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Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, Nos. 49, 50
THE ONLY PEACE OF MIND
Volume
1
Numbers
49, 50
Copyright,
1953 Reprint
All
rights reserved
V.T.
HOUTEFF
What Is Religion? Does It Profit Both Now and Hereafter?
Life
Is But What We Make It
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 49
1
TEXT
FOR PRAYER
Parables--Links
In The Chain Of Truth
I shall read from "Christ's Object Lessons," on page 17--
"In Christ's parable-teaching the same principle is seen as in His
own mission to the world. That we
might become acquainted with His divine character and life, Christ took our
nature, and dwelt among us.... Men could learn of the unknown through the
known; heavenly things were revealed through the earthly; God was made
manifest in the likeness of men. So
it was in Christ's teaching: the unknown was illustrated by the known; divine
truths by earthly things with which the people were most familiar.... Natural
things were the medium for the spiritual; the things of nature and the
life-experience of His hearers were connected with the truths of the written
word. Leading thus from the
natural to the spiritual kingdom, Christ's parables are links in the chain of
truth that unites man with God, and earth with heaven."
Let us pray that we might understand Christ's teachings of the unknown
through the known -- the heavenly things as revealed through the earthly; that
we emulate Christ's way of teaching, illustrating Divine truths by earthly
objects; pray that we fully benefit by Christ's parables -- the outstanding
links in the chain of Truth that unites earth with heaven.
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 49
2
WHAT
IS RELIGION?
DOES
IT PROFIT BOTH
NOW
AND HEREAFTER?
TEXT
OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER
OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS
SABBATH,
JULY 12, 1947
MT.
CARMEL CHAPEL
WACO,
TEXAS
If humanity needs to know any one thing above another, it is the answer to these two questions: What is religion? Does it profit now and hereafter?
Many think that religion consists of going to church, of praying, of
having good morals, not stealing, not killing, not playing games, not
gambling, not attending shows, not eating certain things, of doing or of not
doing this, that, and the other.
Others think religion is nothing more than some kind of a sociological
order, and that the church is a place in which to get acquainted, etc., etc.
Let us see:
Jesus was confronted by the rich young ruler, who said to Him, I have
kept the commandments. What yet
must I do to enter into life eternal? Here
follows the answer:
Luke
18:22 -- "Now when Jesus heard these things, He said unto him, Yet
lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor,
and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow Me."
To understand this scripture, we must read another
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 49
3
one
along with it:
John
3:1-3 -- "There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of
the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto Him, Rabbi, we know
that Thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that
Thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus
answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be
born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God."
Both the rich young man and Nicodemus were rulers, and though Nicodemus
might not have been as rich as was the young man, he nevertheless was not
poor. But why was the one asked
to distribute his riches to the poor, and the other told to be born again?
Why should not both pay the same price for salvation?
Here are the reasons:
To avoid being seen in the company of Jesus, Nicodemus came to Him, not
by day, but secretly by night, whereas the young ruler came to Jesus not only
openly by day, but also while a multitude were with Jesus.
The rich young ruler's basic hindrance, therefore, was his wealth, and
Nicodemus' basic hindrance was his pride.
Plainly, then, the one's ailment called for one kind of treatment, and
the other's ailment called for another kind of treatment.
Jesus never asked anyone to take His religion, but He asked them to
"follow" Him, to be one of His disciples.
The rich young ruler could not follow the Lord because his heart was
centered upon his own riches. And
Nicodemus could not follow the Lord because he was too proud to be seen in the
company of unpopular and hated Jesus followed by humble fishermen.
To remove the hindrances, the one had
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 49
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to
get rid of his riches, and the other had to get rid of his pride.
To eradicate pride, one must be born again, must become a new man.
But to eradicate the love of money one must give his money to those who
really need it.
The Scriptures bear record that Abraham was very rich.
Yet he is called the "friend of God."
Riches in themselves, therefore, can be a blessing, although they more
often become a curse. Pride,
however, is never good.
Remember that the Devil finds in every one of us at least one
loop-hole. Whatever that
loop-hole be, it must be done away with -- be it riches or be it pride.
Of course not all are rich and tied to their wealth, but everyone can
be tied to himself, the "old man."
And not all need give up riches, but all need cut loose from the
"old man" who gets them into everything but what they ought to be
in.
Let us read again from John three--
John
3:4-8 -- "Nicodemus saith unto Him, How can a man be born when he is old?
can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born
of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that
I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one
that is born of the Spirit."
Nicodemus' acknowledgment that Jesus was the
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Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 49
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Son
of God made his case exceedingly bad. Knowing
who Jesus was, he should not have been ashamed to be seen in His company, nor
should he have been afraid of His enemies.
He should have considered it a privilege to associate with the Son of
God, with a Heavenly Being. But
inasmuch as Nicodemus was ashamed to be seen with Him, and was proud to be
with Pharisees, he needed to bury the "old man," and to arise in
newness of life -- needed to be born again.
To the question, "How can a man be born when he is old?"
Jesus answered, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter the Kingdom of God." Nicodemus
had to be baptized, had to publicly acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, and
receive the Spirit of Truth.
And the illustration, "the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou
hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it
goeth: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit," definitely points out
that to really know what it is to be born of the Spirit is to have the
experience of being one of His disciples, of being filled with the Holy
Spirit, and of proclaiming His Truth. Jesus,
comparing His followers, those who are born again, with the wind, makes this
fact still clearer; for if His disciples are like the wind, if no one knows
where they come from and where they go to, then the only way to find out is to
become one with them.
For Jesus to become one with us He had to be born again; He had to
become an earthly man. And for us
to be one with Him, we have to be born again, born of the Spirit.
The difference is that Jesus was first born a spiritual, a Divine
being, and second a human
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 49
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being;
whereas we are first born human beings, and second spiritual beings.
Prophetically speaking of Jesus' birth, the prophet Isaiah wrote:
Isa.
66:7 -- "Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came,
she was delivered of a man child."
The Jewish church, the church into which and by which Jesus was born,
Inspiration declares, neither travailed nor had pain; that is, she felt
neither need of nor burden for a Saviour, and yet in spite of it, He was born.
But speaking of the children that are to make up the Kingdom, we read:
Isa.
66:8 -- "Who hath heard such a thing?
who hath seen such things? Shall
the earth be made to bring forth in one day?
or shall a nation be born at once?
for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children."
Although the Jewish church in Jesus' day travailed not, yet she brought
forth the Son of God! But when
Zion travaileth she brings forth all her children at once, a whole nation!
A miracle in each instance.
How may Zion travail? -- Let us turn to the natural realm: In nature,
the mother carries a child, then travails and gives birth to it.
How else, then, in the spiritual realm can Zion travail without first
carrying her children before they are born?
To be specific, when one joins the church, she is pregnant with him so
to speak. When she is thus
carrying her children, then they shall all be born at once, -- they shall all
at once receive their second birth, the birth here mentioned.
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 49
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And
as Inspiration makes it clear that they must be born again, they all at the
outset must be in the same state of mind as was Nicodemus -- ashamed to be
seen in the company of present Truth believers, ashamed to be associated with
believers of unpopular Truth.
Plainly, then, our efforts to reach the people with the message of a
"second birth" shall not be in vain: Zion shall bring forth all her
children, as it were, in one day. And
that is why we cannot be driven to despair or to discouragement.
We are assured that "revival and reformation" will take place
among all God's people, that His word will not return unto Him void.
Now, who could the children be? -- To be children of Zion, they must
some day stand on Zion. They are
therefore none other than the "firstfruits" of whom the Revelator
says: "And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Sion, and with
Him an hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father's name written in
their foreheads." Rev. 14:1.
From the Scriptures it is now clearly seen that in this instance when
one joins the church, the church becomes pregnant with that member.
Thus it is that from the time one becomes a member of the church to the
time he is "born again," he is spiritually developing for the hour
of this second birth. Then, after
he is "born again" he is still to keep on growing until he becomes a
full-grown, matured, spiritual being -- a perfect man, unto the measure of the
stature of Christ, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
Accordingly, this state of being no one has as yet reached, but the
time is now at hand when a multitude shall reach it, for says the Lord:
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 49
8
Isa.
66:9 -- "Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth?
saith the Lord: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb?
saith thy God."
This scripture endeavors to remove all doubt.
Let us believe the Lord and know for certain that the time for this
particular new birth is here and that the Lord can and will make it possible
regardless how it may appear to us.
From this study we see that religion is not made up of must's and
don't's; that no one is to be tied to a man, but to God's ever unfolding
Truth; that religion means to be following the Lord, and to be doing those
things which He leads one to do; that from the time one accepts the Lord as
his Saviour, -- from that very time he is to begin to grow spiritually, first
to be born again, then to become a full-grown spiritual being, not all at
once, but to be growing daily. To
reach such a high state of perfection, one must therefore be perfecting
himself daily and be in keeping with the Truth of God, that each spark of
Truth might add the amount of spiritual growth the season requires, or else
one will fall behind in reaching spiritual maturity.
Only thus can one be reaping all the benefits which religion affords.
No, religion is not something extra, something optional.
It is something which everyone must have.
A true and up-to-date religion is something as essential as the eyes in
your head.
For examples let me take you through the stream of time, beginning with
Noah. His religion not only saved
him and his family from drowning in the terrible flood, but also made him
become the progenitor of the world after the flood, -- yes, the progenitor of
our
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Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 49
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world.
The world in his day, though, perished because it felt no need of an
up-to-date religion, no need of present Truth.
What a shame! What
nonsense for one to try to get along without religion, without God's counsel,
and without the message of the hour!
Let us take a look at another highlight in Bible history. The mother of
Moses believed in up-to-date religion. She
believed that the time had come for the deliverance of the Hebrew race, and
she did all she could to make it possible.
When she saw that she could no longer hide her infant son from the hand
of Pharaoh, she let her religion do the rest.
The results were great, not only did she receive her son again in her
arms forever saved from being thrown into the Nile, but also a guarantee for
his support, education, and all -- the best Egypt could afford -- were paid
from Pharaoh's treasury! The
right kind of religion, you see, does great things.
Eighty years later Moses' religion led the whole Hebrew nation from the
brick yards of Pharaoh to the Red Sea. The
sea parted for their sake, and as soon as they passed through, it closed in on
their taskmasters. What a
deliverance! What a victory!
Moreover, as those millions of men, women, and children, also their
cattle, came into that forbidding desert place where there was neither food
nor water, religion made the rocks gush with streams, and the clouds drop down
manna -- not for a day, nor for a month, but for forty long years!
Then the miracle of the Red Sea was repeated at the river Jordan, and
the emancipated brick-makers became prophets, kings, and priests!
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 49
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Notwithstanding all these great happenings, when they became careless
and indifferent, when they felt no need of prophets, no need of present Truth,
no need of meat in due season, they again became slaves and captives!
That is why we need the right kind of religion, and that is why we need
to stick to religion and to grow with it.
The Jews were taken captive and carried into Babylon.
Nevertheless, those who were faithful to their religion were well taken
care of even in their captivity. Daniel,
for instance, rather than serving as a slave, was instead treated as a lord,
and was at last made a ruler by both the Chaldeans and the Medo-Persians.
And when he was for spite thrown into the lion's den, he was spared,
while his enemies were eaten up by the wild beasts.
When the three Hebrews, for faithfulness to their religion, were thrown
into the fiery furnace, the Son of God came and rescued them and not a hair of
their heads perished. Their
enemies, though, were burned to death, but the Hebrews were made rulers in the
kingdom.
Gideon had to win a war. After
recruiting 22,000 soldiers, he was told that they were too many!
Consequently the time-killers were removed, and finally there were but
three hundred left to fight against a multitude that covered the plain!
In spite of his small army, Gideon did win the war overnight, and
without the loss of a man! Religion,
Brother, Sister, when lived up to, is a paying proposition.
All could have been Daniels and Gideons.
Yes, even the Jews of today could have been something, but what are
they? -- A nation hated by all the people
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Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 49
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in
the world, a nation without a king, without a flag, without a land, -- the
only such nation on earth.
Now let me tell you of an experience that is strictly personal, and
news to most of you. Several
years ago while I was crossing one of the busy streets of Los Angeles,
California, a woman from my left drove squarely into me.
She then became so nervous that she could not stop her car but kept
going for a half block. The car,
though, did not tip me over; an unseen hand carried me ahead of it.
And when the car stopped right at the alley which crossed the street, I
stopped, too! By that time
hundreds of spectators including news reporters and three motor cops, had
gathered around the car. As they
found no one lying in the street, dead or wounded, they then decided the
victim must have been pinned under the car.
When I told them that it was I who had been hit, they wondered.
As I told them that I was not hurt, and as I refused to be taken to the
hospital, they made me raise up my hands and legs, and they asked dozens of
questions. The pencil in my coat
pocket had been crushed by the impact of the car into about a dozen pieces,
but my ribs were untouched! Then
one from among the crowd said, "He must be made of rubber."
Religion, you see, is better than an insurance policy.
From our study we perceive that God's power that protected life even in
the fiery furnace and in the lion's den, is still at work; that God is still
as much interested in His people today as He was in Daniel's or in any other
day. We therefore need an
up-to-date religion every day. We
cannot afford to be without it, -- no, not even for a moment.
Timely Truth not only saves our souls for eternity,
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Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 49
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but
It protects us from day to day. It
supplies our needs today and gives us hope for hereafter.
There is safety in nothing else, and faith in God is our only peace of
mind, especially in this day and age.
Religion obviously is profitable not only for hereafter, but certainly
for today as well. Do not play
the fool by trying to get along without it.
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 49
13
TEXT
FOR PRAYER
Reveal
God; Do Not Conceal Him
I shall read from "Christ's Object Lessons," page 18, beginning with the first paragraph--
"In His teaching from nature, Christ was speaking of the things
which His own hands had made, and which had qualities and powers that He
Himself had imparted. In their
original perfection, all created things were an expression of the thought of
God.... The earth is now marred and defiled by sin.... God's object lessons
are not obliterated; rightly understood, nature speaks of her Creator.
In the days of Christ these lessons had been lost sight of.... The
sinfulness of humanity had cast a pall over the fair face of creation; and
instead of manifesting God, His works became a barrier that concealed Him....
So in Israel, man's teachings had been put in the place of God's.
Not only the things of nature, but the sacrificial service and the
Scriptures themselves, -- all given to reveal God, -- were so perverted that
they became the means of concealing Him."
I wonder if the world is not about the same today as it was in Christ's
day. The Jews were given a great
opportunity to reveal God to humanity, but instead they concealed Him.
Christians that are quarreling and bickering, bringing doctrines of man
into the doctrines of God, are not revealing God to the heathen but are
concealing Him, turning them against Him.
Such are not making converts to Christ but are driving souls away from
Him. We must pray that we do
better; that we do not conceal Christ but reveal Him in all our works and
through our lives.
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 50
14
LIFE
IS BUT WHAT WE MAKE IT
TEXT
OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER
OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS
SABBATH,
JULY 19, 1947
MT.
CARMEL CHAPEL
WACO,
TEXAS
To find out that life is really what we make it, I shall bring to attention seven examples, beginning in Noah's day and ending in our day:
Example No. 1: Noah was commanded to build an ark, and to tell the
world that a flood was to cover the earth, that only those who would get into
the ark would escape alive. One
hundred twenty years later the animals were strangely seen to march two and
two into the ark! Noah and his
family also went in, while the rest of the world laughed and ridiculed.
But when the rain began to pour, the situation ceased to be
"funny." Those outside the ark cried, mourned, pled.
But all perished as fools only because they had failed to give heed to
present Truth, had failed to feed on "meat in due season."
What folly! What disaster!
One would think that after the deluge, the world would have had great
respect for religion and for the prophets of God.
But that was not the case. The
antediluvians did not believe Noah's prediction that there was to be a flood,
so they refused to go into the ark! But
the flood came and they perished. The
postdiluvians did not believe his prediction that there was not to be another
flood so they set about to build the tower of Babel!
But when God saw the tower sky-rocketing,
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Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 50
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He
blasted the top of it, and confounded the builders' language.
That is, He blotted their own language from their minds and carved into
them the languages of today. Thus
he caused the birth of various races and languages which we today find even in
the remotest parts of the earth.
It was not God's purpose that the people should stack themselves in the
plains of Shinar, but that they should spread out and replenish the earth.
And so when they refused to obey His command He gave them the next best
He had for them, and that they had to obey.
Man's work independent of and contrary to God's, you see, is certain to
meet with disaster. A house that
is built on sand cannot survive a storm, and no man can possibly defeat God's
purpose for men. Do not make a
fool of yourself by trying.
It takes years in the schools of men to learn a language, but in the
school of God, it takes but a moment. He
can blot out one language from man's brains and carve in another, and at the
same time change the features of his face and the color of his skin.
Yes, God can do all this more quickly than a dentist can pull a tooth.
But whether a change be made for better or for worse, all depends upon
the individual.
Example No. 2: Nebuchadnezzar was given a dream.
Being troubled with it he summoned the wise men of his realm to tell
him the interpretation of it. They
came but there was nothing that they could do.
At last Daniel was brought before the king.
After hearing the king's story of the dream, Daniel said:
Dan.
4:24-26, 28 -- "This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the
decree of the Most High, which is come
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Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 50
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upon
my lord the king: that they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall
be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as
oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall
pass over thee, till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of
men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will.
And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy
kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the
heavens do rule....came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar."
The king heard the interpretation of it, and he understood the decree.
Nevertheless he was not willing to admit that there was One greater
than he. Then it came to pass
that--
Dan.
4:29, 30 -- "At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the
kingdom of Babylon. The king
spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of
the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?"
What a statement to make after having heard God's decree!
The king had yet to learn that God rules the nations, sets up kings and
deposes kings. Let us now hear
God's answer to the king's folly:
Dan.
4:31-33 -- "While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice
from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom
is departed from thee. And they
shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the
field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass
over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men,
and giveth
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Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 50
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it
to whomsoever He will. The same
hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men,
and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till
his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds'
claws."
Some even to this day do not realize that God rules, that men are not
independent of Him although they are permitted to choose whether or not to
serve Him. It was not necessary
for the Chaldean king to live with the beasts of the field, but as he could
not learn his lesson by words, in the easy way, he was removed from his palace
and put into a corral, there to learn by experience, in the hard way.
In the end of seven years, after he had graduated, so to speak, from
God's school of hard knocks, the king walked back into his palace, and said:
Dan.
4:34-37 -- "And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine
eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the
Most High, and I praised and honoured Him that liveth for ever, Whose dominion
is an everlasting dominion, and His Kingdom is from generation to generation:
and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and He doeth
according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the
earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest thou?
At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my
kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and
my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent
majesty was added unto me. Now I
Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all Whose works
are Truth, and His ways judgment: and those that walk in
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pride
He is able to abase."
Through pride and disloyalty to God Nebuchadnezzar made life miserable
for himself, but at last he did awake.
Example No. 3: Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom continued until the reign of
his grandson, Belshazzar. Belshazzar
knew his grandfather's history and his experience with God, but he failed to
profit by it. He made a great
feast to a thousand of his lords, and commanded that the vessels which
Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, be brought to the
feast, so that the king himself, and his princes, wives, and concubines might
drink therefrom.
As soon as this revelry took place there came forth fingers of a man's
hand, which wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of
the king's palace. Belshazzar was greatly troubled, and his countenance was
changed in him, and his lords were astonished.
Then was Daniel brought before the king.
And Daniel emphatically declared:
Dan.
5:18-31 -- "O thou king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father
a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: and for the majesty that He
gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him:
whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he
set up; and whom he would he put down. But
when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed
from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: and he was driven
from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling
was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was
wet
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Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 50
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with
the dew of heaven; till he knew that the Most High God ruled in the kingdom of
men, and that He appointeth over it whomsoever He will.
And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though
thou knewest all this; but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven;
and they have brought the vessels of His house before thee, and thou, and thy
lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast
praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which
see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in Whose hand thy breath is, and
Whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: Then was the part of the hand
sent from Him; and this writing was written.
And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy
kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL;
Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and
put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him,
that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two
years old."
What a difference there would have been in the scroll of history if
Belshazzar had profited by the priceless lesson which his grandfather had
learned. Yes, what a difference
it would have made! This is the
needful lesson for us all, kings and peasants alike.
Example No. 4: The Chaldean empire became a Medo-Persian empire, not
because the Medes and the Persians were stronger and mightier, but because
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God
had so decreed. Let us see:
Isa.
45:1 -- "Thus saith the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand
I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of
kings, to open before him the two-leaved gates; and the gates shall not be
shut."
Cyrus, under whose command the Medo-Persian army marched into Babylon,
had not yet been born when the prophet Isaiah wrote of him.
But God remembered His promise and when Belshazzar felt perfectly
secure on the night of revelry and fatal debauchery, God opened before Cyrus
the two-leaved gates and made possible the capture of the kingdom.
There the Medes and Persians met Daniel and his companions, who called
Cyrus' attention to the Scriptures which not only predicted his victory, but
even foretold his name. Having
seen and felt the power of God, Cyrus was moved to decree:
Ezra
1:2-11 -- "Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath
given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and He hath charged me to build Him an
house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who
is there among you of all His people? his
God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build
the house of the Lord God of Israel, (He is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.
And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men
of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with
beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in
Jerusalem. Then rose up the chief
of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with
all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the Lord
which is in Jerusalem. And all
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they
that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with
gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all that
was willingly offered. Also Cyrus
the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the Lord, which
Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the
house of his gods; even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand
of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of
Judah. And this is the number of
them: thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers of silver, nine and twenty
knives, thirty basons of gold, silver basons of a second sort four hundred and
ten, and other vessels a thousand. All
the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All
these did Sheshbazzar bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up
from Babylon unto Jerusalem."
It is not difficult to see that if the rulers of the Medo-Persian
empire had continued to rule in the same spirit as Cyrus, the kingdom would
have stood until this day. That
kingdom, though, gave way to Grecia; Grecia, to Rome; and Rome, to the nations
of today. Plain enough it is to
see that the kingdoms of today still stand because God has purposed it so.
Their growing more and more independent of God will sooner or later
bring the end of them too, for looking down the stream of time, down to the
kingdoms of today which are depicted by the feet and toes of the great image,
the Spirit of Truth wrote: "And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes,
part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but
there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the
iron mixed with miry clay. And as
the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall
be partly strong,
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and
partly broken. And whereas thou
sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed
of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed
with clay. And in the days of
these kings shall the God of heaven set up a Kingdom, which shall never be
destroyed: and the Kingdom shall not be left to other people, but It shall
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and It shall stand for ever.
Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain
without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the
silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall
come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation
thereof sure." Dan. 2:41-45. Rather
than merging into the Kingdom of God, they will have to be destroyed.
Example No. 5: Now let us see what benefit the kingdoms and nations
reaped from coming in contact with the church. Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia,
and Rome, who came in contact with the church, make up the civilized world of
today.
Look at the nations and peoples (the heathen in the somewhat isolated
places of the earth) who were not so fortunate as to meet the church as early
as the other nations.
Still further, look at those who are still more isolated in the
remotest parts of the earth who have had no contact with the church, not until
just recently. Most of them are
but little better than animals not only in intelligence but even in progress.
The people who were fortunate enough to be the closest to the religion
of Christ, are, you will find,
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the
most intelligent, the most prosperous. England,
for example, who translated the Bible and published and scattered It
throughout the world to all peoples and languages, became the greatest of the
nations in its time. Then the
United States (but a sister nation to the English Empire), who less than two
centuries ago founded its government upon the principles of the Bible and
inscribed on its dollar, IN GOD WE TRUST, and who also established the
American Bible Societies, in but a comparatively few years became the greatest
of nations, as did the Hebrews in their day.
On the other hand those who turned against the religion of the Bible,
were left desolate -- their blessings became a curse to them.
The hated Jews, for whom there is no spot on earth, are the best
example. Germany, who led out in
the Reformation but who turned back from it, has reaped a sorrowful harvest,
too.
And what is true with the nations is, of course, just as true with
individuals, homes, families, and communities.
If you will take a little time to observe, you will see this law of
blessings and cursings in demonstration everywhere without exception.
The world was founded upon religion, and you can rest assured that when
religion disappears from the earth, the world will disappear with it.
Those who fall in love with the Truth will find that blessings will,
reciprocally, fall in love with them. Let
us read:
2
Thess. 2:8-12 -- "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord
shall consume with the spirit
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of
His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: even him,
whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying
wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish;
because they received not the love of the Truth, that they might be saved.
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they
should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the
Truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
We see that if we do not fall in love with the Truth, deception is
inevitable. No, none are deceived
by coming in contact with error (for we are in contact with it anyway from the
time we are born to the time we die), but everyone who does not love the Truth
is sure to be deceived, regardless what he may do to avoid It.
And those who are satisfied with the Truth of yesterday, who are not
looking for fresh Truth for today from the throne of God, not looking for
"meat in due season," -- such ones will find themselves in as
terrible a predicament as did the Jews -- spued out.
Deut.
30:15, 19 -- "See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and
death and evil:... I call Heaven and earth to record this day against you,
that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore
choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live."
Example No. 6: If we fail to profit by what God tells us we shall fail
as badly as, if not worse, as any who have failed before us.
I think some of you who have had personal contact with God, know these
things through experiences of your own. Doubtless
you have found that you cannot long prevent explosion
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while
keeping fire and gunpowder in the same room; that you cannot serve the Devil
and yet have peace and security. Let
me illustrate this by an actual incident:
A certain man dreamed that a horse killed him by kicking him.
To safeguard his life he ever after kept his distance from all horses.
Nevertheless one windy day as he was walking down a street, he passed a
blacksmith's establishment in front of which was hanging a sign with a
horseshoe painted on it. The sign
suddenly fell on his head and he died from the impact.
We can no more avoid the consequences of sin and of isolation from God,
than could the dreamer avoid death by dodging it.
We never know what the day will bring forth, and we cannot afford to
isolate ourselves from God even for a moment.
Neither can we say definitely that we will or will not do this, that,
or the other.
Example No. 7: Some years ago while in Europe, I heard that one of my
cousins had left for America. I
then said to myself, "Poor cousin, I will never leave home and go to live
anywhere as far away as America for any reason."
But about that time, I, along with others, was falsely accused of
conspiracy. It was in the season
when the nights were long, and as we put on the lights in our store one
morning before daylight, a mob gathered with guns and stones, and stormed the
windows. So it was that just a
few months after I took pity on my poor cousin's estrangement from his
homeland I found myself in America in the same house with him.
It was a great disappointment at first, no not lesser than Joseph's of
old, but what a favor at last! God
bless the mob!
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Only God knows the future, and we should place our hopes and ambitions
in His mighty hand. Then, and
then only, will we come to the "top."
And if we are tempted to say we will or will not do this or that, then
let us remember Jonah: He said he would not bear a message to Nineveh, and
straightway took a boat for Tarshish. But
the boatmen threw him overboard and the great fish picked him up and brought
him right back to the place whence he was trying to run away.
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, thought to perpetuate his kingdom by
ordering all his subjects to bow down to his golden image.
The three Hebrews, though, defied his purpose and changed the course of
history. The men who threw the
Hebrews into the fiery furnace were themselves burned to death, but not a hair
of the Hebrews' heads was singed all the time they remained inside the fiery
furnace. Let us with the Psalmist
lift up our voices and say:
Psalms
8:1-6 -- "O Lord our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth!
Who hast set Thy glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained strength
because of thine enemies, that Thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the
stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?
and the Son of man, that Thou visitest Him?
For Thou hast made Him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned
Him with glory and honour. Thou
madest Him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all
things under His feet."
The prophet Malachi was instructed to write for the people that were to
live in the time of the end.
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Let
us read from chapter four:
Mal.
4:1-3 -- "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and
all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day
that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave
them neither root nor branch. But
unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing
in His wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the
soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of
hosts."
Is it not better to be a human being in God's order, a beautiful
ever-living creature, than to be ashes under the soles of the saints?
Why not now respond to His call and make life what it ought to be?
Mal.
4:4-6 -- "Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto
him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the
great and dreadful day of the Lord: and He shall turn the heart of the fathers
to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come
and smite the earth with a curse."
Are you waiting, watching, praying and hoping that when this
antitypical Elijah the prophet appears and calls on you, your heart be turned
toward your children and their hearts toward you, or are you crawling under
your shell, as it were, for fear that you be deceived if you should meet him?
Life, you see, is what you make it.
Most people do not know how to make it better, but "if you know
these things, happy are ye if ye do them."
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To summarize this study: We have learned that we have been put in this
world for a purpose, that if we want salvation and blessings we must cooperate
with God. This we can do by
following the examples of God's Truth-hungering people.
To enable us to do this He has seen to it that both the glories and
calamities of both classes have been noted in His Book.
If we compare our works with Noah's works we will see whether we
measure up with him in obeying present Truth.
Neither the antediluvians nor the postdiluvians did profit from Noah's
preaching. The former did not
believe it possible to flood the earth and perished; the latter did not
believe it possible for the earth not to be flooded again. They built the
tower of Babel because they feared another flood although they were plainly
told that there will be such a flood no more.
God, though, not only destroyed their work, but also confounded their
language, and in exchange gave them all different languages so that few could
understand one another. If we
work to fulfill God's plans for us we shall never be confused or confounded.
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon at last saw these things as God sees
them, but the hard way -- not before God turned him loose for seven years to
eat grass like the oxen. Later
when he came to himself, he acknowledged God as the God Who rules both heaven
and earth. Let us do better than
did the King.
Then Belshazzar, the king who failed to profit by the experience of
Nebuchadnezzar, over night lost himself, his kingdom and his all.
Ruler followed ruler and finally the kingdom passed to the
Medo-Persians, then to the Grecians, next to the Romans and finally to the
nations of today. The
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nations,
you see, belong to God, and He lets them be ruled by whomsoever He will.
The nations who came nearest to God and His teachings became great and
respectable nations, and those who kept themselves away from Him are not much
better than animals.
It is best to learn what God wants you to do, then do just that.
Life truly is just what we make it -- no less and no more.
Now is your chance, now you are at the two cross roads.
Which will it be for you? The
wide, or the narrow, which?
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The
Gifts of God
His
gifts are greater than my dreams,
The
gifts of God to me;
As
countless as the sunset's golden beams,
As
boundless as the sea.
I
ask a part, He gives the whole--
Himself,
and all beside;
His
loving-kindness overflows my soul,
Inrushing
as the tide.
Within
my heart He shall have place
To
rule and reign supreme;
My
voice will ever praise Him for the grace
Of
which I ne'er could dream.
His
gifts are greater than my dreams,
The
gifts of Him who set me free;
And
more and more abundant daily seems
The
grace of God to me.
--J.B.
Pounds
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