There are conditions to the fulfillment of God’s promises, and prayer can never take the place of duty. “If ye love Me,” Christ says, “keep My commandments.” “He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.” John 14:15, 21. Those who bring their petitions to God, claiming His promise while they do not comply with the conditions, insult Jehovah. They bring the name of Christ as their authority for the fulfillment of the promise, but they do not those things that would show faith in Christ and love for Him.

Many are forfeiting the condition of acceptance with the Father. We need to examine closely the deed of trust wherewith we approach God. If we are disobedient, we bring to the Lord a note to be cashed when we have not fulfilled the conditions that would make it payable to us. We present to God His promises, and ask Him to fulfill them, when by so doing He would dishonor His own name.

The promise is “If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:7. And John declares: “Hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected.” 1 John 2:3-5.

One of Christ’s last commands to His disciples was “Love one another as I have loved you.” John 13:34. Do we obey this command, or are we indulging sharp, unchristlike traits of character? If we have in any way grieved or wounded others, it is our duty to confess our fault and seek for reconciliation. This is an essential preparation that we may come before God in faith, to ask His blessing.

There is another matter too often neglected by those who seek the Lord in prayer. Have you been honest with God? By the prophet Malachi the Lord declares, “Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from Mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings.” Malachi 3:7, 8.

As the Giver of every blessing, God claims a certain portion of all we possess. This is His provision to sustain the preaching of the gospel. And by making this return to God, we are to show our appreciation of His gifts. But if we withhold from Him that which is His own, how can we claim His blessing? If we are unfaithful stewards of earthly things, how can we expect Him to entrust us with the things of heaven? It may be that here is the secret of unanswered prayer.

But the Lord in His great mercy is ready to forgive, and He says, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, … if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field…. And all nations shall call you blessed; for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 3:10-12.

So it is with every other one of God’s requirements. All His gifts are promised on condition of obedience. God has a heaven full of blessings for those who will co-operate with Him. All who obey Him may with confidence claim the fulfillment of His promises.

But we must show a firm, undeviating trust in God. Often He delays to answer us in order to try our faith or test the genuineness of our desire. Having asked according to His word, we should believe His promise and press our petitions with a determination that will not be denied.

God does not say, Ask once, and you shall receive. He bids us ask. Unwearyingly persist in prayer. The persistent asking brings the petitioner into a more earnest attitude, and gives him an increased desire to receive the things for which he asks. Christ said to Martha at the grave of Lazarus, “If thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God.” John 11:40.

But many have not a living faith. This is why they do not see more of the power of God. Their weakness is the result of their unbelief. They have more faith in their own working than in the working of God for them. They take themselves into their own keeping. They plan and devise, but pray little, and have little real trust in God. They think they have faith, but it is only the impulse of the moment. Failing to realize their own need, or God’s willingness to give, they do not persevere in keeping their requests before the Lord.

Our prayers are to be as earnest and persistent as was the petition of the needy friend who asked for the loaves at midnight. The more earnestly and steadfastly we ask, the closer will be our spiritual union with Christ. We shall receive increased blessings because we have increased faith.

Our part is to pray and believe. Watch unto prayer. Watch, and co-operate with the prayer-hearing God. Bear in mind that “we are labourers together with God.” 1 Corinthians 3:9. Speak and act in harmony with your prayers. It will make an infinite difference with you whether trial shall prove your faith to be genuine, or show that your prayers are only a form.

Christ was continually receiving from the Father that He might communicate to us. “The word which ye hear,” He said, “is not Mine, but the Father’s which sent Me.” John 14:24. “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” Matthew 20:28. Not for Himself, but for others, He lived and thought and prayed. From hours spent with God He came forth morning by morning, to bring the light of heaven to men. Daily He received a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit. In the early hours of the new day the Lord awakened Him from His slumbers, and His soul and His lips were anointed with grace, that He might impart to others. His words were given Him fresh from the heavenly courts, words that He might speak in season to the weary and oppressed. “The Lord God hath given Me,” He said, “the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth Mine ear to hear as the learned.” Isaiah 50:4.

Christ’s disciples were much impressed by His prayers and by His habit of communion with God. One day after a short absence from their Lord, they found Him absorbed in supplication. Seeming unconscious of their presence, He continued praying aloud. The hearts of the disciples were deeply moved. As He ceased praying, they exclaimed, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

In answer, Christ repeated the Lord’s prayer, as He had given it in the sermon on the mount. Then in a parable He illustrated the lesson He desired to teach them.

“Which of you,” He said, “shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed: I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.”

Here Christ represents the petitioner as asking that he may give again. He must obtain the bread, else he cannot supply the necessities of a weary, belated wayfarer. Though his neighbor is unwilling to be troubled, he will not desist his pleading; his friend must be relieved; and at last his importunity is rewarded, his wants are supplied.

In like manner the disciples were to seek blessings from God. In the feeding of the multitude and in the sermon on the bread from heaven, Christ had opened to them their work as His representatives. They were to give the bread of life to the people. He who had appointed their work, saw how often their faith would be tried. Often they would be thrown into unexpected positions, and would realize their human insufficiency. Souls that were hungering for the bread of life would come to them, and they would feel themselves to be destitute and helpless. They must receive spiritual food, or they would have nothing to impart. But they were not to turn one soul away unfed. Christ directs them to the source of supply. The man whose friend came to him for entertainment, even at the unseasonable hour of midnight, did not turn him away. He had nothing to set before him, but he went to one who had food and pressed his request until the neighbor supplied his need. And would not God, who had sent His servants to feed the hungry, supply their need for His own work?

But the selfish neighbor in the parable does not represent the character of God. The lesson is drawn, not by comparison, but by contrast. A selfish man will grant an urgent request, in order to rid himself of one who disturbs his rest. But God delights to give. He is full of compassion, and He longs to grant the requests of those who come unto Him in faith. He gives to us that we may minister to others and thus become like Himself.

Christ declares, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

The Saviour continues: “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?”

In order to strengthen our confidence in God, Christ teaches us to address Him by a new name, a name entwined with the dearest associations of the human heart. He gives us the privilege of calling the infinite God our Father. This name, spoken to Him and of Him, is a sign of our love and trust toward Him, and a pledge of His regard and relationship to us. Spoken when asking His favor or blessing, it is as music in His ears. That we might not think it presumption to call Him by this name, He has repeated it again and again. He desires us to become familiar with the appellation.

God regards us as His children. He has redeemed us out of the careless world and has chosen us to become members of the royal family, sons and daughters of the heavenly King. He invites us to trust in Him with a trust deeper and stronger than that of a child in his earthly father. Parents love their children, but the love of God is larger, broader, deeper, than human love can possibly be. It is immeasurable. Then if earthly parents know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more shall our Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?

Christ’s lessons in regard to prayer should be carefully considered. There is a divine science in prayer, and His illustration brings to view principles that all need to understand. He shows what is the true spirit of prayer, He teaches the necessity of perseverance in presenting our requests to God, and assures us of His willingness to hear and answer prayer.

Our prayers are not to be a selfish asking, merely for our own benefit. We are to ask that we may give. The principle of Christ’s life must be the principle of our lives. “For their sakes,” He said, speaking of His disciples, “I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified.” John 17:19. The same devotion, the same self-sacrifice, the same subjection to the claims of the word of God, that were manifest in Christ, must be seen in His servants. Our mission to the world is not to serve or please ourselves; we are to glorify God by co-operating with Him to save sinners. We are to ask blessings from God that we may communicate to others. The capacity for receiving is preserved only by imparting. We cannot continue to receive heavenly treasure without communicating to those around us.

“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:14-19.

How can we harmonize our dwarfed spiritual condition with the presentation of our text that describes the fullness of knowledge it is our privilege to possess? How can Heaven look upon us, who have had every spiritual and temporal advantage that we might grow in grace, when we have not improved our opportunities? The apostle did not write these words to tantalize us, to deceive us, or to raise our expectations only to have them disappointed in our experience. He wrote these words to show us what we may and must be, if we would be heirs of the kingdom of God. How can we be laborers together with God, if we have a dwarfed experience? We have a knowledge of the Christian’s privilege, and should seek for that deep, spiritual understanding in the things of God that the Lord has desired us to have.

Do we really believe the Bible? Do we really believe that we may attain to the knowledge of God that is presented before us in this text? Do we believe every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God? Do we believe the words that have been spoken by prophets and apostles, by Jesus Christ, who is the author of all light and blessing, and in whom dwelleth all richness and fullness? Do we really believe in God, and in his Son?

There are many who have a merely nominal faith, but this faith will not save you. Many believe in Christ because somebody else does, because the minister has told them this or that; but if you rest your faith only on the minister’s word, you will be lost. You must not do as did the foolish virgins, who, when the cry came, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh,” found no oil in their vessels. When they discovered their lack, they sought those who were wise, and applied to them for oil for their dying lights; but it was too late to supply them. The wise had only enough for their own use, and they told the foolish virgins they must go and buy oil for themselves. We all must buy oil for ourselves. We must not be content with a mere profession. We are to take a stand for the truth by profession, and the principles of truth must become a part of our life.

There are many who know nothing of the new birth. They do not know that the truth will test them, and make manifest whether they really are in the truth or not. We should see to it that we are not deceived. We should know that we are really rooted and grounded in the truth. The Lord wants us to have the fullness of his blessing, that we may not be on the side of the questioner and the doubter, but have spiritual discernment, and be able to know the voice of the True Shepherd from the voice of a stranger. We must have an individual experience. Do not flatter yourselves that because you have made a high profession, you are the light of the world. The question is, “Are you the light of the world, or are you the darkness of the world?”

All heaven has its expectation of you to whom the precious light has been intrusted. The light has shone upon you in clear, bright rays from the throne of the living God. The question of most vital importance to each one is, “Is it well with my soul?” It is not well with any one unless he has met and responded to the light that Heaven has permitted to shine upon his mind. The light of truth is more precious than anything besides; it is more precious than gold and silver. The most magnificent palaces are nothing in comparison to the truth, and this light is to test us and to make manifest of what spirit we are.

In the world before the flood, God tested men with his message of warning. He had blessed them with great wealth; they were rich and increased with goods. Did they appreciate their blessings? Did the bestowal of these great and wonderful gifts fill them with gratitude? Did they prepare themselves for the mansions of heaven which Christ will give to all his faithful children? Were their hearts brought nearer to God?—No; they used the gifts of God to glorify themselves; their riches did not commend them to the favor of God. Riches cannot procure his favor. Riches will make no difference with his judgment of character.

Men despise the unfortunate and the poor. They do not appreciate the fact that it is moral worth that makes men of value with God. God estimates character with a different measure from the world. Some men are lifted up with pride when they attain positions of honor. They act as though they were the lords of creation, but a man in the sight of heaven is one who is connected with Christ, who walks in humility of mind, and serves God from the principle of love. God does not need to estimate men by their riches. The cattle upon a thousand hills are his. The beasts of Lebanon would not be sufficient for a burnt-offering. He takes up the isles as a very little thing; everything is manifest and open before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. He knows who are committing robbery toward him in withholding their means from his cause, or in withholding their tact and ability from his service. He knows who have buried their talents in the earth. There is nothing in the history of our life but he understands, and we are to live with an eye single to his glory. What is man in himself? He is only weakness, and yet he is privileged to know the length and depth and breadth and height of God’s love, which passeth knowledge.

We cannot explain the great mystery of the plan of redemption. Jesus took upon himself humanity, that he might reach humanity; but we cannot explain how divinity was clothed with humanity. An angel would not have known how to sympathize with fallen man, but Christ came to the world and suffered all our temptations, and carried all our griefs. Are you not glad that he was tempted in all points like as we are, and yet without sin? Our hearts should be filled with gratitude to him. We should be able to present to God a continual thank-offering for his wonderful love. Jesus can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. When we are in sorrow and trouble and temptation, we need not think nobody knows, nobody can understand. O, no; Jesus has passed over every step of the ground before you, and he knows all about it.

I have heard those who have been in the faith for years, say that they used to be able to endure trial and difficulty, but since the infirmities of age began to press upon them, they had been greatly distressed when brought under discipline. What does this mean? Does it mean that Jesus has ceased to be your Saviour? Does it mean that when you are old and gray-headed, you are privileged to display unholy passion? Think of this. You should use your reasoning powers in this matter, as you do in temporal things. You should deny self, and make your service to God the first business of your life. You must not permit anything to disturb your peace. There is no need of it; there must be a constant growth, a constant progress in the divine life.

Christ is the ladder that Jacob saw, whose base rests upon the earth, and whose topmost round reaches into the highest heaven; and round after round, you must mount this ladder until you reach the everlasting kingdom. There is no excuse for becoming more like Satan, more like human nature. God has set before us the height of the Christian’s privilege, and it is “to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.”

When the Lord of glory left his station of high command to become a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, accepting ignominy and death in order to deliver man from the consequence of his disobedience, he did not consult his own convenience or pleasure. Jesus died, not to save man in his sins, but from his sins. He is to leave the error of his ways, to follow the example of Christ, take up his cross and follow him, denying self, and obeying God at any cost.

Said Jesus, “No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

If we are true servants of God there should be no question in our minds as to whether we should obey his commandments or seek our own temporal interests.

If the believers in the truth are not sustained by their faith in these comparatively peaceful days, what will uphold them when the grand test comes, and the decree goes forth against all those who will not worship the image of the beast, and receive his mark in their foreheads or in their hands? This solemn period is not far off. Instead of becoming weak and irresolute, the people of God should be gathering strength and courage for the time of trouble.

Jesus, our great example, in his life and death, taught the strictest obedience. He died, the just for the unjust, the innocent for the guilty, that the honor of God’s law might be preserved and yet man not utterly perish. Sin is the transgression of the law. If the sin of Adam brought such inexpressible wretchedness, requiring the sacrifice of God’s dear Son, what will be the punishment of those who, seeing the light of truth, set at naught the fourth commandment of the Lord?

Circumstances will not justify any one in working upon the Sabbath for the sake of worldly profit. If God excuses one man, he may excuse all. But, says one, why may not a man who is poor work upon the Sabbath to earn means for a livelihood when he might by so doing be better able to support his family? Why may not other brethren, or all of us, keep the Sabbath only when it is convenient to do so? The voice from Sinai makes answer: “Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.”

Listen to these solemn words of promise addressed to all: “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

God will visit with judgments those who profess to serve him, yet really serve mammon. They who disregard the Lord’s express injunction in order to advantage themselves, are heaping future woe upon themselves. The people of God should inquire closely if they have not, like the Jews, made the temple of God a place of merchandise. Christ said, My Father’s house shall be called a house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Are not many of our people falling into the sin of sacrificing their religion for the sake of worldly gain; preserving a form of piety, yet giving all the mind to temporal pursuits? God’s law must be considered first of all, and obeyed in spirit and in letter. If God’s word, spoken in awful solemnity from the holy mountain, is lightly regarded, how will the testimonies of his Spirit be received? Minds that are so darkened as not to recognize the authority of the Lord’s commandments given directly to man, can receive little good from a feeble instrument whom he has chosen to instruct his people.

Age does not excuse any from obeying the divine commands. Abraham was sorely tested in his old age. The words of the Lord seemed terrible and uncalled-for to the stricken old man; yet he never questioned their justice or hesitated in his obedience. He might have pleaded that he was old and feeble, and could not sacrifice the son who was the joy of his life. He might have reminded the Lord that this command conflicted with the promises that had been given in regard to this son. But the obedience of Abraham was without a murmur or reproach. His trust in God was implicit.

The faith of Abraham should be our example; yet how few will patiently endure a simple test of reproof of the sins which imperil their eternal welfare. How few receive reproof with humility, and profit by it. God’s claim upon our faith, our services, our affections, should meet with a cheerful response. We are infinite debtors to the Lord, and should unhesitatingly comply with the least of his requirements. To be a commandment-breaker it is not necessary that we should trample upon the whole moral code. If one precept is disregarded, we are transgressors of the sacred law. And if we would be true commandment-keepers, we should strictly observe every requirement that God has enjoined upon us.

God allowed his own Son to be put to death in order to answer the penalty of the transgression of the law; then how will he deal with those who, in the face of all this evidence, dare venture upon the path of disobedience, having received the light of truth? Man has no right to question his convenience or wants in this matter. God will provide; he who fed Elijah by the brook, making a raven his messenger, will not suffer his faithful ones to want for food.

The Saviour asked his disciples who were pressed with poverty, why they were anxious and troubled in regard to what they should eat or how they should be clothed. Said he, “Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” He pointed to the lovely flowers, formed and tinted by a divine hand, saying, “And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”

Before Christ left Heaven, and came into the world to die, he was taller than any of the angels. He was majestic and lovely. “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” He took upon himself man’s nature. When his ministry commenced, he was but little taller than the common size of men then living upon the earth. Had he come among men with his noble, heavenly form, his outward appearance would have attracted the minds of the people to himself, and he would have been received without the exercise of faith.

About that period Messiah was expected. By many he was looked for to come as a mighty monarch. The Jews had boasted to the Gentiles of his coming, and had dwelt largely upon the great deliverance which he would bring them, that he would reign as king, and put down all authority. Every kingdom and nation would bow to him, and the Jewish nation would reign over them. They had the events of the first and second comings of Christ confounded together.

It was in the order of God that Christ should take upon himself the form and nature of fallen man, that he might be made perfect through suffering, and endure himself the strength of Satan’s temptations, that he might the better know how to succor those who should be tempted. The faith of men in Christ as the Messiah was not to rest in the evidences of sight, and they believe on him because of his personal attractions, but because of the excellence of character found in him, which had never been, neither could be found in another. All who loved virtue, purity, and holiness, would be drawn to Christ, and would see sufficient evidence of his being the Messiah, foretold by prophecy, that should come. Those who thus trusted in the word of God, would receive the benefits of the teachings of Christ, and finally of his atonement.

Christ came to call the attention of all men to his Father, teaching them repentance toward God. His work was to reconcile man to God. Although Christ did not come as he was expected, yet he came just as prophecy had marked out that he would come. Those who wished to believe, had sufficient foundation for their faith by referring to prophecy, which predicted the coming of the Just One, and described the manner of his coming.

The ancient Jewish church were the highly-favored people of God, brought out of Egypt and acknowledged as his own peculiar treasure. The many and exceeding great and precious promises to them as a people, were the hope and confidence of the Jewish church. Herein they trusted, and believed their salvation sure. No other people professed to be governed by the commandments of God. Our Saviour came first to his own people, but they received him not.

The self-righteous, proud, unbelieving Jews expected their Saviour and King would come into the world clothed with majesty and power, compelling all Gentiles to yield obedience to him. They did not expect any humiliation and suffering would be manifested in him. They would not receive the meek and lowly Jesus, and acknowledge him to be the Saviour of the world. Had he appeared in splendor, and assumed the authority of the world’s great men, instead of taking the form of a servant, they would have received and worshiped him. But they rejected Christ as their Saviour, and after they had set their hearts in rebellion against him, it was not so easy for them to change their course. Notwithstanding all the mighty works they saw him do, they were too proud and self-exalted to yield their rebellious feelings. Every token and manifestation of his divine character increased the hatred and jealousy of the Jews. They were not content to turn from him themselves, but they sought to hinder all they could from listening to his teachings, or witnessing his miracles. The majority rejected him. They despised his humble appearance. They denied his testimony. They loved the praise of men, and the grandeur of the world. In their estimation of these things, they thought their judgment perfect, even as the judgment of God.

The whole life and teachings of Christ were continual lessons of humility, benevolence, virtue, and self-denial. This was a continual reproof to the self-righteous, exacting spirit manifested by the Jews. Satan led them on until they seemed to possess a frenzy at the mere mention of the wonderful works of Christ, which were drawing the attention of the people from them. They at length made themselves believe that he was an impostor, and any means they could devise to get rid of him would be a virtue in them. They could not point to one act in his life which they could condemn, yet his very goodness made him a subject of their jealousy and hate, and in their blind rage they cried out, Crucify him! crucify him! The rejection of light leaves men captives of Satan, subject to his temptations. When he controls the mind, light will become darkness to that mind, good evil, and evil good.

At the first advent of Christ, Satan knew that he had come to limit his power, and set free captives which he had bound, and his skill was especially exercised to lead the Jewish nation to believe Christ an impostor. The prophecies furnished sufficient evidence to unprejudiced minds that Christ was indeed the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. But the unbelieving Jews chose their own standard of virtue, and purity of life. They would not be taught by the Just One, and continued to perform their useless sacrifices and offerings, looking forward for a Messiah which had already come.

Our heavenly Father designed to prove and test the professed faith and obedience of his people. The sacrifices which they performed under the law were typical of the Lamb of God, and illustrated his great atonement. Yet the Jewish nation were so blinded and deceived by Satan that when Christ came, whom their sacrifices and offerings had been prefiguring, they would not receive him. They led him as a lamb to the slaughter.

The same rebellion and hatred against Christ will be in the hearts of men at his second advent. If Christ’s second coming should be in the same humble manner as at his first advent, reproving sin, and commending virtue and holiness, where there was then one voice raised, crying, Crucify him! crucify him! there would be thousands in this apostate age. Infidelity in regard to Christ’s being the true Messiah, the Saviour of the world, will increase and spread to an alarming degree previous to his second coming. Satan has lost none of his skill and power which he has been exercising in past time. He can better deceive man now than at Christ’s first advent.

The Son of God in this age will be as virtually despised and insulted by corrupt men who pretend to be good men, as at his first advent. Satan is now transforming himself into an angel of light, to hide the deformity of his character, and thereby he and his evil angels receive that worship from a blinded, deluded people, which belongs alone to God. Christ is trampled under foot. Virtue and holiness are despised. Evil angels whisper their low, corrupt teachings in the ears of men, and they are pleased. Their carnal minds are gratified. That which comes from Satan and hell they make themselves believe comes from the spirits of the dead. Their consciences are seared as with a hot iron. When the Son of God came into the world to die, man’s sacrifice, he laid aside his glory and exalted stature. His height was but a little above the general size of men. His personal appearance bore no special marks of his divine character, which would of itself inspire faith. Yet his perfect form, and dignified bearing, his countenance expressing benevolence, love and holiness, were unequaled by any then living upon the earth.

When the Life-giver rose from the dead a triumphant conqueror, and made himself known unto his disciples, he was of the same size as before his crucifixion. There were no special marks which would at once cause the men of Emmaus to know that he was the Son of God. They did not know him until he told them who he was.

But when he ascended up on high, and led a multitude of captives, escorted by the heavenly host, and was received in through the gates of the city, with angelic songs of triumph and rejoicing, I beheld with admiration and wonder, that he possessed the same exalted stature that he had before he came into the world to die for man. Said the angel, God, who wrought so great a miracle as to make Christ flesh to dwell among men, and will with his almighty power lift up fallen, degenerate, and dwarfed man, and after they are redeemed from the earth, make them “grow up as calves of the stall,” could in his infinite power return to his dear Son his own exalted stature, which was his before he left Heaven, and humbled himself as a man, and submitted to the death of the cross.

It is no marvel with the angelic host that their loved Commander, after he had carried out the plan of salvation, and ascended up to Heaven, should take his own exalted stature, and be clothed with majesty and glory, which was his before he left Heaven. But it was a marvel with all heaven, that the Father suffered the Son of his bosom to lay aside his glory, and come down to earth, and submit to humiliation, and the agonizing death of the cross to save fallen man.

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The Lord gave lessons in his parables that are ever to remain fresh in the mind. He saw that the weakness, the curse of the church, would be a spirit of self-righteousness, that it would lead men to think that they could do something by which they might earn a right to a place in the kingdom of heaven. He saw that they would imagine that when they had attained to certain goodness, made certain advancement, then the Lord would come in and help them, and in this way there would be an abundance of self and but little of Jesus. Many who have made but little advancement, are puffed up, eager for flattery, jealous if not regarded first and most important, and they cherish a feeling of superiority over others. But it will be those who work in the greatest humility, who are full of gratitude to God, who have a principle woven into everything they do that makes their works fragrant as was Abel’s offering, that heaven will accept as precious. He who is humble, who is trusting as is a little child, is the one to whom God will look. “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit is of great price in the sight of God. “When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.” Christ said, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” If all would bear in mind that we are on test and trial before the heavenly host, and that it is to be made manifest of what spirit we are, there would be more seriousness, more earnestness in prayer.

“Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.” Salvation is wholly of grace. Love and humility are the essential qualities of character that will give to their possessor the first place in the kingdom of heaven. The actions that express these qualities will call forth from Christ the words of commendation, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

Laborers in the vineyard, it is not the length of time in which you are engaged in the work that makes it acceptable to God, but the willingness, fidelity, and sincerity with which you labor. The Jews were first called into the vineyard; but they were proud and self-righteous, and were displeased that the Gentiles, whom they thoroughly despised, were admitted to equal privileges with themselves in the things of the kingdom of God. Nothing was more exasperating to the Jews than to have the apostles intimate that the Gentiles were to be sought after, and brought into, the gospel light. The parable of the laborers showed how sinful it was to cherish such a spirit as did the Jews against the Gentiles. Jesus warned those whom he first called into the church, lest the spirit of emulation should be found among them. They had seen how the rich young man had been warned, and how he had failed to profit by the lesson Jesus gave him. Jesus had showed him how strong were the bands that bound him to earth, although he thought himself perfect in his obedience to God’s requirements. When he went away sorrowful, Peter said, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?” This question on the part of Peter showed that he thought that a certain amount of work on the part of the apostles would be deserving of a certain amount of reward. Among the disciples there was a spirit of complacency, of self-exaltation, and they made comparisons among themselves. If any one of them signally failed, others felt themselves superior. Jesus saw a spirit coming in that must be checked. He could read the hearts of men, and he saw their tendencies to selfishness in the question, “What shall we have?” He must correct this evil before it assumed gigantic proportions.

The disciples were in danger of losing sight of the true principles of the gospel. By the use of this parable he teaches them that the reward is not of works, lest any man should boast, but it is all of grace. The laborer called into the vineyard at the beginning of the day had his reward in the grace that was given him. But the one to whom the last call came, had the same grace as had the first. The work was all of grace, and no one was to glory over another. There was to be no grudging one against another. No one was privileged above another, nor could any one claim the reward as his right. Peter expressed the feelings of a hireling.

“What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” The first and the last are to be sharers of the great, eternal reward, and the first should gladly welcome the last. He who grudges the reward to another, forgets that he himself is saved by grace alone.

This parable rebukes all jealousy, envy, and hateful suspicions. Love rejoiceth in the truth, and institutes no comparisons. He who possesses love, only compares the majestic loveliness of Christ and his own imperfect character. Here is a warning to all laborers, however long they may have been in service, however abundant may be their labors, that without love to their brethren, without humility before God, they are nothing. When pride and self-complacency are brought into the work, the work is marred. The value of the Christian’s labors is to be found only in the grace given him of Jesus Christ. The spirit that goes with the labor is that which gives it its value. Those who are first through self-complacency and pride may become last of all, while those who cherish meekness may become first; for the reward is not of works but of grace, lest any man should boast, and exalt himself above his fellows. It is the spirit that determines the worthiness or unworthiness of the work. Every call to work in the vineyard is from the Lord. It is Jesus Christ who seeks the laborer, not the laborer who seeks Jesus. Jesus says, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.” “And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.” “And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.” The first impulse to come to Christ is the result of his drawing power upon the heart.

Jesus says, “I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” All I can give either first or last is myself. If any one has been laboring for anything else except the Lord’s glory, he will be disappointed in receiving a reward. The reception of the penny by the laborers represents the character that God will give to those who follow him. We are to keep in view eternal realities, and our spiritual eyesight must be clear; for those only who behold Christ will be changed into his image from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord. All who are teachable, all who are humble, all who serve from love, are as mirrors that are being polished to reflect more perfectly the divine image. Their souls are becoming purified, their ideas are becoming broader, and their characters are being transformed after the divine similitude. But those whose hearts are lifted up in pride, who are self-righteous, full of envy, jealousy, and evil surmising, are enfeebling their capacity for receiving from God that which will make them what he would have them to be. They are clouding the mirror, darkening the vision, marring the vessel, so that it contains less and less of God’s blessing.

Jesus says to those who think they should receive more than he gives them, “Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst thou not agree with me for a penny: Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?” So long as I am just with thee, is it not my privilege to be liberal to others? Those who display such wrong feelings, make it manifest that they deserve no reward; for many are called but few are chosen. Many, many are called to work in the Lord’s vineyard; but they manifest so little humility, show so little appreciation of the Lord’s grace, are so wanting in submission, so poorly comprehend the fact that righteousness is alone from Christ, and that there is none in themselves, that they fail to develop characters that can be called true and faithful, and so lose heaven at last.

It was the custom in Judea for men to wait at the market-places for some one to come and employ them; and in Europe this custom is still in vogue. Those who need help go to the market-place to find servants that they may employ. The man in the parable is represented as going out at different hours to engage workmen. Those he hired at the earliest hour, agreed to work for him for a stated sum of money, while those who were hired later left the wages they were to receive wholly to the discretion of the householder.

“So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the laborers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last.”

The lesson of the laborers had a bearing upon the question about which the disciples had disputed by the way,—who should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. The world’s Redeemer saw the danger that would imperil his church, and sought to arouse his people to an understanding of their position; for this parable was but a continuation of the lesson taught when Peter asked, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye shall also sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. But many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be first.”

The Lord will have all who receive his grace, believe and trust him that justifieth the ungodly. With implicit trust we are to stay upon God, and let the heart rest in him without a question as to what is to be our measure of reward. The Saviour presents before us the scene of the last judgment when the reward is given to those upon his right hand, and the sentence of condemnation to those upon his left hand. The righteous are represented as wondering what they have done for which they are to be so liberally rewarded. They had had the abiding presence of Christ in their hearts; they had been imbued with his Spirit, and without conscious effort on their part; they had been serving Christ in the person of his saints, and had thereby gained the sure reward. But they had not had in view the reward they were to receive, and the expectation of it had been no part of the motive that had actuated their service. What they did was done from love to Christ and to their fellow-men, and Christ identifies himself with suffering humanity, and accounts that all deeds done in sympathy and compassion and love to men, are done to him.

Those upon his left hand also acted out the natural heart, and had manifested pride, selfishness, and evil, doing deeds of unkindness to others as unconsciously as the good had done good deeds. They had not cherished the principles of sympathy and love. The fatherless and the widow had not had attention, nor received gifts from them. They inquire: “Lord, when saw we thee a hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.”

Repeatedly the Saviour says, “Many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” Jesus would have those who are engaged in his service, not eager for rewards, nor feel that they must receive compensation for all that they do. The Lord would have our minds run a different channel; for he sees not as man sees. He does not judge by appearances, but estimates a man by the sincerity of his heart. Those who have brought into their service the spirit of true sacrifice, of self-abasement, are the ones who will stand first at last. The laborers who were first hired, represented those who have an envious, self-righteous spirit, and claim that, for their services, preference should be given to them rather than to others. The householder said to the one who questioned his right to give more to others than to him, “Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst thou not agree with me for a penny?” I have kept my part of the agreement.

In a subordinate sense we should all have respect unto the recompense of the reward. But while we appreciate the promise of blessing, we should have perfect confidence in Jesus Christ, believing that he will do right, and give us reward according as our works have been. The gift of God is eternal life, but Jesus would have us not so anxious concerning rewards, as that we may do the will of God because it is right to do it, irrespective of all gain. Paul kept in view the crown of life to be given him, and not only to be given to him, but to all who love His appearing. It was the victory gained through faith in Jesus Christ that made the crown so desirable. He ever exalted Jesus. All boasting of talent, of victory in ourselves, is out of place. “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth; for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.”

Those who will receive the most abundant reward will be those who have mingled with their activity and zeal, gracious, tender pity for the poor, the orphan, the oppressed, and the afflicted. But those who pass by on the other side, who are too busy to give attention to the purchase of the blood of Christ, who are full of doing the great things, will find themselves least and last. Men act out the true character of the heart. There are about us those who have a meek and lowly spirit, the Spirit of Christ, who do many little things to help those around them, and who think nothing of it; they will be astonished at last to find that Christ has noticed the kind word spoken to the disheartened, and taken account of the smallest gift given for the relief of the poor, that cost the giver some self-denial. The Lord measures the spirit, and rewards accordingly, and the pure, humble, childlike spirit of love makes the offering precious in his sight.

We lose much by not diligently searching the Scriptures for precious gems of truth. We should study the word of God more earnestly. “Therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away by the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” Jesus is measuring the characters of those who profess to be his followers. He is going from congregation to congregation, from church to church, measuring the worshipers. He follows those who claim to be the sons and daughters of God, to take their measurement in business transactions, in trade, in all the affairs of life. His under-shepherds are bearing heavy responsibilities; for by virtue of their office they are to be representatives of Christ, representatives of the sanctifying power of the truth. The under-shepherds may sleep, they may fail to rightly divide the word of truth, they may fail to point the flock to the pastures provided for them. Instead of being a light to the world, they may be walking in darkness. They may stumble upon the dark mountains of unbelief. But the True Shepherd, he that keepeth Israel, shall neither slumber nor sleep. If the candlestick is held by unfaithful men, if it gives a flickering light that grows dim and dies out, there is One who sees, One who declares, “I know thy works.”

Christ is present at every assembly and at every private interview. He has made his people the depositaries of rare blessings. He has given them gems and treasures richer than gold; and every faithful co-laborer with God is to work the mine of truth and bring the treasures to view. The great Master-worker has an oversight of the whole. He notes those who toil with patience. He sees their faith, their forbearance, their love, their untiring zeal; and it is registered of them in the book of heaven, “Well done, good and faithful servants.” They are commended because they have toiled early and late, and because they cannot bear them which are evil. They have carried out the injunction of the apostle to “reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.” They have administered impartial discipline, laying their hand upon all false teaching, upon false brethren whose works have denied the faith. Amid the scorn of men, suffering worldly loss, they have manifested steadfast integrity. While temptations to worldliness and licentiousness cause the love of many to wax cold, they stand true as the needle to the pole, as faithful workers, as standard-bearers for God, in principle firm as a rock.

Shall we forget our holy calling, brethren? Shall the mournful deterioration of piety be seen among us, that caused the rejection of the Jewish nation? Shall we who have had so great light upon Bible truth let a dry, dead formalism take the place of zeal and faith? Is our light to go out in darkness? Are we not to work zealously to counteract the arts of the enemy? We must watch and pray. We must arouse and take in the situation. We are in the day of atonement, and we are to work in harmony with Christ’s work of cleansing the sanctuary from the sins of the people. Let no man who desires to be found with the wedding garment on, resist our Lord in his office work. As he is, so will his followers be in this world. We must now set before the people the work which by faith we see our great High-priest accomplishing in the heavenly sanctuary. Those who do not sympathize with Jesus in his work in the heavenly courts, who do not cleanse the soul temple of every defilement, but who engage in some enterprise not in harmony with this work, are joining with the enemy of God and man in leading minds away from the truth and work for this time.

The Spirit of truth has a refining, elevating, heavenly influence upon mind and character. We are to study the mind of Christ, and to receive the truth as it is in Jesus. We are to watch and pray, to consult the living oracles of God. When any lust takes possession of the mind in any way or to any degree, and there is a yielding to fleshly desires, we lose the image of Christ in spirit and character. The work in the heavenly sanctuary becomes obscure to the minds of those who are controlled by the temptations of the evil one, and they engage in side issues to gratify their own selfish purposes, and their true moral standing is determined by their works.

I appeal to you, my fellow-laborers, to meditate upon the sacred truths imparted unto you. The heavenly Master has intrusted you with the mine of truth, and you are to work out its treasures, to display its gems, and unveil its attractions, not merely when giving a discourse, but in your daily life you are to show the constraining, transforming power of the truth. Every faculty and power of our nature must receive the imprint of Christ’s signature. We must become partakers of the divine nature. By beholding, we become changed into his image.

What are we doing for Jesus? Are we cooperating with him in his great work above? Are we using every jot of influence we have to cleanse the temple of God from defilement? Let not the ministers act in such a way that they will come under the same condemnation as did the priests and rulers whom Jesus charged with making the house of God a den of thieves. We might better be reduced to penury than gain means that will divorce our interest from the solemn truths for this time. It is Satan’s studied effort to make of none effect saving, testing truth through the lives of those who preach the truth to others and who in their daily practices deny what they preach. If we are paralyzed spiritually, we shall not be able to realize that our obligations are in proportion to the light we have received. All the angels of heaven are united in the work of bringing to man the infinite treasures of the better world. Shall we not with grateful hearts show that we appreciate the heavenly gifts, and co-operate with the workers of heaven in bringing every power into captivity to Christ?

If we would come into possession of the heavenly inheritance, the glorious, eternal substance, we must be in covenant relation with God, and employ every faculty of our being to win souls to Christ. O, would that I could present this subject in more fitting language, that you might comprehend the matter as it really is! God’s people must be a peculiar, holy people, distinct in character and practice from the world, distinguished from all the religionists of the day. They must be patterns in personal piety and good works. There is higher, holier work for us to do than we have yet done. Christ has said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” It has no principles that will meet the principles of the world. The Lord has set his Church as a light in the world, to guide the world to heaven. It is to be a part of heaven on the earth, flashing divine light on the pathway of benighted souls.

God himself has plucked men as brands from the burning, and through the sanctifying power of his truth, he has trained the children of wrath to be the children of light, that they might cooperate with him in life and character, by precept and example, and reveal his miracle of grace that has filled the angels with astonishment and joy.

Satan is working to put his seal and stamp upon the watchmen, that the purposes of God may not be fulfilled in them. He is working that the individual members of the Church shall not be one with Christ as he is one with the Father. But it is the privilege of Christ’s followers to partake of the rich and full supplies of his grace, that the world may believe that Christ has indeed sent them. It is a lamentable fact that not all the ministers who preach the truth are converted. Many have ceased to advance in the path of progress, and they do not represent Christ, for they do not copy the Pattern.

The Lord cannot glorify his name through ministers who attempt to serve God and mammon. We are not to urge men to invest in mining stock, or in city lots, holding out the inducement that the money invested will be doubled in a short time. Our message for this time is, “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Just before Israel entered the land of Canaan, Satan sought to seduce the people, and lead them to idolatry, thinking to compass their ruin. He works in the same way in our day. There are young men whom God would accept to become workers together with him, but they have become absorbed in this real-estate craze, and have sold their interest in the truth for the prospect of worldly advantage. There are many who hold themselves away from the service of God, because they desire worldly gain, and Satan uses those who claim to believe the truth, to seduce souls. The tempter comes to men as he came to Jesus, presenting the glory of the world; and when a measure of success attends the ventures of men, they become greedy for more gain, and their spirituality dies; they lose their love for the truth. The immortal inheritance, the love of Jesus, is eclipsed to their vision by the fleeting prospects of the world.

42. And what did the members of this Hidden Power want to achieve? They wanted to kill the French King, and to ram the poisonous doctrine of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” down the throats of the French people. They succeeded in both these objects. They played with the leaders of the French people as one plays with puppets. They caused them to do all the things necessary to bring their own King to the scaffold. They caused them to adopt the slogan of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” [“World Revolution,” ante, p. 35.] and thus laid the foundations of all latter-day Socialist and [16] Communist propaganda. But even today the politicians of England and France cannot see the purpose which is hidden behind this slogan. They cannot see that Communist Russia has no Liberty, no Equality, and no Fraternity. They even allow the inventors of this false slogan to supplement it today by other ideas intended to fool the Gentile mind, such as anti-Capitalism and Pacifism, and other “isms” that play into the hands of the Hidden Power. Before leaving the First French Revolution we desire to emphasize the fact that the Power that could foment it and carry it through as we have described is a Power to be respected, and not to be ignored merely because it is hidden. That Power is the Power of the Jews.

43. Now for the French Revolution of 1848. At that time Europe was quiet and there were no troubles on the surface. But underground the Jewish mole was busy burrowing. The mole, as we know, throws up mole hills, and Disraeli must have seen many of these appearing on the surface of the ground when in 1844 he uttered a warning that a big revolution was brewing in Europe, “entirely under the auspices of Jews.” [Disraeli’s “Coningsby.”] In 1848 attempted risings took place in many of the chief towns of Europe, but it was chiefly on France that this Jew-controlled Secret-Society effort fell. France was fated to have another King dethroned, [“World Revolution.” ante, pp. 134/5.] and much Gentile blood was shed at the bidding of the Jews. What makes this event specially interesting to us is that the government which came into office as the result of this Second French Revolution put into effect a system of State-controlled Industry [“World Revolution,” ante, p. 138, and pp. 144/5.] which is the boasted aim of the British Socialist Leaders. The National Workshop Scheme which would provide work or pay for all was given a full chance to prove its feasibility and it failed miserably; [“World Revolution,” ante, p. 138, and pp. 144/5.] its idealist promoters were ejected. The British Socialists under the guidance of the Hidden Power, whose puppets they are, are preparing a similar “millennium” for this country, imagining, or pretending, that their scheme is quite new, the product of their superior brains. When they get into power they had better feather their nests quickly before a similar fate befalls their Government: perhaps that is what they intend.

44. The modern representatives of the Hidden Power have been:

    • The Illuminati;

    • The Carbonari;

    • The Haute Vente Romaine or Alta Vendita;

    • The Alliance Israélite Universelle.

    But by whatever names these bodies are known they are all manifestations of the same Jewish Power burrowing under the Gentile world. In 1918-1922 the mole-like character of this Power was demonstrated in Germany. Defeated in the War Germany was in great trouble, so up came the mole to take advantage of that trouble. The Communists hailed it under the name of “Spartacus,” the pseudonym adopted by Weishaupt, the founder of the Illuminati. The German Communists became “Spartacists,” and during a brief period of power they played as much havoc as they could with Germany’s affairs.

45. We have now completed the trail of the Jewish Serpent (or mole) from the early Cabalists right through ancient, medieval and modern Secret Societies to the present day, and from our own observations we have confirmed Dr. Isaac M. Wise’s definition, which we quoted in our Introduction, that Freemasonry is an institution which is Jewish from start to finish. In the course of our narrative we have proved conclusively that its purpose was Destruction; Destruction of Morals; Destruction of Church; Destruction of State.

46. Another striking proof of the reality of the Jewish Power is found in the case of Russia. The weakening of the morale of the Russian troops in the Great War gave Jewry one of those unique opportunities which it is so well capable of seizing. It seized this one, and a Christian people of 160 millions, and a country measuring one-sixth of the land surface of the world, fell into its hands. Russia as we knew it ceased to exist. It became a mass of humanity, a proletariat, terrorized over by an alien, Jewish, despotism. When that alien government came into power it immediately, one might almost say instantaneously, showed its Cabalistic-Gnostic-Satanic origin by raising the banner of Anti-Christ. The Russian people could not raise a finger of protest, so tightly were they held in the grip of the Jews, known to the outer world as Bolshevists.

47. It is not the purpose of this Treatise to go into any detail about the manner in which the Money Power applies its tyrannical pressure. But we would like to quote the words of an eminent Zionist, Jabotinsky, who shows how the political control of a country may pass into the hands of an alien Power when [18] sufficient “pressure” has been applied to its Ministers. He said:

“Zionism does not take ‘No’ from an English official seriously. The opinions of governments are apt to alter under pressure.”

And again:

“There is only one Power that really counts and that is the power of political pressure. We are the mightiest nation in the world because we possess that power and know how to use it.” [“World Service” (Erfurt, Germany), 1-4-35.]

Did you know that, Mr. Reader? Perhaps not, but you may safely accept Jabotinsky’s statement. Jewry has many Ministers safely under lock and key. To the eyes of the world they are free men, but in reality they are puppets. The knowledge that something unpleasant will happen to them if they show any independence keeps them submissive.

48. Even men of good family and ample means, in their efforts to obtain certain desirable, but at the same time vulnerable, positions which they cannot obtain or keep without the sacrifice of honor, make the sacrifice; they become puppets. But there are also men of no birth, no education to speak of, and no means worth mentioning, who are pushed into Parliament and rise to political and perhaps ministerial office. Some of them become wealthy, much more wealthy than can be accounted for by their salaries or possible savings. How is it done? Ask the Hidden Hand.

49. Now, Mr. Reader, we have dragged you along unaccustomed paths, and it is our duty to help you to summarize the extraordinary items of information which you have collected on the way. Do you know what you have done? You have isolated the microbe of a disease. What disease? Kindly refer for a moment to the third paragraph of our Introductory Note. There you learnt that the world is ill, and that the cause of this illness is totally inexplicable. It is not so very many years ago that the fundamental causes of many of our bodily diseases were inexplicable to the doctors. When, however, the science of bacteriology came in and made them wise on amoebas and parasites they marveled to think that such very small organisms could produce such very large effects.

50. Continuing this bacteriological simile you have tracked down the cause of World Unrest, and have isolated the microbe [19] which produces it, viz., Parasitus Judaicus, And what makes your discovery especially valuable is that you have also isolated the reason and motive for this microbe acting in this particular way.

51. You have verified that reason in the determination of the leader of an ancient people to realize the position in this world which they believe was prescribed for them by their God, Jehovah. That idea of being a Chosen People was not a new one; it was borrowed; the Egyptians had it before them. [Erman’s “Life in Ancient Egypt,” p. 32. ] But having borrowed it the Rabbis fostered it energetically and made it a real obsession in the minds of their people. If we look at their orthodox Bible, the Old Testament, we see that obsession firmly established. It runs all through the historical part, continues in the books of the Prophets, and finds its consummation in the 60th Chapter of Isaiah, in which the whole Gentile world becomes subservient to Jewry. Verse 12 says:

“For that nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.”

52. When we came to the Jews’ second Bible, the Talmud, in our paragraph 15 we found the same idea carried forward but with a different sort of climax. Jehovah was pushed on one side and in his place the Rabbis ordained that a deified People, Israel, should eventually become its own Messiah. The result to the Gentile nations, however, remains the same as before.

53. So in that grand objective you isolated the reason for the unremitting efforts of Jewry to realize its supposed destiny. You also saw the reason for profound secrecy and for the use of underhand methods, Misrepresentation and Perversion.

54. Seeing that all Secret Societies are supposed to be, and try to be, really Secret it might be thought that investigators like ourselves have to guess at what lies behind the veil. But it so happens that the archives of at least two of the most important of all Secret Societies, viz., the Knights Templars [“World, Unrest,” ante, p. 64] and the Illuminati [Poneins, ante, pp. 16/17 and 31.] were seized, and the objects and methods of those Societies were exposed to public view. The same thing happened in the case of the Hungarian Revolution of 1918-19, which was conducted by a Jew named Bela Kun. From the papers seized in Hungary [Ibid, p. 17.] we learn that at the Basle Jewish Congress of 1897 the Grand Master said:

“We must spread the spirit of revolt among the workers. It is they whom we shall send to the barricades… for we have need of their discontent to ruin Christian civilization and hasten anarchy. It is necessary that the moment arrive when the Christians shall come themselves and implore the Jews to take control.”

55. Instead of imploring the Jews to take control it would be much better for the Gentiles to implore themselves to sit up and use a little common-sense. In numbers they are over 100 to 1. Are the 100 going to ask the 1 to govern them because they are too stupid to govern themselves?

56. As regards the workers, the Jews say that they have need of their DISCONTENT; they therefore foster it so that the workers may themselves create that condition of anarchy which will engulf everything, including themselves. The workers do not know that at the far end of the channels of Socialism and Communism along which they are being shepherded by the Hidden Hand they are to meet their political doom in the same way as the Russians met their political doom.

57. Now let us clinch the main point of our newly acquired knowledge. Without going so far as to say that all Secret Societies are necessarily evil we can say without fear of reasonable contradiction that all the Secret Societies which had their origin in the Jewish scheme of world-domination are not only evil but perniciously and malignantly so. The peoples of the world have from time to time designed all sorts of deadly weapons with which to fight each other. The undermining of fortresses and military positions is a method practiced by all belligerents, but only in war-time. It has been left to the Jew to carry on a peace-time “campaign” (if that word can be applied to the case in which there is only one belligerent) in which the aggressor employs the undermining method from day to day, from year to year and, like the death-watch beetle, from century to century. The fortress to be reduced is the whole of the Gentile world, and more especially that part of it which is of the Christian religion. The plan of campaign is (that is to say was, and still is) to sap the moral and intellectual fibres of the Gentiles to such an extent that they lose their grip on their religions and other institutions. The aggressor then penetrates those institutions and causes them to fail. That has been the purpose of all the Jew-designed Secret Societies which we have examined; the demoralizing and stupefying of a large part of the human race. It has been so successful that the Jew, with the help of [21] Big Money, which gives him financial, economic and political domination, has nearly attained his purpose; nearly but not quite; Germany has led the revolt. If the other nations throw off their cloak of ignorance the game will be up.

58. In our Introductory Note we undertook to introduce to the puzzled Gentile politicians the Power that is responsible for their political perplexities. We have shown them the Power which, with the help of Freemasonry, engineered all the big revolutions of modern times, starting from the Great French Revolution of 1789 and including the Russian Revolution of 1917-18. A Power that can do that and can also control the Currencies and Exchanges of the world is the greatest Power in the world. But who gives a moment’s thought to that Power when discussing the doings of the League of Nations which is itself a Jewish institution? With the knowledge obtained from a perusal of this Paper the ordinary man is enabled to see the Prime Movers hidden behind the screen of puppet politicians who masquerade in the League of Nations as the Saviours of Civilization. But they possess no real power. Their movements are directed by the Hidden Hand.

27. We now come to another highly important Secret Society, the Rosicrucians or “Order of the Rose Croix.” [Webster, ante, pp. 84-98. ] Just as the Templars were the chief agents for importing the poison of Eastern Secret Societies into Europe so the Rosicrucians were the chief agents for implanting that poison into English Freemasonry. The doctrine of the Rosicrucians was a compound of Arabian and Syrian magic and of Jewish Cabalism partly inherited from the Templars but reinforced by direct contact with Cabalistic Jews in Germany. Mirabeau,[Mirabeau’s “Histoire de la Monarchie Prassienne,” V., 76.] the great French revolutionary, [10] who was well acquainted with those matters, said that the Rosicrucian Order was merely that of the Templars secretly perpetuated.

28. This brings us to English Freemasonry. This came into existence in 1717 when the Guilds of Operative or Working Masons allowed non-operative or Speculative Masons to penetrate their Lodges and, in conjunction with them, to inaugurate English Grand Lodge. Guilds of Working Masons had been in existence in some countries for centuries before 1717. They were Societies working under secret conditions for the safeguarding of their professional, architectural, interests. By their connection with old Societies of the same sort the English Operative Masons had acquired the use of Jewish rituals and symbols, but they used them in a purely symbolic sense and were not Judaised by them. They had three degrees, Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason, and when Grand Lodge was formed these degrees, modified so as to eliminate mention of the Christian God, were carried forward and formed the ritual, the sole ritual, of English Freemasonry which was also known by the name of Craft Masonry, or Blue Masonry. But, having bestowed their three degrees on English Freemasonry, the Operative Masons faded away; they lost their Masonic identity: the Speculative Masons became supreme.

29. The particular Secret Society Order which engineered this amalgamation and acquired control of English Freemasonry on behalf of Jewry was the Rosicrucian Order. The Jewishness of the whole affair is seen in the design of the coat of arms for English Grand Lodge. It consisted of symbols purely Cabalistic. Mr. Lucien Wolf, a Jewish authority, said that they belong to the highest and most mystical domain of Hebrew symbolism. What possible use could English Freemasons have for these Judaic symbols? None, but they stand as witness of the continuity of grip which Jewry has applied to all Secret Society movements from the First Century to the present day.

30. Now let us return to the three Craft degrees above mentioned. If English Freemasonry stopped there it could claim to be altogether harmless, as there is nothing in those degrees to excite the English Freemason to become a revolutionary either against Church or State. But beyond those degrees there are others which were designed, purposely designed, to create the revolutionary spirit. When English Grand Lodge had been established other Grand Lodges or, as they call them, Orients, were formed in the Capitals of Europe, notably the Grand Orient of France. Also there arose in our midst what is known as the Scottish Rite. All these institutions are revolutionary, as we shall see when we examine some of their rituals. But first let us [11] state that there is a difference of opinion among English Masons as to the recognized scope of English Masonry. Some regard Blue Masonry as the only orthodox ritual. Others hold that such “higher” degrees of the other Rites as have not been barred by English Grand Lodge are permissible. French Grand Orient has been barred by English Grand Lodge, but there are others that have not been barred. The Scottish Rite has not been barred, and as it is typical of revolutionary Freemasonry we will examine some of its rituals. And let us take note that many highly placed English Freemasons have been initiated into its highest degrees. The bulk of English Freemasons do not go beyond the orthodox Third Degree; they are therefore harmless. They are also ignorant of what lies beyond; they are ignorant that they themselves form a harmless link in a harmful chain. And yet not altogether harmless; the watchful eye of Jewry can select from among these men certain special types who are suitable for initiation into the “higher” degrees. The process is a very subtle and gradual one. The candidate is not allowed to go far if he is found wanting in the right Masonic, i.e., revolutionary, spirit.

31. Now for the “higher” rituals; we are quoting again from pages 57 to 62 of “The Cause of World Unrest.” In the Third Degree the candidate had already been told to do two things, to find a mysterious “Lost Word” and to avenge the death of Hiram Abiff, Solomon’s chief architect, who was murdered during the building of the Temple. He is not destined to find the Lost Word until the Eighteenth Degree, but the affair of Hiram Abiff is disposed of in the Ninth Degree, when the Candidate stabs a figure representing the murderer. In this Degree certain things are said to induce the Candidate to adopt a revolutionary spirit. In the Eleventh Degree the Candidate undertakes to become a “Governor in Israel”!!! The next three Degrees, the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth, are concerned with the re-building of Solomon’s Temple.

32. In the Fifteenth Degree the Jewishness of the whole affair (we are supposed to be describing English Freemasonry) is further indicated. The seventy lights in the Lodge are said to allude to the 70 years of the Hebrew Captivity, the Babylonian Captivity, of course; and the Candidate is made to say that he is travelling from Babylon to Jerusalem. His attention is again called to the Tyranny of Kings; this gives a further fillip to his revolutionary tendencies.

33. The Eighteenth, the Rosicrucian Degree, is of special interest to us because it was the Rosicrucians who took the chief part in founding English Grand Lodge. We already know that [12] they were a form of resuscitated Templars, and that one of their chief objects was the destruction of “Church.” To show how this is done we will quote the Abbé Barruel, the leading authority on Jews and Masonry.

“As soon as the Candidate has proved that he understands the Masonic meaning (Igne Natura Renovatur Integra, or All nature is renewed by fire.) of the inscription INRI (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews) the Master of the Lodge exclaims ‘My dear brethren, the word is found.’ All present applaud the luminous discovery that HE whose death was the consummation of the Christian religion was no more than a Common Jew crucified for his crimes… It is on the Gospel and the Son of Man that the Candidate is to Avenge the brethren, the Pontiffs of Jehovah.” [“World Unrest,” ante, pp. 57-62]

If the Candidate is convinced by this the first half of his Masonic education is complete; he finds himself on the side of those who would subvert the Church.

34. There remains, however, another important object, and that is the subversion of the State, and we shall find this in the Thirtieth Degree. On the way we pass the Twenty-Seventh, the Knights Templar, Degree. [Ibid.] We have already described them historically, and we meet them again, Masonically, in the Thirtieth Degree. [Ibid.] This is a very important Degree because in its ritual it exposes the trickery, the falsity of all that has gone before. Addressing the Candidate the Master says:—

“My Brother, you desire to unite yourself to an Order which has labored in silence and secrecy for more than 500 years with a single end in view, and with only partial success. The Order of the Knights Kadosch has for its mission the Avenging of a great crime. Do you fully understand that this Degree is not like much of so-called Masonry, a sham that means nothing and amounts to nothing… that what you are engaged on is real, will require the performance of duty, will exact sacrifice, will expose you to danger, and that this Order means to deal with the affairs of nations and be once more a Power in the World?” [Ibid.]

The Candidate then learns that the great crime which calls for vengeance is the execution of Jacques de Molai (see paragraph 22 of this Treatise), whose Order, the Templars, was excommunicated by Pope Clement 5, and who was himself burnt at the stake by order of the French King in 1314.

[13]

35. The Candidate by this time is an adept in the idea of vengeance. First of all it was Hiram Abiff, then the Pontiffs of Jehovah, and then Jacques de Molai. He may not care two straws about the individuals, but they have served their symbolic purpose during a period when the virus of revolution has been instilled into his mind. He is now a full-blown revolutionary, an enemy of Church and State, and bound by oaths to act when called upon.

36. Now as to the active use to which these men may be put. The skeptic may feel inclined to pooh-pooh the whole business as so much mummery with only a pretended purpose behind it, but let us ask Disraeli whether this is the case. We have already quoted him in paragraph 7 of this Treatise as saying:

“We must take into consideration Secret Societies who can disconcert all measures at the last moment, who have agents everywhere, determined men, encouraging assassinations, etc.”

Those agents, those “determined men” have to be carefully selected, and we have just noted how they select them. We have seen that they are bound by oath to do those things which enable the Hidden Hand to “deal with the affairs of nations” as stated in the ritual of the Thirtieth Degree. A little further on we shall show how, in 1789, they “dealt with the affairs” of the French nation. First, however, let us examine the events in connection with the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria, in 1914.

37. On the 15th September, 1912, a Paris paper, “Revue Internationale des Sociétés Secrètes” made the following statement:

“Perhaps light will be shed one day on these words of a high Swiss Mason on the subject of the heir to the throne of Austria: ‘He is a remarkable man; it is a pity he is condemned; he will die on the steps of the throne.’” [Poncins, ante, p. 77.]

Two years later the sentence passed on him by Freemasonry was carried out. From the shorthand notes of the trial we obtain some interesting facts. Cabrinovic, one of the convicted murderers, gave evidence which proved conclusively the close connection between this murder and Freemasonry. He was himself a Freemason, and he upheld the villainous principle of revolutionary Freemasonry by saying “In Freemasonry it is permitted to kill.” [Ibid. p. 83.] Another murderer, Princip, the one who fired [14] the fatal shots, denied (in a suspiciously confused manner) being a Freemason, but made statements that confirmed what Cabrinovic had said about the Masonic origin of the murder. He gave political reasons for his own share in it.

38. In the Fifteenth Degree we saw the intention of Freemasonry to remove Kings and Presidents. In the space of a very few years the thrones of the following countries have by some means or other been emptied:—France, Germany, Austria, Russia, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Greece and China. Is that nothing? Or is it a series of coincidences?

39. Turning from Kings to Presidents, we will mention the cases of Lincoln and Garfield. Abraham Lincoln had the temerity to frame a scheme for lending money to the American people without the help of the Money Power. That, of course, was not to be tolerated from any President, however eminent; he was assassinated. President Garfield also held what the Jews regard as obnoxious views on the subject of the Money question. He said, “Whoever controls the Money of a Nation controls that Nation.” He was assassinated. Benjamin Franklin, President of the State of Pennsylvania, would certainly have shared the same fate if he had lived 120 years later. In 1790, however, the Jews had not got fully into their stride in America. Otherwise, do you think they would have tolerated the following words of Benjamin Franklin?

“In whatever country Jews have settled in large numbers they have lowered its moral tone; they have depreciated its commercial integrity—and when opposed have tried to strangle that country to death financially… They are vampires, and cannot live amongst themselves only; they must subsist on Christians and other people not of their race. If you do not exclude them from the United States in this Constitution in less than 200 years they will have swarmed here in great numbers that they will dominate and devour the land. If you do not exclude them in less than 200 years our descendants will be working in the fields to furnish them sustenance, while they will be in the counting house rubbing their hands gleefully. I warn you, gentlemen, that if you do not exclude the Jews for all time your children’s children will curse you in your graves.” [“World Service” (Erfurt, Germany), August, 1934.]

Those words were spoken nearly 150 years ago. Today we see the U.S.A. President writhing in the grip of the Money Power. Whether the American people are cursing the politicians who disregarded Franklin’s appeal cannot appropriately be stated here.

[15]

40. Now we deal with the Great French Revolution of 1789. The ordinary Gentile of today, after reading the history of that Revolution, remains stark staring ignorant of what forces were in play. He can see two parties only, the People who wanted a Constitution, and the King who was slow in granting it. Eventually, when the Revolution was in progress, the King capitulated. There was then no reason for the continuance of the revolution. But a cessation of it did not suit the views of the Jews who were hidden behind the Secret Societies. They had staged the whole affair, and they were going to run it their own way. The French people might come to an arrangement with the French King, but the Power that can (as Disraeli puts it) “disconcert all measures” did disconcert that measure. From that time forward what happened was of a much bloodier nature than what had gone before.

41. And who, you may ask, were the Hidden Power’s chief agents in that affair? They were the Jacobin Clubs [Webster’s “World Revolution,” p. 33.] drawn from the Lodges of French Freemasonry and mobilized for war, Secret Society war, by a very secret society called the Illuminati, [Ibid, pp. 27/28.] which had been suppressed in Bavaria shortly before the French Revolution. Transferring their activities to France they created the Jacobin Clubs. A high French Freemason, Jean Bon, Deputy of the Seine, speaking in 1919, said:

“The Society of the Jacobins, which was the great author of the French Revolution, was only the exterior aspect of the Masonic Lodge;” [Marqués-Riviere’s “La Trahison Spirituelle de la Franc-Maçonnerie,” Patriot Newspaper, London, 28-3-35.]

That is the same thing as saying, “the authors of the Revolution were Jews.” The Masonic Lodge in France was created by Jews for purely revolutionary purposes.

Part 4

10. Imagine, then, the indignation of this superior people when Christianity came and stood in their path and was accepted by the nations. Something had to be done about it, and accordingly the destruction of Christianity and all other Gentile religions, and all Gentile States, became the supreme object to be pursued to the bitter end, even if it took (as it has taken) centuries to accomplish.

11. In this one-sided campaign only the most subtle and underhand methods would be of any use. By encouraging the baser instincts of the Gentiles their moral strength would be undermined; their revolutionary tendencies would be developed, and they would contribute to their own downfall. Secrecy, therefore, was essential, and behind that screen could be worked a system of Misrepresentation, Demoralization and Perversion, all leading to Destruction; Secrecy of the Secret Societies, Misrepresentation of facts, Demoralization of character, and Perversion of religious faiths and scriptures, all leading to the Subversion of the whole Gentile structure of Civilization, its Churches and its States.

12. In order to trace the working of this scheme up to the present day we will start in the First Century, A.D., and take special note of a sect called the Gnostics, from whom flowed other sects, all promoters of vice and corruption. We are told that the founder of Gnosticism was a Jewish magician named Simon Magus [Webster’s “Secret Societies,” pp. 28-32.] and we learn from a high Freemason, Ragon, [Ibid.] that the Gnostics were “born of the Cabalists.” The secret scheme which the Gnostics built up on this Jewish foundation was a jumble of theosophy, occultism, magic, sorcery and incantations; in fact, Cabalism. The trouble they took to issue corrupt versions of the Gospels of St. Matthew, St. Luke and St. John showed that one of their methods was Perversion. [Ibid.] They had perverted their original Bible by introducing the Talmud; and in their Gnostic movement they were trying to pervert the Christian Scriptures. Mrs. Webster, who is a high authority on these matters, said:

“The role of the Gnostics was to reduce Perversion to a system by bringing men together into sects working under the guise of enlightenment, in order to obscure all recognized ideas of morality and religion. It is this which constitutes their importance in the history of Secret Societies.” Eliphas Lévi, [Ibid.] another authority, said that under the pretext [5] of “spiritualizing matter they had materialized the spirit in the most revolting ways, substituting the mystical license of sensual passions in place of moral law.” So in the first Secret Society which we have examined we have found:

• Jewish Cabalism.

• Perversion of the Scriptures.

• Demoralization and Debauchery.

13. One sect of Gnosties, the Ophites, [Dean Milman’s “History of the Jews,” II., 491.] worshiped the Snake because he had revolted against God in the Garden of Eden Here we have worship of Evil for Evil’s sake.

14. Another sect of Gnostics, the Cainites, [E. de Faye’s “Gnostiques et Gnosticisme,” p. 349.] worshiped Cain, Dathan and Abairam, the men of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Judas Iscariot. They seem to have been specialists in the choice of Evil things to worship. It seems hardly necessary to add that both the Ophites and the Cainites committed every kind of infamy.

15. We ask the reader to take particular notice of the Carpoeracian [Webster, ante, p. 30.] Secret Society of Gnostics of the Second Century because they furnish an important link in the chain of Subversion. They obliterated all idea of God by deifying Humanity: Humanity became its own God. Coming forward to the present day for an example of this we find this system established in the Talmud. Baruch Levy, writing to Karl Marx, said:

“The Jewish people taken collectively will be its own Messiah. Thus will be realized the promise of the Talmud that when the Times of the Messiah are come the Jews will hold under their keys the properties of all the peoples of the world.”

That idea of a deified People was put into practice at any rate as far back as the Second Century by the Carpocracians. The people thus deified might have been expected to act in a God-like fashion. But the opposite was the case. These Gnostics behaved like all the other Gnostics, that is to say, they indulged in every sort of vice.

16. We now turn to the Manicheans [Hastings’ Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics.] of Persia (216 A.D.), a sect founded by Manes (alias Cubicus), who evolved a system of Cabalism, Zoroastrianism and Gnosticism, evolved a system known as Dualism, which recognizes the two principles of Good and Evil, and holds that Humanity came from an Evil source, the offspring of devils. This latter idea is found in the Cabala, [6] which says that Adam cohabited with female devils, and Eve with the Serpent. [Treatise Bereschith, folio 54.] Not a very edifying story, but interesting to us as it follows the trail of the Jewish Serpent running through the Secret Societies.

17. We now pass from the Gnosticism of the perverted Jews to the Gnosticism of the perverted Moslems. The founder of the Ismaili Sect was Abdullah-ibn-Maymun, the son of a Persian doctor. It was due to his knowledge of Gnostic Dualism that he conceived the idea of making himself powerful by means of a Seeret Society. He showed remarkable skill and cunning in carrying out that idea. He kept his initiates unknown to each other, and dealt with each one according to his personal idiosyncrasies. With the devout there was religious fervor; with the mystics there was mysticism; with others there was magic and legerdemain; and so on. [Reinhart Dozy, “Spanish Islam,” pp. 403-5.] It was only to the select few that his ultimate purpose was revealed in its entirety. And what was his creed? That religion and morality were nothing but an imposture and an absurdity! Here again we find Perversion and Demoralization, salient features of these movements.

18. On the ground so carefully prepared by Abdullah the Ismailis were destined to conquer a great part of Arabia under the leadership of a Persian Ismaili named Karmath [Webster, ante, pp. 38-40.] The latter mobilized a powerful band of brigands who pillaged the country and massacred all opponents. In accordance with the Gnostic-Dualistic creed the Karmathites indulged in every form of immoral license.

19. Next we come to the Fatimite Dynasty of the Moslem Caliphs (A.D. 908-1171). The Fourth Caliph of that line, having embraced the Gnostic-Ismaili creed, inaugurated in Cairo the first Grand Lodge. The doings of the Sixth Caliph are worth mentioning because in them we see some of the modern methods of Secret Society Freemasonry foretold. He had many degrees of initiation, and kept the various classes of initiates unknown to each other. It was at the sixth degree that the proselyte was taught that religion was unnecessary. At the ninth degree there was nothing left of morality to throw overboard.[Webster, ante, pp. 38-40.]

[7]

20. The Order of the Assassins (about 1090 A.D.) comes into our story because the Knights Templars, who introduced Eastern Secret Society methods into Europe, came into intimate contact with them. The founder of the Assassins was a free-thinking Persian Moslem named Hasan, a friend of the poet Omar Khayyam. Having adopted the Ismaili creed, and having drawn to himself some other proselytes, Hasan managed to establish himself as a sort of brigand in the mountains round about Palestine. He had been to the Grand Lodge in Cairo and had learnt the Ismaili Secret Society movement thoroughly; he modified it to suit his special requirements. For instance, he made a pretense of being an orthodox Moslem. And he made use of “hashish,” a hempen drug, with which he stupefied his early initiates, and caused them to think that they had been in communication with the Prophet Mohamed, and that the latter had ordered them to take oaths to assassinate the opponents of their Sect. Here we have murder organised on a basis of religious fervor. [Webster, ante, pp. 44-48.]

21. Mrs. Webster says that the system employed by Hasan was to a large extent the model on which all systems of organised murder, working through fanaticism, such as the Irish Republican Brotherhood, were based; and the signs, symbols and initiations of the Grand Lodge of Cairo formed the groundwork for the great Secret Societies of Europe.

22. We now come to the Knights Templars. This Order was instituted in 1118 by nine French gentlemen whose purpose was to protect pilgrims who visited the Holy Shrine in Jerusalem. They were bound by vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. [Webster, ante, p. 49.] Their operations in Palestine brought them at first into unfriendly contact with the Assassins, but the Chief of that Order who was known as “The Old Man of the Mountains” set on foot some subtle negotiations with the result that the Templars became closely intimate with the Assassins. [Dr. Bussell’s “Religious Thought and Heresy in the Middle Ages,” p. 796.] A French writer, Comte de Canteleu, who had access to the archives of the Templars, said that a perusal of them showed that their association with the Assassins was really a sinister one. [“Cause of World Unrest” (Grant Richards, London), p. 64.] One of the Knights, Guillaume de Montbard, was initiated into the Order by their Grand Master, and his companions followed suit. [Ibid, p. 65.] The Assassins’ creed was the Ismaili one, and grafted on to that was a ritual for rebuilding Solomon’s Temple. As the original members of [8] the Assassins’ Order were Moslems and not interested in the rebuilding of Solomon’s Jewish Temple it is clear that the Order had been penetrated by a Jewish element. When the Templars imported this Gnostic-Ismaili-Judaic creed into Europe an eminent Freemason, Clavel, showed that their organisation corresponded closely with that of the Assassins and had the same hierarchy of degrees. Their objects, too, were similar; both conspired for the ruin of the religion which they professed in public.[Webster, ante, p. 63.] In 1805 Pope Clement V. recalled the Templars to Europe to account for their misdeeds. Their leader, Jacques de Molai, arrived in France with sixty Knights and large sums of money. They were tried on several charges, one of which was that they defiled their own religion, and another that they had practiced unnatural vices, a familiar feature of these Judaic Secret Societies. They were found guilty, and fifty-four Knights and Jacques de Molai himself were burnt at the stake by order of the French King, Philippe-le-Bel. The Pope excommunicated the Order, and in England it was suppressed. [Webster, ante, pp. 51-56.]

23. Now please note that the Templars of that day had a grievance against the Church for having caused their downfall, and against the State for executing Jacques de Molai. This combined grievance gave the Hidden Hand a peg on which to hang a scheme of Revenge. This was worked subtly into the rituals of the higher degrees of Freemasonry until at the thirtieth degree [“Cause of World Unrest,” ante, p. 62.] the Candidate emerges a full-blown revolutionary bound by oath to avenge Jacques de Molai and to subvert the State when called upon to do so. The ritual shows that these undertakings are meant seriously and not symbolically.

24. The Templars were not the only importers of Eastern Cults of Evil into Europe. In the Ninth Century a sect called the Bogomils, [Webster, ante, p. 63.] or Satanists, migrated from Syria and Mesopotamia into the Balkans. They were Gnostic or Manichcean Dualists. They said that God had two sons, Satanael and Jesus. As the latter came down to earth and, according to their idea, failed in his mission, Satan was the stronger and should be worshiped. We need go no further.

25. About 1180 A.D. the name “Albigenses” [Webster, ante, p. 74.] was applied to a Sect of Dualists who had spread into France from Eastern [9] Europe. Many of them were returned Crusaders, and they had brought back from the East the same sort of taint as that which the Templars imported into Europe. During their sojourn in Bulgaria the Albigenses earned the unenviable name of “Bougres,” or, as Isaiah would have expressed it, people of Sodom and Gomorrah. They settled in France in the country round about Languedoc which became known as the “Judea of France” owing to the large number of Jews in their sect. So here again we touch Dualism, Gnosticism, Cabalism and Jews; and, as usual, Immorality.

26. We have already described one Sect of Satanism, the Bogomils of the Ninth Century. In the Fifteenth Century another cult of Satanism arose. Eliphas Lévi says that the essence of Satanism is desecration: [“The Mysteries of Magic” (Eliphas Lévi), p. 216.]

“It is requisite to profane the ceremonies of the religion one belongs to, and to trample its holiest symbols under foot.” A certain Marshal of France, Gilles de Rais, having become a convert to Satanism, indulged in the most abominable debaucheries. In pursuit of the rites of Black Magic he made holocausts of little boys and girls. Eliphas Lévi says: “The Jews, the most faithful trustees of the secrets of the Cabala, were always the great masters of magic in the middle ages,”

and Voltaire says:

“This ancient superstition comes from the secrets of the Cabala of which the Jews call themselves the sole repositories.”

So here again we find the same root-cause, the Jew and his Cabala.

Part 3

INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

I. The object of this Treatise is to show what an important part Secret Societies in general and Freemasonry in particular have played in the advancement of the Jewish plot for world-domination. The Secret Society movement dates from before the Christian Era. English Freemasonry, which was formally established in 1717 A.D., is merely one of the lineal descendants of that age-old movement.

2. The veil of Freemasonry behind which the promoters of this scheme work is, as Dr. Isaac M. Wise has stated in the “Israelite of America” of 3rd August, 1886:

“A Jewish institution whose history, degrees, passwords and explanations are Jewish from beginning to end.”

3. Thinking men ever since the War have been asking themselves what it is that disconcerts all measures for peace between the nations. Even a concourse of delegates from many strong nations meeting together to establish peace by agreement feel that the ground on which they stand is undermined. That feeling of insecurity is so intense that the delegates spend much of their time in and out of their meetings assuring themselves and each other that they intend to stand by their Covenant. Their fidelity to a Covenant would go without saying and would be an understood thing in ordinary circumstances; but the circumstances are not ordinary. Their tremblings are really justified, but most of them do not know why. If they will read this paper they will make acquaintance with the Power that causes them so much perturbaton. It is that Power, operating to a large extent through Masonic channels, that keeps the governments of the world in a state of permanent unrest. It is the Power of the Jews.

4. The writers of this Treatise have drawn freely upon Mrs. Webster’s “Secret Societies and Subversive Movements.” They tender thanks to that talented writer for collating such valuable information on this sinister subject. Mrs. Webster’s book should be in the possession of all who are seeking knowledge on the causes of world unrest. It is published by The Boswell Publishing Co., 10, Essex Street, Strand, London.

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THE EVIL PURPOSE BEHIND SECRET SOCIETIES.

1. There are some Secret Societies whose purpose is harmless. They, however, do not come within our survey. We are concerned with the long series of Secret Societies of Jewish origin that had its beginnings in the First Century, A.D., and had behind it the definite purpose of subverting all religions, except the Jewish religion, and debauching the minds of men, especially the leaders of men, so that they might lose their power to govern themselves decently. The idea was that in that condition they would come under the control of an outside Power, the Power that conceived this method and this purpose, the Jewish Power.

2. Starting with the Gnostics of the First Century, A.D., we trace their poisonous taint through a long list of Secret Societies, the Ophites, Cainites, Carpocracians, Manichceans, Ismailis, Karmathites, Fatimites and Assassins. Then this evil movement was carried from the East to the West. The Knights Templars brought it to France and England, having been thoroughly debauched themselves by the Assassins in Syria. Other Gentile agents brought it to other parts of Europe where it produced such evil bodies as the Bogomils, the Albigenses and the Satanists.

3. In the Sixteenth Century we arrive at the Rosicrucians who were the chief actors in the formation of English Grand Lodge. In the rituals of the higher Degrees of Freemasonry we find the Prime Purpose from which we started firmly established, and that purpose is the destruction of Gentile Church and Gentile State.

4. The Jew regards, or pretends to regard, Anti-Semitism as the outcome of diseased or ill-informed minds. But we cannot admit that the Encyclicals and other pronouncements of the Popes of the Roman Catholic Church are the outcome of diseased minds. In them we find some very plain speaking by many of the Popes, notably by Leo XIII. and Pius VII. The latter knew what he was talking about when he said:—

“They brazenly defend lustful excesses. They teach that it is lawful to assassinate those who betray their secrets, and to stir up sedition against Kings and other Rulers.”

Pius IX. very properly reprobated those who hold the view that Freemasonry is only a harmless institution, and that there is nothing to fear from it. [Cahill’s “Freemasonry and the Anti-Christian Movement,” pp. 122 and 124.]

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5. The most frequently-quoted secular authority on the reality of the Masonic Hidden Power is Disraeli. Referring to the French Revolution of 1848 he said:

“It was neither parliaments, nor populations, nor the course of events that overthrew the throne of Louis Philippe…The throne was surprised by the Secret Societies, ever prepared to ravage Europe. [“Lord George Bentinck.” Ch. 27.]

That was in 1852.

6. In the House of Commons on July 14th, 1856, he said:

“It is useless to deny, because it is impossible to conceal, that a great part of Europe—the whole of Italy and France and a great portion of Germany, to say nothing of other countries—is covered with a network of these Secret Societies. And what are their objects?—they do not want constitutional government—they want to put an end to ecclesiastical establishments.” [Mrs. Webster’s “Secret Societies and Subversive Movements,” p. iv.]

In other words they require, the destruction of Church and State.

7. And again, speaking at Aylesbury in 1873, he said:

“We must take into consideration Secret Societies who can disconcert all measures at the last moment, who have agents everywhere, determined men, encouraging assassinations, and capable of bringing about a massacre at any given moment.”

8. Now let us get down to detail. The early Jews had a secret philosophy called the Cabala. It had existed before their time and the Rabbis “adapted” it. In their hands it was mingled with barbaric superstitions, sorcery and so-called magic, and its nature was Judaised.

9. In the book of the Cabala, called the “Zohar,” we find the origin of the idea that the Israelites are a Chosen People. They claim that they sprang from the Supreme-Man, whereas the rest of mankind sprang from the Supreme-Devil. That accounts for the peculiar racial psychology of the Jews. The creed of the Cabala was carried forward into the Talmud, the Jews’ latter day Bible. There we find their racial superiority insisted on. Let us quote:

“Where it is written ‘Thou shalt not do injury to thy neighbour’ it is not said ‘Thou shalt not do injury to a Gentile.’”

“If a Jew kill a Gentile he is not responsible.”

And again:—

“On the house of the Gentile one looks as on the fold of cattle.”

Part 2

Through Huldah the Lord sent Josiah word that Jerusalem’s ruin could not be averted. Even should the people now humble themselves before God, they could not escape their punishment. So long had their senses been deadened by wrongdoing, that if judgment should not come upon them, they would soon return to the same sinful course. “Tell the man that sent you to me,” the prophetess declared, “Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read: because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.” 2 Kings 22:15-17.

But because the king had humbled his heart before God, the Lord would acknowledge his promptness in seeking forgiveness and mercy. To him was sent the message: “Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, … and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place.” Verses 19, 20.

The king must leave with God the events of the future; he could not alter the eternal decrees of Jehovah. But in announcing the retributive judgments of Heaven, the Lord had not withdrawn opportunity for repentance and reformation; and Josiah, discerning in this a willingness on the part of God to temper his judgments with mercy, determined to do all in his power to bring about decided reforms. He arranged at once for a great convocation, to which were invited the elders and magistrates in Jerusalem and Judah, together with the common people. These, with the priests and Levites, met the king in the court of the temple.

To this vast assembly the king himself read “all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.” 2 Kings 23:2. The royal reader was deeply affected, and he delivered his message with the pathos of a broken heart. His hearers were profoundly moved. The intensity of feeling revealed in the countenance of the king, the solemnity of the message itself, the warning of judgments impending,—all these had their effect, and many determined to join with the king in seeking forgiveness.

Josiah now proposed that those highest in authority unite with the people in solemnly covenanting before God to co-operate with one another in an effort to institute decided changes. “The king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book.” The response was more hearty than the king had dared hope for: “All the people stood to the covenant.” 2 Kings 23:3.

In the reformation that followed, the king again turned his attention to the destruction of every vestige of idolatry that remained. So long had the inhabitants of the land followed the customs of the surrounding nations in bowing down to images of wood and stone, that it seemed almost beyond the power of man to remove every trace of these evils. But Josiah persevered in his effort to cleanse the land. Sternly he met idolatry by slaying “all the priests of the high places;” “moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.” 2 Kings 23:20, 24.

In the days of the rending of the kingdom, centuries before, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, in bold defiance of the God whom Israel had served, was endeavoring to turn the hearts of the people away from the services of the temple in Jerusalem to new forms of worship, he had set up an unconsecrated altar at Bethel. During the dedication of this altar, where many in years to come were to be seduced into idolatrous practices, there had suddenly appeared a man of God from Judea, with words of condemnation for the sacrilegious proceedings. He had “cried against the altar,” declaring:

“O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord: Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burned upon thee.” 1 Kings 13:2. This announcement had been accompanied by a sign that the word spoken was of the Lord.

Three centuries had passed. During the reformation wrought by Josiah, the king found himself in Bethel, where stood this ancient altar. The prophecy uttered so many years before in the presence of Jeroboam, was now to be literally fulfilled.

“The altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.

“And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchers that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchers, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.

“Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulcher of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel. And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.” 2 Kings 23:15-18.

On the southern slopes of Olivet, opposite the beautiful temple of Jehovah on Mt. Moriah, were the shrines and images that had been placed there by Solomon to please his idolatrous wives. See 1 Kings 11:6-8. For upward of three centuries the great, misshapen images had stood on the “Mount of Offense,” mute witnesses to the apostasy of Israel’s wisest king. These, too, were removed and destroyed by Josiah.

The king sought further to establish the faith of Judah in the God of their fathers by holding a great Passover feast, in harmony with the provisions made in the book of the law. Preparation was by those having the sacred services in charge, and on the great day of the feast, offerings were freely made. “There was not holden such a Passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah.” 2 Kings 23:22. But the zeal of Josiah, acceptable though it was to God, could not atone for the sins of past generations; nor could the piety displayed by the king’s followers effect a change of heart in many who stubbornly refused to turn from idolatry to the worship of the true God.

For more than a decade following the celebration of the Passover, Josiah continued to reign. At the age of thirty-nine he met death in battle with the forces of Egypt, “and was buried in one of the sepulchers of his fathers.” “All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.” 2 Chronicles 35:24-27.

Like unto Josiah “was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him. Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, … because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.” 2 Kings 23:25, 26. The time was rapidly approaching when Jerusalem was to be utterly destroyed, and the inhabitants of the land carried captive to Babylon, there to learn the lessons they had refused to learn under circumstances more favorable.

The silent yet powerful influence set in operation by the messages of the prophets regarding the Babylonian captivity, did much to prepare the way for a reformation that took place in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign. This reform movement, by which threatened judgments were averted for a season, was brought about in a wholly unexpected manner through the discovery and study of a portion of Holy Scripture that for many years had been strangely misplaced and lost.

Nearly a century before, during the first Passover celebrated by Hezekiah, provision had been made for the daily public reading of the book of the law to the people by teaching priests. It was the observance of the statutes recorded by Moses—especially those given in the book of the covenant, which forms a part of Deuteronomy—that had made the reign of Hezekiah so prosperous. But Manasseh had dared to set aside these statutes; and during his reign the temple copy of the book of the law, through careless neglect, had become lost. Thus for many years the people generally were deprived of its instruction.

The long-lost manuscript was found in the temple by Hilkiah, the high priest, while the building was undergoing extensive repairs in harmony with King Josiah’s plan for the preservation of the sacred structure. The high priest handed the precious volume to Shaphan, a learned scribe, who read it, and then took it to the king with the story of its discovery.

Josiah was deeply stirred as he heard read for the first time the exhortations and warnings recorded in this ancient manuscript. Never before had he realized so fully the plainness with which God had set before Israel “life and death, blessing and cursing” (Deuteronomy 30:19); and how repeatedly they had been urged to choose the way of life, that they might become a praise in the earth, a blessing to all nations. “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid,” Israel had been exhorted through Moses; “for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” Deuteronomy 31:6.

The book abounded in assurances of God’s willingness to save to the uttermost those who should place their trust fully in him. As he had wrought in their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, so would he work mightily in establishing them in the Land of Promise, and in placing them at the head of the nations of earth. To Israel of old had been given the assurance: “There is none like unto God, … who rideth upon the heaven for thy help, and in his excellency on the skies. The eternal God is thy dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Deuteronomy 33:26, 27, R. V.

The encouragements offered as the reward of obedience were accompanied by prophecies of judgments against the disobedient; and as the king heard the inspired words, he recognized in the picture set before him conditions that were similar to those actually existing in his kingdom. In connection with these prophetic portrayals of departure from God, he was startled to find plain statements to the effect that the day of calamity would follow swiftly, and that there would be no remedy. The language was plain; there could be no mistaking the meaning of the words. And at the close of the volume, in a summary of God’s dealings with Israel and a rehearsal of the events of the future, these matters were made doubly plain. In the hearing of all Israel, Moses had declared:

“Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak: and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he….

“Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will show thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee. When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord’s portion is his people: Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.”

But Israel “forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten the God that formed thee.

“And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation….

“I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them. They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: … for they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them. O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up? For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges….

“Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures? To me belongeth vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.” Deuteronomy 32:1-10, 15-35.

These and similar passages revealed to Josiah God’s love for his people, and his abhorrence of sin. As the king read the prophecies of swift judgment upon those who should persist in rebellion, he trembled for the future. The perversity of Judah had been great; what was to be the outcome of their continued apostasy?

In former years the king had not been indifferent to the prevailing idolatry. “In the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young,” he had consecrated himself fully to the service of God. Four years later, at the age of twenty, he had made an earnest effort to remove temptation from his subjects by purging “Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. They brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.” 2 Chronicles 34:3-5.

Not content with doing thorough work in the land of Judah, the youthful ruler had extended his efforts to the portions of Palestine formerly occupied by the ten tribes of Israel, only a feeble remnant of which now remained. “So did he,” the record reads, “in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali.” Not until he had traversed the length and breadth of this region of ruined homes, and “had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel” (2 Chronicles 34:6, 7), did he return to Jerusalem.

Thus Josiah, from his earliest manhood, had endeavored to take advantage of his position as king to exalt the principles of God’s holy law. And now, while Shaphan the scribe was reading to him out of the book of the law, the king discerned in this volume a treasure of knowledge, a powerful ally, in the work of reform he so much desired to see wrought in the land. He resolved to walk in the light of its counsels, and also to do all in his power to acquaint his people with its teachings, and to lead them, if possible, to cultivate reverence and love for the law of heaven.

But was it possible to bring about the needed reform? From all that he could learn from the reading of the volume before him, Israel had almost reached the limit of divine forbearance; soon God would arise to punish those who had brought dishonor upon his name. Already the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people. Overwhelmed with sorrow and dismay, Josiah rent his garments, and bowed before God in agony of Spirit, seeking pardon for the sins of an impenitent nation.

At that time the prophetess Huldah was living in Jerusalem, near the temple. The mind of the king, filled with anxious foreboding, reverted to her; and he determined to inquire of the Lord through this chosen messenger, to learn, if possible, whether by any means within his power he might save erring Judah, now on the verge of ruin.

The gravity of the situation, and the respect in which he held the prophetess, led him to choose as his messengers to her, the first men of the kingdom. “Go ye,” he bade them, “inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.” 2 Kings 22:13.

(To be concluded.)

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.”

What a contrast between the words of Christ, and the language of those who claim that he came to abrogate the law of God and to do away with the Old Testament. Our Saviour, who knew all things, understood the wiles of Satan, the snares by which he would seek to entrap the children of men, and so made this positive statement to meet the questioning doubts and the blind unbelief of all coming time.

But there is a law which was abolished, which Christ “took out of the way, nailing it to his cross.” Paul calls it “the law of commandments contained in ordinances.” This ceremonial law, given by God through Moses, with its sacrifices and ordinances, was to be binding upon the Hebrews until type met antitype in the death of Christ as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. Then all the sacrificial offerings and services were to be abolished. Paul and the other apostles labored to show this, and resolutely withstood those Judaizing teachers who declared that Christians should observe the ceremonial law.

Christ himself declares that he came not to destroy the law of ten precepts, which was spoken from Sinai. He says, “Verily I say unto you,”—making the assertion as emphatic as possible,—“Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled.” Here he teaches not merely what the claims of God’s law had been and were then, but that these claims should hold so long as the heavens and the earth remain. This testimony should forever settle the question. The law of God is as immutable as his throne. It will maintain its claims upon all mankind in all ages, unchanged by time or place or circumstances. The ritual system was of altogether a different character, and typified the death of Christ as a sacrifice for the broken precepts of the moral law.

“I am not come to destroy,” Christ says, “but to fulfill,”—“to magnify the law and make it honorable,” as Isaiah, hundreds of years before, had prophesied respecting the Messiah’s work.

“To fulfill the law.” In his own life the Saviour gave the children of men an example of perfect obedience. In his teachings he made clear and distinct every precept of the divine law; he swept away the rubbish of erroneous tradition with which the Jews had encumbered it; he illustrated and enforced its principles, and showed in all its particulars the length and breadth and height and depth of the righteousness required by the law of God.

The Pharisees were dissatisfied with the teachings of Christ. The practical godliness which he enjoined condemned them. They desired him to dwell upon the external observances of the ceremonial law, and the customs and traditions of the fathers. But Jesus taught the spiritual nature of the law and made clear its far-reaching claims. Love to God and to men must live in the heart and control the life, as the spring of every thought and every action.

There is perfect harmony between the law of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. “I and my Father are one,” says the great Teacher. The gospel is the good news of grace, or favor, by which man may be released from the condemnation of sin, and enabled to render acceptable obedience to the law. The gospel points to the moral code as a rule of life. That law, by its demands for undeviating obedience, is continually pointing the sinner to the gospel for pardon and peace.

Says the great apostle, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid. Yea, we establish the law.” And again he declares that the “law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” Enjoining supreme love to God, and equal love to our fellow-men, it is indispensable alike to human happiness and the glory of God.

There are persons professing to be ministers of Christ, who declare with the utmost assurance that no man ever did or ever can keep the law of God. But, according to the Scriptures, Christ “took upon himself our nature,” and “was made in fashion as a man.” He was man’s example, man’s representative, and he declares, “I have kept my Father’s commandments.” The beloved disciple urges that every follower of Christ “ought himself also so to walk even as he walked.” All who are in Christ will follow the example of Christ. All who justify the sinner in his transgression of God’s law belong to that class of whom our Saviour said, “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven.” They can have no part with Him who came to magnify the law and make it honorable. They are deceiving the people with their sophistry, saying to the sinner, “It shall be well with thee,” when God has declared, “The soul that sinneth [transgresseth the law] it shall die.”

The words of Christ are both explicit and comprehensive. “Whosoever”—minister or layman, wise or ignorant—“shall break one of these least commandments”—willfully or presumptuously, as did Adam and Eve—is included in the condemnation. Breaking one of the commandments makes man a commandment-breaker. “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” No excuse can avail for him who strictly obeys nine of the precepts of God’s law, but ventures to break one because it is for his profit or convenience to do so. God demands implicit obedience to all his requirements.

“And shall teach men so.” This is a point worthy of careful consideration. Christ foresaw that men would not only break the commandments of God themselves, but would teach others to break them. Some are not content with doing this by example; they defend sin, and pervert the word of God to justify the transgressor. Such persons will have no part with the people of God. But the greatest guilt rests upon the professed watchmen, who do not hesitate to speak evil of the law, and even to make those who are ignorant of the Bible believe that they are fallen from grace if they keep it. “All we have to do,” say they, “is to believe in Christ, come to Christ.”

The most fatal delusion of the Christian world in this generation is, that in pouring contempt on the law of God they think they are exalting Christ. What a position! It was Christ who spoke the law from Sinai. It was Christ who gave the law to Moses, engraven on tables of stone. It was his Father’s law; and Christ says, “I and my Father are one.” The Pharisees held the reverse of the modern position, but were in just as great an error. They rejected Christ, but exalted the law. And it makes little difference which position is taken, so long as we ignore the true one,—that faith in Christ must be accompanied by obedience to the law of God.

While we point the sinner to Jesus as the one who can take away sin, we must explain to him what sin is, and show him that he can be saved from his sins, but not in them. He must be made to realize that “sin is the transgression of the law.” Paul makes the inquiry, many years after the death of Christ, “Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Thus Paul exalts the moral law. When this law is practically carried out in every-day life, it is found indeed to be the wisdom of God. It serves to detect sin. It discovers the defects in the moral character, and shows sin to be exceeding sinful, revealing it in all its hideousness. Through obedience to its requirements, Christian character is perfected.

God’s law is a copy of his mind and will. The sins forbidden there could never find a place in Heaven. It was love that prompted God to express his will in the ten precepts of the decalogue. Afterward he showed his love for man by sending prophets and teachers to explain and illustrate his holy law.

God has given man a complete rule of life in his law. Obeyed, man shall live by it, through the merits of Christ. Transgressed, it has power to condemn. The law sends men to Christ, and Christ points them back to the law.