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The Brotherhood Of Christ
"Love as brethren; be tender-hearted, be humble-minded, not rendering
evil for evil, reviling for reviling, but contrariwise blessing. For hereunto
were ye called, that ye should inherit a blessing."—1Pe 3:8,9. R.V.
It is praiseworthy that the founders
of the city of Philadelphia named it as they did, the "City of Brotherly
Love," thus implying the good intentions of their hearts, their love of
peace, of brotherhood, of mutual welfare.
And who can doubt that the benedictions of those founders have to some extent
exercised a beneficent influence in the affairs of this great city?
Nevertheless, none of us can be unaware of the fact that unbrotherly words and
deeds have wrought sorrow, bitterness, woe and death to many within its
precincts. We may at first be inclined to wonder why this should be so, why sin
seems to be so much more contagious than righteousness, and why as the
Scriptures declare, our entire race is prone to sin as the sparks fly upward.
Shall we suppose that those who gave the name were so much better, so much
nobler, so much more God-like than their progeny of today?
We would not be disposed to make so sweeping a statement.
We believe that there are some today as good and noble and true as ever lived
of Adam’s race. Nevertheless, we remember the words of the Apostle respecting
our day and the end of this Gospel Age, to the effect that "evil men, and
leaders astray, shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived."
(2Ti 3:13.) Again he says, "This know also that in the last days perilous
times shall come. For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful,
haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, lacking natural
affection, truce-breakers and slanderers, without self-control, fierce, despisers
of those who are good, traitors, headstrong,
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puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of
godliness but denying the power thereof."—2Ti 3:2-5.
The newspaper testimonies and the court records show a vast increase in the
criminal tendencies which fully correspond to those prophetic statements; and
naturally these conditions raise before the mind the query, Why should the
world be giving such evidences of increasing depravity, whereas many have hoped
that the spread of general intelligence and the multiplication of Bibles would
by this time have converted the world?
It is just about a century since most of the large Bible and Tract Societies
were organized, and missionary effort amongst Protestants was undertaken with
fresh zeal and hope. The century past is notable in the world’s history for its
religious zeal, its missionary effort and its general dissemination of the
Scriptures, far in excess of any other. Yet today we find from statistics that,
with the largest possible allowance for heathen professions and counting as
Christians all who make any pretension toward civilization, regardless of their
faith in Christ—still, where there were 600,000,000 of heathen a century ago,
there are now 1,200,000,000. Where a century ago the colleges and theological
seminaries of the world were almost without exception loyal to God, to the
Bible and to Christ, there is scarcely an institution of learning today in
which the doctrine of human evolution and the Higher Critical teachings in
opposition to the Bible are not publicly taught, and even amongst the very few
where these are not taught, we challenge the naming of a single one whose
professors are all loyal to the Bible, so that they do not in private oppose
the Word of God and the Divine Plan therein set forth. And it is in line with
all these things that we behold so alarming an increase of selfishness and
injustice, wickedness, crime.
"BECAUSE ALL ARE SINNERS"
The explanation of the situation is found in the
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Apostle’s words, "By one man’s disobedience sin entered into the world and
death as a result of sin, and thus death passed upon all men because all are
sinners." (Ro 5:12.) For four thousand years this inward, downward course,
has prevailed, carrying mankind in some parts of the world into very deep
degradation, and as a result, as the Prophet says, "Darkness covers the
earth and gross darkness the heathen." (Isa 60:2.) The light that was
started by our Redeemer nineteen centuries ago conflicted with the darkness,
and the children of the light overcame it, meanwhile spreading a refractive
light and influence wherever the Lord’s saints reside.
But within the last half century, under the Lord’s providence, inventions have
brought to the world marvelous machinery, which the Scriptures inform us belong
to the "Day of His Preparation" for the on-coming Millennial epoch.
These inventions have quickened the minds and bodies of those coming in touch
with them, stimulating their ambitions for knowledge, for improvement of their
temporal affairs and for the accumulation of wealth. While in many respects
there has been a great benefit and blessing connected with these, the fact that
they appeal to the selfish propensities of humanity, already over-developed,
has caused the blessing to operate injuriously to many. The increase of
knowledge, combined with the increase of selfishness and with the high tension
at which people are now living, affects the increase of crime and the decrease
of brotherly love we have already noted.
A TESTING TIME FOR CHRISTENDOM
Various Scriptures point out the present and immediate future as a time of
severe testing upon Christendom.
It is the time for the ushering in of the Millennial Kingdom of God’s dear Son,
not along the lines anticipated by many, the conversion of the world, but along
contrary lines, the completion of the Church, her glorification with her Lord,
the Bridegroom, as His Bride, and
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then the inauguration of a Reign of Righteousness, justice, equity, for the
blessing and instruction of the world, and for the uplifting out of
sin-and-death conditions of all who will hearken to the message of that
glorious Day for which the world has waited so long.
As suggested, the new era will be inaugurated in a manner totally unexpected by
Christendom; and hence her testing at this time will be the more crucial. It
will be here with Christendom as it was with the Jews in the time of our Lord’s
First Advent, of which our Lord Himself said, "Ye know not the time of
your visitation." (Lu 19:44.) If Christendom today would awake and realize
the true meaning of present conditions, it would mean a great change to the
comparatively few who have made full consecration to the Lord—but others would
not be able to believe or receive the lesson; for it is written, "None of
the wicked shall understand."
As for the consecrated, as the Scriptures declare, the New Dispensation is
coming upon them as a thief in the night. Only such as are living up to their
consecration vows will be granted Divine assistance in the understanding of the
present situation. The others of the consecrated will go on in partial or
complete ignorance until brought to their senses by the complete collapse of
present institutions, political, social and religious, which the Scriptures
show will precede the inauguration of the Millennial Kingdom. As for the world
in general, and particularly the educated, they are rapidly dropping the
thought of a personal God and a Divine Plan in respect to human affairs. They
are rapidly reaching a rationalistic standpoint of thought—worshiping Mammon,
wealth, station, education, etc., with merely a form of godliness without its
power.—1Th 5:1-6.
In these words the Scriptures call our attention to the fact that while the
great Millennial Morning of blessing for all mankind is nearing, there
intervenes a dark period, a short season of terrible trouble and anarchy. This
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comes as a just retribution upon those who, having had a knowledge of God and
His righteousness, appreciated more the things of Mammon. The lesson to them
will be a very severe one, but in the Lord’s providence, a very profitable one
eventually, as the trouble of that awful period which is nearing will plow
deeply their hearts and prepare many, we trust, for the blessing of the
Millennial Kingdom, which will follow.
Already we see a great struggle between the nations, between capital and labor,
between the Word of God on one hand and the creeds of the Dark Ages and the
various forms of new theology and agnosticism on the other.
Everywhere the Scriptures predict that the crash will be with terrible force;
but with equal plainness they assure us that following that awful experience
God will turn unto the people the pure Message, that they may all call upon the
name of the Lord to serve Him with one consent. (Zep 3:9.) They assure us that
when the judgments of the Lord are abroad in the earth the inhabitants of the
world will learn righteousness. (Isa 26:9.) If Divine Wisdom says that this is
the best manner for giving mankind the needed lessons preparatory to the
introduction of the Kingdom of Light and Blessing, all of God’s consecrated
ones will say, "Amen! True and righteous are Thy judgments, Lord God
Almighty!
Who shall not come and worship before Thee when Thy righteous acts are made
manifest?"—Re 15:4; 16:5.
CHURCH NOMINAL—CHURCH REAL
Considering Christendom, or the civilized portion of the world, as the Church
of Christ in name—including all denominations and all associated or connected
directly or remotely—we have seen that the difficulty on account of which the
great trouble is coming upon them is that love has given place to selfishness.
There was enough selfishness in all by nature, but it has been enormously exercised
and enlarged in influence amongst the civilized in recent years; and the
terrible anarchy in which the
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present age is about to close will be the fruitage of that selfishness. The
Scriptures point this out, not only in these passages I have just quoted, but
in others which declare in so many words that in the coming trouble every man’s
hand will be against his neighbor and against his brother—everyone for himself.
But now let us turn from this view of the Church nominal and the trouble coming
upon it and seek for that true Church hidden in the nominal mass that bears the
name of Christian.
Christendom nominal is estimated at 400,000,000 and represented by several
hundred creeds and organizations.
In this great mass the Lord’s faithful few, styled the "little
flock," may be rather difficult to discern. We are to look for them
everywhere—in all denominations and outside of all. We are to remember that the
Lord has not left Himself without a witness, but today it would be true as in
Elijah’s time when the Lord said to the Prophet, "Yet I have seven
thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed to Baal." (1Ki
19:18.) We may surely hope for a still larger number who are not bowing either
to sectarianism or to the golden calf of Mammon. How shall we know these true
followers of Jesus, of whom it is written, "The Lord knoweth them that are
His"? What are some of their characteristics?
In what are they peculiar and different from the nominal mass? By what name are
they to be known?
Are they a coterie of the rich or of the learned or of the great? The
Scriptures answer, No! and assure us that amongst them will be found not many
great, not many wise, not many learned, but chiefly they will be of the poor of
this world, rich in faith, heirs to the Kingdom.
We must look then for some other sign, some other characteristics by which we
may know them.
"BY THIS SHALL ALL MEN KNOW"
Our Redeemer’s words give the key suggesting the characteristics for which we
should seek. He says: "By this shall all men know that ye are My
disciples, if ye
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have love for one another." (Joh 13:35.) He emphasizes this, saying,
"A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have
loved you." (Joh 13:34.) Ah, we get the thought that the Church is a
blessed brotherhood of all those who not only love God supremely, so that they
delight to do His will, even at the cost of self-interest, but who also love
one another as Christ loved them, which signifies to the extent of willingness
to lay down their lives for one another! We look in vain for such an
organization amongst men. We perceive various bundles or organizations under
various names, all professing love, but none of them even dreaming of union
with such bonds of love. We are not forgetting the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the
Presbyterians, the Methodists, the Episcopalians, the Lutherans, the Roman
Catholics, etc. But none of these claim to be such a brotherhood as our Lord
has described. They do indeed claim to give special attention to each other’s
interests, and to have certain reverence for God, but not to the extent that
our Master intimated—not to the extent of laying down their lives in doing the
will of the Father and in their love for the brethren.
The Apostle Peter in our text points out that the Lord’s followers should love
as brethren—as proper brethren—as true brethren ought to love. He points out to
them that this will mean tender-heartedness, humble-mindedness and forbearance
to resent injuries and revilings.
That the proper brotherly love would not only submit to all this without
retaliation, but on the contrary would return a blessing. Oh, such love—such a
high standard of love! How many of us, how few of us, have ever realized the
standard of brotherly love that would be appreciated by our Lord—the standard
that He demands as a condition of our being His brethren, the standard He
implies in the prayer that He taught us, saying, "Forgive us our
transgressions as we forgive those who trespass against us"!
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The same Apostle points out that to be of the Lord’s true disciples not only
means an exercise of faith in God, and in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the
forgiveness of our sins through Him, but that it means more than this.
"Seeing that ye have purified your souls in your obeying of the truth
through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one
another with a pure heart fervently." (1Pe 1:22.) Ah, there it is, dear
brethren! We not only believe and receive forgiveness of the Lord, but we
receive a knowledge of the Truth, a knowledge of His will; and then it is for
us to put that knowledge into practice, to weave it into our thoughts and words
and doings, to obey it to the extent of an unfeigned love for the brethren. This
is to be before our minds as the proper, grand outworking of the Truth which
the Lord grants to us. The Truth is designed to sanctify, as our Lord declared,
"Sanctify them through Thy Truth; Thy Word is Truth." As this Truth
gains control of our words and thoughts and doings, it will cast out the spirit
of selfishness from our desires and create in us new ambitions, desires, and
love for the Father, for the brethren, including our Elder Brother, Jesus, and
that will gradually become more and more fervent. It will not be merely an
outward courtesy, a feigned love, but an inward heart sentiment.
Hearken to the Apostle John on this subject. He says: "Marvel not,
brethren, if the world hate you." We are not to expect any special
sympathy from the world, but rather that they will misunderstand us. But we are
to expect something different from amongst the brethren, as the Apostle
proceeds to show: "We know that we have passed from death unto life
because we love the brethren." Whoever then does not love the brethren
cannot be sure that he has passed from the death condition to the free
condition of mind and heart. How anxious we should be to be able to have this
testimony of the Apostle corroborate our hopes that we are New Creatures
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in Christ, that we have passed from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of
God’s dear Son, and from a condition of condemnation and death, to a condition
of justification to life. But the Apostle continues, "He that loveth not
his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and
ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." Crucial words
these for the brethren! Let us not lose their import, their value, let us test
our hearts, our standing with the Lord, by our love or our lack of love for the
brethren, as the Apostle here by inspiration directs. But the Apostle is not
through with this subject; he caps the climax by saying: "Hereby know we
love, because He laid down His life for us, and we also ought to lay down our
lives for the brethren."—1Jo 3:14,17.
WHO ARE THE BRETHREN?
If by their fruits we shall know them, there are not many brethren of this kind
in the world. The early Church showed some noble examples of such brotherhood,
Jesus Himself being the Elder Brother who laid down His life on our behalf. The
Apostles and many in humble stations followed closely in the Master’s
footsteps; and some we believe all the way down through the centuries have
similarly been found; and some today, we also believe, are to be found in all
denominations and outside of them who have this general character-likeness—but
they are few. The Apostle comments of our Lord, "He is not ashamed to call
them brethren." (Heb 2:11.) Like Him they have consecrated their lives to
the Father’s business, the service of the Truth.
Recognizing that God is now taking out of the world people for His name, it is
their chief concern in life to be co-laborers together with God in the finding
of this elect class and in assisting them to make their calling and election
sure. Neither time nor influence nor money is too precious for these to spend
in this service—yea,
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life itself with them as with the Master and the Apostles is being gradually
used up along this line—"This one thing I do." These brethren indeed
must eat, sleep, and to this end must not be slothful in business; but their
chief employ and joy and fervency of spirit is in serving the Lord by serving
the brethren.
True, some of these brethren, with loving hearts and noble desires, striving to
follow the Pattern, fail to copy it perfectly because of "weakness of the
flesh." St. Paul, one of these, declared what is true of all, "I
cannot do the things that I would." Our ideals and our standards are
superior to anything to which we can attain.
We continually find that the meanness, the selfishness, which is a part of our
old nature, still lurks in the crannies of our mortal flesh and requires to be
dealt with and sometimes takes advantage of us; for to will is present with us,
but how to perform the will of our new minds is another matter. Hence, with
some of the most loyal of the brethren there is occasionally a necessity for
humiliation in confessing that in an unguarded moment a word or act had
misrepresented the real sentiment of the heart. But even such a failure and
confession may be overruled of the Lord for a blessing and the experience may
prove to be valuable in strengthening the mind, in guarding the lips for the
future and in developing also the meekness and humility which in God’s sight
are characteristic elements of great value.
"WHAT MANNER OF PERSONS!"
The Apostle urges the importance of our new relationship of brethren in Christ
and sons of God, and impresses it upon our minds, saying: "What manner of
persons ought we to be in all holy living and godliness—looking for and hasting
unto the day of Christ!" (2Pe 3:11,12.) How true! When we remember our own
imperfections and blemishes and how much the Lord must overlook and forgive in
us, how generous it should make us in our sentiments toward the brethren who
are with us seeking
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to walk contrary to the course of this world, a self-sacrificing, self-denying
life! How their weaknesses should appeal to us! How their struggle should call
forth our sympathy and words of encouragement! How we should realize that they,
like ourselves, have the opposition of the world, the flesh and the Adversary!
And how we should resolve that by the Lord’s grace they should have amongst the
brethren everything to console and uplift and encourage the new nature and
nothing to discourage it! How kind our words and deeds, how thoughtful for
their welfare this should make us!
Let us more and more approximate this glorious standard set before us in the
Gospel. And let us remember furthermore that while this love of the brethren is
specially emphasized and specially to be considered a criterion for the Lord’s
Household, yet there is another step just beyond; namely, to love our enemies,
to do good to them that despitefully use us and persecute us. Indeed, some of
the strongest of our difficulties sometimes come from brethren—more or less
blinded and deluded by the Adversary, who sometimes take such a position as
Saul of Tarsus before his eyes opened to the facts of the case.
We must have such a love of the brethren that if they say all manner of evil
against us falsely we will still not render evil for evil or railing for
railing, but contrariwise blessing, as our text directs. To follow this Divine
instruction will bring to us polishing such as could come from no other
quarter, no other experience, such as will make us more and more conformed to
the image of God’s dear Son, who had such experience at the hands of His
brethren according to the flesh and the professed Church of God, and in those
experiences he was followed by the faithful ones of the early Church.
And similarly today let us not
marvel if the trials and persecutions and opposition come chiefly from those
who have named the name of Christ—some of them nominal brethren and some of
them doubtless true brethren.
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