1881 Watch Tower - A2Z.org
1881 Watch Tower - A2Z.org 1881 Watch Tower - A2Z.org
The light is ever pure,No art of man can ever rob it of its beauty,Nor stain its unpolluted heaven lines.It is the fairest, purest thing in nature;Fit type of that fair heaven where all is pure,And into which no evil thing can enter;Where darkness comes not, where no shadow falls;Where night and sin can have no dwelling place.The first recorded words of Deity are, "Let there be light." Itseems to be a pre-requisite in the formation and development ofthe natural, and our hearts seeking spiritual light and growth,echo the cry: "Let there be light." Whither shall we go? as Godis the source and fountain of all life and love, so is he the sourceof all light. To us he manifests himself through his Words. Notthe written word alone, but its author Jesus, "The word of God.""This is the true light which lighteth every man that cometh intothe world." "In him was life and the life was the light of men."The lampstand then primarily typifies Christ, and consequentlyin some sense every true member of the Christ body. Light ispeculiarly expressive of the character of God and of his people."God is light," says the beloved John. James calls him the"Father of lights with whom there is no variableness, neithershadow of turning. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world; hethat follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have thelight of life." Of his followers he says, "ye are the light of theworld." The lampstand beautifully symbolizes Christ as the hopeof our fallen race. It stood where there was no other light. Christis the light of life. It had seven branches typifying perfection, oras seven is a symbol of that which is complete and entire, itrepresents Christ as the embodiment of light, not only the truth,but the whole truth, the fullness of God.Light is composed of the seven primary colors, thus symbolizingJesus as the one altogether lovely. The beautiful rainbow--theseal of promise --is but an individualizing of the pure white ray;so the hope of the world and the promise of its eternalpreservation is in the manifestation of the various beauties, theineffable glories of the immaculate one; that concentrated beamof heavenly light which piercing the dark clouds of despair,reflects even from the storm drops a vision of hope and a pledgeof the covenant of mercy.Majestic sweetness sits enthroned,Upon the Savior's brow;His head with radiant glories crowned,His lips with grace o'erflow.No mortal can with him compare,Among the sons of men;Fairer is He than all the fairWho fill the heavenly train.
"And he made the lampstand of pure gold; of beaten work madehe the lampstand. His shaft, his branch, his bowls, his knops andhis flowers, were of the same." Ex. 37:17. We feel almostdiscouraged sometimes at the rough handling we seem toreceive--the knocks and the blows. We forget the branches mustbe like the shaft--all of beaten work. No machine made lords ofthe flock, no church ornaments cast wholesale in a mold, aboutthis lampstand; as is the shaft so are the branches--all of beatenwork. In its structure there was a knop and a flower incontinuous succession, typifying the beautiful graces of a Christlikespirit accompanying the solid fruit of a Christian life: a sortof combination of faith and works. It would also represent avigorous ever-developing plant, always blooming, continuallyfruit bearing; like the trees growing by the river of life, yieldingtheir fruit every month.The tabernacle as we have seen contained wondrous things, butas there were no windows in it, they would have been unseen,but for the lampstand. The well furnished table of shew breadwith its typical spiritual food, ever fresh and fragrant, wasunknown to natural light; hidden to those without. Here was theAltar of Incense and the way to God, but the world by wisdom(natural light) knew not God. As Paul said to the Athenians,groping in darkness "they seek God, if haply they might feelafter him, and find him, though he is not far from each one ofus." In their blindness they erect an altar inscribed, "To theunknown God." In our day men still erect altars to baselesscreeds and isms, and sacrifice themselves upon them. ThankGod that we can say: "With Thee is the fountain of life; in thylight shall we see light." Psa. 36:9.The furniture of the Tabernacle was all made of wood, coveredwith gold, excepting this piece, which is frequently called thepure lampstand by way of pre-eminence. Like the Laver it wasmade of one material; like the Laver its dimensions are notgiven. They both evidently symbolized the illimitable truth ofGod. Pure and unalloyed, able to stand alone without help ofhuman reasonings and imaginings. For long years men havebeen trying to excuse God's character, his dealings and his word.The truth requires no bolstering; keep it pure and you keep itsafe. The poet has said:Truth crushed to earth will rise again;The eternal years of God are hers.To be eternal it must be pure; this is a universal law.The Laver and lampstand being without dimensions would seemto typify the fact--O that creed worshipers might see it--thattruth like its author is boundless. The various sectaries scatteredalong the stream of truth ever flowing from the throne, havebuilt little mud dams in the sand and have fenced off a little ofthe stream; and claiming that they had secured it all, have
- Page 203 and 204: A bed is a place in which to rest;
- Page 205 and 206: was literally fulfilled; they fled
- Page 207 and 208: influence, how you would lose your
- Page 209 and 210: God knows--not I--why, when I'd fai
- Page 211 and 212: THE CREDIBILITY OF THE SCRIPTURES.E
- Page 213 and 214: This is symbolical and expressive o
- Page 215 and 216: I contend, then, that the Israeliti
- Page 217 and 218: Jerusalem shall be trodden down of
- Page 219 and 220: "We are inundated with books and pa
- Page 221 and 222: you be. He was armed with the sword
- Page 223 and 224: the false teachers of Baal (Papacy)
- Page 225 and 226: was denounced, and for the same rea
- Page 227 and 228: along with some Scriptures, and how
- Page 229 and 230: This rendering sheds light on the r
- Page 231 and 232: (Gal. 4:19) "the hope of glory;" (C
- Page 233 and 234: prophetic periods, the parallels an
- Page 235 and 236: enlightening and blessing of the na
- Page 237 and 238: this city, we have had very pleasan
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- Page 241 and 242: expenses--not to mention the additi
- Page 243 and 244: As we have seen, Jesus understood t
- Page 245 and 246: R241 : page 2the graves shall hear
- Page 247 and 248: now preached. We were not called, n
- Page 249 and 250: How blessed then, to lay the cross
- Page 251 and 252: irth of the flesh or of the Spirit?
- Page 253: flower: so in the six branches that
- Page 257 and 258: y human wisdom or knowledge, "not b
- Page 259 and 260: mercy endureth forever") but now du
- Page 261 and 262: and, like the paschal lamb, affecte
- Page 263 and 264: lifetime subject to bondage" --Let
- Page 265 and 266: and praying be the reason of the ke
- Page 267 and 268: "Well, are you redeemed?""Yes, I am
- Page 269 and 270: R247 : page 7WHAT WE EXPECT.The hop
- Page 271 and 272: heads, "standards" and "authorities
- Page 273 and 274: THE NEW VERSION.The revised version
- Page 275 and 276: the destruction of our globe, and t
- Page 277 and 278: occur in 1880 and 1881. But though
- Page 279 and 280: page iFOODFORTHINKING CHRISTIANS.--
- Page 281 and 282: among the good? Could he not have p
- Page 283 and 284: B.--But did not God implant in his
- Page 285 and 286: should disobey God, death would hav
- Page 287 and 288: in the forfeit of the sinner's life
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- Page 291 and 292: nor by work he has since accomplish
- Page 293 and 294: C.--Now, another point: Are all our
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- Page 301 and 302: These evidently overlook the fact t
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The light is ever pure,No art of man can ever rob it of its beauty,Nor stain its unpolluted heaven lines.It is the fairest, purest thing in nature;Fit type of that fair heaven where all is pure,And into which no evil thing can enter;Where darkness comes not, where no shadow falls;Where night and sin can have no dwelling place.The first recorded words of Deity are, "Let there be light." Itseems to be a pre-requisite in the formation and development ofthe natural, and our hearts seeking spiritual light and growth,echo the cry: "Let there be light." Whither shall we go? as Godis the source and fountain of all life and love, so is he the sourceof all light. To us he manifests himself through his Words. Notthe written word alone, but its author Jesus, "The word of God.""This is the true light which lighteth every man that cometh intothe world." "In him was life and the life was the light of men."The lampstand then primarily typifies Christ, and consequentlyin some sense every true member of the Christ body. Light ispeculiarly expressive of the character of God and of his people."God is light," says the beloved John. James calls him the"Father of lights with whom there is no variableness, neithershadow of turning. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world; hethat follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have thelight of life." Of his followers he says, "ye are the light of theworld." The lampstand beautifully symbolizes Christ as the hopeof our fallen race. It stood where there was no other light. Christis the light of life. It had seven branches typifying perfection, oras seven is a symbol of that which is complete and entire, itrepresents Christ as the embodiment of light, not only the truth,but the whole truth, the fullness of God.Light is composed of the seven primary colors, thus symbolizingJesus as the one altogether lovely. The beautiful rainbow--theseal of promise --is but an individualizing of the pure white ray;so the hope of the world and the promise of its eternalpreservation is in the manifestation of the various beauties, theineffable glories of the immaculate one; that concentrated beamof heavenly light which piercing the dark clouds of despair,reflects even from the storm drops a vision of hope and a pledgeof the covenant of mercy.Majestic sweetness sits enthroned,Upon the Savior's brow;His head with radiant glories crowned,His lips with grace o'erflow.No mortal can with him compare,Among the sons of men;Fairer is He than all the fairWho fill the heavenly train.
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