1912 Watch Tower - A2Z.org

1912 Watch Tower - A2Z.org 1912 Watch Tower - A2Z.org

11.07.2015 Views

him all that he possessed of an earthly kind; he mustdeny himself, take up his cross and follow in the footstepsof the Redeemer.Anyone solicitous of maintaining his rights and holdingon to the present life, and unwilling to sacrifice all,will lose the great "prize" of the Divine nature, whichwill be given to those who do take up the cross and makea full sacrifice of earthly interests. And on the otherhand, he who will faithfully lose his life for Jesus' sakewill save it--will gain the reward of life on the spiritplane.Moreover, the same principle that now thus operateswill always operate, namely, that whoever is simply selfish,loving his own life and his own interests, will notbe accounted worthy of everlasting life; but those whowill sacrifice, if need be, in the interests of the Lord'scause will be the ones accounted worthy in character foreternal life."WHAT SHALL IT PROFIT A MAN?"God has provided a future life for every soul of manthrough the redemption accomplished by Jesus, but only thenoble of heart, of character, of life, who will accept thisgreat blessing through the Divinely appointed way will getit. If they selfishly seek for the whole world, the selfishnessthus developed will make them unfit for the eternal life.For what would a man take in exchange for the loss ofhis life? Would he consider wealth or fame or namefor a few years in the present time worthy of exchangeat profit, if it were to cost him eternal glory and eternallife? Surely not. We are therefore to have in mindthat character-building is absolutely essential to our attainingeternal life upon any plane, by the propositionthat God has made us through His Son.Whoever becomes a follower of the Lord and hopesto gain the prize of everlasting life and glory on the spiritplane must do so whole-heartedly, and not in an underhandedor secret manner. He must come out fully andcourageously and properly acknowledge Jesus and acknowledgeHis words. And Jesus puts Himself and Hiswords on a parity--"whoever is ashamed of Me and ofMy words." Jesus' words are Jesus' doctrines or teachings.To be ashamed of the Truth, to be ashamed of theDivine Plan, to be ashamed of what we find to be theteachings of God's Word, because they are unpopular withmen, is to offend the Lord and to prove ourselves unworthyof His favor.All who are of His Church will need Christ continuallyas their Advocate, down to the very last, when Heshall present them blameless and unreproveable before theFather in love. (Col. 1:22.) And if they would maintainHim as their Advocate, they must also be advocatingHis cause amongst men, not ashamed of Him and notashamed of His doctrine, His words.That the Lord addressed His words especially to the

disciples is shown by His reference to others of thatnation who had not made such a consecration as all ofHis disciples must make. The others were called "anadulterous and sinful generation." The followers ofChrist must hold up the Light of Truth before the world,and so doing faithfully they will be acknowledged by theLord Jesus in due time, when He comes in the glory ofHis Father with the holy angels. He will not be ashamedto acknowledge them; He will present them to the Fatherand to the holy angels.THE GREAT QUESTIONThe great question of eighteen centuries ago is thegreat question of today! Who is Jesus? If, as someclaim, He was merely a good man, a most able Teacher,then He was not The Christ, for The Christ, although theembodiment of all these qualities, was more, much more.To be The Christ, He must have been "the Man ChristJesus," who gave Himself a Ransom-price for all, to betestified in due time. (I Tim. 2:5,6.) And this signifiesthat He must have been, not of ordinary birth, butextraordinary, born from above, because if born in theordinary course of nature He would be like others ofAdam's sons, subject to the sentence of death, and henceunable to save either Himself or others. But if He wasThe Christ, the Sent of God, who left the glory of theFather and was made flesh that He might "taste deathfor every man," then we behold Him as the great Redeemerof the world, whose death was necessary as aRansom, or corresponding price, to secure the release ofmankind from the death sentence and to make possible theresurrection of Adam and his race.More than this, the word Christ signifies TheAnointed. The Bible declares that the Anointed Lordshall be the Great King, Prophet and Priest, whose Kingdomshall be under the whole heavens--a Kingdomwhich shall last for a thousand years; and shall destroysin and all who love sin; and which shall lift up allhumanity willing to return into harmony with God. Accordingto the Scriptures, this Jesus is--the Messiah. AndHis present work is the gathering of a Bride class, to beHis joint-heir in His glorious Kingdom, which will beset up soon after the Elect Church shall have been completedby the glorious change of the First Resurrection.What think ye of Messiah? What think ye of Hisinvitation to become His associates in His glory and Kingdom?What think ye of the cost of self-denial, self-sacrifice?What think ye of the great reward? Letthose who have made the consecration review the terms;let those who have not made this consecration do as JesusR5120 : page 329said: "Sit down and count the cost," before making adecision, so that if they become His disciples they will

him all that he possessed of an earthly kind; he mustdeny himself, take up his cross and follow in the footstepsof the Redeemer.Anyone solicitous of maintaining his rights and holdingon to the present life, and unwilling to sacrifice all,will lose the great "prize" of the Divine nature, whichwill be given to those who do take up the cross and makea full sacrifice of earthly interests. And on the otherhand, he who will faithfully lose his life for Jesus' sakewill save it--will gain the reward of life on the spiritplane.Moreover, the same principle that now thus operateswill always operate, namely, that whoever is simply selfish,loving his own life and his own interests, will notbe accounted worthy of everlasting life; but those whowill sacrifice, if need be, in the interests of the Lord'scause will be the ones accounted worthy in character foreternal life."WHAT SHALL IT PROFIT A MAN?"God has provided a future life for every soul of manthrough the redemption accomplished by Jesus, but only thenoble of heart, of character, of life, who will accept thisgreat blessing through the Divinely appointed way will getit. If they selfishly seek for the whole world, the selfishnessthus developed will make them unfit for the eternal life.For what would a man take in exchange for the loss ofhis life? Would he consider wealth or fame or namefor a few years in the present time worthy of exchangeat profit, if it were to cost him eternal glory and eternallife? Surely not. We are therefore to have in mindthat character-building is absolutely essential to our attainingeternal life upon any plane, by the propositionthat God has made us through His Son.Whoever becomes a follower of the Lord and hopesto gain the prize of everlasting life and glory on the spiritplane must do so whole-heartedly, and not in an underhandedor secret manner. He must come out fully andcourageously and properly acknowledge Jesus and acknowledgeHis words. And Jesus puts Himself and Hiswords on a parity--"whoever is ashamed of Me and ofMy words." Jesus' words are Jesus' doctrines or teachings.To be ashamed of the Truth, to be ashamed of theDivine Plan, to be ashamed of what we find to be theteachings of God's Word, because they are unpopular withmen, is to offend the Lord and to prove ourselves unworthyof His favor.All who are of His Church will need Christ continuallyas their Advocate, down to the very last, when Heshall present them blameless and unreproveable before theFather in love. (Col. 1:22.) And if they would maintainHim as their Advocate, they must also be advocatingHis cause amongst men, not ashamed of Him and notashamed of His doctrine, His words.That the Lord addressed His words especially to the

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