rom. 8:7: "The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God." But the spiritual mind of the believer loves to please the Father, and to such a person "the law of the Spirit" is indispensable. He also says, "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." (Rom. 7:12.) Because man has been weakened on account of the power of sin over his body, which hinders him from doing good, he is unable to fulfill its requirements unless the Spirit of God which operated through the Son urge him on.

What Paul means in our text is further established if we com­pare therewith James 5: 11, where the same word telos occurs with reference to the Lord. In the original Greek, as found in Wilson's Emphatic Diaglott, it states, "You have heard of the patience of Job, and you have seen the end [telos] of the Lord." If they saw the end of the Lord, he would no longer exist. But here the wrong interpretation of the word goes too far even for those who discard the law; it demolishes the whole foundation of their air castle. The Swedish translators have seen the confliction in the use of this word as they have interpreted it; therefore they have changed it in a newer translation of the Bible so as to refer to Job alone. In this newer translation it says, "Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end he received of the Lord."

Concerning what does James speak? He endeavors to call attention to the object of the suffering Israel is to be subject to when Christ returns. He admonishes us to regard the prophets and Job "for an, example of suffering affliction, and of patience," because "we count them happy which endure." (V. 10, 11.) Why do we praise these deceased heroes? Because they have been a power in the world, by virtue of which their names continue to live among us as a testimony against the wicked, the cowardly, and the selfish, and as a praise to God for his most appropriate discipline —for his chastisement and love, through which he has revealed himself to us and taught us to know ourselves as he knows us.

Here was the purpose of God with Job. Job, conducting him­self honorably throughout his life, was an example of virtue; but he had a feeling of self-righteousness which was unwarranted, because he had nothing to boast of before the God of perfection. In order to make him perfect in the righteousness of God—not in that of the law—he was placed in, the cleansing fire of the refiner. God saw with pleasure the beautiful result the fire brought about, and from the narrative we learn to value the sufferings we endure, which serve to ennoble, us. This and nothing else is what Jesus means, and those who go through similar refining-processes learn to appreciate God's object in using such methods. Like Job they realize the necessity of being cleansed from everything that is un­desirable before God.

In order completely to do away with the carnal mind, which more or less harbors animosity toward the law of God, God mua. make use of many different methods of refinement. He says through the prophet:

"I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early. Come and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he has smitten, and he will bind us up .

0, how well I would treat thee, [tile awakened and reanimated] Ephraim ... for the grace that I shall bestow upon thee shall be as the morning cloud, and as dew that falleth in the early morn­ing. Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, that thy words may come to light. For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings."—Hosea 5: 15 ; 6: 1, 4-6; accord­ing to the Swedish translation.

The law was a "schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ." (Gal. 3:24.) No one seeks grace who has not felt himself condemned and lost. He who realizes the necessity of the knowledge of salva­tion, and of alliance with God, must also acknowledge the neces­sity of certain covenant conditions that are binding to both parties, because an alliance, or covenant, cannot be established without reciprocal conditions and oaths of allegiance. These must be writ­ten in the mind and put into the heart.—Heb. 10: 16.

Both the prophets and the laws of Jehovah pointed out the way to the faith of Jesus Christ by means of sacrifices and burnt offerings; but now, on the contrary, faith is constantly searching for hidden truth. And conscious of his unworthiness of the honor the grace of God offers, he who is chastised exclaims:

"Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me ... Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow ... Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."—Psalm 51: 2-10.

The schoolmaster—the law—fulfills its part of the work of salvation, in that its judgment unto death rests over the trans­gressor with a crushing heaviness, giving faith room to complete the work. (See the lecture entitled "Faith.")

When the storm has subsided and a deathlike calm prevails, the humiliated and crushed heart notices a mild and tender voice, which in an explanatory manner says, "It was the lost, the broken­hearted, that Jesus came to find, heal, and save. The sick one needs the doctor, not the one who is healthy. He did not come to call the righteous to betterment, but sinners." The heart begins as it were to beat anew. He breathes again. The crushing power of judgment is broken. He again receives the reasoning powers of the mind. He is willing to better himself. He begins to pray again. The name of Jesus is of more value to him now than ever before. Now he feels that God exists, and that he is a helper in distress, and "a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Now he understands "that he that hath loved another hath fulfilled the law."

"For this," adds Paul, "Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false wit­ness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other command­ment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neigh­bor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."-Rom. 13: 8-10.

God's Purpose with Temptation

Job exceeds us all in his great and deep sorrow. But what had he done? "There is none like unto him in all the earth," said. God, "a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil." Was not this so? Surely! Has anyone suffered more deeply than he? Hear him: "My days ... are spent without hope ..

when I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my com­plaint, then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrif iest me through visions: so that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life ... I am a burden to myself."—Job. 7th chapter.

Hope whispers, "Gladness returns, strength follows weekness; thou shalt live and be filled with joy." But despair exclaims, "Never, I shall not live eternally !" Nevertheless, sorrow gives way to sun­beams of hope. And the choir of experience blends its voices: "As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, 0 God ... Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance."—Psalm 42:1, 5.

The weapon of victory is, according to his wish, engraved in the rock. It has this appearance: "Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever! For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God."—Job. 19:23-26.

It is in the furnace of sorrow that we learn to know our spiritual forefathers, our spiritual friends, and the great Master, also the enemies of the kingdom of God. And in the degree that we are made partakers of the Word of Christ's patience, the experiences of the saints become beneficial to us, and we have association with them on our journey; also as it is written, "That we through the patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."—Rom. 15 :1-4.

How true it is that when we have done our very best, we are still "unprofitable servants"! And through grace, God's boundless grace, we are saved and delivered from our sins and from death, from visible and invisible enemies, because God so loved us that lie gave his only dear Son as a ransom for us! When all supports fall, when all of a person's own merits are swept away by the wild waves of despair, the faithful promises of the Father remain un­shaken and unchanged, and hope leads the person, who nearly fell in the battle, into the tender aiins of God. There he experiences how helpless a human being is, and how good God has been in having had forbearance with his infidelity and obstinacy; and with a childish trust he sinks into the fortress of unshakable truth, singing:

There is no earthly power

That me can e'er consume,

Though armed accusers many

Would gladly seal my doom.

For Jesus is my Shepherd,

Who holds me on his arm;

When Satan would destroy me,

He keeps me safe from harm.

Despair, Oh leave me ever!

For God will strengthen me;

My hope will not be stranded,

Though chastened I may be.

The Word will grant me vict'ry,

Though I my life may lose,

For rather life eternal

Than evil I will choose.

Let it therefore be a consolation to all who struggle against unseen powers to know that only when the Spirit of God has taken up its habitation in us does the tempter make his attacks on us, also that we thereby are amalgamated with the Word of God, which not even death can nullify. Let us therefore with great courage meet the executioners, the visible subjects of the invisible, knowing that the Master has conquered them all, and that no one is able to snatch us from the hands of the Father. The words of Paul appeal to all followers of Christ:

"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are com­forted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ."-2 Car. 1:3-5.

In the degree that the suffering has been deep and protracted, the subsequent power of victory will be surpassing. May we there­fore accept with appreciation whatever comes from the hand of God, be it good or bad!

The Act of Transfiguration

With an innermost longing to be considered worthy of suffer­ing with the truth, our hearts burst in thanks to the Father of mercy who has so wisely planned this glorious future happiness for his wretched people. May none of us underestimate his bless­ing's, but let us follow the advice of James: "Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord [the purpose of his sufferings] ; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy."—James 5 :10, 11.

May we be found among those whom the Lord mentions through John: ``Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the mar­riage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God."—Rev. 19:9.

Proof of death/grave/sleep and the resurrection from the:

Dual Plan

In order to show how that system of interpretation is made use of, we will cite some points from an article prepared for a conference of the Swedish ministers of the Reformed Mission Church, held not long ago. We read there the leading topic.

"What foundation have we for the immortality of the soul? The question is old. We trace it in the history of Egypt; they believed in the immortality of the soul; the Greeks and the Romans and all other heathen people had the same faith; yea, even the lowest barbarians, both in the old and the new time, believed in the same immortality. But let us now see what the Bible, this wonderful book, says about the immortality of the soul:

1. "We read that God made man with great care… When he was formed, even his outward parts were like God; God himself imparted to him a life-spirit."

Here we stop in order to criticize the first part of their foundation. We notice that they refer to the heathens—who are entirely devoid of any revelation from the living God—for proof. Herodotus, the oldest historian known, says, "The Egyptians teach that Ceres (Ashtaroth, the mother of God) and Bacchus (her son Tammuz, Baal incarnate) keep watch over the entrances to Hades. The Egyptians were the first to teach the doctrine of the immortality of the soul."

The same heathen philosophy was spread among all the heathens. In India, among the Hindoo monks, it has developed into the most perfect dogma. A lecturer who appeared in Chicago gave proof for this statement. We cite from the Record.

"Dr. Heinrich Hensoldt, the only white man who has ever conversed with the Dalai Lama, spoke to a large audience last evening at All Souls' Church on 'Immortality in the Light of Brahman Philosophy'… In substance he said: `The Hindoos have a philosophy which is far ahead of what the minds of the west have yet brought forth. Our philosophers have come to the same conviction as the Brahmans—the outer world has no existence. The brain Is simply the organ of mind. It holds the same relation to thought as the piano to the musician. It is an instrument played by an unseen operator. It is unreasonable to unite thoughts with the brain. With the Hindoos, the thought is immortal—it is neither faith nor confession."

The heathen philosophy teaches that I (Ego) am the unseen immortal spirit that acts on the organism, which it denies has any existence. It denies the existence of all .matter, just like the "Christian Scientists" who are merely Christianized Brahmans. As we follow the preachers' interpretations of the Bible texts below, we also find that the Brahman philosophy has actuated and led them in their arguments.

2. "We have yet stronger testimonies. Jacob, the patriarch, said that he would go down to the kingdom of the dead and meet his son Joseph." (The text here referred to is found in Gen. 37: 35.)

Now let us criticize this conclusion. Jacob, when he heard that his son Joseph had been devoured by a wild beast, said, "I will go down into the grave mourning." That he did not mean he should meet his son alive, his own words in the following testimony make plain. When he became convinced that Joseph was still alive, he exclaimed with a heart full of joy, "It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die." (Gen. 45: 28.) To Jacob, death and life were two inimical. realities.

When he realized that he was about to die, Jacob said to his son Joseph, "Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive." (Gen. 46: 30.)

These plain testimonies are enough to prove that tho false prophet alone can get Jacob to sustain the heathen philosophy.

3. "Job saw beforehand that he should go down into the land of shadows and see God, after he had been delivered from his corruptible body." (The texts here referred to are found in Job 10: 21, 22; 19: 26, 27.)

Mark here the serpentine interpretation! Job himself repudiates this shameful abuse of his words. First, he raises the question, "If a man die, shall he live again?" Then he answers, "All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands." (Chap. 14: 14, 15.) Again he says, "If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness… And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it? They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust." (Chap. 17: 13-16.) At last he expresses his hope in regard to immortality and says:

"And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another," etc. (Chap. 19: 26, 27.)

Job believed in the resurrection and that he then should see God; it takes a lying mind to get his testimonies to mean anything else.

4. "David saw by a prophetic glance that God should not leave him In death's kingdom." (The texts here referred to are found in Ps. 16: 10; and 49: 15.)

Here they leave unmistakable evidence as to how they read and understand the prophetic language, God's own special tongue. The apostle Peter gives us the interpretation of the words spoken by David when he says:

"Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell (Hades), neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses… For David is not ascended into the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand." (Acts 2: 29-34.)

David states in plain words that his hope of eternal life was based upon the resurrection. He says:

"Thou shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth."… "And as for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." (Ps. 71: 20; 17: 15.)

David believed in the resurrection; he believed in nothing concerning immortality except what has to do with the resurrection.

5. "And in the 14^th chap. of Isaiah, we read how, when a Babylonian ruler died and his spirit came down into the kingdom of death, the spirit of those he had oppressed during their lifetime, came and reviled him saying he was as weak as they."

Here again, they evince their ignorance in regard to the Biblical language. The above has reference to what the Lord declares that the people called Zion will finally and proverbially say concerning the Babylonian oppressors. It is allegorical language. The Lord says that Zion will speak when the power of the oppressors is broken. Speaking to Zion, the Lord says:

"And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear and from the hard bondage, wherein thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt take up this proverb (paradoxial speech) against the king of Babylon (the chief oppressor): and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!" (Isa. 14: 3, 4.)

To cite proverbial language as a proof for the immortal-soul-doctrine is evidence in itself that it is very hard to find anything in the Bible to draw such conclusions from; anything else but conclusions cannot come in question.

6. "In Isaiah 38^th, Hezekiah complains that he in his best days must pass through the gates of death."

Here again, the plain truth is turned into a lie. The king was sick and realized that death was approaching, but he feared God. In his distress, he cried unto the Lord who heard his prayer and saved him from death. When the king reflected over how close he had been to the grave, he remembered what he in his anguish had

said, and repeated it thus:

"I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years. I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world." (Is. 38: 10, 11.)

Such language, instead of proving the immortality of the soul, plainly denies it; because, if the king had been imbued with such a hope, he would have rejoiced over that he was about to see God in the immortal kingdom.

7. "In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man could speak in Hades and complain that he was tormented. And Abraham says that Lazarus is comforted."

It seems that the minds of these interpreters are entirely closed up against the truth; or, they may be self-blinded, because it takes quite an effort to go around the truth in such a manner, or to twist about so as to avoid it.

In this parable, the Lord sets forth a comparative exposition of the two different conditions in which the representatives of the two kingdoms, referred to in the parable, are placed as a result of the inimical positions these kingdoms hold with respect to each other; it is the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Mammon, also the effect of the change that is to come by the power of the resurrection that he reveals by that parable. He speaks to a class who believed that the more they had of the things of this present world, the more blessing and glory they would get in the world to come. Christ, as the representative of the kingdom of righteousness which is the kingdom promised to Abraham, knew that the worshipping of Mammon by some caused poverty and suffering to others; hence, he says to them, "Ye cannot serve God and Mammon . . . That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God."

Then he refers to the change which the plan of God had undergone at that time and says, "The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every one presses towards it." After showing that all which is written must be fulfilled in and by the spiritual dispensation, he adds, "Whosoever putteth away his wife and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband, committeth adultery." This belongs to the same parable and must be considered in connection with it before the parable can be fully understood.

The Pharisees considered adultery an unpardonable sin that would shut man out from the kingdom of Abraham. But covetousness, which is the root of all evil and by which one gets rich at the expense of many, was considered by them a special blessing from God. By his reference to the change the kingdom of God had undergone, Christ proved that they were virtually adulterers, because the change brought in by John placed them, with respect to the kingdom of Christ, in a position as one who had put away his wife and had married another who had been put away. The old or the material dispensation had been put away and the spiritual or the personal was brought,in ; yet they held fast to the one that God had put away, and they put away the one that God had placed instead of the old. Thus, in relation to the kingdom of God, they were adulterers in a double sense. Still, they meant to inherit the highest position in Abraham's kingdom.

Now then comes the parable settin forth the next chance, when the kingdom of God by the power of the resurrection will become a reality. What will that change bring to the servants of Mammon and to those who have become poor and miserable because of the covetousness of the servants of Mammon? The human mind follows both to the grave. The rich man is buried; he gets a showy burial. Lazarus is not noticed at all when he pas-es away from the present world. Then comes the change. That change is explained by the Lord, thus:

"The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity. and shall cast them Into a furnace of fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." (Matt. 13: 41, 42.) And in Luke 13: 28. 29, he speaks of the same change and says: "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north and from the south, and shall sit down In the kingdom of God."

At what time will such a change take place? At the end of this age, says the Lord: Now then, that change destroys the kingdom of Mammon and establishes the kingdom of God, in which Abraham holds the position as the personal representative of righteousness. Then the righteous court brings its judgment to bear on both the living and the dead. Lazarus, who was wronged and helpless while in the kingdom where Mammon constituted the father-power or the ruling element, is now, because of the righteous judgment, enjoying the company of Abraham. The rich man awakens in the grave where he was buried, and as he lifts up his eyes again, he realizes the change that has taken place—he is now in torment, while Lazarus enjoys the position he himself expected to have in the kingdom of Abraham.

In seeing his terrible mistake, he asks Abraham to send Lazarus with a warning to his five brethren. Who are the rich man's five brethren? We must not forget that a parable speaks comparatively, from first to last. The language the Lord uses in describing the rich man gives us the understanding that he is not an ordinary rich man. He says, "There was a certain rich man, which clothed himself in purple and fine linen"—a ruler acting as king and representing the highest order of the church. (The rulers alone had the right to dress in purple. Hence, the enemies of Christ, in mockery, vested him with purple when the crown of thorns was put on his head.) It is the ruler, the highest man in the kingdom of Mammon, that the Lord refers to. Such a man has his privileged brethren—the five favored classes—who with him enjoy the blessings of unrighteous laws which continually make the rich richer and the poor poorer. Hence, in his torment he remembers them, knowing that when their turns come they will be subjected to the same judgment. These five classes will continue, at the time of the com­ing change, in the same manner that the Pharisees continued when the change took place at the first advent of Christ.

8. "Jesus said to the thief on the cross, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise. And when Jesus dies, he leaves his spirit in the hands of his Father."

Now let us look at this in the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, founded on the resurrection of the dead. Who was Christ? He was the Resurrection and the Life. Where was he when the thief implored of him, "Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom ?" He was placed right in the doorway of that kingdom. The cross is the very entrance to it and death is the gate to be opened by the power of the resurrection. Hence, Christ answered the thief thus: "Verily I say unto thee to-day, thou shalt be with me in Paradise." He called upon the day to witness his promise. It took the false prophet to render the translation and the punctuation so as to change the meaning of the words of the Lord. The Lord made a similar expression to Peter, "Verily I say unto thee to-day, that this night, before the cock crow twice," etc. (Comp. Deut. 30: 16-18 and Zech. 9: 12.) The Lord referred to the day as testifying to the truth of his words.

That Christ commended his spirit or his breath into the hand of God, the Father, proves that he depended upon the Father for the receipt of life again. Stephen did the same to Christ, when he felt that life departed from him. He says, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." He does not say, "Lord, now I come;" but he commends his spirit (Pnewma, the life principle, by which he has lived) into the hands of the Life-giver, who has power to call him to life again. So do all true followers of the Resurrection and the Life.

9. "Peter says that Jesus went down into the kingdom of death and preached for the spirits that perished by the flood in the time of Noah."

Here we may say in the words of Peter, "things hard to be understood;" they "wrest as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction." When the mind is already controlled by the immortal-soul-theory, conclusions are drawn from anything that can be construed to mean what is desired.

Peter speaks of well-doing and refers to how Christ suffered for the unjust, that he might bring us to God; then he adds, "Being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit, by which also he preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly disobeyed, when the patience of God was waiting in the days of Noah, while an ark was being prepared, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water" (1 Pet. 3: 18-20.)

Who is this Christ that Peter speaks of ? The Word of God. He existed as the Word, before the Word was made flesh. What did he do as the Word before the Word was made flesh? By him as the Word, the world was created. By Noah, he preached to the beings that were shut up in a prison, as it were, because of the coming flood, from which there was only one door of escape: namely, that of the ark through which only eight souls did escape. This is what Peter tells us. Paul adds that Christ was the spiritual Rock which followed the old Israel in the wilderness; "that Rock was Christ," he says. How? As the living Word which Moses spoke to the rock, when he commanded water to come out therefrom and which he spoke when other miraculous deeds were performed. It is because Christ as the Word is unknown, that the testimonies about him are misunderstood and wrested by many.

10. "Jesus asks his opposers who denied a life hereafter, how God could say that he was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, if these did not exist? He would then be God of the dead and not of the living."

To whom did Christ speak? To the Sadducees. What was their belief? They denied the resurrection, the very foundation of the faith and doctrine of Christ. They raised a question concerning the doctrine of the resurrection, which Christ answered, saying:

"Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection," etc… "But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham," etc.

Because of the resurrection—an act which the dead will experience—it becomes apparent at once to every truth-loving mind that the dead, in the sight of God, are considered as though they were already living because of the fact that with him there is no time; everything is as the twinkle of an eye. It takes the mind of a Sadducee to misunderstand such plain testimonies.

11. "And finally, we read in Rev. 6, how the spirits of the martyrs under the altar cried," etc.

The text reads thus: "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?"

The scene opens in connection with the temple as it moves out from Babylon. The antichristian power sheds the blood of the innocent and god-fearing souls; the soul is in the blood, says the Scripture. For instance, we read in Lev. 17: 11, 14, in the Hebrew text:

"For the soul of the flesh is the blood… For it is the soul of all flesh; the blood of it is for the soul thereof," etc.

The souls, according to the belief of those who claim that the soul is immortal, have no blood; hence, they could not cry for the vengeance of their blood. On the other hand, if it were true that when released from the mortal body they would immediately enjoy the bliss of heaven, they would, instead, invoke thanks to those who were the means in releasing them from their bodies of clay, thus enabling them to get to the happy state.

The cry of the slain souls to a righteous God, calling upon him to avenge their blood, is a cry similar to that of the soul of Abel when his blood flowed on the ground under his brother's blows. The life cries to Righteousness to avenge the wrongs it suffers from the unrighteous.

Hell or Hades

The word hell is also misleading. It is translated from the Hebrew word Sheol and the Greek word Hades. Both of these words signify the grave. A few texts in which they occur will convince the truth-seeker of their true meaning.

Job says, "If I wait, the grave (Sheol) is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness." (Job. 17: 13.)

David says about the ungodly, "Like sheep they are laid in the Grave (Sheol) , death shall feed on them." (Ps. 49 : 14.)

In Is. 5: 14, where the same word is translated hell, the wrong meaning of the text can readily be detected, "Therefore hell (Sheol) hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it." This has reference to the time of famine.

The corresponding Greek word, Hades, is misused in a similar manner. It occurs eleven times in the New Testament; sometimes it is translated grave and then again hell. In Rev. 6: 8, its meaning is very plain, when it is considered in connection with the symbols representing pest, famine, and general war.

"And I looked, and behold a pale horse (representing the above mentioned death-reapers) : and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell (Hades—the grave) followed after him."

In Rev. 20: 13, 14, the word Hades is also translated hell, and hell generally means the lake of fire. If we then read the following, we can easily see that the translators have attached a wrong and misleading meaning to it. The second resurrection is spoken of here:

"And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell (Hades) delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to his works. And death and hell (Hades) were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death."

If hell represents a lake of fire, then a lake of fire, according to the above language, is cast into a lake of fire. Hades is the grave and not the lake of fire. But when "the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion comes, then the streams shall be turned into pitch and the dust into brimstone and the land shall become burning pitch." (Is. 34: 8, 9.) Then death and Hades (the grave) will be cast into the lake of fire, and when the rich man lifts up his eyes, he is in torment.

The Coming Kingdom of Heaven

The resurrection is therefore the door to this kingdom of God. In the hope of receiving life again after having tasted the destroy­ing power of death, the saints in all times have longed for this wonderful day. Abraham saw this day in, Isaac's figurative death and resurrection—because Isaac was as though dead to Abraham for three days, or from the time he started for Mount Moriah until God gave him a ram to sacrifice in place of his son. And Abra­ham's hope is enclosed within his dust to-day.

Job says concerning the same hope, "If I wait, the grave is mine house [not heaven] : I have made my bed in the darkness. I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister. And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it? It shall go down with me to the grave, when our rest together is in the dust." Then he exclaimed jubilantly, assured by a drama of the future, in which he saw en­acted the death and resurrection of Christ, "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God."—Job 17 :13-16; 19 :23-26.

These are the gospel words concerning the salvation, in Christ, which make up the ark of redemption that is to sail over the fiery flood with the incorruptible Joshua as captain, guiding his people to the everlasting rest, of which the journey of Israel to Palestine was a foreshadow

Luther and the Long Pen of Reformation

"What grounds are there for belief in the immortality of the Soul?"

"The question is an old one. We trace it in the history of Egypt; they believed in the immortality of the soul; the Greeks, the Ronmans, and all other people of culture shared the same belief. Even the so-called barbarians, down to the lowest among them, of old times and in the present, have believed in this immortality...."

"But let its see what the Bible, this wonderful book, teaches about the immortality of the soul."

"First we read that God created man with extraordinary care... After he had been formed to an external likeness of God, the breath of life was given him by God himself."

Let us stop here and examine the above quotation before going on. We note that these so-called Christian teachers must refer to the beliefs of the lowest pagans as proof of their immortality doctrine. The oldest known historian, Herodotus, said of the Egyptians: "The Egyptians teach that Ceres [the goddess Astarte] and Bacchus [the wine-god Tammuz] guard the main portal of the nether world [hell]; the Egyptians were also the first ones to promulgate the doctrine of the immortality of the soul." (Herodotus, p. 144.) The Egyptians descended from the seed of Ham and wor­shipped the Chaldean sun-gods Nimrod, Astarte, and Tammuz.

The same pagan doctrines were adopted by all the heathens, and among the Hindus in India it has reached its highest and most complete form. Some time ago a German philosopher, Dr. Heinrich Hensoldt, held a lecture regarding the immortality of the soul in the light of Brahman philosophy and proved that the latter far transcended the Christian arguments on the same subject. He said:

"The Hindus have a philosophy which exceeds anything that the western minds have been able to produce. Our philosophers have come to the same conclusion as the Brahmans — that the outer world does not exist.... The brain is simply an organ of the mind. It [the brain] enjoys the same relationship to thought as a piano does to a musician. It is an instrument played by an unseen operator. It is unreasonable to relate thought to the brain. Among the Hindus, thought is immortal -- neither faith nor confession."

The pagan philosopher assumes that he himself is the invisible everlasting spirit which manifests itself through the human shape, at the same time denying the existence of the latter. Now if we follow the doctrines of the Mission preachers, or for that matter, of nearly all other preachers, we find that they have all culled their wisdom from the fountain of the pagans, although they do surpass the latter in the interpretation of the Scriptures.

Let us now consider the various items set forth by the so-called Mission Preachers:

1. "However, we have still clearer testimonies. The patriarch Joseph says that he would go down into the king­dom of the dead and meet his son Joseph." (Swedish trans­lation) [English translation: grave.]

Note how clearly this testifies against the translation of the interpreters. If it had stated: I will go down into the kingdom of the living to my son, the text would have been against our interpretation and for theirs. But it states "the kingdom of the dead" -- where death rules. And in order further to obscure the meaning they add the words, to meet, whereas the text states, "For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning." Jacob's own words disprove any thought that Joseph was alive in the kingdom of the dead when he later became convinced that Joseph was alive in Egypt and exclaimed, "It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die." (Gen. 45:28.) To Jacob life and death were two diametrically opposed facts. When he knew he was going to die, he said to Joseph: "Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive." (Gen. 46:30.)

2. "Job foresaw that lie would go down into 'the land of darkness' (Job 10:21, 22) to see God, after lie had been relieved of his emaciated body." (Job 19:26, 27.)

Note the misinterpretation given the words of this righteous man! Without his emaciated body he would see God? Job himself refuted this falsehood when he first inquiringly said:

"If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands." (Job 14:14, 15.)

Later he adds, "If I wait, the grave is mine house : I have made my bed in the darkness. I have said to corruption, Thou art my mother, and my sister. And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it? They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust." (Job 17:13-16.) Then he exclaims with full conviction:

"For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me." (Job 19:25-27.)

These clear testimonies cannot be misunderstood by the truth-seeker. They speak of death and the transformation the Redeemer will bring about when He awakens front death the believer who went asleep in faith and raises him from the grave. It takes a bold interpreter of Baal to befog these clear declarations and make Job a liar against himself.

3. "David understood with a prophetic eye that God would not permit him to remain in hell." (Psalm 16:10 and 49:16.)

Here the interpreters prove they are unable to differen­tiate between prophecy and the words of man. The apostle Peter clearly defines the meaning of these words spoken by David when he says:

"Men and brethren, let Inc freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, lie would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell [Hades — the grave], neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he bath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens : but he saith himself, The Loin) said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool." (Acts 2:29-34.)

A comparison between these words of Peter and the texts from which they originated reveals the serpentine interpretation. The interpreters have made David the subject of the prophecy whereas the prophet speaks of Jesus. David expressed his own future hope in the following words: "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." (Psalm 17:15.) "Thou, which halt shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken nie again, and shalt bring inc up again from the depths of the earth." (Psalm 71:20.) David believed in the resurrection when, and not until then, he would see God.

4. “In the 14th chapter of Isaiah we read that when a Babylonian conqueror died and his spirit came down to hell, the spirits of those whom he had oppressed during their lives scoffed at him saying that he now was as weak as they."

Here again is proof that people are unable to differentiate between the various presentations set forth in the Scriptures. The scene in question constitutes a proverb spoken by the people who then have obtained freedom from the world of Baal who thus exult in their victory over their enemies in-eluding the chief of the opposition. The Lord says to the people of Zion through the prophet, "And it shall conic to pass in the day that the Lotwu shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage where­in thou vast made to serve, that thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How bath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased." (Is. 11:3,-1.) Thus is set forth what the liberated people sing as their song of triumph when they look back at the oppression they have suffered and at the power over which they have been victor­ious. It is, therefore, an allegoric, figurative, or symbolic comparison which they titter in their song. And this is what the interpreters call a proof of the unscriptural immortal soul doctrine.

5. In the 38th chapter of Isaiah, Hezekiah complains that in his best days he must go to the gates of the grave."

Here again the truth functions as a bridge for falsehood. King Hezekiah, a God-fearing man, was sick and about to die. In his anguish lie called to God and his prayers were heard. God saved him from the power of death then and added fifteen years to his days. When the king reflected upon his nearness to death, he was reminded of the words lie had uttered in his death agony : "I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years. I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world." (Isaiah 38:10, 11.)

Doesn't this prove the direct opposite of what the Mission preachers claim? The king expected to be separated from life by death. "I shall not see the Lord," he said. But these interpreters claim the opposite — that if he had died he would have seen the Lord. Their god is in the kingdom of death.

6. "In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus the rich roan was able to talk in hell and bemoan his severe suffering. And Abraham said that Lazarus was enjoying contentment."

The minds of these interpreters seem to be entirely closed to the fact that it was the Resurrection and the Life that was speaking this parable from the viewpoint that He represented. He is the Prophet whose words destroy the gates of death and reveal the other side. This clearly-presented parable, which first depicts the reason for the oppression of unright­eousness in the kingdom of mammon and then the change, when the kingdom of righteousness appears, perverts the immortal soul interpreters. The comparison is based on the following fundamental doctrine: "Ye cannot serve God and rnammon." God assumes the position of Father in the coming kingdom; mammon in the present world, where the power of wealth elevates one as an oppressor of the other. The gospel Christ preached and the kingdom He represented were entirely separated from the dominion of wealth and left no room for the latter. Inasmuch as the gospel of Christ, and the status of the kingdonm developed by it, is not limited by established laws, the dominion of wealth takes advantage of it and, as Christ says, "the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." This dominion extends so far into gospel territory, where equality and brotherly love should have had complete dominance, that even the rich man, clothed in purple, is able to establish his empire of wealth there and as a result produce a Lazarus class — the most helpless of beings — who succumb in utter poverty.

This is one side of the parable. The other, which appears as a result of the change to be brought about by the gospel through the resurrection, is signified by Lazarus in the bosons of Abraham. The resurrection will bring forth both Abraham and Lazarus (see Luke 13:27-29), also the kingdom which the gospel proclaims. The rich man raises his eyes in pain by fire — death and the grave are enclosed by the sea of fire and sees Lazarus where he himself thought he would be. As the foremost son of the kingdom of mammon his sleep-dazed mind recalls his five brothers of the same household — the privileged classes which the laws of mammon, at the hands of the eldest son, have molded into oppressive masters of wealth, even within gospel territory. They have taken advantage of the movements of the gospel and, with their privileges, pro­jected themselves into positions of dominance over it, to the oppression and suffering of all others. The resurrection brings about a change of scenes and creates a chasm between these two classes — the oppressed and the oppressors — with the opposite result. The innocent and oppressed are received into the kingdom of Abraham, but the oppressor lands in the sea of fire.

7. "Jesus said to the malefactor on the cross, 'Verily t say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.' And when Jesus (lies He leaves His spirit in the hands of the Father, Stephen prayed in his hour of death that Jesus should take care of his spirit."

Why must the malefactor always be referred to, whether it concerns modern revivals or the immortal soul doctrine? Let us first find out who the malefactor was and what he believed in. Without a doubt he was a Jew and partook of the hope that the tribes of Abraham, by reason of God's promises, believed in. What was this hope? Paul explains it with the following words:

"And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the (lead?" (Acts 26:6-8.)

Here we have the hope of the tribes, founded on the promises of God. When Christ, the Word made flesh, and through Whom the promises were to be fulfilled, hung in the doorway, or entrance, of the kingdom of the resurrection and in that situation was addressed by a person in whose bosom the hope of the tribes had just been awakened to life, so that he cried, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kindom," what could be more natural for the Lord of the resurrection to say, "Verily I say unto thee today, Thou shalt be with me in paradise." Paradise belongs to the king­dom of the resurrection since it is through the resurrection that the creation is to be restored to its original state with added indescribable glory. (Luke 23:42, 43.)

The word "today," misinterpreted as to its application by the translators, has, with the other words in the sentence, the same meaning as the words spoken by the Lord to Peter: "Verily I say unto thee today, This night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice." (Mark 14:30.) The (lay of the incident was used as a witness to the spoken word. The punctuation has been inserted by the translator, since the original text has no punctuation. God Himself also called upon the day as a witness when He spoke to Israel. (See Deuteronomy 30:15-19 and Zechariah 9:12.)

Then it is claimed that Jesus left "His spirit in the hands of the Father." This contradicts the immortal soul doctrine since it presupposes that He Himself went to the Father. The fact that He left His spirit in the hands of the Father proves that He was dependent on the Father to live again because it was the Spirit of God which made the Man live again. The same with Stephen. When death clutched at his life, he committed his spirit, or his life, into the hands of the Lord Jesus, Who has the power to awaken Stephen from the dead. (Acts. 7:59.)

8. "Peter says that Jesus descended into the kingdom of death and preached unto the souls that had succumbed in the flood during the time of Noah."

Peter refers to the fact that Christ was made to suffer for the unrighteous, though righteous Himself, referring to the condition before the flood as an example. He said of Christ, "Being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he [uwent and does not occur in the Greek]' preached unto the spirits in prison [not in the kingdom of death] ; which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsnffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water." (1 Peter 3:18-20.)

Who is the Christ of Whom Peter speaks? He is the Word of God. As the Word He existed before "the Word was made flesh." (John 1:14.) Through Him, as the Word, the world was created. Through Him, as the Word, Noah built the ark and preached to his contemporaries, who were, because of the coming of the flood, in a prison so to speak, from which only one door opened — to the ark, by means of which only eight souls were saved. Paul says that Christ was a spiritual Rock that followed Israel in the wilderness. In what manner? As the Spirit and Power of the Word, when Moses spoke to the rock.

9. "Jesus asked His opponents who denied the existence of a life after this, how God could claim to be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob if the latter did not exist; if God was the God of the dead and not the God of the living."

Here again we have further proof that the interpreters do not, or do not wish to, understand the voice of the Son of God. The Truth is so impressive in this controversy that a person has to be astonished at the boldness of the opponents in gainsaying the Son of God.

Before the Lord stood the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection. Christ was known to them as One Who pro­claimed the resurrection as a foundation of the kingdom of heaven. For this reason they asked Him which of the seven men that one woman had been married to in this life would be entitled to her as wife in the coming world. The Lord then said to them, "Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." (Mat. 22:24-32.)

What is this question all about? The resurrection. What is Christ's answer about? The resurrection. If the resur­rection does not take place God is the God of the dead, since He had acknowledged to the patriarchs that He was their everlasting God. From all this we see that the immortal soul interpreters have changed the Word of God so that it has a meaning directly opposite to that which Christ proclaimed.

10. "And finally we read in Revelations the 6th chapter how the souls of the martyrs cried out under the altar, etc.

Here again is revealed the shameless insolence of the interpreters. The text reads: "And when he [the Lamb] had opened [broken] the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held : and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, 0 Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" (Rev. 6:9, 10.)

Avenge the blood of souls! Do immortal souls have blood? What is the real meaning of this text? One has only to read the testimony of the Scriptures regarding the soul and its relation to blood in order to arrive at an understanding of this. Here is conclusive proof, namely, Lev. 17:14: "For it [the blood] is the soul of all flesh; the blood of it is for the soul thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the soul of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut oft'." (SwEDIsii BIBLE.) Soul is synonymous with life and life is in the blood. When the martyrs in the coming battle are mercilessly slaughtered, their innocent blood will cry out like that of Abel for revenge on the murderer. Their deeds speak to the God of righteousness.

The resurrection of Christ from the dead, also the fact that God not only awakened Him to life, but also gave Him birth into immortality — made Hini an immortal soul. This miracle constitutes the foundation of the gospel. The future hope of those who believe this gospel rests on that foundation. Satan endeavors to nullify and render this foundation worth­less; therefore his servants are inspired to proclaim instead that man, already possesses immortality and everlasting life, without traveling the same road as the Lord. This is the most powerful opposition the false prophets can use against Christ and His gospel, kingdom, and people. Satan and his false prophets have used this to deceive the heathens into completely discarding Christ, and they continue in the same manner to deceive the so-called Christians.

Christ's Acts of Salvation

The Journey of the New Birth

3. The actual new birth. The new birth of Christ was a reality. That which hope had brought forth in deeds of faith, based on the promise, became a reality when the promise was given birth to an eternal life in the one it controlled. This act of the new birth still remains for all who have believed in and held fast to the promise.

But just here, at this before all other stages on the road of salvation most important, the world-religion has interfered violently in order to lead the believer away from his Savior and foregoer to the world of life. By means of the child doctrine (the traditions of men) the world-religion has impressed in the mind of youth the following dogma which is directly at variance with Christ's acts of salvation. It asks: "Where do the souls of the dead go? Answer: The soul of the believers enters life im­mediately at separation from the body, but the unbeliever goes to perdition."

What has this to do with Christ's acts of salvation? Absolutely nothing. His acts of salvation accompany Him through the door of resurrection and are linked with the promises God has given. He saves nothing immortal, but He saves mortal beings, first from their sins, so that they might link themselves with the promise of eternal life and immortality, and, later, they are saved through the resurrection from death and grave by means of a birth from the dead. He transforms them into immortal souls, eternal living beings, such as He is Himself.

The relationship between the Savior and those to be saved consists therein that the faith in the same promise is shared by them in common. The Savior has traveled onward on the road of faith and is the first to have come through the door of resurrection toward eternal life and immortality, and the aspirant of salvation travels on the same road as far as he can come. When death meets and overpowers him, he, like Job, takes the promise and hope with him to the grave, awaiting, through the great power of God, to be awakened again to life at the sounding of his Savior's voice. He believes in the promise that emanated from the same Savior:

"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 (or judgment)." (John 5: 28, 29.)

The man of the promise travels exactly the same road of faith into the kingdom of God that the Savior before him had traveled. He understands that the acts of the Captain of Salvation cannot be applied on him in any other way than in the manner they were brought forth by the Savior Himself, and he understands also that the greatest need of a Savior manifests itself when he is seized by and overpowered by the last enemy of life — death. He knows no need of a salvation for an immortal soul; he is seeking salvation unto immortality.

The Gospel Foundation or Ten Cardinal Points in the Doctrine of Christ

VI. Is the Resurrection Man's Only Hope ?

Even in this Jesus is "the way," "a new and living way, consecrated for us" and our only hope. He is the opener of this way and exemplifies in this the only way given for man to eternal life. And the Lifegiver, the Father, bestowed on His Son this pre-eminent gift so He became God's "firstborn," of Whom it is written thus — showing why this distinction was awarded Jesus:

"Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec." (Heb. 5:7-10.)

Jesus testifies after He was born from death unto immortality, saying:

"I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." (Rev. 1:18.)

Jesus is "called the High Priest" and therefore He can never become God, for it is only before a true God that such an office can exist. For the duty of the High Priest is to make atonement between the sinner and his God. Jesus gave His own soul in death, which elevated Him to His position far above the old covenant Moses, who offered the souls of beasts as shadows and antitype of Christ, before Jehovah.

All of the Fathers and prophets have built their hope of salvation on the resurrection and promises concerning the Anointed Son of God. We will call eight witnesses to the stand:

David: "My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, 0 LORD, how long? Return, 0 LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake. For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?" (Ps. 6:3-5.)

Job: "But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. 0 that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands." (Job 14:10-15.)

"Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: (or, After I shall awake, though this body be destroyed, yet out of my flesh shall I see God.) Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me (My reins within me are consumed with earnest desire for that day)." (Job 19:23-27.)

Isaiah: "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." (Is. 26:19-21.)

Jeremiah: "Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border." (Jer. 31:15-17.)

Daniel: "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." (Dan. 12:2.)

Paul: "For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.... For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? 0 grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our 'lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. 15:16-57.)

"But I would not have you to be ignorant , brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that wt which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thes. 4:13-18.)

Death is regarded as a sleep:

"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (1 Cor. 15:51, 52.)

Ezekiel: "Jehovah said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Gon; Behold, 0 my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Loan, when I have opened your graves, 0 my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD." (Ez. 37:11-14.)

Jesus through John: "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:38-40.)

All these promises are given the being that is created out of the earth — "the work of Thine hands" — and not something that is supposed to live in the body. The Son of man came to give the deceived and lost, but repentant, life and immortality, and to reinstate the human family in the new Paradise. Jesus was dead for three days and three nights, but the Father, the Fountain of life and immortality, brought Him back to life, of which event His witnesses speak thus:

"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.... Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." (Rom. 8: 11, 21-23.)

Salvation is for the body, on which the greatest of all inventors has shown His wonderful ability and supreme power in giving the first Adam an awakening and changing the clay into living flesh, bones, blood and a nerve-system with the executing machinery in the brain, that makes this likeness of the Creator superior to all His great works and creatures. But in order to become a spiritual being, the Logos, or seed of God, must unite with the being so as to superintend all thoughts, words and deeds. When the new or spiritual being is fully developed, then a new birth, wherein the body also becomes new, must take place, and then the new creature enters into the real kingdom of God. This birth is the resurrection "from the dead." Jesus defines this great finishing work with the saved in this way:

"And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection." (Luke 20:34-36.)

By the resurrection they receive sonship from God so they become immortal in their bodies. As long as we are in this world we can only hope for this great event—"the redemption of our body." But then we enter that world which comes through resurrection from the death-stained corruption into immortality. That is the way Jesus went. First He was born as the creating word-power of God. Then in His second birth He was born of the Word (seed) of God and the seed of the woman, being "made under the law" to become like "the brethren," though without sin, that He might be tempted as we, and die for us as our sacrifice. The third birth brought Him out of this world in a fit state to be brought before the Father, whereof Paul speaks in the following manner:

"Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." (Rom. 1: 1-4.)

We are to have three births before we can become like this "elder brother" and be presented to the Holy Father. We must be born naturally, then spiritually, and then bodily into a new world. The gospel of Jesus Christ clearly defines this road to God. But if we cannot be induced by the Word and Spirit of God to travel this road, seeking immortality, then we will perish, i. e., die the second death. When we are born "to a new hope" by the grace of the merciful God, then we die to the interests of this world. In speaking of this state, Paul says:

"For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Col. s:3, 4.)

"Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God." (Rom. 2:6-11.)

"For our conversation is in ("our polity begins in" — or "our commonwealth is in") heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." (Phil. 3:20, 21.)

If the world does not know us, then the Lord does, and then we can have part in the following promise:

"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. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." (1 John 3:2, 3.)

This hope has enabled the disciples of the Word of God to work out their own salvation under great sufferings and persecution from the world, and this proves that the Logos is developing the nature of the longsuffering Father within them. The children of this world club together in societies and sects and praise and honor one another, because they obey the god of this world and have chosen another father, protector, that is of this world. That is why Jesus was rejected, and He said:

"I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?" (John 5:43, 44.)

Peter, who suffered with his Master and felt the weight of these words, and rejoiced in the hope established in him through the resurrection of Jesus, expresses himself in this way:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inherit­ance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1: 3-5. Comp. Acts 3:21-24.)

When heaven delivers Jesus back to us, He will bring the incorruptible and undefiled inheritance with Him as the end of our faith, wherein lies salvation of our souls. It exists today in the promises of God. But when Christ became the promise made flesh and was raised from the dead, then Peter could also see how, at His second coming, the promises of the kingdom would become a reality, for in and from this Logos-man the new creation is centered and will unfold at the appointed time. Until then our salvation consists of the developing of our spiritual being into like-mindedness with the Father.

A Discourse on the Resurrection and the Translation

The Saints Are Still In Their Graves

The Apostle Peter tells us that "David is not ascended into the heavens," "he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day," he is resting in the hope of resurrection, having foreseen the resurrection of Jesus. (See Act. 2:26 34.)

Job, likewise, is awaiting resurrection from the earth. He says:

"For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." (Job. 19:25 26.)

For this reason, Christ will come again and will raise the dead to life in accordance with the will of the Father. If He would fail to do so, our faith would be in vain. In that case all those who have fallen asleep would be lost, and we, as well as God's prophets and the apostles, have been false witnesses. But it is written that He will "confirm the promises made to the fathers." Christ says:

"And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." (Jhn. 6:39 40.)

How can an immortal soul be lost that has already gone to heaven?

If the saved ones are already in heaven, how can there be any danger that some may be lost if there should be no resurrection? Surely the Lifegiver knows best where His friends are, therefore He says: "The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth."

Through the prophet, Jehovah speaks to His people, imprisoned in their graves, telling them of the birth into the new world:

"Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD." (Eze. 37:12 14.)

Can this be understood to mean that they already are in eternal bliss in heaven?

We will either have to reject the Word of God, the testimony of Christ and His apostles, and defend the teachings of the evil spirits, or else we must uphold the prophetic Word of revelation and with it oppose the gospel of Satan, for it is just as impossible for these two doctrines to become compatible as it is for fire and water to mix.

The Governmental Law of the New Covenant

The Prince of this World

The prince of this world is the name the Lord gives the archangel of the great host of angels who lost their principalities. Of John 12:31 we see that this prince was not wholly cast out from his originally exalted position before the throne of God until the time the Prince of Life was condemned by this present world. Shortly before the Lord was delivered by the council of the high priests, He spoke as follows:

"Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out."

The judgment of this world, pronounced over the Prince of the world to come, will revert on its own head. The judg­ment implied that no new world would be permitted to break forth. The power of life was condemned to death and the abode of death, that is to say, subjected to the same fate as everything else in the present world. The actual inspirer of this judgment work was the prince who, through deceit and falsehood, occasioned death to come into the world. However, although he had brought death into the world, yet he was not wholly cast out of his original home until the judgment had been pronounced over the Prince of the world to come. "Now shall the prince of this world be cast out," says Christ.

From Job 1:6–8 and 1 Kings 22:19–23 we see that the fallen angels had access to the throne of God, while simultaneously they carried out their activities on the earth. Hence it seems that their time of trial extended way down to the moment when the Prince of the world to come was condemned to death. There and then they reached their destiny; they were cast out as belonging to a world that is to be destroyed, when the world of life and light, with the elements belonging to it, are withdrawn therefrom. The reason why the Old Testament speaks so little about the prince of this world appears to be that his power was then not so great.

With this singular event, when the Word of Life was condemned, are connected authorities of angels, principalities and other governmental offices. They belong to the first cre­ation, and as such they are subject to change. This change will come because the Prince of the future world did not clothe Himself in the nature of angels, but, as it says in the following:

"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he taketh not hold of angels, but of the seed of Abraham he taketh hold." (Hebr. 2:14–16. The italicized words are quoted from the margin, and they accord with the original Greek.)

In the 5th verse he says:

"For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak."

He says that the world to come has not been put in sub­jection to angels, so that their offices and governing power will be carried over to the next world. The new world, with all its offices, both those which are in heaven and on earth, belong exclusively to the seed of Abraham, that is, to the part thereof who by virtue of faith have linked themselves with the world of the resurrection. Hence the principalities of the angels will be transferred to this seed, and they will be brought forth as a result of life's recreating power.

Paul expresses himself still more clearly in the following words to the Colossians:

"Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preemi­nence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven." (Col. 1:15–20.)

The head Christ, meaning the Anointed — the Prince of the world to come — is brought up and separated from the old or present world as the beginning to the kingdom of the new world. At the termination of the gospel dispensation He will return to the earth, accompanied by the heavenly angelic host, in order to harvest from all parts the heavenly fruit and separate it from the institutions, authorities and existing order. Everything that is then left behind will be enveloped in the darkest night, while the illuminating power of the new world rests over and is linked with the glorious productions of the new creation. Even the good angels are subject to this change, for everything will appear in a renewed form.

Who are those who then will fill the principalities that are associated with the heavenly throne? Are they angels? No. The world to come is not to be put under them. The Lord, in His parables, gives evident references to those who are there to hold the high offices. Mat. 24:45–47 is an example of this:

"Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods."

It is not an angel who either can fill this place or who justly can receive as a reward therefor such an exalted prin­cipality as to be co-regent with the King over the coming world.

In Luke 19:15-19 the Master further makes it clear who they are who receive offices as princes and rulership in the coming world. He says:

"And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities."

The good angels will be ministering spirits there, subject to the commands of the chosen ones. Here we will add the following testimony by Paul:

"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." (1 Cor. 2:9.)

Some things to think about

God is the all powerful being giving life, spirit, strength ...... EVERYTHING.....to all things and creatures!! We have no power to accomplish anything without God, so people need to get off their high horses!

"Hast Thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted: neither turneth he back from the sword. The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. He saith among the trumpets, Ha, Ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting." Job 39:19-25

Remember to be humble before the Lord!!!! We should not feel so Righteous, proud and confident to think that we have an immortal soul or that we will automatically go to heaven because we believe. We will ALL die and lie in the Grave sleeping to await the resurrection and judgement! We should all be in awe of God's power not our own foolish endeavors........

Embrace your chastisement....realize that God loves you and is making you into a strong and competent person! Lean your lessons with patience and humility! Even the great Job had to learn his lessons...