The Year of Jubilee – Hymns of Dawn No. 24

“(1) Come, let us shout joyfully to Jehovah! Let us shout in triumph to our Rock of salvation. (2) Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; Let us sing and shout in triumph to him” (Psalm 95:1,2).

“My mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips” (Psalm 63:5).

“Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense” (Song of Solomon 4:6).

Note: “ ‘Myrrh’ is bitter experience and the wisdom gained through such experience. ‘Frankincense’ represents praise and thanksgiving. Hymns of praise often include the Christian’s gratitude for deliverance from suffering that is beyond human endurance. Such help usually evokes praise and thanksgiving. Of course pleasant experiences also bring forth praise, but the type of praise that arises from suffering is on a higher level than praise from pleasure. Verse 6 alludes to praise that arises from suffering.

‘Until … the shadows flee away.’ The shadows of the nighttime experience of the Church will ‘flee away’ when the Church is complete. These are the shadows of the gospel night, the Passover night. Why is myrrh a ‘mountain’ and frankincense a ‘hill’? Two different Hebrew words are used. Our praise can never reach the mark of perfection. What Jesus offered at Calvary far transcends anything we can offer” (Br. F. Shallieu, Notes on the Song of Solomon, pages 37-38).

Here is a recording of Hymn No. 24 from the “Hymns of Dawn” to aid God’s people in singing and making melody in their hearts unto God.

Lyrics

1.
Blow ye the trumpet, blow
The gladly solemn sound;
Let all the nations know,
To earth’s remotest bound:

CHORUS
The year of Jubilee is come,
Returning ransomed sinners home,
Returning ransomed sinners home.

2.
Jesus, our great High Priest,
Hath full atonement made;
Ye weary spirits rest:
Ye mournful souls be glad:

3.
Extol the Lamb of God,
The all atoning Lamb;
Redemption thru his blood,
To all the world proclaim:

4.
Ye who were sold for naught,
Whose heritage was lost,
May have it back unbought,
A gift at Jesus’ cost:

5.
The seventh trumpet hear,
The news of heav’nly grace;
Salvation now is near;
Seek ye the Saviour’s face:

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Bible Scriptures Associated With This Hymn

Leviticus 25:8-17 (NASB) — ‘(8) You are also to count off seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven sabbaths of years, namely, forty-nine years. (9) You shall then sound a ram’s horn abroad on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement you shall sound a horn all through your land. (10) You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. (11) You shall have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall not sow, nor reap its aftergrowth, nor gather in from its untrimmed vines. (12) For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat its crops out of the field. (13) ‘On this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his own property. (14) If you make a sale, moreover, to your friend or buy from your friend’s hand, you shall not wrong one another. (15) Corresponding to the number of years after the jubilee, you shall buy from your friend; he is to sell to you according to the number of years of crops. (16) In proportion to the extent of the years you shall increase its price, and in proportion to the fewness of the years you shall diminish its price, for it is a number of crops he is selling to you. (17) So you shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.’

Ezekiel 40:1 (KJV) — “In the five and twentieth year [25th] of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and brought me thither.“

Luke 4:18-19 (KJV) — “(18) The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (19) To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

The History Of This Hymn

Author — Charles Wesley (1707-1788). In the Hymns of Dawn, the original third verse is omitted, while the words of the last two verses (verses 4 and 5) have been changed from the original.

Charles Wesley was an English leader of the Methodist movement, most widely known for writing no less than 6,500 hymns. He was the youngest son and 18th child of Anglican cleric and poet Samuel Wesley and his wife Susanna Wesley, and the younger brother of Methodist founder John Wesley.

In 1749 he married Miss Sarah Gwynne who accompanied him on his evangelistic journeys until the year 1756 when he mainly devoted himself to the care of the Societies in London and Bristol. Since 1771, he devoted himself much, as he had done in his youth, to the spiritual care of prisoners in Newgate. He had long been troubled about the relations of Methodism to the Church of England, and strongly disapproved of his brother John’s “ordinations.”

Composer — Lewis Edson (1748 – 1820) composed this tune “LENOX” in 1782.

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When Does the Year of Jubilee Begin?

The Jubilee was a time of release.

There are four points from the Jubilees to a period of release.

(1) 1874 — the beginning of the Times of Restoration. This was the year when Lord Beaconsfield was elected Prime Minister of England, from which position he was able to subsequently effect a restoration of rights to the Jewish people to own land in Palestine again.

(2) 1878 — Land is opened to Israel again as a result of the Berlin Congress of Nations. “The first signs of Israel’s regathering appeared in 1878. The Berlin Congress of Nations assembled to resolve the Russo-Turkish War of the previous year, and among their agreements was a provision extending equal treatment of law to all the people of the Ottoman Empire. Notably, this included the Jewish people, who took advantage of the opportunity to found the first new [Hebrew] settlement of modern times in the land of Israel — Petah Tikvah” (“The Stream of Time,” by Br. David Rice, page 21).

(3) 1948 — Nationhood was restored to Israel.

(4) The Millennium — Life will be restored to mankind.

All of these are relevant. There is a time pointer to each one.

(A) Adam to 1874 — 7 x the whole cycle of 17 Jubilees. That is, 7 x 833 = 5831 years, from 3958 bc to 1874 ad.

(B) 50 Jubilees (of 49 years each) is 2450 years, followed by the 50th jubilee, year number 2451. Taken from the last Jubilee of Israel (Ezekiel 40:1), that brings us to the year of autumn 1878 — during that time the right to buy and own land in Israel was restored to the Jewish people, and the first Jewish colony was begun.

For Pentecost we count 50 days, for jubilee we count 50 years, so for the antitype we count 50 jubilees — which brings us to the fulfillment, marked by the year 1878.

(C) 2520 years (national punishment), from Ezekiel 40:1 brings us to the year autumn 1947 to autumn 1948 — during that time Israel became an independent nation again.

(D) Ezekiel 40:1 (Israel’s last Jubilee) was the time of giving of the vision of the Kingdom. Ezekiel 46:1 tells us the gates permitting man to access God would be opened on the sabbath day — 2043. That will be a time of restoring life.

Four dimensions — all correct.

For the interested Reader, please consider reading further about the Jubilees in Section 3 (pages 15-20) and Section 4 (pages 21-24) of “The Stream of Time” by Br. David Rice.

Here is a direct link to this reference material:

http://2043ad.com/streamoftime.PDF

Hymn Book Purchase

The Hymns Of Dawn (hymn book) can be purchased at:

The Chicago Bible Students Online Bookstore: https://chicagobible.org/product-category/books/page/4/

The Dawn Bible Students Association: http://www.dawnbible.com/dawnpub.htm

Acknowledgment & References

Br. Charles Taze Russell

Br. Charles Russell—the founder of the Bible Students movement, who is the compiler of “Poems and Hymns of Millennial Dawn” which was published in Allegheny, Pa., in 1890. This Bible Students’ devotional originally contained a total of 151 poems and 333 hymns.

The following prefatory to the 1905 publication of Hymns of Millennial Dawn may be of historical interest to many of our readers.

We published in 1890, with several more recent editions, a volume entitled “Poems and Hymns of Millennial Dawn” without music. The same collection of hymns with the music is now urgently needed, and therefore appears in this volume. The poems, although highly prized, are omitted for greater convenience in size. We have preserved the same alphabetical order, because so many of our readers have the older book; and where a different tune is given from that originally suggested the latter is indicated by Alt. for alternative tune, with the number where that tune can be found.

Both words and music are credited to the same class to whom the work is dedicated-to the Lord and His faithful people, “the Saints.” The authors of many of the best of them are unknown to us, and, besides, slight changes have been made in the phraseology and sentiment of quite a number, which we could not be sure their original authors would approve, and to give personal credit to less than one half would seem invidious. To all of these dear “Saints” of all ages we therefore give united and hearty thanks for the blessings which they, as the Lord’s servants and handmaidens, have bestowed upon their fellow-members of “the Church of the Firstborn, whose names are written in Heaven.” Most of them died long ago: their abundant reward will be of the Lord in the resurrection.

That the collection is thoroughly undenominational, unsectarian, will be manifest to those recognizing the fact that it includes the choicest old hymns and tunes used by all denominations.

Although we have gathered far and near and winnowed carefully we cannot hope to have gotten all the golden grains, though we do hope that no chaff can be found. The collection is for the Church, for “believers” “reconciled,” and hence contains none of the “sinners” hymns, such as “Come, ye sinners poor and needy,” because willful sinners are in no sense members of the “Body” of Christ, nor are those who have not yet accepted the Lord as their Savior.

Those who will feel the deepest interest in this collection, and whose sentiments will be most fully voiced in its verses, will undoubtedly be those in fullest degree of sympathy with the divine plan of the ages, as set forth in the several volumes of Millennial Dawn—the eyes of whose understanding have been opened to the clearer, purer light now shining from our great Redeemer’s cross, showing the fulness and the completeness of his salvation.

In fact, this volume, while not numbered as one of the volumes of the Millennial Dawn series, is designed to be a companion volume, a melodious accompaniment to the “new song,” “the song of Moses and the Lamb” (the grand harmony of the Law and the Gospel), as presented in the regular Dawn series.

Let the music of God’s good and great plan ring through your hearts and lives, dear fellow-pilgrims and fellow members of the “royal priesthood,” so that every day and every hour shall be filled with joy and praise and thankfulness! And that this little volume may assist in deepening the work of grace in your hearts is our hope and prayer.

– Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, July, 1905, Allegheny, PA, USA

——-

Later on, the hymns from this book formed a basis for the hymnal titled “Hymns of Dawn” which was published by the Dawn Bible Students Association in East Rutherford, New Jersey (USA) and the 1999 edition contains a total of 361 hymns.

Br. David Rice (www.2043ad.com) — Content and editing.
Br. Frank Shallieu (www.revelation-research.org) — referenced information.
Harvest Truth Data Base — http://www.htdb.one
Hymnary.org.

Suggested Further Reading

Israel Marks Tenth Anniversary, The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom Bi-monthly Magazine, June 1958, page 95.
http://www.heraldmag.org/archives/1958_6.htm#_Toc36393376

Israel at Sixty, The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom Magazine, July-August 2008 issue.
http://www.heraldmag.org/2008/toc_july08.htm

Harvest Timing Clarifications — Br. George Tabac’s, 2016 Bible Students’ General Convention Discourse — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqa_GT2QSVA

Click on the following link to download Br. George Tabac’s 2016 Script Version of “Harvest Timing Clarifications” — https://biblestudents1.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/harvest-timing-clarifications-7-9-2016-general-convention-34-page-han.pdf

[Note: Br. George Tabac’s 2016 discourse is almost identical but not the same as his 2015 discourse where it had been concluded that 6000 years from Adams creation would be up in 2042. However later, like Br. Charles Taze Russell, Br. George too came to realize the need to clarify his understanding by one year in his 2016 General Convention discourse, where he concluded the 6000 years from creation would be up in 2043, which concurs with Br. David Rice’s chronology (www.2043ad.com). Note the distinction in the final charts of these two discourses.]

The Song of Solomon, by Br. David Rice, in the Beauties of the Truth Periodical. http://www.beautiesofthetruth.org/Archive/Library/Doctrine/Mags/Bot/90s/BOTMAY02.PDF

Notes on the Song of Solomon (1988 and 1994 Studies) by Br. Frank Shallieu.
https://www.revelation-research.org/pdf/Song%20of%20Solomon.pdf

ISRAEL — No Longer Dry Bones!
https://biblestudentsdaily.com/2017/05/02/israel-no-longer-dry-bones/

THE BIBLE — The World’s Best Model. Here is Why.
https://biblestudentsdaily.com/2017/07/26/the-bible-the-worlds-best-novel-here-is-why/

Epoch Periods In God’s Plan
https://biblestudentsdaily.com/2017/08/16/epoch-periods-in-gods-plan/

Debtors To His Marvelous Grace, by J.J. Blackburn. The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom Magazine, July/August 1986.
http://www.heraldmag.org/archives/1986_4.htm#_Toc36907878

The Foreshadowing of Grace, by F.A. Essler. The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom Magazine, January/February 1986.
http://www.heraldmag.org/archives/1986_1.htm#_Toc36905444

A Chaste Virgin. The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom.
http://www.heraldmag.org/literature/chliv_38.htm

His Loving Kindness – Hymns of Dawn No. 19
https://biblestudentsdaily.com/2018/06/19/his-loving-kindness-hymns-of-dawn-no-19/

Awake My Soul — Hymns of Dawn No. 20
https://biblestudentsdaily.com/2018/06/27/awake-my-soul-hymns-of-dawn-no-20/

The Truth About Hell. A Dawn Bible Association Publication. http://www.dawnbible.com/booklets/hell.htm

Hope Beyond the Grave. A Dawn Bible Association Publication. http://www.dawnbible.com/booklets/grave.htm

Who We Are. BIBLE Students DAILY – https://biblestudentsdaily.com/category/who-we-are/

Our Beliefs — What Does the Bible Teach Us?
https://biblestudentsdaily.com/category/beliefs/

Bible Students’ Links and Bible Study Resources
https://biblestudentsdaily.com/category/links/

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biblestudentsdaily.com/2018/10/12/the-year-of-jubilee-hymns-of-dawn-no-24/

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Christ’s Parousia (Second Presence) In 1874

CHARLES-RUSSELL-CHRIST'S-PAROUSIA-1874-6.jpg

“Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth” (2 Peter 1:12).

Three “stepping stones” to understanding the time of Christ’s invisible presence and “parousia” which IS (part of) our present inheritance of “the truth,” are the 1260, 1290, and 1335 “days” of Daniel. The first of these is found twice in Daniel, and five times in Revelation. This provides a foundation for the other two.

The 1260 years are expressed in Daniel as 32 “times.” The meaning of this is clarified by the references in Revelation, which refer to the same period not only as 32 “times,” but also as 42 “months” and 1260 “days” (Revelation 11:2,3, 12:6,14, 13:5). This makes it apparent that a “time” is a prophetic year of 12 months, of 30 days each — for in this way the three descriptions are equal to each other. In prophecy a “day” is fulfilled as a year. We know this, because it is the key that makes the 70 weeks of Daniel chapter 9 take us to the time of the first advent. (See also Ezekiel 4:5,6, Numbers 14:34.)

These three prophetic periods (1260, 1290, and 1335 years) begin “from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up” (Daniel 12:11). This text points back to Daniel 11:31, which describes the setting up of Papacy (with their false doctrine of the mass). Papacy received political authority in a sense in AD 538 when the Pope was left in control of Rome, but more fully in AD 539 when Ravenna, the political capital of Italy at the time, fell to the forces of the Roman Emperor Justinian (ruling then from Constantinople).

Justinian had only a few years earlier decreed that the Pope be recognized the religious head of all Christian churches. With the Gothic power thus subdued, this left the Pope the effective authority for the region. Papacy had now entered the field of political authority. Papacy, with its doctrine of the mass, had now been “set up” in authority.

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1260 years: AD 539 to AD 1799 = The Period of Papal power.

(See Daniel 7:25, 12:7, and compare with Revelation 12:14, 17:3.)

During this period the true Church is depicted as symbolically fleeing into the wilderness. This is represented also, in the Old Testament, as a period of 3 1/2 years of drought during the time of the prophet Elijah (Luke 4:25, James 5:17).

In 1798 the Pope was taken prisoner out of Rome, and died in 1799 as a prisoner of Napoleon, who for a time refused to allow the election of a successor. Papacy never again regained their status as an authority directing the policy of nations. Their 1260 years allowed for that had closed. Subsequently Bible Societies sprang up that distributed the Bible by the millions, fulfilling Revelation 10:10,11.

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1290 years: AD 539 to AD 1829 = Prophecies Clarify.

Daniel 12:10,11 indicates that at this time “the wise shall understand” the prophecies of Daniel in a clearer way.

In Daniel 12:11 we read about the 1290 years. “(11) And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.”

In 1829, a notable series of prophetic studies in England made good progress in understanding the prophecies of Daniel, and clarifying expectations for the approaching Kingdom of Christ. (See www.heraldmag.org/2003/03nd_5.htm, subhead “Meanwhile, in England.”) Subsequently, in New England, The Adventist Movement was spawned by the time prophecies of Daniel. This movement coalesced around the studies of Bro. William Miller, and expanded widely through the Protestant Christian world.

It is interesting to note the following:

“In 17 BC King Herod, in the 18^th year of his reign, began to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem (John 2:20). “This was 45 years before the year our Lord was baptized at Jordan to commence his First Advent ministry. In like manner, 1829 was a beginning in rebuilding the Church, the spiritual temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16)—45 years before 1874, when the work of Christ’s Second Advent commenced” (Br. David Rice, “Daniel: Conclusion,” Faithbuilders Fellowship, p.10).

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1335 years: AD 539 to AD 1874 = Return of Christ.

Daniel 12 begins by referring to the second advent work of Christ when “Michael” (Jesus) would “stand up” in royal authority. This would precipitate a deliverance for Daniel’s people. There would subsequently be an unprecedented “time of trouble,” and also a resurrection of the dead (verse 2).

The 1260 and 1290 years are markers toward that time, but the 1335 years lead us directly to that time. We know from Luke 12:36,37 that there would also be a blessing of Truth, spiritual nourishment, for the saints of God from this time forward.

CHARLES-RUSSELL-CHRIST'S-PAROUSIA-1874-1.jpg

1874 marks the end of the 1335 years. It also marks the time beginning the works described earlier. With the return of Christ came the time for raising the sleeping saints to glory, quietly, unobserved by the world.

Since that time, one by one, the gathering proceeds until the end of the harvest, or ending period of this Gospel Age (See Matthew 13:39, as included in the passage below, and Matthew chapter 24).

^“37He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

³⁸The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,

³⁹and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels” (Matthew 13:37-39, KJV).

The restoration of Israel commenced soon thereafter. The Jewish settlement Petah Tikvah was formed in 1878, and 70 years later the nation of Israel became independent. In 1914 began a time of trouble with two World Wars in succession.

“Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days” (Daniel 12:12). This text compares to Luke 12:37, “Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching.” What proceeds thereafter is a spiritual feast — the Divine Plan of the Ages. This opened up to the Bible Student world through the service of Br. Charles Russell, who was baptized about the year 1874.

In Revelation chapters two and three, Jesus gave a message to each of seven churches of Asia Minor, which represent the Church class in seven stages through the Gospel Age. To Church Four, Jesus said “hold fast till I come.” To Church Five he said, “I will come as a thief.” To Church Six, “I come quickly.” But to Church Seven — Laodicea — our period in history –— Jesus says “I stand at the door and knock” (Revelation 2:25, 3:3, 11, 20). That time has come. Today, our understanding of the Truth is a fulfillment of Jesus’ promise.

The saints have waited long, and now the blessed time is here. Jesus has knocked at the door of our hearts with the rap of prophecy, and we have the honor to sup with him on a rich spiritual feast of truth.

Those who have come into the light of Present Truth recognize it as from our master.

The Divine Plan is sparkling with hope for everyone.

Christ died to redeem both the Church of the present age, and the world to be blessed during the approaching Millennial Age.

(For more information and specifics, please see the article “Daniel: Conclusion,” pages 10-12, Faithbuilders Fellowship, May-June 2009 edition, at 2043ad.com / button “Journal.”)

Other signs marking Christ’s return:

Evils exposed as never before — Luke 12:2, 1 Corinthians 4:5

Spiritism and the Occult increases — Matthew 24:26
Wars and war preparations intensify — Joel 3:9-11; Matthew 24:6
False Christs appear everywhere — Matthew 24:5
Natural disasters — floods, hurricanes, earthquakes — Mark 13:8
Rampant infidelity from presidency to pulpit — Luke 18:8; 2 Timothy 4:1-4
Faith replaced by philosophies — Luke 18:8; 2 Timothy 4:1-4
Men seek pleasure rather than Godliness — 2 Timothy 3:1-5, 13
Strife intensifies between capital and labor — James 5:1-4
Juvenile delinquency and lack of respect for parents — 2 Timothy 3:2
Men cry fearfully for peace — 1 Thessalonians 5:3; Luke 21:26. (The Associated Bible Students of Central Ohio, “Day of the Lord Comes as a Thief,” End Times, Issue No. 7, 1999.)

All of this shaking and turmoil is because Christ is tearing down this old order and ushering in his Kingdom. Psalm 72 speaks of this as dashing the old civil, social, financial and corrupt religious systems of this world.

More about Christ’s PAROUSIA (presence) can be read about in the following booklet:

i-will-come-again

Suggested Further Reading – With Direct Online Reading Reference Links —

“Three and a Half Years” by Br. David Rice. The Beauties of the Truth Journal,http://www.beautiesofthetruth.org/Archive/Library/Doctrine/Mags/Bot/90s/BOTAUG08.PDF

“Daniel: Conclusion” by Br. David Rice. Faithbuilders Fellowship — “Journal” section, May-June 2009 edition (at 2043ad.com / button “Journal.”) Here is the direct link to this article:

Click to access 2009c.pdf

“The Prophetic Date — 1874”. The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom Magazine, Nov-Dec. 2003 issue.
http://www.heraldmag.org/2003/03nd_5.htm

“Coming Blessings” by Br. David Rice (www2043ad.com). The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom Magazine, Sept-Oct. 2012 issue.
http://www.heraldmag.org/2012/12so_9.htm

“An Important Greek Word – Parousia” by Br. David Rice. The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom Magazine, Nov-Dec. 2003 issue.
http://www.heraldmag.org/2003/03nd_8.htm

“Every Eye Shall See Him” by Br. Gilbert Rice. The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom Magazine, Nov-Dec. 2003 issue.
http://www.heraldmag.org/2003/03nd_4.htm

“The Harvest — The End of the Age” by Br. Carl Hagensick. The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom Magazine, Nov-Dec. 2003 issue.
http://www.heraldmag.org/2003/03nd_2.htm

“A Secret Coming – A Thief In the Night.” The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom Magazine, Nov-Dec. 2003 issue.
http://www.heraldmag.org/2003/03nd_9.htm

“Times and Seasons — The Seventh Trumpet” by Br. Michael Brann. The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom Magazine, Nov-Dec. 2003 issue.
http://www.heraldmag.org/2003/03nd_3.htm

“Chronos and Kairos – Times and Seasons.” The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom Magazine, Nov-Dec. 2003 issue.
http://www.heraldmag.org/2003/03nd_7.htm

Epoch Periods In God’s Plan. BIBLE Students DAILY.
https://biblestudentsdaily.com/2017/08/16/epoch-periods-in-gods-plan/

Is the “Sabbath Day” a Saturday, Sunday or any Day of the Week? BIBLE Students DAILY.
https://biblestudentsdaily.com/2017/10/19/is-the-sabbath-day-a-saturday-sunday-or-any-day-of-the-week/

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https://biblestudentsdaily.com/2017/11/10/christs-parousia-second-presence-in-1874/

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Tears of Joy – A Thanksgiving Offering To God

^“(7) In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. (8) Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. (9) And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, ¹⁰being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:7-9, ESV).

Beloved Brethren, dear friends:

This testimony sonnet is for you written,
For praise to God, through Christ who was smitten,
To comfort those mourning for righteousness sake—
Suffer for Christ, your election sure to make!

Some still remain who need to hear,
For ’tis not too late with Christ to share.
With fortitude and strength divine from above,
Present on the altar every labour of love.

Let us, begotten of Him, overcome the world,
Layer upon layer of character, impearled.
Should this cause many a tear to flow,
It will be mingled with Christ-like joys, we know.

Often, when the head is bowed low,
And tears in anguish like a waterfall flow,
With no courage in self, nothing good within,
“Depend on God for mercy and grace,” we sing.

Dead to the world, we feed the New Mind,
Sharing God’s precious Truth with various kind.
Could we keep the promises of the glorious Word,
Only for self? Letting God’s Plan be unheard?

As we trumpet Christ’s Millennium soon to come,
As ambassadors, sharing the hope now to some,
Opposing us the world, flesh, and devil, these three,
From these tempters let our conduct be free.

If told to stop sharing the Kingdom to come,
Booklets or tracts dust-binned by some,
Rejoice, dear pilgrim, keep carrying your cross,
Even if those served count your words as but dross.

Why should we flee, terrified of man, when reviled?
Is not this a test for those reconciled?
All previous instruction through God’s Holy Scriptures,
Helps us in such moments to be counted as victors!

Are not these trials the opportunities prayed for,
Without them, what testimony of sonship, and more?
The answer may follow through unbidden tears.
How God’s mercy does strengthen us through these carnal years.

Are not tribulations what our Lord has forewarned?
It would cost, the consecrated, all that we owned!
To be worthy of belonging to Christ alone,
Means sharing his sufferings, to the world unknown.

God understands the sum of your tears perfectly,
Each drop in a jar labelled “shame,” mournfully,
Others fallen to one labelled “ridicule and scorn,”
But Christ’s name on our foreheads, will forever be worn!

Those who sow in tears for righteousness now,
Shall reap fullness of joy when fulfilled is our vow.
When, later, the Truth floods each heart and mind,
Then your clay jar of tears, will Christ to them remind.

If your tears have been your meat, both day and night,
Rejoice in afflictions, walking in Christ’s light.
They prepare you for glory beyond all comparison,
Patiently accept them, kindly, like a good Samaritan.

As we continue for Jesus, representing his cause,
Man cannot stop us declaring, even through closed doors.
As martyred for Truth’s sake were the apostles, but John,
Through tears may your trumpeting “ALL FOR JESUS” go on!

Put your trust in Jehovah to overcome all fears,
Our Master in Gethsemane, offered loud cries and tears!
Jesus was heard for his reverence, by One above who all sees,
Things misinterpreted by man — so please be at ease.

It is our Heavenly Father whom we are to please,
If dimly considered by even friends, and trustees,
Job’s friends gave him scorn, while he “poureth out … unto God,”
So you, put your confidence, in the power of His rod.

Aaron’s rod reminds us, antitypical under-priests,
Of our privilege of service, which our heavenly joys increase.
Be productive, put on the fruits of Christ-likeness,
To become heavenly “stars” in Christ’s brightness.

Recognizing in each experience a divine appointment,
Changing from glory to glory since our sanctified anointment.
Each labour to deaden all of self-will,
Leads the heaven-bound follower, God’s will to fulfil.

Now hidden in a jar, our tears soon will be no more,
When in glory and immortal, we are united with Christ.
When the Day of Sacrifice soon is complete,
Beyond the vail then gathered, all the Gospel’s true wheat.

Whom they once pierced, Israel shall finally recognize,
Accepting Christ as Messiah, no more false surmise,
Tears then of joy will stream down their face,
For God’s Spirit shall be poured upon all by His grace.

Then God shall wipe away tears from all eyes,
No longer Adamic sin will cause all to die.
With minds then brightened with Godly righteousness,
Mankind will learn, and then show, their own faithfulness.

When tears shall turn into JOY FOR ALL,
Then tears no more shall ever again fall.
Jehovah’s Universe shall eternally stand,
God’s glory will then forever expand!

*******

The below words are from “Pilgrim Echoes” (page 326-328) by Br. Benjamin Barton:

Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.” Jesus did not mean, Blessed are those that mourn from the worldly standpoint, any more than he meant, Blessed are those that are poor in spirit from a worldly standpoint. There are two ways of being poor in spirit; there is the world’s way and God’s way. For instance, somebody mistreats you and you do not stand up for your rights; the world says, That man is poor in spirit. But Jesus did not mean it that way. And so the same way with this word “mourning.”

Our Redeemer did not mean, Blessed are those that mourn because they cannot own a finer house. Blessed are those who mourn because they cannot buy an automobile. Blessed are those who mourn because they cannot buy the diamond they saw in the jeweler’s window. Blessed are they that mourn because their head aches so badly. No, no, He meant, blessed are those who mourned like He mourned. How different His mourning was from that of other people.

There was something so unselfish about His mourning. You remember when He went to the tomb of Lazarus it was not for himself He was weeping. When He wept over Jerusalem He was not mourning for himself but for them. He wept as He thought how unwilling they were to praise and glorify God as they should, and what they were bringing on themselves because of their disobedience.

Then there was another occasion when He mourned in the garden of Gethsemane. You remember His tears, His strong crying. There again there was something unselfish; it was not because He had to die that He wept; He came into the world for that very purpose. He wept because of that cup He was drinking then. What was that? The cup of expectation of death? No. The Lord Jesus was so desirous that the Father should be pleased in every little point, and He realized that His ability to accomplish the work the Father entrusted to Him, the redemption of the race, depended upon His actual perfection; He realized there was no advocate to make up for His deficiencies; and it was along this line He mourned. There was nothing selfish about it.

So we way, Blessed are we if we mourn like Jesus mourned, if our mourning is unselfish. Do you mourn because you want the Lord glorified to a larger degree than people seem to want you to glorify Him? Do you mourn because you want more of the joy and peace which comes from a closer acquaintance with God and a better understanding of His Plan? Oh, that is the right mourning!

I remember a good brother in the northeast said this to me a year or so ago: Many years ago I lost a child and I thought I never would

PE327 get over it. I cried and cried until I thought I would not have any sight left; and when it was all over I made up my mind I would never cry again. Another child died, but I did not weep. My wife died but I never cried. I had a great deal of trouble on various lines and I have always been able to restrain my feelings so it was not shown outwardly. But, he said, I go to bed at night and as I think of all my weaknesses and imperfections and my inability to serve God better that I do, I cry and cry until the pillow is wet with my tears.

Oh, that was mourning like Jesus wanted us to mourn. That is the right kind of mourning. That is more in imitation of Jesus. If you mourn because you say so many things you don’t want to say, you mourn like Him. If you mourn because your hands do so many things you do not want them to do, you mourn like Jesus. If you mourn because your feet go so many places you don’t want them to go, you are mourning like Jesus. That is the way with Him. He mourned as His tongue and lips said so many things He did not want them to say.

He mourned as His hands would engage in so many works He did not want them to do. He mourned as His feet would go so many places He did not want them to go. Yes, dear friends, Jesus was continually mourning because of those things.

Why, you say, that astounds me! Do you mean to tell me that Jesus was imperfect? I thought He was perfect, I thought He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. I thought He never did anything wrong, and now you say His lips said so many things they ought not to have said, and His hands did so many things they ought not to have done, and His feet went so many places they ought not to have gone. Is that really so? Yes, friends, it is so. But Jesus was perfect in spite of all this. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. He never sinned.

Then how do you account for that seemingly inconsistent statement you have made?

Well, here it is. You know we have trouble with our lips, hands and feet, but in our case it is with our physical members in this physical body. Jesus did not have any trouble with the physical members in His physical body, but it was with His spiritual members in His mystical body. These were the members that gave Him trouble. You remember that while the Body of Christ was not organized in a certain sense until the day of Pentecost, yet in a rather preparatory sense we might speak of the apostles as composing the Body of Christ during even our Lord’s lifetime. How much these members of His Body tried the Lord Jesus! You and I have only one tongue to give us trouble, and He used to have twelve tongues that gave him trouble. There was James’, and then Peter’s,

PE328 and Judas’, and then Andrew’s tongue—Oh, how much trouble He had with His twelve tongues! It is bad enough for us to have the one. We know how much trouble it gives us. I have sometimes thought of a verse that says, “O, for a thousand tongues, to sing my great Redeemer’s praise.!” I am so thankful in God’s providence He has not inflicted a thousand tongues on me; yet if they would all sing my great Redeemer’s praise it would be all right. I would not mind it; but I am afraid that while about three of them would be singing the praise, the other nine hundred and ninety-seven would be in some kind of mischief. But we see Jesus had twelve tongues to give Him trouble, and those twelve pairs of hands that would not always do His will, and those twelve pairs of feet that wandered so frequently.

Think what that must have meant to Him. You see in a certain sense He had a similar experience to ours, only with Him it was with members of His mystical body.

But we see this must be the character of our mourning. How are we mourning? Look back over your life. You made a consecration of yourself to the Lord and what worries you to the largest degree? Is it because you are not able to buy that new piece of furniture? Or is it because you cannot be more patient under the test? Are you troubled to a larger degree because you are not able to do financially what some other people can do from the worldly standpoint? Or is your greatest trouble because you want to glorify God better? If you can answer that and say, I know it is a thousand times easier for me to bear the ordinary trials of life from a natural standpoint, it is a thousand time easier for me to miss a natural meal than to have to miss a spiritual meal; it is a great deal easier for me to be deprived of some little worldly advantage than some spiritual advantage, then you have another one of the marks of the Lord Jesus, another one of the evidences that you are one of His bond slaves. “Blessed are they that mourn.”

Here is an extract from an article titled “The Power of the Gospel of Christ” in The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom Magazine June 1927 :-

St. Paul’s Tears of Joy and Sadness

O, how the Apostle bore the burden of the Church’s peace and tranquillity upon his heart as he languished in dungeon dampness, or spent the days in weary toil, making tents that he might continue spending and being spent in the service of the Church he loved so intensely, until he had been literally poured out as an offering on the sacrificial altar of devotion to them! And how sympathetically we may enter into his disappointments and anxieties as again and again he is reminded of the immaturity, carnality and contentiousness of so many for whom he would willingly die, as we see those burning tears of affection blinding his afflicted eyes as he laboriously pens his fervent entreaties to these bickering, factional brethren! Our tears must flow in unison with his and for the same reason that today as in his day the unity of the faith is so often marred or disrupted by the same things.

But there were bright and happy experiences mingled with St. Paul’s frequent disappointments, oases in the way, where the seeds of truth had fallen and germinated, producing the luxuriant greenness that shone out in pleasing contrast to all the barrenness around, where the Gospel of Christ had been permitted to exercise its grace and power and make manifest its sanctifying, ennobling, maturing effects. If in writing to the Corinthians he must reprove and lament and deplore much of what he found there, not so in writing to the Thessalonian brethren. To these dear brethren he could write with the strains of our text as a sweet melody in his heart, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” He could point to these faithful brethren who had always been loyal, responsive, and reciprocative as a living testimony of the Gospel’s fruitage. We may again share with him his joy as he remembers the operations of grace in his own life, of all that “seeing Jesus” had meant to him personally, and of his energetic enthusiasm to make Him known to others; and we can enter into his joy as he writes these precious sentiments of commendation and love, “And you followed the pattern set you by us and by the Master, after you had received the message amid severe persecution, and yet with the joy which the Holy Spirit gives, so that you became a pattern to all the believers throughout Macedonia and Greece. For it was not only from you that the Master’s message sounded forth through Macedonia and Greece; but everywhere your faith in God has become known so that it is unnecessary for us to say anything about it” (1 Thessalonians 1:6-8, Weymouth). “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father” (Verse 3).

“For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For ye are our glory and joy” (1 Thessalonians 2:19, 20).

“We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God, for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure” (2 Thessalonians 1:3, 4).

*******

“These prospective kings and priests are urged to look away from the afflictions and persecutions incidental to their sacrifice and loyalty to Christ; that they look to Jesus, the author of their faith, who is also to be its finisher; that they remember his example and what he endured and that everyone whom the Father accepts into the house of sons under this call must expect to have chastisings, disciplines and various testings of faith and obedience for the development and crystallization of character.”
(Reprints of the Original Watchtower and Herald of Christ’s Presence, R4513).

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