II.

The answer given in the "Millennial Dawn" System, or Rmsellism

(Continued from p. 359.)

The great controversy of the fourth century was concerning the acceptance or denial of the Eternal Sonship of Christ. Is He God the Son, eternal and uncreated? Or is He a Son of God, generated before the worlds, and begotten as man in time? Athanasius, that stalwart champion of the truth, stood firmly for the former, and Arius, the gifted and brilliant reasoner, contended for the latter, "How can a son be as old as his father?" he derisively asked, and carried thousands with him, who admired his genius and had forgotten that, "No man knoweth the Son but the Father." It seemed at one time that the truth was about to be lost, but in the end it triumphed, as truth always does, and to-day Christians still confess Christ as the Eternal, Uncreated Son, God over all, forever blessed; while Arianism is espoused only by heretical teachers, and endorsed by evil sects, composed of persons who have never realized the hopelessness of man's estate by nature and the grace that led the Eternal to become Man to meet the need in a way worthy of God and consistent with His righteousness.

Unfortunately, so many abstruse questions arose out of this controversy that for the next two centuries the Church was torn by metaphysical discussions of matters concerning the true nature of the incarnation, which separated even have a little fuller understanding, and so we bring our offering of the flocks. We see in Him the devoted One who "was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb." Or He is represented by the goat, the picture of the sinner whose place He in grace has taken. Others again have a still higher and fuller apprehension of His Person and His work. We see in Him the strong, patient ox whose delight was to do the will of God in all things.

There is very little difference in the treatment of the sacrifice of the herd and that of the flock. But of a necessity .there is considerable difference when we come to that of the fowls. Let us consider a little verses 3 to 9:"If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord," or,' as it reads in the 1911 Version, "that it may be graciously received from him before the Lord." The bullock, or, more literally, the young ox, speaks, as we have said, of the patient servant. It is written in the law of Moses, "Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn." The apostle Paul applies this To the ministering servants of God, they who prepare the food for the people of God, and are not to be deprived of that which they need for their own sustenance. Our blessed Lord was like the patient ox treading out the corn. The One who came not to be ministered unto bulfto minister, Be was the perfect Servant come to give His life a ransom for many. And observe, the ox musT; be a male without blemish. Among the types the female speaks of subjection, whereas the male suggests rather the thought of rightful independence. Our Lord Jesus was the only Man that ever walked this earth who was entitled to a place of independence, and yet He chose to be the subject One, even unto death. And He was the unblemished One. No fault was to be found in Him, no short-coming of any kind, no sin or failure. The offerer when he presented his unblemished burnt sacrifice was practically saying, "I have no worthiness in myself. I am full of sin and failure, but I bring to God that which is without blemish, that which speaks of the worthiness of His own blessed Son." And the unworthy offerer was accepted in the worthy sacrifice, as we are told in Ephesians 1:6, "He hath made us accepted in the Beloved," or, as it has been translated, "He has taken us into favor in the Beloved." Observe, not according to our faithfulness, nor according to the measure of our zeal, nor yet according to the measure of our de-votedness, but according to His own thoughts of His beloved Son. We who have been brought through grace divine to see that we have no worthiness in ourselves, have all our worthiness in Christ.

This is emphasized in the fourth verse. Man as the offerer stood before the priest with his hand upon the head of the burnt offering. He was really identifying himself with the victim that was about to be slain. It is the hand of faith which rests upon the head of Christ and sees in orthodox believers into warring groups, thus giving the Arians increased confidence and greater prestige, as those who should have presented a solid front to the enemy were quarrelling with one another about definitions and attempted explanations of an inscrutable mystery. Some maintained that it was lowering the truth as to Christ to assert He became actually a man in all things, and contended that in Him the Logos (the Eternal Word) took the place that the spirit and soul do in man.This was called Apollinarian-ism because its chief advocate was a staunch Trinitarian named Apollinaris.Others insisted that the divine and human natures in Christ were fused into one.These were called Monophosites. Still others insisted that the two natures were so distinct, that one could act apart from the other, and were known as Nestorians. There were many other views, all alike tending to occupy believers with questions instead of with Christ Himself. But when the smoke of battle cleared away, the great outstanding truth that the Church has ever since confessed was more clearly seen than ever. In Christ we have the one Mediator between God and man who is both Divine and human-very God of very God, yet Man in all perfection.This abides the faith of the "orthodox," that is, of those who "think straight" in accordance with Holy Scripture.

However, Arianism has never died out, but has appeared again and again in various forms throughout the centuries. In our own days there are different systems that maintain these erroneous views, such as some forms of Unitarianism and, generally speaking, all liberal theological groups that do not utterly deny the pre-existence of Jesus.

Among these Ariaft sects the most notorious is that of the Russellites, known as the "International Bible Students' Association." Their doctrines are fully set forth in a set of seven books formerly called "Millennial Dawn;" but which have been so often exposed that a new edition was put forth some time since innocently entitled, "Studies in the Scriptures." Sold at an astonishingly loy? price these unholy volumes are purchased by many unsuspecting Christians, who are led to believe they embody truths taught in the Word of God, whereas in reality they contain deadliest error.

Briefly, the teaching of the Eussellites as to Christ is as follows:He was created by God before the worlds, but is not the Eternal Son. He was in His pre-existent state the highest spirit-being in the universe. When born on earth He ceased to be a spirit, and was wholly and solely a man, though born by divine generation. He laid down His human life at the cross. His body was never resurrected, but probably "dissolved away into gases." His soul alone was raised. By virtue of His great self-abnegation He has now been promoted to the divine plane, and is now a God, but not the God.
"Pastor" Russell taught that Jesus when on earth was not in any sense divine, but that redemption demanded He should be only a man. He blasphemously declared, "It was not only necessary that the Man Christ Jesus should die. It was just as necessary that He should never live again, should remain dead for all Eternity." Think of the awfulness of words like these when weighed in the light of the statements of the Holy Spirit in 1 Cor. 15.

To state these horrible errors is to refute them. If authorities and explanations are required however, the reader is referred to, "How Russellism Subverts the Faith," by R. J. Reid, and "Millennial Dawnism," by A. J. Pollock.

This is indeed a "sect of perdition," and its teaching is rightly labelled "damnable heresy." "From such turn away." -H. A. IRONSIDE.

(To be continued, D. V.)
The Similitudes of Hosea