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Show I PASTOR I RUSSELL'S SERMON irom everlasting to everlasting, thou CJod" (Psalm xc. 2). "I am .lehovali. ; Is my nnnio and my glory will 1 not i to another" (Isaiah xlil, S). "To ua o is one God. the Father, of whom aro things' (I Thcssalonlans vlll, C). ar, O Israel, the, Lord our God Is one :hovah" (Doutcrojioiny vi, I). I". PETERSBURG, Fla., Jan. S. These other Scrljrures tell us of a personal , the Father or Life Giver of all, the it One who Inhabltelh Eternity. St. I declares that to the heathen "there lords many and gods many, but to here Is but one God, the Father," and appointed Agent of his in dealing i humanity one Lord .fC3us Christ I that overy tongue shall confess that is. Messiah, Is Lord, to tho glory of the Father" (Phlllpplans 11. 11). ie Scriptures tell us of "the begln-6f begln-6f the creation of God," hence there a time before that, beginning of cro-n cro-n when Jehovah God was alone "he inhabiteth Etornlty." Not even the it Messiah whom he hath so highly jred and whom he declares he will further honor throughout a glorious nlty. Ho was not with the Father re Uic beginning of creation, because himself was "tho beginning of the tlon of God the first-born of every ture" (Revelations Hi, 14: Colosslans 5). Ho was the .first expression or ilfestation of tho Divine attributes in I, 18). lis mighty God. Jehovah, self-cen-a, eelf-contalned. Is ours, tho same erday, today and forever, ho changes Divine Attributes Glorious. 7tty attribute of the , Divine char-r char-r was the Eame millions of years that It Is today, but that character unrevoaled. Every step of creation tended to display the Divine char-r char-r more and more, and each succcs-stop succcs-stop and development of creation brought forth- new creatures capable omprohendlng the Eternal One. Wo i it not unreasonable to assume that ivah's creative power will continue to xercised throughout all coming time, itronomical photography now reveals ly 125,000.000 suns, around which cir-pystems cir-pystems such as the ono which clr-arountl clr-arountl our sun, and of which our h Is a part. We deem It not unrea-ble unrea-ble to assume, from tho Scriptures, the groat work of ordering all those Ireds of millions of planets stretches ard Into eternity, and that the work Divine grace, begun on the planet rth," will be continued throughout. Universe, not only in conjunction i the planetary systems wo can dls-, dls-, but probably with millions .of plan-y plan-y systems too far removed from us e discerned even by photography, mbtless divine methods in connection i other worlds and other Inhabitants display the manifold wisdom of God. Instance, wo. understand the Bible to :ale that while the permission of In the earth was wise, it will not ssarily be wise or expedient for any on to permit a similar reign of sin death in any other of the millions vorlds. in connection with their oris or-is nr development and their peopling i glorious creatures, who will show i the praises of the great Creator out their passing through oxperl-s oxperl-s wlih sin and death such as have i permitted in connection with the anlty of earth v Permission of Evil. ;n we not see a broad reason for the iermfislon of evil on the earth for tho jermlhnlon of tho reign of sin and death, ylilcii for six thousand years has apparently appar-ently disgraced I he Creator, degraded jumanity. astonished the angels anil -wpiKtltuted our race a groaning creation? jRnly when we discern that Jlesslah's Jwnpdom will surely bring order out of Ii9 confusion, do we begin to tret the (JWPcr ferns upon our subject and real-?K?d real-?K?d something for the greatness of our J?Fro:n the standpoint of the completion r.,,u,e divine purposes in connection iB'w humanity, and from that stand -Mplnt alone, can wc see illustrated di-M?ne di-M?ne wisdom, justice, love and power. luuiiiir.v lesson was justice tnat ' -mJ?ri nes suffering and eventually death. The second lesson was that of divine orapasElon. sympathy love. This les-pn les-pn was manifested in lire sending of the feuuemer and his subsequent reward of saltation, and his gathering of an iect church to be his associates in prj and ln tho blessing of the redeemed M1-. The reign of glory, tho roign of "Wtesalah, soon to be Introduced, will lift LP poor humanity from sin and sorrow, om degradation and death, and give to ttcn and all the fullest opportunity to Piurn to human perfection and to dl-WUie dl-WUie favor and everlasting life. K?t?u that wrk of human restitution. Rnlcn will include the awakening of l5HanKlnd from the sleep of death, the aRo great lesson will be the greatness the divine power which will bo ex-iBfc ex-iBfc -i through Messiah, the godlike One. af16 Prince of Life, "the Prince of Glory." yBttd j,jcemer' tue Regenerator of Adam And .finally, from tho standpoint of Ve completion of Jehovah's great pur-BPej pur-BPej and dealings with man and in re-JBPt re-JBPt to him. will stand revealed tho srefcnowlcdgc and wisdom of God, who Pew the end from the beginning and fwno foresaw how even the permission :? reign of sin and death could hn uae eventually to work out to his own wry and to the blessing and instruc-V" instruc-V" of his creatures on both the human lpa. the angelic planes. Then will bo re--ff.ledto all tho glorious character of iBir Creator, and tho necessity for his fiKJJ ,"enltj of absolute righteousness 2Burcly, Lue Vosult eventually will be, ijg, ne scriptures declare, that all shall RM?"1 righteousness, and hate Iniquity, ijffu that every creature In heaven and Wj-earth and under the earth shall nc-W"" nc-W"" both Jehovah, who slttolh upon the L,'?DJ ot tho universe, and tho lamb, the 'MBrvnicT' forever. Kn ro we tfJ ".llow ourselves to spec-.HWlc spec-.HWlc respecting the future respecting IB divine purposes, in relation to the -"lj0,B of worlds around us, our spec-)Tl?Br"on,s spec-)Tl?Br"on,s would run thus: Those instruct-aB!,11 instruct-aB!,11 used to Jehovah in, conjunction JWil1 lllG Jx'tlal development of I he dl-tJWie dl-tJWie Plan In the earth will thereby be finl prepared to be the divine arMUs to other worlds. Tho great Rc-2Kn Rc-2Kn r antJ l,lB "elect" associates, after 13m w,th '"""anlty for their uplift out timk- i:,lnt' lcatli conditions, will surely JBtj qualified for furlhnr service In other j3Wri(js: to "show forth the praises of SfiBfi.i 0 vailed ilicm out of darkiness In-f&TA In-f&TA , !narvelous light." wat. shall wo say of humanity jIHn nerecled at the end of Messiah's ilKn "B, rel""'' Will not nil he well tIKiSi ,.,"tt 0l,,v to approve rlghtoous-LjM rlghtoous-LjM " l,einsclves. but to tell In other diKi i ' ,to ot,"-' races, the story of tho JIKiiiw of 11,0 rc,? ot sili and doath fLH111''?; and of the redemption aecom-HB.ii.,,..by aecom-HB.ii.,,..by Go,'s lov; "'! the great jK"uj;0'': "nd r l-Ui lc-som tluIS SlK!ii 'uaVlios of the divine character JIBhJ.Wic liavc J,,3L considered wisdom. nKli ' '?vo a,,fl Power belonged to our iKn 1,1 Kieut eternity prccedlng UiJon. B,'t thcro was no one at I hat M,. "'appreciate God It requires a full of 1 ' perfected plan of the ages ttSrt alt. lown to any and to all the Kj' ' tho Lord. As we have Just seen. jBE "r '1, Eoeret of tho Lord and the KBr?i 1,,K character arc known only mt i HC"'H- begotten of his holy iiplrlt. Hi, ,1 ,,,I.I,U' "cars when "the whole MK" Kimll bo. full of the knowledge of the PBW' 01 t'v Lord as the waters cover the great deep." He and his cjloiiotis government will then be "the desire of all nations;" "the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see It to-Bether to-Bether ' (llaggai 11.. 7, Isaiah, xl.. 5). &l. Paul assures us that every feature fea-ture of the divine plan which we see In process of execution was known lo Jehovah from before the foundation of the world. He declares that these things God purposed In himself before Ihe foundation of the world. The creative processes, which havu been operating for thousands of years, were all surely elaborated In the mind of Jehovah before tho creative work began. In that purpose angels had a part of how many grades we may not surely know, but thev arc variously designated in the holy scriptures scrip-tures as "angels, principalities and powers. Later came tho creation of man, a little lower than the angels' and crowned with earthly honor, dlgnitv and power. In the image and likeness o"f His Creator's glorious power. These creations varied not in degrees of perfection and Imperfection. Each W35 perfect on Its own plane. Each intelligent creature was a free, moral agent, and hemfe. whether on the an-2 an-2 l0?r mjman plane, was created in likeness of God. unblemished, but ,dJfferent capacities and abilities, Almighty God. Infinite ln wisdom. Justice, Jus-tice, love and power, purposed the orderly or-derly exercise of his Infinite powers, as a father, desirous of giving life and Happiness to his creatures. These intelligent ones were designated desig-nated Sons of God" so lone as thev maintained their attitude of perfect loyal loy-al ty to him. their Creator and Father. Not only was It the divine Intention thus to give pleasure to millions of creatures ...5 createJ. b"t It was also the divine will to manifest to his creatures his own greatness and the perfection of his own goodness that they might enjoy hiin and ne enjoy them everlastingly, We are not to understand that Almighty Al-mighty God was lonely in that creat eternity before creation began. On the contrary, human loneliness Is largely because be-cause of human deficiency. What we lack we seek for in others. But the great Jehovah himself, he needed not companionship compan-ionship to complete or to supplement his happiness. It was his pleasure to create tnat his creatures might have Jov by reflecting ns a whole his divine qualities Implanted ln tjielr constitutions, The wreck of the human race pro-d,u,ced pro-d,u,ced by sin he well foreknew. Nor did this wrecking of human hones defeat, de-feat, nor was It In da. tgor of defi-allns the divine purpose It msrolv demonstrates demon-strates to angels and to men tho gr-eu f, the divine charactet rtnd show's untn nil the more fully the qualities of God proper to be appreciated and copied. Seven-Sealed Scroll. When God would illustrate o us his own great personality, when ho would show to his creatures hv- he Is working work-ing all things according to the counsel coun-sel of his own will, he rilctured it symbolically sym-bolically In tho Book of Revelation. In that vision the throne of the Eternal One Is graphically portrayed as the seat of divine power and authority for the universe, with angels as mlnlstcrin-spirits. mlnlstcrin-spirits. Then Is described a scroll. In the right hand of Johovr.lt in dlvln power and keening. That rcroll. written writ-ten Inside and outside, was "sealed wit I. seven seals." representing tho complete secrecy of the divine purposes relatii in that scroll. From before the foundation founda-tion of the world It had boon In th hand (In the power) of Ihe great Eternal. He had given hints respecting It In th law and to some extent lo be describe.! by the prophet. But still It was. a hidden hid-den mystery, because the prnnhets understood un-derstood not the things which thev wrote: nor could any understand them unlll the Father's "due time." which Jihad Ji-had purposed In himself. Not only was tho divine programme thus sealed and safely secret"'!, but it was the divine determination that it should bo given only to the one who would demonstrate his worthiness to be i Jehovah's honored agent for the carrying carry-ing out of those purposes predestinated before tho world was. The honor of b'--ing the agent, the representative of Jehovah, Je-hovah, to carrv out tho divine purposes, should be disclosed in advance only to the one who would demonstrate his worthiness to be the great Messiah, the great deliverer, tho great pronhet. nrlest. Judge, king of Israel. High as th.- Redeemer stood In the dl-vlnn dl-vlnn counsels and fellowship before he came Into the world to be man's redeemer. redeem-er. It was not then granlod even to him to know all the mysteries of the divine programme. But by virtue of his high station, his perfection, his ohedlence, the privilege was given to him first lo bo-come bo-come man's redcemor. at tho cost of personal per-sonal humiliation and death, and then, if faithful In this redemptive work. It snouiii ne nis 10 ne gioruieo. exalted to the divine nature, and (o execute the divine programme to Its completion. First, ho must manifest his devotion and loyalty to the Father, ere ho could be trusted even with the knowledge of the divine programme. "Worthy Is tho Lamb." All this Is declared In tho account (Revelations v.). The proclamation was made. "Who is worthy lo recelvo tho aeroll and to break Its seals and to execute exe-cute the wonderful purposes of God?" None was found worthy! Finally, one demonstrated his worthiness he left the courts of glory, he humbled himself, lie "was made flosh." More than this, being be-ing found in fashion as a man. ho consecrated con-secrated his all to tho doing of the Father's Fa-ther's will, even unto death, the death of the cress. Wherefore, says the apostle. apos-tle. "God also highly exalted him." and gave him a standing, a rank, a title above all others (Phlllpplnns II , 7 S). He commlssl6ncd him lo execute all tho divine purposes and to him ho handed over the scroll, with the privilege of opening its seals and comprehending to the full Its messngc. In the symbolic picture John saw a freshly slain lamb at the same time that the angelic messenger doclarcd that the lion of the tribe of .Tudah had prevailed. Jesus proved himself worthy, and there-, fore the privilege of understanding tho things of the divine plan, and the privilege privi-lege of executing them rightfully belonged be-longed to him. The lamb slalm represented repre-sented the work of Jesus from the day he was thirty years of age and made his comiecrntion. There he became dead to self and to the world. When he successfully suc-cessfully finished this great contract, ho cried on Cavalry, "It Is finished." This glorious victor was then acknowledged ac-knowledged by God and by the holy.un-gels holy.un-gels to be the worthy One lo whom the Father would Intrust the execution of every feature of tho divine programmo, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive glory and honor, dominion and might." Ile'liiis not yet completed his great work I hero and then Intrusted to him. The Father glorified lilm and set him at his own right hand the place of divine favor when he finished his demonstration dem-onstration of loyalty oven unto death. As yet ho has only begun his great work. Tho blessing of the Church us "the "13iid-. I he Lamb's Wife." Is the first step In the glorious programme, and it Is not ynt completed. Following It will come tho blessing of the world, all the families of the earth, not only tho living, but the dead. H!s declaration to those now called to be his Bride is, "To him thaf overcometh will I grant to alt with me in my throne evon as 1 overcame and aiii set down with my Father ln hla throno" (Revelation ill, -'1). "To ua there is ono God," says the Apostle. All wisdom and power arc Ills. Recent electrical inventions assist ns greatly In apprehending his grent-ne'ss. grent-ne'ss. Whal man can do limltedly with the telephone and wireless telegraphy merely hint to lis of the infinite resources re-sources of the Kternal One from everlasting ever-lasting to everlasting God. But our knowledge of the divine Justlco and lovu satisfies cur hearts our Great Creator bccomc3 "Our Father, who art In heaven." heav-en." Next Lord's Day. D. V., I will hnvo something more to say to the large congregation con-gregation of millions whom T address weekly, respecting the methods bv which the Almighty God is working ail things according to the counsel of his own will, using his glorious Son, Messiah, his First Begotten, as his honored agent In tho prosecution of every featute of the groat plan which he purposed in himself before the world was when h was alono. I suKBC.it to Interested readers of my sermons pnrtlclpatlon in the "Laymen's Homo Missionary Movenu .f of bringing them lo the attention of their friends and neighbors who do not attend church :icnicc3. |
