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VIEW FROM THE TOWER

“Gird thy sword upon thy thigh O mighty one! (it is) thy glory and thy majesty; yea it is thy majesty. Be prosperous; ride along for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; and fearful things shall thy right hand teach thee.

Thy sharpened arrows (people will fall down beneath thee) will enter into the heart of the King’s enemies. Thy throne, given of God endureth forever and ever: the scepter of equity is the scepter of thy kingdom.” Psa. 45:4-7—Leeser

We are living in the grandly awful time when this Scripture is being fulfilled. These words were uttered by the prophet as Jehovah’s mouth piece, foretelling not the suffering and death of the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, but declaring the majesty of him who gave himself a ransom for all, when he shall come to reap the fruits; of the victory which he then won, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints and admired::Respected, obeyed, worshiped] in all them that believe in that day; when he shall take his great power and reign in equity, putting down all unrighteousness and subduing all things to the will of Jehovah.

Would that more could see the fulfillment of this prophecy now in progress; it would inspire confidence to the meek lovers of right and truth, and inspire with awe those who practice unrighteousness and who receive not the truth in the love of it.

The sword of Messiah is the truth, and with it he shall smite the nations. The smitings of the truth come upon all who come into conflict with it. It will smite and severely wound the unjust whether he be master or slave; whether workman, laborer, clerk, or master, employer, or capitalist; whether professed saint or sinner. The sword in the hands of him who now takes his great power to establish righteousness is the truth, and is to fulfill the prayer, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth.” It is no respecter of persons and opinions, and he only that doeth righteousness shall go unrebuked.

In which ever direction we look, we see the smitings of the sword of truth. The lesson of “RIGHT” [Righteousness] is being forced upon every one; upon nations and individuals—all are gradually being forced to a clearer recognition of the advisability, yea, the necessity of EQUITY and fairness in their dealings one with another; and it is the smitings of the sword of truth that is causing them to learn the lesson. There are, and will still be for quite a while, and even increasingly so, wide differences between governments and people, and between employers and employed, between truth and error. On every subject conflicts will come, and the final victory will be for right and truth.

He who most clearly apprehends the situation and most quickly yields to laws of the new King, will be first and most blessed. They who fall before him in obedience, and reverence to his scepter of righteousness, will the soonest be blessed and exalted by the King of glory, while they who oppose his scepter of righteousness are counted his enemies, and shall fall before his sharp arrows. In HIS DAY the righteous shall flourish and the evil doer [unjust] shall be cut off. Psa. 72:7 and 37:9.

Many have claimed that this rule has always obtained, but such is not the case. The just and those who served the Lord have, suffered in so doing, because Satan, hitherto the “prince of this world,” had no friendship for either the Head or members of Christ; and through all to whom he could communicate his spirit he has crucified and persecuted and maligned the Lord’s anointed, and made the path of equity an uphill road for all who sought it. The meek and peaceably disposed he disdained and ignored and took advantage of. The bold, rapacious and grasping who exalted themselves by abasing and oppressing and sacrificing their fellow mortals, these he favored, and their deeds of violence he published as virtues and graces.

But now we are in the transition time; Satan’s power must grow less, and right, justice—truth—must become more respected and appreciated because the King of righteousness and peace now takes it as his sword and is wielding it. But though assured of the final outcome, that right and its Lord will conquer, and that he must reign, not only until he hath put all enemies under his feet, and brought the whole creation into entire submission to the will of Jehovah, whose will shall be done in earth even as in heaven, yet we must remember that the conflict will be sharp; every inch of the way will be contested. Between government and people we see more and more a disposition on the part of the people to see their rights and to demand them; and on the part of the governments exercised by the largest measure of liberality a disposition gradually to see and to concede these rights, though slowly and with reluctance. Between capital and labor also the struggle progresses; labor is awakening to its rights and to the necessity of vigorously demanding them; and some of the more liberal and fair minded capitalists conceding some of the rights claimed, are aiming as they can see the way, to grant to labor its proper reward and respect. But among nations, not all, but the few are wise and liberal; and among the people, not all are just in their demands or prudent in their expectations: capitalists in general are not liberal or disposed to be just toward their less favorably circumstanced fellow beings, and among laborers and workmen only a small minority are calm and wise and intelligent enough to be able to see both sides of the vexed problem so as to act reasonably and prudently.

As a consequence of these obstacles, and further, because the present order and arrangement of society, is such that the conduct of employers and the wages paid for service, etc., must to a large extent depend upon the course of others, therefore the way to an open and complete rupture, the civilized world over is gradually but surely being forced. The end of this will be the victory of RIGHT and the overthrow of injustice, as well as of the misconceptions upon which they are built, and by which at present they are fortified. One result of that time of trouble will be the greater sympathy with which each class will look back upon the course of the other, in the present time. The bringing of all to a common level (the grand level of human brotherhood, with equality of rights, whose variety of talents shall minister to the blessing of all) is the first lesson of the Great Teacher and will prepare for further though less severe lessons in the theory and practice of the will of God—”as it is done in heaven.”

Every one who in any way assists in the advancement of TRUTH and the establishment of RIGHT is a laborer in a good cause, whether saint or sinner. Such are fighting in this battle on the side of the Mighty One, and are helping to draw the bow of truth which sends the arrows of conviction into the hearts of the enemies of the King of Righteousness; and though as shown above the conflict cannot be averted—the crash must come—yet to such we say Press on! your labor will hasten the conflict to its glorious end. It is noble; It is right. Seek to serve the cause of TRUTH from the love of truth, not for faction or party policy.

Yet the saints should not be found battling thus, though they may sympathize with the RIGHT and TRUTH on every issue: they have a still higher and still more important position, in the same “battle of the great day of God Almighty.” They stand closer to the conquering King; they are armed with the same sword of the spirit, the word of God. They also ride upon white horses [pure doctrine]. They that are thus with him are “called and chosen and FAITHFUL,” (Rev. 17:14; 19:11-16) and their part in the fray is to oppose false doctrines, and to slay with the SWORD of the truth.

Great is the multitude of Babylon, grand and imposing their appearance, yet fear not little flock, the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong and mighty, for greater is he that is on our part than all they that be against us.

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His word assures us that “the slain of the Lord shall be many” (Isa. 66:14-16), but he smites to bless; he wounds to heal. When the conflict is ended Great Babylon with all its legions will be no more. The Presbyterian legions, with its staunch veterans and their well-worn battle flags of “Predestination” and “Decrees,” will be no more. The arrows of scepticism and unbelief will smite down many, and the sword of the conqueror shall prevail against them, until they shall SEE him and surrender themselves and their banners to him and take a place in his army. The Methodist legion, with their popular banner—”Free Grace,” will be no more; many of her defenders will fall, and some will find in the ranks of the Conqueror a larger and a grander banner of Free Grace and full salvation than they had ever dreamed of. The Episcopal, and the Lutheran, and the Roman legions and others shall be no more. Those of each of these, who were once blinded and deceived, shall join the Legion of “The King’s Own” so soon as they see

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the truth. But woe then to those who now see and obey not the truth; woe will then be upon all who knew the Master’s will and did it not—who knew that they were among those opposing the TRUTH, and who gave their time, influence and voice against it from policy, or other considerations. Such shall be beaten with MANY STRIPES.

Let all who would serve the King, and who would be seen under no other banner than His, and be known by none other name nor wield another sword, than his, put on the whole armor of defence and take and use the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The message to every faithful member through the Head is “Gird on the sword. … Be prosperous, ride along for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness.” “I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.” Luke 21:15.

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— September, 1885 —