The Spirit of the Word

The Words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.—Jesus.
The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.—Paul.
Vol. 1, No. 7 —September 15, 1885.

Paragraph Headings Of Vol.1, No 7

Trusting
The Definition Of Bible Terms
Bible Corrections
Sword And Garment

Trusting

In former issues of the paper I have tried to set forth the scriptural view of Faith and its relationship to Works; in this article I desire to bring the subject right down to our every day life, so that each reader may be led to Trust the Lord more fully. There is a difference between faith and trust. We may have faith in a person and yet not be willing to trust him very much. We might believe a person to be very honest and upright and yet not be willing to trust to his keeping our property or worldly reputation. Trusting a person implies committing to his care something of our own; and the strength and fullness of our trust will be indicated by the value of the thing committed. We would trust a child with a few pennies to buy some small thing at the store, but we would not trust him with a large sum of money to transact important business. We might trust our neighbor with some small commission, say to buy us a dollar's worth of goods in a neighboring city, but we would hesitate to trust him further. The merchant might trust his confidential clerk with important business matters involving the risk of immense sums of money, and yet not be willing to trust him in some other things. Sometimes we have a friend whom so far as his honesty and good intention is concerned we would trust to any extent, property, business, honor, and life itself if need be. Such a friend is of priceless value, and one who has such a friend is rich indeed. But even such a friend you cannot trust in all things; there will be some lack in judgment, perhaps, or knowledge, or experience, or self-control, or some other defect, that, while you have the most perfect confidence in his fidelity and good intention, prevents you from trusting him in all things. What a wonderful thing it would be! how grand and glorious! if one had a friend that he could fully trust in all things! one whom he knew would not fail him in any circumstance, either in good will or in ability. Ah, what a prize such a friend would be! How safe would be the possessor of such a friend! How comfortable, happy and secure! He would know that whenever trouble or difficulty came, all he need do would be to refer it to his friend, leave it in his hands, and then stand by and see him manage it. Would not that be grand? 0 would that we all had such a friend as that! Well, have we not such a friend? Tell me, Christian reader, can human tongue find language wherewith to clothe a being with all the qualities of a perfect friendship, and not find even that ideal friend overtopped, and infinitely surpassed by the great, loving Friend of all, the Father of the human race? "No," you say, "of course not;" and yet there is a lack about this divine friendship that every human heart feels; it seems intangible, far-away, unavailable, inoperative. We have a theoretical, intellectual belief in God, but "in works we deny him;" that is to say, many a man who would resent with indignation the being called an infidel, and many a nominal Christian too, is yet practically an atheist, for the simple reason that the existence of God, with all his attributes of goodness and mercy, crowned with unchanging love, is to him only a religious dogma, and not a living, every-day reality. They would know how to appreciate, and how to use a true friend of flesh and blood, but how to make any good out of the friendship of God is entirely beyond them, though intellectually they do not doubt that friendship. "With the heart [not with the head] man believeth unto righteousness;" but few have got so far along as that in their relation to God; their faith in him is merely intellectual, there is but little, if any, heart trusting. Now why is this? Why do we not trust God? For the very same reason, I answer, that we do not trust strangers, because we are not acquainted with him. The great prerequisite to a perfect trust is a perfect acquaintance,—a thorough knowledge of the person to be trusted. Everyone will see this truth at once. And furthermore, we must become acquainted with him for ourselves; no second hand knowledge will do, however exact and truthful it may be; no mere introduction, or verbal description of his excellences will satisfy us. We must know him for ourselves, and know him long enough to make sure that we can trust him. This is most certainly true in our relationship to one another; it is no less true of our trust in God. Intellectually the Christian believes that God is his best friend; so other Christians have told them; so the Bible plainly teaches; and so they profess to believe, and would think themselves ill used if anyone should doubt that they believed it; and yet they do not trust God. They have some little faith in him, they believe in him, after a fashion, but they do not TRUST him i.e. they do not commit themselves and all their interests to him, and rest in the assurance that he will manage all things well; for the simple reason, as I have already said, that they are not acquainted with him. They have some slight knowledge of him; they know something about him; but they do not know HIM. Reverently, I would say, they are not personally acquainted with the Father. 0, it is no use, you cannot trust anyone you do not know. If you know not God,--if he is not a real personally presence, within and round about you at all times, as set forth for instance in the 139th Psalm, if God to you is not all this, and more than my weak words or any words can express, then you do not trust him, and you cannot trust him, for as yet he is a comparative stranger to you; and we do not trust strangers however much we may believe in them. Get acquainted with God, and trusting him will come as natural as breathing.

But now a practical question. How shall we get acquainted with God? How can we come to know him, so as to fully trust him? I will try to answer this question. The only way we can know God is through the truth. Christ is the truth (John 14:6). He is the living Word, and "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." He is flesh and blood then, he is human, we can get near him, for he is bone of our and flesh of our flesh, and through him, "the way, the truth, and the life," we shall at last get to God, for "no man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son shall reveal him," But we have Christ no longer among us in the flesh; it seems as hard to get to a risen and ascended Jesus, as to God himself. What shall we do then? Turn to that best embodiment of the truth, that still remains with us, the Bible. The Word incarnate is absent from us, turn we then to the written Word for the light that we need to lead us to God. We know that the one great central idea of all Scripture is the Christ. He is the fulfilment of all the law; the antitype of all types; the substance of all shadows; the theme of all prophecies; the subject of all Bible history; the center of Christian life and experience as set forth in Old and New Testament example, precept, and exhortation. Studying the Scriptures then will be studying Christ; and learning of Christ is learning of God, since the former is the express image of the latter. Here then is the solution of our question, how shall we get acquainted with God? through the truth as set forth in the written Word. Not but that God reveals himself to us in other ways than through the Scriptures, for "the heavens declare his glory and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge." Also "the Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth," by his providential dealings with mankind. Happy he who can see God in all things, as he most certainly is, since "all things are of God." The heavenly bodies, the solid earth, rock, hill and dale, tree, flower and shrub, lofty mountain and rolling ocean, the tiny blade of grass, and the pebble on the shore, the city full and the country waste,—as well as all events great and small, in our own experience or in that of others, whether individuals, communities, states, nations or the world,— all these, each and every one speak of God, million tongued, and he who has eyes and ears to see and hear the divine in the human, the Godlike in the commonplace, he shall realize how wonderful is the truth of God's Ubiquity; and instead of asking with Job, "Oh that I knew where I might find him" (Job xxiii. 3), will rather say with David, "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" But such power of seeing God in everything comes not except by long practice in the way of truth; it is an experience that we must grow up to by gradual development: we can no more jump into it at once than can the child leap at once into man's estate.

"They needs must grope who cannot see,
The blade before the ear must be."

The written Word comes first then as a means whereby to know God; it is a revelation of God's will to man; it interprets his thoughts, his purposes and methods, and thereby makes God known to us. But we must needs have a true interpretation of that Word. The great mass of Christians do not know God so as to trust him, not only because they have not the truth in regard to him, but also because they believe many lies about him. They are led astray by their "blind leaders." It is a wonder that Christians trust him as much as they do, when by their horrid ideas of him they make him out to be anything but a God of love, worthy of trust. Believing as the great majority profess that by a perpetual miracle he will eternally keep alive myriads in hell for the sole purpose that they may suffer, believing also that God forgives the sinner not simply and solely because he loves him, but because, his justice (!) having been satisfied by the sufferings of an innocent victim, and his wrath being thereby appeased, he is now reconciled to man (just the opposite from the way the Bible puts it), and is willing to forgive him if he repents and believes on Christ,—believing these things and many others equally absurd and unscriptural, it is a wonder I say, that they have any love at all for the monster their theology makes God to be; and as for trusting such a being, the idea seems impossible. With such a faith one might trust Christ and love him, but the only feeling toward God, possible under such a system of religion, would seem to be one of dread and apprehension. Fortunately most Christians' hearts are better than their heads, and so with a happy inconsistency, not because of, but in spite of their theology, they love and trust God a little, though far beyond what anyone would suppose possible, knowing what they profess to believe of him. But how would their love and trust be augmented, from a smouldering spark to a glowing blaze, could they but see and understand the real truth concerning "Our Father in Heaven." The purpose of this paper has been from the first to set forth those truths of God's word essential to such a knowledge of him as will make us willing to fully trust him. How wonderfully, for instance, does the great truth that "all things are of God" (1-1-7) help us to trust him! If some things were not of God, that is to say, if some things took place independent of his will, or without his notice, or contrary to his plans, then, though we might have perfect confidence in his good intention, we could not trust him fully because we should not know what might happen to thwart or disarrange his plans. But when we know that "He worketh all things after the counsel of his own will," that all things "fulfill his word," (Psa. 148:7-12) "that all are his servants," (Psa. 119:91) and that he I makes even the wrath of man to praise him,—when we know all this and realize it as a living truth, then we are ready to trust him with all our interests because we see that he is worthy of our trust that as he cannot fail from lack of kindness and love, or from lack of wisdom and knowledge, so he cannot fail from lack of power and authority. He who controls all things, orders all things, and when such power is directed by infinite wisdom and boundless love, we have a Being who is worthy of the fullest trust, and who is sure to receive it from all who know him.

With most people their happiness and comfort depends on their circumstances. Hence, since circumstances are very changeful, and for the most part entirely beyond our control, our happiness is very precarious; and the happiness of such ones, even when surrounded by the most favorable circumstances, will be more or less marred by the ever haunting fear of possible impending calamity. If there was any way whereby we might rise superior to circumstances, so as to be perfectly independent of them, then we should have no such fear, and our happiness would be unalloyed. But there is only one Being who is thus superior to circumstances, that is the maker of circumstances, the director and controller of all things. What shall we do then, puny little cock-boats as we are, tossed on the wide sea of life by ever contending influences, driven hither and thither by ever shifting circumstances, knowing not what a day may bring forth, nor how soon the red wine of our enjoyment may be turned into the bitterest gall of blasted hopes and thwarted purposes? What can we do but coldly wrap around us the mantle of a stolid indifference, and, reckless of the future, enjoy the present as we may? Ah, but there is something better than that we may do. We may take our place under the shadow of God's wing,—ay, creep into the bosom of his love, and be as independent of circumstances as he is. How? By simply the expression of his will, i.e. the expression of his wisdom and love, and so most certainly a blessing, whether in disguise or otherwise. I want reader to particularly notice this point as, if I err not, it is the only secret of a restful, happy life. We can never be happy until we triumph over circumstances. We cannot control circumstances, but if we have a perfect trust in Him who does control them, we can triumph over them through that trust, as completely as He triumphs over them by his power. But such a trust, and consequently such a triumph, upon knowledge of God, acquaintance with him, and can come only as the outgrowth of such knowledge; I will try then to help the reader to the knowledge, that he may ultimately possess the trust, and the consequent peace and joy.

Probably every one has had the following experience. Events have occurred in their lives that have seemed at first very great calamities, but have afterwards proved the greatest of blessings. We have complained and wept and been bitterly disappointed, and perhaps rebellious over something that has afterwards proved to be one of the greatest blessings we ever had perhaps, so that we look back upon it in after years with joy and thanksgiving that we ever had such an experience; and we wonder that we were so blind and stupid at the time as not to see that it was a blessing in disguise; and we severely reproach ourselves, it may be, for our lack of faith and trust in God. Surely there is hardly a living soul who has not had such an experience. Thus in our own lives we have been convinced that troubles and sorrows and seeming calamities sometimes at least blossom into heaven's richest blessings, and ultimately laden with "the peaceable fruits of righteousness." Now suppose we could be absolutely assured that this was the case always?—that no matter what occurred however dark or calamitous it might appear, however grievous and distressing it might be, in the end it would prove a blessing, something that we should greatly rejoice over and be exceedingly glad that it had happened. If we could only be perfectly assured of this so that we had no doubt of it, then we should be independent of circumstances; for we should know that nothing could take place to our ultimate detriment. Let it be remembered that all of us have had the experience, as the above, where seeming terrible misfortunes have been turned into ultimate blessings,—where what at first has caused us sorrow has ultimately given us joy. Now we only have to extend this experience to all events,—have all things work together for our good,—in order to be in a position where we should feel perfectly independent of circumstances; come what might we would be sure of being benefitted in the end, and hence of course we should fear no event. Now I need not tell any reader of the Bible that in the foregoing I have simply been describing the possible experience of all "them that love God." All things, absolutely all things, work together for their good. "All things are for your sakes; that the abundant grace might, through the thanksgiving of many, redound to the glory of God." This is wonderful! and it makes the one who fully receives it, master of the situation; it is a triumph of faith, claiming complete dominion of God's universe, counting it ours on the strength of God's word, and rejoicing in it as though we actually had it in possession, just as by faith we reckon ourselves ‘alive unto God," "risen with Christ," and already "seated in the heavenlies." Such a life is a life of trust. One leading such a life can say with Paul, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." 0 the holy presumption and divine recklessness of such a trust! How sturdily and fearlessly it strides forward to meet the future! If things pleasant come, they are accepted, not with the surprise of unbelief, but as a matter of course; if things for the present grievous befall, they are received with a smile of anticipated triumph, even though the cheeks be wet with tears, and the heart wrung with agony from the stinging pain of the chastening rod, for trust shall be the gainer in the end; no other issue is possible. Though all the forces of evil in the universe were let loose upon one trusting soul, they could but shower ultimate blessings upon him, and hurry him on to his coronation. 0, it is grand thus to be able, through the omnipotence of faith, to defy all enemies, sure, not only that they cannot harm you, but that they can do nothing but bless you!

Now let us take another step in our effort to draw near to God, and to know him, whom to know is life eternal. The Christian's Home is the Will of God. I would have every reader of this paper realize something of the unspeakable preciousness of God's will. Most Christians are afraid of his will; it seems to them something fearsome, so strict, and severe, and uncompromising; but this, again; is because they do not know him. When we come to know him and trust him, his will will be sweet to us because we shall then realize that it is the expression of his love, and just the thing we should ourselves choose,

"Could we but see the end of all events as well as He."

As another has said, God's will is not a burden to carry but a pillow to rest on; and mark this also, whatever comes to us it is according to his will, and hence for our good. Nothing can happen contrary to his will. Is God's will done on earth? Yes, most assuredly. Why then do we pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"? If his will is done on earth, why pray that it may be done? God's will is not done on earth as it is in Heaven; and yet we know that God's will is done on earth in some sense, for we are told so in just so many words. "He worketh all things after the counsel of his own will," and moreover we should know it from reasoning, for if God's will is not done on earth, whose is? the devil's will? the will of wicked men? and if you say yes, then I ask is God's will then thwarted or resisted in whole or in part? are there any creatures that can override the will of the Creator? Nay, verily; such a condition of affairs would throw us back into "chaos and old night," and leave us uncertain who was ultimately to triumph, God or the Devil. No middle ground can be taken, if God is God, his will is never thwarted, therefore all things must be in accordance with his will, and hence tending to the fulfilment of his purposes of grace and love; it must be, as the Bible declares, "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." God's will, then, is done even now; it cannot be otherwise, but it is not yet done as it is in heaven, voluntarily, and from the pure motive of love, but it shall be, so sure as Christ's prayer cannot go unanswered. Here again then we see what full ground we have for trusting God. All that comes to us is by his appointment, and for our good. Of every trial and vexation, great or small, that we meet with from day to day we may say,—"This is the will of God; the Father presses this cup to my lips; He puts this thorn in my way; He appoints this storm, this trouble, this sorrow; and so doing he says, "Take this bitter medicine, my child, it is not pleasant but it is needful, and therefore because I love thee I cannot withold it." How foolish we are to resist! Like the sick child that struggles against the loving ministrations of its mother; rather should our attitude be as expressed by David, "I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because Thou didst it."

Thus a knowledge of these glorious truths brings God near to us, makes him known, and trust springs up spontaneously. If we thus understand something of God's ways and purposes, and thereby get acquainted with him, we shall surely trust him, not only in the seemingly great matters of life but in all the little every day affairs; here is where many fail; they do not see that God stands by to help them in all things; in their common household affairs, cooking, cleaning, or minding the baby; in business matters, on the farm, in the counting room, the work shop, or the study. Do you know, reader, how to take a care to the Lord and leave it? Many take their cares to the Lord, but keep on baring them just the same, and the Lord lets us stagger along under these needless burdens because so shall we the sooner learn to cast them on him. How wonderful is the promise! See Psa. 55:22 "Cast thy burden on the Lord and" --he will bear it for the; that is what we should expect it to say, and that would be blessed; but it says more than that, "Cast thy burden on the Lord, and he shall sustain thee." He will carry thy burden and thee too; and yet many of his children are so distrustful that they will not even let him carry their burden. This is a real practical truth. Our burden that which frets and chafes us; not the hard work but the constant worry; that is our care and thatis what we are to cast upon the Lord and leave with him, at the same time letting him take charge of ourselves.

Let me say further that there is not the slightest occasion for any anxiety or laborious exertion to know God's will. A brother wrote to me a few days ago that he was "earnestly waiting upon God to know his will;" from the drift of the letter it was plain that the brother was anxious to do a certain thing, but the Lord did not seem to open the way so that he could do it, and he was earnestly waiting upon God, not so much to learn his will, as in hopes that he would open the way. There is not the slightest need of such exercise. Be free with thy Father; if he gives you no special intimation of his will, do what you can, or what seems best according to your own judgment, or do nothing, which is usually the hardest thing to do, and yet sometimes it is the only thing we can do; "Having done all, stand."

"They also serve who only stand and wait."

If that is God's will—to do nothing, to stand and wait—then in so doing you are just as perfectly following out the will of God, as though you were engaged in the most active service. Some Christians act as though they believed that if they did not keep constantly doing,—"working for the Lord," they call it—the Lord's cause would immediately begin to lose ground; with the most strenuous and unintermitting efforts they just barely manage to keep "the car of salvation" moving on; should they relax their exertions, that vehicle would not only stop but immediately begin to slide back; these ignorantly zealous (Rom. 10:2) persons think altogether too much of themselves; according to their idea it would seem to be a marvel how ever the Lord got along before they were born, and almost a dead certainty that he will have to suspend operations altogether after they are dead. To all such ones the Lord says,—"Be still,—and know that I am GOD;" they do not keep still long enough to find that out in the sense intended here, for the verse goes on to say, "I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." What! the Lord be exalted in the earth if they keep still! that cannot be, they think. Let me assure you, my dear perspiring brother or sister, that the Lord's cause will not suffer in the least, and you will be a great gainer, if you will give over your air-beating (1 Cor. 9:26) for a little while, and take time to cultivate the Lord's acquaintance. Study the Word, "Search the Scriptures;" learn something of his methods and plans, and then you will begin to see how foolish is the greater part of your sweating and straining, and how thoroughly "all things are of God;" and instead of talking and thinking so much about your own work, you will be able to say with the Psalmist, "Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work; I will triumph [not in my own work but] in the works of Thy hands. 0 Lord, how great are thy works, and thy thoughts are very deep; a brutish man knoweth not, neither doth a fool understand this." (Psa. 92:4-6). It is the knowledge of this truth, that God is "working salvation in the midst of the earth" (Psa. 74:12) that gives calmness and tranquility and confidence, while others are in a perfect fever of excitement. Those who know God, will trust him, and such will enjoy "the peace of God," and, while others fret and fume and tug and strain, working hard but to no purpose because through their ignorance they are out of God's order, they shall be resting in the Lord and waiting patiently for Him. (Psa. 37:7) "When He giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? (Job 34:29).

I would have every Christian see that God is managing in this world, as well as "in the army of heaven;" and, without the least interruption or hindrance, his plans are being carried out, always and by all things, so that there is not the slightest occasion for worriment or anxiety on that score. "As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried. He is a buckler to all those that trust in him" (Psa. 18:30). So far as we ourselves personally are concerned, as we get acquainted with the Lord and come to know him better and better we shall trust him more and more fully, realizing that our experiences, whether for the present, joyous or grievous, must be in accordance with God's will and hence sweet, and good and precious. Oh, the blessed will of God, who would fear it, knowing that it is always the expression of his love! Take refuge then, tried and weary soul, in this great truth; God's will is being done even now in you, toward you, and around you in the world. "All are his servants," whether voluntary or involuntary, and no creature shall move a finger except as the Creator wills, hence thou canst fully trust him, without fear, knowing that thy hardest trials are thy greatest blessings, as thou shalt fully realize in the end; make his will thy home then, and hasten on to the glad hour when his will shall be done in you, and in all, "even as it is in heaven.

"I worship thee, sweet Will of God!
And all thy ways adore,
And every day I live I seem
To love thee more and more. I love to kiss each print where thou
Hast set thine unseen feet;
I cannot fear thee, blessed Will!
Thine empire is so sweet. When obstacles and trials seem
Like prison walls to be,
I do the little I can do,
And leave the rest to thee. I know not what it is to doubt;
My heart is ever gay;
I run no risk, for come what will,
Thou always hast thy way. I have no cares, 0 blessed Will!
For all my cares are thine;
I live in triumph, Lord, for thou,
Hast made thy triumphs mine. He always wins who sides with God,
To him no chance is lost;
God's will is sweetest to him when
It triumphs at his cost. All that he blesses is our good,
And unblest good is ill;
And all is right that seems most wrong,
Since it is his sweet Will!

DEFINITION OF BIBLE TERMS.

ETERNAL.

In a preceding paper I have explained the word Age, the original of which is aeon. In this article I will try to explain the word rendered Eternal or Everlasting, the original of which, derived from aeon, is aeonios. It is very important to understand the meaning of this word, for, as it is commonly understood, it is the main pillar of the orthodox doctrine of endless torment; that tremendous dogma stands or falls according to the meaning put upon this word. In my little pamphlet, "Endless torments not scriptural," I have quite thoroughly considered this word, and for testimony additional to what is presented in this article I refer readers to that. For the present, I want to consider a few points not noticed in the pamphlet.

Some people are very suspicious if you present anything as scripture that they cannot find in the common English version. The original, and other translations and versions they do not know anything about, and they are very unwilling to accept them as authority; an advent brother of considerable prominence in his church wrote to me once that he would not accept anything as Scripture that was not contained in the so called King James version, or common English Bible. Of course such a declaration only manifests the ignorance and bigotry of the person making it, and yet there are many who feel in the same way. In these days we have many helps to Bible study, and any Christian who does not, so far as is possible, avail himself of these helps to understand the "Wonderful Words of Life," is "willingly ignorant." (2 Pet. 3:5). Many of these helpful books on the Bible are so arranged that they can be used to great advantage by any intelligent person though they may have no knowledge whatever of the original language.* ('*Notably among these is the so called "Emphatic Diaglott," which I consider to be the most valuable acquisition to the Bible student unacquainted with the original, extant.) To refuse such helps is to turn your back on the light, and such a one deserves to be in darkness.

We will endeavor to determine the meaning of this word, aeonios, according to its origin, and also according to the sense of the passages where it occurs.

The word as I have already intimated is an adjective derived from the noun, aeon age; just as we form the adjective hourly from the noun hour; or yearly from year; or eternal from eternity. I have already explained aeon in a former issue, whence the meaning of this derivative may be gathered; a derivative word cannot properly mean any more than the word from which it is derived; if aeon means eternity, then aeonios might mean eternal and not otherwise; but we have seen (in 1-2-44) that aeon as used in the Bible does not, and cannot mean eternity; the strongest upholders of the doctrine of endless woe make no claim that aeon means eternity, hence aeonios does not mean eternal. There are several passages wherein everyone can see that aeonios does not mean eternal; in Phil. 15; the word rendered "forever," is from aeonios; and it is very plain, from the context that it does not mean endless; so apparent is this, that in the New Version, although everywhere else this word is rendered eternal, yet in this passage, as a single exception, they were compelled to render it forever, as in the Old Version. This passage shows conclusively that aeonios does not of itself mean endless; Another passage is in Heb. 6:2, where we have the phrase "eternal judgment." No one could think that the word means endless in this connection unless they believed the judgment is to be endless. It is clear then from these passages that the word does not of itself mean endless; if it is ever to be taken in that sense, it must be because of the connection; and this is really the argument of those who defend the orthodox position; it is not claimed that aeonios of itself means absolutely endless; but it is claimed that the connection in which the word occurs indicates endlessness; for instance the word is used of God whom we know is eternal; hence it is argued that the word must mean eternal when so applied; again in Matt.25:46, the phrase "aeonial* punishment," (*'I will use this anglicized form of the original word, since we have no single word in English that exactly expresses its meaning.) is set over against that of "aeonial life;" the latter is supposed of course to mean endless life; hence the former must mean endless punishment.

In a former issue of the paper I have noticed briefly the true meaning of the word when applied to God (See 1-4-88). I will now add in the same line that an understanding of God's "plan of the ages" will make the meaning of the phrase, aeonial God, clear to us. As I have shown in previous papers, the ages are periods of time during which God is working out his great plan of creating man in his own image; the ages are God's "times" (Acts 3:21; 1 Tim. 6:15; Eph. 1:10), during which he does his "work" (See John 5:17; Eph. 2:10; Psa. 74: 2), hence God is called the God of the ages, the "King of the ages" or the aeonial God" (1 Tim. 1:17, N.V., margin; Rev. 15:3, N.V.); the adjective aeonial has no more reference to duration, either long or short, than it has to color; it denotes a quality, a characteristic, not a quantity; it is not a time-word like eternal, annual, daily, etc., but is a descriptive word, like autumnal, vernal, or dispensational. God is absolutely eternal; "From everlasting to everlasting he is God;" but this is not the meaning of the word aeonial; that is not a word expressing God's duration, but simply expressing a characteristic of him, as I have explained above. That this is the true explanation of the meaning of this word will still further appear as we consider the next point.

Matt. 25:46 reads, "These shall go away into aeonial punishment but the righteous into life aeonial." It is argued that aeonial life is endless life, hence aeonial punishment is endless punishment; and it is further urged that if the punishment is limited, the life must be limited, the duration of each being expressed by the same word, and thus a disbelief in an endless hell, destroys the doctrine of an endless heaven, the two stand or fall together; all this seems very conclusive to the majority of Christians; in fact it seems to them absolutely unanswerable, and hence they feel compelled to believe in an endless hell in order to preserve their belief in an endless heaven; and yet this whole argument is flimsy, shallow, inconclusive, unscriptural and false. I will try if I can to let the light of God's truth in upon it, so that some may see that it is not born of the light but of darkness, and that the pillars of heaven do not rest upon the pavements of hell.

In the first place the conclusion is not correct even if the premises were true; it can be clearly shown from Scripture that through it were true that aeonial life meant endless life, it would not necessarily follow that aeonial in the other phrase meant endless. We have another passage in the New Testament where the word aeonial occurs twice, and where, from the orthodox standpoint, it would certainly mean endless in one case, and from a commonsense standpoint just as certainly not mean endless in the other. The passage is Rom. 16:25, 26; in the Old Version the words "since the world began," and in the New Version, "times eternal," are translated from original words that literally mean simply aeonial times, or the times of the ages. Thus it is rendered in the "Emphatic Diaglot," "Young's Bible Translation," and Rotherham's translation. The rendering of the New Version noticed above also indicates the same meaning. In the same passage we read also of "the aeonial God." Now from the orthodox standpoint this latter phrase must mean the eternal God, the God without beginning or end. I have already shown that aeonial in this connection does not have the meaning of endless, but supposing it had, it could not mean endless in the former phrase, for everyone must see that to talk about endless times is as flat a contradiction of terms as it would be to talk about a full vacuum, or a something nothing. I do not hesitate to say that the rendering in the New Version is utterly meaningless; the definition of time is duration having beginning and end, i.e. limited duration; the definition of eternal is, without end, never ending, i.e. unlimited duration. Now let the reader tell me what is the meaning of "eternal times;" an unending end! an unlimited limit! an infinite finite! nonsense! Common sense is better than learning or man-made theology, and more likely to lead us to the truth than the ipse dixit of creed-bound "Divines." We have however a still more senseless rendering in the New Version in 2 Tim. 1:9 and Tit. 1:2. If the phrase, "times eternal" is meaningless what does "before times eternal" mean? Before a limited period of eternity! It is marvelous how blind and stupid, bigotry and prejudice will make the wisest and most learned men! Here are passages surely where it is certain that aeonial does not mean endless. If you insist that "the aeonial God" means the Being who is without beginning or end, then to be consistent you ought to hold that "aeonial times" is time without beginning or end! but that is too foolish for anyone but an idiot to urge, hence you are compelled to admit that the same word used twice in this passage has two different meanings; hence it may have a different meaning in any other passage where it occurs twice; thus the argument drawn from Matt. 25:46, in favor of endless torment is shown to be faulty, even from the orthodox standpoint. But the orthodox standpoint is not the true one; hence the view from that standpoint is not true, this view is shallow, let us look deeper for the truth.

There is no doubt in my mind that the word aeonial wherever it is used in the New Testament has a uniform meaning; it does not mean endless in some connection and something else in others; God's Word is not thus self contradictory and confusing. The word has one, general meaning; what is it? I have already answered this question. I have explained what I understand to be the meaning of the word when applied to God. He is "the aeonial God," or "the King of the ages," i.e. the Being who through "the aeonial times" is working out his wonderful plan. The word aeonial has the force of belonging to, or in connection with the ages; anything that is peculiar to these age times, and stands in connection with them, is said to be aeonial; as for example, "aeonial salvation," "aeonial redemption," "aeonial inheritance," "aeonial fire," etc., (see Heb. 5:9; 9:12, 15; Jude 7).

In regard to the last verse of Matt. 25, I would say that I have given a full explanation of that passage in the pamphlet already referred to. I will only add now that the whole difficulty with this passage lies in the fact that Christians are ignorant of what aeonial life is. It is not mere endless existence; the adjective aeonial has no such meaning as endless, it never has that meaning in any scripture it describes the kind of life, not its duration. Jesus gives us a definition of aeonial life; John 17: 3; "This is life aeonial to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." Does not this satisfy you? Christ's own words? as plain and direct as can be? Knowledge of God and Christ is life aeonial; that is to say the life of the ages, God's work-days, in its final result will be a universal knowledge of God; "all shall know him from the least to the greatest." It has not been so in past ages to be sure, but it will be so as the ages roll on. The "age times" have scarcely begun there are yet "ages of ages" in the future; and as their cycles roll, God will come to be known more and more until "The knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea." This is the life that shall yet characterize God's "age times," this is "life aeonial." I have no doubt but that that life thus attained to in "the ages to come" by a re-created race will continue on and on forever; for we are to be like God, deathless, immortal, "neither can they die any more;" but this fact of the endlessness of that life is not implied in the word aeonial, but is plainly taught in other scripture; aeonial describes the kind of life as explained above. Even those who hold the orthodox view must admit that aeonial life is something more than mere endless existence; they believe that the damned in hell have that; aeonial life, they must think, is an endless life of a certain kind,—of bliss, and enjoyment, and perfect happiness; and this is true; but they fail to understand wherein that happiness and enjoyment consists; viz. in a perfect knowledge of God. The highest enjoyment of which we are capable comes from knowing God; nothing else will give us true happiness; nothing else will give us peace; this,—.this is life; all else is death; this, and this alone is man's perfect heaven.

Having thus determined the nature of "aeonial life," it is comparatively easy to understand what "aeonial punishment" is. Not endless punishment; such an idea is senseless as well as unscriptural. The purpose of punishment is not only the protection of society, and the restraint of the offender but also his reformation; this latter should be the main purpose of punishment; any punishment that is not conducive to this end is wholly unjustifiable it is simply an attempt to overcome one evil with a greater evil; now to talk about endless punishment is nonsense, as much as it would be to talk of endless correction, or endless reforming. You might speak of endless torture, or endless suffering; but endless punishment is not a proper collocation of terms at all. I will add that the original word here rendered "punishment" signifies a punishment for the correction and bettering of the individual, hence it could not be endless. We have seen the true meaning of aeonial; apply that meaning here and we have the correct idea of the phrase. Aeonial life we have seen is that kind of life peculiar to God's age-times; so aeonial punishment or correction (which would be a perfectly correct translation) is that kind of punishment that God will make use of in future ages to correct mankind; as of aeonial life, so of aeonial punishment, it is not a punishment of a given duration, but of a certain kind ,—of such a kind as will in the end work the reformation of the offender. According to this explanation, everyone can see that there is not the slightest ground in this passage for the false doctrine of endless woe; and the strong point in this explanation is that it rests on the express statement of the Lord Jesus Christ; had Jesus given us no definition of aeonial life, we could have plainly inferred its meaning from other scripture; but such inferences would have been open to strong objection on account of their being inferences, and not the direct teaching of the Word. But when Christ gives us a formal, precise definition of the phrase,—when he tells us just exactly what aeonial life is,—of course no Christian can object, and the question is settled. The whole force of the orthodox argument depends upon the meaning of the word aeonial; if it means endless then the argument is sustained and the orthodox view is established; if it does not mean endless the argument falls to the ground. The whole question then is, does aeonial mean endless or not? To this question there can be but one answer in view of the scriptural testimony that I have presented above; as we have seen there are three passages in the New Testament where aeonial is connected with the word time, and in such a combination the adjective could not possibly mean endless, unless there could be such a thing as an unlimited fragment. Then we have the Saviour's definition of aeonial life which settles and fixes the meaning of the phrase by all the power of the divinity of the incarnate Word. If in the face of this evidence anyone can still say that aeonial means endless, then he is either mentally deficient, or else by bigotry, prejudice, ignorance, or something else of that nature, he is beyond the reach of reason and must abide in his dearly beloved falsehood until God shakes him out of it. As I have already said, aeonial life when fully reached will be an endless life, but the endlessness of that life is not indicated by the epithet aeonial, but is plainly taught in other scripture; no one need fear that by denying an endless hell they weaken the evidence for an endless heaven; the latter is fully assured by many passages of the plainest scripture, but we have no such evidence in favor of the former.

The meaning of aeonial then is belonging to, peculiar to, or characteristic of, the ages; it has no relation to duration, but to kind; it is certain that the word does not mean endless or eternal, as I have shown above; it does not even mean age lasting, although it is sometimes so rendered for the want of a better English word whereby to express it; strictly speaking, however, the word does not mean lasting throughout the age, any more than it means lasting throughout eternity; As Canon Farrar has said, "Even if aeon always meant eternity, which is not the case either in classic or Hellenistic Greek—aeonial could still only mean belonging to eternity, not lasting through it. The word by itself, whether adjective or substantive, never means endless." As we have no single word in English that properly expresses its meaning, it seems to me best to incorporate the word right into the language, just as we have baptism, hades, etc. The form then, aeonial I think is best, used in the sense explained in the foregoing.

BIBLE CORRECTIONS

In the Common Version there are many passages scattered throughout the Bible, that from one cause and another are misunderstood. Some are mistranslated, others are invariably misquoted; others again are wrongly punctuated; and so from various causes the truth is obscured. I have thought that it would be profitable to notice some of these defects and correct them if possible, hence this article; others may appear from time to time.

We will look at some passages in the Psalms and then at one or two in the New Testament.

The first one to which I would call attention is Psa. 7:11; "God judgeth the righteous and God is angry with the wicked every day." So it reads in the common version, but so it ought not to read The correct reading is just the opposite, viz., "God is a righteous judge and he is not angry always." So Young renders it, so also the Vulgate, Septuagint and Syriac. The original word for God is very similar to the word for not. El means God; al means not; in the original there is not so much difference as in the English, as the vowels are very nearly alike. Doubtless these two words became confused and thus the error occurred; the corrected rendering agrees perfectly with such passages as Psa. 103:8, 9; Isa. 57:16; Mic. 7:18, 19; etc.

The next passage I would call attention to is Psa. 9:17; "The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God." It is commonly understood that the word "hell" here means the place of future punishment; but this view cannot be true, for the original word is sheol, equivalent to hades in the New Testament, and means the grave. It is the same place that Christ went to when he died, see Psa. 16:10; compare Acts 2:27, 31, N.V. With this view of the word hell what is the force of the passage? "The wicked shall be turned into the grave;" What is the special point in making that declaration, since we know that all, the righteous as well as the wicked, shall go down into the grave? there is no special point to it; the translation is incorrect; the correct rendering is as follows: "The wicked shall turn back to the grave all the nations that forget God." It will be noticed that in the common version the word "and" is in italics, indicating that it is not in the original. I suppose that it is understood by the readers of this paper that words in italics in the common version are not in original but are supplied by the translators to make out, or help out, the sense. These have no authority excepting the opinion or judgment of the translator we have a right to ignore them, or substitute other words in their place, if the context or other scripture, or common sense warrants it. Usually these supplied words are judiciously inserted and help to make the sense clear; but not unfrequently they obscure the truth, and in many cases they pervert it. We should look out for these supplied words when we read the Bible, and take notice whether they are warranted or not. I have noticed in previous issues several instances in this line that will illustrate what I have said; see 1-1-13 and 1-2-41. If we leave out the word "and" in the passage we are examining, we have almost the reading that I have given above as the correct one. The sense of the passage is that wickedness will destroy any nation; and this fact is demonstrated in past history and in the present condition of the nations of the world. With the proper understanding of the word "hell," the common rendering has no force or point whatever; but the correct rendering I have given is a great truth confirmed by all human experience.

The next passage is Psa. 109th. This psalm has been severely criticized by infidels and other opposers of the Bible because it represents David, "a man after God's own heart," as breathing out the most awful imprecations and curses upon his enemies and all their posterity The psalm reads like the anathemas of the Romish inquisition and the Christian finds it utterly irreconcilable with the spirit of Christ, of whom David was a type. Now there is a very reasonabl explanation of this psalm, which clears up all this difficulty and shows us that David was never guilty of uttering these curses, but that, on the contrary, he is simply reporting to the Lord in prayer the curses that his enemies pronounce upon him. Now notice how naturally this explanation corresponds with the language of the psalm. The first five verses are a prayer to the Lord setting forth how his enemies have been talking against him; "For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue; they compassed me about also with words of hatred." Notice here that David refers to himself by the first person, singular pronoun, "me" and to his enemies by the third person, plural pronoun, "they." Now with the sixth verse David begins to tell what his enemies are saying against him; that this is the true meaning is indicated by the pronouns. "Set thou a wicked man over him," over whom? is David saying this of his enemies? no, for if he was he would have said, "Set thou a wicked man over them," i.e. over mine enemies. David is not pronouncing curses upon his enemies; but is rehearing the curses that his enemies pronounce upon him, and this is the drift of the psalm way through until we get to the 20th verse. Just supply the words "They say" before verse 6, and read the first 19 verses and it is as plain as can be that the above explanation is correct. Now leave out the supplied words from verse 20, and read it thus, "This [i.e. all this cursing] is the work of mine adversaries before the Lord, and of them that speak evil against my soul." The remainder of the psalm is in perfect harmony with this explanation; see especially verses 25 and 28. It was a great pleasure to me to find this explanation of this puzzling scripture. How David could utter such imprecations and be a man after God's own heart would be hard to tell; but the above view is reasonable, in perfect harmony with the language of the psalm and clears up all the difficulties.

We will now notice a passage where a wrong punctuation obscures the truth. See Isa. 26:10, 11; change the various clauses in this passage into questions implying an affirmative answer and the sense is very materially changed, and is much more in harmony with the context. The punctuation of the Bible is another thing that the translators have supplied; in the original there are no punctuation marks at all; hence the punctuation has no more authority than the supplied words, and we may change it if the sense requires it or other scripture gives us warrant. Now see the passage under consideration together with the two preceding verses; as it stands now in the common version there seems to be a fault in the connection. In verses 8 and 9 the prophet is earnestly longing and waiting for the coming of the Lord in the way of his judgments, for when his judgments are in the earth the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness; thus does the prophet speak of a time of special favor and blessedness, when the whole world shall be enlightened and learn righteousness. Then he goes on according to the common version, "Let favor be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness," this seems a positive contradiction of the sentiment of the preceding verse; in that verse the prophet says that in that specially favoured period—when the Lords comes in the way of his judgments—the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness; in the next verse the common version makes him say that though favor is shown to the wicked yet will he not learn righteousness; and the rest of this verse and the next verse seems to still further carry out this contradiction. Now all the trouble is in the punctuation of verses 10 and 11. Change the declarative clauses in verses 10 and 11 to questions, implying the answer yes and all is harmony. Read it thus: "In the way of thy judgments, 0 Lord, have we waited for thee; with my soul have I desired thee, for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Let favor be shewed to the wicked, will he not learn righteousness? in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and not behold the majesty of the Lord? Lord when thy hand is lifted up will they not see? they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at thy people, yea the fire of thine enemies shall devour them." With the above punctuation the drift of the passage is very apparent.

In the preceding paper I have shown that the judgment day is a period of special blessing for the race,—the time when God will shew the exceeding riches of his grace, favor; then "the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness." After making this statement, the prophet goes on to show by questions how reasonable this view is. "Let favor be shewed to the wicked, will he not learn righteousness? in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and not behold the majesty of the Lord?" as though he had said, when favor is shown the wicked, i.e. when he is enlightened and brought to a knowledge of the truth," will he not then learn righteousness? of course he will, for with the knowledge will come the power and the desire to do right. "In the land of uprightness," that is, when all around him is fair, and honorable, and truthful, "will he deal unjustly?" certainly not, it would be hardly possible to be unjust amid such surroundings; and as for beholding the Lord's majesty, we know that that is just the time when, "God's glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." The prophet goes on, "Lord, when thy hand is lifted up," that is, when his power and authority is plainly manifested in the earth, so that all shall recognize it, "will they not see? they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at thy people;" compare Jude 14, 15. "Yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them;" their enmity shall be destroyed, when they see and experience these things; compare Zeph. 3:8, 9. Thus explained the whole passage is plain and harmonious.

Now we will look at a passage in the New Testament; viz., that precious declaration in John 3:16, "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son," etc. We will take into consideration verses 14-17 inclusive; first I will clear up several points of obscurity and error and then give the rendering as it should be. In verse 15 the words "not perish but" should be omitted; according to the best authorities they have been interpolated, probably from the following verse; they are left out from the New Version. The word "whosoever" in the 15th and 16th verses should be rendered all; in the original it is the word usually rendered all throughout the New Testament; it occurs hundreds of times, and is rendered all in over nine hundred instances, and whosoever in only about forty; the rendering all then is plainly the usual one. The word rendered "believeth," in the original is a participle, believing; the clause should read, "that all, believing in him, should not," &c. The words, believing in him, are explanatory, telling us how "all,, are to be saved, viz., by believing in him. In the common version it will be noticed that the participle is, without authority, rendered by the verb "believeth," and the words, "whosoever believeth in him" are thereby made to have a conditional force, as though it read, if they believe in him, implying that some will not believe in him, and hence will perish, and be lost eternally. But this is not a correct rendering of the original, as I have shown above; the clause is not conditional, but is thrown in, as a participial form, as explanatory of the manner of the world's salvation,—by believing in him; this view is fully confirmed by the 19th verse; "for God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved." Now I will give the whole passage as it ought to be. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up, that all, believing in him, might have aeonial life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that all, believing in him, might not perish, but have aeonial life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved."

Thus truthfully translated this passage is one of the grandest and most sweeping declarations of the final universal triumph of God's grace in the salvation of the world, contained in the Bible. It is positive and direct, and mighty enough, could they only appreciate it, to utterly silence all those narrow, shortsighted souls who think that God will only gain a partial victory over the devil, that he will not save the world, but only a portion of it, a vast number being eternally lost. It is very plain why the translators of the common version handled this passage as they did. Their creed would not allow them to accept it just as it reads; it required only a slight change to make it conform to their own idea. They insert the unusual rendering "whosoever," change believing to "believeth," and then, punctuating it accordingly, the passage is "tinkered" so as to harmonize with the creed. Thank God for deliverance from man-made creeds! "Let God be true, though every man be false."

SWORD AND GARMENT.

"And Jesus said unto them, ‘When I sent you without purse, or scrip, or shoes, lacked ye anything?' and they said, ‘Nothing.' Then said he unto them, ‘But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip; and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors; for the things concerning me have an end.' And they said, ‘Lord, behold here are two swords;' and he said unto them, ‘It is enough.'"

The drift of this passage plainly indicates that there is a mystical or spiritual meaning here; purse, scrip, shoes, sword and garment are evidently symbols to set forth some hidden meaning, and are not to be taken in the literal and most obvious sense; in fact, if we take the passage literally there is but very little force or meaning to it; why should they literally take purse, scrip, and shoes now any more than formerly? why should they sell their garments to buy swords? Christ would not allow them to use swords in his defense, or in the propagation of his doctrines; his is the gospel of peace, of non-resistance, and moral suasion, not of physical force backed up with carnal weapons; and furthermore, if Christ meant literal swords, "two" would not have been "enough." If literal swords were so important to them at that time, that they had better part with their clothing than to be without one, the idea that "two" were "enough" for twelve persons would be ridiculous; it was enough of that kind of swords but that was not the kind that Jesus meant. It seems then positive that there is a spirit to these words of Jesus, and only as we perceive this spiritual sense shall we get at the real marrow and pith of the passage. What then is the spirit of this word? first let us seek for the meaning of these symbols. The "purse" was for money, a pocketbook as we would say; the "scrip" was a large bag or satchel for carrying provisions or anything necessary for a journey; the "sword" is the symbol of the truth, "the word of God;" see Eph. 6:17 and Heb. 4:12; the "garment" indicates the outward covering or form, the uniform, the livery, the "colors," as we often express it, under which one sails. (See Psa. 73: 6; 109: 18; Joel 2: 13). Now let us apply these symbolical meanings to the explanation of the passage. But first let us notice the peculiar circumstances surrounding the disciples. A change was about to take place; Christ had been with them for three years and a half, but now he was about to leave them. The prophetic Word applying to that time was being rapidly fulfilled; the climax was approaching; Christ indicates this change when he says, then I told you to take neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes, nor weapon; but now take all of these, especially the last, even though you must sell your mantle to buy a sword. In plain language the thought is this. While Christ was with them they needed not to make much provision for the future; they could come to him with every question and difficulty and have it infallibly settled. He was the way, the truth, and the life. He was "the light of the world;" as long as they had Him with them they needed nothing more, neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes, nor weapon; i.e. they need make no provision either for their spiritual sustenance or defense so long as they had Him at hand to fly to. But what should they do now that he was about to leave them? "As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world; walk while ye have the light." But what shall we do, Lord, when the light is gone? "Have salt in yourselves" (Mark 9:50). "The water that I shall give you, shall be in you a well of water springing up unto life aeonial." "We have this treasure in earthen vessels," but so long as we have it, even though the vessels be weak, we are safe. In other words, take purse, and scrip, and shoes, and, especially, sword; i.e. gird yourself and make ready for the journey that is before you, until my return; for these words are to the church throughout the gospel age. You will have no personal Jesus to go to; you will meet with difficulty, persecution, reproach, conflict. Be sure then that you take with you in your purse the legal tender of the kingdom, "gold tried in the fire." Be sure that you take your scrip, provision for the future; take oil in your vessels with your lamps (Matt. 25:4), or the light will not last you through to the coming of the heavenly Bridegroom. And let "your feet be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace" for you have a long journey before you, and especially take "the Sword of the spirit which is the word of God."

Nothing but the truth will keep us in "this present evil age;" no matter about the livery, the outward form, let that go, if only you have the truth, that shall hold you, and make you free. That the foregoing is the real spiritual meaning of this passage is still further confirmed by verse 37; "For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me. And he was reckoned among the transgressors for the things concerning me have an end." What could keep them in the terrible trial of their faith that was before them, when Jesus was to be numbered with the transgressors,—what could keep them but the truth? these things could only be understood and explained by a knowledge of the word. The only thing that could keep them from stumbling would be to view these events in the light of prophetic scripture; hence how needful that they have the sword, the truth. The church today generally thinks more of the garment than they do of the sword. The livery, the uniform, the trappings, the outward covering is more to the masses of God's professed people than "the hidden man of the heart." The cry of the many is for imposing edifices, an educated ministry, comfortable pews, elegant pulpits, numerical strength, wealth, popularity, etc., etc., rather than for spiritual power and heavenly light. They sacrifice the sword for the garment; the truth for appearances; the kernel for the husk. The nominal people of the Lord is like an army of gayly uniformed soldiers with wooden muskets and lead bayonets. A soldier had better make sure of a good weapon whether he has a fine uniform or not. Better sell your garment, if need be, rather than to be destitute ‘of the sword. Oftentimes is the true disciple called upon to give up the garment for the sake of the sword; he finds himself compelled, if he would follow Christ, to "go forth unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach." (Heb. 13:13; compare Ex. 33:7). Never mind,—the outward forms perish, it is only the truth that endures; "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass; the grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away, but the Word of the Lord endureth forever." "And, thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands: they shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment, and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed; but thou art the same and thy years fail not." Truly, he that hath no sword had better sell his garment if need be and buy one.