Overland Monthly / OV252 - The Two Salvations

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OV252 The Two Salvations

By C. T. Russell Pastor Brooklyn and London Tabernacles

"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."—#Joh 3:16.

"Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water by the Word; that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."—#Eph 5:25-27 .

SOME APPLY the first text only and think of the Divine Program as being merely an endeavor to rescue mankind from sin and death to righteousness and eternal life in the present time. Such as hold this view are much confused, because it must be acknowledged that comparatively little has been done, or is now being done, for manÂ’s uplift. After six thousand years it is still true that "The whole world lieth in the Wicked One;" "Darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the heathen." In order to have any confidence at all in this theory, those who hold it are obliged to greatly lower their standards. They are forced to hope that God will admit millions of unfit people, crude, rude, ignorant and wicked to eternal life and happiness, or perchance provide for them Purgatorial experiences, to make them fit, righteous and acceptable for life eternal. As a whole, Christian people are greatly bewildered. The tendency of their bewilderment is toward doubt, skepticism, atheism.

The other view, briefly stated, is that God never intended the salvation of the world, but merely the salvation of the Church, "elect according to the fore-knowledge of God through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the Truth." Those who hold this theory have great confusion also, because it seems incomprehensible that God would make no provision for "thousands of millions" of AdamÂ’s race, but arrange for them to be born in sin, shapen in iniquity, and to go down to the tomb (or worse) without a clear knowledge of God and His Purposes and Will respecting them.

As we have already frequently set forth, both of the described theories are erroneous.

The Scriptures set forth two salvations, entirely separate and distinct. They are different as respects time, in that the one "salvation began to be spoken by our Lord" at His First Advent, and began to be applicable to His Church at Pentecost, and will wholly cease at His Second Coming in the end of this Age. The other salvation neither applied before our Lord’s First Advent nor during this Gospel Age, but will apply to all mankind, except the Church, during the Millennium—the thousand years of the reign of Christ and the Church, specially designed for the blessing of the world and its uplifting out of sin and death conditions.

These two salvations are distinctly different as to kind, as well as respects their plan of operation. The salvation of the Church during this Gospel age—since Pentecost—means not only a deliverance from sin and death conditions to eternal life, but provides that the eternal life will be on the heavenly or spiritual plane and not on the

OV253 earthly or human plane of existence. Thus the Apostle declares that our "inheritance is incorruptible and undefiled and fadeth not away and is reserved in heaven for us, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." (#1Pe 1:4,5.) Our Lord also told that in the resurrection we shall be like unto the angels. The Apostle also declares that at that time we shall be partakers of the divine nature and like our Lord and Redeemer.

The worldÂ’s salvation which will follow will be wholly different from this. It will not include a change from earthly to spirit nature. It will mean a rescue from sin and death to the earthly perfection of the original man, in the image and likeness of his Creator, and surrounded by every necessary blessing for his comfort. Human perfection and the Eden home were lost through disobedience to God. The Divine arrangement is that the merit of our LordÂ’s obedience unto death, when ultimately applied for mankind, shall fully cancel the death sentence upon him. More and better than this, God has promised that the same Sin-Offering shall seal a New Covenant between himself and mankind.

The blessings of that New Covenant arrangement will then immediately begin. The great Redeemer will thenceforth be the great Mediator of that New Covenant. The whole world of mankind will be fully under His supervision and government for their blessing, their correction in righteousness, their uplifting out of sin and death conditions—back, back, back to all that was lost in Eden. All of this was the original design of the Great Creator. All of this will be outworked through the Great Redeemer.

All of this was secured or suretied by His death, finished at Calvary.—#Heb 7:22 .

St. Peter, pointing down to that glorious time of the world’s blessing, calls it "times of refreshing and times of restitution." He tells us that all the holy prophets described the blessings of those restitution times—the thousand years, the Millennium. (#Ac 3:19-21.) When once we get the eyes of our understanding opened, we find the Apostle’s words thoroughly corroborated by the Divine records, which describe the wonderful blessings that are to come when the earth shall yield her increase. Then Paradise Lost shall be Paradise Regained. Then God will make his earthly footstool glorious. Then the blessing of the Lord shall make rich and He will add no sorrow therewith. Then streams shall break forth in the desert and the wilderness and solitary places shall be glad. But most glorious will be the change in humanity. The Lord promises to turn to the people a "pure message"—instead of the contradiction of creeds of heathenism and Churchianity. He promises that Satan shall be bound for that thousand years, that he may deceive the nations no more. He promises that then all the "blinded eyes shall be opened and all the deaf ears shall be unstopped."—#Isa 35:5 ; #2Co 4:4.

Two Salvations—One Savior.

Both of these salvations, according to the Bible, result from the death of Jesus our Redeemer, who died in obedience to the Divine will, "Died, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." (#1Pe 3:18.) The Scriptures clearly show not only the two salvations, but also two parts of the RedeemerÂ’s work, distinctly separating His work for the Church from His work for the world. In His death there was a Divine general provision for the sins of the whole world and a special provision for the sins of the Church. The two thoughts are frequently brought out in the Scriptures. One text distinctly declares, "He is the propitiation (satisfaction) for our sins (the ChurchÂ’s sins), and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." His death constituted the satisfaction price. The Redeemer applied that merit for the ChurchÂ’s sins, "for us," long ago, eighteen centuries before we were born. Only when we became believers and entered into a

OV254 Covenant of sacrifice did we obtain our share in the merit of that great sacrifice. The world has not yet received its share of that promised blessing, but the operation of the Divine Plan is sure and will bring it to them "in due time," as St. Paul declares. —#1Ti 2:6.

The drawing and calling of the Church has not been along the lines of human perfection, for all are sinners and none righteous or perfect. And many of those drawn of the Lord were by nature much more fallen and depraved than some who give no evidence of the work of grace in their hearts. The LordÂ’s calling and drawing seem to be along the lines of justice, love of righteousness, faith, humility and obedience.

These qualities will all belong to the perfect man. But all have lost them in varying degrees. Such as respond to the LordÂ’s call now are accepted as being in the right heart-attitude which, if they had perfect bodies, would constitute them perfect men. In other words, they have qualities of heart which, if brought to a knowledge of the Truth, would prove some of them to be pure in heart and such as the Lord would desire should have eternal life and all of His favors.

Terms of Salvation Differ.

Of course, these different salvations imply different terms or conditions. God’s requirement of Adam, that he might continue to live forever and everlastingly enjoy Divine favor, his Eden Home, etc., was obedience to reasonable, just requirements. It was his violation of the Divine Law that brought upon him the sentence of death—" Dying thou shalt die"—with all that this has implied to him and his posterity of mental, moral and physical decline, weakness, death. The requirement of God for the world of mankind during the Millennial Age will simply be—obedience to God’s just, reasonable regulations, laws. Whoever then will render obedience may with proportionate rapidity go up on the highway of holiness toward perfection at its end. Whoever refuses obedience to the extent of his ability will fail to make progress and ultimately die the Second Death, from which there will be no redemption and no resurrection.

Such obedience as will be required of mankind in the great MediatorÂ’s Kingdom will include their co-operation in the resistance of their own fallen weaknesses. It will include the exercise of patience and kindness towards their fellow-creatures, fellow-sufferers.

The Divine Law of love to God with all the heart, mind, soul, strength, and for the neighbor as for oneÂ’s self, they must learn fully. As they will realize their own blemishes and strive to overcome them and ask, not the Father, but the Mediator, for forgiveness, they will be obliged to follow the Divine rule of exercising towards others similar mercy and forgiveness to that which they desire for themselves.

The conditions governing the salvation of the Church are wholly different from those which will appertain to the world. The Church is called out of the world under a Divine invitation to suffer with Christ in the present life and during this Gospel Age and then to reign with Christ during the Millennial Age, participating in His Mediatorial Kingdom for the blessing, uplifting, salvation of the world. It is not in vain, therefore, that our Lord and the Apostles, in setting forth the call of the Church, during this Age, specified particularly and frequently the necessity for all who would share in this salvation to participate with the Redeemer in His sacrificing, in "His death," and consequently participate in "His resurrection" and in His reign of glory.

Hark to the words, "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life;" "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My Throne."

Overland Monthly / OV263 - Pains of Hell Explained to Us

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OV263 Pains of Hell Explained to Us

By C. T. Russell Pastor of London and Brooklyn Tabernacles

THE DISCOURSES of Pastor Russell, published weekly in several hundred newspapers throughout America and Europe, are causing a great awakening in the Christian world and creating a new interest in true Bible study everywhere. Recently he gave a notable address before an assembly of Bible Students on the text: "The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me."—#Ps 116:3.

Opening his address, the Pastor apologized for the selection of such a text. He would much prefer to talk along the lines of Christian character-building, and the necessity of growing in grace and love, and thus becoming more and more copies of GodÂ’s dear Son. His apology was that his text, a sample of many other Bible statements, is so grievously misunderstood as to stand in the way of Christian progress. In conjunction with other Scriptures, it was woven into terrible theories during the Dark Ages. Those theories became imbedded in the various creeds of the time, and so obstructed the channels of thought that the grace, truth and beauty of the Bible were hidden. Many noble hearts, he claimed, are famishing for lack of the refreshment of GodÂ’s Truth by reason of the fossilized errors which block the way.

Perish for Lack of Knowledge.

The Scriptures foretell conditions exactly as they are today. They declare that there shall be "a famine in the land—not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the Word of the Lord." (#Am 8:11). Again the Scriptures declare, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." (#Ho 4:6.) It is certainly true that there are as many honest-hearted, conscientious, well-meaning people in the world today as have ever lived—perhaps more. Yet these well-meaning people are perishing, famishing, for lack of spiritual nourishment. True, there are some who claim to be well-nourished and to find in the popular pulpits of the land all the spiritual refreshment and strength they need.

But these are as nothing compared with the millions who give a different testimony. I am glad that those who attend worship regularly, and are well-nourished and well satisfied, have what they desire, at the mouth of a hundred thousand preachers. I am reaching out after "the lost sheep of the House of Israel," through the secular press.

They tell me that I am reaching millions of the unchurched every week. My readers are the discontented, the unsatisfied, perishing for lack of knowledge, hungering and thirsting after the right ways of God—the real teachings of the Bible.

My heart goes out to those as the heart of Jesus went out to the same class, nearly nineteen centuries ago. We read, "He had compassion on the multitude, for He beheld that they were like sheep having no shepherd." I am seeking, as an under shepherd, to bring these hungering, thirsting, perishing sheep to the true "Shepherd and Bishop of souls"—the Lord Jesus.

I am seeking to remove from their minds the prejudice and various obstructions which have hindered the flow of GodÂ’s grace and truth to their hearts. I am seeking in the MasterÂ’s

OV264 name to present to them the Bread of Life, the Water of Life. I am not seeking to build up another denomination.

Results show a certain measure of success already attained. I am receiving more than five thousand letters a week from hungry sheep and others, who, so far as denominational Christian systems are concerned, are homeless. Everywhere—all over the world—these, instead of forming a new denomination, are associating themselves with Bible classes for the study of God’s Word. I am simply doing all in my power to help them out of darkness into God’s marvelous light—out of misunderstandings of the Bible into a right appreciation of it; out of ignorance into a knowledge of God; out of ignorance of the Savior and His work into a true knowledge of Him and His glorious Kingdom, which is yet to bless all of the families of the earth.

It may be interesting to know that while I am advertised by the newspaper syndicate as the Pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle congregation of independent Christians, and of a similar congregation of London Tabernacle, and of the congregation of Washington Temple, I have additionally been chosen pastor of more than one hundred and fifty of these classes of Bible students, to which I have already referred. They elected me pastor without any suggestion or solicitation on my part. In so doing, I understand them to signify that they recognize the Lord Jesus as the great divinely appointed Shepherd of the true sheep, and that they desire me to serve them in any way that I can as an under-shepherd.

Through the columns of The Watch Tower I visit these classes regularly twice a month, doing a pastoral work to the best of my ability—leading them to the fountain of grace and truth and breaking for them the living bread, the word of God. Additionally, they have my weekly sermon and a weekly treatise on the International Sunday School Lessons.

The True-Hearted Should Rejoice.

One would suppose that all of the one hundred thousand ministers and all their flocks would rejoice to know that the unchurched, straying sheep are being reached with a message of God’s love and mercy which is appealing to their hearts and working a transformation in their lives. Many do rejoice, but alas! a few are jealous, as were some of the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day. Of these we read; "They were grieved that He taught the people"—the people whom they could not reach, the sheep that were straying and famishing.

As those jealous scribes and Pharisees antagonized Jesus and the Apostles, because their hearts were out of harmony with the good tidings, so it is to-day with some.

Unable to uphold the doctrines which have driven away so many of the intelligent of their flocks, famished for truth, a few ministers are angry with us. True to the MasterÂ’s.prophecy, these seek to say all manner of evil falsely against us, for His sake, for the truthÂ’s sake. Yet, in spite of their unchristian course, the poor, straying sheep are hearing and recognizing the voice divine, are coming back to the word of God, are being sanctified by the word of truth.

I Proceed With My Text.

If this were the only text mistranslated and misunderstood, the ordinary reader would doubtless pass it by, saying: "I do not understand it. Probably it is a figure of speech."

But this text is merely a combination of mistranslations, all of which are connected with an eternal torment system of doctrines invented during the Dark Ages. It is this combined system which has such power over menÂ’s minds. This power of error, this power of fear, is turning intelligent minds away from the Bible. Hence it is our duty to break down the false doctrines, and to clear away the obstacles which hinder the flow of truth to the minds and

OV265 hearts of the people of God—the straying sheep. Nor are these straying sheep all, or chiefly, the ignorant. They include many of the ablest minds and truest hearts in the world—minds and hearts too true and too logical to believe palpable falsehoods, or to profess what they do not believe.

The Psalmist is merely telling of his severe illness, from which by the grace of God he recovered. He would have us understand that it was not merely a slight ailment. He described his emotions in the language of our text, saying: "The sorrows of death compassed me about"—that is to say, the sadness associated with the thought that he was about to die, about to leave his friends. In the poetic form of the Hebrew language, he repeated this thought, namely, "The pains of hell gat hold of me." In our modern language this would mean the pains of death, or the pains of the tomb. They were pains that indicated the approach of dissolution. Nothing in this text has the slightest reference to anything in the future life.

Our Baptist friends, in their revised translation of the Bible, have chosen for such passages as this the expression, "the underworld," instead of the word "hell." Yet even here there is danger of the average reader not catching the true thought. Far simpler and far less liable to be misunderstood, would it have been had the translators said, "The pains of the tomb." The revised version of the English Bible reads, "The pains of Sheol."

Why Not the Whole Truth?

Every learned minister knows that the Hebrew word Sheol really means the grave, the pit, the state of death. Why do they hesitate to tell the people the whole truth on this subject? Why do they translate it part of the time "the grave," and at other times "the underworld?" Why do they use the translation, "the grave," in one place, and "the pit" in another, and then refuse to translate the word at all in the third instance, but give the word Sheol? Was it their intention to confuse the people? What is the motive? We wish that some of these great men would explain.

The Reason for All This.

We would like to have our ministerial brethren state their reasons for pursuing a course of hiding the truth on the subject of hell. Only because they neglect to give the reasons do we feel at liberty to suggest them. It seems to me that these ministers are of two classes, and that their reasons are therefore slightly different. All of them seem to agree that it would be dangerous to tell the people that God is really a God of love, and that the doctrine of an eternity of torture is entirely unscriptural, finding no foundation whatever in the writings of the Apostles.

They fear to tell the people that these doctrines were built up during the Dark Ages by the very men who manifested so little of the spirit of God and so little knowledge of GodÂ’s will respecting His people that they burned one another at the stake. They fear to tell the people that during the Dark Ages our blinded forefathers took the parables and dark sayings of Jesus as literal statements, quite contrary to the MasterÂ’s intention.

These they supplemented with certain crude misconceptions of the symbolisms of the Revelation. From the combinations they made scarecrow doctrines, blasphemous in the extreme, which never produced saints, but which led men astray into thinking that they were copying God in the deviltry which they accomplished one toward another.

The fear now seems to be lest the public should at once perceive that the creeds of Christendom, while containing much good, are cankered, wormy and vitiated by those doctrines of demons. Why should they fear to tell the people the truth? Perhaps it is because the religion of our day is built so largely upon man worship, system worship, creed worship, and not upon the Bible. Perhaps they fear that if

OV266 the creeds were thus discredited it would mean that the ministers of those creeds will be similarly discredited. Perhaps they fear that the people would never again have confidence in their teachings, and that thus all the various party walls of Christendom which for so long a time have divided the sheep would fall. We cannot definitely know of their reasons, because they do not tell us; we can only surmise what they are.

Others, very worldly-wise, have become Higher Critics, and do not believe in the Bible at all. They are really agnostics. But they do not desire to advertise their lack of faith, lest it should detract from their esteem among men. They prefer to pose as believers, and to hope that the time will come when all the wealthy and intelligent will become unbelievers also. Then they will declare, "We have not been believers for many years, but we kept the matter secret, fearing to be misunderstood as opponents of the best interests of society."

All the while, this latter class constitutes the greatest menace in the world to law and order, and are the best agents Satan has in making void the word of God and destroying faith therein. Robert IngersollÂ’s methods of antagonizing the Bible were far less successful than the methods of modern higher critics and evolutionists.

Fear to Tell the Truth.

All who oppose the telling to the public of the plain truth respecting hell seem to have one common ground of objection. They say, "With all the fear of hell that has been preached for centuries, see how wicked the world is and how little human life is worth!

See how every law of both God and man for the protection of life, purity and property is endangered! Note that if it were not for our telegraphs, telephones and immense police forces of to-day, nobody would be safe, so much more wicked does the world appear to have become within the past fifty years! If the fear of eternal torment and purgatory were lifted from the minds of mankind, would it not make the dangers tenfold greater than they are now? Would it not speedily be necessary to double our police force, if the masses lost their belief in a place of eternal torture?"

This is lame reasoning, it seems to us. It confesses in one breath that in spite of all the false teachings of centuries wickedness has been growing. Would it not be wise to inquire to what extent the false doctrines, the misinterpretations and mistranslations of the Bible have been responsible for the increase in wickedness? Are men wiser than God? Is it possible for man to invent some monstrous, unthinkable delusion which will have a greater power with men than the plain, simple message of GodÂ’s love?

But if we were sure that by blaspheming GodÂ’s holy name, and by playing upon the ignorance and superstition of the masses we could make the wicked preserve peace, would it be wise to do so? Could GodÂ’s blessing be expected upon such a course?

Would it not be wiser for us, as the people of God, to have faith in Him, and to trust that, while we faithfully present the truth, Divine Providence will oversee and overrule its effect, and will influence for good?

Experience proves that theirs is not the proper thought. When we go to the records of the various prisons, penitentiaries, etc., we find that nearly all the worst criminals have been taught the doctrine of eternal torment. Many of them confess full faith in it. On the other hand, many infidels—once violent opposers of God and of the Bible and Christianity—after hearing of the love of God, have thoroughly melted, and with tears in their eyes have become loyal soldiers of the cross.

We heard of an interesting case recently. A colored man, in prison for crime, somehow came in touch there with my sermons, and then with my books on Bible study. He became a thorough Bible student, and a master at handling the word of God. His fellow-prisoners

OV267 came gladly to hear this colored man preach the divine plan of the ages from GodÂ’s word, while they cared not at all to attend the chapel services addressed by the ordinary chaplain.

In the "wonderful words of life," started by the MasterÂ’s lips, and handed down through His apostles, there is a sweetness, beauty and power that cannot be associated with the doctrines of demons, which became attached to the message during the Dark Ages.

The message of life everlasting through the Redeemer and by obedience to Him, has its offset, or alternative, in death everlasting to those who refuse to obey after full enlightenment. Eternal life is the gift of God, tendered to all the willing and obedient, through the Messiah. All rebels will be destroyed in the Second Death. (#Ac 3:23.) Their punishment will not be everlasting torment, but "everlasting destruction"—a destruction from which they will never be recovered, most surely will never be resurrected.

AMEN, AMEN

I CANNOT say, Beneath the pressure of lifeÂ’s cares today, I joy in these; But I can say That I would rather walk this rugged way, If Him it please.

I cannot feel That all is well when darkÂ’ning clouds conceal The shining sun; But then I know God lives and loves; and say, since it is so, "Thy will be done."

I cannot speak In happy tones; the tear-drops on my cheek Show I am sad; But I can speak Of grace to suffer with submission meek, Until made glad.

I do not see Why God should eÂ’en permit some things to be, When He is love; But I can see, Though often dimly, through the mystery, His hand above.

I may not try To keep the hot tears back; but hush that sigh, "It might have been;" And try to still Each rising murmur, and to God’s sweet will Respond—"AMEN."